the role of the altar martyrs in promoting the culture of martyrdom and sacrifice in the holy defense mehdi bahrami & azizeh karimi ab

the imposed war which changed into the holy defense through shiite discourse, was one of the most important tests of the revolution after the islamic revolution victory. in fact, the imposed war caused the shiite discourse as the dominant discourse in the islamic republic of iran to show its potential capacities once again by the clergy foundation and imam khomeini, in particular. changing into a fight between polytheism and monotheism, the imposed war was now considered as a religious issue, in which the people participation was considered as a religious duty. with incorporating the religion in the culture of war, the issue of sacrifice and martyrdom was one of the most important issues that were highlighted in the holy defense because the presence in the front was determined as a sacrifice in the cause of religion and god. in explaining this issue, the role of the clergymen is highlighted because they as the representatives of the religion were responsible for promoting and even protecting the islam. in the meantime, one of the most important tribunes prepared for the clergymen based on imam khomeini order was the tribune of friday prayers which were held with the leadership of an imam khomeini (ra) representative and mainly a high qualified clergyman in the various cities every week. the purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the altar martyrs in the tribune of the friday prayers and as a friday prayer imam in the culture of sacrifice and martyrdom. the results of the paper indicates that the altar martyrs have had a significant role in the development of this concept in the society in theory and practice because they not only followed this concept from a religious perspective during each friday prayers, but also always attended the funeral of the martyrs and treated them and their survivors with respect.