SUFFERING FOR THE SAKE OF COSMIC ORDER: TWELVER SHI?AH ISLAM'S COPING WITH TRAUMA

Abstract

The relation established in Shi?ite Islam between suffering, cosmicorder, and the position attributed to the Shi?ite community in thiscosmic order, is very important in terms of understanding Shi?iteIslam identity. This article's primary claim is that a deep investigationof Shi?ite-Islam identity should be conducted in the context of itscoping with the trauma of the tragedy of Karbala?. Based on JeffreyAlexander's definition of trauma as a "cultural construction," we claimthat the coding, weighting, and narrating of the Karbala? tragedy inthe course of the trauma process can provide us with important cluesto understand the Shi?ite-Islam identity. This article claims that in theShi?ite identity, the suffering experienced in Karbala? is considered aguarantee that cosmic order will be maintained. Suffering isinterpreted as the cost of the battle between the haqq (truth) and batil(falsehood) and of preserving the right way; thus, suffering is glorifiedand transformed into a social activity of continuous character. In thisway, the Shi?ite community places itself both as "a subject of history"and as a dynamic social tradition.