After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Karbala tragedy and the martyrdom of Husayn (the third Twelver Shi'ite imam), became a central myth in the politicisation of Shi'ism in Iran (Moallem 2005). The desire to memorialise the event extensively expanded both in terms of its traditional forms and in newly innovated rites. This article explores recent ritual developments in the Iranian religious culture honouring Ali-Asqar (d. 680 CE), the infant son of Husayn. In 2003, a new ritual, the Husayni Infancy Conference (Hamayeshe Shikharegane Husayni),1 was introduced. It is the first universal ritual about Ali-Asqar that maintains the same structure throughout Iran. The ritual is the only public Muharram assembly dedicated to women as well as their infants (Fig. 1). It is arranged by an organisation known as the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour (Majmaʿe Jahani-e Hazrate Ali-Asqar), which the organizers simply refer to as ‘the Convention’.2 In this article, I discuss why the ritual is popular amongst urban, middle-class women.
Husayni Infancy Conference. Photo: Vahid Muʾemenzadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Husayni Infancy Conference. Photo: Vahid Muʾemenzadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Husayni Infancy Conference. Photo: Vahid Muʾemenzadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
This article is structured in the following manner. After describing the methods and sources I have used, I present an overview of the most well-known traditional rituals in Iran commemorating the murder of Ali-Asqar. Next, I identify transformations taking place in the Husayni Infancy Conference in terms of institutionalisation and the staging of rituals and their structure. I then examine the objectives behind the Husayni Infancy Conference by first looking at official objectives followed by my female interlocutors’ objectives. In the last section, I discuss why the ritual is popular amongst urban, middle-class women.
Method and Sources
There is a lack of serious academic studies describing and analysing the Husayni Infancy Conference. My research is based on fieldwork observations made on a research trip to Tehran, Shiraz, Qom and Qazvin between 2013 and 2016 during the annual Muharram festivals. In addition, I have interviewed 13 women who participate in rituals associated with Ali-Asqar, including the Husayni Infancy Conference. The women came from Tehran, Qazvin, Qom, Isfahan and Ahvaz. They were recruited for interview by my friends and relatives in Iran. Their ages were between 28 and 49, and amongst them were housewives and professionals. Their educational background spanned from a high school diploma to a master's degree. They had grown up in urban, middle-class, traditional religious families and all, except one who was divorced, were married. Some of the women had participated in the Husayni Infancy Conference before marriage, and some joined in after, and they participated with and without their children. All of the women requested confidentiality, except the following four: Maryam from Qom, 32 years old, housewife with one child and a master's degree in law; Fatemeh from Qazvin, 49 years old, housewife with two children and a high school diploma; Fae'zeh from Tehran, 44 years old, author without children who holds a high school diploma; Zeynab from Mahshahr, 30 years old, housewife with two children who holds a bachelor's in psychology and is currently doing a master's in Islamic education. She was also active in the largest Husayni Infancy Conference convention in Qom. These women possessed different world views, degrees of religiosity and approaches to the Husayni Infancy Conference, which I will discuss in the following sections. The discussion is based on 50 interview questions which I created, and the interviews were conducted during telephone conversations between 20 February 2021 and 15 April 2021. Each interview covered general topics such as the women's religious and non-religious motivations for ritual participation, the atmosphere of the ritual, related votive practices, themes of the mullah's speeches, and the women's social and private impressions of the event. Their descriptions and interpretations provided the structural framework for this article.
In addition, I have relied on daily online newspapers, videos, photos and social media. The Instagram page ‘Ali-Asqar's Infants’ (Shirkharegane Ali-Asqar)3 has been particularly useful, since it presents photos and videos of the rituals. I have also examined TV advertisements, gifts donated to the rituals, and local variations in votive practices. In addition, I have spoken on the phone with representatives at the Convention's central office in Tehran, who kindly shared with me voice files and photos. Other sources I have consulted are national reports on the social status of Iranian women after the Revolution. These are used to analyse the Islamic government's objectives for organising the Husayni Infancy Conference (Javaheri [1394 AP] 2015).4
Commemorating Ali-Asqar
The Death of Ali-Asqar
The commemoration of Ali-Asqar at Karbala rituals is related to his tragic death, as well as that of his father, Husayn, and his companions. Husayn, the son of ʿAli Ibn Abi Talib (the first Shi'ite imam), refused to acknowledge the leadership of the Umayyad caliph, Yazid. Along with his family and 72 loyal followers, Husayn departed to Kufa (a city in Iraq) to support an uprising against Yazid. Kufa's inhabitants had invited Husayn to claim his position as the Muslim community's rightful leader. Husayn's small caravan was, however, besieged by Yazid's army on the plains of Karbala and deprived of water. Eventually, in a final battle on the day of Ashura, the tenth day of the month of Muharram, Husayn and his male supporters were dismembered and decapitated, while the women and children who had accompanied him were captured (Flaskerud 2010: 79; Tabari 1990: 92–103). This tragedy is described by the Twelver Shi'ite as ‘the greatest act of suffering and redemption in history. For them it transcends history, acquiring cosmic proportions’ (Chelkowski 2001). As one saying goes: ‘Every day becomes Ashura and every place becomes Karbala’ (Khomeyni [1389 AP] 2010: 122).
