Editing Islam in Iran

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[[File:RezaShrine.jpg|thumb|''[[Imam Reza]]'' shrine, the holiest religious site in Iran, [[Mashhad]]]]
The [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Arab conquest of Iran]], which culminated in the fall of the [[Sasanian Empire]] to the nascent [[Rashidun Caliphate]], brought about a monumental change in Iranian society by purging [[Zoroastrianism]], which had been the Iranian nation's official and majority religion since the time of the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. Since the Rashidun invasion, Islam (in any form) has consistently held the status of Iran's official religion except for during a short period in the 13th century, when the [[Mongol invasions and conquests]] destroyed the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] and smaller Islamic realms before resulting in the establishment of the [[Ilkhanate]]. The process by which Iranian society became integrated into the [[Muslim world]] took place over many centuries, with nobility and city-dwellers being among the first to convert, in spite of notable periods of resistance, while the peasantry and the ''[[dehqan]]s'' (land-owning magnates) took longer to do so. Around the 10th century, most [[Persians]] had become [[Muslims]].

Between the 7th century and the 15th century, [[Sunni Islam]] was the dominant sect in Iran, and Iranian academics of this period contributed greatly to the [[Islamic Golden Age]]. In the 16th century, the newly enthroned [[Safavid dynasty]] initiated a massive campaign to install [[Shia Islam]] as Iran's official sect,<ref name="Arshin Adib-Moghaddam 2017 40">{{citation |author=Arshin Adib-Moghaddam |title=Psycho-nationalism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UOk7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |page=40 |year=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108423076 |quote=Shah Ismail pursued a relentless campaign of forced conversion of the majority Sunni population in Iran to (Twelver) Shia Islam...}}</ref><ref name="Routledge">{{citation |title=Conversion and Islam in the Early Modern Mediterranean: The Lure of the Other |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-84NDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT92 |page=92 |year=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317159780}}</ref><ref name="Islam: Art and Architecture">{{citation |title=Islam: Art and Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=huOBwihhwyQC |page=501 |year=2004 |publisher=Könemann |isbn=9783833111785 |quote=Shah persecuted the philosophers, mystics, and Sufis who had been promoted by his grandfather, and unleashed fanatical campaigns of forcible conversion on Sunnis, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities}}</ref><ref name="Melissa L. Rossi 2008">{{citation |author=Melissa L. Rossi |title=What Every American Should Know about the Middle East |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CLD3-paPYQC&pg=PA61 |year=2008 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780452289598 |quote=Forced conversion in the Safavid Empire made Persia for the first time dominantly Shia and left a lasting mark: Persia, now Iran, has been dominantly Shia ever since, and for centuries the only country to have a ruling Shia majority.}}</ref> aggressively proselytizing the faith and [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam|forcibly converting the Iranian populace]]. The Safavids' actions triggered tensions with the neighbouring Sunni-majority [[Ottoman Empire]], in part due to the flight of non-Shia refugees from Iran.<ref>Arshin Adib-Moghaddam (2017), ''Psycho-nationalism'', Cambridge University Press, p. 40, {{ISBN|9781108423076}}, <q>Shah Ismail pursued a relentless campaign of forced conversion of the majority Sunni population in Iran to (Twelver) Shia Islam...</q></ref><ref>''Conversion and Islam in the Early Modern Mediterranean: The Lure of the Other'', Routledge, 2017, p. 92, {{ISBN|9781317159780}}</ref><ref>''Islam: Art and Architecture'', Könemann, 2004, p. 501, {{ISBN|9783833111785}}, <q>Shah persecuted the philosophers, mystics, and Sufis who had been promoted by his grandfather, and unleashed fanatical campaigns of forcible conversion on Sunnis, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities</q></ref> It is estimated that by the mid-17th century, Iran had become a Shia-majority nation.<ref name="books.google.com.au">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N8IKR0oqdRkC&q=safavid+persia+conversion&pg=PA158|title=The Caspian: politics, energy and security, By Shirin Akiner, pg.158|isbn=9780203641675|access-date=17 December 2014|last1=Akiner|first1=Shirin|date=5 July 2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref> Over the following centuries, with the state-fostered rise of an Iran-based Shia clergy, a synthesis was formed between [[Culture of Iran|Iranian culture]] and Shia Islam that marked each indelibly with the tincture of the other.<ref>"The Origins Of The Shiite-Sunni Split". ''NPR.org''. Retrieved 14 February 2021.</ref><ref>John Obert Voll (1994). ''Islam, continuity and change in the modern world''. Internet Archive. Syracuse University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8156-2639-8}}.</ref><ref name="Arshin Adib-Moghaddam 2017 40" /><ref name="Routledge" /><ref name="Islam: Art and Architecture" /><ref name="Melissa L. Rossi 2008" /> Later, under the [[Pahlavi dynasty]], Islamic influence on Iranian society was rolled back in order to assert a new Iranian national identity—one that focused on pre-Islamic Iran by shedding more light on Zoroastrian tradition and other aspects of ancient Iranian society, particularly during the Achaemenid era. However, in 1979, the [[Iranian Revolution|Islamic Revolution]] brought about yet another monumental change by ending the [[List of monarchs of Persia|historic Iranian monarchy]] and replacing it with an [[Islamic republic]].

