Ritual Asyura Sebagai Sarana Perlawanan Masyarakat Syiah di Iran (1941-1979)

Abstract

This study examines how the Ashura ritual, a central religious practice in Iran's Shia community, evolved into a form of socio-political resistance to the authoritarian regime of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi (1941-1979). The modernization and secularization policies introduced through the White Revolution significantly reshaped Iran's social structure and marginalized religious institutions. In this context, the regime began to see Ashura as a potential political threat and sought to suppress public expression. However, the repressive measures inadvertently intensified Shia resistance, encouraging the rearticulation of Karbala symbolism as a narrative of resistance to injustice. Using a descriptive qualitative approach through desk research and analyzing the data using Miles and Huberman's interactive model, this study found that ritual forms such as rowzeh, sinehzani, ta'ziyeh, and dasteh azadari not only reinforce religious identity but also serve as discursive platforms to resist state hegemony. By harnessing symbolic power and collective spirituality, Iranians turned Ashura into an effective medium of mass mobilization that ultimately challenged the legitimacy of the Pahlavi regime and paved the way for the Islamic Revolution in 1979.