A Sociological Analysis of Religious Superstition in the Safavid Morshed's kingdom

Beliefs, traditions, and customs are important components of every culture. However, these beliefs sometimes become illogical and irrational. Irrational cultural beliefs are called superstition. Following a power interregnum in Iran, Safaivds managed to start a strong central government that politically transformed Iran. Declaring Shiite as the formal religion of Iran was by far the most important measure taken during this dynasty. This radically transformed the social values and norms of the Iranian society. As a result, many values were associated with religious concepts and teachings. The linkage of customs with the religious beliefs of the government and the people led to their consolidation and acceptance into the society’s culture. The significance of this study lies in the search for causes of the combination of superstitions with religious beliefs. The establishment of the Shiite religion in the beginning of this period and the spread of superstitious beliefs led to the suspicion that religion was the origin of the propagation of superstition. Nevertheless, both the Qur’an and Islamic narratives have emphasized on the importance of thinking and reasoning.
Material & In this research, we have tried to study the social structure of the Safavid period in order to identify effective cultural factors in promoting superstitions. Although the study seems merely historical, it seeks to eliminate these superstitions from today’s society by rooting them and showing their uncertainty and unacceptability from the perspective of religion, society, and of course, reason and thought. By studying various sources about Safavid social history, we tried to identify common superstitions and then analyze and explain them through inductive qualitative content analysis, in order to clarify the cultural factors affecting the prevalence of superstitions. Theoretical information was gathered from books, travelogues, and other relevant documents. Samples in this study include travelogues and books about the Safavid period. Considering the fact that this study has been carried out in the area of religious beliefs, as well as the diversity of topics, the abundance of examples, and the lack of a standard categorization framework, the content of these resources has been meticulously studied and analyzed, and the themes and topics of each book and travelogue were separately written down, and eventually the related examples were extracted.
Discussion of Results & Considering the prevalence of religious values in the society and the relationship between politics and religion in the Safavid period, the Shah (Iranian king) was known as a holy and innocent person, and obeying him was the same as practicing religious orders. As a result, religion became an instrument for enforcing the power of the king and the court. The promotion of some superstitions in the form of religion provided for the belittlement (‘Vahn’) of Shia foundations, which is widely observed in religious rituals and ceremonies. One of the reasons for the prevalence of superstitions in religion, and in particular the Shia religion, was the influence of the Qizilbashes (A group of Turk soldiers) in the structure of the Safavid government, which was more prevalent in religious fanaticism and anti-Sunni actions. In addition, during the Safavid period, there were many non-Muslim minorities in Iran, each with a different culture, who added some of their beliefs to Iranian culture. In the Safavid period, religious beliefs got mixed with superstitions in a way that it was difficult for the commons to distinguish between the two. In general, it can be concluded that the abuse of religious beliefs in this period was a means of spreading superstitions, to the point where many believe that religion and superstition have a cause-and-effect relationship, while many Quranic verses and Islamic narratives are devoted to the importance of reasoning and negation of superstitious beliefs and justifications.