Karbala (Arabic:كربلاء; Transliterated:Al Karbala; also known as Karbala al-Muqaddasah, in the West, sometimes spelled Kerbela) is a city in Iraq. It is about 100 km southwest of Baghdad. It is the capital of Karbala Province. For Shi'a Muslims the city is one of the holiest cities, after Mekka,Medina, Jerusalem, and An Najaf.