Just when you thought that religious customs couldn't get any more shocking...They slice the heads of their children with razors and daggers, and make sure that there is blood. They even do it to babies and toddlers. they do it because in the 7th century, Imam Hussein (a saint) was decapitated, and this is the way they teach the children about his suffering. In the picture, the mother is tapping the baby's head to make it bleed more.
Children's foreheads slashed in Muslim saint's name
"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."
Tags: Muslim - Shiite - blood
Found via J-Walk.
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