The local Shia Muslim community will honor Imam Hussain, a martyr who defended Islam with a small group of supporters against an Iraqi army nearly 1,400 years ago, with an event on Saturday in ...

Local humor reflects society. Within Iraq’s Shia community, there is a popular joke: Saddam dies and enters a special prison in hell for worst 100 offenders of all time. Residents are assigned cells ...

NPR's Jackie Northam reports from Najaf on the "Hawza," the Islamic seminary in Najaf that provides guidance and religious instruction for Shia Muslims worldwide. The Hawza is gaining new prominence ...

Visting iraq’s latest grand shrine in what is said to be the world’s largest cemetery, in the holy city of Najaf, has become something of a pilgrimage for people from across the region wanting to ...