<!--THIS GRAPHIC IS PLACED HERE FOR VISUAL REASONS. ITS CONTENT IS TIED NOT TO THE LEAD, BUT TO THE NEXT SECTION.-->
{{Pie chart|thumb=right|caption='''Shia and Sunni Islam in Iran.''' Statistics from the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]. Actual values reported by the 2011 source are '''Shia, 90-95%''' and '''Sunni, 5-10%'''.<ref name = CIA_202107>{{Cite web | author = CIA Staff | date = July 29, 2021 | orig-date = 2011 | title = Explore All Countries—Iran [§ People and Society: Religions] | work = CIA.gov/the-world-factbook / | url=http://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran/ | access-date = 2021-08-14 | archive-date= 2021-08-12 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210812152037/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran/ | url-status= dead | quote = Muslim (official) 99.4% (Shia 90-95%, Sunni 5-10%), other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian) 0.3%, unspecified 0.4% (2011 est.)}} Note, the [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/static/7d32d01febbf043f3142d920da02366e/Middle_East_Religion_graphic_FINAL_WFB_2015-5.pdf MENA religious affiliation] graphic linked to by this source also reports the 99.4% total, etc., but indicates distinct dates: "Data in graphic compiled in June 2014; updated September 2015."</ref> Later reports from the same site do not report this breakdown.<ref name = CIA_202410>{{Cite web | author = CIA Staff | date = October 15, 2024 | orig-date = 2020 | title = Explore All Countries—Iran [§ People and Society: Religions] | work = CIA.gov/the-world-factbook / | url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran/#people-and-society | access-date = 17 October 2024 | quote = Muslim (official) 98.5%, Christian 0.7%, Baha'i 0.3%, agnostic 0.3%, other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, Hindu) 0.2% (2020 est.)}} Note, this site also links to the [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/static/7d32d01febbf043f3142d920da02366e/Middle_East_Religion_graphic_FINAL_WFB_2015-5.pdf "MENA religious affiliation"] graphic with its distinct dates (i.e., "Data in graphic compiled in June 2014; updated September 2015."). Hence, the data at the 2024 website appear to be drawn from 2020 sources distinct from the MENA graphic.</ref> <small>The two sources indicate the ''total percentage of all Muslims to have been [i] '''99.4% (2011 estimate''''', the remaining 0.6% being other religious groups—including 0.3% Zoroastrian, Jewish, or Christian, and 0.4% unspecified),<ref name = CIA_202107/> ''or '''98.5% (2020 estimate''''', the remaining 1.5% being other religious groups—including 0.7% Christian, 0.3% Baha'i, combined numbers for Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Hindu adherents totaling 0.2%, and agnostics at 0.3%, in both cases, numbers not summing to 100% because of rounding).<ref name = CIA_202410/></small>
| label1 = [[Shia Islam]]
| color1 = DarkGreen
| value1 = 92.5
| label2 = [[Sunni Islam]]
| color2 = LightGreen
| value2 = 7.5
}}

