Misplaced Pages

Islamization of Iran: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 04:40, 18 January 2007 editSa.vakilian (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers14,646 edits rearrangement← Previous edit Latest revision as of 20:24, 1 January 2025 edit undoDawnseeker2000 (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, File movers, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers486,273 editsm minor formatting, typo(s) fixed: estimated at around → estimated atTag: AWB 
(290 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Overview of Iran's shift towards Islam and Islamic culture}}
{{History of Iran}}'''] in post-conquest Iran''', a long process by which ] was gradually adopted by the majority population, occurred as a result of the ].
{{Islamization}}


The '''Islamization of Iran''' began with the ], when the ] annexed the ]. It was a long process by which ], though initially rejected, eventually spread among the ] and the other ]. Although ] was a common element of the ], it did not have as significant of an impact in Iran as it did elsewhere, as the Iranian populace persisted in maintaining many of their pre-Islamic traditions, such as their ] and ], albeit with adaptations to conform to the nascent religion. A distinctly Iranian Muslim identity emerged in this context and later sidelined the ] in what is known as the ].<ref name="lewis"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429144545/http://www.tau.ac.il/dayancenter/mel/lewis.html |date=2007-04-29 }} by Bernard Lewis.</ref>
==Iranian culture after Islam==
===]===
After the Islamic conquest of the Persian Empire, during the reign of the ] dynasty, the ] conquerors imposed ] as the primary language of the subject peoples throughout their empire. ], who was not happy with the prevalence of the ] in the ], ordered the official language of the conquered lands to be replaced by Arabic, sometimes by force.<ref>], by ], ], et al. Section on The Arab Conquest of Iran and . Vol 4, 1975. London. p.46</ref> In ]'s ''From The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries'' for example it is written:


Iranian society was deeply transformed by the ], which greatly influenced the nation's cultural, scientific, and political structure; the blossoming of ], ], ], and ] became major elements of ]. Integrating a heritage of ] and being at the "crossroads of the major cultural highways"<ref>Caheb C., Cambridge History of Iran, ''Tribes, Cities and Social Organization'', vol. 4, p305–328</ref> in the ] contributed to the Iranians emerging at the forefront of the ] under the ].
:وقتی قتبیه بن مسلم سردار حجاج، بار دوم بخوارزم رفت و آن را باز گشود هرکس را که خط خوارزمی می نوشت و از تاریخ و علوم و اخبار گذشته آگاهی داشت از دم تیغ بی دریغ درگذاشت و موبدان و هیربدان قوم را یکسر هلاک نمود و کتابهاشان همه بسوزانید و تباه کرد تا آنکه رفته رفته مردم امی ماندند و از خط و کتابت بی بهره گشتند و اخبار آنها اکثر فراموش شد و از میان رفت


Between the 7th century and the 16th century, ] was dominant among the Iranians, but this changed with the ], which marked another historic societal shift for the nation. Consequently, ] remains dominant in modern-day ], where it is the official religion, as well as in ] and ].
:"When ] under the command of ] was sent to ] with a military expedition and conquered it for the second time, he swiftly killed whomwever wrote the Khwarazmian native language that knew of the Khwarazmian heritage, history, and culture. He then killed all their ] priests and burned and wasted their books, until gradually the illiterate only remained, who knew nothing of writing, and hence their history was mostly forgotten." <ref>]. الآثار الباقية عن القرون الخالية, p.35,36,48</ref>


==History==
It is difficult to imagine the Arabs especially ] dynasty not implementing ] in light of such events, writes ] in his famous ''Two centuries of silence'', where he exclusively writes of this topic <ref>{{cite book|author=ʻAbd al-Ḥusayn Zarrīnʹkūb|authorlink=Abdolhossein Zarinkoob|title=Dū qarn-i sukūt : sarguz̲asht-i ḥavādis̲ va awz̤āʻ-i tārīkhī dar dū qarn-i avval-i Islām (Two Centuries of Silence)|chapter=4|location=Tihrān|publisher=Sukhan|year=1379 (2000)|id={{OCLC|46632917}} }}</ref>. Reports of Persian speakers being tortured are also given in ''Abū al-Faraj al-Isfahāni'''s al-Aghānī. <ref>Vol 4, p.423</ref>
===Muslim conquest of Iran===
====Impact on Arab–Persian relations====
After the ], during the 90-year-long reign of the ], until the time of ], the ] was dominated by the ] and accounts were written using the ]. The controversial Umayyad governor ] forced all the mawali who had left for cities, in order to avoid paying the '']'' tax, to return to their lands. He was upset at the usage of ] as the court language in the eastern Islamic empire, and ordered that it be changed to Arabic.<ref>], by ], ], et al. Section on The Arab Conquest of Iran and. Vol 4, 1975. London. p.46</ref>


There are a number of historians who see the rule of the Umayyads as setting up the "]" to increase taxes from the '']s'' to benefit the Arab Muslim community financially and by discouraging conversion.<ref name="Astren">Fred Astren pg.33–35</ref> Islam, during the Umayyad Caliphate, was initially associated with the ethnic identity of the Arab and required formal association with an ] and the adoption of the client status of '']''.<ref name=" Astren"/> Governors lodged complaints with the caliph when he enacted laws that made conversion easier, depriving the provinces of revenues. Notable Zoroastrian converts to Islam included ], ] and ].
However after the reign of the ]s, Iran and its society in particular experienced reigning dynasties who legitimize Persian languages and customs.


