Ascetics, usually older men dressed in tattered clothes and wandering the streets, were another visible subset. These men often practiced forms of self-denial and claimed proximity to God. Their silent presence, unpredictable behavior, or cryptic utterances were taken as signs of divine favor or madness, with the line between the two intentionally blurred.
The Social Context: Faith, Fear, and Dependency
The popularity of these mystical services was not simply due to gullibility or backwardness. In fact, many scholars argue that such beliefs thrived due to deep social, economic, and psychological needs. In the 1950s, Iran was in the throes of transformation — urbanization, Westernization, and the collapse of traditional social structures were accompanied by widespread insecurity and a loss of communal identity.
People turned to magicians and mystics to fill the void left by a weakening extended family system, failing healthcare infrastructure, and limited access to scientific education. A woman suffering from infertility could not find help in a public hospital, but a prayer writer or Mamazar offered not only hope but also a culturally acceptable narrative for her suffering.
Moreover, the Tehran Muswar report suggests that many of these practitioners operated in semi-legality, tolerated by authorities as long as they avoided fraud or explicit religious heresy. In fact, the boundary between folk practice and orthodoxy was often blurred; some clerics condemned these practices as bid’ah (innovation), while others discreetly engaged in them.