Religious minorities in Iran

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There are several major religious minorities in Iran, while the majority and state religion is Shi'a Islam.[1] About 88% of all Iranians are Shi'is (this applies to all peoples of the country). About 8% are Sunni Muslims, 2% Baha'is, and more than 1% are Christians.[2] Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians are considered as People of the Book, and little oppression is reported.[2] The Bahá'í Faith is outlawed and sometimes systematically discriminated and persecuted against,[1][3] but often tolerated.[4]

Contents

[edit] Religious minority groups

[edit] Islamic

Sunni Muslims (about 9% of the population - mainly among the Kurds of the north-west, the Balochis of the south-east, and the Turkmens in the north-east) are the largest religious minority in Iran.[5] While no official statistics are available for Sufi groups, there are reports that estimate their population between two and five million.[5] Some Sufi sects in Iran include the Nimatullahi (the largest Shi'i Sufi order active throughout Iran) and the Naqshbandi (a Sunni order active mostly in the Kurdish and Azeri regions of Iran).

[edit] Non-Islamic

In addition to the Islamic minorities in Iran, there exists multiple other religious minorities. They include the Bahá'í Faith (estimated 300,000-350,000), Christianity (estimated 300,000), Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeanism, Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq), as well as local religions practiced by tribal minorities.[5][6] There are also people who describe themselves as Atheistic or Agnostic.

[edit] Historical status

During the previous regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism were considered officially accepted religions in Iran,[7] and adherence to any one of those religions was a requirement for any government or state position (at least in the application form).

[edit] Contemporary status

The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism as official religions.[1] Conversion from Islam to any other religion is considered apostasy and could result in criminal sanction. Legally, apostasy still retains a death sentence, but in recent years this law has not been used or enforced. [1]

Sunni Muslims are accepted as fellow Muslims. In Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are recognized as People of the Book and they are granted the right to exercise religious freedom in Iran.[1][8] Sufis are considered Muslims by the Iranian Constitution, and granted the same rights as the other Muslims. However, the US State Department claims that there has been growing government restriction on Sufis' practice.[5] Members of the Bahá'í Faith, Iran's largest non-Islamic religious minority, are not recognized by the Iranian Constitution as an official religious minority and are seen as heretics by the Shia clergy, and as a result, have sometimes faced systematic persecution,[1][9] but are often tolerated.[10]

[edit] Reserved seats

After the Persian Constitutional Revolution, the Constitution of 1906 provided for reserved Parliamentary seats granted to the recognized religious minorities, a provision maintained after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. There are 2 seats for Armenians and one for each other minority: Assyrians, Jews and Zoroastrians.[1] Given that the Bahá'í Faith is not recognized, they do not have seats in the parliament.[11] Sunni Muslims have no specific reserved seats, but can take part in the ordinary election process at all constitutional levels.[5] There are dozens of Sunni members of parliament, mostly from areas with strong Sunni ethnic minorities like Kurdistan and Baluchistan.[5]

List of minority MPs in the last three Majlis:

Armenians

Assyrian

Jewish

Zoroastrian

1996

Vartan Vartanian, Artavaz Baghumian

Shamshoon Maqsudpour Sir

Manouchehr Elyasi

Parviz Ziafat

2000

Leon Davidian, Georgik Abrahamian

Younatan Betkolia Googtapeh

Maurice Motamed

Khosro Dabestani

2004

Gevork Vartan, Robert Beglarian

Younatan Betkolia Googtapeh

Maurice Motamed

Kourosh Niknam

[edit] Foreign criticisms

Due to the restrictions or persecution of some religious minorities such as the Bahá'ís, 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 United Nations.[12][13][14]

[edit] Persecution of religious minorities

The persecution of Bahá'ís has been common throughout Iranian history. In the 1950s, under the regime of the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, Bahá'ís and their holy places were attacked with tacit state approval.[11][15] 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 [2].[11][9]

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 March 20, 2006, 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." [16][17]

Similarly Christian minorities, particularly those formed largely from converts describe continuing harassment and occasionally persecution.[5] Several members and church workers, most prominently Reverend Hussein Soodmand of Mashad and Rev Mehdi Dibaj were formally convicted of apostasy. Reverend Soodmand was executed by hanging. Many more ministers and leaders have been murdered under unclear circumstances (Bishop Haik Hovsepian, Rev Mehdi Dibaj, Rev Ghorban Tourani et al) (see also Christians in Iran)

Bahá'ís, or Christian converts from an Islamic background are considered heretics, enrollment in public university programs or work in government agencies or judiciary is not permitted, but can be achieved by wrongly identifying oneself or not declaring one's religion.[11][18] As practicing Bahá'ís do not generally lie about their faith as a matter of religious principle, some sources state that many Bahá'ís are therefore generally prevented from such participation.[19] Some Bahá'í sources claim that since the early 1990s the government, through an "government circular" allegedly issued by the Supreme Revolutionary Council and signed by Khamenei, has allegedly organized methods to debilitate the Bahá'í community and block its development using more silent methods, while avoiding the most excessive types of persecutions.[9].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Federation Internationale des Ligues des Droits de L'Homme (2003-08). Discrimination against religious minorities in IRAN. fidh.org. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
  2. ^ a b Kjeilen, Tore. Iran: Religions & Peoples. Looklex Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
  3. ^ Afshari, Reza. Human Rights in Iran: The Abuse of Cultural Relativism. University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 122. ISBN 081223605X. 
  4. ^ Daragahi, Borzou. "IRAN: Bahais rounded up", Los Angeles times, 2008-05-15. Retrieved on 2008-05-19. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f g US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (2007). International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Iran. US State Department. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
  6. ^ Halm, H. "AHL-E ḤAQQ". Iranica. Iranica. 
  7. ^ Afary, Janet (2005). "Civil Liberties and the Making of Iran's Constitution, Retrospectives on the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1905-1909". Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 25 (2): pp. 341-359. Duke University Press. 
  8. ^ Sanasarian, Eliz (2000). Religious Minorities in Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 73-84. ISBN 0521770734. 
  9. ^ a b c Affolter, Friedrich W. (2005). "The Specter of Ideological Genocide: The Bahá'ís of Iran". War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity 1 (1): 59– 89. 
  10. ^ Daragahi, Borzou. "IRAN: Bahais rounded up", Los Angeles times, 2008-05-15. Retrieved on 2008-05-19. 
  11. ^ a b c d Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (2007). A Faith Denied: The Persecution of the Baha'is of Iran. Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
  12. ^ Ghanea-Hercock, Nazila (2003). Human Rights, the UN and the Bahá'ís in Iran. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 9041119531. 
  13. ^ Amnesty International USA (1993-11-23). Iran: Serious Violations Continue amid Political and Religious Repression. AI Index: MDE 13/11/93. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.
  14. ^ (2004-09-13) EU Annual Report on Human Rights. Belgium: European Communities. Retrieved on 2006-10-20. 
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ Esfandiari, Golnaz (2006-03-30). Iran: UN, U.S. Concerned Over Situation Of Baha'is. globalsecurity.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.
  17. ^ Jahangir, Asma (2006-03-20). Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion of Belief concerned about treatment of followers of Bahá'í Faith in Iran. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.
  18. ^ Discriminatory law and practices, in Iran, Amnesty International report, 2005.
  19. ^ You must specify title = and url = when using {{cite web}}.Committee on International Relations (2006-06-30). .

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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