MOTHER OF HER FATHER: DEVOTION TO FATIMA AL-ZAHRA IN CONTEMPORARY IRAN

Abstract

This dissertation interprets contemporary Shiʻism in Iran centered on an analysis of Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, through the collection and examination of devotional visual and material culture. I focus on the significance of Fatima in contemporary Iran and especially in the city of Mashhad as she is commemorated through material culture since the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). I use material artifacts to position Fatima al-Zahra in a central place in the study of Shiʻism in Iran today through what I call the “Fatima Paradigm.” I examine in detail the mourning of Fatima’s “martyrdom,” the Sermon of Fatima, a film documenting the mourning of Fatima, and physical aspects of writing to and about Fatima in order to demonstrate and analyze her pivotal role in Muslim devotional practices. In scholarship until now, Fatima has primarily been analyzed through her relational role to Muhammad and the imamate. By following the trajectory of the succession to Muhammad after his passing to the Battle of Karbala, contemporary Shiʿa studies and broader studies of Islam and Muslim histories or cultures have narrowly focused on prophethood and the Shiʿi imams, thereby missing the opportunity to consider gendered notions and models of religious leadership and the significance of Fatima as the female link to the line of imams. Previous scholarly works on Shiʻism in Iran have also omitted many elements of Fatima’s importance in popular culture and practice, even though they are amply presented and documented in contemporary Iranian sources. My work showcases the gendered construction of Fatima as a role model for contemporary Iranians, including but not limited to women. Integrating popular religious interpretations of Fatima’s importance with their material productions in Iranian Shi‘ism, such as Fatima’s appellation as the “mother of her father,” also creates space for examining the means through which particular histories have been privileged in Islamic studies. My data and interpretation of Fatima as produced by artists, the state, and researchers in contemporary Iran is one way to re-interrogate the data of sacred Muslim histories and indicate that Fatima is worthy of greater study beyond short paragraphs or subchapters within Islamic studies.Doctor of Philosoph