==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>

== 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>

==Modern Iranian Islam==

===The Islamic Republic===
{{see also|Islamic republic}}
Iran's government was, until recently,  unique in having Shi'i Islam as the state religion. It still is unique in following the theocratic principle of ''velayat-e faqih'' or "[[Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist|Guardianship of the Islamic jurist]]", according to which government must be run in accordance with traditional Islamic ''[[sharia]]'', and for this to happen a leading Islamic jurist (''[[faqih]]'') must provide political "guardianship" (''wilayat'' or ''velayat'') over the people.
Following the Iranian Revolution, the 1979 [[Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran]] called for a "guardian" to be the [[Supreme Leader of Iran]],<ref>[http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution.html Iranian Government Constitution] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819052822/http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution.html |date=2013-08-19 }}, English Text</ref> and Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini]], the leader of the revolution and  author of the doctrine of  ''Velayat-e faqih'',  became the first [[Supreme Leader of Iran|Supreme Leader]] of the Islamic Republic.

The [[Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran]] mandates that the official religion of Iran is [[Shia Islam]] and the [[Twelvers|Twelver]] [[Ja'fari jurisprudence|Ja'fari school]], 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 jurisprudence in performing their religious rites. According to the constitution, high level officials such as the Supreme Leader,<ref name="Article 107">Article 107 of the Constitution</ref> president,<ref name="Article 115, paragraph 5">Article 115, paragraph 5 of the Constitution</ref> and members of the powerful Assembly of Experts<ref name="Article 107"/> that chooses the leader must be  Twelver Shia.<ref name="Faramarzi-AC-2018">{{cite web |last1=Faramarzi |first1=Scheherezade |date=6 April 2018 |title=Iran's Sunnis resist extremism, but for how long? |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/irans-sunnis-resist-extremism-but-for-how-long/ |access-date=15 October 2023 |website=Atlantic Council}}</ref>

It lists [[Zoroastrian]], [[Jewish]], and [[Christians|Christian]] [[Demographics of Iran|Iranians]] as "the only recognized religious minorities, who, within the limits of the law, are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies, and to act according to their own canon in matters of personal affairs and religious education."<ref name=IRI-Constitution-art.13>{{cite web |url=https://www.shora-gc.ir/en/news/87/constitution-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-full-text |title=Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (full text)|access-date=15 October 2023 }}, English Text</ref> Consequently,  to avail oneself of many of the rights of citizenship in the Islamic Republic of Iran, on must declare oneself as a member of one of the four recognized faiths—Muslims, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians.<ref name="fdih1">{{cite web | date = 2003-08-01 | title = Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran | author = International Federation for Human Rights | publisher = fdih.org | access-date = 2006-10-20 | url = http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/ir0108a.pdf}}</ref>
This official division ignores other religious minorities in Iran, notably those of the [[Baháʼí Faith]]. State sanctioned [[Persecution of Baháʼís|persecution of Bahá’ís]] follows from them being a "non-recognized" religious minority without any legal existence, classified as "unprotected infidels" by the authorities, and are subject to systematic discrimination on the basis of their beliefs. Similarly, atheism is officially disallowed.

====Perception in Iranian society====
One unanticipated effect of theocratic rule in Iran is that in the last couple of decades up to at least 2018, not only have secular people become alienated from the regime, but <blockquote>the state has lost much of its religious credibility among the ultra-religious communities because of widespread corruption, discrimination and its secularisation. Thus, many ultra-religious people deny the Islamic legitimacy of the government ''in toto'' and embrace this or that alternative religiosity ...<ref name=Who-ABC-2019>{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/religion/meet-shia-islams-latest-claimant-of-messiah/10959614 |title= Who is Ahmad al-Hassan al-Yamani, and why do so many Shīʿas think he is the promised messiah? |author=Mahmoud Pargoo |date=April 2019 |agency=ABC |access-date=31 May 2022 }}</ref></blockquote> An example of one kind of religious alternative are figures (such as [[Ahmad al-Hassan]]), claiming to be deputies of the [[Hidden Imam]].<ref name=Who-ABC-2019/>

