Life, Love, and Everything In Between

Essay on Islam in Modern Day Iran. (long long long)

Islam in modern day Iran

Imagine that it is 5:22 am and you are awoken bright and early by the loud speaker outside your hotel room, its blairing with the Arabic language, singing "Allah u Akbar, Allah u Akbar", giving everyone around you the dawn call to prayer, also known as Fajr. Its already 20 degree's celcius and the city is beginning to wake. With a Mosque on every block the Muezzin's, or speaker's, call is inescapable. Welcome to Tehran, Iran, the Capital city of The Islamic Republic of Iran. As of 2006, the estimated population of Tehran is about 12 million people, and of that, an estimated 98% percent are Muslim. Islam in Iran is fairly different that the rest of the world. This is because Iran is 89% Shi'ah, and only 9% Sunni. This statistic is actually inverted from the rest of world, where Shi'ah Islam makes up only 10% of Islam worldwide. Why is there this distinction, and what is a Muslims life like in modern day Iran?

Understanding life in Iran today is difficult unless you understand where Iran came from. The State of Iran is a relatively new state in terms of politics, but while names and borders may change, much of the culture in Iran has not changed in centruries. Iran was known as Persia until 1935, this change occured because of the rise of the Nazi power in Germany. In an odd twist of fate the German ambassador to Iran at the time convinced the Persian leader, Reza Shah (who came to power after he overthrew Ahmad Shah Qajar), that Persia was now free from the tyranny of Britain and Russia. (CITATION) At this point in history Germany itself was going through rapid change because of Hitler's Nazi party, and his idea of Aryan perfection, and Aryan blood. Now that Persia had a new leader that had come to power by through revolution, he wanted to stripe away the image of the previous regime, he wanted Persia to have its own name, something that it gave itself. So in 1935 Reza Shah asked the world to call Persia, 'Iran'. This signified not only a turning over of a new page in 'Persia's' history, but a sign of Iranian superiority. Iran is derived from the word Aryan. It took time for the world to recognize 'Persia's' new name, but by 1941 the term Iran was becoming widely accepted.(CITATION) Throughout history the region known as Persia/Iran has been stricktly Islamic, this meant that Sharia Law was to be upheld. The Shan observed strict Sharia Law for many years, but slowly he started to modernize, and follow western thought. This started with universal suffrage, and giving women equal rights in marriage. This gained the Shah some enemies. Shah Reza rulled succesfully into the late 1970's.(CITATION) During the 1970's though, there was much religious upheavel over the Shah's reforms, and the previously exhiled cleric Ayatollah Komeni started to gain a following. And in 1979 Shah Reza was forced to resign his position as political leader of Iran, and he fled in exile to Egypt, where he died the following year. With the exile of the Shah the Ayatollah took power, and established Iran as an Islamic Republic.(CITATION) The reforms that Shah Reza had made were now reversed as strict Sharia Law was now enforced again. This made the Republic of Iran a Theocratic Republic. With the Cleric Ayatollah Komeni as the Chief of State, all authority is given to him, and the president answers to him. This is what makes Iran a theocracy.

In order to understand Islam in Iran, one must first understnad the two main sects which comprise Islam, Sunni and Shi'ah. The rift between these two sects goes back to Muhammad, and the rightful succession of Islam. When Muhammad was on his trek to Medina, which Muslims call "The Farewell Pilgramige", he brought with him 'Ali b. Abi Talib. This was the first man to convert to Islam and to follow Muhammad. 'Ali b. Abi Talib was also the man to marry Muhammad's daughter, Farah. The two men were very close, and on the journey home from Medina, Muhammad and his followers stoped to rest at a place called Ghadir Khumm, and Muhammad showed how close they were. Muhammad raised his hand and gathered his followers together and said "Everyone whose patron I am also has 'Ali as a patron. Oh Allah, befriend all friends of 'Ali, and be the enemy of all his enemies; help and aid those who help him, and abandon those who desert him". Certain Muslims saw this as Muhammad pointing out a direct succesor. Those that were loyal to 'Ali became know as "Shi'at 'Ali", or more simply put "Ali's party, or Ali's faction", to simplify the Arabic, they became known simply as Shi'ah. Unfortunatly, Ibn Ishaq does not include Ghadir Khumm in his Biography of the Prophet. David Waines in his book "An Introduction to Islam" states that Muhammad's affection for 'Ali was evident to everyone, but that the majority of Muslims see Ghadir Khumm as insignificant. Sunni Muslims see 'Ali as the "fourth, and Last of the Rightly Guided Caliphs". Its very important to note that 'Ali was fourth in line, and not first. The first Caliph was Abu Bakr, who was Muhammad's closest friend. Abu Bakr's Caliphate was short, being only two and half years (27 months), yet in his short Caliphate he started to build one of the largest empires in history. Umar succeded Abu Talib as the next Caliph, and Uthman succeded Umar. Another important point is that Umar and Uthman all supported Abu Talib in his fight to be the first Caliph, while 'Ali did not, and in fact 'Ali had to be convinced to support Abu Talib and give him his obedience. Only after Uthman was assasinated during prayer did 'Ali become the next Caliph. This was seen as quiet controversial, and many allegations spawned from this. Hussein Abdulwaheed Amin states in his article on the Sunni Shi'ah split that Ali was opposed by Aisha, who was the wife of the prophet and daughter of Abu Bakr. Ali's forces defeated Aisha's forces at the Battle of the Camal, but he wasn't able to defeat Mu'awiya Ummayad's, Uthman's cousins' forces. The rift between Sunni and Shi'ah is found in this contoversy of who should be the rightful Caliph. One of the major differences between Sunni and Shi'a Islam is the Shi'ah Shahadah, which says: There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God (and this is where it varys) and Ali is the friend of Allah. The addition of that line to the Shahadah is the most distinctive part of Shi'a Islam.

