SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced that Monday will be an official holiday in the Kurdistan Region in recognition of The first day of the Muharram.
Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after Ramadan, according to Islamic sources.
The KRG Department of Media and Information in a statement said on Saturday that the government had decided to add a one-day holiday this week due to entering into the first day of the holy Islamic month of Muharram.
Muharram month marks Ashura as well which is an Islamic holiday that takes place on the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, which this year falls on August 7 and 8.
Ashura is a Shiite festival observed on the tenth day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar to commemorate the death of the martyr Imam Hussein bin Ali at the Battle of Karbala in 680 ad, according to Islamic Shiite sources.
