Eid-e-Shuja'

The two-month period of Azadari (mourning) reaches its conclusion with the assassination of the eleventh Shi’a Imām, Hasan al-Askari on the eight of Rabi al-Awwal 260 AH (approximately 4 January 874). This date signals the closure of a long mourning season during which bright clothes, extravagant purchases and overt celebrations are all considered inappropriate. Pious Shias are now allowed to resume their less restricted lifestyles, following a tradition that holds that the Prophet's family itself shed its mourning garb on the ninth.[2]

Another primary religious event which is celebrated on the eid-e-shuja’ is the believed beginning of the Imamate of the twelfth Shī‘a Imām, Muhammad al-Mahdi. However, this assertion remains highly disputed among several various Shī‘a sects, such as the Ismā'īlī and Zaydī Shī'ī denominations, who each believe in a different number of Imāms and, for the most part, a different path of succession regarding the Imāmate. This is also disputed because there is no consensus on the exact date of martyrdom of Imam Hasan Al-Askari in the Twelver Shia literature.[3] Some scholars believe that 9th Rabi ul Awal is the second day of the Imamat of Imam Al-Mahdi since the eleventh Imam passed away on dawn of the 8th of Rabi ul Awal. Since the succeeding Imam becomes an Imam the moment that the previous Imam dies, Eid e Zahra would be the second day of the Imamate of Imam Al-Mahdi.