] states that "The Iranians chafed under Umayyad rule. The Umayyads rose from traditional Arab aristocracy. They tended to marry other Arabs, creating an ethnic stratification that discriminated against Iranians. Even as Arabs adopted traditional Iranian bureaucracy, Arab tribalism disadvantaged Iranians."<ref>]. ''Eternal Iran''. Palgrave Macmillan. 2005. {{ISBN|1-4039-6276-6}}, p. 17.</ref>
===Islamicization policies===
{{See also|Islamization}}
There are a number of historians who see the rule of the Umayyads as setting up the "]" to increase taxes from the '']s'' to benefit the Arab Muslim community financially and by discouraging conversion.<ref name="Astren">Fred Astren pg.33-35</ref> Islam was initially associated with the ethnic identity of the Arab and required formal association with an Arab tribe and the adoption of the client status of '']''.<ref name="Astren"/> Governors lodged complaints with the caliph when he enacted laws that made conversion easier, depriving the provinces of revenues.


The Arab conquerors, according to many historians, formed "a ruling aristocracy with special rights and privileges, which they emphatically did not propose to share with the ''mawali''".<ref>Clement Daniel Dennett. ''Conversion and the Poll Tax in Early Islam''. Harvard University Press. Also reprinted under title "Islamic taxation: two studies" {{ISBN|0-405-05330-4}}, 1973. p. 38</ref> Some rulers, such as ] even went as far as viewing the Mawali as "barbarians", implementing harsh policies such as ] to keep the subjects in check.<ref>Wellhausen, J. ''The Arab Kingdom and its Fall''. 2000 New York: Routledge. Vol. 7 in a series/set {{ISBN|0-415-20904-8}} p.153</ref>
During the following ] period an enfranchisement was experienced by the ''mawali'' and a shift was made in political conception from that of a primarily Arab empire to one of a Muslim empire<ref name="Tobin">Tobin 113-115</ref> and c. 930 a requirement was enacted that required all bureaucrats of the empire be Muslim.<ref name="Astren"/> Both periods were also marked by significant migrations of Arab tribes outwards from the ] into the new territories.<ref name="Tobin"/>


The case of ] is particularly noteworthy as many reports have come down to us from his racial policies and iron tactics in governing the provinces. And yet many skeptics point to the fact that some of these reports were written by Abbasid era writers who may have had a skewed view of their predecessors.
]'s "conversion curve" and relatively minor rate of conversion of non-Arab subjects during the Arab centric ] period of 10%, in contrast with estimates for the more politically multicultural ] period which saw the Muslim population go from approx. 40% in the mid 9th century to close to 100% by the end of 11th century.<ref name="Tobin"/>


However, Hajjaj was not the only case of cruelty against the Mawali.<ref>]. ''Islamic Medicine'', 2002, p. 16, {{ISBN|81-87570-19-9}}</ref> The non-Iranian appointee of the Caliph in ] for example cut off the heads of any of the Mawali who failed to pay their taxes,<ref>'']'', by ], ], et al. Section on The Arab Conquest of Iran and its aftermath. Vol 4, 1975. London. p. 42</ref> and ] in his ''al-kāmil'' reports that ''Sa'id ibn al-'Ās'' killed all but one person in the port city of ''Tamisah'', during his incursion to ] in the year 651.
===] and Persianization policies===
The ] was partially responsible for the initial revival of Persian culture. The ] also held a strong pro-Iranian campaign against the Ummayads in order to get support from the Persian population. After their establishment as ]s, holidays such as ] for example were permitted after a long suppression by the Ummayad rulers. The Abbasids, in particular ], also actively promoted the Persian language. On the other hand, many of initial ] rulers of Iranian origin did not have an interest in the Persian language. Neither the ]s nor the ]s, who were of Persian stock, favoured the use of Persian instead of Arabic at their courts at ] and ], and even the last member of the Tahirid dynasty was noted for his fine Arabic style. The Tahirid dynasty, who were nominally subject to the Abbasid caliphs, had a very strict Islamist view which sometimes lead to anti-] policies. The ], who defeated the Saffarids, and called themselves descendants of Sassanid ] ], put a major effort in revival of Persian culture and language. The first important Persian poet after the arrival of Islam, ], was born during this era and was praised by Samanid kings. Their successor, the ], who were of non-Iranian Turkic origin, also became instrumental in the revival of Persian.


Such tumultuous conditions eventually were responsible for the rise of the ] movement, and the rise of Persian nationalist tendencies in the 9th century with the emergence of the ]s.
The ] ] rulers, adopted a similar attitude in this regard. They tried to revive many of the Sassanid customs and traditions. They even adopted the ancient Persian title of ''']''' (''King of Kings'') for their rulers.