In July 2018, following the [[2018 protests in Iran|protests]], [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]]'s School of Public Policy released a report, ''Iranian Public Opinion after the Protests'', and when the respondents were asked if "Iran's political system needs to undergo fundamental change" the researchers noted that "over three in four disagreed (77%) with a majority doing so strongly (54%)" with only 5% "agreeing strongly". They further found out that "a substantial, if lesser, majority (67%) did not agree that “the government interferes too much in people's personal lives” (30%, strongly), and 59% did not accept the idea that “the government should not be strict in enforcing Islamic laws” (33%, strongly)", with only 22% agreeing strongly and 15% somewhat agreeing with the idea that the government should not be strict in enforcing [[Sharia|Islamic laws]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mohseni |first1=Ebrahim |last2=Gallagher |first2=Nancy |last3=Ramsay |first3=Clay |date=9 July 2018 |title=Iranian Public Opinion after the Protests: A public opinion study |url=https://cissm.umd.edu/sites/default/files/2019-07/Iranian_PO_After_Protests_FINAL_070918.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605170342/https://cissm.umd.edu/sites/default/files/2019-07/Iranian_PO_After_Protests_FINAL_070918.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2023 |archive-format=PDF |publisher=The Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) |page=25 }}</ref>

In 2023, Raz Zimmt, an expert on Iran attached to [[Israel]]'s [[Institute for National Security Studies (Israel)|Institute for National Security Studies]] (INSS), quoting Iranian sociologist [[Hamidreza Jalaeipour]], argued that 70% of Iranians fall into the category of "silent pragmatist traditionalist majority", which is defined as those who "might approve of religion and aspects of the regime, while rejecting enforced religion and other aspects of the regime."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jeremy Bob |first=Yonah |date=15 August 2023 |title=Can Iranians overthrow the Islamic Republic regime? |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-754902#:~:text=Regime%20change%20in%20Iran%20will,an%20INSS%20position%20paper%20said. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818053223/https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-754902 |archive-date=18 August 2023 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |quote=Zimmt quoted Iranian sociologist Hamidreza Jalaeipour, who estimated that 70% of Iranians constitute this silent pragmatist traditionalist majority, who might approve of religion and aspects of the regime, while rejecting enforced religion and other aspects of the regime.}}</ref>

====Shia majority====
According to The World Factbook of the CIA, between 90-95% of Iran's Muslim are Shia, and another 5-10% are Sunni,<ref name="Factbook-CIA">{{cite book |title=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran/#people-and-society |access-date=15 October 2023 |chapter=Iran. People and Society}}</ref> 
the American Iranian Council, citing the Islamic Republic estimates, gives the Sunni percentage at between 7% and 10%.<ref name="Lumsden-AIC-Myth">{{cite web |last1=Lumsden |first1=Andrew |title=Myth vs. Fact: Iran's Sunni Muslims |url=http://www.us-iran.org/resources/2019/10/16/myth-vs-fact-irans-sunni-muslims |website=US- |access-date=15 October 2023 |date=17 October 2019}}</ref>  (Almost all of Iran's Shia follow the [[Twelver Shi’ism|Twelver]] branch.)
The Atlantic Council gives a higher percentage of Sunni, saying "Sunni leaders and observers" put the Sunni population of Iran "between 12 and 25 percent".<ref name="Faramarzi-AC-2018"/>

