Mourning with blood
On the tenth day of the Islamic month of Muharram, Shi'ite Muslims around the world mark the festival of Ashura – a day when they mourn the slaying in battle of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein.
During Muharram, some Shi'ites commemorate his death by inflicting violence upon themselves - beating themselves with steel-tipped flails or slashing their bodies with knives.
A Shi'ite Muslim man uses a knife to gash a child's head during a Muharram procession ahead of Ashura.
Shi'ite men flagellate themselves in Amroha, India.
A Shi'ite man cries as others lash themselves during a Muharram procession.
A man beats himself during a Muharram procession in Mumbai.
Women mourn as men flog their own backs during a procession.
Shi'ite Muslim men shout religious slogans and beat themselves with iron chains in Yangon.
Shi'ite Muslims flagellate themselves during a Muharram procession.
Shi'ites living in Greece take part in a procession.
A man cries as blood drips from his chest.
Shi'ite Muslim men clean the wounds of a mourner after he flagellated himself during a procession.
A doctor stitches the wounds of a boy who lashed himself severely.
A Shi'ite man wraps bandages around the head of another boy after he flagellated himself during a procession.
A man holds up a baby representing the son of Imam Hussein, whose death Ashura commemorates. This procession takes place in Kerbala, the city in Iraq where Hussein was killed.
A Shi'ite Muslim boy with blood stains on his face and body looks up after beating himself with razor chains in front of a mosque during the Ashura festival in Yangon.
A boy runs across burning charcoal as part of the religious event.
A bleeding man holds a cigarette as he rests after taking part in Ashura in Yangon.
A group of women pray inside a mosque during the event.
