The Ashoora Movement and our Religious and Political Rationality

The prerequisite of our religious and political rationality in safeguarding the Ashoora Movement is the recognition and distinction between the role of three important factors of this movement, namely its goals, its methods and its tools. In this regard, features such as generality, stability, sanctity, conformity with the human nature and the religious texts, and maximal admission of the goals of the movement, increase its status in relation to the methods and the tools and even, in the light of the goals, give a new meaning to its nature and its role. In this regard, “Amr-e be Ma’roof va Nehy-e az Monkar” as the main religious and political goal of the movement, together with its other sacred and universal goals, determine the nature and the function of the tools such as mourning and also the function of “Hosseiniye”s and “Takiye”s. This is because methods and tools could be of value only if they serve the goals. Furthermore, attention to the longitudinal relationship between the three variables of cognition, affection and following the Imams, especially Imam Hossein, is very important in religious and political learning from the Ashoora Movement, because it keeps us away from radical emotionalism and adds to the importance of our religious and political rationality. It means that attention to Imam Hossein’s religious leadership role from which “Amr-e be Ma’roof” derives, is more important than demanding worldly and otherworldly needs. Thus, according to our religious and political rationality, it is necessary to follow the goals of Imamate and the Ashoora Movement and in this way, use only the methods and the tools that are beneficial and effective; because methods and tools are temporary and transient and could not be regarded as sacred.