Religion in Iran

Map showing ethnic and religious diversity among the population of Iran.

Most Iranians are Muslims; 90% belong to the Shi'a branch of Islam, the official state religion, and about 8% belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. The remaining 2% are non-Muslim religious minorities, including Bahá'ís, Mandeans, Yezidis, Yarsanis, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians.^[1] The latter three minority religions are officially recognized and protected, and have reserved seats in the Majlis (Iranian Parliament). The Bahá'í Faith, Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority, is not officially recognized, and has been persecuted during its existence in Iran.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Since the 1979 revolution the persecution of Bahá'ís has increased with executions, the denial of civil rights and liberties, and the denial of access to higher education and employment.^{[7][8][3][2][4]}

Islam

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Imam Reza shrine, one of the most important religious places in Iran, Mashhad

Islam has been the official religion of Iran since the Islamic conquest of Iran circa 640 AD. It took another few hundred years for Shia Islam to gather and become a power in Iran. In the history of Shia Islam the first Shia state was Idrisid dynasty (780-974) in Maghreb. Then Alavids dynasty (864 - 928) established in Mazandaran (Tabaristan), northern Iran. These dynasties were local. But they followed by two great and powerful dynasties: Fatimid Caliphate which formed in Ifriqiya in 909 AD and the Buyid dynasty emerged in Daylaman, north of Iran, about 930 AD and then ruled over central and western part of Iran and Iraq until 1048. Sunni Islam came to rule through the Ghaznavids through to the Mongol invasion and establishment of the Ilkhanate which kept Shi'a Islam out of power until Ghazan converted to Shi'a Islam in 1310 AD and made it the state religion.^[9] In 1501, the Safavid dynasty established Twelver Shi'a Islam as the official state religion of Iran.^[10] Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979. Today almost all of Iranian Shi'as are Twelvers which is derived from their belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imāms who are descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah and his son-in-law ‘Alī. These Imams are considered the best source of knowledge about the Qur'an and Islam, the most trusted carriers and protectors of Muḥammad's Sunnah (traditions) and the most worthy of emulation.

Islam is the religion of 98% of Iranians of which approximately 90% are Shi'a.

Among the non-clerical well known spiritual leaders of Iran are Ibn Sina and the poets Hafez and Mowlānā all of whom wrote extensively in religious themes. Ibn Sina was a polymath and the foremost Islamic physician and philosopher of his time.^[11] Hafez was the most celebrated Persian lyric poet and is often described as a poet's poet. Mowlānā importance transcends national and ethnic borders.^[12] Readers of the Persian language in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan see him as one of their most significant classical poets and an influence on many poets through history.^[13]

Sunni Islam

Sunni Muslims are the largest non-Shi'a religious group in Iran.^[14] Sunni Islam came to rule in Iran after the period Sunni were distinguished from Shi'a through the Ghaznavids from 975 AD, followed by the Great Seljuq Empire and the Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty until the Mongol invasion of Iran. Islam returned to rule when Ghazan converted but he soon converted specifically to Shi'a.

In recent times about 8% of the Iranian population is Sunni - mostly Turkomen, a minority of Arabs (mainly in Hormozgan Province), Baluchs, and Kurds living in the southwest, southeast, northeast and northwest.^[15] While no official statistics are available for Sufi groups, there are reports that estimate their population between two and five million.^[14] The Islamic Republic does not allow Sunni mosques in places where Sunnis are not a majority. In Tehran , for example, there are about three million Sunnis but not a single Sunni mosque.^[16] Some Sufi sects in Iran include the Nimatullahi (the largest Shi'i Sufi order active throughout Iran) and the Naqshbandi (a Sunni order active mostly in the Kurdish regions of Iran).