====Islamization and Arabization====
After the rise of the ] dynasty, Shi'ism became the official ] and its adoption imposed upon the majority of the Iranian population.
During the ], an enfranchisement was experienced by the ''mawali'' and a shift was made in political conception from that of a primarily Arab empire to one of a Muslim empire,<ref name="Tobin">Tobin 113–115</ref> and around 930, a requirement was enacted that required all bureaucrats of the empire be Muslim.<ref name=" Astren"/> Both periods were also marked by significant migrations of Arab tribes outwards from the ] into the newly conquered territories.<ref name="Tobin"/>


Before the ], the ] were predominantly ]. The historian ], a ]-born ], who wrote a comprehensive treatise on history and geography in about 956, records that after the conquest: {{blockquote|text=Zoroastrianism, for the time being, continued to exist in many parts of Iran. Not only in countries that came relatively late under Muslim sway (e.g Tabaristan) but also in those regions which early had become provinces of the Muslim empire. In almost all the Iranian provinces, according to Al Masudi, fire temples were to be found – the Madjus he says, venerate many fire temples in ], ], ], ], ], ], al Djibal, ] and ].}} This general statement of al-Masudi is fully supported by the medieval geographers who make mention of fire temples in most of the Iranian towns.<ref>'' E.J. Brill's first encyclopedia of Islam 1913–1936'' By M. Th. Houtsma Page 100</ref>
Also, Islam was readily accepted by Zoroastrians who were employed in industrial and artisan positions because, according to Zoroastrian dogma, such occupations that involved defiling fire made them impure.<ref name="Arnold">The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir ], pg.170–180</ref> Moreover, ] did not encounter difficulty in explaining Islamic tenets to Zoroastrians, as there were many similarities between the two faiths. According to ], for the Persian, he would meet ] and ] under the names of ] and ].<ref name ="Arnold" /> At times, Muslim leaders, in their effort to win ], encouraged attendance at ] with promises of money and allowed the ] to be recited in ] instead of ] so that it would be intelligible to all.<ref name=" Arnold125">The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir ], pg.125–258</ref> Later, the ], whose roots stemmed from Zoroastrian theocratic nobility, propagated ] ] and Perso-Islamic culture deep into the heart of ]. The first complete translation of the Quran into the Persian language occurred during the reign of the Samanids in the 9th century.


The "conversion curve" by ] highlights a relatively low conversion rate of non-Arab subjects during the Arab-centric ], estimated at 10%. In contrast, during the more politically multicultural Abbasid period, the Muslim population increased significantly, from approximately 40% in the mid-9th century to nearly 80% by the end of the 11th century.<ref name="Tobin"/>
==Persian influence on the Islamic Culture==
] ] in ], a good showcase of the influence of ] in early Islamic period.]]


The emergence of Iranian Muslim dynasties had a great effect on the changing religion, per ].<ref>Nasr, Hoseyn; Islam and the plight of modern man</ref> These dynasties have adopted some Persian cultural values and adapted them with Islam.
Persians had a great influence on their conquerors. The caliphs adopted many Sassanid administrative practices, such as coinage, the office of ], or minister, and the ], a bureaucracy for collecting taxes and giving state stipends. Indeed, Persians themselves largely became the administrators. It is well established that the Abbasid caliphs modeled their administration on that of the ]s.<ref>Hamilton Gibb. ''Studies on the civilization of Islam''. Princeton University Press. 1982. ISBN 0-691-05354-5 p.66</ref> The caliphs adopted Sassanid court dress and ceremony. In terms of architecture Islamic architecture borrowed heavily from Persian architecture. The ] had a distinctive influence over ].


==== ''Shu'ubiyya'' and Persianization ====
], since the beginning had interest and sincere efforts in compiling the study of Arabic ], ], ], ], ], rules of ], ]. ] was not seen as an alien language but the language of Islam and thereby Arabic was widely accepted as an academic and religious language and embraced in many parts of Iran. It was for the sake of the Qur'an and Islam that books of ], ], ], ], ] and ] had been written or translated into this language.
{{See also|Anarchy at Samarra}}
Although Persians adopted the religion of their conquerors, over the centuries they worked to protect and revive their distinctive language and culture, a process known as ]. Arabs and ] participated in this attempt.<ref>Richard Frye, The Heritage of Persia, p. 243.</ref><ref>Rayhanat al- adab, (3rd ed.), vol. 1, p. 181.</ref><ref name="britannica">], ''"Seljuq"'', Online Edition, ()</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Jamshidian Tehrani|first=Jafar|title=Shu'ubiyya: Independence movements in Iran|year=2014|publisher=Jafar Jamshidian Tehrani | isbn=978-1500737306}}, p.47</ref>


In the 9th and 10th centuries, non-Arab subjects of the ] created a movement called ] in response to the privileged status of Arabs. Most of those behind the movement were Persian, but references to ] and ] are attested.<ref>Enderwitz, S. "Shu'ubiyya". ''Encyclopedia of Islam''. Vol. IX (1997), pp. 513–14.</ref> Citing as its basis Islamic notions of equality of races and nations, the movement was primarily concerned with preserving Persian culture and protecting Persian identity, though within a Muslim context. It was a response to the growing ] of ] in the earlier centuries. The most notable effect of the movement was the survival of ], the language of the Persians, to the present day.
Persians also contributed greatly to Arabic learning and ]. The influence of the ] is particularly worthy of note.


