This world of poetry and the world of religion are porous, there has always been this dialogue and this exchange.”
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In Iran, children are taught at a young age how to memorize and recite the works of such classical poets as Rumi, Hafez Shirazi, Saadi Shirazi, and Nizami. “In childhood, you teach your children to recite poetry, but you also teach your children to recite prayers,” Haeri explains. But the links between poetry and Islam do not end there. “In the cultural history of Iran all these beloved poets commented extensively on what it is to be a true Muslim. Say What Your Longing Heart Desires explores the influence of classical, mystic Persian poetry on the practice of three distinct forms of prayer, each the focus of its own chapter: ritual prayer or namaz that Muslims are required to recite five times a day spontaneous prayer or do’a that is often said in Persian and lastly, the practice of reading prayers composed and passed down by Shi’i imams or reading do’a. For the book, she followed a group of educated, middle-class women who have carved out their own spaces-often in private homes-to pray, debate, read, and learn. Haeri says that Iranian women are often not at the table where theological debate takes place. I urge that we pose the question: ‘What does it mean to be religious?’ rather than assume that we know what that means.” -Niloofar Haeri “The space of the home actually became quasi-public.” “After the revolution, because the government was closing down many places of entertainment and many places where people could get together, a lot came inside,” says Haeri. The question of what it means to be Muslim was now open for public debate. The 1979 Iranian Revolution and the subsequent establishment of an Islamic Republic brought the deepest theological questions into the public sphere. They participate fully in the debates about Islam. “The women that I interviewed became more reflective about religion, they wanted to learn for themselves and discover for themselves as part of a larger conversation,” Haeri says. Haeri interviewed women who were born in the 1940s and who influenced Iranian society by being the first generation to finish college and go on to become professionals and achieve economic independence. After a relative returned from her evening prayers and said that they “had gone well,” Haeri began to wonder, “Could ritual prayers go well or badly? How does one assess how a prayer turns out? Isn’t a ritual just a ritual?” The idea for the book began, as so many do, with curiosity. In my book I try to show how much more complex the answer is.” “Most people assume that the answer is to be found within the various doctrines of any given religion. “I think there’s a broad misunderstanding about what it is that attracts people to religion,” says Haeri. Say What Your Longing Heart Desires outlines lived ritual experiences, where readers witness women’s explorations of the kind of Muslims they strive to be. In her latest work, Say What Your Longing Heart Desires: Women, Prayer & Poetry in Iran, Niloofar Haeri, professor of anthropology and chair of the Krieger School’s Program in Islamic Studies, provides a rich examination of contemporary religious beliefs and prayer practices among a group of educated, middle-class Muslim women in Iran.
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