Euologists (madah) and the folk-religious movement that surround them are playing an increasingly important role in the religio-political landscape of the Islamic republic. Circling around the practice of chest beating and ritual mourning of the martyred household of the Prophet, the structure of this movement has changed during the last decade. In presidential period of Mohammad Khatami, the madahs were mobilised in the campaign that led to the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential elections of 2005. Since then what may be described as a new type of charismatic folk-religious culture has flourished in certain layers of Iranian society and has frequently been a matter of controversy. Today, the madahs can be described as charismatic alternatives to the religious authority of the clerical establishment. Based on interviews and ethnographic observations in Qom, this paper describes and analyses the role of the madahs in Iran today.