Abstract
Most Muslims in Iran are Shia, and they have some special rituals with a historical background. One of the prominent ones is the Muharram rituals, in which people practice unique rituals in memory of Husain ibn Ali, the third Imam of Shia. Muharram rituals are the identificial foundation of Shii believers, and different narrations are available over Shia ritual history. However, the post-revolutionary (1979) religious intellectuals attempted to explain Islam, especially Shia rituals by rationality. They claim that it is necessary to add rationality to Shia rituals and educate believers to ignore irrational aspects of rituals. We argue that religion is a cultural phenomenon related to people’s beliefs and not rationality. Rationality is a modern concept that cannot accept mythical aspects of rituals. These rituals give identification to people and help them to experience the spiritual side of their life. It is not possible to critique people’s religious practices with modern rationality. It is necessary to separate the belief field from modern rationality and provide room for communicative rationality. In forming this argument, we did a content analysis of religious intellectuals’ texts. So, methodologically, this study is based on content analysis. Theoretically, it was based on Habermas theory of rationality.
Presenters
Soodeh MansouriStudent, Graduate, University of California - Santa Barbara, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
SHIA, MUHARRAM, RATIONALITY, IDENTITY, NARRATION, RITUALS
