Title: Karbala as A Global Museum for Peace

Author: Syed Sikander Mehdi, Director Academics and Projects, Malir University, Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract: Though remembered, revered and celebrated worldwide on a regular basis, the world outside the Muslim world knows very little about Karbala. Its memory is about a heroic struggle against the tyranny of power..

The event took place at Karbala, a city about 100 kilometres southwest of Baghdad. On 10 October 680 CE, Imam Hussain was brutally murdered along with his close family members and followers. He was the grandson of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH), and son of the fourth Caliph Imam Ali.

The battle at Karbala was fought between the army of the Islamic state comprising 4,000 warriors or more and a small group of 72 hungry and thirsty persons, ill-equipped and ill-prepared for war. Starting in the morning, the battle ended in the afternoon. Within a few hours, it was all over.

Karbala is generally known to the Muslims only, and that too, as a battleground and as a fountainhead of spiritualism. Its discovery as a global museum for peace is still awaited.