Dr. Hormoz Mohtashemi

Selected by: H. Mohtashemi, M.D.

For more than 1,500 years before the introduction of Islam in the seventh century, several highly developed indigenous religions flourished in Iran. The most important of these were Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, Manichaeism, and Mazdakism. Only Zoroastrianism has persisted to the modern era, but all made an impact on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that can still be seen.

These religions developed out of the ancient folk beliefs and practices that were polytheistic and consisted mainly of the worship of deified natural forces and elements, such as fire, water, earth, and air. Worship centered mainly on sacrificial rites conducted by magi (priests) but rituals were formed. Apparently, there was already present in these early religions a concept of good and evil, which later came to play a central part in the more highly developed Iranian religions.

Zoroastrianism

Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra), a prophet of ancient Iran, proclaimed a new religion at a time when Iranians were passing from a nomadic pastoral existence to a settled agricultural society. His life is surrounded by myth and mystery; it generally is considered that he was born in Media (modern Azarbaijan), but there is mention of his coming from a hill on the Darya (Afghanistan). Precise placing in time is also under dispute. Some Greek writers assert that Zoroaster lived as far back as 5,000 years before Troy; modern scholarship suggests the period to be about 1000 B.C. or possibly as late as the sixth century B.C. He may have been one of the magi; however, he was deeply meditative and concerned with ethical questions.

The religion he introduced was vitally concerned with the social welfare of the community and had a highly abstract theology centered on a dualistic concept of the universe. Zoroaster taught that a totally good universe, including man, was created by Ahura Mazda, the supreme god of pure goodness and wisdom, but countering his influence was that of Ahriman, the archdemon, who served to corrupt the universe by creating all things that are evil, such as death, disease, natural calamities, destructive creatures and forces, and moral vices. In the eternal mortal conflict between good and evil, man is an ally of Ahura Mazda but is free to yield to, or resist the temptations of, Ahriman and can thus, through his moral choices, speed or retard the ultimate victory of good. This intimation of free will and good works was joined by a postulation of a Day of Judgment, a life after death, and heaven and hell.

Despite the struggle of dual and opposing forces, this religion was basically monotheistic. From early times archangels named for the virtues of righteousness, good mind, dominion, integrity, immortality, and devotion were ranked on the side of Ahura Mazda, whereas falsehood, wrath, greed, and impurity were on the side of Ahriman. Gradually, these and other forces began to be worshiped as gods. Fire was considered holy, as an attribute of Ahura Mazda, and the maintenance of the fire temples became a primary function of the magi.

The teachings of Zoroaster, which he claimed to have received from Ahura Mazda by divine inspiration, are contained in the sacred books called the Avesta and the dedication of sacrif1cial offerings, such as milk, butter, meat, and consecrated water. Zoroastrians avoid polluting the sacred elements-fire, water, air, and earth and, therefore, expose their dead to birds of prey rather than bury or cremate them. The magi have the responsibility not only of maintaining the sacred rituals but also of imposing penances on those guilty of breaking the religious code.

Zoroastrianism was established as the state religion of the Sassanid Empire. The organized church with its extensive priesthood had considerable influence in both spiritual and temporal matters between the third and seventh centuries A.D., when the Sassanians were overthrown by the Islamic invaders. Persecuted by the Muslims, most Zoroastrians fled to India, where over 100,000 followers, known as Parsees, still adhere to the ancient religion.

In 1970 there were only about 35,000 Zoroastrians in Iran, Mainly in Tehran, Yazd, and Kerman. They are not a proselytizing people, but they form a closed community and refrain from marrying outside their religious group. They display a high sense of civic responsibility and are good businessmen and particularly skilled farmers. Their social status and prosperity have increased significantly since the coronation of Reza Shah in 1925. As part of the nationalistic appeal to Iran's ancient glories, Reza Shah gave some preference to Zoroastrians. Some of their cherished motifs have been adopted as part of the Iranian national symbols.

