A Sociological Explanation of Arbaeen Pilgrimage and Its Social Functions (original) (raw)
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International Multidisciplinary Journal of Pure Life (IMJPL), 2022
SUBJECT AND OBJECTIVES: Despite the many uprisings in human history, the revolution of Imam Hussein and his companions is a key example of the Islamic revivalism that has retained its distinct characteristics and reformist features throughout the ages. The philosophy of millions marching to Karbala every year is in commemoration of Ashura Day. In addition to reflecting humanity's thirst for freedom and the populations outrage against social injustice, oppression and tyranny, it also represents the spiritual and practical aspects of love and loyalty to the Master of Martyrs who through his pure blood and the sacrifices of his beloved ones, revived the true spirit of Islam. METHOD AND FINDING: This idea of pilgrims visiting Imam Hussein's sanctified physical shrine has been extensively covered in anthropological and social studies. It has also prompted international observers to closely monitor this series of events which are not present at such a massive scale in other parts of the world. Despite the fact that this visit is regarded as the largest mass gathering on a global magnitude, we find that some are attempting in various ways to oppose these great religious rituals and wipe away the message of this visit in all its dimensions. For example, some secularism has criticised the march to Imam Hussein as they believe it disrupts society and imprisons many people's lives. They also have the notion that civilization and growth are built on a foundation of materialistic means, with morality and spirituality views having no place in this society. Also tend to notice that the International media purposefully seeks to ignore these annual visits and this global event, with them seeking to cover and spotlight every news story in various fields and different regions of the world, no matter how minor it may seem. CONCLUSION: It is necessary for all of us, in our respective capacities, to spread the message: ‘Who is Hussain?’, to globalise this religious and social event as one of the most important occurrences in the world while also working on the cultural building and reconstruction of modern Islamic civilization as well as to research the various aspects of this great human and peaceful review centred on the Arbaeen Pilgrimage.
From Attachment to a Sacred Figure to Loyalty to a Sacred Route: The Walking Pilgrimage of Arbaeen
Religions, 2020
Around 20 million Shia pilgrims shape one of the world’s biggest pilgrimages in Iraq, called “Arbaeen,” many of whom walk long distances to Karbala city as a part of the ritual every year. Faith in Imam Hussein, who was martyred in the battle of Karbala in 680 CE, is central among all pilgrims in this ritual, but the main question is how do the pilgrims’ faith and psychological cognitions translate into this spiritual journey with different meanings during the Arbaeen pilgrimage? The present study aims to discover the different social and psychological reasons for pilgrims’ feelings of attachment to Imam Hussein and to the Arbaeen pilgrimage route. Through 57 semi-structured in-depth interviews with pilgrims in two phases, Arbaeen 2014 and 2019, four different perceived roles for Imam Hussein including beloved, interceding, transformative, and unifier figure were found, leading pilgrims to feel an attachment to him. The current study mainly contributes to the literature by presentin...
New Pathways in Pilgrimage Studies, 2016
Religious pilgrimage and holy visits to sanctuaries are a widespread phenomenon in the Maghreb and Middle East. Hajj (pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca), on the one hand, and ziyara (visits to shrines), on the other, are seen by most people, devout or not, as distinct social practices and not to be compared or thought in relation to one another. Nevertheless, anthropologists and historians of the Muslim world have shown how the two share a common symbolic history and similar practices. The numerous local pilgrimages are always emically considered secondary to the pilgrimage to Mecca but despite the clear distinction in local discourse, they may under certain conditions be presented as pilgrimages of substitution. Consequently, the notion of pilgrimage in the Muslim world, whether Arab or not, has long been studied through the model of and in relation with hajj. While people prepare throughout the year for hajj, from Morocco to Iran and further east, in urban or rural settings, holy men and women are visited and worshiped at any time for the intercession they provide. Hence, although hajj and ziyara can be studied for themselves, they should not be totally separated from one another. Every year millions of Muslim pilgrims and/or visitors 'hit the road' and this mass movement has been focus of a thriving scholarly field ever since the early twentieth century. In this chapter I will begin by considering how scholars have underlined the complex articulations and interplay between hajj and ziyara. I will then retrace the ways in which the social phenomenon of pilgrimage and local shrine visit has been studied in this region of the world according to different scholarly traditions. Despite the geographical and historical divide between the eastern and western area of the region, called in pre-independence
Pilgrimage and its Dual Functions in Iranian Shiitsm
International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, 2016
Salvation is the main concern not only for theistic religions but also for atheistic ones, therefore, all of them try to offer doctrines for achieving both salvation and redemption in this world or in another world. Followers of the Twelver Shiism strongly believe in salvation through the Imam. Imamat and Imam, do not just refer to a special person, more than that, they involve a spiritual / worldly doctrine toward a complete and multilateral salvation, and also socio-political leadership. One of the important parts of this doctrine that involves spiritual / worldly salvation is intercession via religious rituals like praying, pilgrimage, mourning and so on. This article considers the impacts of these dual functions of Shiite Imams on the Shiites' viewpoint about pilgrimage in the framework of social constructionism as a suitable case study in the sociology of religion. According to the Shiite's belief system, Imams and some of their offspring are divinely chosen people who endured many sufferings in the path of Allah. Moreover, they own the divine knowledge which allows them to lead society in a correct way. They are, therefore, worthy of leadership; they also have spiritual intercession in their power. This meaning system has constructed a strong belief and behaviour with a double face: Shiites expect to fulfil, (through their Imams and pilgrimage), their immaterial and material wishes simultaneously-Spiritual prayer, demand for intercession in the hereafter, vows (as deals), and prayers for absolute material wishes all come together inseparably in pilgrimage.
