Sociology of Shia

SHIITE ASCETICISM: The Study of the Evolution of the Economic Life of Young Shiite Clerics in Qom

SHIITE ASCETICISM: The Study of the Evolution of the Economic Life of Young Shiite Clerics in Qom

Presented Paper and lecture in 31st Conformance ISSR/July 2011/Aix-en-province/France

• Author: Mahdi Soleimanieh
• Type of text: Academic research
• Academic field: Sociology
• University: University of Tehran
• Faculty: Social Sciences
• Supervisor: Dr. Sara Mazinani Shariati
• Date: July 2011
• Email of author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Information shows that there have been noticeable changes in Hawza after the 1979 revolution. The number of Tollab has increased significantly, and by governmental supports there has been a rapid growth in the financial accumulation in Hawza especially in last 8 years, there has also been a grave increase in the social, economic and political roles of clergymen, and some high level posts have been confined to them. These serious abroad social changes could affect the traditional lifestyle of Tollab. The young Tollab’s adherence to traditional asceticism could be one of these affected dimensions.

Our data show that Tollab have no objective luxurious lifeIn other hand, they are not satisfied with their present economic conditions. Some key concepts such as “welfare” and “comfort” are important for them now. They don’t believe that having a luxurious life is blamable and so they try to improve their own economic conditions.
By paying attention to these kinds of explanations, we could say that there is a gap between Tollab’s objective economic conditions and their subjective ideals. They don’t have what they want. They try to reconstruct a definition of asceticism that emphasizes more on “not wanting” rather than “not having”."

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