The sacred affair and the socio-political commemoration of the body; Sociological study of the martyr Qassem Soleimani's funeral

The political body overseeing the sacred, and its glorification, has been most important in the history of the Abrahamic religions based on the concept of "martyr." Modernity took it out of the control of Christianity and reproduced the concept of the political body. In Islam, the concept of martyrdom and its commemoration is one of the most important rituals that has found new dimensions in combination with the modern nationality component. The funeral of General Soleimani is one of the most widely celebrated rituals of the late period and the aim of the present study is to discover and analyze its social meanings and symbolic dimensions. For this purpose, qualitative analysis was performed with 17 people. The result of the research showed that General Soleimani's funeral was formed in the context of social and political interactions in the country, the region and the world, which led to the reproduction of social solidarity in Iran. This funeral rites are constructed in a continuum from metaphysical concepts to political action. According to the results, although the "martyr" pursues a religious action within the framework of some kind of value-rational movement, his funeral includes religious, social, political implications, including protest. The four themes which are pure event and action, social appreciation, identity and rethinking, and symbolic protest were explored in this study. For the researcher, the symbolic aspect of this funeral, which is a kind of protest against the management and governance of the country, is important; because it is related to the social solidarity that was reproduced in this funeral ceremony. The researcher assumes that this protest has not been heard by the bureaucratic system. Based on this assumption, the research ends with an open and very important question: what are the consequences of not seeing or not hearing this protest?