Muharram mourning tradition in the desert

The story of Karbala goes back over a thousand years ago. It took place in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar at Karbala, in modern-day Iraq. The battle was fought between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph named Yazid, and a much smaller army led by Imam Hussain with around 100 of his companions with some narrations listing as little as 72 companions. Just over 50 years after Muhammad’s death, the Muslim rulership was descending into corruption.