====Sunni minority====
Most of the Sunni in Iran are [[Kurds in Iran|Kurds]], [[Achomi people|Achomi Persians]], [[Khorasan province|Khorasani Persians]], [[Iranian Turkmens|Turkmens]], [[Iranian Arabs|Arabs]], [[Talysh people|Talysh]] and [[Baloch people|Baloch]], living in the northwest, northeast, south and southeast, respectively,<!--THIS SOURCE REPEATS CONTENT OF <ref name = CIA_202410> WHICH STATES NOTHING OF THIS SORT ABOUT SUNNIS IN IRAN.<ref name="CIATONGA"/>--><ref name=":0"/><ref name=BritannicaReligion2024/>{{verify source|date = October 2024}} the provinces of [[West Azerbaijan]], Kurdistan and [[Kermanshah]], [[Golestan]] and [[North Khorasan]], and [[Sistan and Baluchestan province|Sistan and Baluchestan]].<ref name="Lumsden-AIC-Myth"/> A majority of [[Achomi people (Iran)|Lari people]] and [[Talysh people|Talysh]], a part of [[Kurds]], virtually all [[Baloch people|Baluchi]]s and [[Turkmen people|Turkomans]], and a minority of [[Persians]], [[Iranian Arabs|Arabs]] and [[Lurs]] are Sunnis.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Maps of Religious Seminaries across Iran {{!}} Iran Data Portal |url=https://irandataportal.syr.edu/maps-of-religious-seminaries-across-iran |access-date=2023-09-07 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=BritannicaReligion2024/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran, Islamic Republic - Maps - ecoi.net |url=https://www.ecoi.net/en/countries/islamic-republic-of-iran/maps/ |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=www.ecoi.net}}</ref>

The [[Larestan County|mountainous region of Larestan]] is mostly inhabited by indigenous Sunni Persians who did not convert to Shia Islam during the [[Safavids]] because the mountainous region of Larestan was too isolated.{{verify source|date=December 2024}} The majority of [[Lari people (Iran)|Lari people]] are Sunni Muslims,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0y1jeSqbHLwC&pg=PA27|title=The History of Ancient Iran, Part 3, Volume 7|pages=27|isbn=9783406093975|last1=Frye|first1=Richard Nelson|year=1984|publisher=C.H. Beck }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHxsWspxGIIC&q=laristan+sunni+fars&pg=PA225|title=Islamic Desk Reference|pages=225|isbn=9004097384|last1=Van Donzel|first1=E. J.|date=January 1994|publisher=Brill}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fFaw4od7nfUC&pg=PA174|title=Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan|pages=174|isbn=9781845117450|last1=Matthee|first1=Rudi|year=2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> 35% of Lari people are Shia Muslims. {{Notetag|The people of Larestan speak the [[Luri language|Lari language]], which is a [[southwestern Iranian language]] closely related to [[Old Persian]] (pre-Islamic Persian) and [[Luri language|Luri]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0y1jeSqbHLwC&pg=PA27|title=The History of Ancient Iran, Part 3, Volume 7|pages=27–29|isbn=9783406093975|last1=Frye|first1=Richard Nelson|year=1984|publisher=C.H.Beck }}</ref>}}

Shia clergy tend to view missionary work among Sunnis to convert them to Shi'a Islam as a worthwhile religious endeavor.<ref name="country study:Iran, Sunni Muslims">">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Iran : a country study |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2008011784/ |editor-last1=Curtis |editor-first1=Glenn E. |editor-last2=Hooglund |editor-first2=Eric |edition=5 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |page=128 |date=2008 |isbn=978-0844411873}}</ref> In those towns with mixed populations in the [[Persian Gulf]] region, and [[Sistan and Baluchistan]], tensions between Shi'as and Sunnis existed both before and after the Revolution. Religious tensions have been highest during major Shi'a observances, especially [[Muharram]].<ref name="country study:Iran, Sunni Muslims"/><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Ahmady, Kameel. A Peace-Oriented Investigation of the Ethnic Identity Challenge in Iran (A Study of Five Iranian Ethnic Groups with the GT Method), 2022, 13th Eurasian Conferences on Language and Social Sciences pp.591-624 |journal=13th Eurasian Conferences on Language and Social Sciences. 2022. Pp.591-624}}</ref>

Sunnis have complained that hard-liners in the IRI regime oppose equal rights for Sunnis. When a Sunni was being considered for a position on the Iranian parliament's presiding board, one "influential" Ayatollah [[Hossein Wahid Khorasani|Vahid Khorasani]] threatened to write a fatwa delegitimizing the assembly “if a Sunni was installed above Shias.”<ref name="Faramarzi-AC-2018"/> Despite that, various high ranks have been won by the Sunnis in recent years, including a [[Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh|cabinet member]] and the [[Shahram Irani|top commander of the Iranian navy since 2021]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Farda |first=RFE/RL's Radio |title=President Appoints Iran's First-Ever Sunni Cabinet Member |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-rare-sunni-appointment-government-pezeshkian/33094191.html |access-date=2025-02-12 |work=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |language=en}}</ref>

