Some Shiite Children Are Into Bloody Rite

Actors perform Tazieh, a traditional theater scene about Imam Hussein, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007. During rituals on the holy day of Ashoura, Iranians Muslims mark the death of Imam Hussein, a grand son of Islam's prophet Mohammed, who was killed in a 680 A.D. battle at Karbala in Iraq. Green veiled children represent Imam Hussein's family and red veiled men represent enemies. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) (Vahid Salemi - AP)

NABATIYEH, Lebanon -- The 6-year-old boy screamed and shook his head to avoid the razor blade. But his father held him firmly as Hajj Khodor parted the boy's black hair and sliced his forehead three times with the blade.

Ali Madani's cries became more violent as blood gushed from the wound, covering his small, terrified face. His father and a few other men, waving daggers, broke into a religious chant, recalling how the 7th-century Shiite Muslim saint, Imam Hussein, was decapitated, his head placed on a lance.

In marking the holiest day of Ashoura, some Shiites believe children should learn at an early age about Hussein's suffering, which is at the heart of their faith.

Lebanon's top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, has banned bloodletting during Ashoura, even for adults. Clerics in mainly Shiite Iran forbid it as well, saying the practice is un-Islamic because it harms the body.

But traditions die hard, especially in a rite as fervent and emotional as Ashoura, marked Tuesday by Shiites across the Islamic world.

In the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh, hundreds of nervous young boys _ ranging from early teens to toddlers _ were ushered by their fathers into a hall hung with black banners and paintings of Hussein's last moments.

Hajj Khodor, a businessman and organizer of the Ashoura ceremonies, and several other men wiped blades with alcohol before swiping each boy three or four times on the forehead.

Some boys cried and resisted, but the cutting proceeded.

"We're used to it," said Mahmoud Jaber, 43, who brought his five boys and two girls for the ritual. "We've been doing this since we were kids. I started when I was 3. It doesn't hurt because the cry of pain goes away with the faith."

Hussein Shihab, 13, wrapped in a white sheet symbolizing Hussein's burial shroud, said he felt a burning sting _ "from the alcohol" _ as the blade hit.

His father, Jaber Shihab, told Hussein not to be "a wimp," and to "be brave" as a reporter photographed him after the cut.

It was "for the sake of Hussein" that he had his head cut, the boy said. "Because blood came from Hussein's head. They cut his head off and blood flowed."