Lifestyle is not equal to the concept of religious etiquette but the lifestyle in Muslim societies is achieved through the practice of religious etiquette, ethics and religious beliefs, and as a result, the practice of religious teachings is achieved. Mahdism and the Islamic Lifestyle
Behavioural Change, the First Action of the Holy Prophet in Creating the Islamic Civilization
It seems that the formation of an Islamic civilization in Islamic culture has not been in such a way that the Prophet Muhammad gathered different cultural classes and held a separate meeting for each group and presented specific advice appropriate to their job. Say, for example, that artists came to talk to him on Mondays or that craftsmen come on Tuesdays etc. Of course, the existence of secret companions and the presentation of valuable rulings for a special group had another reason in the eyes of religious leaders and that is that this category of rhetoric was not suitable for the masses and should have been told to certain people so that today, mysticism would have been a special solution for a special group and not something public. However, in other areas of life, the method of the Prophet of Islam was such that he first tried to rely on Islamic teachings and principles in order to create change in the anthropology, epistemology, ontology and values of Muslims and the first thing that the Prophet did to shape Islamic civilization was to try to change the thought, behaviour and feelings of the Muslims, so that with this development, Islamic culture without the personal supervision of the Prophet, would move toward a special form and style that led to the formation of a special culture that is sometimes interpreted as Islamic civilization.
Islamic Teachings Direct Cultural Elements in Muslims
In fact, Islamic teachings led to the orientation that Muslims, or in the words of religious scholars, mutasharra’ah (legislators), chose a particular art, formed a certain architecture, in relationships and economics, they moved toward certain behaviours, sales, and trade and in all elements of culture, they found a special orientation, which is reflected in the comparison of Islamic civilization with Christian civilization or secular civilization.
For example, Muslims have a special orientation in purity and impurity, halal and haram foods, and right and wrong commerce, in other words, in transactions and economics, and the Islamic market is different from the non-Islamic market, and Muslims never turned to visual arts, iconography and nudity in art, but to the decorative arts because it was compatible with their religious principles. In the visual, theatrical, literary and musical arts, they became more inclined towards literary art and accepted other arts to the extent that they were not incompatible with the standards of shari’ah. For this reason, even some of the visual arts, such as painting, were formed under literary art or book design.
In fact, by refining pre-Islamic ideas and adorning themselves with Islamic teachings, Muslims could rely on religious interests, Islamic foundations, and prophetic ideas to present Islamic art without the presence of the Prophet at the time of their formation. As is the case in many jurisprudential issues, the jurists, relying on the generalities and sayings of religious leaders, have sought to shape Islamic culture throughout history. In fact, neither the life of the Prophet, nor the extent of human and civilizational issues of the time of the Prophet, made it possible for the Prophet to comment directly on these issues such that the Prophet paved the way for religious intellectuals and the masses to express their views in different areas, relying on generalities and religious principles. Therefore, religious scholars throughout Islamic history, especially in Shi’ah culture, which believes in the category of ijtihad and the extraction of religious views in various fields, were able to explain the Islamic perspective.
Lifestyle, the Product of Practice of Religious Duties
Lifestyle is not equal to the concept of religious etiquette but the lifestyle in Muslim societies is achieved through the practice of religious etiquette, ethics and religious beliefs, and as a result, the practice of religious teachings is achieved. In fact, in the religious lifestyle, we want to know that different individuals and social classes in a Muslim society, including workers, engineers, doctors and other classes of Muslim in different situations such as work, leisure, clothing, food, relationships and social and family relationships and the like, how they work. It is obvious that the Muslim way of life is formed by paying attention to religion. Today, if the lifestyle is discussed and sometimes it is seen that the border between our lifestyle and the Western lifestyle is not clear, it is because the religious tradition is not practiced well and when the focus of life is not based on religion and religious practices, certainly, lifestyle will not take on a religious form.
For example, acts of worship such as the five daily prayers determine the state of human behaviour in daily situations, or fasting and Hajj in two months of the year, direct part of their actions and behaviour, or religious rituals such as Muharram, the days of martyrdom and birth anniversaries and religious occasions determine a part of the behavioural pattern of Shi’ahs and affect their lifestyle. For example, in the Islamic lifestyle, marriage ceremonies do not take place on the martyrdom anniversaries but celebrations and marriages take place on the birth anniversaries of religious leaders and Muslims direct their behaviour on these occasions.
Intellectuals and the Duty of Explaining Life Models
One of the duties of religious intellectuals and intellectuals in the religious community, especially in the new age, is to design and theoretically explain life models, in the sense that it should be about how to raise children and adolescents, urban planning and architecture, family, social and organizational relations, personal and collective characteristics and in other areas of life and set the right models of life for society, which are based on Islamic teachings and teachings.
Islamic Iran and an Exceptional Opportunity to Implement a Religious Lifestyle
On the other hand, in addition to theoretical plans by intellectuals and religious scholars, we need institutions and organizations to be responsible to implement plans and theoretical patterns of life and this part of the activities can only be fully implemented in communities that have a religious government and the rulers have special religious concerns. Such that in today’s societies where many rulers of Islamic countries are secular and whether in opinion or in practice, the field of religion and ethics is separated from the field of politics and government. Naturally, a country like Iran, which thinks against this thinking, has an exceptional and unique opportunity, because perhaps there are few countries like Iran where the rulers and those who are in the field of implementing theories have a close relationship with intellectuals and reach out to them to design theoretical models.
Therefore, it can be said that Iran has a good opportunity and conditions to be able to educate generations of people who can continue their lives in the future with a religious model and lifestyle. Just as it is seen today in some developed countries where children are born in environments that are prepared for them and a certain way of life is determined for them and many subconsciously adapt their tendencies, interests, norms, and values to the patterns that others have set for them. In the Shi’ah community of Iran, one can expect intellectuals to plan the Shi’ah lifestyle in different areas of culture, so that after twenty years, it can be imagined that the children of this society and the next generation, which will make up half of the population two decades later will be trained according to that model.
Mahdism, the Explainer of Shi’ah Thought
Today, in the era of the occultation of Imam al-Mahdi, one should look for a model of Shi’ah lifestyle that is based on believing in the issue of waiting and the return of the Imam. In the age of occultation, Shi’ism is tied to one of the most serious concepts of the long life of the history of Imamate, namely Mahdism and occultation, and the two concepts of Mahdism and occultation are closely related to the third concept, expectation, so that these three concepts of Shi’ah thought and life are explained. Belief in the legitimacy and legitimacy of Imam al-Mahdi and waiting for the formation of a monotheistic society based on his rule are the only factors to legitimize all intellectual and social currents in the age of occultation and this is the first Shi’ah intellectual basis in presenting the Shi’ah lifestyle. Therefore, by extracting the main elements of the idea of Mahdism and cultivating patterns based on this thought, it is possible to determine the way of life of the Shi’ah and raise a generation whose belief in Imamate and Mahdism is one of the basic components of his thought, not only in rituals and relationships, but rather, in his goals and ideals, he pays attention to the infallible Imam and turns his life direction towards a perfect human being.
Rasa News Agency