Mithraism

The worship of Mithra, one of the most prominent of the ancient Aryan gods, seems to have been very strong in pre-Zoroastrian Iran. Zoroaster discouraged the Mithraic cult, but gradually a modified form found its way back into the Zoroastrian religion, and Mithra was restored to the expanded pantheon of later Zoroastrianism as a deity second only to Ahura Mazda. The longest hymn in the Avesta is dedicated to Mithra, who is represented as the god of heavenly light. As a protector of promises and the truth, he was an awesome enemy of deceivers and those who violate promises. He also was a god of battle who struck terror into the hearts of his enemies and brought victory to his worshipers.

The cult of Mithra spread westward from Persia to Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, where it absorbed the fatalism of the Chaldean astrological cults and assumed the character of a mystery religion, including the worship of a number of naturalistic gods. A chief element of the Mithraic myths was the sacrifice to Mithra of the primeval bull, from whom sprang all animals and plant life. The sacrifice of the bull formed a central theme in many Mithraic monuments, which are still preserved. In Mithraism moral purity was emphasized, and austerity and asceticism were favored. By the end of the third century, after being surpassed by Christianity in the quest for acceptance among Romans, the cult gradually disappeared, but its impact on some other faiths, particularly Zoroastrianism, still remains.

Manichaeism

Manichaeism, a sharply dualistic religion, was proclaimed in the third century A.D. by the prophet Mani, and in a short time it spread over a vast area from China to Western Europe and North Africa. Mani first found favor with some Sassanian princes, but he soon met with strong opposition from Zoroastrian leaders and was finally arrested and put to death by the Sassanian King Bahram I in A.D. 274.

Manichaean theology was based on the belief in two primeval and eternal principles-light and darkness, sometimes expressed as spirit and matter. Man is created out of the conflict between the two principles but, contrary to Zoroastrian beliefs, man in the Manichaean religion is the creature of the demons of darkness and must be shown the way to salvation by the visitation of a redeeming deity, who imparts to man the necessary knowledge. Manichaean pessimism led to extreme asceticism and rejection of worldly pursuits. These beliefs were transmitted to Judaism and to early Christianity, where they contributed to the heretical Gnostic cult, and they also contributed to the development of some Sufi doctrines that later, after the ninth century, created difficulties in Islamic Iran, notably among the Kurdish groups.

Mazdakism

Mazdakism, an offshoot of Manichaeism, flourished in Iran during the late fifth and early sixth centuries. Mazdak had been a priest, and in A.D. 500 he proclaimed himself a prophet. Like Manichaeism, Mazdakism held to a dualistic theology and abstinence from worldly pleasure. Mazdakism propounded, in addition, an egalitarian view of society, including the communal distribution of all material possessions. Women were regarded as communal property, and animal food was shunned. The aim was to remove all sources of greed and strife.

Mazdak converted the Sassanian King Kobad who, in an effort to undermine the strength of the Zoroastrian priesthood, proclaimed the new doctrine to be the religion of the land. For this and other reasons the nobles rose against Kobad, and the throne was unoccupied for three years. As a condition of his return, the king recanted on Mazdakism; the religion was ruthlessly extirpated, and tens of thousands of its followers, along with Mazdak, were put to death.

Characteristics of Iranian Religions

Some generally persistent features and unifying trends can be traced through all these religions. Iranian religious thought is deeply concerned with the moral duties of man and their role in his salvation. The most persistent Zoroastrian motto is "Good thought, good words, and good deeds." Man's moral choice is believed to determine the success of the divine plan. The chief god of the Mithraists guarded truths and the fulfillment of covenants. The puritanical austerity of the Manichaeans and, later, the tendency of the Shiites to place emphasis on good deeds as the basis for reward in the final judgment reiterate the persistence of concern with ethics.

All Iranian religions are also concerned with man's destiny after death. The belief in the continuation of some manner of life after death dates to prehistoric times but finds its clear statement in Zoroastrianism, which distinctly connects this concept with man's liability to retribution on the basis of his merits.

Iranian religious thought strives toward spirituality, despite its objective reward for reality. This contrasting attitude may be observed within Zoroastrianism between the highly abstract and ethical tone of the hymns of Zoroaster, on the one hand, and the prosaic and exhaustive details of the Venidad, a later portion of the Zoroastrian sacred scriptures, on the other. This attitude occurs also between the later form of the Zoroastrian religion, with its elaborate regulations for ritual purity, and the unworldly and austere Manichaean religion and again in the refined mysticism of the Iranian Sufis in Islamic times, as compared to the less flexible and more realistic religion of the formalist Islam.

