Religious dogmatism in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh

Document Type : Original Article

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Abstract

Abstract
This interdisciplinary article reviews two events during the Sassanid era. These events, which are also unique in Shahnameh. These critical events are the Mazdakian and Manavian movements that the Sassanid kings’ authoritarianism and opportunism of priests and wealthy aristocracies turned them into bloody massacres of people and their religious leaders. These ultimately led to people’s dissatisfaction and shook the foundation of the Sassanid empire's authority. This work studies the underlying causes of those catastrophic events within the framework of ‘religious dogmatism’ based on the criminological approach of the Sassanid priests. In fact, religious autocracy undermines religious values as well as its positive material and spiritual impacts; hence, never have religions fulfilled their purposes under such totalitarian systems. ‘Dogmatism’ is a biased approach in assuming a definition or an opinion as undeniably true in the absence of convincing and factful evidence. It is noteworthy that the present investigation is not purposed around denying the values created by the Sassanid dynasty; however, as analogically stated in Shahnameh, the aim is emphasizing the irrefutable coexistence of the ‘color of flower’ and ‘pain of thorn’. In fact, the thorns of the massacres carried out by Mazdakian and Manavian followers have left perpetual stigmatic scars on the face of history that will never heal up or disappear.
Keywords: Sassanids; Mazdakians; Manavians; priests; Religious dogmatism

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Political Sociology of Iran
Volume 5, Issue 10
December 2022
Pages 1350-1362

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