How did the Iranian thinker Ali Shariati view Hajj?

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The Iranian thinker Ali Shariati is one of the most prominent thinkers who contributed to the enrichment and renewal of Islamic thought in the modern era, because of its change project, which calls for awakening awareness and re-understanding of Islam as a call to liberate and rise from the yoke of tyranny.

Despite the emergence of "Ali Shariati" as a thinker and political activist, and the predominance of the revolutionary face in his intellectual and social heritage, he has a face other than the political face and non-struggle, which is represented in the writings of the Islamic Testimony, and Sufi mystical tendency, which appears in other than one of his books , ... etc. "

This is what Ali Shariati narrated about himself, as Shariati divides his books into three basic lines (1):
1- Islamists "Testimonies and Sufism".
2 - Social "revolution and change."
3. The Desert "The Philosophy of the Desert".

In addition, in this report we will try to show some of the experience of "Shariati" testimony and custom, as reflected in the experience of his visit to the pilgrimage, which is not included in one of his books as well.

"Ali Shariati": biography and struggle

Ali Muhammad Taqi Shariati was born in December 1933 in Mezainan village near Mashhad in Khorasan province. Dr. Ali Shariati comes from an educated family. His father was a well-known Islamic writer and thinker. Mohammed Taqi Shariati "and the scientific environment in which Dr." Ali Shariati "grew up a major role in the mapping of his personality and scientific and religious identity (2).

In 1955, Ali Shariati joined the Faculty of Arts, Mashhad University and graduated with distinction in 1958. He was then sent on a scholarship to France in 1959, where he received two Ph.D. degrees, the first in the history of Islam and the second in sociology. During his university studies in Mashhad, Ali Shariati married his colleague Buran Shariati Razavi in ​​1956.

Ali Shariati is one of the leading pioneers of the Islamic movement in Iran. His efforts and ideas played a major role in the intellectual and political mobilization that preceded the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

This was evident in the involvement of Shariati since he was young in politics, where he and his father joined in the late 1940s a movement that included a group of left-leaning Iranian intellectuals - which at the time was widely resonated - a movement of socialists who feared God, "as well as he and his father joined the movement of Mosaddegh, which was known as the National Movement in 1954 and was a student at the secondary level.

After Mosaddegh's fall, he joined the National Resistance Movement founded by Ayatollah Zanjani and Mehdi Bazargan. When he was beaten, Shariati was imprisoned for six months and had not yet graduated from the Faculty of Arts in 1958 (2). In the mid-1960s, Dr. Shariati returned to Iran after receiving his doctorate in religious sociology and another in the history of Islam. On the Iranian border, he was arrested, released after a while, and then appointed a teacher at Mashhad University.

The turning point in Shariati's career was the Husseini-e-Irshad, which opened in 1969 to serve as a scientific center where Shariati focused all his activity, along with a number of Iranian scientists and intellectuals such as Morteza Motahhari (2).

For Shariati, of course, the mentality of Huseyniyya was a platform to inspire motivation, intellectual and political mobilization of a generation of young people around him. His lectures were a powerful weapon in the face of 'Westernization', 'Shah worship', 'false thinkers' and 'clerics'. Those who exploited religion against religion "(2) .. The authorities did not find the need to close Husseiniya in 1973, and then arrested" Shariati "and his father, and kept him in prison for 18 months subjected to torture, until the intervention of Algerian officials to release him in 1975 (3) .

After his release from prison, Dr. Shariati was placed under surveillance and banned from any activity. In May 1977, the Iranian authorities allowed him to travel to London, and a month after his stay in the English capital, he was found dead in his apartment. Heart (3)

"Ali Shariati": project and thinker

Ali Shariati's philosophy and intellectual project can be summed up by returning to one of his unconventional learning experiences, where he had asked a professional well drilling rig to accompany him to drill a well. "I was stunned by the artistic performance of the teacher - the Well Driller - and by the miracle that He created it with his ax: the beauty of work, toil in the darkness, the audacity of diving deep into the earth, the transcendence of meaning - this work full of meaning - the search for water, and the great holiness of digging in the heart of injustice away from the surface of the earth, far from life. Cool and nice between my bare toes, and gradually became Whispers, the sounds of the flow of water, intensify and expand from everywhere, joining each other and forming one cry, these cries that began to rise from everywhere as they unite with each other and began to appear angry, revolting and hostile, it is water '' (4).

This metaphor of Shariati's experience in digging the well is perhaps the most appropriate expression of the role and mission that Shariati devoted himself to, which was his critical handling of the traditional, conservative, religious culture of submission, close to the work of the rigs he had awakened. Sleeping water "in the rock in the ground (4).

On this basis, the Shariati project focuses on criticizing this culture, which is the main pillar in the production and reproduction of the state of subordination enshrined in conservative and static interpretation (4).

