KarbalaKarbala is a major city in Iraq, and the capital of Karbala Governorate. With a population of around 800,000 people in 2024, Karbala is the second-largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. With presence of the Imam Husayn and Al-Abbas Shrines, Karbala is a profoundly holy city in Shia Islam. It is one of the main political, spiritual, and cultural hubs of Shia Islam.
IraqCountry in West AsiaIraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, historically known in the west as Mesopotamia, is a country in West Asia. Located within the Middle East, it is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west.
Lake MilhLake Razzaza (Arabic: البحيرة الرزازة, romanized: Buhairat Al-Razzaza, lit.'Lake of spray'), also known as Lake Milh (Arabic: بحيرة الملح, romanized: Buhairat Al-Milh, lit.'Lake of Salt'), is an artificial lake located a few miles west of Karbala, Iraq (32°41′N43°40′E / 32.683°N 43.667°E / 32.683; 43.667).
2023 Iraqi governorate electionsGovernorate or provincial elections were scheduled to be held in Iraq on 20 April 2020, to replace the provincial councils in the governorates of Iraq that were elected in the 2013 Iraqi governorate elections and, in Kurdistan Region, in the 2014 elections. The elections were delayed indefinitely in November 2019, amidst demonstrations demanding the end of the existing political system.
MuslimsMuslims (Arabic: المسلمون, romanized: al-Muslimūn, lit. 'submitters [to God]') are people who are adherents of Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham (or Allah) as it was revealed to Muhammad, the last Islamic prophet.
Governorates of IraqIraq consists of 19 governorates (Arabic: محافظة, romanized: muḥāfażah; Kurdish: پارێزگا, romanized: parêzgeh), also known as "provinces". Per the Iraqi constitution, governorates can form a federal region. Four governorates, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Halabja and Duhok, constitute the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. Baghdad (which is the most populous) and Basra are the oldest governorates.
ArabicCentral Semitic languageArabic is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic, including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic, which is derived from Classical Arabic.
Shia IslamSecond-largest branch of IslamShia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It is rooted in the belief that the Islamic prophet Muhammad explicitly designated his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib (r. 656–661) as his rightful political successor (caliph) and the divinely guided spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam).
Husayn ibn AliGrandson of Muhammad and the 3rd ImamHusayn ibn Ali (Arabic: حسين ابن علي, romanized: Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 CE) was an Alid political and religious leader. The second son of Ali and Fatima and a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as a younger brother of Hasan ibn Ali, Husayn is regarded as the third Imam in Shia Islam after his brother, Hasan, and before his son, Ali al-Sajjad.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.