A video lasting no more than a few seconds on a phone screen has succeeded in keeping an event that took place more than 1,300 years ago present in the image of a martyr today.

This is where the story of “The Lovers’ Compass” begins.

This project seeks to explore the relationship between the influence of the Karbala narrative and contemporary narratives of Islamic resistance in Lebanon.

Building upon the longstanding tradition of storytelling through religious sermons and the pulpit, the project examines modern media, with particular attention to content shared on Instagram.

While following content related to Islamic resistance in Lebanon, the presence of Karbala can be observed, either directly or indirectly, in the background of the narrative: through images of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) or Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas (peace be upon him), and at other times through words, attitudes, and meanings—sacrifice, patience, steadfastness, and devotion.

In the stories of martyrs and their families, this presence takes on a more human dimension. Expressions such as “O Allah, accept this offering from us” and “I saw nothing but beauty” are heard today from the mothers of martyrs, repeated within new contexts and echoing the words of Lady Zaynab (peace be upon her) when she lost her brother and everyone around her.

Likewise, the words of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), “Far be it from us to accept humiliation,” continue to appear within contemporary discourse.

This does not mean that Karbala and the present are literally the same story. Rather, it raises a deeper question: How did the event of Karbala become a narrative reference through which people turn to understand and express new events?

In Karbala, we encounter figures who did not remain confined to history. Many of the individuals who shaped the legacy of Karbala—Imam Hussein, Al-Abbas, Ali al-Akbar, Al-Qasim ibn Al-Hasan, and Lady Zaynab (peace be upon them)—have, through religious and social memory, become models and sources of inspiration whose meanings are recalled across different eras.

The image of the young man who sacrifices himself, the devoted brother, the patient mother, and the leader who refuses humiliation and submission—all of these images return in new forms within the stories being told today.

The relationship between the past and the present, therefore, goes beyond a mere similarity of words. It is a relationship rooted in memory: How does a community remember an event?
How does it transmit its meanings from one generation to another?

And how can a historical event become part of the language we use to understand and express new events?“

Everything we have is from Ashura,” said Imam Khomeini, may his soul rest in peace.
What was once transmitted through religious gatherings and sermons can now reach us through a small screen that we carry wherever we go.

We live in a world that we once believed was merely “virtual,” yet it has become a real part of our lives and our collective memory—even part of the way we understand events.

For younger generations, the story no longer arrives solely from the pulpit. It may come through a Reel, an image, an audio recording, a carousel, or a short sentence on Instagram.And this is where media enters the story.

Instagram is not simply a space where images are posted. The choice of words and narrative structure, the image, the music, the editing style, the sequence of scenes, the framing, and even the moment at which the video begins with its “hook” all contribute to constructing the meaning of the story.

The event itself may remain the same, but the way it is narrated can lead the audience to perceive it differently.

And despite all this technological development, one thing remains deeply rooted in the human experience and continues to capture our attention: The story.

Long before the phone, before the screen, and before every modern media tool, human beings listened to stories.

Characters remain engraved in the mind and heart longer than numbers do. People connect with human experiences and choices more deeply than with abstract historical accounts.

With the emergence of modern digital media, new forms of storytelling have appeared: a martyr’s story told in one minute, a mother’s memory preserved in a voice recording, a historical event transformed into a visual design, or an Ashura-inspired meaning presented to a generation that never experienced any of those events firsthand.

But what happens to a message when it moves from the pulpit to the screen?Does storytelling through digital media preserve the same meaning, or does it reconstruct and reshape it?“

The Lovers’ Compass” moves between history, modern media, and society, accompanied by religious, media, and human voices. It is an exploration of how Karbala continues to live within collective memory, how its story is being told today, and why it continues to find its way into the lives and stories of people belonging to an entirely different era.