Forms of Pilgrimage at the Shrine of Khāled Nabi, Northeastern Iran
Pilgrimage (religious tourism) is one of the fastest growing forms of tourism. Nevertheless, there is still a gap between abstract theory and empirical research about this form of tourism in the literature. The dearth of studies is even more glaring in the field of Ziyārat or pilgrimage in Islam which in spite of its importance and wide extended practice has been mostly ignored in tourism and geographic literature. The present study features one such example that is (almost) unknown within the community of tourism and geography researchers. In Iran, religious pilgrimage has a long tradition. Numerous sacred places with various rituals and traditions, practiced by pilgrims all around the country, indicate its antiquity (before the Islamic periods). Among the most practiced forms of religious pilgrimage are visits to several thousand shrines, which are known in Iran as Ziyāratgah (lit. place of visit) or Imāmzādeh. One of these Ziyāratgah is the pre-Islamic shrine of Khāled Nabi (also known as Halat Nabi), linked to a legendary Christian holy man from the 6th century AD. The shrine lies in the northeastern Iranian province of Golestan, in a region called Turkmen-Sahra. Despite its relatively remote setting, every year more than 90,000 travellers visit this shrine. This paper considers the variety of pilgrimage forms at the shrine and shows that the travellers to Khāled Nabi shrine are not homogenous and comprise different types of visitors. In addition to secular motivations, based on the visitors’ curiosity, three forms of pilgrimage, namely, ‘religious pilgrims’, ‘cultural pilgrims’ and ‘nostalgic pilgrims’ have been identified.
The History of Implementation of Pilgrimage in the Pagan Era
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2018
The first pilgrimage performed by the Prophet Abraham which was in the 20th century BC had eventually been mixed with polytheism and heresy elements before Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was sent to this world. In this regard, this article aims to reveal the ritual of the hajj in the ancient Arab society which is different from the current practice of Muslims nowadays. This article is a qualitative study using content analysis. The finding reveals that although Arab community remained to believe in Allah, but in view to the long gap between the two ages of Prophet Abraham and Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.), they had mixed up the implementation of a true and wrong rituals in their pilgrimage.
Shiʿite Identity Formation through Frames of Arbaʿyin Pilgrimage Narrative
Anthropology of the Middle East , 2022
This article investigates emerging patterns of pilgrimage in the context of Shiʿite Islam and studies the case of Arbaʿyin based on two weeks of participatory observation, walking from the al-Faw peninsula in the far south of Iraq to the city of Karbalâ. I identify three narratives in this pilgrimage-tribal, ideological and orthodox-and discuss their commonalities and differentials. The maʿāzīb system of the tribal narrative is the core of the comparison, yet each narrative is interrelated with the others through the central themes of war, political Islam and religious seminaries. In the last section, I explore recent transformations of these themes as well as the pilgrims' configuration. The tribal narrative of Arbaʿyin presents itself as a rival to the ideological narrative pilgrimage. Although this narrative is based on the social structure of a tribal system, it struggles with new transformations and challenges in form and content.
journal of art & civilization of the orient, 2019
Iranian people have always had a deep bond with their surrounding nature and their cultural aspect was also affected and in relation with the natural landscape in a way that by studying the religious sites of Iran we can discover a constant companionship of natural elements along the sacred places. This kind of landscape goes beyond its religious function and the interaction between man and the environment creates a potential for social and recreational functions along with its religious aspects. The principle of purposefulness in the choosing of recreational destination for the people of Iran has led them to adapt space creation of their holy monuments to this tradition and the multi-functional role, which can be adapted from the structure and hierarchy of the entrance and courts of Shah Nematollah's tomb, and for each of these courtyards in proportion to their creational elements, different behavioral aspect and status can be determined that is associated with the behavioral contract arising from the tradition of pilgrimage. Due to the importance of cultural landscapes in the identity of a nation, maintaining and keeping the function of visiting graves and religious buildings not only helps the existence and transition of a historical value to the next generation, but also prevents the deterioration and collapse of behavioral contracts rooted in their history and identity. By choosing Shah Nematollah Vali's tomb as a case study, in addition to investigating the tradition of pilgrimage-excursion among the Iranian, this paper investigates its effect on cultural landscapes and then, studies the features of the tomb and the functional role of its different parts in the tradition of pilgrimage. Furthermore, the field observations show that how the continuation of this tradition has encountered problems due to the change in social values and new laws in dealing with religious places and changing the attitude toward this behavioral station has transformed the old tradition into an anti-value.