US traveler, blogger says visit to Iraq is never complete without visiting Holy Karbala, Najaf

The American traveler and blogger Joelle Bohringer documented her most important moments and the sites she visited in Iraq, specifically the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, describing the million-person visits as devotion that adorns the two holy cities.

Traveler Bohringer, who calls herself “Daughter of modern-day Battuta” after the Muslim traveler Ibn Battuta, recently visited Iraq and published her own observations on the YPT—Young Pioneer Tours—website.

Bohringer said: “The holy cities of Karbala and Najaf are among the most important places in the world for millions of Shia Muslims, and they also represent a global center where non-Muslims frequently visit.”

She continued, “It can be said that Karbala and Najaf are two of the most important cities in Islamic history, the first embraces the body of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) who was martyred on its land in the tragic event of the Battle of al-Tuff, and the second embraces the body of the Imam of Muslims, Imam Ali (peace be upon him).”

Bohringer explained that “despite the dark reality that the two cities witnessed during the era of Saddam Hussein’s rule and the wars that Iraq experienced, there is a strict vigilance by the Shia Muslims to care for them after the fall of the Ba’athist rule, to be safe havens for all believers.”