The Position of the Audience in the Traditional Religious Propagation System

One of the central components of the communication system in religious propagation, like all communication and media systems, is the "audience." Despite the gradual emergence of mass and social media and the diverse forms of modern communication, traditional propagation continues to maintain its place, credibility, and functionality in our religious society, influencing a significant portion of the general and specific audience. This historical communication system, with its unique sanctity and status, extensive penetration into Islamic and Shia communities, compatibility with the cultural and social requirements of traditional and religious societies, effectiveness in endurance of the religious and spiritual life of the community, and the endurance of religious culture, has not been adequately evaluated and validated in comparison to emerging methods of propagation communication. This paper aims to theoretically (not empirically) examine the traditional propagation system (pulpit and sermon) with a focus on the component of the "audience" and their constant and variable needs and expectations, inspired by existing studies, empirical evidence, and intuition. The research methodology in data collection was through documents and in analysis was interpretive and inferential. The primary question addressed in this paper pertains to the position and status of the "audience" in the communication cycle of religious propagation in contemporary Iranian religious society.