The ] also held a strong pro-Iranian campaign against the Umayyads in order to get support from the Persian population. After their establishment as ]s, holidays such as ] for example were permitted after a decades-long suppression by the Umayyad rulers{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}}. The Abbasids, in particular ], also actively promoted the Persian language. The ] who defeated the Saffarids, and called themselves descendants of Sassanid ] ].
The ] after Islam, unlike ], introduced a decent amount of Arabic vocabulary, which made New Persian a popular language with a famous ] which its predecessor had not been. The newly introduced Arabic words made New Persian more complete{{fact}} which fortified the ] as well as ] and poetry in the late middle ages. New Persian represented a new tradition formed by Muslim Persians well versed in Arabic, but with a love for their own spoken language. The New Persian language written in the Arabic alphabet with a some modifications was formed in the ninth century in eastern Iran and came to flourish in ], the capital of the Persian ] dynasty.


However, after the reign of the ]s and ]s, Iran and its society in particular experienced reigning dynasties who legitimized Persian languages and customs, while still encouraging Islam. Moreover, there was close interaction between Persian and Arab leaders, particularly during the wake of the ] who promoted revived Persian more than the ] and the ], while continuing to patronize ] to a significant degree.<ref name=":0">The History of Iran By Elton L. Daniel, pg. 74</ref>
Persian language, because of its strong support from Abassid rulers condoning the language became one of the universal ]ic language, next to Arabic.


The ] was the first fully native dynasty to rule Iran since the Muslim conquest and led the revival of Persian culture. The first important Persian poet after the arrival of Islam, ], was born during this era and was praised by Samanid kings. The Samanids also revived many ancient Persian festivals. Their successor, the ], who were of non-Iranian origin, also became instrumental in the revival of Persian.
] narrates in his ''Muqaddimah'' <ref>Translated by F. Rosenthal (III, pp. 311-15, 271-4 ; R.N. Frye (p.91)</ref>:


The ] ], adopted a similar attitude in this regard. They tried to revive many of the Sassanid customs and traditions. They even adopted the ancient Persian title of '']'' (King of Kings) for their rulers.
:''It is a remarkable fact that, with few exceptions, most Muslim scholars…in the intellectual sciences have been non-Arabs, thus the founders of grammar were ] and after him, ] and Az-]. All of them were of Persian descent they invented rules of (Arabic) grammar. Great jurists were Persians. Only the Persians engaged in the task of preserving knowledge and writing systematic scholarly works. Thus the truth of the statement of the prophet (]) becomes apparent, 'If learning were suspended in the highest parts of heaven the Persians would attain it"…The intellectual sciences were also the preserve of the Persians, left alone by the Arabs, who did not cultivate them…as was the case with all crafts…This situation continued in the cities as long as the Persians and Persian countries, Iraq, Khorasan and Transoxiana (modern Central Asia), retained their sedentary culture.''


After the rise of the ], ] became the official ] and its ] upon the majority of the Iranian population.
One ] caliph is even quoted as saying:


==Iranian influence on Islamic culture==
:''"The Persians ruled for a thousand years and did not need us Arabs even for a day. We have been ruling them for one or two centuries and cannot do without them for an hour."''<ref>Bertold Spuler. ''The Muslim World. Vol.I The Age of the Caliphs.'' Leiden. E.J. Brill. 1960 ISBN 0-685-23328-6 p.29</ref>
According to ]:
<blockquote>"] was indeed ], but it was not ]. ] remained Persians. And after an interval of silence, Iran re-emerged as a separate, different and distinctive element within ], eventually adding a new element even to Islam itself. Culturally, politically, and most remarkable of all even religiously, the Iranian contribution to this new ] is of immense importance. The work of Iranians can be seen in every field of cultural endeavor, including ], to which poets of Iranian origin composing their poems in ] made a very significant contribution. In a sense, Iranian Islam is a second advent of Islam itself, a new Islam sometimes referred to as ''Islam-i ]''. It was this Persian Islam, rather than the original Arab Islam, that was brought to new areas and new peoples: to the ], first in ] and then in the ] in the country which came to be called ], and of course to ]. The ] brought a form of Iranian civilization to the walls of ]."<ref name=" lewis" /></blockquote>


The Persians had a great influence on their Arab conquerors. The ] adopted many administrative practices of the ], such as coinage, the office of ], or minister, and the ], a bureaucracy for collecting taxes and giving state stipends. Indeed, Persians themselves largely became the administrators. It is well established that the Abbasid caliphs modeled their administration on that of the Sasanians.<ref>]. ''Studies on the civilization of Islam''. Princeton University Press. 1982. {{ISBN|0-691-05354-5}} p. 66</ref> The caliphs adopted Sasanian court dress and ceremony. In terms of architecture Islamic architecture borrowed heavily from Persian architecture. ] had a distinctive influence over ].
==Social relations==
] states that "The Iranians chafed under Umayyid rule. The Umayyids rose from traditional Arab aristocracy. They tended to marry other Arabs, creating an ethnic stratification that discriminated against Iranians. Even as Arabs adopted traditional Iranian bureacracy, Arab tribalism disadvantaged Iranians."<ref>]. ''Eternal Iran''. Palgrave Macmillan. 2005. ISBN 1-4039-6276-6, p. 17.</ref> Contemporary Islamist thinker ] writes:


Iranians, since the beginning had interest and sincere efforts in compiling the study of Arabic ], ], ], ], ], rules of ], and ]. ] was not seen as an alien language but the language of Islam and thereby Arabic was widely accepted as an academic and religious language and embraced in many parts of Iran. It was for the sake of the Quran and Islam that books of ], ], ], ], ], and ] had been written or translated into this language.
:"If we pay a little attention to the prejudice and discrimination practised by some of the caliphs with regard to their attitude towards their Arab and non-Arab subjects and to ]'s defence of the criteria of Islamic equality and impartiality concerning Arabs and non-Arabs, the truth of the matter will become completely clear."


