How did Ismail I's rule affect Islam?

Answer 1

Ismail I led the change in Iran from a majority Sunni to a majority Shiite region. Ismail I (the first Safavid) adopted Twelver Shiite Islam and began to persecute the Sunnis in Iran. This reduced their community to a small minority in the Persian heartland. He destroyed numerous Sunni mosques and grave sites as well as mandating curses against the first three Rightly-Guided Caliphs. He also imprisoned and killed large populations of Sunnis for their beliefs and compelled conversion to Shiite Islam through violence. The Safavids also spread this form of Sunni oppression through conquest Azerbaijan and of southern Iraq and imposing conversion to Shiite Islam there as well. He also fought several wars against neighboring Sunnis in Samarqand to the North and the Ottomans to the West.

Among versions of Shiite Islam, Ismail I's choice of Twelver Shiite Islam over Zaydi (Fiver) or Ismaili (Sevener) Shiite Islam led to the supremacy of Twelver Shiite Islam as the dominant version and understanding of Shiite Islam. Additionally, as the largest Shiite majority country, Persia became the center of Shiite Islam, replacing Egypt which had been the former center of Shiite Islam.