Editing Islam in Iran (section)

== History == <!--linked from [[Template:Islam in Iran]]-->

===Arab conquest of Iran===
{{main|Islamic conquest of Iran}}
{{Islam by country}}
[[Image:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|300px|thumb|Stages of Islamic conquest {{legend|#a1584e|Expansion under [[Muhammad]], 622-632}} {{legend|#ef9070|Expansion during the Rashidun Caliphate, 632-661}} {{legend|#fad07d|Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750}}]]

Muslims conquered Iran in the time of [[Umar]] (637) and conquered it after several great battles. [[Yazdegerd III]] fled from one district to another [[Merv]] in 651.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://p2.www.britannica.com/oscar/print?articleId=106324&fullArticle=true&tocId=9106324 | title=Iran | publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> By 674, Muslims had conquered [[Greater Khorasan]] (which included modern Iranian Khorasan province and modern [[Afghanistan]], [[Transoxania]]).

As [[Bernard Lewis]] has quoted<ref name="lewis">{{cite web|url=http://www.tau.ac.il/dayancenter/mel/lewis.html |title=Iran in history |first=Bernard |last=Lewis |publisher=[[Tel Aviv University]] |access-date=2007-04-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429144545/http://www.tau.ac.il/dayancenter/mel/lewis.html |archive-date=2007-04-29 }}</ref> <blockquote>"These events have been variously seen in Iran: by some as a blessing, the advent of the true faith, the end of the age of ignorance and heathenism; by others as a humiliating national defeat, the conquest and subjugation of the country by foreign invaders. Both perceptions are of course valid, depending on one's angle of vision."</blockquote>

Under [[Umar]] and his immediate successors, the Arab conquerors attempted to maintain their political and cultural cohesion despite the attractions of the civilizations they had conquered. The Arabs were to settle in the garrison towns rather than on scattered estates.  The new non-Muslim subjects, or ''[[dhimmi]]'', were to pay a special tax, the ''[[jizya]]'' or poll tax, which was calculated per individual at varying rates for able bodied men of military age.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Kennedy |first= Hugh
| title = The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates
| publisher = Longman
| year = 2004
| page = 68
| author-link = Hugh N. Kennedy
}}</ref>

Iranians were among the very earliest converts to Islam, and their conversion in significant numbers began as soon as the Arab armies reached and overran the Persian plateau. Despite some resistance from elements of the Zoroastrian clergy and other ancient religions, the anti-Islamic policies of later conquerors like the Il-khanids, the impact of the Christian and secular West in modern times, and the attraction of new religious movements like Babism and the [[Baháʼí Faith]] (qq.v.), the vast majority of Iranians became and have remained Muslims. Today perhaps 98 percent of ethnic Iranians, including the population of Persia, are at least nominal Muslims. For such a fundamental, pervasive, and enduring cultural transformation, the phenomenon of Iranian conversions to Islam has received remarkably little scholarly attention.<ref>for an early and still worthwhile survey of the subject, see Arnold, pp.&nbsp;209–20; for significant recent advances, see Bulliet, 1979a; idem, 1979b</ref>

Recent research has established a general chronological framework for the process of conversion of Iranians to Islam. From a study of the probable dates of individual conversions based on genealogies in biographical dictionaries, Richard Bulliet has suggested that there was gradual and limited conversion of Persians down to the end of the Umayyad period (132/750), followed by a rapid increase in the number of conversions after the ʿAbbasid revolution, so that by the time when regional dynasties had been established in the east (ca. 338/950) 80 percent or more of Iranians had become Muslims. The data on which Bulliet's study was based limited the validity of this paradigm to generalizations about full, formal conversions in an urban environment. The situation in rural areas and individual regions may have been quite different, but the overall pattern is consistent with what can be deduced from traditional historical sources. Although in some areas, for example, Shiraz at the time of Moqaddasi's visit in about 375/985 (p.&nbsp;429), there may still have been strong non-Muslim elements, it is reasonable to suppose that the Persian milieu as a whole became predominantly Islamic within the period of time suggested by Bulliet's research.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/conversion-ii|title=CONVERSION ii. Of Iranians to Islam – Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=electricpulp.com|website=www.iranicaonline.org|access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref>

==== Islamization of Iran ====
{{See also|Islamization of Iran|Anarchy at Samarra}}