Persians also contributed greatly to Arabic learning and ]. The influence of the ] is particularly worthy of note.
Despite the message of equality embedded in the new religion of Islam, the Arab conquerors, according to many historians, formed "a ruling aristocracy with special rights and privileges, which they emphatically did not propose to share with the ''mawali''".<ref>Clement Daniel Dennett. ''Conversion and the poll tax in early Islam''. Harvard University Press. Also reprinted under title "Islamic taxation: two studies" ISBN 0-405-05330-4, 1973. p.38</ref> Some rulers, such as ] even went as far as viewing the Mawali as "barbarians", implementing harsh policies such as ] to keep the subjects in check. <ref>Wellhausen, J. ''The Arab Kingdom and its fall''. 2000 New York: Routledge. Vol. 7 in a series/set ISBN 0-415-20904-8 p.153</ref>
] from 7th century ]. Cast chased and inlaid bronze. ].]]
The New Persian language written in the Arabic alphabet with some modifications was formed in the late ninth century in eastern Iran and came to flourish in ], the capital of the Persian ] dynasty.


Persian language, because of its strong support from later Abbasid rulers condoning the language became one of the universal ]ic languages, next to Arabic.
The case of ] is particularly noteworthy as many reports have come down to us from his racial policies and iron tactics in governing the provinces. And yet many skeptics point to the fact that some of these reports were written by Abbasid era writers who may have had a skewed view of their predecessors.


The most important scholars of almost all of the Islamic sects and schools of thought were Persian or live in Iran including most notable and reliable ] collectors of ] and ] like ], ], ], ] and ], the greatest ] of Shia and Sunni like ], ], ] and ], the greatest ], ], ], ], ], ] and ] like ], ], and ], the greatest ] like ], and ].
However Hajjaj was not the only case of "cruelty" <ref>]. ''Islamic Medicine'', 2002, p.16, ISBN 81-87570-19-9</ref> against the Mawali. The non-Iranian appointee of the Caliph in ] for example cut off the heads of any of the Mawali who failed to pay their taxes <ref>], by ], ], et al. Section on The Arab Conquest of Iran and its aftermath. Vol 4, 1975. London. p.42</ref>, and ] in his ''al-kāmil'' reports that ''Sa'id ibn al'Ās'' killed all but one person in the port city of ''Tamisah'', during his incursion to ] in the year 651CE.


In 1377, the ], ], narrates in his '']'':<ref>Translated by F. Rosenthal (III, pp. 311–15, 271–4 ; R.N. Frye (p.91)</ref>
Such tumultuous conditions eventually were responsible for the rise of the ] movement, and the rise of Persian nationalist tendencies in the 10th century with the emergence of the ]s.
<blockquote>"It is a remarkable fact that, with few exceptions, most Muslim scholars ... in the intellectual sciences have been non-Arabs, thus the founders of grammar were ] and after him, ] and Az-Zajjaj. All of them were of Persian descent they invented rules of (Arabic) grammar. Great jurists were Persians. Only the Persians engaged in the task of preserving knowledge and writing systematic scholarly works. Thus the truth of the statement of the prophet (]) becomes apparent, 'If learning were suspended in the highest parts of heaven the Persians would attain it "... The intellectual sciences were also the preserve of the Persians, left alone by the Arabs, who did not cultivate them...as was the case with all crafts. ... This situation continued in the cities as long as the Persians and Persian countries, Iraq, Khorasan, and Transoxiana (modern Central Asia), retained their sedentary culture."</blockquote>


One ] is even quoted as saying:
==References==

<references/>
<blockquote>"The ] ruled for a thousand years and did not need us ] even for a day. We have been ruling them for one or two centuries and cannot do without them for an hour."<ref>Bertold Spuler. ''The Muslim World. Vol. I The Age of the Caliphs''. Leiden. E.J. Brill. 1960 {{ISBN|0-685-23328-6}} p. 29</ref></blockquote>


==See also== ==See also==
{{columns-list|* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Foltz |author-link=Richard Foltz |title=Religions of Iran: From Prehistory to the Present |publisher=Oneworld publications |location=London |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-78074-308-0}}
* {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Hovannisian |title=The Persian Presence in the Islamic World |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1998}}
* {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Frye |author-link=Richard Frye |title=The Golden Age of Persia |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London |year=1975}}
* Mottahedeh, Roy P., "The Shu'ubiyah Controversy and the Social History of Early Islamic Iran". '']'', Vol. 7, No. 2 (Apr. 1976), pp.&nbsp;161–182.
* {{cite book
| last=Jamshidian Tehrani
| first=Jafar
| title=Shu'ubiyya: Independence movements in Iran|year=2014
| publisher=Jafar Jamshidian Tehrani
| isbn=978-1500737306
}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamization in Iran}}
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 20:24, 1 January 2025

Overview of Iran's shift towards Islam and Islamic culture
Part of a series on
Islamization
No mosque
IslamizationsLate Antiquity - Middle Ages - Modern

The Islamization of Iran began with the Muslim conquest of Iran, when the Rashidun Caliphate annexed the Sasanian Empire. It was a long process by which Islam, though initially rejected, eventually spread among the Persians and the other Iranian peoples. Although Arabization was a common element of the early Muslim conquests, it did not have as significant of an impact in Iran as it did elsewhere, as the Iranian populace persisted in maintaining many of their pre-Islamic traditions, such as their language and culture, albeit with adaptations to conform to the nascent religion. A distinctly Iranian Muslim identity emerged in this context and later sidelined the Arabs in what is known as the Iranian Intermezzo.

