Religious Relations Between Iran And Arab Countries

Saudi Arabia and Iran are two countries that sit on opposite sides of the Sunni/Shiite divide, which can be argued as being the most prominent issue the Middle East faces today. Saudi Arabia is predominantly known to be a Sunni state, while Iran is largely inhabited by Shia Muslims. Both countries aspire to be the hegemonic powers of the region. Ethnically, Iran is known to be a Persian land, unlike Saudi Arabia that is known to be in the heart of the Arab world. These two countries are separated by the Arabian Gulf and throughout the twentieth century and up until today, the relationship between the two countries has been notoriously contentious. Within the past few years especially relationships between the two states have been very fragile with Saudi Arabia ending diplomatic ties early in 2016. The two states are strained over many issues of which are, interpretations of Islam, oil export policy and hegemonic regional leadership.

Shi’ite Islam was, and still is, the prominent ideology for Iran’s citizens, and its deep history suggests how their government should be run differently from that of the Shah. Shi’ite Islam places the legitimacy of power on the Imam, totally independent of state (Elwell-Sutton, 393). The religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini should take charge of the country instead of the Shah because Khomeini’s authority would be based off of religion. Shi’ite thinking says that religious power (true justice) will always be in conflict with the

In Islam there are 2 major factions: Sunni and Shia. Most Muslims are Sunni [~85%], and Shia are [~15%]. Shia Muslims, while a global minority, are the majority in Iraq [~65% of Iraqi population] and Iran [90% of Iranian population]. Most other Muslim nations have a Sunni majority: Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, ect.

Iran is a country with majority of its population being Shia Muslims, it is a splinter branch of Islam where it is believed that only Muhammad’s descendants can lead the faithful. Muslim clergy plays political roles in Shia countries, even though Shia Muslims are a small segment (about 15%) of the entire Muslim population, since 1501 most Iranians identify as Shia Muslims. This is one way they differentiate themselves from the

In the essay “God and Women in Iran”, Peter Singer mentions Iran as the leader of indefensible racial discrimination in the world. He argues that Iranian women have limited opportunities for receiving education and appearing in the society compared with Iranian men. These limitations not only affect women, but also prevents all religious believers other than Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity from entering universities. It is believed that these issues originate from the Islamic bias of the country’s rulers who are all male and Muslim. However, some of the author’s information is false or distorted, and many of his arguments are invalid. Iran is a country that offers freedom of education for individuals regardless of their race or sex, and the Islamic background of its rulers does not result in discrimination.

The hardline conservatives are one of the most influential groups in Iranian politics. They have successfully used their institutional control of the Iranian government to continually influence the country’s domestic policies, even when the president is not a member of their coalition. Their platform can be summarized in six key points. First, they are completely devoted to the rule of the supreme leader, who holds absolute power over the country, as an extension of the Prophet and the Shi’i imams. Second, they see their opposition parties, primarily the Pragmatists and Reformists, as acting against Islam for wanting to reform the system that was put in place by the supreme leaders Khomeini and Khamanei. Also, the principles for which the opposition stands for such as human rights, democracy, and trade with other countries are

Asghar Farhadi, an Iranian man, said in an interview with an Australian reporter “It's very difficult to talk about religion in Iran because religion has gotten so mixed up with politics,” (Matini 1). The country of Iran is greatly influenced by religion and government power.

Iranians deeply value their social and cultural traditions. The Persian revolution formed the basis through which the country evolved and foundation upon which its empires were established. The Islamic regime practiced by the country formed the basis through which the country’s sophisticated institutions were built. Shah seemed to champion for secularization and westernization (Axworthy,

Disagreement between Shias and Sunni have been the most important splits in Islamic religion, which are ongoing problems since the 7th century to present-day, conflict in Islamic history has initiated blood spills from generations to generations and is still taking life’s while differences in social and equal opportunities that have taken deep roots in the minds of future leaders.

The country has been a part of many historical events, both world-wide and internal. The main religious belief that is followed is absolute monotheism, or the belief in one and only one God. The majority of Iranians follow Islam, and there are also other minor religions co-existing within the country, such as Christianity, Judaism, and Zartosht (Abrahamian). For those that are followers of Islam, their days already have a ritual plan. They pray once before sunrise, at noon, and at sunset in the evening. They sometimes attend a Mosque, which is an Islamic version of a church, several times a day but mainly for the last two prayers of the day. Many people attend the Mosque and it is always very crowded, but some do pray in their homes instead

The Islamic Republic Iran and the People’s Republic of China ofare two different countries. The both countries have different political structures, so the most significant point of comparison between China and Iran is that both are reformist regimes.One is Shiite and the other began as Communist. Historically known Iran was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world, but revolution is most significant think of Iran.The Islamic Revolution occurred in 1979, in the Muslim country Iran. One name was ımportant for Iranıan revelation, thıs name ıs Ayatollah Khomeini. He organized protests to overthrow the government and all of its after descendants. Khomeini became the new leader of Iran. The government was made a republic and a theocracy.

The Iranian Constitution has been a controversial document, causing many questions about human rights, and how religion plays into it. It came into effect after a revolution that fought for rule of law and a civil society. The government however has faced lots of criticism internationally from the Western World, including the European Union, United States, United Kingdom and man Human Rights Activists. The country is ruled by a combination of Democracy and Theology, putting Shari’a law as it’s biggest influence. The government consists of a President, and Clergy that acts as a guide. This Clergy, however,

A religion that will employ great influence in a civilization of more than one and a half billion people. The Prophets death also had the opportunity to split the religion into two main branches the Sunni and Shi’a. The Sunni who are 80 percent of Muslims, and they believed that, Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law, to the successor. As for the Shi’a who only make up 15 percent of the Muslims in the world, believed an imam, in their case Ali, cousin, and son-in-law, should be the successor; due to their blood relations. However, with their differences aside, they shared the common belief that Prophet Muhammad was a messenger of Allah. Both the Sunni and Shi’a also share the belief that there are five pillars of Islam: (1) the harmony of Allah and the prophethood of Muhammad, (2) the five obligatory prayers, (3) fasting, (4) charity, and (5) the pilgrimage to Mecca. Both branches oppose several kinds social change that is done by western ideas, and instead have the primary objective of the establishment of Islamic law as the sole basis of their government. The question still is who should have been the rightful successor of the Prophet Muhammad. Someone who is in blood relations or someone who was a close

Another source of conflict as reported by Sørli et. al stems from the religious differences. As a whole, the Middle East is comprised of followers of Islam. But within the Islamic religion are the Sunni (which account for the majority), and the Shia. Tension lies between the two sects, especially given the fact that the Shia often hold the positions of power (Sørli, 147). Another major

that religion and politics have a long history in the Middle East does not mean that religion is always, or even most of the time, a crucial factor driving political conflicts. Most of the politics of the Middle East have been viewed by those inside and outside the region as driven by religious difference. From the Arab-Israeli conflict to the Iranian revolution to the emergence of