Following the [[Abbasid]] revolution of 749–51, in which Iranian converts played a major role, the Caliphate's center of gravity moved to Mesopotamia and underwent significant Iranian influences.<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Foltz |author-link=Richard Foltz |title=Religions of Iran: From Prehistory to the Present |publisher=Oneworld publications |location=London |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-78074-308-0 | pages=169–173}}</ref> Accordingly, the Muslim population of Iran rose from approx. 40% in the mid 9th century to close to 100% by the end of the 11th century.<ref name="Tobin"/> Islam was readily accepted by [[Zoroastrians]] who were employed in industrial and artisan positions because, according to Zoroastrian dogma, such occupations that involved defiling fire made them impure.<ref name="Arnold">The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir [[Thomas Walker Arnold]], pg.170-180</ref> Moreover, [[dawah|Muslim missionaries]] did not encounter difficulty in explaining Islamic tenets to Zoroastrians, as there were many similarities between the faiths. According to [[Thomas Walker Arnold]], for the Persian, he would meet [[Ahura Mazda]] and [[Ahriman]] under the names of [[Allah]] and [[Iblis]].<ref name ="Arnold" /> [[Muslim]] leaders in their effort to win converts encouraged attendance at Muslim prayer, and allowed the [[Quran]] to be recited in Persian instead of Arabic so that it would be intelligible to all.<ref name ="Arnold" /> The first complete translation of the [[Qur'an]] into [[Persian language|Persian]] occurred during the reign of [[Samanid Empire|Samanids]] in the 9th century. [[Seyyed Hossein Nasr]] suggests that the rapid increase in conversion was aided by the Persian nationality of the rulers.<ref name="Tobin">Tobin 113-115</ref><ref>Nasr, Hossein, ''Islam and the Plight of Modern Man''</ref>

According to [[Bernard Lewis]]:
<blockquote>"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, the Iranian contribution to this new Islamic civilization is of immense importance. The work of Iranians can be seen in every field of cultural endeavor, including Arabic poetry, to which poets of Iranian origin composing their poems in Arabic made a very significant contribution. In a sense, Iranian Islam is a second advent 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 new areas 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 India. The Ottoman Turks brought a form of Iranian civilization to the walls of Vienna..."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tau.ac.il/dayancenter/mel/lewis.html |title=New Document |access-date=2007-04-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429144545/http://www.tau.ac.il/dayancenter/mel/lewis.html |archive-date=2007-04-29 }}</ref></blockquote>

===Iranian influence on Muslim civilization===
[[Image:Ghotb2.jpg|thumb|right|Photo taken from medieval manuscript by [[Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi|Qotbeddin Shirazi]] (1236–1311), 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]], [[Iranian philosophy|philosophy]], [[Science and technology in Iran|medicine]] and [[Persian art|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",<ref>Caheb C., Cambridge History of Iran, ''Tribes, Cities and Social Organization'', vol. 4, p305–328</ref> contributed to Persia emerging as what culminated into the "[[Islamic Golden Age]]". During this period, [[List of Iranian scientists and scholars|hundreds of scholars and scientists]] vastly contributed to technology, science and medicine, later influencing the rise of European science during [[the Renaissance]].<ref>Kühnel E., in ''Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesell'', Vol. CVI (1956)</ref>

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]], [[Mohammad Ya'qub Kulainy|Shaikh Kulainy]], [[Muhammad al-Bukhari|Imam Bukhari]], [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj|Imam Muslim]] and [[Hakim al-Nishaburi]], the greatest [[Kalam|theologians]] of Shia and Sunni like [[Shaykh Tusi]], [[Al-Ghazali|Imam Ghazali]], [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi|Imam Fakhr al-Razi]] and [[Al-Zamakhshari]], the greatest [[physicians]], [[Islamic astronomy|astronomers]], [[Logic in Islamic philosophy|logicians]], [[Islamic mathematics|mathematicians]], [[Metaphysics|metaphysicians]], [[Early Islamic philosophy|philosophers]] and  [[Islamic science|scientists]] like [[Al-Farabi]], [[Avicenna]], and [[Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī]], the greatest [[Shaykh of Sufism]] like [[Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi|Rumi]], [[Abdul-Qadir Gilani]].