Iran has the highest percentage of Shi'ah muslims in the world, according to the CIA World Factbook, as of November 15, 2007, Iran is 89% Shi'ah Muslim, and 9% Sunni. This is vastly different than the rest of the World. Shi'ah Islam comprises about 10% of all Islam in the world, yet in the small country of Iran, it holds strong with 89% Why is this? As Islam spread through conquest it came into contact with other cultures and peoples. Islam was Arabian, that is very clear, but it also entered Persia. Persia seems to have made it its own. It became distinctly Persian. This Persian Islam was slightly different than the Arabian Islam. The followers of the Persian Islam were generally Sunni, but had a strong population of Shi'ah as well. It was only when Persia came under control of Safavid's, did Shi'ah Islam take a true stronghold. This was because the "Safavids made Shi'ah Islam the state religon". This stronghold of Shi'ah Islam has stayed until this very day.

But why is it important that Iran is distinctly Shi'ah? Shi'ah Muslims have different beliefs than Sunni Muslims. This is much more than meerly a question of succesion after Muhammad, but there are practical differences as well. For instance, Shi'ah Muslims believe that "Imam is sinless by nature, and that his authority is infallible as it comes directly from God. Therefore, Shia Muslims often venerate the Imams as saints and perform pilgrimages to their tombs and shrines in the hopes of divine intercession." Sunni Muslims can see this as heretical and they believe that there is "certainly no basis for the veneration or intercession of saints". Shi'ah Muslims, because of their loyalty to Ali, have a tendency to ignore Hadith's from some of Muhammads companions, such as Abu Bakr, or Aisha. This tension goes back to Abu Bakr's opposition to Ali. The ignorance of Aisha's Hadith's goes back to the Battle of the Camel, where Aisha's forces lost to Ali's. Thus, because of the different Hadith's that they follow, Shi'ah's have different practices, prayers, and even fasting rituals. One of the distinct differences between Sunni and Shi'ah Islam is that Shi'ah Muslims believe in the Qur'an as well as the "utterances of the twelve Imams". This leads to tension between the two groups. This tension could be related to the rift between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. There is the occasional fight between the sects, but fortunatly there is not too much tension.

Iran, being over-whemlmingly Shi'ah, is an oddity in the Muslims world. Many Sunni's complain of discrimination from the Shi'ah government. There has even been the occasional allegation of denial for government positions because someone is Sunni. In a report from the UN, on the discrimination of Sunni's, it says: "information indicates Sunnis, along with other religious minorities, are denied by law or practice access to such government positions as cabinet minister, ambassador, provincial governor, mayor and the like, Sunni schools and mosques have been destroyed, and Sunni leaders have been imprisoned, executed and assassinated. The report notes that while some of the information received may be difficult to corroborate there is a clear impression that the right of freedom of religion is not being respected with regard to the Sunni minority", but this is mirrored by Sunni bombings of Shi'ah Mosques. What is important to note is that these are almost always terrorist groups that have extremeist views and goals. The truth is, that in a recent meeting between Iran's current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the Saudi King, King Abdullah, "The two parties have agreed to stop any attempt aimed at spreading sectarian strife in the region", because there has been to much conflict over this issue. The reason for this statement is that Saudi Arabia, the 'birth place' or Islam, is Sunni, while Iran, is Shi'ah. Relations between the country's have been getting continually better since Iran's previous leader, President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, did the Hajj with the, then crown-prince, Abdullah.

Life in Iran is differant than that of life in the western world. The largest reason for this is because Iran is a Theocracy, which means it is ultimately goverened by religious law. The President over-sees the country, and he is democratically elected, but he must anwser to The Supreme Leader. The Supreme Leader's job is to uphold Sharia Law, which is Islamic Law, as well as to declare war, or peace, and control the Military.(CITATION). It is also his responsibility to "accept, decline, or issue resignations" from ministers. This means that if he so desires, he can tell a minister to resign and the minister must. Another part of his job description is "Resolving the problems, which cannot be solved by conventional methods, through the Nation's Expediency Council.", as it states in the Iranian Constitution. Hence the Iranian Constitution gives the Supreme Leader, supreme power. Everyone else in the country appears to meerly a figurehead. The only way for the Supreme Leader to be brought out of power, is if the Assembly of Experts votes him out. The Assembly of Experts is a group of 86 popularly elected religious leaders. The problem with this though, is that the Supreme Leader can ask for anyone of the Assembly members resignations, and he must give it, so, does the Assembly really have any power of the Supreme Leader? Not really. In his election campaign President Rafsanjani vowed to build a Sunni Mosque in Tehran, which does not have a Sunni Mosque (even though it has a population of about one million Sunni's), but when he did not build one during his term in office he sited the Ayatollah's disapproval of the Mosque as reasons for why the Mosque was not built. The reason that the Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameni, turned down the Sunni Mosque is because the Ayatollah is staunchly Shi'ah, in fact, Iran's constitution makes Iran Shi'ah. Iranians live under dictatorship disguised as democracy. With the Supreme Leader having as much power as he does, whatever he says goes, which is what a dictatorship is.

-if anyone read all that, just let me know.

posted by That Canadian Guy @ 10:19 a.m.