Matam-Beating Chest and Head

Matam or the beating of the chest is a ritual Shias do during the Islamic month of Maharrum and Safar.  

It is one of the most confused, misinterpreted concepts in the Shia sect, after mutha of course (heh) 

I feel like this subject is very touchy and emotional for Shias, and for Sunnis it is very confusing.

Outwardly it appears that Shias are harming themselves and the question comes up isn’t self-harm haram. 

I hope I can make sense of what matam is about and give my personal opinion on it. This is all from personal experience, not from any other resources

I was born and raised Shia so these customs and traditions were normal to me and I never questioned it. Never had a reason to either, I believed in it and I understood why we did it. For those of you who don’t know the story of Karbala, definitely read on it, it will give you more insight. But growing up it was always tradition for me. You heard poetry in the beginning of the program then listened to a speech which then related to an aspect of Karbala which would make you cry. Accompanying that would be more sad poetry where everyone would beat their chest in sync. 

There are a couple of reasons in my opinion for why this is a tradition and these are personal reasons, so these can change from person to person

1. Often when someone is overcome with grief or sadness they hit their head or their knee with their hands, it is a natural reaction. In old Arab times they used to throw sand on their heads as a sign of mourning. When someone is overcome with grief they aren’t thinking about what they are doing rather just trying to let their emotions out. People sometimes even shout things or call out to someone out of sadness and their emotions. It’s natural for anyone to hit themselves while they are mourning and so the question is if these atrocities happened to your family wouldn’t you be overcome by grief? Well it happened to the Prophet (SAW)’s family whom we have the utmost respect for and when something like this happens then indeed we should mourn as if they were our own.

2. As Shias, we imagine that if we were there we would certainly give our life in the name of Islam, for Imam Hussain (as) So when you hear the poems where the poet is talking about the army of Hussain and the battle, you want to show that you would be willing to give your life. The way I see it is it’s like a battle cry (for lack of better term)

The thing with Maharrum is that it hasn’t been told how to commemorate it. Of course there are traditions but essentially it is up to the believer in which he/she decides what feels right. Wearing black, performing in such rituals, alams, juloos, blade matam, chains, these are all up to the individual. It’s a whole other feeling, like no other, which words can barely touch upon. To really understand, you have to experience it, you have to hear the stories, the poetry, you have to feel it.