Ali-Asqar is the youngest son of Imam Husayn and his wife Rubab. Multiple sources report that he was a new-born child or an infant (i.e. a one year old) (Calmard 1985) and that his mother, who was dehydrated due to the siege, could not breastfeed him. On the day of Ashura, a wounded Husayn rode his horse towards the battlefield, holding Ali-Asqar in his arms, to beg the enemy to allow his son to drink water from the river. In response, one of the enemy warriors, Harmale, fatally shot an arrow into the child's throat. The most well-known Shi'ite sources explain that Husayn gathered Ali-Asqar's blood in his hands and sprinkled it into the sky, invoking God against his merciless enemies (Amin [1403 AH] 1982: 604). The martyrdom of Ali-Asqar, an innocent infant, is viewed as the most tragic event at Karbala. Consequently, Ali-Asqar has been widely venerated in Iranian Shi'ite popular devotion and religious culture, a trend that continues until the present day, particularly amongst women.
Traditional Rituals in Iran Commemorating the Murder of Ali-Asqar
In this section, I describe some of the most well-known rituals in Iran commemorating Ali-Asqar. This presentation serves as a background to identify recent transformations and reinventions of rituals commemorating Ali-Asqar. Shi'ism and its heightened focus on the tragic events at Karbala are clearly visible in the areas of literature, drama, ritual and visual imagery (see Marzolph 2019).
A popular commemorative ritual is the so-called rowzeh khani, in which mourners gather to listen to a storyteller, rowzeh khan, tell the story about the drama that played out at Karbala. The rowzeh khani, the Karbala storytelling genre, in Iran has been strongly influenced by Mullah Husayn Va'ez Kashefi's book The Meadow of Martyrs, Rowzat al-Shuhada, compiled in the sixteenth century (Seyed Mousavi 2018: 42–45). One chapter of Kashefi's book is devoted to Ali-Asqar's death. It is worth noting that Kashefi inaccurately introduces Shahrbanu, a pre-Islamic Persian princess and one of Husayn's wives, as Ali-Asqar's mother to impress the Iranian people (Kashefi [1341 AP] 1962: 613–615).
Remorse for Ali-Asqar's death has also been expressed in dramatic performances, ta'ziyeh (literally, ‘condolences’) (Chelkowski 2010). To research how Ali-Asqar is commemorated in ta'ziyeh, I interviewed Hamid Muʾemenzadeh (b. 1981), a ta'ziyeh performer whose family has performed ta'ziyeh in Isfahan for three generations (Fig. 2).5 Muʾemenzadeh explained that Ali-Asqar appears in four episodes of ta'ziyeh: (a) when Ali Akbar, Husayn's elder son, bids farewell to Ali-Asqar before he rides to the battlefield; (b) when Abbas, Husayn's half-brother, decides to fetch water from the river and, in the same scene, Ali-Asqar's mother is rocking the infant in his cradle; (c) before Husayn's martyrdom, when he hugs Ali-Asqar; and (d) after the battle, when the enemies are looting the tents and searching for Ali-Asqar's corpse. Muʾemenzadeh also specified that ta'ziyeh performances often introduce Shahrbanu as Ali-Asqar's mother, based on Kashefi's version; and that the audiences like hearing about Shahrbanu.
