“Jashn-e Tklif” As a Rite of Passage in Iran's Educational System.

Jashn-e Taklif (Obligation Ceremony) is the biggest celebration for elementary students in Iran. According to the rules forced by the ministry of education in Islamic Republic of Iran, this ceremony must be held by schoolmasters for every nine year old girl and fifteen year old boy. In this ceremony students celebrate their transition from being a child to being an adult, and religious teachers announce to students that from this time they are “Mokallaf,” meaning that they are at responsible age and have to perform religious duties in Islam such as wearing Hijab, saying prayers and fasting. According to “The Rites of Passage”, worked by Arnold Van Gennep that explains his view on rites of passage rituals as being divided into three phases: preliminary, liminality, and post-liminality, “Jashn-e Taklif” can be one of the important rites of passage in Iran. The history of “Jashn-e Taklif” in Muslims families, the role of the educational institution in holding this ceremony, and the use of it as a tool for socialization of Iranian women are the issues discussed in the current article. In fact, in this article I am going to describe “Jashn-e Taklif” in girls’ schools in Tehran as a rite of passage by the visual documentation of the event. I will introduce its phases by photo-elicitation interviews with the female students who are studying some years before and after this ceremony. my target population is the female students who are studying in specified schools I chose for my research.