Husainiya

आशुरख़ाना (āshurkhānā)

A hussainia (Persian: حسینیه), also known as an ashurkhana, imambargah, or imambara, is a congregation hall for Shia commemoration ceremonies, especially those associated with the Remembrance of Muharram. The name comes from Husayn Ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad and the third imam of the Shia Muslims. Imam Hussain was killed by the Umayyad caliph Yazid I at the Battle of Karbala in Iraq, on October 10, 680 AD. Shias commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain every year on the day of Ashura in hussainias all over the world.

There are other ceremonies which are held during the year in hossainya(s). These include religious ceremonies of various kinds unrelated to Ashoura programs.

History

From the time of the Safavid was ruling in Iran, when Shia tended to hold the religious and mourning ceremonies, not only the passageways or the roofed places were used for the religious communities, even to make the Hoseynias and also Takyeh(s) became commonplace. Any Hosseynia had some booths (or rooms) and arcades, both in large and small sizes. Also in many allays and streets, on the days near Ashoura, the religious people blackened the walls and the roofs and illuminated them, by the colorful lights… From the age of Zand, many bigger and vaster Takye(s) was made just to hold Tazia, where there was a stage by the height of one meter from the floor, to show the different senses of Tazieh.

Some rules (Ahkam)

A hussainiya is different from a mosque in that it is intended mainly for gatherings for Muharram in the mourning of Hussain ibn Ali, and also the other Shia Imams, and may not necessarily hold juma'at, or Friday prayers. In South Asia, a hussainia can also be referred to as an imambara, imambargah, or ashurkhana. In Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, it is called a ma'tam (مأتم). In Lebanon, it is called Arabic: حسينية‎ – hussainiā. In Afghanistan and Central Asia, the equivalent term for a Shia congregation hall is takyakhana.

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Wikipedia