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Communism and Shia political Islam in the Arab world do not share the same ideological assumptions ; however, they do bear family resemblances, due to their historical relationship – particularly in Iraq and Lebanon – which can be broken down to three time sequences. From the 1950s, communist parties are anchored in marginalized Shia communities : the revolutionary narrative of Marxism and class struggle echoes Shia messianism. In the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian revolution, the dynamic is reversed : the anti-imperialist and eschatological narrative coming from Teheran fascinates the Marxist lefts, and encourages conversions to political Islam. The third sequence opens in the nineties, with the end of the Cold War : since then, Arab communists have displayed a political use of Shiism, that is not religious. By supporting Teheran and the Lebanese Hezbollah, some Arab Marxist activists try to reactivate a neo-thirld-worldist political worldview. Nevertheless, as have the proponents of Shia political Islam, they have abandoned for the moment any revolutionary aspirations.

In the present study, I will try to understand the role and the place of the body in the Shi’ite popular religiosity, such as it is detectable in Afzâd, a little village of Kerman region (Iran). Does the body represent an obstacle in the individuals’ spiritual life and in their relation to the divine world or, on the contrary, is it of a great assistance?In order to bring an answer, I will begin by analysing the place of the body firstly in the villagers’ religious conceptions on Good and Bad, and secondly in their representations of the other world. If the body does not seem to be in itself a source of sin, it is touched by impurity, becoming a potential obstacle in the relation with the divine, and because of that it will be necessary to study all the implications of this notion. Finally, I will study how the body appears as an important mediator, a fact recognizable firstly in the rituals linked with the Imams’ veneration, and more largely, in other many practices which reach their culminant point in the numerous offerings, exchanges and ritual sharing of food.In conclusion, the body appears to be in the core of the Shi’ite popular religiosity because it plays an important role in the construction of the link with the divine, who may reflect its role in the construction of the social bond, which is so prominent in the little peasant society studied.