Thus, the project of social and national emancipation starts from the use of an internal methodology of criticism that first reveals this conservative role of religious culture and exposes it, and then turns this culture into a culture of emancipation and revolution (4). This is what was known in his theory, which became the title of one of his most important books, and we mean (theory / book) "religion against religion."

In his book "Return to Self," Shariati said, explaining something of the nature of his thinking: "Islam should be thrown away from its repetitive image and the unconscious, spontaneous traditions that are the biggest factors of degeneration, and should be presented in the form of a conscious, progressive and objectionable Islam, and an ideology that creates awareness." Enlightenment "(5).

"The Shariati project is to transform Islam from a discouraging culture into a motivating ideology." The struggle concerns of Shariati, his extensive attempts to humanize religion, and the emphasis on the social implications of Islam are the motive for his conversion. "Shariati" may have been influenced by the theses of liberation theology and their calls to turn religion into an ideology of anti-colonialism, the liberation of the land, and the development of society, away from the concerns of classical theology.

It can be said that the work of "Shariati" is close to the projects of "re-effectiveness" of the Muslim and Arab self, so that his project intersects with the projects of three men of modern Islamic thought: Muhammad Iqbal, Sayed Qutb, and Ismail Farouqi.

How did Ali Shariati consider worship?

The starting point and cornerstone of Shariati's religious thinking relates to his view of the Islamic sciences of jurisprudence, doctrine, and mysticism centered on trying to question these sciences, rituals and creeds in order to form an emancipatory energy, “resisting external colonialism and internal fascination” (7).

Shariati introduced Islamic worship more positively, and moved away from the jurisprudential interpretation of worship as rituals and rituals, and then sought to explain the truth of worship in order to reveal its role in the life of the individual and the nation

Reuters

"By changing what is transforming Islam from a social tradition to an ideological image, from a body of scientific knowledge taught to a conscious faith, from a group of rituals, rituals and actions that lead to the reward of the hereafter to the greatest power that provides man," Shariati said. Before death by responsibility and movement and the tendency to sacrifice and turn into a great material that extracts awareness and love from the heart of society "(8).

Hence, Shariati introduced Islamic worship in a more positive way, and moved away from the jurisprudential interpretation of worship as rituals and rituals, and then sought to explain the truth of worship in order to reveal its role in the life of the individual and the nation and its role in the formation of the Muslim man and its role in helping Muslims to emerge from their contemporary crisis (9).

In Islam, worship is another form that appears more pronounced in the pilgrimage. Worship in all religions is ethical and polite, but this is not manifested in Islam in the form of exclusion and abstraction. The spirit of the individual reaches God through the path of the physical nature, society and the real life of the people and through the fate of others ”(10).

Shariati presented the pilgrimage as a journey full of mobility and responsibility that leads a Muslim to meditate and ends up knowing the limitations of the modern system of life based on materialism and enabling him to regain his self-consciousness.

Pilgrimage experience in the conscience of "Ali Shariati"

The ritual of Hajj and its spirit has a remarkable presence in the thought of "Shariati", and this is reflected in the general literary and intellectual product, "Shariati" devoted three books to talk about this obligatory or rite:

1 - Hajj, the fifth obligatory - translated into Arabic -
2 - Hajj, the philosophy of rite and meaning - translated into Arabic -
3 - An appointment with Ibrahim - not translated -

The reason for this heavy presence is due to two things :
1. The orbit of Shariati's thought revolves around three great values ​​- as he speaks of himself -: monotheism, martyrdom, and pilgrimage (12).

2 - The nature of the product "Shariati" multiple and varied, as "Shariati" - as he described himself - "a writer of each category, and at the same time not of any category" (13), therefore, the academic writing rallies in juxtaposition with literary thought and enthusiastic sermon and biography Epic, his ideas become gamblers and mixes of Thoughts and Sermon and the message and the epic and sermon.

In this remaining part of the report, we will identify the most important meanings and values ​​that Shariati tried to change in his pilgrimage trips. Shariati performed Umrah three times, and performed Hajj more than once in 1970 and 1971.

Great meanings

Shariati believes that the pilgrimage has great purposes in which all rituals are organized.

1. Shariati argues that the pilgrimage is a process of ascension to God, through a review of five issues. In essence, the pilgrimage is the process of man's ascent to God, a symbolic demonstration of the philosophy of the creation of Adam. One is a presentation of the story of creation, a presentation of history, a presentation of unity, a presentation of the doctrine of Islam, a presentation of the nation.

2 - "Shariati" that the pilgrimage is a call to abandon human manifestations of falsehood that damage his life, by removing the four masks that have been worn by man in his daily life (15):

"Remove:
A wolf mask that symbolizes brutality and tyranny
Lamb mask that symbolizes submission and humiliation
Fox mask that symbolizes the trick
The mouse mask that symbolizes cunning

3. Shariati says that the summary of what he has understood and understood from the pilgrimage is organized into three important principles: first, the principle of "communication", the second: the principle of "meeting", and third: the principle of "organized movement" (16).