Ayatollah Khomeini also called for unity between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims (Sunni Muslims are the largest religious minority in Iran).^[17]

Other faiths

There are several major religious minorities in Iran, Bahá'ís (est. 300,000-350,000)^[18][19][20] and Christians (est. 300,000,^[20] with one group composing over 200,000^[21]) being the largest. Smaller groups include Jews, Zoroastrians, Mandaeans, Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq), as well as local religions practiced by tribal minorities.^[14][22]

While Bahá'ís are neither recognized nor protected by the Iranian constitution, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians are officially recognized and protected by the government. For example, shortly after his return from exile in 1979, at a time of great unrest, the revolution's leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering that Jews and other minorities be treated well. ^{[23] [24]}

Contemporary status

The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism as official religions. Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution, recognizes them as People of the Book and they are granted the right to exercise religious freedom in Iran.^{[18] [25]} Five of the 270 seats in parliament are reserved for these three religions.

On the other hand, senior government posts are reserved for Muslims. All minority religious groups, including Sunni Muslims, are barred from being elected president. Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian schools must be run by Muslim principals.^[26] Compensation for death paid to the family of a non-Muslim was (by law) less than if the victim was a Muslim. Conversion to Islam is encouraged by entitling converts to inherit the entire share of their parents (or even uncle's) estate if their siblings (or cousins) remain non-Muslim.^[27] Iran's non-Muslim population has fallen dramatically. For example, the Jewish population in Iran dropped from 80,000 to 30,000 in the first two decades of the revolution.^[28]

Reserved majles seats

After the Persian Constitutional Revolution, the Constitution of 1906 provided for reserved Parliamentary seats granted to the recognized religious minorities, a provision maintained after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. There are 2 seats for Armenians and one for each other minority: Assyrians, Jews and Zoroastrians.^[18] Given that the Bahá'í Faith is not recognized, they do not have seats in the parliament.^[8] Sunni Muslims have no specific reserved seats, but can take part in the ordinary election process at all constitutional levels.^[14] Sunni members of parliament are mostly from areas with strong Sunni ethnic minorities like Kurdistan and Baluchistan.^[14]

List of minority MPs in the last three Majlis:

Bahá'í Faith

The largest non-Muslim minority in Iran is the Bahá'ís. There were an estimated 350,000 Bahá'ís in Iran in 1986. The Bahá'ís are scattered in small communities throughout Iran with a heavy concentration in Tehran. Most Bahá'ís are urban, but there are some Bahá'í villages, especially in Fars and Mazandaran. The majority of Bahá'ís are Persians, but there is a significant minority of Azarbaijani Bahá'ís, and there are even a few among the Kurds.

The Bahá'í Faith originated in Iran during the 1840s as a messianic movement out of Shia Islam. Opposition arose quickly. For example two prominent Bahá'ís were arrested and executed circa 1880 because the Imám-Jum'ih at the time owed them a large sum of money for business relations and instead of paying them he confiscated their property and brought public redicule upon them as being Bahá'ís.^[29] Their execution was committed despite observers testifying to their innocence.

The Shia clergy, as well as many Iranians, have continued to regard Bahá'ís as heretics, and consequently Bahá'ís have encountered much prejudice and have sometimes been the objects of persecution. The situation of the Bahá'ís improved under the Pahlavi shahs when the government actively sought to secularize public life however there were still organizations actively persecuting the Bahá'ís in addition to there being curses children would learn decrying the Báb and Bahá'ís.^[30] The Hojjatieh (in Persian: انجمن حجتیه ) — or Hojjatieh Society — was a semi-clandestine traditionalist Shia organization founded in Iran in 1953 (in Tehran) by Shaikh Mahmoud Halabi (a Tehrani mullah from Mashhad; 1900-1998) with permission of Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi.^[30] The organization was founded on the premise that the most immediate threat to Islam was the Bahá'í Faith, which they viewed as a heresy that must be eliminated.^[31] The group also opposed both Sunniism and the Khomeinist concept of Velayat-e Faqih. The group flourished during the 1979 revolution that ousted Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and installed an Islamic government in his place. However it was forced to dissolve after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini speech on 12 August 1983.

