The Arbaeen pilgrimage, as a massive ritual gathering, appears to differ fundamentally from the prevailing atmosphere of modern society. This distinction can be traced through the differentiation between deep and shallow social connections, as well as organic and deliberative ones—a distinction formulated by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies in the dual framework of Gemeinschaft (community) and Gesellschaft (society). In this duality, Gemeinschaft is grounded in emotional, organic, and authentic human bonds, whereas Gesellschaft is based on contractual, calculative, and instrumental relations. The Arbaeen pilgrimage, as a socio-ritual phenomenon, possesses the characteristics of Gemeinschaft in the Tönniesian sense: face-to-face interactions, unconditional hospitality, empathy, and spontaneous participation are all indicators of the predominance of ritual communication over transmissive communication. This ritual communication, unlike transmissive communication which merely concerns the transfer of information and interests, is grounded in the formation of collective identity, solidarity, and shared experience.



On the other hand, the political community, in order to achieve cohesion and unity, can benefit from the communicative model of Arbaeen and the revival of the concept of Gemeinschaft. The crisis of cohesion in modern societies—which is undoubtedly a broad topic, but whose minimal certain manifestation stems from the predominance of calculative and instrumental relations—requires a return to authentic models of communication. The Arbaeen pilgrimage, as a successful example of reviving Gemeinschaft within modern Gesellschaft, can offer a model for reconstructing social and political bonds and contribute to reducing social gaps and strengthening social capital.



The primary question is whether the authentic and ritual social communications governing the Arbaeen pilgrimage can be extended to ordinary and everyday (non-Arbaeen) political life, and what implications this extension holds for political cohesion and unity. This study aims to describe the Arbaeen pilgrimage by relying on the concept of "ritual social communication" (as opposed to transmissive communication) and emphasizing the necessity of transitioning from Gesellschaft to Gemeinschaft. The research approach indicates that this description can significantly contribute to resolving the issue of extending Arbaeen with its authentic social communications into ordinary and everyday political life, and can offer a model for reconstructing social and political cohesion. The findings of this study can be useful for policymakers, social activists, and researchers in the sociology of religion and communication, and can pave the way for further research in this field.