"The war is feeding into a theological narrative of martyrdom and sacrifice that is helping maintain the Islamic Republic's internal cohesion. This is not merely a state under attack, but one whose ideological core has long been shaped by a Shia political theology of martyrdom, sacrifice and sacred resistance."
"Among the Islamic Republic's loyalists, especially within the paramilitary force, the Basij, are people prepared to die as martyrs for what they regard as rule by a divinely-guided cleric. External violence may not weaken it in the way its enemies expect."
"The Islamic Republic was never just a bureaucratic state. It presented itself from the beginning as a moral project, one that fused sovereignty with sacred history. The central emotional and symbolic reservoir of that history lies in Shia memory, especially the battle of Karbala of 680."
The Islamic Republic's internal cohesion is maintained through a theological narrative of martyrdom and sacrifice. The war with the United States and Israel is framed not just in military terms but also through moral and ideological lenses. The assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has intensified state-backed mourning, reinforcing the commitment of loyalists, particularly within the Basij. This ideological foundation suggests that external violence may not weaken the regime as expected, but rather strengthen its symbolic and moral resolve, rooted in Shia history and memory.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]