Ali-Asqar's story in ta'ziyeh. Photo: Vahid Mu'emenzadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Ali-Asqar's story in ta'ziyeh. Photo: Vahid Mu'emenzadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Ali-Asqar's story in ta'ziyeh. Photo: Vahid Mu'emenzadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
The building of Ali-Asqar's cradle, makhtak,6 is a traditional ritual from the city of Bushehr in Southern Iran (Flaskerud 2005: 78; 2010: 138; Muradzadah [1397 AP] 2018). This ritual is specifically for women, and they play the role as the designers, speakers, and leaders of the ritual. To gather more information about makhtak, I contacted a woman from Bushehr who is a maddah (‘eulogist’, ‘panegyrist’) in this ritual. She kindly sent me a voice message and a short video that described the makhtak ritual in detail. The ritual is held in private houses. According to the old tradition, on the fifth day of Muharram women gather to decorate Ali-Asqar's symbolic cradle with colourful materials (chiefly green) and evil eyes (Fig. 3).
Ali-Asqar's cradle. Courtesy of Mrs. Akhlaqi. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Ali-Asqar's cradle. Courtesy of Mrs. Akhlaqi. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Ali-Asqar's cradle. Courtesy of Mrs. Akhlaqi. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
The women also decorate a child's blanket and a mattress and put these, along with a wrapped doll to symbolise Ali-Asqar, in the cradle. At the same time, a female maddah sings a sad lullaby and the other women engage in the performance by weeping and chest-beating (sinezani). The ritual continues every day until Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram. At night before that day, the women stay near the makhtak until early morning. Then they hold the wrapped doll in their hands, carry it above their heads and move in circles while the female maddah sings a mournful elegy (Fig. 4). Afterwards, they eat a breakfast of cookies and milk which is prepared by the makhtak's bani (patron) in order to commemorate the infant child.
Lifting the wrapped doll representing Ali-Asqar above the heads in the makhtak ritual. Courtesy of Mrs. Maʿmuri. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Lifting the wrapped doll representing Ali-Asqar above the heads in the makhtak ritual. Courtesy of Mrs. Maʿmuri. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Lifting the wrapped doll representing Ali-Asqar above the heads in the makhtak ritual. Courtesy of Mrs. Maʿmuri. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
The act and process of decorating a cradle, gahvareh bandi, is the most common ritual pertaining to Ali-Asqar in the Karbala commemoration. Though the mode of decor differs in detail across cities and villages throughout Iran, the ritual has a similar structure everywhere. For example, the ritual of lay lay lay balam or beshik comes from the Azerbaijan provinces in North-Western Iran. Balam is a Turkish word for expressing one's love to children and younger people. Beshik, also Turkish, means ‘cradle’. In this tradition, the boys wear special clothes, cover their faces with scarves and carry a decorated cradle through different quarters of the city, singing specific lullabies in Turkish (Husayni [1390 AP] 2011).
A ritual called kotal7 (literally, ‘saddled horse for the king’) is a traditional ritual from Nushabad, a small city in the province of Isfahan, which is located in the centre of Iran. Amongst the people of Nushabad, kotal is considered a symbol of Ali-Asqar. Before a child's birth, the parents make a vow (nazr) that, if their child is a boy, they will perform the kotal ritual in the first or second year of his life on the day of Ashura. The parents prepare a horse, adorning it with colourful materials, and place the child on it. The adults take two fruits of the same type (for example, apples or oranges) and plunge an identical knife into each one. Then, they cross the knives and place them – crossed – in front of the saddle along with two pigeons. Afterwards, they lead the horse to the city while a male maddah sings dirges about Ali-Asqar. At the ritual's end, the kotal's organisers (usually the parents) invite the mourners for lunch at noon (Khabar Isfahan [1395 AP] 2016).
Reinventions: The Husayni Infancy Conference
As mentioned above, in 2003 a new ritual commemorating Ali-Asqar was introduced in Iran, the Husayni Infancy Conference (Hamayeshe Shirkharegane Husayni). The ritual is the only public Muharram assembly in Iran dedicated to women and their infants (Fig. 5). It is arranged by the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour (Majmaʿ Jahani-e Hazrate Ali-Asqar). The ritual is a reinvention of the traditional forms of ritual commemorating Ali-Asqar described above. The reinvented ritual practices imitate traditional methods, but this ritual's institutionalisation seeks to establish a link between the events at Karbala and their commemoration, and the state's ideology.
