A Social Analysis of Religious Ceremonies with an Emphasis on ‘Ashura’ Rituals

Document Type : Research Paper

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Abstract

There is no known society in the world in which there is not some kind of a religion. In many societies religion is a basic and fundamental component of culture and plays a major role in man’s social life and the formulation and establishment of acceptable norms in those communities. Religion is a mixture of beliefs and practices. Religious ceremonies and rituals shape a large part of our social actions and behaviors. Variety, prevalence, vitality, and overall and eternal influence are among peculiarities of religious ceremonies and rituals in our culture in this country.
The rituals of Imam Husayn’s ‘Ashura’ are one of the greatest and most magnificent religious ceremonies in our society. After more than a thousand years these rituals are still performed here in a vivid and lively manner lifting up our social life every year and reinforcing a great deal of good traditions and conventions and molding a great number of desirable norms in our individual and social actions and conducts. Since the survival and continuity of any element in the cultural organization of any social system depends on the functions that it performs in that system, some social functions of ‘Ashura’ rituals that have caused its duration in the cultural system of our country comprise the subject of this article.

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