Thursday, September 20, 2018. Cooking breakfast for mourners of Ashura. Khorramabad, Lorestan, Iran. Mourning of Ashura ceremony. Ashura is the holiest day on the shi'ite Muslim calendar. Ashura is an annual holy day marked by strong expression, grief and anger, ritualized penitence and colorful celebration, All in memory of Imam Hussain , one of their faith's most revered figures, who was killed in a battle in 680 A.D.