Editing Self-flagellation (section)

==Islam==
{{more citations needed section|date=July 2025}}
[[File:Zanjerzani in Kermanshah 01.jpg|thumb|[[Tatbir|Zanjerzani]] in Iran]]
The practice of self flagellation among certain sects of [[Islam]] is called ''matam'' (in Iran and South Asia) and ''latm'' (in the Arab world). ''Matam'' is performed by some members of [[Shia Islam]] (particularly the [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver Shia]] community) to honor Imam Husain—a martyr in the [[Battle of Karbala]] (in what is now Iraq) and grandson of the prophet [[Muhammad]]. The flagellants are called ''matamdar''.

Devotees perform this act by beating their chest, hitting themselves with blades, chains, or other sharp objects. A trancelike state can be achieved when pain is inflicted rhythmically.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Schneider |first=Andreas |date=2009 |title=The Rhythm of the Whip |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25677369 |journal=Social Psychology Quarterly |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=285–289 |issn=0190-2725}}</ref> These rituals are typically accompanied by poetry and percussive elements; the rhythm structures the altered state.<ref name=":0" /> The practice is somatopsychic, as opposed to [[psychosomatic]]—it begins in the body, then migrates to the mind.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Ruffle |first=Karen G. |date=2015 |title=Wounds of Devotion: Reconceiving Mātam in Shiʿi Islam |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/683065 |journal=History of Religions |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=172–195 |doi=10.1086/683065 |issn=0018-2710}}</ref>

This ritual of ''matam'' is meant to reaffirm one's faith and relationships by creating a deep bond among the participants through their shared religious devotion. Despite the violent nature of this ritual, the love and vulnerability associated with it makes it an affirmational ritual performance.<ref name=":1" />

Self-flagellation is just as controversial in Islam as it is in Christianity. In 2008, a prominent court case involving a resident of the UK town of [[Eccles, Greater Manchester|Eccles]], who was accused of encouraging his children to self-flagellate, provoked widespread condemnation of the practice. Shias responded by affirming that children should not be encouraged to self-harm, but defending the importance of the ritual when performed by consenting adults.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kazmi |first1=Nadeem |title=Why self-flagellation matters for Shia Muslims |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/aug/28/religion.islam |work=The Guardian |date=28 August 2008 }}</ref> However, some Shia leaders fear that the practice gives their religion a bad reputation, and recommend donating blood instead.<ref>{{cite news |title=What is Ashura? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-16047713 |work=BBC News |date=6 December 2011 }}</ref>