Kerbela
a town and holy place in Asiatic Turkey 60 miles S. W. of Bagdad. The pilgrims number at least 200,000 annually. The sanctity of Kerbela arises from the fact that it is built on the site of the battlefield on which Hussein, son of Ali and Fatima, lost his life (680) in attempting to maintain his right of succession to the califate.
Every Shiite Moslem throughout the world who can afford it seeks sepulture in the holy ground.