[[Ibn Khaldun]] narrates in his [[Muqaddimah]]:<ref>Translated by F. Rosenthal III, pp. 311–15, 271-4 [Arabic]; R.N. Frye (p.91)</ref>

<blockquote>''It is a remarkable fact that, with few exceptions, most Muslim scholars… in 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 people|Persian]] descent... they invented rules of [[Arabic grammar|(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 [[Hadith|statement]] of the prophet ([[Muhammad]]) becomes apparent, "[[q:Persians|If learning were suspended in the highest parts of heaven the Persians would attain it]]"… The intellectual sciences were also the preserve of the Persians, left alone by the [[Arabs]], who did not cultivate them… as was the case with all crafts… This situation continued in the cities as long as the Persians and [[Persian World|Persian countries]], [[Iraq]], [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] and [[Transoxiana]] (modern Central Asia), retained their sedentary culture.''</blockquote>

==== Persian vs. Arabic ====
{{See also|Shu'ubiyya}}
In the 9th and 10th centuries, non-Arab subjects of the [[Ummah]], especially Persians created a movement called [[Shu'ubiyya]] in response to the privileged status of Arabs. This movement led to resurgence of [[Persia]]n national identity.<ref>Enderwitz, S. "Shu'ubiyya". ''Encyclopedia of Islam''. Vol. IX (1997), pp. 513-14.</ref> Although Persians adopted Islam, over the centuries they worked to protect and revive their distinctive language and culture, a process known as [[Persianization]]. Arabs and Turks also participated in this attempt.<ref>Richard Frye, The Heritage of Persia, p. 243.</ref><ref>Rayhanat al- adab, (3rd ed.), vol. 1, p. 181.</ref><ref name="britannica-Seljuq">[[Encyclopædia Britannica]], ''"Seljuq"'', Online Edition, ([http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066688 LINK])</ref>

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 most important of these overlapping dynasties were the [[Tahirids]] in [[greater Khorasan|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.<ref name="Islamic Conquest">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_conquest/islamic_conquest.php|title=History of Iran: Islamic Conquest|website=www.iranchamber.com|access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref> 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 [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidi]] [[Shia]], were quietly 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 [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznawids]], who were of non-Iranian Turkic origin, also became instrumental in the revival of Persian.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranchamber.com/history/samanids/samanids.php|title=History of Iran: Samanid Dynasty|website=www.iranchamber.com|access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref>

===Sunni dynasties in Iran===
In 962 a Turkish governor of the Samanids, [[Alptigin]], conquered [[Ghazna]] (in present-day Afghanistan) and established a dynasty, the [[Ghaznavids]], that lasted to 1186.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/> Later, the [[Seljuks]], who like the Ghaznavids were Turks, slowly conquered Iran over the course of the 11th century. Their leader, [[Tughril Beg]], turned his warriors 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 gave Tughril Beg robes, gifts, and the title King of the East. Under Tughril Beg's successor, [[Malik Shah I|Malik Shah]] (1072–1092), Iran enjoyed a cultural and scientific renaissance, largely attributed to his brilliant Iranian vizier, [[Nizam al Mulk]]. These leaders established the [[Isfahan Observatory]] where [[Omar Khayyám]] did much of his experimentation for a new calendar, and they built [[Nizamiyya|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.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/>

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 ''[[assassination|assassin]]'' derive from this group.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/>

Another notable Sunni dynasty were the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurids]]. [[Timur]] was a [[Turco-Mongol tradition|Turco-Mongol]] leader from the [[Eurasian Steppe]], who conquered and ruled in the tradition of [[Genghis Khan]]. Under the [[Timurid Empire]], the [[Turco-Persian tradition]] which began during the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] period would continue. [[Ulugh Beg]], grandson of [[Timur]], built an [[Ulugh Beg Observatory|observatory]] of his own, and a [[Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand|grand madrassah]] at [[Samarkand]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Álvarez |first=Jorge |date=2025-02-14 |title=The Fabulous Observatory of Ulugh Beg, Tamerlane's Grandson, in Samarkand |url=https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2025/02/the-fabulous-observatory-of-ulugh-beg-tamerlanes-grandson-in-samarkand/ |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=LBV Magazine English Edition |language=en}}</ref>

===Shia dynasties in Iran===
Although [[Shi'a]]s have lived in Iran since the earliest days of Islam, the writers of [[the Four Books]] of Shi'a [[ahadith]] were Iranians of the pre-Safavid era and there was one Shi'a dynasty in part of Iran during the tenth and eleventh centuries, according to [[Mortaza Motahhari]] the majority of Iranian scholars and masses remained Sunni till the time of the Safavids.<ref name="Motahhari">{{cite web|url=http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/iran/mutual.htm|title=Islam and Iran: A Historical Study of Mutual Services|date=13 March 2013|website=Al-Islam.org|access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref>

