Prologue
During reading Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, one particular page caught my eye. While I could have written about the themes of communism, nationalism, corporatism, and so forth, I became interested in page 96 of the book. Here it explains that after the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war, that during the first day of school which was now controlled by religious fundamentalists, there was a new procedure. Everyone would ritualistically beat themselves and engage in acts of self-mutilation such as flagellation to show their devotion to those who had died in the war. Furthermore, it notes that this is sometimes described as “macho”. I found this incredibly strange, so I decided to investigate further into this phenomenon.
Pre-Writing
Why would hitting oneself with a chain be considered “macho”? If it is self-flagellation and they seem to receive pleasure from increasing their religious devotion, wouldn’t it be considered sadism?
What kind of ceremony or special occasion is this self-harm participated in? Was the ceremony a special occasion due to the revolution or is this a normal occurrence?
What is the religious significance of hitting, flagellating, or cutting oneself?
Literature Review
The practice in question is called “ma’tam” and is practiced exclusively in Shi’a Islam. This takes place in a large public gathering called “Mourning of Muharram”, the first day of the Islamic calendar. The day marks the death of the last prophet and grandson of Muhammad, Husayn ibn Ali. To show their devotion, large crowds, often numbering in the tens of thousands, will beat their breasts repetitively. The tradition of beating the breast is an ancient ritual among the first followers of Abrahamic religions. In the Gospel of Luke, it is said, “When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts….” (Hussain, 2009). Some of the younger men choose to be quite forceful and creative with ma’tam. The crowd self-organizes with the most intense, young men in the center, with more moderate demonstrations radiating outward (Hussain, 2009). The men in the center often whip themselves with chains or engage in self-mutilation and cutting, causing massive bleeding over their bodies. The purpose of the self-mutilation is to witness the pain that Husayn must have gone through in martyrdom. Singing is performed by a cleric and the young men at the center form a line and further beat their breasts to the motions of the music. This music eventually reaches a great climax and the entire crowd erupts into chaos, with many flailing body parts. Many people weep profusely. According to one witness, “one could almost imagine that the martyrdom of Husayn was unfolding right there, right then, in that hall.” (Hussain, 2009). Overall, I found this literature review a very interesting study into the mourning practices of another culture. The dramatic and often shocking practice of ma’tam would be quite different compared to the very controlled view of mourning in the Angolsphere, where obsessive crying and beating oneself while mourning would be very out of place. Furthermore, the Shi’a are mourning a figurehead who died hundreds of years ago, whereas mourning in the Western world is typically conducted after a few days.
People engaging in ma’tam (WARNING: graphic images)
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Hussain, Irshaad. (2009) Mourning Husayn (On matam). Retrieved from http://www.islamfrominside.com/Pages/Articles/Mourning%20Husayn%20%28Matam%20for%20Husayn%29.html
Satrapi, Marjane. (2004) Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
