Sheikh Ibrahim Yassine.

DEARBORN — Sheikh Ibrahim Yassine spoke about the Ashura procession and discussed some of the bystanders’ negative perceptions.

Some people disagree with the procession and believe it gives the community a bad image every year because of the flags and latmiyat which they think are a form of self-harm.

According to Yassine, latmiyat are not harmful, but rather a normal expression of grief. He compared it to when relatives die suddenly or when a tragedy happens.

He said most people tap their chests or thighs to show the sadness accumulating in their hearts.

Yassine condemned “tatbir” (hitting yourself with a sword to let blood flow) and said most “Maraji”— Shi’a clerics whose ranks allow them to prohibit or permit practices— denounce the act.

Latmiyat, on the other hand, are a symbolic means of expressing grief in Ashura that do not injure the person and are not a religious obligation, but rather a tradition carried on from generation to another.

Onlookers also called the procession an ISIS gathering. Yassine said the police and the city would not permit such a gathering to happen.

He added that it was a procession against ISIS and other oppressors, which was clear from the banners in focus and the speeches at the end. He also said Imam Hussain fought a corrupt militant group that had the same ideology as ISIS.

Yassine described the Ashura procession as an expression of peace, logic and awareness for one cause— humanity.