The domination of the Sunni creed during the first nine Islamic centuries characterizes the religious history of Iran during this period. There were however some exceptions to this general domination which emerged in the form of the Zaydīs of [[Tabaristan]], the [[Buwayhid]], the rule of [[Öljeitü|Sultan Muhammad Khudabandah]] (r. Shawwal 703-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 [[Twelvers|Imami Shiism]] as well as [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydī Shiism]] had prevalence in some parts of Iran. During this period, Shia in Iran were nourished from [[Kufa]]h, [[Baghdad]] and later from [[Najaf]] and [[Hillah]].<ref name="Jafarian">{{cite web|url=http://www.al-islam.org/mot/iraqishiism/|title=Four Centuries of Influence of Iraqi Shiism on Pre-Safavid Iran|date=27 February 2013|website=Al-Islam.org|access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref>

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, which is the period of establishment of Imamī Shī‘ism in Iran.
* Second, the influence of the Shī‘ī 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 Shī‘ism of [[Jabal Amel]] and [[Bahrain]] on Iran during the period of establishment of the Safavid rule.<ref name="Jafarian"/>

===Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam===
{{see also|Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam}}
Due to their history being almost fully intertwined, Iran as well as Azerbaijan are both discussed here. Iran and Azerbaijan were predominantly Sunni until the 16th century. Changes in the religious make-up of nowadays both nations changed drastically from that time and on. In 1500 the Safavid [[Shah Ismail I]] undertook the conquering of Iran and Azerbaijan and commenced a policy of [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam|forced conversion of Sunni Muslims]] to [[Shia Islam]]. Many Sunnis were murdered. When [[Shah Ismail I]] conquered [[Iraq]], [[Dagestan]], [[Eastern Anatolia]], and [[Armenia]] he similarly forcefully converted or murdered Sunni Muslims. The oppression and forced conversion of Sunnis would continue, mostly unabated, for the greater part of next two centuries until Iran as well as what is now [[Azerbaijan]] became predominantly Shi’ite countries.<ref name="books.google.com.au"/>

As in the case of the [[Rashidun|early caliphate]], Safavid rule had been based originally on both political and religious legitimacy, with the shah being both king and divine representative. With the later erosion of Safavid central political authority in 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'ziah]]—a 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.<ref name="Afary">[http://p2.www.britannica.com/oscar/print?articleId=106324&fullArticle=true&tocId=9106324 Iran] Janet Afary, Encyclopædia Britannica</ref> 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 any land 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.
It was the Safavids who made Iran the spiritual bastion of Shi’ism against the onslaughts of shi'as' by orthodox Sunni Islam, and the repository of Persian cultural traditions and self-awareness of Iranianhood,<ref>Hillenbrand R., ''Islamic art and Architecture'', London (1999), p228 – {{ISBN|0-500-20305-9}}</ref> acting as a bridge to modern Iran. According to Professor Roger Savory:<ref>R.M. Savory, "Rise of a Shi'i State in Iran and New Orientation in Islamic Thought and Culture" in UNESCO: History of Humanity, Volume 5: From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century, London; New York : Routledge; Paris. pg 263.[http://www.unesco.org/culture/humanity/html_eng/volume5.htm]</ref>
{{cquote|In Number of ways the Safavids affected the development of the modern Iranian state:  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 [[Mujtahid#Qualifications of a mujtahid|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 theocratic government;  third, they laid the foundation of alliance between the religious classes ('[[Ulama]]') and the [[bazaar]] which played an important role both in the [[Persian Constitutional Revolution]] of 1905–1906, and again in the [[Islamic Revolution]] of 1979; fourth the policies introduced by Shah Abbas I conduced to a more centralized administrative system.}}

===Contemporary era: challenges of modernity and rise of Islamism===
{{see also|Islam and modernity|History of Islamism in Iran}}
During 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 if they passed specific examinations proving their learnedness, thus excluding less educated clerics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chehabi |first=Houchang E. |date=2022-01-01 |title=Staging the Emperor's New Clothes: Dress Codes and Nation-Building under Reza Shah |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iranian-studies/article/abs/staging-the-emperors-new-clothes-dress-codes-and-nationbuilding-under-reza-shah/F9860082EAE95519F2A24BFB1C0A0685 |journal=Iranian Studies |language=en |volume=26 |issue=3-4 |pages=209–233 |doi=10.1080/00210869308701800 |issn=0021-0862|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In addition Islamic [[Madrasah]] schools became more like 'professional' schools, leaving broader education to secular government schools and sticking to Islamic learning.  "Ptolemaic astronomy, Avicennian medicines, and the algebra of Omar Khayyam" was dispensed with.<ref>Mottahedeh, Roy, ''The Mantle of the Prophet : Religion and Politics in Iran'', One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000, p.232-4, 7</ref>

