The Middle East in the Age of Divine Decadence: 1979-2017

• In Event: Global and Transnational Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 11. Changing Orders of Power

Abstract

Divine decadence occurs when transcendence no longer generates meaning, orients conduct, or sustains hope. It is the moment the sacred turns vulgar: narratives become slogans, symbols are debased, rituals grow repetitive, spiritual depth is drained, religion is weaponized, and God becomes a functionary of the state. Drawing on Ibn Khaldun, Barzun, and Lukács, this paper links the rise of divine decadence to the convergence of two transformations: (1) the erosion of objective rules and the expansion of subjective discretion in the exercise of power, and (2) the decline of reason alongside the ascendancy of scriptural literalism. This convergence deforms the social function of religion. Domestication, a process by which the faithful cultivate familiarity with transcendence to derive meaning and guidance, devolves into subjugation, as institutions or individuals assert exclusive authority over the divine. Concretization, which embodies the divine in symbols and sacred objects, gives way to decoration, where these objects are hollowed of spiritual substance and reduced to vanity, ornamentation, and spectacle. Immanentization, which allows the sacred to dwell within worldly life without collapsing into it, is replaced by appropriation, as political power claims the status of the living embodiment of divine will. Using this framework, the paper traces four trajectories of divine decadence: (1) Egypt’s Qutbist absolutism, (2) Iran’s clerical rule, (3) Saudi Arabia’s fusion of religion and monarchy, and (4) Iraq’s sectarian chaos culminating in ISIS. Across these cases, transcendence becomes a tool of domination rather than moral guidance, legitimizing coercion, violence, and obedience while eroding the spiritual and ethical integrity of faith.

Author

• Mansoor Moaddel, University of Maryland-College Park