Among specific Sunni political complaints are that:
*Article 12 of the constitution, which grants them "certain rights, such as full freedom of worship", have been "consistently ignored"; and
*Article 115, which forbids anyone but a Shia Muslim from becoming president, has not been repealed;<ref name="Faramarzi-AC-2018" /> *directives made by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on behalf of the Sunni (such as making it illegal to insult Muhammad's wife Aisha or a September 2017 call to end discrimination against Sunnis and minority groups in general) have not been enforced.<ref name="Faramarzi-AC-2018" />
*They have not been allowed to construct mosques for Sunni worship in larger cities, such as the capital Tehran, where there are an estimated one million Sunnis. ("The government claimed in 2015 that Tehran had nine Sunni mosques, but prominent Sunnis say these are merely prayer rooms.")<ref name="Faramarzi-AC-2018" /><!-- Iran recruited its first Sunni minister, Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, in 2024.

https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-rare-sunni-appointment-government-pezeshkian/33094191.html -->
*examination by ''Herasat'', a branch of the Intelligence Ministry "tasked with ensuring that applicants are loyal to the regime". An example of the result is that 90% of high school teachers and 70% of elementary teachers are Shia in areas heavily populated by ethnic Baluchi Sunnis.<ref name="Faramarzi-AC-2018" />

===Religious institutions===
====Mosques====
Historically, the most important religious institution in Iran has been the mosque. In towns and cities, congregational prayers, as well as prayers and rites associated with religious observances and important phases in Muslim life, took place in mosques. Primarily an urban phenomenon, mosques did not exist in most Iranian villages. In the years preceding the Revolution, Iranian Shias generally attached diminishing significance to institutional religion, and by the 1970s there was little emphasis on mosque attendance, even for the Friday congregational prayers. During the Revolution, however, mosques in large cities played a prominent social role in organizing people
for large demonstrations. Since that time, the mosques have continued to play important political and social roles, in addition to their traditional religious functions.<ref name=loc>{{citation-attribution|1={{cite book  |editor-last=Curtis |editor-first=Glenn E. |editor2-last=Hooglund |editor2-first=Eric |year=2008 |edition=Fifth  |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Iran.pdf |title=Iran a country study |series=Hand book |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congre |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215170841/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Iran.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2013}}}}</ref> At the same time, weekly mosque attendance rate in Iran has been very low compared to other Muslim countries.<ref name="Tezcur">Gunes Murat Tezcur, Taghi Azadarmaki, and Bahar Mehri, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150301105100/http://www.luc.edu/faculty/gtezcur/files/TezcurCritique.pdf Religious Participation among Muslims: Iranian Exceptionalism]," Middle East Critique 15(3) (Fall 2006): 217-232.</ref> In particular, politicization of Friday prayers under the Islamic Republic has had the paradoxical consequence of discouraging religious people from attending Friday prayers. People who attend prayers tend to have more positive evaluation of the political system than people who do not attend.<ref name="Tezcur"/>{{rp|228–9}}

====''Hosseiniyeh''====
Another religious institution of major significance has been the hoseiniyeh, or Islamic center. Wealthy patrons financed construction of hoseiniyehs in urban areas to serve as sites for recitals and performances commemorating the martyrdom of Hussein, especially during the month of Moharram. In the  1970s, hoseiniyehs such as the Hoseiniyeh Irshad in Tehran became politicized as prominent clerical and lay preachers helped to lay the groundwork for the Revolution by referring to the symbolic deaths as martyrs of Hussein and the other imams in veiled but obvious criticism of Mohammad Reza Shah's regime.

