Portrait of Basim al-Karbalaei

Birthday profile

Basim al-Karbalaei

Bassim Al-Karbalaei, Iraqi Eulogy Reciter

Born
November 12, 1967
Age in 2026
59
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1967

About Basim al-Karbalaei

Haj Basim Ismail Muhammad-Ali al-Karbalaei (Arabic: باسم إسماعيل محمد علي الكربلائي; born 11 November 1966), commonly known as Basim Karbalaei is an Iraqi Shi'ite eulogy reciter. Al-Karbalaei's voice and performance is considered particularly distinctive, the former is considered one of the most compelling instruments in the history of lamentations for the Ahl al-Bayt. His vocal abilities have allowed him to be identified as one of the greatest voices in the Arab world, widely heard by audiences all across the globe. His choice of poetry, melodies, performances, were able to attract millions of listeners, allowing them to abandon the types of music that are religiously forbidden. Al-Karbalaei managed to fill a void for them, by continuously introducing new methods and styles in his recitations. He has also produced works in languages other than Arabic, like Persian, Urdu and English. Al-Karbalaei, for the most of it, has been apolitical with his elegies, trying to keep his elegies exclusively about the Ahl al-Bayt and their memory. In 2019, al-Karbalaei was gifted with a crown made of pure gold, and dubbed Sultan al-Minbar al-Hussaini (sultan of the Husayni pulpit), by the Hussaini Reciters Association in Kadhimiya. He later donated the crown to the Abbas shrine museum. He lived in Isfahan, near his mother's family, and it was his uncle Rasool al-Tukmachi, who discovered al-Karbalaei's talent and began to encourage him to recite praises and lamentations in memory of the Ahl al-Bayt. In 1994, al-Karbalaei was invited to recite for the first ten nights of Muharram in Kuwait. Upon many invitations, al-Karbalaei's visited Bahrain for the first time in 2002, for the first ten nights of Muharram.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Basim al-Karbalaei timeline

  1. In 1994, al-Karbalaei was invited to recite for the first ten nights of Muharram in Kuwait.
  2. Upon many invitations, al-Karbalaei's visited Bahrain for the first time in 2002, for the first ten nights of Muharram.

The world when Basim al-Karbalaei was born

Basim al-Karbalaei was born in 1967. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1967

  • #1 song"To Sir with Love" – Lulu
  • Top movieIn the Heat of the Night
  • Top TV showBonanza
  • Best-selling bookOne Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst Super Bowl — Green Bay Packers defeat Kansas City Chiefs
  • Top headlineSummer of Love transforms counterculture
  • Technology milestoneFirst heart transplant performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard
  • Defining fadHippie culture and psychedelia
  • Notable inventionFirst handheld calculator
  • World population3.49 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderLyndon B. Johnson
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • Also wonPhiladelphia 76ers (NBA)
  • U.S. population198.7M

1967 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Basim al-Karbalaei's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19672026
Gas$0.33$3.45/gal
Average home$14,800$435,000
Average income$9,800$67,500
Minimum wage$1.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.22$11.95
Postage stamp$0.05$0.73
Population198.7M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, X, Instagram. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.