Area Handbook for Iran

AREA HANDBOOK for

IRAN

Co-Authors Harvey H. Smith William W. Cover John B. Folan Michael L. Meissenburg Julius Szentadorjany Suzanne Teleki

Research and writing were completed on June 23, 1970

Published 1971

(This pamphlet supersedes DA Pam No. 550-68, May 1963)

DA PAM No. 550-68 they have sm~ll groups active in Western Europe and the United Influenced by Christianity and pre-Islamic mystery religions, their been severe I Y condemned by the Shiite clergyá the mystic love of God sought outlet in religious fervor. Some became so preoccupied with the contemplation of divine perfection that Iran. they sought ecstatic trances, eventually by prescribed means of identifying with God. Mystic poetry and music were developed to a high degree as aids in achieving this selfless state. As a result, Sufi poets were among the greatest contributors to Iranian art (see ch. 10, Artistic and Intellectual Expression). A number of Sufi brotherhoods were established during the o mam am re11g10us schools, and to publish periodicals Th early centuries of Islam, many of which continue to exist. In the . t ed m . th eir . political activities since non-Muslims . ey are, late 1960s one Kurdish sect had members in nine Middle Eastern countries. One of the brotherhoods, which came into being in the thirteenth century, was that of the whirling dervishes (from the Iranian word meaning "poor"), mendicant ecstatics known for their gyrating dances performed while in a trance, a condition heightened by the gyrations. Dervishes and other Sufi orders maintain loose organizations and hold private meetings at which á á . the traditional ritual chanting of Sufi poetry and invocations are carried on. Modern-day Sufis are not all beggars or poor. Many important public figures belong to one of the brotherhoods. They tend to.live sober, modest lives with a more than average regard for the pr,e- cepts of Islam. The Bahai movement had its origin in the eighteenth-century heretical beliefs of the followers of Shaykh Ahmed Ahsai, who taught that the hidden imam was a creative force with which con- tact could be made through a human intermediary, the Bab (Door). In 1840 Mirza Ali Muhammad of Shiraz proclaimed him- self to be the Bab and gained the following of many tribal leaders. The Babi movement grew rapidly and assumed the character of a militant new faith at considerable variance with Shiism. The Babis interpreted the Koran as largely allegorical and represented the resurrection as a manifestation of divine spirit. Claiming to be Muslim nevertheless, they taught that all religions have ele- ments of truth, peace, brotherhood, and tolerance. The heretics were severely persecuted by the Shiite leaders, and many were put to death, including Mirza Ali Muhammad. A number of the Babis escaped, however, and followed Hussein Ali Baha Ollah, a disciple of Mirza Ali Muhammad, who declared himself the expected manifestation of the divine spirit, the Messiah of all religions, and the promulgator of a new era. The followers of Baha Ollah, known as the Bahais, were pacifists (un- like the Babis) and preached respect for the law. They advocated i universal brotherhood of man and legal equality between men and á; women. The Bahai movement has spread throughout the world;~. States and claim a world membership of 500 ,000 . Th e B ahars á have B h á l" á ár t d tá • a ar re rgron w h r e no un er ac 1ve suppression ' is not le ga ll Y recogmzed á in' phases, as a Religious Minorities . T~e official recognized minority religions are Judaism Chri tramt!, and Zoro~str~anism. Each of these groups is per~itted ts~ sustam an orgamzatron, to elect a representative to th M á1á t á t á á á e aJ rs, however • re s t nc can~ot occu~y com~and positions in the armed forces and cannot ach1e~e pohcymakmg positions in the government (see ch 5 Ethmc _Groups and Languages; ch. 13, The Governmental Syste~)' . In mid-1970 there were about 67,000 Jews in Iran, living main]; m Tehr_an, Isfaha, Kashan (120 miles south of Tehran) Ha d and Shiraz. _In addition, since 1948 some 45,000 have ~igr~t:da~~ Israel. Iraman Jews form one of the oldes t J ew1s á h commumtres m t~e world, and through over 1,000 years of Jiving among the Ira~ia.ns, have be7ome physically and spiritually very close to the maJonty _populat10n. They have preserved, however, a rather conse:vat_ive, closed religious life. They are fully protected by the Constitution. . In the t"'.entieth century the Jewish population has achieved importance m the commercial life of the major cities, particularly Teh:a.n, and have e~tered the professions, most notably pharmacy, med~cme, and d:ntistry. They have their own hospitals and aca- dem~c and techmcal schools and are the only ethnic group that is cons1der:d. 100 percent literate. The Jewish shrine to Esther and Mordecai is at Ramadan; the tomb of Daniel is supposed to be located near Ahvaz. Nat!ve Christians are limited almost entirely to the Semitic Assy:ians, nu~bering about 25,000, who live around Lake Rezaiyeh an? m. Tehran, and to the Armenians, the oldest and largest ethmc mmority, totaling over 190,000, living mainly in Tehran and Isfahan. Most Assyrians belong to the Assyrian Church of the East, formerly and mistakenly called the Nestorian Churc_h, but as a result of the Western missionary work of the :wentieth century, four distinct denominations also exist, includ- ng Roman Catholic and Protestant groups. Most Armenians ~elon~ to ~he Gregorian Church under the Catholicos of Cicile }. Be1:ut m Lebanon. This has led to a political split in the thrmeman c~mmunity as many Armenians continue to recognize Se .leadership of the Catholicos of Echmiadzim at Yerevan in ov1et Armenia, who claims to represent the entire community.