Iranian Religious-political Development in Light of Three Epochal Transformations

Abstract

Three epoch-making upheavals have had a tremendous impact on theIranian polity throughout its long history. These upheavals have radicallyreshaped and restructured the society in terms of its religio-politicaland jurisprudential institutions. The invasion of the Arabs, the rise ofSafavids, and the Islamic Revolution, respectively, changed the religionof the Iranians from Zoroastrianism to Islam, made Shiite Islam theofficial religion in the whole of Iran, and established the theocraticstate based on Shiism. As the first phase begins with the prevalence ofIslam in Iran, the body of discussion in this paper revolves around theIslam-inspired norms that have shaped the religio-political frameworkof the country. The paper seeks to highlight these seasons by analyzingthe systematic-normative outcomes that the Iranian society witnessed.