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8/9/2019 Islam in Iran

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[edit] Islamic conquest of IranMain article: Islamic conquest of IranPart of a series onIslam by country

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Richard Bulliet's "conversion curve" indicates that only about 10% of Iran converted to Islam during the relatively Arab-centric Umayyad period. Beginning in the Abassid period, with its mix of Persian as well as Arab rulers, the Muslim percentage of the population rose. As Persian Muslims consolidated their rule of the country, the Muslim population rose from approx. 40% in the mid 9th century toclose to 100% by the end of 11th century.[8] Seyyed Hossein Nasr suggests thatthe rapid increase in conversion was aided by the Persian nationality of the rul

ers.[8][9]

According to Bernard Lewis:

"Iran was indeed Islamized, but it was not Arabized. Persians remained Persians.And after an interval of silence, Iran reemerged as a separate, different and distinctive element within Islam, eventually adding a new element even to Islam itself. Culturally, politically, and most remarkable of all even religiously, theIranian contribution to this new Islamic civilization is of immense importance.The work of Iranians can be seen in every field of cultural endeavor, includingArabic poetry, to which poets of Iranian origin composing their poems in Arabicmade a very significant contribution. In a sense, Iranian Islam is a second adv

ent of Islam itself, a new Islam sometimes referred to as Islam-i Ajam. It was this Persian Islam, rather than the original Arab Islam, that was brought to newareas and new peoples: to the Turks, first in Central Asia and then in the Middle East in the country which came to be called Turkey, and of course to India. The Ottoman Turks brought a form of Iranian civilization to the walls of Vienna...[2]"

[edit] Iran and the Islamic culture and civilizationPhoto taken from medieval manuscript by Qotbeddin Shirazi (12361311), a Persian Astronomer. The image depicts an epicyclic planetary model.The Islamization of Iran was to yield deep transformations within the cultural, scientific, and political structure of Iran's society: The blossoming of Persian literature, philosoph

y, medicine and art became major elements of the newly-forming Muslim civilization. Inheriting a heritage of thousands of years of civilization, and being at the "crossroads of the major cultural highways",[10] contributed to Persia emerging as what culminated into the "Islamic Golden Age". During this period, hundredsof scholars and scientists vastly contributed to technology, science and medicine, later influencing the rise of European science during the Renaissance.[11]

The most important scholars of almost all of the Islamic sects and schools of thought were Persian or live in Iran including most notable and reliable Hadith collectors of Shia and Sunni like Shaikh Saduq, Shaikh Kulainy, Imam Bukhari, ImamMuslim and Hakim al-Nishaburi, the greatest theologians of Shia and Sunni likeShaykh Tusi, Imam Ghazali, Imam Fakhr al-Razi and Al-Zamakhshari, the greatest physicians, astronomers, logicians, mathematicians, metaphysicians, philosophersand scientists like Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, the greatestShaykh of Sufism like Rumi, Abdul-Qadir Gilani.

Ibn Khaldun narrates in his Muqaddimah:[12]

It is a remarkable fact that, with few exceptions, most Muslim scholarsin the intellectual sciences have been non-Arabs, thus the founders of grammar were Sibawaih and after him, al-Farsi and Az-Zajjaj. All of them were of Persian descent they invented rules of (Arabic) grammar. Great jurists were Persians. Only the Persians engaged in the task of preserving knowledge and writing systematic scholarly works. Thus the truth of the statement of the prophet (Muhammad) becomes apparent, "If learning were suspended in the highest parts of heaven the Persians wo

uld attain it"The intellectual sciences were also the preserve of the Persians, left alone by the Arabs, who did not cultivate themas was the case with all craftsThis situation continued in the cities as long as the Persians and Persian countr


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ies, Iraq, Khorasan and Transoxiana (modern Central Asia), retained their sedentary culture.

[edit] Shu'ubiyya movementSee also: Shu'ubiyyaIn the 9th and 10th centuries, non-Arab subjects of the Ummah, especially Persians created a movement called Shu'ubiyyah in response to the privileged status of

Arabs. This movement led to resurgence of Persian national identity.[13] Although Persians adopted Islam, over the centuries they worked to protect and revivetheir distinctive language and culture, a process known as Persianization. Arabsand Turks also participated in this attempt.[14][15][16]

As the power of the Abbasid caliphs diminished, a series of dynasties rose in various parts of Iran, some with considerable influence and power. Among the mostimportant of these overlapping dynasties were the Tahirids in Khorasan (820-72);the Saffarids in Sistan (867-903); and the Samanids (875-1005), originally at Bokhara. The Samanids eventually ruled an area from central Iran to Pakistan.[17]By the early 10th century, the Abbasids almost lost control to the growing Persian faction known as the Buwayhid dynasty (934-1055). Since much of the Abbasid

administration had been Persian anyway, the Buwayhid, who were Zaidi Shia, werequietly able to assume real power in Baghdad.

