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| There are several major '''religious minorities in ]''', while the majority and ] is ] ]. | |||
| ==Religious minority groups== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] (Ahl-e Haqq) | |||
| *] | |||
| * Local religions practiced by ] | |||
| *] | |||
| The following table is from ], ] census data.<ref>Annuaire démographique des Nations-Unies 1983, Département des affaires économiques et sociales internationales, New York, 1985</ref> Bahá'ís, who number more than 300,000, and are Iran's largest religious minority are not included because they are not recognized by the state.<ref name="affolter">{{cite journal | last = Affolter | first = Friedrich W. | year = 2005 | month = Jan. | title = The Specter of Ideological Genocide: The Bahá'ís of Iran | journal = War Crimes, Genocide, & Crimes against Humanity | volume = 1 | issue = 1 | pages = pp. 75-114 | url =http://www.aa.psu.edu/journals/war-crimes/v1n1a3.pdf| accessdate = 2006-05-31}}</ref> | |||
| {|class="wikitable" | |||
| |- align="center" | |||
| | Religion | |||
| | Men | |||
| | Women | |||
| | Total | |||
| |- align="center" | |||
| | Christians | |||
| | 86,532 | |||
| | 82,061 | |||
| | 168,593 | |||
| |- align="center" | |||
| | Jews | |||
| | 31,833 | |||
| | 30,425 | |||
| | 62,258 | |||
| |- align="center" | |||
| | Zoroastrians | |||
| | 10,845 | |||
| | 10,555 | |||
| | 21,400 | |||
| |- align="center" | |||
| | Muslims | |||
| | 17,196,024 | |||
| | 16,200,884 | |||
| | 33,396,908 | |||
| |- align="center" | |||
| | Unknown | |||
| | 31,113 | |||
| | 28,472 | |||
| | 59,585 | |||
| |- align="center" | |||
| | Total | |||
| | 17,356,347 | |||
| | 16,352,397 | |||
| | 33,708,744 | |||
| |- | |||
| |} | |||
| ==Contemporary status== | |||
| The constitution of the ] of Iran recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism as official religions. No other religious practice is legally accepted in Iran. Conversion from Islam to any other religion is considered ] and can under the current government result in harassment and ]. Apostasy still retains a ] but in recent years this has not been used. ''Also see ]''. | |||
| <center> | |||
| <gallery> | |||
| Image:House-bab.jpg|], Iran's largest religious minority, are not recognized and are ]. Here the house of the ] in Shiraz, Iran, a ] location, was destroyed by Iranian authorities. | |||
| image:Bandarabbas-hindu.jpg|The ] Temple in ], built during the ] era for Indian soldiers serving in the British Army during the British occupation. It is no longer used as a place of worship. | |||
| Image:Baptistère kelisa-e-vank esfahan.jpg|The Armenian orthodox '''Vank cathedral''' of Isfahan is a relic of the ] era. | |||
| Image:Jews of Iran film.jpg|] are free to practice their faith in especially designated Jewish schools. Scene from ]'s documentary film "Jews of Iran". | |||
| Image:Detail st michel qara kelisa iran.jpg|View of relief of St. Michel at ] in ] province. | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| </center> | |||
| During the previous regime of Shah ], only the above mentioned religions were considered officially accepted religions in Iran and adherence to any one of those religions was a requirement for any government or state position (at least in the application form). There are two minority schools apart from the main Usuli school of Shi`a Islam: the ] and the ]. The latter have been persecuted since the Islamic Revolution. | |||
| ] (about 9% of the population - mainly among the ] of the south-west, the ] of the south-east, and the ] in the north-east) and ] groups can also - depending on the definition of the term - be seen as religious minorities. Some argue, however, that these are valid expressions of the Iranian state religion Islam. Legally Sunni Muslims are accepted as fellow Muslims, while Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are recognised as '']'' and have certain legal rights insofar as members of these religions are born and brought up within their religion. | |||
| Many ] sects are active within Iran. Examples are the ] (the largest Shi'i Sufi order active throughout Iran) and the ] (a Sunni order active mostly in the ] and ] regions of Iran). Some regard the ] (Ahl-e Haq) as a Sufi order but they are better considered as a separate religious minority. Sufism has long been quite prevalent among Iranians and it is often impossible to draw a line between Islam and Sufism. Sufism by definition does not adhere to traditional religious structures and the variation between a Sufi and a strict Muslim can range from very minute to quite substantial. Though Sufis are considered Muslims in principle by the government, divergent practices, teaching and secretive organisation have for several of these orders led to governmental distrust and harassment. | |||
| ] | |||
| The ] has been common throughout Iranian history. In the 1950s, under the regime of the Shah ], Bahá'ís and their holy places were attacked with tacit state approval. Since the Iranian revolution, more than 200 Bahá'ís have been executed or killed, hundreds more have been imprisoned, and tens of thousands have been deprived of jobs, pensions, businesses, and educational opportunities. All national Bahá'í administrative structures have been banned by the government, and holy places, shrines and cemeteries have been confiscated, vandalized, or destroyed. The Islamic government of Iran even destroys their graves . | |||
| Even more recently the situation of Bahá'ís has worsened and the United Nations Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has stated on ], ], after revealing a confidential letter from Command Headquarters of the Armed Forced to identify Bahá'ís and to monitor their activities, that "The Special Rapporteur is concerned that this latest development indicates that the situation with regard to religious minorities in Iran is, in fact, deteriorating." | |||
| For adherents of not-recognized religions or converts from an Islamic background who are considered ]s, enrollment in University programs or work in government agencies or judiciary is not permitted and can only be achieved by wrongly identifying oneself. As ] may not deny their Faith, this is not acceptable to them; and they are therefore totally prevented from such participation. | |||
| Due to these restrictions on dissident religious faiths and practices, and due to the persecution of some minorities, the Iranian government has, like the government of the Shah, been severely criticized on multiple occasions by international human rights organizations, foreign governments and the ]. | |||
| == Reserved seats == | |||
| After the ], the Constitution of 1906 provided for reserved ] seats granted to the recognized religious minorities, a provision maintained after the 1979 ]. There are 2 seats for ] and one for each other minority: ], ] and ]. Members of the ], Iran's largest religious minority, are not recognized and do not have seats in the parliament, nor do the Sunni Muslims. | |||
| list of minority MPs in the last three Majlis: | |||
| <TABLE BORDER class="wikitable" CELLPADDING="2"> | |||
| <TR> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| </TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Armenians</TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Assyrian</TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Jewish</TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Zoroastrian</TD> | |||
| </TR> | |||
| <TR> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| 1996</TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| ?</TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Shamshoon Maqsudpour </TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Manouchehr Elyasi </TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Parviz Rezvani </TD> | |||
| </TR> | |||
| <TR> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| 2000</TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Georgik Abrahamiam, ? </TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Younatan Botkilia </TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| ] </TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Khosro Dabestani</TD> | |||
| </TR> | |||
| <TR> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| ]</TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Leon Davidian, Robert Belgarian </TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Younatan Botkilia </TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| ] </TD> | |||
| <TD><P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| Kurosh Niknam</TD> | |||
| </TR> | |||
| </TABLE> | |||
| <P ALIGN=Center> | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| <references /> | |||
| == See also == | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| * ''Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Monitor,'' Volume 4, Issue 13, June 29, 2006. | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 07:16, 5 October 2017
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