==== Deobandi movement ====
{{Main|Deobandi movement in Iran}}
[[Darul Uloom Deoband]] was established in 1866 in the [[Saharanpur district]] of [[Uttar Pradesh]], India, as part of the [[Indian independence movement|anti-British movement]]. It gave rise to a traditional conservative Sunni movement known as the [[Deobandi movement]]. Students from various regions, including [[Sistan and Baluchestan province|Sistan and Baluchestan]] in Iran, attended Deoband, which led to the spread of its founders ideas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Durani |first=Abdul Gufur |date=2013 |title=Advent of Deobandi Thinking in India and Its Impact on Iranian Baluchistan |url=https://jsr.usb.ac.ir/article_848.html?lang=en |journal=Journal of Subcontinent Researches |volume=4 |pages=22 |doi=10.22111/jsr.2013.848 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |access-date=14 February 2023 |archive-date=1 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101042523/https://jsr.usb.ac.ir/article_848.html?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref> This movement had a significant impact on some of the new generation of Iranian intellectuals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref>{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/islam-in-iran-xiii-islamic-political-movements-in-20th-century-iran|title=Islam In Iran Xiii. Islamic Political Movements In 20th Century Iran|first=Ashraf|last=Ahmad|year=2000|access-date=31 March 2021}}</ref> After entering Iran, the students of this school continued to expand this thinking and with the formation of missionary groups. These thoughts have been strengthened on one hand due to the cultural relationships between the [[Baloch people|Baloch tribes]] and on the other hand due to the connection of Sistan and Baluchestan's Iran and India's [[Hanafi]] religious leaders in Iran.{{Sfn|Durani|2013|p=22}} Today, Deobandi thinking is one of the intellectual currents in Sistan and Baluchestan and preaching groups are active in different cities and villages. Its playing a crucial role in Iran's political landscape. The Deobandis aimed to homogenize religious schools and were opposed to certain popular practices. The [[Naqshbandi]] order played an important role in the Deobandi school of thought in the Persian-speaking world.<ref name=":dawn">{{Cite news |last=Salman |first=Peerzada |date=21 May 2015 |title=The role of Deobandi school of thought in Iran discussed |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1183212 |access-date=14 February 2023 |archive-date=14 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214012419/https://www.dawn.com/news/1183212 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Islamic Revolution ====
{{Shia Islam}}
{{main|Iranian Revolution}}
The Iranian Revolution (also known as the Islamic Revolution,<ref name = "Chamber">[http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_revolution/islamic_revolution.php Islamica Revolution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629064154/http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_revolution/islamic_revolution.php |date=2011-06-29 }}, Iran Chamber.</ref><ref name = "Encarta">[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588431/Islamic_Revolution_of_Iran.html Islamic Revolution of Iran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028082940/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588431/Islamic_Revolution_of_Iran.html |date=2009-10-28 }}, MS Encarta. 2009-10-31.</ref><ref>[http://www.internews.org/visavis/BTVPagesTXT/Theislamicrevolution.html The Islamic Revolution] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227000031/http://internews.org/visavis/BTVPagesTXT/Theislamicrevolution.html |date=2009-02-27 }}, Internews.</ref><ref>[http://www.iranian.com/revolution.html Iranian Revolution].</ref><ref name="Jubilee">[http://www.jubileecampaign.org/home/jubilee/iran_profile.pdf Iran Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060806025221/http://www.jubileecampaign.org/home/jubilee/iran_profile.pdf |date=2006-08-06 }}, [[PDF]].</ref><ref>''The Shah and the Ayatollah: Iranian Mythology and Islamic Revolution'' (Hardcover), {{ISBN|0-275-97858-3}}, by Fereydoun Hoveyda, brother of [[Amir Abbas Hoveyda]].</ref> [[Persian language|Persian]]: انقلاب اسلامی, ''Enghelābe Eslāmi'') was the [[revolution]] that transformed [[Iran]] from a secular, westernizing [[Pahlavi dynasty|monarchy]] under [[Shah]] [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]], to an [[Islamic republic]] based on the doctrine of [[Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist|Velayat-e faqih]] (rule by an Islamic jurist), under [[Ayatollah]] [[Ruhollah Khomeini]], the leader of the revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic.<ref name = "Britannica-32981">[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-32981  ''Encyclopædia Britannica''].</ref>  It has been called "the third great revolution in history", following the [[French Revolution|French]] and [[Russian Revolution]]s,<ref>Marvin Zonis quoted in Wright, ''Sacred Rage'' 1996, p.61</ref>  and an event that "made [[Islamic fundamentalism]] a political force ... from [[Morocco]] to [[Malaysia]]."<ref>Nasr, Vali, ''The Shia Revival'', Norton, (2006), p.121</ref>