The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (268 page)

Ashram
:

see
RAMA
.

 
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(Heb., ‘happy are they’). First word of a reading from the book of Psalms used in the Jewish
liturgy
.

 
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Ashtoreth
or Astarte
.

Pagan Goddess. Frequently designated in the Bible as the feminine version of
Ba‘alim
and generally used to mean pagan worship.

 
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(Arab., from Heb.,
‘
s
r
, ‘tenth [of the month]’). The Jewish
Day of Atonement
, observed as a day of fasting by the early Muslim community in
Mad
na
. It became a voluntary fast day on 10
Mu
arram
, often observed by the pious. For
Sh
‘a
Muslims, this is the anniversary of the death of
al-Husain
at the hands of the Caliph Yaz
d, and it is observed often with displays of self-inflicted wounds indicating willingness for martyrdom, and by martyrdom plays (
ta‘ziya
).