Changes in the religious make-up of nowadays both nations changed drastically from that time and on. In 1500 the Safavid Shah Ismail I undertook the conquering of Iran and Azerbaijan and commenced a policy of forced conversion of Sunni Muslims to Shia Islam. Many Sunnis were murdered.
The Islamization of Iran occurred as a result of the Muslim conquest of Persia in 633–654. It was a long process by which Islam, though initially rejected, eventually spread among the population on the Iranian Plateau.
Shiism developed out of a dispute between the Prophet Muhammad's followers over who would succeed him as the leader of the Muslim community. After the Prophet's death in 632 C.E., some believed that the new leader should come from the Prophet's family.
Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979 gave Shia cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini the opportunity to implement his vision for an Islamic government ruled by the “guardianship of the jurist” (velayat-e faqih), a controversial concept among Shia scholars that is opposed by Sunnis, who have historically differentiated ...
Zoroastrianism, ancient pre-Islamic religion of Iran that survives there in isolated areas and, more prosperously, in India, where the descendants of Zoroastrian Iranian (Persian) immigrants are known as Parsis, or Parsees.
In the following centuries, Persia was ruled by Greeks, Parthians, and Sasanian Empire until the Arab invasion in the middle 7th century when the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism gave way to Islam.
Islam was brought to Iran via Arab-Islamic conquest in 650 AD and has played a shifting, anomalous role in this nation-state ever since. The ideas of nationalism, secularism, religion, and revolution are unique in this Muslim country.
The divide originated with a dispute over who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad as leader of the Islamic faith he introduced. Today, about 85 percent of the approximately 1.6 billion Muslims around the world are Sunni, while 15 percent are Shia, according to an estimate by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Most Muslims in Turkey are Sunni Muslims forming about 90%, and Shia-Aleviler (Alevis, Ja'faris and Alawites) denominations in total form up to 10% of the Muslim population. Precise numbers are unavailable since Turkey doesn't conduct censuses about religious denominations.
The annual rates of growth for the world's Sunni and Shia populations were identical from 1990 to 2000. But the rate of growth of the Shia population is expected to be slightly lower than the rate of growth for Sunnis over the next 20 years.
Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims share the same faith and abide by the same five pillars of Islam (Professor 7 Oct. 2003). There are no rules forcing a woman to adopt her husband's particular branch of Islam (ibid.).
In 1501, Ismail invited all the Shia living outside Iran to come to Iran and be assured of protection from the Sunni majority.
Sunni and Shia Muslims share many central beliefs, including a belief in the Oneness of Allah (tawhid), and that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was the final Messenger of Allah, who received Divine revelations recorded in the Holy Qur'an.
The Government does not ensure the right of citizens to change or renounce their religious faith. Apostasy, specifically conversion from Islam, can be punishable by death.
When Reza Shah became the new king, the name was changed to Iran in an effort to signify a new beginning. Iran made its allegiance clear to the world by changing Persia's name to Iran or Arya, which means Land of the Aryans. Persia or Iran had been greatly impacted by the Soviet Union and Great Britain before 1935.
During the reign of Umar, the second caliph of the Arabs, Arab armies under the leadership of Amr ibn al-As invaded and conquered Egypt in 639 AD. Egypt was then a province of the Byzantine empire, ruled by a governor residing in Alexandria, the capital city.
Most experts and media sources estimate approximately 90 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim and 10 percent is Christian. Scholars and NGOs estimate Shia Muslims comprise approximately 1 percent of the population. There are also small numbers of Dawoodi Bohra Muslims and Ahmadi Muslims.
According to Pew, 99% of Muslims in Morocco are Sunni predominantly of the Sunni Maliki madhab, or school of thought, whilst the remaining 1% adhere to other sects such as Shia, Quranism, ibadism etc.
Qatar is an Islamic state with multi-religious minorities like most of the Persian Gulf countries with waves of migration over the last 30 years. The official state religion is Sunni Islam. The community is made up of Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and small groups of Buddhists and Baha'is.
Islam is the official state religion of Afghanistan, with approximately 99.7% of the Afghan population being Muslim. Roughly 90% practice Sunni Islam, while around 10% are Shias. Most Shias belong to the Twelver branch and only a smaller number follow Ismailism.
The Saudi government does not conduct a census on religion or ethnicity, but some sources estimate the Shiite population in Saudi Arabia to make up around 10–15% of the approximately 23 million natives of Saudi Arabia.
Today, Shia Muslims make up the majority of the Iraqi population. Iraq is the location of the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, pilgrimage sites for millions of Shia Muslims. Najaf is the site of Ali's tomb, and Karbala is the site of the tomb of Muhammad's grandson, third Shia imam Husayn ibn Ali.
Muslims comprise a number of sects: the majority practice Sunni Islam (estimated at 90%), while a minority practice Shia Islam (estimated at 10%). Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions.
Islam in Lebanon has a long and continuous history. According to an estimate by the CIA, it is followed by 63% of the country's total population. Sunnis make up 31.9%, Twelver Shia make up 31.2%, next to smaller percentages of other Shia branches, such as Alawites and Ismailis.
According to official statistics 85-90% of Saudi Arabian citizens are Sunni Muslims, 10-12% are Shia. More than 30% of the population is made up of foreign workers who are predominantly but not entirely Muslim. The two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, are in Saudi Arabia.