Imam Reza and Islamic Unity: the Intra-faith Language of the New Shrine Custodian

Religious language aims not only to portray the world (in a model offashion) but most particularly to create and recreate the world (in a model formanner). It has been suggested that this task is carried out when religiouslanguage provides the ultimate explanation and the ultimate authority for thestate of the world and employs the effective power of its words to not merelyinform but also transform, to establish and perpetuate moods and motivationsin human beings which can effectively influence their ‘thought, action, andorganization’. Informed by a number of anthropological viewpoints on theinterplay between religion and language, the present study looks into the intrafaith discourse of Islamic Unity as represented in the religious language of thenew custodian for Imam Reza Shrine. The paper examines selected lecturesdelivered by the custodian in the thematic domains of Islamic Unity and Intrafaith Relations. Then, the religious terminology, symbolism, and referencesadopted are investigated, especially on the basis of narrations quoted fromImam Reza and the interpretations given for his inter- and intra-faith relations.The study also aims to discover how the application of religious language bythe custodian can be a reproduction of notions in Shi‘ite political thought andthe ideology of the Islamic Revolution, as two major culturally andsituationally relevant conditions. Moreover, the significance of intendedillocutionary and prelocutionary effects are assessed in the body of thelectures under study. Finally, it is suggested that the custodian considers theImam as a model for the creation of a unified community (ummah) in the faceof a prevailing disintegrated and dispersed state in the Islamic World. Inconclusion, drawing upon the existing literature, it can be discussed that theintra-faith language of the new shrine custodian tends to provide a model orparadigm for contemporary Muslim dynamism and seeks ‘to influence andcontrol’ not only the other members of the faith, but also the ‘cultural system’itself – especially through the reproduction of meaning

کلیدواژه ها:

Imam Reza ، Islamic Unity ، religious language ، Shi‘ite Islam ، cultural system