Abstract
Adopting a constructivist and postcolonial approach, this article rethinks the place of Islam within Iranian identity and collective memory, challenging the cultural essentialism. Emphasizing the fluid and historical nature of Islam and Muslimness, it argues that religious experience in Iran is shaped through the intersections of class, gender, generation, culture, and lived experience. By analyzing the interaction of three intertwined traditions—national, religious, and modern Western—it critiques Islamism as a “non-collective memory” and essentialist discourse, underscoring the importance of a post-Islamist transition and the promotion of inclusive dialogue to form a pluralistic and democratic identity in contemporary Iran.
