The politics of religiousity and secularism narratives from the West Azerbaijan, Iran

The interaction between religiosity and secularism in contemporary Iran is a complex and dynamic issue that reflects a society struggling with its historical religious identity and the effects of modern secularism. Considering the rapid pace of social change in Iran in recent decades, which puts secularism and, as a result, religion at the center of the debate, it is necessary to conduct new research in this field to recognize the new perceptual mechanisms regarding these two concepts. As a result, the current study provides a pulse check on religiosity and secularism in Iranian society. This study, which used a qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews and discourse analysis, attempted to reveal how Iranians perceive the categories of religion and secularism. According to the research findings, people approach the categories of religiosity and secularism differently, and their behavior demonstrates an extent of distance from religion. This does not imply that Iranian society has become non-religious, rather, it represents a type of quest to reject the government's interpretation of religion and replace it with a new one. Factors influencing the adoption of these approaches include intergenerational and family relationships, modern manifestations of social life, and behavioral and speech contradictions of religious guardians and rulers. This study demonstrates that by distinguishing between the government's interpretation of religion and real Islam, secularism debates are legitimized in Iranian society. Furthermore, this study demonstrated how religious rule in Iran does not serve religion, but rather acts as a catalyst in the secularization process due to its internal contradictions and paradoxical stance toward modernism.