To these features one may add a basically dualistic concept of the nature of the universe and man. This concept is common, in various forms, to the religion of the magi, Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, Manichaeism, and Mazdakism. All maintain that the world is evil, a doctrine vigorously suppressed by the uncompromising monotheism of Islam. Attenuated vestiges of the older belief may be observed, however, in the frequent occurrence of demons in a dualistic approach, such as the vivid belief in Satan (shaytan), the ever-present tempter of the soul, and perhaps also in the belief in malevolent spirits (jinns)1

To these religions, and more particularly to Islam, there was a characteristic Persian contribution of beauty and intellectualism. Painting, poetry, designing, calligraphy, and other art forms carried the imprint of grace, imagination, and delicacy in portraying thoughts and stories inspired by religion.

Iran fell under the sway of Islam during the first 20 years of its aggressive drive. By 650, after about 15 years of resistance, the armies of the Sassanid Empire gave way before the onslaught of the small but inspired Arab forces. Iran fell under Arab domination and Arab influence became strong. Zoroastrianism was periodically persecuted by the new rulers who tried to convert Iran to Islam. The Muslim theology and ritual and the egalitarian character of its social message was simple and attractive for the common people of Iran, who had long been subjected to the exacting rule of the Zoroastrian clergy, but the new religion spread slowly outside the major cities. For 150 years Iranians resisted the Arab conquest and the forced introduction of a foreign religion, and it was not until the end the eighth century that Islam was accepted by a sizable majority of Iranians.

The Arab victory was decisive; it permitted little organized, effective military resistance. Opposition took rather the form of a series of politico-religious movements within the framework of Islam; some gave vent to anti-Arab and anti-Islamic sentiments, but most movements sought to modify the political and religious order to allow more scope to Iranian culture and interests.

Between the seventh and fifteenth centuries Iran was dominated first by the Arabs and then by the Islamized Seljuk Turks and the Islamized Mongols. Most of these foreign rulers were adherents of the Sunni branch of Islam. When a native Iranian dynasty, the Safavid, was able at last to assert its control over all Iran at the beginning of the sixteenth century, it declared the Shiite form of Islam to be the official religion of the country, and it has since remained the official religion. (see Ch. 3, Historical Setting)

The Shiah Branch of Islam

Shortly after the middle of the seventh century, Islam began to fragment into rival branches. A number of nonconformist and heterodox Islamic movements developed in various parts of the Islamic world away from the centers of political and religious authority. The earliest and most significant split, however, took place only twenty-five years after the death of Muhammad, and it occurred at the heart of the Muslim world among those disciples of the Prophet who had been closest to him.

The controversy was between the branch known as Sunni (from sunna, meaning custom or statute) and the Shiah branch (from shiat, meaning party). The split was occasioned by the insistence of the Shiites that the true and legitimate successor to Muhammad was his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, who was designated publicly by the Prophet himself. It was contended that a conspiracy had robbed him of his rights and that the caliphate had been usurped successively by the first three caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar, and Othman, and by their Sunni successors after the death of Ali in 661. According to Shiite doctrine, succession to the Prophet and the responsibility for theological interpretation that went with it were preordained by God's will and determined by Muhammad to remain in the house of Ali. The spiritual grace and inspiration that attended this exalted position could not be bestowed by popular vote. Open warfare accompanied this schism.

Strengthening this political split were religious differences. Shiites believe that, apart from what is revealed in the Koran and the Hadith, there exists a body of true and esoteric knowledge that passed from Muhammad to Ali and those of his descendants who succeeded Ali as the divinely guided imam of Islam. The imams, therefore, are in a position to reveal the true meaning of the Koran and to amplify continually the definition of dogma according to their inner light. Consequently, their doctrine affords a broader basis, through interpretations, for meeting the needs of various situations as they arise, and it also entails a tendency to greater divergence from the more literal and more conservative Sunni form of Islam, dominant in the remainder of the Muslim world.

Among the Shiites, popular belief includes a doctrine of predestination that does not exclude the possibility of merciful intercession by the Prophet and the imams at the Last Judgment. They believe that the Messiah will be the last imam, who will return to reestablish a world of truth, peace, and justice.