The principle of communication explains the meaning of "Shariati" says that "every year, man renews his connection to this authentic and full place of memories of this great movement and the source of great religious history, to strengthen his connection with the past, and to define his generation on this great value and the great spirit that radiates and emanates from Abraham - Peace be upon him - throughout history, and to strengthen his relationship with the roots and great sources and rich that his enemies always try to cut, and hence the pilgrimage always and every year is a human connection to instinct and historical fate and the great message of their humanity ”(16).

The principle of the meeting explains the meaning of "Shariati" says that "to leave everyone places and meet together intellectually in a certain place, each of them tells about their social situation, I know a hundred other environments and you know a hundred other environment on me. Leading to the revival of the social spirit and social thought, the assembly is originally a call for human action, awareness and global growth of human belief.

It is true that there are many conferences held and organized in the world, but this gathering is different from all these other gatherings, one of the unique features of the pilgrimage is that it is not a conference known as conferences, usually consists of a group that shares the specifications related to the subject of this meeting, which is Usually includes the elite of opinion.

While the pilgrimage is a wide gathering, it brings together the various types of society, and is dominated by comprehensive acts of worship in which all pilgrims are involved, without regard to their ethnicity, class positions, cultural levels, and social and functional ranks. Such a meeting of mankind is not known to any other conferences or symposiums, and his gains are not reaped by many gatherings in the world. ”[16]

The third principle is the principle of movement and immigration , which explains the meaning of "Shariati" and says "The first thing that caught my eye and made me think of the word immigration is the permanent move in the pilgrimage, since man prepares to go for pilgrimage is in a state of movement, and since the rituals of Hajj there is no stop This permanent move is a memento of Abraham's movement in the fight against idolatry, the revival of monotheism and the stability of justice in the history of mankind. In the end - that is Hajar, yes, it is a souvenir of Hajar, a souvenir of The permanent immigration, which was the fruit of this great house, is in the vicinity of the house of Hagar, Sarah's neighbor, a human being known in history as weak because she is a woman, and more vulnerable because she is a neighbor, and because she is the second wife.

In addition to the great meanings referred to by the "Shariati" above referred to other meanings no less unique than those mentioned above.

Other meanings

According to Shariati, the performance of Hajj is a salvation from the complex nets of confusion, and the pilgrimage is nothing but a counter to the life of the meaningless and the aimless in reality.

He says "Shariati": After stripping of clothes and wearing the white shroud .. Each one annihilates himself and takes a new form, is the form of man as God created, all "I" die in the promised land to create "us"

Reuters

Intention :
"Before you enter the meeqaat, where the great transformation and the beginning of the revolution must be revealed, what is the meaning of this intention? And what does it involve? It is the intention to meet the call of the Lord of men to the house of the people, the intention of moving from your house to the house of the people, from class and racism to equality From a man covered in clothes to a naked individual whose body is covered only by a rag, from daily monotonous life to eternal eternal life, hence you must strongly emphasize your intention, because you will begin to grow outside your shell as the nucleus of dates grows. Past a combination of default and ignorance, you do not see for your meaning, even in your career and uncle Ye have become a slave to work by virtue of habit or vanquished orders, is now turning to this style of life, he promised to Aftrtk conscious believer confident in God the Merciful, and see a new look at life and to the people and to yourself "(17).

Ihram :
"Enter the individual meeqaat, here the show begins, in which the man must change his clothes. Why? It separates the boundaries between people, causing them to divide them in most cases, and more than that the clothes make the concept of "ego" break into, not the concept of "we", the word "I" - in clothing - comes in the context of expressing "racist" or " My social class, "my clan," "my place," "my family," or "my ability." The Cain dynasty of murderers and cruelty made dense barriers In our lives, we are divided and divided into masters and slaves, arrogant and vulnerable, colonizers and colonizers, exploited and exploited, strong and weak, rich and poor.

Timings :
Explaining the philosophy of meeqaat and ihraam, Shariati says, “Take off your clothes now at the meeqaat, and wear the shroud of pure white cloth. Do not be misguided, you are not here to meet a match or a counterpart, but humility and shrink and humbled because you will receive God, be the neighborhood that is approaching death or the dead, which senses its existence "(17). He also adds: "Each one will destroy himself and take on a new form, which is the form of man as God created.

Prohibitions :
`` What meets in these taboos is that it reminds you of your trade, your job, your social class, your position, your position, your element, or your calculation.It is the essential things that define your life in the pre-meeqa world before you enter the meeqaat, where the great transformation and the beginning of the revolution ''.