The significance of shrines for Shiites goes far beyond religious tourism or acts of adoration. These shrines are not merely a source of spiritual inspiration for them, but have long been their mainstays in political and social life. These shrines are related to main points of dispute that divided Islam into two different groups that nothing can now bring together.

Wilferd Madelung, a German academic in oriental studies, wrote: “No event in history has divided Islam more profoundly and durably than the succession to Muhammad.” But it seems that the death of Shiite imams and their children played a much bigger role than the succession of Muhammad in dividing Muslims.

When Shiites visit Imam Ali’s shrine in Najaf or the shrine of his son Hussein in Karbala, they recall the long history of persecution that the imams and scholars endured at the hands of Sunni caliphs and sultans. This is why Shiites feel connected to the current political situation and internal conflict with the Sunni governments in the Muslim world.

For this reason, governments were mostly against Shiites visiting the shrines. Even though the visits are just acts of adoration for some people, it connected Shiites to the political history of their leaders — a history filled with murder, torture and exclusion.