I lived two years in Iran and 5 years in Saudi Arabia. Have you ever heard of the shi'a Ashura celebrations, i.e., self-flagellation? The Shi'a only comprise about 10% of Muslims worldwide. They are not the saner version of Islam. I found their version to be more violent and aggressive.
Iraq Shi'ite Muslim men bleed as they slice their foreheads with swords and beat themselves to commemorate Ashura in Sadr City, Baghdad.
Shia Muslims worldwide cut themselves with swords and knives, covered their bodies with mud and lit bonfires in the streets to mourn the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson today.
The rituals mark the holy Day of Ashura, which is the tenth day of the "mourning month" of Muharram, when Shi'ite Muslims remember the death of Imam Hussein (Husayn Ibn Ali) at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.
Imam Hussein's martyrdom is widely interpreted by Shia as a symbol of the struggle against injustice, tyranny and oppression.
