БЫТ ШИИТСКИХ ПАЛОМНИКОВ В НАДЖАФЕ И КЕРБЕЛЕ В XIX В.

Abstract

The only pilgrimage as a “pillar of Islam” prescribed for every Muslim is the Hajj to Mecca and Medina, but adherents of this religion make “pious journeys” to other places. Sunni Muslims recognize holy cities that contain desirable sites to visit (for example, Jerusalem, considered the “third holy city,” and the Al-Aqsa Mosque located there), however, these pilgrimages are not obligatory, but recommendatory. Shiite pilgrimages to the land of Iraq - primarily to Najaf and Karbala, on the contrary, have a status very close to mandatory. The first and third Shiite Imams, Ali and Hussein, are buried in these cities, respectively, in Najaf from the 18th-19th centuries. The main center of Shiite scholarship has been formed, and therefore the views and thoughts of millions of Shiite believers are directed here. At the same time, the Shiite pilgrimage, like the Hajj, is not only a purely religious action, but also a social one. People who visit holy places receive the nicknames “Karbelai”, “Najafi” (as well as “Mashhadi” - after visiting another center of pilgrimage - the Iranian Mashhad) and enjoy special respect from their coreligionists. In this study, we will look at the life of pilgrims to the Shiite shrines of Iraq (the territory of which was called “Turkish Arabia”, or “atabat”) in the 19th century, because It was at that time that the traditional realities of the Muslim world in general and its Shiite part began to change rapidly. These changes are associated with a unique political situation (on the one hand, the presence of Shiite shrines on the territory of the Sunni Ottoman Empire, and on the other, the orientation of the local Shiite population towards Iran ruled by the Qajar dynasty, both states having a semi-colonial status), and with the rapid development of science and technology, and with a very peculiar ideological situation. Both Iran and the Ottoman Empire underwent secular reforms in the 19th century, and many significant Shia communities lived in territories belonging to the non-Muslim states of Russia and Great Britain.