86. The Wahhabi attack on Karbala

In 1801/02 Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammed, the second ruler of the first Saudi Wahhabi state led 12,000 Wahhabi militants and attacked the city of Karbala. The attack, which was justified by the teachings of Ibn Taymiyya, sought to destroy the Shrines of Imam Husain and Aba al-Fadhil al-Abbas.

According to several witness reports, between 2,000-5,000 people were killed, and the shrines were plundered. J.B. Rousseau, a French orientalist who was in Karbala at the time of the attack said that the Wahhabis “inflicted the greatest damage on the minarets and the domes, believing those structures were made of gold bricks.”

Several scholars said that this attack served for two reasons, to loot the wealth that was in the shrines, and destroy the shrines which they believe to be places of shirk.