According to Imami Shiites, upon the murder of the eleventh imam, Hasan al-Askari in the ninth century, the imamate passed to Muhammad al-Muntazar, his five-year-old son, who occupies an extraordinary position in Shiite doctrine. According to traditional accounts, the twelfth imam, who has several titles but is best known by the title Imam Zaman (the Imam of All Time), learned of plans of the caliph on his life. He went into hiding in the late ninth century and is expected to return to abolish all religions, slay the infidels, take revenge on the wicked, and fill the world with equity and justice. The twelfth or hidden imam, who is believed to be spiritually alive but invisible, continues to be the imam until the day of his return. The Constitution takes cognizance of this doctrine and, accordingly, the rulers rule in his name.

Wedding invitations acknowledge the auspices of the twelfth imam. He is beseeched to hasten his return in various invocations and prayers, and people in distress often call on him for aid and assistance. His birthday is one of the jubilant feasts for the Shiites in Iran, at which time shops are decorated, mosques and public buildings are illuminated, and an atmosphere of gaiety and merriment prevails.

The Twelfth Imam

His Occultation and His Return

- Since there are verses in the divine books that are not clear and guidance is needed to understand them, God could not have caused these books (i.e., Quran and the Bible, etc.) to be revealed without also providing someone to explain it.

- Since there are many possible interpretations of sacred Laws (the Sharia), the Imam is needed to give authoritative guidance on the application of the Law. Otherwise, the people would err in applying the sacred Law and a Just God could not hold the Law if they had not been properly guided in it.

- Since a perfectly Just ruler is necessary to maintain order in the world, God, who is beneficent and does not wish to see tyranny and anarchy in the world, must of necessity provide such ruler - the Imam (a leader who is guided by God).

- If God had left it to the choice of the people to provide a leader to rule and guide them, then they might have chosen someone who was not adequate for the task and this would have made God's favor to mankind incomplete. Since the best course then is for God to choose and designate the leader, and since God is beneficent and all-wise and would always choose the best and most expedient course, this must result in God's provision of an Imam (a leader who is guided by God).

Perhaps no aspect of the story of Shi'i Islam is as confused as the stories relating to the Twelfth Imam and this is not surprising as this is the point in Shi'i history where the events related become of a miraculous, extraordinary nature and the non-believer may be unwilling to go along with the facts as related by Shi'is. But even for the committed believer, it is difficult to decide which of the many and often contradictory versions presented in the Traditions to follow. The following version is the one that is usually presented in the books published for popular reading.

The mother of the Twelfth Imam was a Byzantine slave-girl named Narjis Khâtun (or Saqil or Sawsan or Rayhana). In the more fully elaborated versions of the story she becomes the Byzantine Emperor's daughter who was informed in a vision that she would be the mother of the Mahdi. She was bought by the Tenth Imam, 'Ali al-Hadi, for his son the Eleventh Imam, Hasan al-'Askari.

The Twelfth Imam was born in 255/868 (some sources vary by as much as five years from this date) in Samarra. He was given the same name as the Prophet, Abu'l-Qasim Muhammad.

The usual miraculous accounts of his talking from the womb, etc., may be passed over to the only occasion on which he is said to have made a public appearance. This was in 260/874 when the Eleventh Imam died. It appears that none of the Shi'i notables knew of the birth of Muhammad and so they went to the Eleventh Imam's brother, Ja'far, assuming that he was now the Imam. Ja'far seemed prepared to take on this mantle and entered the house of the deceased Imam in order to lead the funeral prayers. At this juncture a young boy came forward and said: Uncle, stand back! For it is more fitting for me to lead the prayers for my father than for you.

The boy was seen no more and Shi'i tradition states that from that year he went into occultation. At Samarra, beside the gold-domed Shrine of the imams 'Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-'Askari is a mosque under which there is a cave. The end of one of the rooms of the cave is partitioned off by a gate, which is called Bab al-Ghayba (Gate of the Occultation) and was built on the instructions of the Caliph an-Nasir in 606/1209. The area behind the gate is called Hujrat al-Ghayba (Chamber of the Occultation) and in the corner of this is a well, the Bab al-Ghayba (Well of the Occultation) down which the Imam Mahdi is said to have disappeared. Shi'is gather in the rooms of the cave and pray for his return.