The Samanid dynasty was the first fully native dynasty to rule Iran since the Muslim conquest, and led the revival of Persian culture. The first important Persian poet after the arrival of Islam, Rudaki, was born during this era and was praised by Samanid kings. The Samanids also revived many ancient Persian festivals.Their successor, the Ghaznawids, who were of non-Iranian Turkic origin, also became instrumental in the revival of Persian.[18]

[edit] Sunni SultanatesIn 962 a Turkish governor of the Samanids, Alptigin, conquered Ghazna (in present-day Afghanistan) and established a dynasty, the Ghaznavids, that lasted to 118

6.[17] Later, the Seljuks, who like the Ghaznavids were Turks, slowly conqueredIran over the course of the 11th century. Their leader, Tughril Beg, turned hiswarriors against the Ghaznavids in Khorasan. He moved south and then west, conquering but not wasting the cities in his path. In 1055 the caliph in Baghdad gaveTughril Beg robes, gifts, and the title King of the East. Under Tughril Beg's successor, Malik Shah (10721092), Iran enjoyed a cultural and scientific renaissance, largely attributed to his brilliant Iranian vizier, Nizam al Mulk. These leaders established the observatory where Omar Khayym did much of his experimentation for a new calendar, and they built religious schools in all the major towns.They brought Abu Hamid Ghazali, one of the greatest Islamic theologians, and other eminent scholars to the Seljuk capital at Baghdad and encouraged and supported their work.[17]

A serious internal threat to the Seljuks during their reign came from the Hashshashin- Ismailis of the Nizari sect, with headquarters at Alamut between Rasht and Tehran. They controlled the immediate area for more than 150 years and sporadically sent out adherents to strengthen their rule by murdering important officials. Several of the various theories on the etymology of the word assassin derivefrom these killers.[17]

[edit] Shiaism in Iran before SafavidsImam Reza A.S. shrine, the greatest religious place in Iran, MashhadAlthough Shi'as have lived in Iran since the earliest days of Islam, and there was one Shi'adynasty in part of Iran during the tenth and eleventh centuries, but according

to Mortaza Motahhari the majority of Iranian scholars and masses remained Sunnitill the time of the Safavids.[19]


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However it doesn't mean Shia was rootless in Iran. The writers of The Four Booksof Shia were Iranian as well as many other great Shia scholars.

Muhaqqiq Hilli mentions the names of the great Islamic jurists which most of them were Iranian.[20]:

In view of the fact that we have a great number of Fuqaha(Islamic jurists) who h

ave copiously written on the subject, it is not possible for me to quote all ofthem. I have selected from those who were best known for their research and scholarship, quoting their Ijtihad, and the opinions they adopted for action. From amongst the earlier ones, I have selected Hasan ibn Mahboob, Ahmed ibn Abi Nasr Bezanti, Husain ibn Saeed Ahvazi, Fadhl ibn Shadhan Nisaburi, Yunus ibn Abd alRahman. They lived during the presence of our Imams. From the later group, I quoteMuhammad ibn Babawayh Qummi and Muhammad ibn Yaqoob Kulaini. As for the people of Fatwa, I consider the verdicts of Askafi, Ibn Abi Aqeel, Shaykh Mufid, SeyyidMurtadha Alamul Huda and Shaykh Tusi.

The domination of the Sunni creed during the first nine Islamic centuries characterizes the religious history of Iran during this period. There were however som

e exceptions to this general domination which emerged in the form of the Zaydisof Tabaristan, the Buwayhid, the rule of Sultan Muhammad Khudabandah (r. Shawwal703-Shawwal 716/1304-1316) and the Sarbedaran. Nevertheless, apart from this domination there existed, firstly, throughout these nine centuries, Shia inclinations among many Sunnis of this land and, secondly, original Imami Shiism as wellas Zaydi Shiism had prevalence in some parts of Iran. During this period, Shia in Iran were nourished from Kufah, Baghdad and later from Najaf and Hillah.[21]

However, during the first nine centuries there are four high points in the history of this linkage:

First, the migration of a number of persons belonging to the tribe of the Ash'ari from Iraq to the city of Qum towards the end of the first/seventh century, whi

ch is the period of establishment of Imami Shiism in Iran.Second, the influence of the Shii tradition of Baghdad and Najaf on Iran during the fifth/eleventh and sixth/twelfth centuries.Third, the influence of the school of Hillah on Iran during the eighth/fourteenth century.Fourth, the influence of the Shiism of Jabal Amel and Bahrain on Iran during theperiod of establishment of the Safavid rule.[21][edit] Shiaism and the SafavidsAs in the case of the early caliphate, Safavid rule had been based originally onboth political and religious legitimacy, with the shah being both king and divine representative. With the later erosion of Safavid central political authorityin the mid-17th century, the power of the Shia scholars in civil affairs such as judges, administrators, and court functionaries, began to grow, in a way unprecedented in Shi'ite history. Likewise, the ulama began to take a more active role in agitating against Sufism and other forms of popular religion, which remained strong in Iran, and in enforcing a more scholarly type of Shi'a Islam among the masses. The development of the ta'ziaha passion play commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Husayn and his family and Ziarat of the shrines and tombs of local Shi'ite leaders began during this period, largely at the prompting of the Shi'ite clergy.[22] According to Mortaza Motahhari, the majority of Iranians turned to Shi'a Islam from the Safavid period onwards. Of course, it cannot be denied that Iran's environment was more favorable to the flourishing of the Shi'a Islam as compared to all other parts of the Muslim world. Shi'a Islam did not penetrate anyland to the extent that it gradually could in Iran. With the passage of time, Iranians' readiness to practise Shi'a Islam grew day by day. Had Shi`ism not been

deeply rooted in the Iranian spirit, the Safawids (907-1145/ 1501-1732) would not have succeeded in converting Iranians to the Shi'i creed and making them follow the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt sheerly by capturing political power.[19]


