Is it mandatory for a Shi'a to perform the act of Matam?

You probably would know me as the guy who wants to convert to Shia Islam from Sunni thought school....-i don't know why but from what I've as a child growing up in Pakistan,the act of self flagellation seems barbaric although i don't find any shies in the us do so.

As salami alum,

brother Gani,.a Muslim is a person who submits his/her will to Allah. And the meaning of Kalima is "there is no God but Allah and Mohammad (peace be upon him) is the messenger of Allah".

So think yourself now, what is important to you, Shi'a or Sunni or follow the right path of Islam?

Islam does not allow anything extreme. So, please don't be misguided. Have you read the translation of Quran in your language?

Read the Quran to understand what Allah says in the Quran. As a Muslim it should be your first task to read the Quran and then the Hadith.

Trust me, it's not hard to understand the meaning. When you will know the meaning of the Quran then it will be easier for you to make a decision.

Here is the link to read the Quran - http://www.quranexplorer.com/

May Allah guide you the right path of Islam.

LOL I'm stalking you :P

anyways no its not compulsory for a Shina to do ma tam

each one has a way of mourning for imam Hussein and other imams,
in Park/india n some other places they do it with blades but its not compulsory for u to do it,

once u gain love of Elul Bat u may automatically do ma tam, like ill tell u in Urdu, ( WHO gham itna zyada hoga ki tum seh nahi paoge,

so u know its something related to the heart,
see matam doesnt alll ways means hitting ones self, it can be matam with tears( crying)
beating chest,

some people use blades, i don encourage it but even they have a reason: they say when imam sacrificed for saving islam by almost sacrificing all his family from a mnth old son to a young sister, then what is this little blood that we sacrifice a little,

anyways coming to the main thing: matam means mourning, u may think saying that its something that happened 1400 yrs ago so why mourn till now about it,

no its not all that!
if someone brutally killed prophet then wont u mourn ? wont u hate that killer?
similarly this is why we mourn, our prophet s grandson sacrificed everything all mfor the sake of saving islam so are our tears so costly that u cant mourn for him?

seee once more id like to tell u, mourning is not all about hitting ones self, each ones has different ways may be ur way is tears n someone else s way is hittin

for example"prophet yacub as soon as he came to know that his son was killed by a creature as told by his other sons, he tore his clothes n hit his head n put the ashes of the earth on his head so u see? even a prophet mourned for his son.

read that shiite encyclopedia for all doubts to be cleared along with references and one more request is, please stay away from this site coz its full of hatred, u cud ask in many other places like shiachat,shiaconnect,najaf.org etc etc
k thanks

Chest beating that does not harm a person, is permissible. It is an expression of one?s emotion. One that brings out the emotions boiling in the heart. It is a natural phenomenon like a person claps and stands up from his place due to joy or excitement. However, there is a limit to it. An important condition is that no harm should come to the body. But since such actions do not express the original belief, it does not make any difference. It does not harm ones faith.

http://oneummah.net/understand/weeping_for_imam_husain.htm
http://oneummah.net/understand/