javad madahi; ali jahanshahiafshar; Gozal guzelstol@mail.ru
Abstract
Nowadays, the topic of food and its characteristics and functions in metaphysical context are considered as weird and without scientific proof in such a way that for most people this concept of food is only limited to halal (allowed) and haram (forbidden) and its influence on human’s health and ...
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Nowadays, the topic of food and its characteristics and functions in metaphysical context are considered as weird and without scientific proof in such a way that for most people this concept of food is only limited to halal (allowed) and haram (forbidden) and its influence on human’s health and body. Some people believe that studying food based on religion is unscientific and superstitious. However, in the viewpoint of religion, one of the main duties and responsibilities of religious leaders is to concentrate on food as a means to solve a number of cultural and social problems. What plays a significant role in religious food culture and is the central concern of this study is the attention paid by Islam to food as a symbolic system in the relationships of humans with each other and with God. Based on interpretivism and semiotics as the theoretical frameworks and thorough investigation of religious teachings by means of interview, this study was attempted to detect and represent the symbolic roles of food and dining together in Islamic food culture among people in Lalezar of Kerman. It was further aimed to indicate that the concepts Islam has induced to the society according to the symbolic roles of food are not pure theoretical ideals. Rather, food and the cloth around which people sit and eat food (Sofreh) are of the most suitable means of transferring religious concepts in Islamic culture. God and great Islamic figures have expressed the deepest humanity and religious concepts through the symbolic power of food. Concepts like humility, contentment, social links, social relations, social equality and social class equality.
