A study and analysis of Ashura rituals and ceremonies from the Buyid dynasty to beginning of the Safavi age in Iran

Studying the ashura rituals from Al-Buyeh to safavid dynasty (334-907) for a period of five hundred and seventy –three years and within the geographical scope of this research can provide a good understanding of these rituals , the importance of the issue is that the mentioned rituals still have influence on the masses of Iranian people.Accordingly need to be investigated.

Another point is that within the timeframe of the research governments with Shiite tendencies emerged in different parts of the Islamic world , the Shiite , in the shade of the emergence of these governments , also had a great opportunities to perform their Ashura rituals and social and political revivals.

The Meaning of Ashura rituals in this research is a set of acts , behaviours , customs which are directly or indirectly related to Imam Hussein’s uprising. These have had a significant impact on forming Iranian social history and the Shiite life style.

The importance of research lies in the unique grandeur of the bloody Ashura event  and subsequently in the role of the mourning circles of Imam Hussein and his companions as one of the religious rites in the pursuit of the religious goals of the Islamic world and in particular the preservation of Shiite religious values.

Ashura ceremonies and rituals from the Al-Buyeh to Safavid period have had many fluctuations. During Al-Buyeh dynasty, with the support of the Buhayy rulers, ceremonies and rituals of the Ashura were organized and coherent , but then were declined with the strengthening of the sunni government, however, were respected by the people and by some government officials specially , with the change of religious atmosphere during Ilkhanids such as Ghazan and Oljaito conditions for Ashura rituals was improved but after that they still had problems specially with the emergence and growth of sufi and exaggerated beliefs but it provided background for it’s organized formation in the safavid dynasty.

The results of the research show that the current Shi’a Ashura rituals are the continuation of the evolutions rituals by the Shiites in the Al-Bu’yeh period and have reached us over the centuries through generations of generations. The research method in the study of Ashura rituals is descriptive and analytical.