Ehsan (Azerbaijan)

Ehsan 🇦🇿
Location: Azerbaijan
Definition: An opulent funeral feast with religious implications
Keywords: Azerbaijan – FSU – Caucasus – Funeral – Celebration – Food – Religion – Islam
Author: Turkhan Sadigov
Affiliation: Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA

By Turkhan Sadigov, Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA

In Azerbaijan, a funeral feast is called ehsan, which implies a broader connotation in Islam: ihsan means to “do beautiful things" in a bid to reach “perfection”, “excellence”. Consequently, ihsan in Islam denotes demonstration both in deeds and actions of social responsibility drawn from a religious conviction (Ayoub 2013). Examples of these may include (among other deeds) showing compassion, kindness, mercy to others in everyday life (Azerbaijan National Encyclopaedia 2016, 434-435).

However, in Azerbaijan ihsan (or ehsan as pronounced in local language) has another, narrower meaning. In a historical context, ehsan denotes a charity food and water provision during Ashura (Shia religious mourning ceremony commemorating the martyrdom of prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) grandchildren Huseyn and Hasan) by well-off citizens and establishments. In a narrower sense, ehsan denotes food banquet during funerals. Historically in Azerbaijan, Ashura charity served as a vivid example of Islamic ihsan – a selfless devotion to Shiism and service to its religious pillar – deeds that were seen as “exemplary”, marking “excellence”, “perfection”. There is a thin difference between religious Ashura ceremony and family funeral for the deceased relative – both being mourning ceremonies. Consequently, food provision as a religiously meritorious action (i.e., ihsan) emerged in Ashura charity, and later started to be applied to the provision of food during ordinary funeral ceremonies with the same connotation of a religious merit.

Hadiths and generally Muslim tradition insist that the family of a deceased is not obliged to provide food during a funeral. On the contrary, other people should help the family of a deceased person with food:

It is better for neighbors and relatives to make food in their own houses then bring it to the household (of the deceased), because it was narrated that when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) heard that his cousin Ja’far ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) had died in the Battle of Mu’tah, he told his family to make food for the family of Ja’far, and said, ‘Because there has come to them that which will preoccupy them.’ But it is not permitted for the family to make food for people because for the sake of the deceased. (Al-Shaykh al-‘Allaamah ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abd-Allah ibn Baaz 2022).

Thus, it may be hypothesized that food provision in Azerbaijani funerals has its roots not in religious precepts. Rather food provision started as the reflection of a religiously meritorious charity of Ashura. It is from this historical narrative that a funeral food provision as ehsan gradually started to take root as applied to ordinary funeral services. Food provision by the relatives of a deceased person served as a religiously meritorious act of charity showing their affection and devotion to the person who passed. Today, ehsan is also provided by the Azerbaijani government and foundations in the country to commemorate servicemen fallen during military operations (Anews 2016). Ultimately, the usage of the term in both Ashura and ordinary funeral ceremony shows specific actions which in the eyes of the local population serve as notable examples of Islamic concept of ihsan.

In contemporary Azerbaijan, food provision (ehsan) attains a central part of a funeral ceremony and accounts for the bulk of ceremony spending. As with other rituals (Sadigov 2020a), ehsan also experiences the pressure of overspending. It is no coincidence that the government regulation conceived to keep in check population overspending on funerals focuses mostly on ehsan (BBC 2016), whereas other aspects of funerals do not get comparable attention (Jamnews 2018).

This tradition of providing an exemplary tribute requiring a considerable financial investment seemingly serves several broader functions. First, through providing an opulent ehsan a person/family earns moral capital: as noted earlier, the very provenance of the term ehsan links it to religious merit. Consequently, it is assumed that a person/family who spends generously on funeral feast is a meritorious Muslim, with all the ensuing religious implications of this status for religious reward in the afterlife.

The second function of ehsan is linked to social capital. Through demonstrative consumption, aggressive hospitality, co-optation of useful contacts, network maintenance funeral feasts serve to boost horizontal links within one’s social circle. An opulent funeral feast (or at least the one which does not fall short of social expectations) contributes to family prestige in broader social networks.

Finally, ehsan has a third psychological implication: people spend much money on funerals to emphasize their love and emotional affection for a deceased family member through the mentioned opulent funeral paraphernalia and lavish funeral feasts. Funeral feasts, hence, symbolically represent the affection felt toward the deceased. While death may deal a big blow to traditional family and clan solidarity, elaborate funerals with generous food provision serve to re-integrate and strengthen social bonds (Sadigov 2020b). Consequently, ehsan may also serve a psychological function of quenching a sense of loss.

The mentioned reasons may create social pressure to spend a significant amount on funeral feasts. Once the incentives to spend are introduced, then a societal competition for religious, social, and psychological capital may force individuals to overspend (i.e., to spend beyond what they may reasonably afford) on funerals. Many poor families, faced with social pressure to provide funeral feasts risk financial ruin that, in turn, increase social tensions and discontent. Consequently, many governments interfere to regulate funeral spending in a bid to keep in check social pressure to overspend (Sadigov 2021).

References

Al-Shaykh al-‘Allaamah ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Baaz. 2022. Kitaab Majmoo’ Fataawa wa Maqaalaat Mutanawwi’ah li Samaahat. Vol. 9, 325, https://islamqa.info/en/answers/13307/making-food-during-the-mourning-period

Anews. 2016. Ehsan given to commemorate Azerbaijani martyrs, https://anews.az/en/201604081044-ehsan-given-to-commemorate-azerbaijani-martyrs

Ayoub, M. M. 2013. Islam: faith and history. New York: Simon and Schuster

Azerbaijan National Encyclopaedia. 2016. “Ehsan” entry. Volume 7. Baku: Scientific Centre of Azerbaijani National Encyclopaedia

BBC. 2016. “Yas mərasimləri ve biznes [Funeral Ceremonies and Business],” https://www.bbc.com/azeri/azerbaijan/2016/06/160625_luxurious_memorial_ceremonies.

Jamnews. 2018. “Azerbaijani Government to Strictly Regulate Graveyards,” https://jam-news.net/azerbaijani-govt-to-strictlyregulate-graveyards.

Sadigov, T. 2021. "Death beyond the means: Funeral overspending and its government regulation around the world". Rationality and Society, 33(3), 363-398, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1043463121990015

Sadigov, Turkhan. 2020a. "Household overspending on marriage: the scale of the problem and government reactions around the world." International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 40 (11/12): 1509-1532, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-03-2020-0075

Sadigov, Turkhan. 2020b. "Burying instability: Post-Soviet governments' regulation of funerals." Problems of Post-Communism, https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2020.1716196.