====Islamic schools====
Institutions providing religious education include madrassas, or seminaries, and maktabs, or primary schools run by the clergy. The madrassas historically were important settings for advanced training in Shia theology and jurisprudence. Each madrassa generally was associated with a noted Shia scholar who had attained the rank of ayatollah. Some older madrassas functioned like religious universities at which several scholars taught diverse religious and secular subjects. Students, or talabehs, lived on the grounds of the madrassas and received stipends for the duration of their studies, usually a minimum of seven years, during which they prepared for the examinations that qualify a seminary student to be a low-level preacher, or mullah. At the time of the Revolution, there were slightly more than 11,000 talabehs in Iran, approximately 60 percent of them at the madrassas in [[Qom]]. From 1979 to 1982, the number of talabehs in Qom more than tripled from 6,500 to over 20,000. As of the early 2000s, there were just under 25,000 talabehs at all levels of study in Qom seminaries, as well as about 12,000 talabehs at seminaries in other Iranian cities.<ref name=loc/>

Maktabs started to decline in number and importance in the first decades of the twentieth century, once the government began developing a national public school system. Nevertheless, maktabs continued to exist as private religious schools until the Revolution. Because the overall emphasis of public schools has remained secular subjects, since 1979 maktabs have continued to serve children whose parents want them to have a more religious education.<ref name=loc/>

====Clergy====
In 2003, Abbas William Samii estimated that there are 90,000 (the estimate of media observers) to 300,000 (estimate of European sources) clerics in Iran, with, at the time, 40,000 students at the religious seminaries. To this he add 60,000 "people with no formal training or qualifications who acted as urban preachers, rural prayer leaders, and procession organizers." As for the numbers of seminaries, Qom alone had 60.<ref>Abbas William Samii, "The Iranian nuclear issue and informal networks" in ''Naval War College Review'', Winter 2006, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 68-69</ref> Abbas Djavadi estimates that after the 1979 revolution, "more than 200,000 mullahs" became "receivers of government salaries and benefits".<ref name="RLRFE-difference">{{cite news |last1=Djavadi |first1=Abbas |title=The Difference Between A Marja And A Supreme Leader |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/The_Difference_Between_A_Marja_And_A_Supreme_Leader/1968177.html |access-date=29 April 2023 |agency=RLRFE |date=25 February 2010}}</ref>

====Shrines====
Another major religious institution in Iran is the shrine. Pilgrimage to the shrines of imams is a specific Shia custom, undertaken because Shia pilgrims believe that the imams and their relatives have the power to intercede with God on behalf of petitioners. Of the more than 1,100 shrines in Iran, the most important are those for the Eighth Imam, [[Ali al-Ridha]], in [[Mashhad]] and for his sister [[Fatimah bint Musa]] in [[Qom]], and for [[Ruhollah Khomeini|Seyyed Rouhollah Khomeini]] in Tehran. Each of these is a huge complex that includes the mausoleum of the venerated one, tombs of various notables, mosques, madrassas, and libraries. Imam Reza's shrine is considered the holiest. In addition to the usual shrine accoutrements, it comprises hospitals, dispensaries, a museum, and several mosques located in a series of courtyards surrounding the imam's tomb. The shrine's endowments and gifts are the largest of all religious institutions in the country. Although there are no special times for visiting this or other shrines, it is customary for pilgrimage traffic to be heaviest during Shia holy periods. Visitors represent all socioeconomic levels. Whereas piety is a motivation for many, others come to seek the spiritual grace or general good fortune that a visit to the shrine is believed to ensure. Since the nineteenth century, it has been customary among the bazaar class and members of the lower classes to recognize those who have made a pilgrimage to Mashhad by prefixing their names with the title mashti. Shrine authorities have estimated that at least 4 million pilgrims visit the shrine annually in the early 2000s. There are also important secondary shrines for other relatives of the Eighth Imam in Tehran and Shiraz. In virtually all towns and in many villages, there are numerous lesser shrines, known as imamzadehs, that commemorate descendants of the imams who are reputed to have led saintly lives. In Iraq the shrines at Karbala and An Najaf also are revered by Iranian Shias. Pilgrimages to these shrines and the hundreds of local mamzadehs are undertaken to petition the saints to grant special favors or to help one through a period of troubles. The constant movement of pilgrims from all over Iran has helped bind together a linguistically heterogeneous population. Pilgrims serve as major sources of information about conditions in different parts of the country and thus help to mitigate the
parochialism of the regions.<ref name=loc/>

