Iraqi shrine tablets offer blessings, cures and a living

A piece of molded clay made of local soil, known as ''turba,'' in seen in Kerbala, Iraq April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - For pilgrims, the clay tablets from Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim Kerbala shrine are a blessing, an aid to prayer, even a cure for sickness. For local families, the are all that, and also a business.

The tablets, known as "turbah" or soil in Arabic, come in many shapes - round, square, lozenge, half-circle - with various inscriptions, often praising Imam Hussein, Prophet Mohammad's grandson who is buried in the city.