Conjuring Karbala Online and Offline

Majlis sermons are a cornerstone of Shiʾa ritual, and the online growth of this practice, mostly as videos, poses challenges for majlis preachers and audiences. This article explores Dutch Shiʾas’ experiences of majalis ethnographically and considers how they vary online and offline. Practitioners seek experiences of authentication in majalis – meaningful, truthful, emotional and legitimising experiences. Majlis preachers aim to create experiences of authentication. This text considers how such experiences occur through registers of authentication, explored as re-memory, embodiment and discourse. These registers are employed by preachers of the majlis sermon and recognised by audiences to produce highly affective religious experiences. However, online contexts pose challenges as ways of eliciting registers of authentication shift. This article describes these shifts to explore the implications for Shiʾa practices.