Editing Islam in Iran (section)

==Modern estimates of religious adherence==
According to an October 2024 update to ''[[Britannica.com]]'' by scholars at the Universities of [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] and [[University of Utah|Utah]], as of the date of their source data, Muslims accounted for 99.6% of the total population of Iran and comparable older numbers and somewhat discrepant more recent numbers, at ''[[CIA.gov]]''<ref name = CIA_202107/><ref name = CIA_202410/>—with the "vast majority... [stated as being] of the Ithnā ʿAsharī, or Twelver, Shiʿi branch".<ref name=BritannicaReligion2024>{{Cite encyclopedia | author = Mostofi, Khosrow & Avery, Peter William | date = October 17, 2024 | title = Iran—People—Religion of Iran | encyclopedia = [[Britannica.com]] | url = https://www.britannica.com/place/Iran/Religion | access-date = 17 October 2024 | quote = [Pie chart, 99.6% Muslim, 0.4% Christian/other—Significantly Bahā'ī, Christian, and Zoroastrian.] The vast majority of Iranians are Muslims of the Ithnā ʿAsharī, or Twelver, Shiʿi branch, which is the official state religion. The Kurds and Turkmen are predominantly Sunni Muslims, but Iran's Arabs are both Sunni and Shiʿi. Small communities of Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are also found throughout the country.}}</ref>

The Iranian government's 2016 census purportedly presents 99% of the Iranian population as Muslim<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/1/yearbook/1399/3.pdf?ver=nRy60pdKazMpKH9q8sJxNg%3d%3d |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329152712/https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/1/yearbook/1399/3.pdf?ver=nRy60pdKazMpKH9q8sJxNg%3d%3d |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 29, 2023 |chapter=3.18. Population by Religion and Ostan, 1395 Census |page=154 |access-date=15 October 2023 |title=IRAN STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 1399 (2020) |quote=population total (of Iran)=79926270; Muslim population=79598054 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Census 2016 {{!}} Iran Data Portal |url=https://irandataportal.syr.edu/census/census-2016 |access-date=2025-04-28 |language=en-US}}</ref><!--<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran Population (2023) - Worldometer |url=https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/iran-population/ |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=www.worldometers.info |language=en}}</ref> THIS SOURCE MAKES NO MENTION OF ISLAM/MUSLIM FAITH, AND SO IS SUPERFLUOUS. IT STATES THE POPULATION, AND NOTHING ABOUT RELIGION.-->, and 80% of this figure is composed of [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver Shias]]. Approximately 7% of Iranians are Sunnis. According to scholars at the Universities of [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] and [[University of Utah|Utah]], the country's "Kurds and Turkmen are predominantly Sunni Muslims", with Iran's Arab population being split between "Sunni and Shiʿi" (Shia).<ref name="BritannicaReligion2024" /> Other sources note that this smaller percentage comprises the country's ethnic minorities, the [[Kurds in Iran|Kurds]], [[Iranian Turkmens|Turkmens]], and [[Iranian Arabs|Arabs]],<ref name="BritannicaReligion2024" /> as well as [[Achomi people|Achomi Persians]], [[Khorasan province|Khorasani Persians]], and [[Baloch people|Baloch]].<!--THIS SOURCE REPEATS CONTENT OF <ref name = CIA_202410> WHICH STATES NOTHING OF THIS SORT ABOUT SUNNIS IN IRAN.<ref name="CIATONGA">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran/ |title=Middle East :: IRAN |date=21 December 2021 |publisher=CIA The World Factbook }}</ref>--><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=[[Kameel Ahmady]] |title=[[From Border to Border]] Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran |publisher=Mehri publication |year=2019 |isbn=9781914165221 |location=London |pages=124–125}}</ref>

According to the 2020 Wave 7 [[World Values Survey]], 96% of Iranians identify as Muslims. However, a report by the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) in the same year showed a sharp decline in religiosity in the country, as only 40% of Iranian respondents identified as Muslims.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WVS Database |url=https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV7.jsp |access-date=2023-10-16 |website=www.worldvaluessurvey.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-16 |title=IRANIANS' ATTITUDES TOWARD RELIGION: A 2020 SURVEY REPORT |url=https://gamaan.org/2020/08/25/iranians-attitudes-toward-religion-a-2020-survey-report/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214014053/https://gamaan.org/2020/08/25/iranians-attitudes-toward-religion-a-2020-survey-report/ |archive-date=2022-12-14 |access-date=2020-09-16 |website=GAMAAN (The Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran)}}</ref><ref name="Maliki, Tamimi Arab">{{Cite web|last=Maliki, Tamimi Arab|first=Ammar, Pooyan|date=2020-09-16|title=Iran's secular shift: new survey reveals huge changes in religious beliefs|url=https://theconversation.com/irans-secular-shift-new-survey-reveals-huge-changes-in-religious-beliefs-145253|access-date=2020-09-16}}</ref><ref name="iranintl.com">{{Cite web|date=2020-08-25|title=IRANIANS HAVE LOST FAITH ACCORDING TO SURVEY|url=https://iranintl.com/en/iran/iranians-have-lost-their-faith-according-survey|access-date=2020-09-16}}</ref> Subsequent GAMAAN surveys in 2022 showed that, 38% to 56% identified as Shia Muslims, 5% identified as Sunni Muslims, and roughly a quarter of were susceptible to a form of [[deism]]—that is, [[Spiritual but not religious|belief in God without identifying as religious]]. In all GAMAAN surveys, 7% to 10% of Iranian respondents identified as [[Atheism|atheists]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Arab |first=Pooyan Tamimi |title=The Secular-Religious Divide in Iran |date=2024-06-11 |work=Nonbelievers, Apostates, and Atheists in the Muslim World |pages=112–142 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003389293/chapters/10.4324/9781003389293-6 |access-date=2025-01-19 |edition=1 |place=London |publisher=Routledge |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781003389293-6 |isbn=978-1-003-38929-3 |last2=Maleki |first2=Ammar|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stausberg |first1=Michael |last2=Arab |first2=Pooyan Tamimi |last3=Maleki |first3=Ammar |date=August 2023 |title=Survey Zoroastrians: Online Religious Identification in the Islamic Republic of Iran |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=823–844 |language=en |doi=10.1111/jssr.12870 |issn=0021-8294|doi-access=free |hdl=11250/3094992 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The survey is however questionable as it used self-selecting participants, reached through social media and chain referrals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iranians’ Attitudes Toward Religion: A 2020 Survey Report – Gamaan |url=https://gamaan.org/2020/08/25/iranians-attitudes-toward-religion-a-2020-survey-report/ |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=gamaan.org}}</ref>