The Kaaba in Karbala: Why has the model sparked widespread controversy inside and outside Iraq?

Activists and bloggers from other Arab countries participated in a discussion about the Kaaba model and the scenes that accompany it.

Among the commentators who saw in these scenes “an attempt to politicize the rituals and to include the Iraqi religious sites in the game of the regional axes to separate them from their Arab environment”.

Some of them refused to imitate the Kaaba and Hajj rituals for religious reasons.

Some of the tweeters described what happened in Karbala as “a provocative transgression and flagrant violation of the teachings and sacred values ​​of Islam”, especially as the videos documented some who “are blessed with the mock up as if it had become an alternative to the Kaaba in Mecca. “

On the contrary, other bloggers were surprised by what they called the “amplification” campaign and some analysis of the views coming from Karbala.

Some of them cited scenes of Kaaba models that were previously installed in other Arab and Islamic countries.

Meanwhile, Iraqi activists said the sculpture was built to celebrate the birth of Ali bin Abi Talib and did not contain any crimes or political overtones.

The Hussaini Shrine (the official body responsible for the shrines) has denied responsibility for the erection of the monument.

In a statement released by Iraqi news sites, she said the model “belongs to some of the Hussaini processions that were installed as part of one of the representative scenes to mark the occasion of the Imam’s birth. Ali “.

Two days after his condition, the threshold stepped in to remove stereoscopy, after authorities announced a curfew was imposed due to the high number of Coronavirus infections across the country.

But the clarification of the Hussaini threshold and the removal of the body did not end the controversy.

Some were not convinced of Al-Utaba al-Hasina’s statements and questioned his delay in discerning the presence of the object.

This appears to have prompted some Shia sheikhs and religious authorities to voice their opinion on the matter, which has not been without political and religious interactions.

The Shia cleric, Muhammad Mahdi Al-Khalisi, demanded “a unified stance on Sunni and Shiite references to confront what he described as” the slander of religion “.

While Shiite cleric Hassan al-Mousawi sees what happened for political reasons.

Karbala activists refuse to link the incident to political motives or religious references in Iran.

City reporters told the BBC: “What happened is just an old legacy that visitors to the shrine have been bringing to life for many years.”

Followers of the Shia sect practiced rituals and held processions in commemoration of important religious or historical events, such as commemoration of imams or commemoration of the Ashura event.

The organizers of these religious processions are keen to organize historical performances in squares generally crowded with spectators. These performances or rituals are called “comparisons”.

In November 2019, a model of the Kaaba built by the municipality of Tunis on the occasion of the Prophet’s birthday sparked a great controversy in the country, between welcome and other critic denouncing the scene for various reasons.

“White pilgrimage”.

And in July 2020, a video was released showing a Kaaba-like model in a neighborhood of Cairo, around which a number of citizens have revolved in conjunction with the advent of the Eid al-Adha prayer.

Tweeters at the time denounced the behavior and viewed it as the start of the spread of heresies, while others liked the idea.

Some have pointed out that the citizens of this region are keen to revive this popular custom every Eid, so they head to hang a model of the Kaaba in one of the town squares.

The case was repeated in the governorate of Alexandria.

The making of Kaaba models, whether for educational purposes or for reviving religious events, etc., is one of the questions that has satisfied people in recent years.

Scholars have differed over whether to make it or hang it on the wall.

Some of them banned it, and some of them allowed it as long as its purpose was to remind people of the Kaaba and not to replace the ritual of Hajj.

While others have inferred opinions from religious sources and sheikhs on whether or not to build similar structures in the Kaaba.

However, another group of people interested in religious affairs feel that the door to ijtihad is open and calls for respect for the rituals of others and not to be drawn into stereotypes and campaigns of insults.