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The overwhelming majority of Iranians - at least 90 percent of the total population - are Muslims who adhere to Shia Islam. In contrast, the majority of Muslims throughout the world follow Sunni Islam. Of the several Shia sects, the Twelve Imam or Twelver (ithna- ashari), is dominant in Iran; most Shias in Bahrain, Iraq, and Lebanon also follow this sect. All the Shia sects originated among early Muslim dissenters in the first three centuries following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in A.D. 632 (see Islamic Conquest).
The principal belief of Twelvers, but not of other Shias, is that the spiritual and temporal leadership of the Muslim community passed from Muhammad to Ali and then sequentially to eleven of Ali's direct male descendants, a tenet rejected by Sunnis. Over the centuries various other theological differences have developed between Twelver Shias and Sunnis.
Library of Congress Country Studies
Islamic Conquest of Iran
The beduin Arabs who toppled the Sassanid Empire were propelled not only by a desire for
conquest but also by a new religion, Islam. The Prophet Muhammad, a member of the Hashimite clan
of the powerful tribe of Quraysh, proclaimed his prophetic mission in Arabia in 612 and
eventually won over the city of his birth, Mecca, to the new faith. Within one year of
Muhammad's death in 632, Arabia itself was secure enough to allow his secular successor, Abu
Bakr, the first caliph, to begin the campaign against the Byzantine and Sassanid empires.
Shia Islam in Iran
Although Shias have lived in Iran since the earliest days of Islam, and there was one Shia
dynasty in part of Iran during the tenth and eleventh centuries, it is believed that most
Iranians were Sunnis until the seventeenth century. The Safavid dynasty made Shia Islam the
official state religion in the sixteenth century and aggressively proselytized on its behalf. It
is also believed that by the mid-seventeenth century most people in what is now Iran had become
Shias, an affiliation that has continued.
Sunni Islam in Iran
Sunni Muslims constitute approximately 8 percent of the Iranian population. A majority of Kurds,
virtually all Baluchis and Turkomans, and a minority of Arabs are Sunnis, as are small
communities of Persians in southern Iran and Khorasan.
Bahai
The largest non-Muslim minority in Iran is the Bahais. There were an estimated 350,000 Bahais in
Iran in 1986. The Bahais are scattered in small communities throughout Iran with a heavy
concentration in Tehran. Most Bahais are urban, but there are some Bahai villages, especially in
Fars and Mazandaran. The majority of Bahais are Persians, but there is a significant minority of
Azarbaijani Bahais, and there are even a few among the Kurds.
Christianity in Iran
Iran's indigenous Christians include an estimated 250,000 Armenians, some 32,000 Assyrians, and
a small number of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant Iranians converted by missionaries in
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Armenians are predominantly urban and are
concentrated in Tehran and Esfahan; smaller communities exist in Tabriz, Arak, and other cities.
Judaism in Iran
The Constitution of 1979 recognized Jews as an official religious minority and accorded them the
right to elect a representative to the Majlis. Like the Christians, the Jews have not been
persecuted. Unlike the Christians, the Jews have been viewed with suspicion by the government,
probably because of the government's intense hostility toward Israel.
Zoroastrianism in Iran
Like the Christians and Jews, the Zoroastrians are recognized as an official religious minority
under the Constitution of 1979. They are permitted to elect one representative to the Majlis
and, like the other legally accepted minorities, may seek employment in the government. They
generally enjoy the same civil liberties as Muslims. Although Zoroastrians probably have
encountered individual instances of prejudice, they have not been persecuted because of their
religious beliefs.
Iranian Revolution:
Overview
In May 1979 Khomeini authorized the establishment of the Pasdaran (Pasdaran-e Enghelab-e Islami,
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or Revolutionary Guards). The Pasdaran was conceived by the
men around Khomeini as a military force loyal to the Revolution and the clerical leaders, as a
counterbalance for the regular army, and as a force to use against the guerrilla organizations
of the left, which were also arming. Disturbances among the ethnic minorities accelerated the
expansion of the Pasdaran.
Constitution
Khomeini regime unveiled a draft constitution on June 18. Aside from substituting a strong
president, on the Gaullist model, for the monarchy, the constitution did not differ markedly
from the 1906 constitution and did not give the clerics an important role in the new state structure.
Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution
As the government eliminated the political opposition and successfully prosecuted the war with
Iraq, it also took further steps to consolidate and to institutionalize the achievements of the
Revolution. The government took several measures to regularize the status of revolutionary
organizations. It reorganized the Pasdaran and the Crusade for Reconstruction as ministries (the
former in November 1982 and the latter in November 1983), a move designed to bring these bodies
under the aegis of the cabinet, and placed the revolutionary committees under the supervision of
the minister of interior.
Bani Sadr Presidency
Bani Sadr's program as president was to reestablish central authority, gradually to phase out
the Pasdaran and the revolutionary courts and committees and to absorb them into other
government organizations, to reduce the influence of the clerical hierarchy, and to launch a
program for economic reform and development. Against the wishes of the IRP, Khomeini allowed
Bani Sadr to be sworn in as president in January 1980, before the convening of the Majlis.
Reign of Terror
Following the fall of Bani Sadr, opposition elements attempted to reorganize and to overthrow
the government by force. The government responded with a policy of repression and terror. The
government also took steps to impose its version of an Islamic legal system and an Islamic code
of social and moral behavior.
Theocracy in Iran
By the time Khomeini issued his judicial decree, the armed opposition had been suppressed.
Although isolated acts of terrorism continued to take place after December 1982, the political
elite no longer perceived such incidents as threatening to the regime. Both religious and lay
leaders remained generally intolerant of dissent, but a gradual decline was noted in government
abuses of civil liberties in line with the provisions of the eight-point decree.
Opposition
The Khomeini regime faced severe challenges from several opposition groups, including royalists,
National Front bureaucrats, intellectuals and professionals, communists, guerrilla
organizations, Kurdish rebels, and distinguished mujtahids (Shia clerics whose
demonstrated erudition in religious law has earned them the privilege to interpret law).