====''Waqf''====
{{See also|Waqf}}
The vaqf is a traditional source of financial support for all religious institutions. It is a religious endowment by which land and other income-producing property is given in perpetuity for the maintenance of a shrine, mosque, madrassa, or charitable institution such as a hospital, library, or orphanage. A mutavalli administers a vaqf in accordance with the stipulations in the donor's bequest. In many vaqfs, the position of mutavalli is hereditary. Under the Pahlavis, the government attempted to exercise control over administration of the vaqfs, especially those of the larger shrines. This practice caused conflict with the clergy, who perceived the government's efforts as inimical
to their influence and authority in traditional religious matters. The government's interference with the administration of vaqfs during the Pahlavi era led to a sharp decline in the number of vaqf bequests. Instead, wealthy and pious Shias chose to give financial contributions directly to the leading ayatollahs in the form of zakat, or obligatory alms. The clergy, in turn, used the funds to administer their madrassas and to institute various educational and charitable programs, which indirectly provided them with more influence in society. The access of the clergy to a steady and independent source of funding was an important factor in their ability to resist state controls, and ultimately helped them direct the opposition to the shah.<ref name=loc/>

Statistics of religious buildings according to {{lang|fa|آمارنامه اماکن مذهبی}} (Statistics of Religious Places) which has been gathered in 2003.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Structure
! Number
|-
| [[Mosque]]
| 48983<ref name="ReferenceA">یافته های طرح آمارگیری جامع فرهنگی کشور، فضاهای فرهنگی ایران، آمارنامه اماکن مذهبی، 2003، وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی، ص 39</ref>
|-
| [[Jama masjid|Jame]]
| 7877<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
|-
| [[Hussainiya|Hussainia]]
| 13446<ref>یافته های طرح آمارگیری جامع فرهنگی کشور، فضاهای فرهنگی ایران، آمارنامه اماکن مذهبی، 2003، وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی، ص 154</ref>
|-
| [[Imamzadeh]]
| 6461<ref name="ReferenceB">یافته های طرح آمارگیری جامع فرهنگی کشور، فضاهای فرهنگی ایران، آمارنامه اماکن مذهبی، 2003، وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی، ص 263</ref>
|-
| [[Dargah]]
| 1320<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
|-
| [[Hawza]]
|
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Islam|Iran}}
*[[International rankings of Iran#Religion|International Rankings of Iran in Religion]]
*[[Islam by country]]
*[[History of Iran]]
*[[Islamicization in post-conquest Iran]]
*[[History of political Islam in Iran]]
*[[Religious minorities in Iran]]
*[[Christians in Iran]]
*[[Persian Jews|Judaism in Iran]]
*[[Institute for Interreligious Dialogue]]
*[[Status of religious freedom in Iran]]
*[[Iranian-American#Religion|Religion of Iranian-Americans]]
*[[Turko-Persian tradition]]
*[[Clericalism in Iran]]
*[[Fatima Masumeh Shrine]]
*[[Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom]]
*[[History of Iran after Islam]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* [[Petrushevsky]], I. P.,(1985) ''Islam in Iran'', State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-88706-070-0}}
* {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Frye |author-link=Richard Frye |title=The Golden Age of Persia |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London |year=1975}}
* {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Hovannisian |title=The Persian Presence in the Islamic World |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1998}}
* {{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}}
* {{Country study |country=Iran |abbr=ir |section=Sunni Muslims |editor-last1=Curtis |editor-first1=Glenn E. |editor-last2=Hooglund |editor-first2=Eric |date=2008 |pd=yes |edition=5}}
* {{cite book |author=[[Kameel Ahmady]] |url= |title=From border to border. Comprehensive research study on identity and ethnicity in Iran |publisher=Mehri publication |year=2019 |isbn=9781914165221 |location=London}}

==External links==
* [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/islam-in-iran-1], ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' (a series of 18 articles on this subject)

{{Religion in Iran}}
{{Islam by country horizontal}}
{{Asia in topic|Islam in}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islam In Iran}}
[[Category:Islam in Iran| ]]
[[Category:Culture of Iran]]
[[Category:Shia Islam in Asia]]
[[Category:Clericalism in Iran]]