Iranian society was deeply transformed by the spread of Islam, which greatly influenced the nation's cultural, scientific, and political structure; the blossoming of Persian literature, philosophy, medicine, and art became major elements of Islam in Iran. Integrating a heritage of thousands of years of civilization and being at the "crossroads of the major cultural highways" in the Near East contributed to the Iranians emerging at the forefront of the Islamic Golden Age under the Abbasid Caliphate.

Between the 7th century and the 16th century, Sunni Islam was dominant among the Iranians, but this changed with the Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam, which marked another historic societal shift for the nation. Consequently, Shia Islam remains dominant in modern-day Iran, where it is the official religion, as well as in Iraq and Azerbaijan.

History

Muslim conquest of Iran

Impact on Arab–Persian relations

After the Muslim conquest of Iran, during the 90-year-long reign of the Umayyad dynasty, until the time of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, the divan was dominated by the mawali and accounts were written using the Pahlavi script. The controversial Umayyad governor Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf forced all the mawali who had left for cities, in order to avoid paying the kharaj tax, to return to their lands. He was upset at the usage of Persian as the court language in the eastern Islamic empire, and ordered that it be changed to Arabic.

There are a number of historians who see the rule of the Umayyads as setting up the "dhimmah" to increase taxes from the dhimmis to benefit the Arab Muslim community financially and by discouraging conversion. Islam, during the Umayyad Caliphate, was initially associated with the ethnic identity of the Arab and required formal association with an Arab tribe and the adoption of the client status of mawali. Governors lodged complaints with the caliph when he enacted laws that made conversion easier, depriving the provinces of revenues. Notable Zoroastrian converts to Islam included Abd-Allāh Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ, Fadl ibn Sahl and Naubakht Ahvazi.

Patrick Clawson states that "The Iranians chafed under Umayyad rule. The Umayyads rose from traditional Arab aristocracy. They tended to marry other Arabs, creating an ethnic stratification that discriminated against Iranians. Even as Arabs adopted traditional Iranian bureaucracy, Arab tribalism disadvantaged Iranians."

The Arab conquerors, according to many historians, formed "a ruling aristocracy with special rights and privileges, which they emphatically did not propose to share with the mawali". Some rulers, such as Hajjaj ibn Yusuf even went as far as viewing the Mawali as "barbarians", implementing harsh policies such as branding to keep the subjects in check.

The case of Hajjaj is particularly noteworthy as many reports have come down to us from his racial policies and iron tactics in governing the provinces. And yet many skeptics point to the fact that some of these reports were written by Abbasid era writers who may have had a skewed view of their predecessors.

However, Hajjaj was not the only case of cruelty against the Mawali. The non-Iranian appointee of the Caliph in Isfahan for example cut off the heads of any of the Mawali who failed to pay their taxes, and Ibn Athir in his al-kāmil reports that Sa'id ibn al-'Ās killed all but one person in the port city of Tamisah, during his incursion to Gorgan in the year 651.

Such tumultuous conditions eventually were responsible for the rise of the Shuubiyah movement, and the rise of Persian nationalist tendencies in the 9th century with the emergence of the Samanids.

Islamization and Arabization

During the Abbasid period, an enfranchisement was experienced by the mawali and a shift was made in political conception from that of a primarily Arab empire to one of a Muslim empire, and around 930, a requirement was enacted that required all bureaucrats of the empire be Muslim. Both periods were also marked by significant migrations of Arab tribes outwards from the Arabian Peninsula into the newly conquered territories.

Before the Muslim conquest of Iran, the Persian people were predominantly Zoroastrian. The historian al-Masudi, a Baghdad-born Arab, who wrote a comprehensive treatise on history and geography in about 956, records that after the conquest:

Zoroastrianism, for the time being, continued to exist in many parts of Iran. Not only in countries that came relatively late under Muslim sway (e.g Tabaristan) but also in those regions which early had become provinces of the Muslim empire. In almost all the Iranian provinces, according to Al Masudi, fire temples were to be found – the Madjus he says, venerate many fire temples in Iraq, Fars, Kirman, Sistan, Khurasan, Tabaristan, al Djibal, Azerbaijan and Arran.

This general statement of al-Masudi is fully supported by the medieval geographers who make mention of fire temples in most of the Iranian towns.

Also, Islam was readily accepted by Zoroastrians who were employed in industrial and artisan positions because, according to Zoroastrian dogma, such occupations that involved defiling fire made them impure. Moreover, Muslim missionaries did not encounter difficulty in explaining Islamic tenets to Zoroastrians, as there were many similarities between the two faiths. According to Thomas Walker Arnold, for the Persian, he would meet Ahura Mazda and Ahriman under the names of Allah and Iblis. At times, Muslim leaders, in their effort to win converts, encouraged attendance at Muslim prayer with promises of money and allowed the Quran to be recited in Persian instead of Arabic so that it would be intelligible to all. Later, the Samanids, whose roots stemmed from Zoroastrian theocratic nobility, propagated Sunni Islam and Perso-Islamic culture deep into the heart of Central Asia. The first complete translation of the Quran into the Persian language occurred during the reign of the Samanids in the 9th century.