Child at a Husayni Infancy Conference. Photo: Vahid Muʾemenzadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Child at a Husayni Infancy Conference. Photo: Vahid Muʾemenzadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Child at a Husayni Infancy Conference. Photo: Vahid Muʾemenzadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Institutionalisation
The Husayni Infancy Conference is the most well-known recent development in Iranian Shi'ite rituals. It is held annually on the first Friday of Muharram. The organiser, the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour, argues that it is a non-governmental organisation and that the funds for this ritual are not supplied by any government institutions but rather by people's donations (IQNA [1398 AP] 2019). However, it is difficult to confirm this claim. The director (dabir) of the Convention explains that the ritual is held in 6,250 places in Iran, in addition to 45 other countries throughout the world (Ziynali [1398 AP] 2019). Moreover, the Convention has an office in all 31 provinces of Iran. Each provincial office is in contact with the responsible parties in its own cities and villages, as well as with the central office in Tehran. The Convention holds a large meeting each year arranged by Astane Qudse Razavi, a grand organisation under state control which manages the shrine of Imam Reza and its various institutions. At the meeting, around one thousand attendees from Iran and other countries discuss activities, accomplishments and the following year's ritual procedures. Moreover, representatives of the religious elite, such as imams leading the Friday prayer (imam jomʿeh) of Tehran, explain the religious, political and social objectives behind organising the Husayni Infancy Conference.
This suggests that there are conflating objectives between the new Conference and the state's political agenda (Razavi News Agency [1398 AP] 2019). Moreover, the Conference is broadly announced throughout the country through banners and billboards and TV commercials. Despite the high cost, even tiny village creates TV commercials, and some cities and villages seem to compete in arranging the best Ali-Asqar events.8 As part of its ritualisation, the Convention offers special clothes to the participating infants. These include a green, poncho-like garment, a scarf to cover the head, and a forehead band which is often in the colour red and emblazoned with ‘ya [oh!] Ali-Asqar’ (Fig. 6). The Convention's voice files describe that there are around 73 sewing workshops in Iran, where women volunteer to produce the clothes (Fig. 7). This process begins around six months before the month of Muharram. Clothes from Tehran's workshops are often shipped abroad.
Items prepared for children to wear in the ritual. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadah. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Items prepared for children to wear in the ritual. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadah. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Items prepared for children to wear in the ritual. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadah. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Volunteers at a sewing workshop. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Volunteers at a sewing workshop. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Volunteers at a sewing workshop. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadeh. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Staging the Ritual
Traditionally, most rituals for women in Iran are held in private houses, local mosques and local shrines. The Husayni Infancy Conference is the first ritual devoted to women that is held in major public places – religious and secular places alike – for example, at Mashhad's Shrine of Imam Reza (the eighth Shi'ite imam), Qom's Shrine of Masumah (Imam Reza's sister), and Tehran's Grand Mosque (Musalla) and Azadi Sports Stadium. These places can hold large audiences of more than several thousand. Furthermore, in the big towns the ritual is organised at multiple sites. To create a religious and emotional environment directing attention towards the performance and to transport attendees away from their day-to-day existence, the interior of ritual sites is richly decorated with ritual objects, imagery and elegiac verses. The walls are typically covered with colourful posters related to the tragedy of Karbala, particularly depicting the Ali-Asqar's narrative, as well as photos of contemporary Iranian political and religious leaders. Sometimes, there are also posters of Iranian martyrs from the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988). Calligraphic wall hangings present Quran verses, such as ‘For what sin she was killed?’ (81:9), and some of them show elegiac poetry, such as the poems of Muhtasham Kashani (d. 1587 [996 AH]). Decoration also includes standards and banners, usually in black, green and red, with words such as ‘ya [oh!] Husayn’, ‘ya Ali-Asqar’ and ‘ya Mehdi’ (the twelfth Shi'ite imam) (see Flaskerud 2010).9 Many places have a stage for verbal performers like storytellers, rowzeh khan, and singers, maddah. The wall behind the stage often features a gigantic poster depicting an infant in green clothes to symbolise Ali-Asqar, and the text ‘Husayni Infancy Conference’ and/or ‘Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour’.
In the front of the stage, different objects are positioned, such as a decorated cradle and a basket full of supplies needed by a new-born child. In a short video from the Husayni Infancy Conference at the Shrine of Masumah in Qom, the stage presents elements associated with the Battle of Karbala. For example, the stage floor is covered with sand to represent the desert on the plains of Karbala, a green tent represents Husayn's camp, and a plastic male mannequin kneeling on the ground before the tent represents Imam Husayn. The doll is dressed in black boots, body armour over a green, blood-stained garment, and a helmet adorned with long, green feathers. Ali-Asqar, who is wrapped in a white, bloody fabric, is positioned as if lifted above Husayn's head (Mashreq News [1398 AP] 2019).
