DER Documentary  Hosay Trinidad Review  American Anthropologist
Volume 103, Number 1 ­ March 2001 Visual Anthropology, Page
191-192  Dallas Brennan Big Mouth Productions, Inc.  Hosay
Trinidad explores the way Hosay, a 1300-year-old Islamic
holiday, is currently observed and "ritualized" in the most
southerly Caribbean island of Trinidad. The Hosay processions
are carried out annually to honor the martyrdom of Husein, son
of Fatima, daughter of Mohammed the Prophet. Husein, or Hosayn,
tried to reclaim the caliphate, or headship of the Muslim
Empire, after the death of his brother, Hasan, who had been
forced to abdicate as caliph. In A.D. 680, on his march to
Baghdad, the capital of the caliphate, Husein was killed by his
rivals. The day of his defeat, the 10th of Muharrarn, became the
great holy day of the Shiites, who uphold the legitimacy of
Fatima's descendants as divinely ordained caliphs (i.e.,
successors of the Prophet) or imams (leaders).  Celebrated every
year during Muharram, the first month of the Is