Imam was taken to occultation because of the vigilant and hostile surveillance of the Abbasid caliphs that could endanger his life. As a matter of fact, even the tenth and eleventh Imams, as far as generality of their followers were concerned, had been in effective occultation. Their contact with their followers was through a network of agents called wukala (meaning agent or proxy). The contact of the Twelfth Imam with his followers was through four successive agents.

They would take messages and questions from the Shia to the Hidden Imam and would return with answers, usually verbal but sometimes written. They would also receive the monies offered by the Shi'a to the Imam as khums and zakat (religious dues).

There was still confusion and doubt over the question of the Occultation and this was to continue for a further hundred years. It was also during this period that the first of the four 'canonical' collections of hadith (al-Kafi fi 'Ilmad-Din), was being completed by al-Kulayni thus helping to bring about a convergence and consolidation of views among the Twelver Shi'is.

Samarra: in the foreground is the gold-domed shrine of the Tenth Imam, 'Ali al-Hadi and the Eleventh Imam, Hasan al-'Askari. Behind this is the Mosque of the Occultation beneath which is the underground chambert in which the Twelfth am is said to have disappeared. (from an aerial view taken in 1927)

The fourth and last agent of the Hidden Imam was Abu'l-Husayn 'Ali ibn Muhammad as-Samarri. He held office for only three years and died in 329/941. These four successive agents of the Hidden Imam are each called by the Shi'is the Bab (Gate, plural Abwab), the Safir (Ambassador, plural Sufara) or Na'ib (Deputy, plural Nuwwab) of the Twelfth Imam.

At the time of his death, as-Samarri brought the following written message from the Hidden Imam:

In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate! O 'Ali ibn Muhammad as-Samarri, may God magnify the reward of your brethren upon you! There are but six days separating you from death. So therefore arrange your affairs but do not appoint anyone to your position after you. For the second occultation has come and there will not now be a manifestation except by the permission of God and that after a long time has passed, and hearts have hardened and the earth become filled with tyranny. And there will come to my Shi'a those who claim to have seen me, but he who claims to have seen me before the emergence of the Sufyani and the Cry (from the heavens) is assuredly a lying imposter. And there is no power nor strength save in God the Almighty, the All-High.

And so the Shi'is passed, in 329/941, into what is known as the Greater Occultation, the period of time when there is no agent of the Hidden Imam on earth.

The Hidden Imam has a large number of titles including the following: Sahib azZamman (Lord of the Age), Sahib al-Amr (Lord of Command), al-Mahdi (the Rightly-Guided One), al-Qa'im (He who Will arise), al-Imam al-Muntazar (the Awaited Imam) and the Baqiyyat Allah (Remnant of God).

The Doctrine of Occultation

And the Signs of Return of the Twelfth Imam (As well as the signs of return of Jesus as God, the Father, Holy Spirit, and the Messiah)*

In its simplest form, the doctrine of the Occultation (Ghaybat) declares that Muhammad ibn Hasan, the Twelfth Imam, did not die but has been concealed by God from the eyes of men. His life has been miraculously prolonged until the day when he will manifest himself again by God's permission (the doctrine probably indicates occurrence of identical phenomenon which had been planned by God and occurred to Jesus approximately nine hundred years prior to occultation of the Twelfth Imam-H.M.). During his Lesser Occultation, the Twelfth Imam remained in contact with his followers through the four Babs (al-Abwab al-Arba'a). During the Greater Occultation, which extends to the present day, he is still in control of the affairs of men and is the Lord of the Age (Sahib az-Zaman) but there is no longer a direct route of communication. However, it is popularly believed that the Hidden Imam does still occasionally manifest himself to the pious either when awake or more commonly in dreams and visions.

To be continued

Recommended Sources:

1. Harvey S. Smith, William W. Cover, John B. Folan, Michael L. Meissenburg, et. al., Area Handbook for Iran, Second Edition, Foreign Area Studies (FAS) of the American University, 1971.

2. Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam, The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1985.

* Sentences within the parentheses are added to the text by Dr. H. Mohtashemi.

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