Editing Islam in Iran (section)

==== 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>