The Wahhabi sack of Karbala occurred on 21 April 1802 (1216 H), under the rule of Abdulaziz bin Muhammad Al Saud, the second ruler of the Emirate of Diriyah.

[4] Following the teachings of Ibn Taymiyya, the Wahhabis "sought to return to the fundamentals of the tradition – the Quran, and the Sunnah, and the Hanbali school's legal positions.

"[7] They condemned some of the shia islamic practices such as veneration of the graves of their holy figures and Imams, which they called bid‘ah, and did not limit themselves to academic confrontation.

Arab historians and St John Philby date the fall of Karbala to March – April 1802, based on Ibn Bishr's report of the event.

[4] On 18 Dhu al-Hijjah, coincident with the anniversary of Ghadir Khum,[2]: 74  Wahhabis of the Najd led by Abdulaziz bin Muhammad's son, Saud, attacked Karbala.

[3] Describing the event as "a horrible example of Wahhabis' cruel fanaticism in the terrible fate of [mosque of] Imam Husayn," Rousseau, who was residing in Iraq at the time, wrote that an incredible amount of wealth, including donations of silver, gold, and jewels to Husayn ibn Ali's shrine and those brought by Nadir Shah from his India campaign, was known to have been gathered in the city of Karbala.