Spiritual and religiousMiddle EastMuslim
Day of Sorrow
In its own language: روز غم (Persian); یوم غم (Urdu)
A mourning day for some Shia Muslims, remembering the 1926 loss of graves in Medina
The Day of Sorrow is a day of mourning kept by some Muslims, mainly Shia, who remember the demolition of the Al-Baqi' cemetery in Medina in 1926. It falls on the eighth of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar, so its date in the Gregorian calendar shifts earlier by about eleven days each year.
When is Day of Sorrow kept?
Day of Sorrow is kept each year on the eighth of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar, a date that moves about eleven days earlier in the Gregorian calendar annually.
Some Shia Muslims keep the eighth of Shawwal as a day of mourning. It remembers 1926, when the burial ground at Al-Baqi' in Medina was destroyed on the orders of King Abdulaziz ibn Saud. Shia Muslims revere the family of Muhammad, and many of that family were laid to rest there, so the day is kept as a loss that is still felt.
What it marks
The Day of Sorrow looks back to a burial ground in Medina called Al-Baqi'. In 1926 the cemetery was pulled down. The work was ordered by Saudi King Abdulaziz ibn Saud. According to the sources, the demolition happened on 21 April of that year. More than a change to one site, the event is remembered because of who was said to rest there. The cemetery is described as a place where members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad, had been buried, and that is the heart of the grief the day carries.
Who keeps it
People who keep the day are described as some Muslims, with the observance tied most closely to Shia Islam. It is Shia Muslims who are named in the sources, and their reverence for the family of Muhammad gives the day its weight. Two further names are recorded, and neither is Arabic. One is Persian: Ruz-e Gham. The other is Urdu: Yaum-e Gham. These point to Muslims who speak those languages. The sources stop there; they name no country of origin for the day and no single place where it is held.
When it falls
The day belongs to the Islamic calendar, which is lunar. It is kept on the eighth of Shawwal. In the Gregorian calendar, the demolition it marks took place on 21 April 1926. Because a lunar year is shorter than a solar one, a fixed Islamic date falls about eleven days earlier each year in Gregorian terms. The sources note this drift, which means that readers who follow a civil calendar will find the Day of Sorrow moving steadily backwards through the year rather than staying in one month.
Why the graves matter
In Shia Islamic theology the Ahl al-Bayt hold a central place. They are the family of Muhammad, and devotion to them runs through Shia belief and practice. The cemetery at Al-Baqi' in Medina is remembered as a resting place for a number of them. For the people who keep this day, the destruction of the site is therefore not only damage to stone and soil. It is bound up with the standing of the family they venerate. The day gives that feeling a date, once a year, in the month of Shawwal.
How Day of Sorrow is kept
The sources describe the day as a commemoration rather than setting out any fixed rite. It is marked by some Muslims, above all Shia, as a day of mourning, and it is tied to the eighth of Shawwal. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, the Gregorian date moves about eleven days earlier every year, so the observance does not stay in one month for long. Those who keep it remember the cemetery at Al-Baqi' in Medina and the graves that were lost when it was destroyed in 1926 under King Abdulaziz ibn Saud.
When and where
It falls on the eighth of Shawwal, a date in the lunar Islamic calendar. The demolition it remembers happened on 21 April 1926 in the Gregorian calendar. A lunar year is around eleven days shorter than a solar one, so the day drifts roughly eleven days earlier each Gregorian year and does not sit in a single month.
The site at the centre of the day is the Al-Baqi' cemetery in Medina, in what is now Saudi Arabia, and that country is the one the sources connect with it. The names recorded in Persian and Urdu suggest the commemoration is known to Muslims who speak those languages. The sources do not name any other country where it is kept.
What Day of Sorrow means
For those who keep it, the day is about reverence and loss. The Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad, are central to Shia Islamic theology, and the cemetery in Medina is remembered as a place where a number of them were buried. When that ground was destroyed, the community lost something it holds sacred. Marking the date each year keeps the memory alive and ties private devotion to an event in the shared history of the Muslim world.
Questions people ask about Day of Sorrow
When is Day of Sorrow kept?
Day of Sorrow is kept each year on the eighth of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar, a date that moves about eleven days earlier in the Gregorian calendar annually.
What is the Day of Sorrow?
It is a day of mourning kept by some Muslims, most of them Shia. It remembers the destruction in 1926 of the Al-Baqi' cemetery in Medina, a burial ground connected with members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad.
Who keeps it?
The sources describe it as a commemoration by some Muslims, especially Shia Muslims, who revere the family of Muhammad. It also has names in Persian and Urdu, Ruz-e Gham and Yaum-e Gham, which suggests it is known among Muslims who speak those languages.
Where is it kept?
The cemetery at the heart of the day is in Medina, in Saudi Arabia. That is the country the sources attach to it. They do not list other countries or name a particular city outside Medina where the observance is held.
What was destroyed?
The Al-Baqi' cemetery in Medina was demolished in 1926, according to the sources, under Saudi King Abdulaziz ibn Saud. The cemetery is remembered as a burial place for numbers of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad.
See also
Uma LulikSacred ancestral clan houses and ritual shrines in East Timor
KenduriA communal prayer meal and gathering shared across Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei
PretaOfferings and rites for spirits enduring deep hunger across Asian traditions.Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Day of Sorrow", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryParampara rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-12.
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