The Cultural Communicative Model of Supplication in Islamic-Shiite Culture with an Emphasis on Sahifa Sajadiah
Document Type : Scientific-Research Article
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Abstract
Contrary to common perception of supplication as a purely personal phenomenon, one should say that in fact it is a means of realizing the most profound and complicated forms of communication. This article tries to review some holy verses of the Quran and the Infallible narratives and traditions for the sake of looking once again at mystical and philosophical aspects of supplication and their comparison with communication studies, and examining its complicated communicative dimensions within different communicative levels with an emphasis on the prayer book of Sahifa Sajadia. The results show that the most important communicative level of supplication is of extra personal type and its most central form is of intrapersonal type, so that all its functions in interpersonal, group and social spheres are under its impact or mediated by it. The most important function of supplication at intrapersonal level is "forming, boosting and orientating it to achieve a spiritual feeling and experience", and at interpersonal level, is to "boost norms and related values." At the social level of communication, supplication plays a role in "transmitting political, social and religious messages to large audiences." Extra personal communication that exists in supplication has by itself four levels which are connected to the ideological and devotional levels of the supplicant. The issue of verbal communication in supplication is taken into account at least at two levels.
1- What is requested from God, which signifies the type of religiosity approach 2- Aesthetic issues included in supplication language. Non-verbal communication in supplication becomes manifest in at least three domains, i.e. time, place and physical postures. Supplication in intercultural communication is shared among religions and transfers cultures and rituals. It can at the same time speed up communication among Ummah based on Arabic language and reinforce norms and related values. Political communication also shows itself in supplication at three levels of insight, inclination and political behavior.
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