The Typology of Pilgrimage Styles among Youths in Mashhad

Although pilgrimage is known as a religious action, it has many socio-cultural features, which require in-depth qualitative studies. The typology of pilgrimage among different social strata is an example of such features. To understand different styles of pilgrimage, ten participants were chosen. The aged 20-30 and were citizens of Mashhad. Interviews were semi-structured and were analyzed based on their themes. The main finding of this research showed four classes of pilgrimage based on the Weberian account of ideal types: introspective, traditional, pragmatic and entertaining. Each type emerged in three phases: preliminaries and essentials, practice, and achievements. The four axial concepts represented the essence of the pilgrimage styles: a. spirituality was the pivotal concept in the introspective style; b. the traditional pilgrimage related to rituals; c. the wish related to the practical style; d. leisure was the essence of entertainer pilgrimage.