Ancient religions clash in modern Iran
Pastor Dale Morgan
Ancient religions clash in modern Iran
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It's one of the world's oldest religions, but Zoroastrianism is treated
with suspicion by Iran's Islamic state, writes Robert Tait
Wednesday October 4, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
The boisterous scenes of wine, unveiled women and song confounded the
popular stereotype of religious worship in contemporary Iran. In an
isolated and awe-inspiring mountain setting, followers of an ancient
faith were communing with God in festive and time-honoured fashion.
But when the government VIPs arrived, normal order - as defined by the
country's stringent Islamic laws - was restored. The merriment ended,
women were ordered to cover up - and grumbles of discontent (albeit
muted and discreet) began.
"This is the only time during the year when we are allowed to do what we
want, but even here they don't leave us alone," said Giti, 55,
reluctantly putting on her headscarf.
She was one of thousands of Zoroastrians gathered at Chak Chak in the
central Iranian desert for a five-day pilgrimage that is the biggest
annual event in the religion's calendar.
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Pilgrims had climbed to the shrine where Nikbanou, the daughter of the
country's last Zoroastrian monarch, King Yazdgerd III, is said to have
sought refuge in 652AD from the Arab conquerors who brought Islam to
Iran. Lighting candles in line with the Zoroastrian belief that fire
symbolises God's light, they worshipped the credo of "good thoughts,
good speech, good deeds" which the faith's founding prophet, Zoroaster -
also known as Zarathustra - propounded at least 3,000 years ago. They
also conversed noisily in a pre-Islamic form of Persian stripped of the
modern Arabic loan words used by their Muslim compatriots.
But the sense of refuge worshippers traditionally enjoy was tested by
the unprecedented government attention paid to this year's event, in the
form of a visiting delegation sent by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
along with interior and culture ministry officials.
By requiring worshippers to observe Islamic dress in their own sacred
place, the high-level visit illustrated the second-class status of
Zoroastrianism - believed to be the world's oldest monotheistic faith -
in its land of origin.
Kourash Niknam, the sole Zoroastrian MP in Iran's parliament, insisted
the gesture was voluntary. "We just wanted to show respect because it is
they who rule and we are living in their community," he said.
Yet it highlighted the difficult plight of Iran's estimated 25,000
Zoroastrians under the country's Shia Islamic governing system.
Officially, Zoroastrians - along with Jews and Armenian and Assyrian
Christians - are a constitutionally protected religious minority with
guaranteed parliamentary representation.
In practice, complaints of discrimination are widespread. Access to
high-level posts in the government and armed forces is blocked. Some
Zoroastrians say they are pressured to change their religion. A law
awarding Zoroastrians who convert to Islam their entire families'
inheritance at the expense of non-converted relatives has caused misery
and bitter resentment. Despite legislation decreeing that all religions
are entitled to equal blood money (compensation) awards, Zoroastrians
say that, in reality, they still receive only half the sums given to
Muslims.
Nor do they feel wholly free in a land where their faith was the
majority denomination until the forced mass conversions to Islam that
followed the seventh century Arab invasion.
"We don't have the right to make programmes about our religion,"
complained Mr Niknam. "I have no platform on radio or television to go
and speak about Zoroastrianism. We cannot get any budget for building a
new fire temple when mosques are being built one after another."
Yet many Zoroastrians say they feel better treated by their Muslim
fellow-countrymen than under the last shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
Paradoxically, they attribute this to the uniform dress code imposed by
the 1979 Islamic revolution, combined with a decline in religious
prejudice among younger Muslims.
"Before the revolution, all Muslim women in my home town of Yazd wore
chadors and only we Zoroastrians didn't," said Goharbanoo, 40. "The
Friday prayer leader ruled that on Fridays, Zoroastrian men had to wear
white and women traditional clothes. It meant people could recognise us
easily and they would be very rude to us. When we went into a grocer's
shop, we wouldn't be allowed to touch the fruit. We even sat on separate
benches at school and had separate drinking water.
"Thanks to the revolution, everyone dresses the same now. People back
then were more religious. Today's generation is ashamed of the prejudice
of their ancestors."
Some Zoroastrians have sought refugee status in America under an
officially backed programme to help Iranian religious minorities. But
Behzad, 31, an unemployed computer graduate who complained of being
denied a gun during his national military service, rejected that option.
"Why should we leave? This is our mother country," he said. "Iranian
culture is wonderful. Western culture is stress, stress, stress."