The "conversion curve" by Richard Bulliet highlights a relatively low conversion rate of non-Arab subjects during the Arab-centric Umayyad period, estimated at 10%. In contrast, during the more politically multicultural Abbasid period, the Muslim population increased significantly, from approximately 40% in the mid-9th century to nearly 80% by the end of the 11th century.

The emergence of Iranian Muslim dynasties had a great effect on the changing religion, per Seyyed Hossein Nasr. These dynasties have adopted some Persian cultural values and adapted them with Islam.

Shu'ubiyya and Persianization

See also: Anarchy at Samarra

Although Persians adopted the religion of their conquerors, over the centuries they worked to protect and revive their distinctive language and culture, a process known as Persianization. Arabs and Turks participated in this attempt.

In the 9th and 10th centuries, non-Arab subjects of the Ummah created a movement called Shu'ubiyyah in response to the privileged status of Arabs. Most of those behind the movement were Persian, but references to Egyptians and Berbers are attested. Citing as its basis Islamic notions of equality of races and nations, the movement was primarily concerned with preserving Persian culture and protecting Persian identity, though within a Muslim context. It was a response to the growing Arabization of Islam in the earlier centuries. The most notable effect of the movement was the survival of Persian language, the language of the Persians, to the present day.

The Abbasids also held a strong pro-Iranian campaign against the Umayyads in order to get support from the Persian population. After their establishment as Caliphs, holidays such as Nowruz for example were permitted after a decades-long suppression by the Umayyad rulers. The Abbasids, in particular al-Mamun, also actively promoted the Persian language. The Samanid dynasty who defeated the Saffarids, and called themselves descendants of Sassanid Eran spahbod Bahram Chobin.

However, after the reign of the Umayyads and Abbasids, Iran and its society in particular experienced reigning dynasties who legitimized Persian languages and customs, while still encouraging Islam. Moreover, there was close interaction between Persian and Arab leaders, particularly during the wake of the Samanids who promoted revived Persian more than the Buyids and the Saffarids, while continuing to patronize Arabic to a significant degree.

The Samanid dynasty was the first fully native dynasty to rule Iran since the Muslim conquest and led the revival of Persian culture. The first important Persian poet after the arrival of Islam, Rudaki, was born during this era and was praised by Samanid kings. The Samanids also revived many ancient Persian festivals. Their successor, the Ghaznawids, who were of non-Iranian origin, also became instrumental in the revival of Persian.

The Shi'a Buyid rulers, adopted a similar attitude in this regard. They tried to revive many of the Sassanid customs and traditions. They even adopted the ancient Persian title of Shahanshah (King of Kings) for their rulers.

After the rise of the Safavid dynasty, Twelver Shia Islam became the official state religion and its adoption imposed upon the majority of the Iranian population.

Iranian influence on Islamic culture

According to Bernard Lewis:

"Iran was indeed Islamized, but it was not Arabized. Persians remained Persians. And after an interval of silence, Iran re-emerged as a separate, different and distinctive element within Islam, eventually adding a new element even to Islam itself. Culturally, politically, and most remarkable of all even religiously, the Iranian contribution to this new Islamic civilization is of immense importance. The work of Iranians can be seen in every field of cultural endeavor, including Arabic poetry, to which poets of Iranian origin composing their poems in Arabic made a very significant contribution. In a sense, Iranian Islam is a second advent of Islam itself, a new Islam sometimes referred to as Islam-i Ajam. It was this Persian Islam, rather than the original Arab Islam, that was brought to new areas and new peoples: to the Turks, first in Central Asia and then in the Middle East in the country which came to be called Turkey, and of course to India. The Ottoman Turks brought a form of Iranian civilization to the walls of Vienna."

The Persians had a great influence on their Arab conquerors. The caliphs adopted many administrative practices of the Sasanian Empire, such as coinage, the office of vizier, or minister, and the divan, a bureaucracy for collecting taxes and giving state stipends. Indeed, Persians themselves largely became the administrators. It is well established that the Abbasid caliphs modeled their administration on that of the Sasanians. The caliphs adopted Sasanian court dress and ceremony. In terms of architecture Islamic architecture borrowed heavily from Persian architecture. Sasanian architecture had a distinctive influence over Islamic architecture.

Iranians, since the beginning had interest and sincere efforts in compiling the study of Arabic etymology, grammar, syntax, morphology, figures of speech, rules of eloquence, and rhetoric. Arabic was not seen as an alien language but the language of Islam and thereby Arabic was widely accepted as an academic and religious language and embraced in many parts of Iran. It was for the sake of the Quran and Islam that books of philosophy, mysticism, history, medicine, mathematics, and law had been written or translated into this language.

Persians also contributed greatly to Arabic learning and literature. The influence of the Academy of Gundishapur is particularly worthy of note.