The Structure of the Husayni Infancy Conference
The official part of a Husayni Infancy Conference often begins at 10:00 am and lasts for a little under two hours. The period is adjusted in consideration of the fact that most of the children taking part are younger than 18 months. Women with infants arrive early in the morning to find good seating near the stage. The ritual is often divided into four main parts.
The first part is a short speech by a mullah; since most of the participants are mothers, the organisers believe that this is a great opportunity to focus their themes on women's concerns. The mullah explains to the women that a mother's love for her children is like the Shi'ite imams’ love for their adherents and, finally, how this love is also like God's love for humankind. In addition to religious topics, the speech touches upon many other social themes that reflect the current concerns of Iran's government, such as women's wearing of the hijab and women's chastity, marriage, procreation, population growth, patience in the face of life's problems, and the threats posed by Western culture (Rizzaʾi Adriyani [1396 AP] 2017).
The second part consists of elegiac poems, nowheh, and lullabies commemorating Ali-Asqar, sung by one or several male maddah. The maddah performs elegies with strong emotions, and audiences usually respond by expressing lament, beating their chests and repeating some lines. According to the Islamic tradition, to mourn and weep for Husayn will be rewarded by God's forgiveness of all sins (Shaykh Saduq [1378 AP] 1999: 286). When the ritual reaches its peak and everybody is overwhelmed with emotion, the maddah asks the mothers to hold their infants above their heads while continuing to mourn (Fig. 8).
Mothers hold their infants above their heads. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadah. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Mothers hold their infants above their heads. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadah. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Mothers hold their infants above their heads. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadah. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
The rite imitates Husayn's lifting of Ali-Asqar above his head, and effectively evokes the believers’ sense of love for Ali-Asqar.10 At the same time, the maddah holds a child in his hands and plays the sound of a baby crying through the microphone. Sometimes, mothers hand their children to the maddah in order to fulfil a vow.
In the third part, some women carry a decorated cradle amongst the crowd (Fig. 9). Sometimes, the cradle is passed from hand to hand through the audience. In the Husayni Infancy Conference, like in other traditional rituals, the cradle is a vehicle for communication between believers (here, mothers), mediators (here, Ali-Asqar) and God. Therefore, each woman attempts to stroke the cradle with her hands to receive a blessing, tabarrok, and then touch her own face and her child's face with the same hand.
Carrying a decorated cradle amongst the crowd. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadah. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Carrying a decorated cradle amongst the crowd. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadah. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Carrying a decorated cradle amongst the crowd. Courtesy of the Global Convention for Respecting Ali-Asqar's Honour / Navid Aqasizadah. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
The organisers have invented a phrase to describe this part of the ritual: the ‘presentation of the sarcophagus-cradle’, zarih-gahvareh. Sometimes, the organisers build a symbolic sarcophagus (zarih) for Ali-Asqar and parade it through the audience. While making a short individual prayer, women touch and kiss both symbolic ritual objects. They wipe the sarcophagus-cradle with a cloth and bring this cloth home as a blessing. These ritual behaviours can be described as akin to a minor pilgrimage to a shrine and are considered capable of transmitting God's blessing and grace (Flaskerud 2005: 76).
The Convention has designed a text called ‘mothers’ ex-voto letter’, nazrnaeh (Fig. 10). Reading this letter together is the fourth and final part of the ritual. A woman stands on stage and reads the text, and the mothers repeat the lines loudly.
The text of mothers’ nazrnameh that is placed in the infant's clothing package. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
The text of mothers’ nazrnameh that is placed in the infant's clothing package. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
The text of mothers’ nazrnameh that is placed in the infant's clothing package. © Atefeh Seyed Mousavi.
Citation: Anthropology of the Middle East 17, 1; 10.3167/ame.2022.170104
Objectives behind the Husayni Infancy Conference
Official Objectives behind the Husayni Infancy Conference
According to the main organisers of the Conference, its objectives carry religious, ideological and political significance: ‘Our purpose is to convey the message of Ashura by using Husayn's infant, who was oppressed, and to prepare the milieu for the Mehdi's uprising’. They also said that ‘the massive community of the Husayni Infancy Conference is a message of waiting and being ready for the manifestation of the Saviour of the human world (Mehdi)’ (IQNA [1398 AP] 2019; Razavi News [1398 AP] 2019; Ziynali [1398 AP] 2019). This suggests that Ali-Asqar's ritual is held to play an important role in Imam Mehdi's final battle against the armies of evil. According to what Twelver Shi'as believe, the twelfth Shi'ite imam, al-Mehdi, is in ‘occultation’ and will reappear as Mehdi, ‘the guided one’, at the end of the time (akhar al-zaman). One of his titles, ‘the one who rises’, qaʾim, is employed ‘to designate the Imam who stands up to fight against unjust and illegitimate power’ (Amir-Moezzi 2012). Therefore, Imam Mehdi is an awaited saviour who grew up in hiding to protect his life, to test the believers’ faith and to remain independent of all earthly powers, which are presumed to be unjust, until his return. Several hadiths clarify the bond between the tragedy of Karbala and Mehdi, for instance: ‘On the day of Ashura, some angels complained to God about Husayn's sorrowful fate. God made visible the shadow of Mehdi before their eyes and said Mehdi would take revenge (Shaykh Tusi 1993 [1414 AH]: 418). Ali-Asqar's symbolic role in Mehdi's uprising is explained by the director (dabir) of the Convention: ‘Imam Mehdi will at the moment of his manifestation use the oppressed Ali-Asqar and the blood of his throat to introduce himself. Because the unjustly shed blood of Ali-Asqar [an infant] sends the message of the oppressed Husayn to the world’ (Ziynali 2019 [1398 AP]). The following prayer, nazrnameh, had been designed for mothers to recite, and it reiterates the statements made by the organisers:
Oh! Lord of Time [Imam Mehdi], I vow that my infant will assist you in your uprising [and pray in exchange] that you choose him/her for your imminent return and protect him/her until that time, oh, Husayn's Christ [‘Christ’ here means an ideal human], oh! Ali-Asqar, please pay attention to me. (ISNA [1398 AP] 2019)11
Among the ritual participants I interviewed, many perceived the organisers’ intentions to be pure, and this perception contributed to the ritual's popularity amongst women.
Women's objectives for Participating in the Husayni Infancy Conference
Almost all the women I interviewed referred to the following purposes behind attending the Husayni Infancy Conference: women's general aim in taking part was to express piety through their shedding of tears for the Imam and Ali-Asqar in the hope of achieving salvation, intercession and blessing in this world and the afterlife. Mothers participated to reinforce their faith, and they enjoyed the rituals’ capacity to help them temporarily transcend their focus on day-to-day life, turning the attention instead to the spiritual dimensions of life. That said, for many women the most important function of the rituals was related to practical concerns in their everyday lives: to secure divine blessing for their daily challenges, such as a family member's recovery from sickness or guidance in overcoming other hardships. Another aspect was related to mothers’ central role is raising children. And lastly, although perhaps unintended, ritual participation gave many women a feeling of being empowered in a society in which they are often socially marginalised.
Most of the interviewees (including Zeynab and Fatemeh) stated that the compassion people feel for the innocent Ali-Asqar, combined with the presence at rituals of young mothers and their infants, who in Islamic popular culture in Iran are believed to be sinless, create a holy atmosphere in the ritual space. This is why God would give the rituals particular attention. Moreover, many women (including, Maryam and Zeynab) thought that because of the infants’ purity the Husayni Infancy Conference was crowded with God's angels, who are strong mediators. Therefore, the ceremony was a great place for praying to God, asking God for blessings and feeling hopeful that these wishes would be fulfilled. The ceremony thus brought hope to worshippers, and the women felt satisfied, motivated and purposeful after the rituals.
If we define votive practices as interventions tasked to solve a particular problem (Morgan 2017), the ‘problem’ in Ali-Asqar ceremonies was often linked to procreation. Barren women desired a child; pregnant women desired the birth of a healthy child; mothers with ill or disabled children desired healing; and unmarried women desired a nice husband with whom to have children. Women also desired that God, through the mediation of Husayn and Ali-Asqar, would grant their children a long life. To connect with the mediators, some mothers placed the child inside the cradle and rocked it, sometimes singing a lullaby, while others tied a narrow piece of fabric (usually green) to the cradle or sarcophagus when making the wishes (an act called dakhil bastan), and pinned money or other small gifts to the cradle.12 Mothers believed that these gifts transmitted God's blessing through the holy mediator and on to their infants. The problem addressed in the mothers’ prayers could also be of a more practical nature, such as securing a job, buying a house, earning more money, passing exams or receiving guidance on how to overcome various challenges.
The Husayni Infancy Conference was a good occasion for presenting thanksgiving, ex-votos (nazr) for desires fulfilled. Thanksgiving donations included acting as an assistant, host, servant and/or financial sponsor at rituals, which is also a common drive behind women's traditional rituals (Flaskerud 2005). In addition, donations included various objects.13 Ex-votive objects typically connected to the themes and concepts of the Ali-Asqar rituals, for instance presenting fabrics for embellishing the cradle, sewing a blanket and mattress for the doll or real baby who would be placed in the cradle, sewing the special clothes for the children who participated in the ceremonies and creating small sculptures decorated in green to symbolise Ali-Asqar. It was also common to offer a gift to secure personal merit (savab), help in decorating the site with ritual elements (siyahpush kardan), including flags and wall hangings, constructing a new wooden cradle and offering milk to the participants in honour of the infant Ali-Asqar.14
Many mothers participating in the Husayni Infancy Conference sought to instil an Islamic education in their children. Maryam, Fatemeh and Zeynab, amongst others, considered the Conference a great opportunity for the children to practise Islamic culture and find good role models. The mothers clarified that they would like to nurture their children to be like Husayn's family members, who were brave, honourable and pious Shi'a. Interestingly, cultivating such ideals from the past was perceived as preparing for the future. Interviewees (for example, Zeynab and Maryam) stated that the Husayni Infancy Conference, differently from other rites of commemoration, was unique in presenting a future-oriented perspective. Namely, the Conference inspired mothers to raise their children to develop the Doctrine of Mehdiship, with the vision of preparing soldiers for Mehdi's future uprising. As Ali-Asqar was martyred in the path of the ideals and aims of the imam of his time – Husayn – the current era's mothers, living in the period of the occultation of the Hidden Imam al-Mehdi, gathered to consecrate their children to his principles and purposes of the imam of their own time – Mehdi – and to educate the children accordingly. Their belief was that the long battle between good and evil has been continued for centuries and that only a saviour, the Mehdi, could stop this and create a utopia. Given the important role attributed to mothers by the organisers of the Conference, several interviewees (for example, Zeynab) saw its announcements as being a special invitation to women to join in this important religious work. This gave them a pleasant feeling of being regarded as essential. They expressed to me that, as women, they valued this attention from society and the government. Furthermore, they felt empowered by the rituals’ mobilisation of huge female crowds. This sensation surfaced particularly after a ritual had been completed, when large groups of women spread through the streets and received the whole city's attention.
Discussion: The Husayni Infancy Conference among Urban, Middle-Class Women
Iranian women from different social classes actively participated in the Islamic Revolution (1978–1979) and the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), in order to promote a sense of religious and nationalist support for the Islamic government. Since then, women's social behaviour has been restricted, and the focus has shifted to women's traditional roles in society, a move justified by the essential God-given roles of motherhood, wifehood and sisterhood (Moallem 2005: 92). This model of femininity is reiterated in male mullahs’ speeches. The female characters at the Battle of Karbala, such as Zeynab, Husayn's sister, and Rubab, are presented as role models for the Iranian women, and they are portrayed as chaste, secluded, supportive, nurturing and enduringly loyal to their children, brothers and husbands. In this manner, mullahs validate and encourage the idea that the most honourable work a woman can do is to be a mother and educator of the new generation. In addition to such gender identity policy, an important motivation behind the government's emphasis on motherhood is the current demographic situation. Iran currently faces a demographic challenge in the form of low marriage and birth rates (Javaheri [1394 AP] 2015).
Many religious Iranian women have initiated a reconstruction of feminine identity to create an image of the ‘modern Islamic woman’. This woman accepts her traditional role as mother, educator and wife, but believes that she must also participate in society (Rahmani [1398 AP] 2019). For some of the interviewees (for example, Zeynab and Maryam), the Husayni Infancy Conference transmitted a feeling of being important, useful and valuable to society. From the interviewees’ perspective, the Conference thus served as a means for empowering women by instilling more self-confidence and reinforcing a positive attitude regarding their gendered sense of identity.
The Conference did, however, attract women with varied identities and social backgrounds, and their participation served a variety of social, psychological and spiritual functions. Shi'ite symbols and rituals offered women an opportunity for spiritual growth and emotional release. Importantly, it was also a chance to maintain social networks. As attendees confided in each other, exchanged ideas, and shared concerns and personal difficulties, they sometimes made new friendships and exchanged phone numbers. The interviewees declared that these public rituals afforded them freedom of mobility and permitted them to spend much of the day and evening in public settings. If a woman had a problem with a husband who tried to forbid her from attending social activities, religious gatherings provided an occasion to assert her right. Moreover, the interviewees expressed excitement about the possibility of visiting the Azadi Sports Stadium for the Conference. In Iran, only men can enter the stadiums during sporting events. For the Iranian women, in particular the young participants, attending the Conference thus posed a small step in also creating more opportunities for social and political participation in society.
Some women, moreover, reported that ritual participation helped improve their emotional state. One interviewee, who was not religious, explained to me that she used to be disappointed, sad and distressed regarding her life's various challenges, especially her difficulties with her husband. She heard from other women that participating in the Conference quickly helped them find a sense of fulfilment. She eventually attended a ritual, less inspired by her personal beliefs but because of her religious culture (growing up in Iran). Several interviewees affirmed that after the ritual they felt more cheerful for some days, a change they attributed to the event's intimate and empathic atmosphere. Indeed, the ritual served as a means of liberation from daily life, drawing people closer to their personal beliefs. This emotional impact directly influences the women's private lives, particularly the lives of women who were religious, and their familial and broader social interactions.
Conclusion
The Husayni Infancy Conference is the first women's Karbala commemorative ritual to be held in well-known public sites. Important transformations in the new ritual commemorating Ali-Asqar are the transfer from being under the leadership of women in local environments and funded by local people's donations, to being controlled by a large organisation operating on a national and international scale led by men and funded by multiple public and private sources. The ritual has also been transported out of the traditional commemorative frame to become part of a larger structure including annual meeting with national and international attendees. Such official promotion of religious patronage and devotional practice suggests that there are conflating objectives between the Conference and the state's political agendas (Razavi News Agency [1398 AP] 2019). Highlighting divine female role models to promote the ideals of motherhood and domestic responsibility is certainly linked to contemporary Iranian politics as a means of modelling ideal female social behaviour (Aghaie 2005: 15–17).
The Husayni Infancy Conference is very popular amongst religious and non-religious women alike and for a mixture of reasons. Uneducated religious women take part in the ritual to build self-confidence and feel independent; meanwhile, educated religious women participate to increase their self-esteem, as the ritual reminds them of their importance to society, and develops the ‘modern Islamic woman’, and educated non-religious women take part due to their religious culture and as the very last chance to fulfil their wishes. The Conference is more than just a ritual that deeply inspires its participants to contemplate important religious and moral values; it is also very effective at helping Iranian women to recognise their great importance to society through their fulfilment of traditional roles and through their symbolic functions for moral and national propaganda. In addition to important everyday matters, though, the female participants’ devotional practices are certainly concerned with spiritual salvation, the cultivation of personal merit (savab), and prosperity, and women seek by engaging in such practices to make a more virtuous Islamic life. Therefore, women attend for a mixture of both worldly and otherworldly reasons.
Notes
This ritual was officially recorded already in 2011 [1390 AP] (record no. 253) as an element of Iran's intangible cultural heritage.
This translation comes from their official website: http://www.ali-asghar.com/fa/main-page.html (accessed 26 February 2021).
Instagram page. #شیرخوارگان_علی_اصغر (accessed 30 June 2021), ‘Ali-Asqar's Infants’ (Shirkharegane Ali-Asqar).
Some citations in this article are given with the Persian year (AP) and a few are given with the Islamic year (AH) in addition to the Gregorian year.
Interviews with Hamid Muʾemenzadeh, 4 and 19 April 2021.
Makhtak rituals in Bushehr were officially recorded in 2012 [1391 AP] (record no. 610) as an element of Iran's intangible cultural heritage.
Kotal kardan (to make kotal) is recorded in 2011 [1390 AP] (record no. 1333) as an example of the intangible cultural heritage of Iran.
See the above-mentioned Instagram page (note 3).
See numerous videos and images on the Internet, particularly the links mentioned in the notes and references of this article, and also the Instagram page (note 3) on this subject.
For more information, see this video: https://www.aparat.com/v/cYoPh/ (accessed 11 November 2021).
[یا صاحب الزمان (عج)، فرزندم را نذر یاری قیام تو میکنم که او را برای ظهور نزدیکت برگزینی و حفظ کنی، یا مسیح حسین، یا علی اصغر، ادرکنی]
Interviews with Hamid Muʾemenzadeh, 4 and 19 April 2021.
See the above-mentioned Instagram page (note 3).
See above, note 3.
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