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It was the Safavids who made Iran the spiritual bastion of Shiism against the onslaughts of shi'as' by orthodox Sunni Islam, and the repository of Persian cultural traditions and self-awareness of Iranianhood,[23] acting as a bridge to modern Iran. According to Professor Roger Savory[24]:

In Number of ways the Safavids affected the development of the modern Iranian st

ate: first, they ensured the continuance of various ancient and traditional Persian institutions, and transmitted these in a strengthened, or more 'national', form; second, by imposing Ithna 'Ashari Shi'a Islam on Iran as the official religion of the Safavid state, they enhanced the power of mujtahids. The Safavids thus set in train a struggle for power between the urban and the crown that is to say, between the proponents of secular government and the proponents of a theoretic government; third, they laid the foundation of alliance between the religiousclasses ('Ulama') and the bazaar which played an important role both in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 19051906, and again in the Islamic Revolution of 1979; fourth the policies introduced by Shah Abbas I conduced to a more centralized administrative system.

[edit] Contemporary era: Challenges of modernity and rise of IslamismSee also: Islam and modernity and History of Islamism in IranDuring the 20th century Iran underwent significant changes such as the 1906 Constitutional Revolution and the secularism of the Pahlavi dynasty.

According to scholar Roy Mottahedeh, one significant change to Islam in Iran during the first half of the 20th century was that the class of ulema lost its informality that allowed it to include everyone from the highly trained jurist to the "shopkeeper who spent one afternoon a week memorizing and transmitting a few traditions." Laws by Reza Shah that requiring military service and dress in European-style clothes for Iranians, gave talebeh and mullahs exemptions, but only ifthey passed specific examinations proving their learnedness, thus excluding less educated clerics.

In addition Islamic Madrasah schools became more like 'professional' schools, leaving broader education to secular government schools and sticking to Islamic learning. "Ptolemaic astronomy, Aveicennian medicines, and the algebra of Omar Kahayyam" was dispensed with.[25]

[edit] Iranian revolutionMain article: Iranian RevolutionThe Iranian Revolution (also known as the Islamic Revolution,[26][27][28][29][30][31] Persian: ?????? ??????, Enghelabe Eslami) was the revolution that transformed Iran from a monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to an Islamic republicunder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution and founder ofthe Islamic Republic.[32] It has been called "the third great revolution in history", following the French and Bolshevik revolutions,[33] and an event that "made Islamic fundamentalism a political force ... from Morocco to Malaysia."[34]

[edit] Current situation of Islam[edit] DemographyMap showing ethnic and religious diversity among the population of Iran.Sunni Muslims constitute approximately 9% of the Iranian population. A majority of Kurds, virtually all Baluchis and Turkomans, and a minority of Arabs are Sunnis, as are small communities of Persians in southern Iran and Khorasan. Shia clergy tendto view missionary work among Sunnis to convert them to Shi'a Islam as a worthwhile religious endeavor.[35]. In those towns with mixed populations in West Azar

baijan, the Persian Gulf region, and Sistan and Baluchistan, tensions between Shi'as and Sunnis existed both before and after the Revolution. Religious tensionshave been highest during major Shi'a observances, especially Moharram.[35]


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[edit] Religious governmentSee also: Islamic republicIran is an Islamic republic. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran mandates that the official religion of Iran is Shia Islam and the Twelver Ja'farischool, though it also mandates that other Islamic schools are to be accorded full respect, and their followers are free to act in accordance with their own jur

isprudence in performing their religious rites and recognizes Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians as religious minorities. As part of this mandate of allowing other practices, however, the Islamic Republic does not allow Sunni mosques in places where Sunnis are not a majority.[36]. Moreover, as a consequence ofArticles 12 and 13 of the Constitution, citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran are officially divided into four categories: Muslims, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians. This official division ignores other religious minorities in Iran, notably those of the Bah' faith. Bahs are a "non-recognized" religious minoritywithout any legal existence. They are classified as "unprotected infidels" by the authorities, and are subject to systematic discrimination on the basis of their beliefs. Similarly, atheism is officially disallowed; one must declare oneself as a member of one of the four recognized faiths in order to avail onself of m

any of the rights of citizenship.[37]

[edit] Religious institutionsStatistics of religious buildings according to ???????? ????? ????? which has been gathered in 2003.