5809 Azerbaijani believers donated blood on Ashura Day

The Azerbaijani police have ensured increased security measures in connection with mourning ceremonies held in mosques and shrines on the occasion of the Day of Ashura revered by Shiite Muslims. In places of mourning ceremonies, donor blood donations were organized.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2017, the Council of Qadis of the Caucasian Muslims' Administration urged believers to donate blood instead of self-flagellation on the Day of Ashura. At least 2500 people then responded to the call in Baku. In 2018, 5340 people donated blood on the Day of Ashura.

This year, the Ashura Day fell on September 10. The day before, law enforcement bodies called on believers not to organize massive marches, but hold all the events in mosques. "Ceremonies and street marches outside the places specially designated for ceremonies will not be allowed," the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) announced on September 9 on its website.

On September 10, policemen organized patrolling around mosques and places of worship in Baku. From early morning, believers headed to mosques. In Baku, the most populous was the ceremony in the "Mashadi Dadash" mosque, which is located in the old part of the city. All the streets adjacent to the mosque were crowded with believers. Police outfits watched what was happening, but did not intervene, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Blood donations were organized in 15 mosques and polyclinics of Baku and other cities. By 6 p.m. local time, overall 5809 people had donated their blood. A total of 2614 litres of blood were donated, the press service of the Ministry of Public Health of Azerbaijan has reported.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 10, 2019 at 10:40 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.