(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Pilgrimage is an important feature of many religions. It is a symbolic act that is also a journey to some sacred place – a saint, a shrine, or perhaps a religious authority. The journey is an expression of religious devotion, and is intended to strengthen the religious identity. The ritual is symbolic, but also has economic and political consequences in all religious contexts. According to the World Tourism Organization, 38 percent of all tourists are religious – and every year six hundred million religious trips are made. Pilgrimage and other religious tourism is one of the five most important types of tourism in the world, and today plays a prominent role in development and cultural exchange. They are rightly perceived as an opportunity for dialogue between cultures and religions.
In Iran, which is a distinctly religious community, this phenomenon has a clear and central position in cultural, social, economic and, above all, political contexts. Iran has 95 percent Shia Muslims and 5 percent Sunnis, and is considered the most important country with a Shia majority – not only in the Middle East, but in the entire Muslim world. In the Shiite doctrine, pilgrimages are highly valued and highly recommended. In addition to the Hajj pilgrimage, which the world's Muslims, regardless of branch, swear by, pilgrimages to the tombs of imams and their descendants are of great importance to Shiites. In Iran, there are 33 burial sites for prophets, and a total of 10 burial sites for imams and their grandchildren. In this area, the Iranians have a distinct opportunity to manage religious tourism – both internally and internationally.
Economics, culture, politics. Located in the northeastern part of Iran, Mashhad is the country's second largest city. Here is the tomb of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of the Shia. The burial site has attracted a large number of religious tourists, both from other parts of Iran and from other countries.
Imam Reza's tomb is Mashhad's main source of income. The burial site covers 598 square meters, and the area also has the world's largest mosque with 657 people. An independent charity fund called Aste-e Qods-e Razavi manages the entire cemetery, which was founded in 500 by the Iranian king Agha Mohamad Khan Qajar. The attraction had a revenue of 000 billion dollars in 1795. The large complex also houses the Razavi University of Islamic Studies with 210 employees, 2014 economic institutes and several other institutes that research health-related issues, and which publish several regular publications.
Aste-e Qods-e Razavi has stated that 25–28 million pilgrimages are made to the burial site each year. Interestingly, most Germans visit the cemetery among non-Muslims. The Information Office can also say that every year five million pilgrims from Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Syria and the United Arab Emirates come to Mashhad to visit the holy burial site.
The significance of Imam Reza's sacred tomb is well known to us Iranians. The more personal and individual aspects of pilgrimage culture – achieving a form of mental security and spiritual satisfaction through the distinctive, spiritual atmosphere – have much to say for the development of religious tourism both culturally, economically and politically. For Iranians, the pilgrimage is highly regarded among religious as well as non-religious. It seems that this love and devotion has transcended the boundaries of religion, and in a way become spiritually internalized in all Iranian culture.
The feeling of unity, of a "we", grows in the pilgrimage process.
Reconstruction of burial sites. Until now, the belief in pilgrimages has had a cultural and social function, but when it comes to sharks and visits to Shiite shrines in Iraq, the political aspect is strengthened not only for the believers but also for the state. The Haj and Pilgrimage Organization, founded in 1979, manages all pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as well as to Syria. Last year, well over two million people traveled to Iraq to visit the holy tombs, and 600 people to Saudi Arabia in connection with the Shark.
Iran's foreign policy and relations with Saudi Arabia and Iraq have put sticks in the wheels for pilgrimages to these two countries. Many Iranians dropped out of pilgrimages to Iraq during Saddam Hussain's regime, due to the eight-year war between the two countries. But after 2003, the borders were reopened for pilgrimages to Iraq, to participate in the Ashura and Arbaeen ceremonies – the largest Shiite ceremonies in the world. A large number of Iranians walk for three days to visit these shrines. Iraq and Saudi Arabia are now the destination for about 50 percent of all Iranian pilgrims. The pilgrimage culture is highly recommended in Shia. It was recently revealed that the Guardian Council – the guardians of the Islamic Revolution – has invested $ 290 million in Iraq to build on Imam Ali's grave in the city of Najaf. The organization Reconstruction of Organized Holy Shrines in Iraq, founded in 2003, is based in Tehran and was established to provide for the reconstruction and development of Shiites' graves. Many have criticized Iran for spending so much money on sacred tombs in Iraq. They see it as interference and attempts at increased influence and hegemony under the guise of ending the civil war.
Major consequences. We do not live in a neutral world. Even our most mundane actions can be interpreted politically or have political consequences. It is by no means strange that the pilgrimage culture has – in addition to its personal, social and cultural aspects – political consequences. Shia culture is fundamentally politically oriented, the pilgrimage sector no exception. When we make a pilgrimage to a shrine, we strengthen our political identity in a religious context. The feeling of unity, of a "we", grows in the pilgrimage process. This is especially true of pilgrimages to the Iraqi cemeteries in Karbala and Najaf, which create ties between all Shia minorities in the world – but the same can be said about trips to Imam Reza's cemetery in Mashhad. On the other hand, these religious acts also create cultural differences within the Shia community. For example, cultural exchanges in the form of dialogue, friendship and even marriage between Shiites from different countries in connection with pilgrimages are widespread. This can even change the composition of the population in some places. The pilgrimage culture in Iran should not be considered a micro-phenomenon. It is definitely a phenomenon at the macro level. It transcends personal and cultural boundaries, while at the same time being marked by and reflecting on political boundaries.
