Q&A: Who are Iran's ‘eulogists’ and what is their role in the Islamic Republic?

Iran has witnessed the rapid growth of a group known as ‘eulogists’ during the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s three decades of leadership, playing a very prominent role not only in religious ceremonies, but also in the country's political sphere.

Khamenei has become a huge patron of the country's eulogists, even more than his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, inviting them to perform at ceremonies he holds at his residence for religious occasions such as commemoration ceremonies to mark the deaths of Shia saints.

Khamenei received a large group of eulogists who performed at his residence on Sunday. In his speech to the group, he spoke of the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and denied that Iran has proxy forces in the region, and said the eulogists were artists who “make jihad with words”.

"Eulogy is a real media tool ... for elucidation [of the truth],” he said.

Q. Are ‘eulogists’ clergymen?

Most ‘eulogists of the Prophet’s household’ (maddah-e ahl-e beyt) are laymen with no seminary training or place in the clerical hierarchy.

Q. What role do eulogists play in religious ceremonies?

Eulogists recite and sing verses in praise of the Prophet Muhammed and his household, particularly at ceremonies such as Ashura to mourn Shia Imams on the anniversary of their death. Professional eulogists have found a much more prominent role than clerics in these ceremonies in the past three decades.

Q. How many eulogists are there in Iran now?

Over 100,000 professional and amateur eulogists perform in Ashura and other religious ceremonies across Iran. However, there are no official figures on the number of professional eulogists who are members of large and small professional associations such as Khaneh-ye Maddahan (Eulogists' House).

Q. How do eulogists earn their living?

Professional eulogists earn their living mainly by performing at ceremonies for fixed fees alongside businesses they may run. Many others who may be considered amateurs have ordinary jobs or businesses and perform for free or a small ‘gift’ from the organizers of such events.

Some eulogists such as Mansour Arzi and Mahmoud Karimi, two of Khamenei’s favorites, have gained celebrity status in the past three decades. Iranian media have on many occasions alleged that ‘celebrity eulogists’ only attend ceremonies in return for very hefty fees.

In a recent online interview, Hamidreza Alimi, a eulogist who says earns his living by selling household appliances, claimed that some of his peers demand as much as two billion rials for a few hours of performance. He also alleged that these eulogists ask for cash payments to avoid paying taxes on their incomes.

Q. What benefits do eulogists receive from the government?

In 2015, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered the establishment of a foundation to provide government welfare services including health insurance to professional eulogists.

The foundation, named after Dibil bin Ali al-Khuzai, a seventh-century Shia poet, does not have a separate budget. However, it receives huge donations from various government and state bodies such as the Islamic Propaganda Organization and municipalities for “cultural activities”.

Professional eulogists also enjoy numerous perks from government and state bodies including priority in the allocation of housing and loans.

Q. What is the relationship between eulogists and political groups?

Most ‘celebrity eulogists’ have strong ties with ultra-hardline political parties and groups and often use religious ceremonies to campaign for them during parliamentary and presidential elections.

In their speeches and performances, these eulogists freely attack political rivals. Some are known for slandering top officials of the rival camp with immunity.

Mansour Arzi, a veteran eulogist known for his notorious attacks on several presidents including Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he fell from Khamenei’s favor, and Hassan Rouhani, published his own list of candidates in the parliamentary elections of February 2024.

Arzi officially supported Saeed Jalili in the snap presidential elections of July and on several occasions publicly attacked Masoud Pezeshkian for criticizing the harsh enforcement of hijab.

Eulogists are also often invited as pre-sermon speakers at state-sponsored Friday prayer gatherings.

Q. Are all eulogists aligned with the ruling political establishment?

Some eulogists only perform at the behest of religious groups organized by ordinary citizens and refuse to get involved in politics. Some others support reformists or dissident clerics such as the Qom-based Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq Shirazi who is highly critical of Khamenei's religious views and rule.

Since the disputed elections of 2009 that brought Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, some eulogists have used the story of the martyrdom of the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Hussain, to express their opposition to an interpretation of Islam that the Islamic Republic has been promoting for four decades during the Ashura ceremonies held in Imam Hussain’s memory.

In July 2023, during an Ashura ceremony in Dezful, the eulogists leading the ceremony fearlessly sang lyrics that openly criticized the political establishment and its insistence on enforcement of hijab, an issue which has seen the country thrown into revolutionary fervor since 2022's Women, Life, Freedom uprising.