If Iranians were given a choice, many of them would become Sunni !

[badmash_khel]

Many Iranians are sunnis like the Kurds, Baloch, turkomans and many more. The Iranian state however is shia dominated. The Azeris are the main reason why the Iranians are shia today. The safawids forcefully converted Iranians to shiism by killing sunni scholars and burning their books and through propaganda. Ofcourse there were always shias in Iran but they only became majority after the safawid era. The safawids brought many arab shia scholars from Iraq and Lebanon to Iran and over time these scholars managed to train enough mullahs to meet the needs of the people.

[badmash_khel]

why are Azeris Shia, class structure?

Majority Azeris are shia. I don't know when and how they became shia but i think one of their rulers converted to shia faith the rest followed.

yes, in Iran the mullahs (clergy) is at the top of the class structure. They also receive 20 percent income tax from the people called khums which is mainly used to spread shiaism.

[Toramana]

What is so special about Sunnis --just a deluded bunch of people---one should be sufi---

[randolph85]

yeah, lets all become atheists, mock religion, and hypocritically call ourselves sufi like some idiot hipsters.

[DaZahroJaam.]

musa khan yousefzai,
you base that assumption on what?? when you open a thread with a subject, you give a little background information on it to clarify what it is that you are talking about. an unknown painting of a guy with no name and title is not information.

do you know what a religious belief is?? what makes you think that it can be changed from one thing to the other by someone other than one's self and that too by force??

one copy of the quraan was burned, did a single muslim convert to christianity or buddhism because of that?? would it make sense for someone to to convert to a religion the believers of which burned their holy books??

[Pisho]

What is so special about Sunnis --just a deluded bunch of people---one should be sufi---

What's wrong with you?? Damn everyone is becoming stupid I better be careful who I talk with

[ډګروال]

yeah, lets all become atheists, mock religion, and hypocritically call ourselves sufi like some idiot hipsters.

the dumbass doesnt even know that sufis are sunni as well.

he insulted a whole group of people icluding almost all of us pashtuns.
the bstrd needs to be banned.where is the Admin

[Mystique]

As Sunni Pashtuns or any Sunni neighbours, Is Iran as a country (the government, not people ) an enemy to us ?

Yes, the government of Iran treats the sunni people like animals. Look at Khoresan and Baluchistan, the only provinces of Iran that have sunni groups. They are very underdeveloped compare to the rest of Iran.

[SiiNii]

I think most the ones that left were Jews, those with secular leanings, and Zoroastrians (nominally). At least the ones that I've met in DC and LV. Where did you meet these folks?

[khushal]

The majority of iranians I meet are openly atheist especially the younger generation but of are shia background. They tell me that the mullahs in Iran brainwashed them with religous non-sense but at the same time they are very nationalistic. I have not knowingly met any Iranian zorastrians or jews or bahia.

[randolph85]

iranians as a whole are....ehhh

the religious shias in power persecute sunnis and afghans while their opponents are secular trash. enemy of my enemy is my friend? not in this case. i have noticed that iranian ex pats are the only people i have ever seen that have openly cheer leaded for the attack on their own country.

[asad71]

1. In the past as a part of Pakistan, a Bangladeshi boy/girl came to know of Sects in Islam only when he had to fill up govt forms for passport, etc. Now that column has been struck off. In our society Muslims are just Muslims. Yes there used to be Shias in the past, like the Dhaka Nawabs, but eventually they got absorbed into the main stream. After Partition, 1947, we did receive some Shias who migrated from India.

2. Muharram is observed for fasting on particular days, feeding the poor and the rest is really re-enactment of the Battle of Karbala through festivities, Tazia procession,etc. Yes some breast beatings are done but of mild nature.

3. Our late alem Hafezji Huzur had visited Iran at the invitation of the Great Ayatullah Ruhullah Khomeini. At the time of prayers Khomeini pushed Hafezji Huzur ahead to lead the prayers. Huzur was taken by surprise but the Ayatullah explained that he had read his writings and considered him a true alem behind whom he would be honored to say his prayers!

4. The point I am getting at is the message of the Ayatullah and his call for revolution. WCC (Western Christian Civilization) has turned these around through much negative propaganda. The Ayatullah's message was really simple. He had called for shunning the differences between the Shias and Sunnis citing their genesis in politics rather than religious. This call for unity was a great threat to WCC. Unfortunately present leaders of Iran themselves are not following this message sincerely.

[torkham]

I know iranians quite well compared to experiences expressed here. I'll share some of my views:
Many hate their govt - the malali
Many dream of reza shah glory days
Many yearn of americana
Many reject arab influence and yearn for zartosh past
Many reject arab influence on farsi and new literature is avoiding words of arabic origin where possible
Many like to wear the faravahar symbol (winged symbol) either as pendant or tattoo

Of course these many don't add to a whole, these are people i have met.

On a trivial note, number of iranian fake blondes is astounding, i sometimes bet with friends that a particular woman is iranian by this meter. See gogoosh in nago bedrood video and ejaz video on youtube. Sorry dont know how to insert pics and vids here.

[Mystique]

I have met both religious shia Persian and those who are athiest. They are a nice bunch despite negative propaganda from the media but what I found annoying about them is beyond Tehran, they have no clue about the other Iranic tribes.

[Kushan Prince]

My family doctor is an Iranian Shia and he is a nice man.