Wahhabi sack of Karbala
Wahhabi sack of Karbala | |
---|---|
Location | Karbala, Ottoman Empire |
Date | April 21, 1802[1] | (or 1801)
Target | The shrine of Husayn ibn Ali |
Attack type | Land army attack |
Deaths | 2,000[2]: 74 –5,000[3] |
Victims | Shia inhabitants of Karbala |
Perpetrator | Emirate of Diriyah |
Assailants | Wahhabis of Najd led by Saud bin Abdulaziz |
No. of participants | 12,000 soldiers[4] |
The Wahhabi sack of Karbala occurred on 21 April 1802 (1216 H), under the rule of
The Wahhabis killed between 2,000
Background
Following the teachings of
The Turkish Deputy of Mecca had concluded an agreement with the Emirate of Diriyah which ensured the safety of Hajj pilgrims. However, in a bid to disrupt the Ottoman-Saudi treaty, Iraqi tribesmen were ordered to attack the caravans. In retaliation, 'Abd al-Azeez launched a major offensive and by April 1801 the Saudi armies had reached Karbala.[9]
Event
Date of attack
Most European and Russian orientalists date the attack to March 1801, based on works by Rousseau,
Attack
On 18 Dhu al-Hijjah, coincident with the anniversary of
Describing the event as "a horrible example of Wahhabis' cruel fanaticism in the terrible fate of [mosque of] Imam Husayn," Rousseau, who was residing in Iraq at the time, wrote that an incredible amount of wealth, including donations of silver, gold, and jewels to Husayn ibn Ali's shrine and those brought by
According to a Wahhabi chronicler, Uthman ibn Abdullah ibn Bishr:
The Muslims scaled the walls, entered the city ... and killed the majority of its people in the markets and in their homes. [They] destroyed the dome placed over the grave of Husayn ibn Ali [and took] whatever they found inside the dome and its surroundings ... the grille surrounding the tomb which was encrusted with emeralds, rubies, and other jewels ... different types of property, weapons, clothing, carpets, gold, silver, precious copies of the Qur'an."[2]: 74
Wahhabis such as Ibn Bishr referred to themselves simply as 'Muslims', since they believed that they were the true Muslims.[2]: 74
The leader of the attack, Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Muhammad bin Saud, has been known as the 'butcher of Karbala' since then.
Aftermath
The fall of Karbala was counted as a defeat for
The attack exposed the lack of a Shia "army" to mobilize against such attacks. It also led to a strengthening of the "sectarian identity" of Shia ulama (i.e. scholars).[10]: 28 The sack horrified the "Sunni scholarly establishment", but its aftermath also gave fundamentalism a degree of intellectual credibility in the Sunni literary salons of Baghdad, further heightening sectarian tensions.[11]: 200 Saudi ruler Abd al-Azeez would soon be assassinated in a revenge attack. Following 'Abd al-Azeez's death, further Wahhabi advances within Iraq were halted.[12][9]
See also
References
- ^ "The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam, 1500–1818". au.af.mil. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
- ^ ISBN 9789774164996.
- ^ a b c d e Litvak, Meir (2010). "Karbala". Iranica Online.
- ^ ISBN 9780863567797.
- OCLC 52178942.
- ISBN 978-0-367-51483-9.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link - ISBN 9780231531924.
- ISBN 9004125485.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-367-51483-9.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link - ISBN 0691115753.
- ISBN 978-0691133430.
- ISBN 978-0-9856326-9-4.