The Karbala Tragedy and Suffering in Shia

Abstract

Shi’a and redemptive suffering are two close and inseparable terms in the Muslim world. Since the martyrdom of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Husayn b. Ali, in the battlefield in the year 680, the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt (people of the house of the Prophet) weep and lament. Throughout long centuries, weeping and self-lamentation had been turned into an established religious system. Timeless suffering for Husayn and Karbala martyrs is still working and functioning. Every drop of tears make Shi’ites closer to Husayn and God and make them a part of past and present.