Ashura (Wirshato) Celebration in Harar l Discover Ethiopia

On Ashura, the tenth day of the Islamic month of Muharram, Hararis celebrate Wirshato, a gourd-smashing ceremony that commemorates the prohibition of alcohol indicated by the Prophet Muhammad. During the ceremony, young boys run around the city holding sticks and singing the Wirshato song; when they enter the house compounds, they are given traditional gourds, habitually employed to contain liquids. The boys hence smash the gourd with their sticks and make toys out of the broken pieces, to symbolize the benefi ts that derive by breaking bad habits. Other members of the community take part in the festivities by donating gourds and by feasting on porridge to usher in abundance for the coming year. This brief paper will show how the activities surrounding the Wirshato ceremony in Harar are concerned with the concept of renewal and are derived from Islamic and customary sources. The observance of Wirshato in Harar starts on New Year’s Day and continues for nine consecutive days, the last day being the eve of the tenth day. From New Year’s Day, high-spirited groups of young boys walk around their neighborhoods between four and six o’clock in the afternoon; that is after they have attended the Qur’an school to its usual daily conclusion. But quite different from the usual school day, these nine days are extremely special for the young boy because they are Wirshato days where every late afternoon is gourd-smashing time. Every boy, after having put his books in their place, makes sport of fi nding a quality-hewn stick that reverberates well in his fi rm hold. Having selected their ideal stick the boys set out on their way to participate in the exciting annual ceremony of gourdsmashing, enjoyed by Harari boys for ages. As they promenade from house to house the boys sing: Dearest Grandmother, We have swatted and our sticks are tired. Please look around in your kitchen And throw us a gourd to smash! When they receive dry gourds from the neighboring households, they proceed to smash the gourd with their sticks and make toys out of the broken pieces, in order to symbolize the benefi ts that derive from breaking bad habits (such as consuming alcohol, which the Hadiths prohibit). Not all of the gourds are smashed on each of the nine evenings, however. After gathering a collection of gourds whose interiors are too moist to break easily, the boys perforate and fi ll them with dry reeds. These bundles of drying gourds are then amassed in the Qur’an schools and in the many shrines of the city. Finally on the evening of the tenth day, Ashura, the boys sit around the gourds and eat ghenfo in commemoration of the woman who did not board the Ark, but was saved nevertheless. Throughout the Harari community, it is believed that whosoever does not manage to eat his/her just portion that day is doomed to suffer from hunger for the rest of the year. Therefore, the women ensure that everyone is served plenty of ghenfo and that a fresh supply of gourds is provided for the coming year, thus ensuring abundance of sustenance and renewal of determination to break bad habits. In conclusion, if all medium were indeed an extension of some human faculty, so I would argue that the Harari gourd-breaking ceremony of Wirshato is an extension of the Harari’s desire and aptitude for continual renewal of spiritual and physical nourishment. Kabir Muhaimin