How did Islamic rule affect the Persians?

Answer 1

The Arab Islamic Invasion of Persia from the 600s C.E. until Persia became independent again in the 900s C.E. had a profound effect on Persia and Persian culture. Some of the myriad of changes that occurred domestically within Persia included:

Islam Replacing Zoroastrianism: Persia had previously had its own unique religion called "Zoroastrianism". Under the Parthians and Sassanids, Zoroastrianism had become the majority religion in Persia and was the religion of the rulers and aristocrats. Under Islamic Rule, Zoroastrians were persecuted, in some cases violently, but in most cases simply by repressive taxes and social sanction. In order to maintain their position in the nobility, most nobles were required to convert to Islam or face the "horrible" life of a commoner. Within three centuries, Persia had become majority-Muslim.

Arab-Persian Ethnic Conflict: For most of Persian history up to this point, the Persians had seen the Arabs as a distant nuisance on the Arabian Peninsula and scarcely paid them more heed than they would common thieves or vandals. Persia concerned itself with controlling civilized regions and settled peoples, like the Mesopotamians, the Levantines, the Anatolians, the Egyptians, and the Khorasanis. In almost all cases, when the Persians conquered these areas, they were well-respected as civilized, organized, and cultural rulers. Conversely, when the Arabs overran Persia, they destroyed Persian cultural buildings; had little regard for Persian organizational systems; understood nothing of Persian literature, history, or values; and, worst of all, asserted themselves as superior to the Persians. This set up a centuries-long rivalry between the Arabs and Persians where the former saw the latter as second-class Muslims (Mawali) since they refused to leave their old heathen language behind and embrace Arabic (in contrast to the Mesopotamians, Levantines, and Egyptians) and where the latter saw the former as uncivilized barbarians who had the audacity to trample all over 4000 years of culture and development. Neither side has really made overtures to heal the cultural rift and today, Saudi Arabia, the center of the Arab World, and Iran remain bitter enemies.

Arabic Influence in Persian: During the Arab Islamic Caliphates, the Persian language was substantially modified with numerous Arabic loanwords that led to a massive transformation of the language. Additionally, Arabic forms of poetry became popular in Persia. It would take the influence of the later giants of Persian literature like Ferdowsi, Khayyam, and Nizami to "re-Persianify" the Persian language. However, the Arabic literary stylings became integrated into a wider Persian ambit of literature and culture in the Persian tradition of taking the best from "lesser cultures".

Pax-Islamica and Persian Science: Because of the vast size of the Umayyad and Abbassid Empires, Persia benefited from an exchange of knowledge and goods with the Amazigh of North Africa and the Iberians of Spain, not to mention the Levantine populations who were physically close, but under Byzantine control previously. This allowed for a flowering of Persian science and mathematics during the wider Islamic Golden Age. In fact, many of the key figures of the Islamic Golden Age were Persians, like al-Khwarizmi, Rumi, Nasir ad-Din al-Tusi, and Ibn Sina.