The social situation of the Bahá'ís was drastically altered after the 1979 revolution. The Islamic Republic does not recognize the Bahá'ís as a religious minority, and the sect has been officially persecuted, "some 200 of whom have been executed and the rest forced to convert or subjected to the most horrendous disabilities." ^[32] Starting in late 1979 the new government systematically targeted the leadership of the Bahá'í community by focusing on the Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly (NSA) and Local Spiritual Assemblies (LSAs); prominent members of NSAs and LSAs were either killed or disappeared.^[8] Like most conservative Muslims, Khomeini believed them to be apostates, for example issuing a fatwa stating:

It is not acceptable that a tributary [non-Muslim who pays tribute] changes his religion to another religion not recognized by the followers of the previous religion. For example, from the Jews who become Bahai's nothing is accepted except Islam or execution.^[33]

and emphasized that the Bahá'ís would not receive any religious rights, since he believed that the Bahá'ís were a political rather than religious movement.^[34][35]

the Baha'is are not a sect but a party, which was previously supported by Britain and now the United States. The Baha'is are also spies just like the Tudeh [Communist Party]. ^[36]

Allegations of Bahá'í involvement with other powers have long been repeated in many venues including denouncements from the president.^[37][38]

During the drafting of the new constitution the wording intentionally excluded the Bahá'ís from protection as a religious minority.^[39] More recently, documentation has been provided that shows governmental intent to destroy the Bahá'í community. The government has intensified propaganda and hate speech against Bahá'ís through the Iranian media; Bahá'ís are often attacked and dehumanized on political, religious, and social grounds to separate Bahá'ís from the rest of society.^[40] According to Eliz Sanasarian "Of all non-Muslim religious minorities the persecution of the Bahais has been the most widespread, systematic, and uninterrupted.… In contrast to other non-Muslim minorities, the Bahais have been spread throughout the country in villages, small towns, and various cities, fueling the paranoia of the prejudiced."^[38]

Christianity

The Armenian Orthodox Vank cathedral of Isfahan is a relic of the Safavid era.

Christianity in Iran has had a long history, dating back to the very early years of the faith. And the region is thought to have affected Christianity as well with perhaps the introduction of the concept of The Devil.^[41] By far the largest group of Christians in Iran are Amenians under the Armenian Apostolic Church composing over 200,000^[21] of the estimated almost 300,000 Christians. The Armenian church is organized under Archbishop Manukian since at least the 1980s.^[38][21] Unofficial estimates for the Assyrian Christian population range between 10,000 and 20,000. Christian groups outside the country estimate the size of the Protestant Christian community to be less than 10,000, although many may practice in secret.^[14] There are approximately 20,000 Christians Iranian citizens abroad who left after the 1979 revolution.^[42] Christianity has always been a minority religion, overshadowed by the majority state religions—Zoroastrianism in the past, and Shia Islam today. Christians of Iran have played a significant part in the history of Christian mission. While always a minority the Armenian Christians had had an autonomy of educational institutions such as the use of their language in schools until 1983.^[38] Following then women and girls had to wear Hijab in Armenian Church schools, lessons were in Persian, religious observances needed special permission, etc. The Government regards the Mandaeans as Christians, and they are included among the three recognized religious minorities; however, Mandaeans do not consider themselves Christians.^[14][20]

The small protestant Christian minority in Iran have been subject to Islamic "government suspicion and hostility" according to Human Rights Watch at least in part because of their "readiness to accept and even seek out Muslim converts" as well as their Western origins. In the 1990s, two Muslim converts to Christianity who had become ministers were sentenced to death for apostasy and other charges.^[43] A Church in Tehran was closed and there were more than 50 documented arrests of Christians in 2008.^[44]

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrian Fire Temple in Yazd

Zoroastrians in Iran have had a long history reaching back thousands of years, and is the oldest religious community of Iran to survive to the present-day. Prior to the Muslim Arab invasion of Persia (Iran), Zoroastrianism had been the primary religion of the Persian people. Zoroastrians mainly are ethnic Persians and are concentrated in the cities of Tehran, Kerman, and Yazd. The Islamic Republic government estimates the number of Zoroastrian is 35,000, Zoroastrian groups in Iran say their number is approximately 60,000.^[20]

Since the fall of the Sassanid Zoroastrian empire by the Arab conquest of Persia, Zoroastrians in Iran have faced much religious discrimination including forced conversions, harassments, as well as being identified as najis and impure to Muslims, making them unfit to live alongside Muslims therefore forcing them to evacuate from cities and face major sanctions in all senses (See Persecution of Zoroastrians). While recognized and protected by the government, they are not considered "People of the Book" like the Christians and Jews, and their position has always therefore been more precarious than those two faiths, although not as bad as the Baha'is'.

Judaism

Former president Khatami visits a Tehran Jewish center.

Judaism is one of the oldest religions practiced in Iran and dates back to the late biblical times. The biblical books of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Esther contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in Persia.

Iran supports by far the largest Jewish population of any Muslim country,^[45] with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 living there. Emigration has lowered the population of 75,000 to 80,000 Jews living in there prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution.^[20] According to The world Jewish Library, most Jews in Iran live in Tehran, Isfahan (3,000), and Shiraz. BBC reported Yazd is home to ten Jewish families, six of them related by marriage, however some estimate the number is much higher. Historically, Jews maintained a presence in many more Iranian cities.

Today, the largest groups of Jews from Persia are found in Israel, which in 1993 was home to 75,000 people, including second-generation Israelis^[46] and the United States, which is home to a community of some 45,000 people, of first-generation only - especially in the Los Angeles area and Great Neck, New York.

Hinduism

Hinduism in Iran has a history stretching back to the middle ages.

Out of Iran's population of 68,017,860, about 68,000 are thought to be Hindus.^[47].

Religious freedom

Iran is an Islamic republic and its constitution mandates that the official religion of Iran is Islam (see: Islam in Iran) and the Twelver Ja'fari school. The constitution also mandates that other Islamic schools be accorded full respect, and that their followers are free to act in accordance with their own jurisprudence in performing their religious rites and recognizes Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians as religious minorities.

Complaints about religious freedom in Iran revolve around the persecution of the Bahá'í Faith, unequal rights of non-Muslim religions, and the forbidding of conversion from Islam to other religions.

The Bahá'í Faith, Iran's largest non-Islamic religious minority, is not recognized and is persecuted.^[7] There have been reports of imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination based on religious beliefs.^[48]

Hudud statutes grant different punishments to Muslims and non-Muslims for the same crime. In the case of adultery, for example, a Muslim man who is convicted of committing adultery with a Muslim woman receives 100 lashes; the sentence for a non-Muslim man convicted of adultery with a Muslim woman is death.^[49] In 2004, inequality of "blood money" (diyeh) was eliminated, and the amount paid by a perpetrator for the death or wounding a Christian, Jew, or Zoroastrian man, was made the same as that for a Muslim. However, the International Religious Freedom Report reports that Baha'is were not included in the provision and their blood is considered Mobah, (i.e. it can be spilled with impunity).^[20]

Freedom to convert from Islam to another religion (apostasy), is prohibited and may be punishable by death. Article 23 of the constitution states, "the investigation of individuals' beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief." But another article, 167, gives judges the discretion "to deliver his judgment on the basis of authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa (rulings issued by qualified clerical jurists)." The founder of the Islamic Republic, Islamic cleric Ruhollah Khomeini, who was a grand Ayatollah, ruled "that the penalty for conversion from Islam, or apostasy, is death."^[50]

At least two Iranians - Hashem Aghajari and Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari - have been arrested and charged with apostasy (though not executed), not for converting to another faith but for statements and/or activities deemed by courts of the Islamic Republic to be in violation of Islam, and that appear to outsiders to be Islamic reformist political expression.^[51] Hashem Aghajari, was found guilty of apostasy for a speech urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics;^[52] Hassan Youssefi Eshkevari was charged with apostasy for attending the 'Iran After the Elections' Conference in Berlin Germany which was disrupted by anti-regime demonstrators.^[53]

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.

See also

• Iranian religions