The Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat Federation of Africa Tablig chairman Sheikh Sajaad Walliji has urged Kenyans to unite and continue living in peace.

He urged Kenyans to help the less fortunate in the society.

Speaking during a peaceful procession to mark the 40th day after the death of  Imam Hussein the grandson of prophet Muhammad,  Islamic religious teacher Ali Bahero urged Kenyans to love one another regardless of ethnicity, race or social status.

Ashura is marked on the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar.

It is a particularly important period of mourning for Shia Muslims, as it marks the anniversary of the seventh-century Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq, when Hussein was killed.

The death of Hussein is considered by the Shia community as a symbol of humanity’s struggle against injustice, tyranny and oppression.

The primary rituals and observances on Ashura consist of public expressions of mourning. Sunni Muslims commemorate the day through voluntary fasting.

Some in the Shia community mark the day by flagellating themselves with chains and the blunt ends of swords. This is intended to exemplify the suffering Hussein experienced shortly before his beheading.

In Mombasa, members of the community dressed in black converged at the Jafery sports ground Mbaraki for a two hour procession that ended at the community cemetery in Mwembe Tayari, on Saturday.

Prominent Mombasa businessman Mohammad Jaffer was among those who took part in the procession.