Early Islamic era Iranian art: Ewer from 7th century Persia. Cast chased and inlaid bronze. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The New Persian language written in the Arabic alphabet with some modifications was formed in the late ninth century in eastern Iran and came to flourish in Bukhara, the capital of the Persian Samanid dynasty.

Persian language, because of its strong support from later Abbasid rulers condoning the language became one of the universal Islamic languages, next to Arabic.

The most important scholars of almost all of the Islamic sects and schools of thought were Persian or live in Iran including most notable and reliable Hadith collectors of Shia and Sunni like Shaikh Saduq, Shaikh Kulainy, Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim and Hakim al-Nishaburi, the greatest theologians of Shia and Sunni like Shaykh Tusi, Imam Ghazali, Imam Fakhr al-Razi and Al-Zamakhshari, the greatest physicians, astronomers, logicians, mathematicians, metaphysicians, philosophers and scientists like Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī, the greatest Shaykh of Sufism like Rumi, and Abdul-Qadir Gilani.

In 1377, the Arab sociologist, Ibn Khaldun, narrates in his Muqaddimah:

"It is a remarkable fact that, with few exceptions, most Muslim scholars ... in the intellectual sciences have been non-Arabs, thus the founders of grammar were Sibawaih and after him, al-Farsi and Az-Zajjaj. All of them were of Persian descent they invented rules of (Arabic) grammar. Great jurists were Persians. Only the Persians engaged in the task of preserving knowledge and writing systematic scholarly works. Thus the truth of the statement of the prophet (Muhammad) becomes apparent, 'If learning were suspended in the highest parts of heaven the Persians would attain it "... The intellectual sciences were also the preserve of the Persians, left alone by the Arabs, who did not cultivate them...as was the case with all crafts. ... This situation continued in the cities as long as the Persians and Persian countries, Iraq, Khorasan, and Transoxiana (modern Central Asia), retained their sedentary culture."

One Abbasid Caliph is even quoted as saying:

"The Persians ruled for a thousand years and did not need us Arabs even for a day. We have been ruling them for one or two centuries and cannot do without them for an hour."

See also

References

  1. ^ Iran in History Archived 2007-04-29 at the Wayback Machine by Bernard Lewis.
  2. Caheb C., Cambridge History of Iran, Tribes, Cities and Social Organization, vol. 4, p305–328
  3. Cambridge History of Iran, by Richard Nelson Frye, Abdolhosein Zarrinkoub, et al. Section on The Arab Conquest of Iran and. Vol 4, 1975. London. p.46
  4. ^ Fred Astren pg.33–35
  5. Patrick Clawson. Eternal Iran. Palgrave Macmillan. 2005. ISBN 1-4039-6276-6, p. 17.
  6. Clement Daniel Dennett. Conversion and the Poll Tax in Early Islam. Harvard University Press. Also reprinted under title "Islamic taxation: two studies" ISBN 0-405-05330-4, 1973. p. 38
  7. Wellhausen, J. The Arab Kingdom and its Fall. 2000 New York: Routledge. Vol. 7 in a series/set ISBN 0-415-20904-8 p.153
  8. Browne, Edward. Islamic Medicine, 2002, p. 16, ISBN 81-87570-19-9
  9. Cambridge History of Iran, by Richard Nelson Frye, Abdolhosein Zarrinkoub, et al. Section on The Arab Conquest of Iran and its aftermath. Vol 4, 1975. London. p. 42
  10. ^ Tobin 113–115
  11. E.J. Brill's first encyclopedia of Islam 1913–1936 By M. Th. Houtsma Page 100
  12. ^ The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir Thomas Walker Arnold, pg.170–180
  13. The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir Thomas Walker Arnold, pg.125–258
  14. Nasr, Hoseyn; Islam and the plight of modern man
  15. Richard Frye, The Heritage of Persia, p. 243.
  16. Rayhanat al- adab, (3rd ed.), vol. 1, p. 181.
  17. Encyclopædia Britannica, "Seljuq", Online Edition, (LINK)
  18. Jamshidian Tehrani, Jafar (2014). Shu'ubiyya: Independence movements in Iran. Jafar Jamshidian Tehrani. ISBN 978-1500737306., p.47
  19. Enderwitz, S. "Shu'ubiyya". Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. IX (1997), pp. 513–14.
  20. The History of Iran By Elton L. Daniel, pg. 74
  21. Hamilton Gibb. Studies on the civilization of Islam. Princeton University Press. 1982. ISBN 0-691-05354-5 p. 66
  22. Translated by F. Rosenthal (III, pp. 311–15, 271–4 ; R.N. Frye (p.91)
  23. Bertold Spuler. The Muslim World. Vol. I The Age of the Caliphs. Leiden. E.J. Brill. 1960 ISBN 0-685-23328-6 p. 29

Further reading

  • Foltz, Richard (2013). Religions of Iran: From Prehistory to the Present. London: Oneworld publications. ISBN 978-1-78074-308-0.
  • Hovannisian, Richard (1998). The Persian Presence in the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Frye, Richard (1975). The Golden Age of Persia. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
  • Mottahedeh, Roy P., "The Shu'ubiyah Controversy and the Social History of Early Islamic Iran". International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Apr. 1976), pp. 161–182.
  • Jamshidian Tehrani, Jafar (2014). Shu'ubiyya: Independence movements in Iran. Jafar Jamshidian Tehrani. ISBN 978-1500737306.
Categories: