RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND NON-MUSLIMS IN IRAN IN THE PRE-MODERN ISLAMIC WORLD

They formulated policies which created discontent as well as a period of uprisings that continued for nine decades. The process of Islamization of Iran lasted for a long time and after being rejected, the religion was slowly recognized as a major religion by a majority of the population. Previously, Iran was part of the Sasanian Empire and after conquest by the Arabs, they attempted to impose Arabic as the official language of the population throughout the empire. At the time of the Arab conquest, numerous religions existed in the empire. For example, there was Zoroastrianism, which was a term used by the people for indigenous native beliefs as well as practices. Hence, conquest of Iran by Arab Muslims marked a major turning point in the Iranian history. This period of the Iranian conquest tends to contrasts the lack of the Arabs with the wealth of the Iranians as well as the major Iranian landlords who are nearly claimed to have been murdered or dispossessed and thus expelled.

The associations between Muslims and non-Muslims in the pre-modern era was impacted in history by territorial ambitions, rivalry over specific sites essential to religions as well as the continuously changing developments in the politics of the region2. Thus, the relation between Muslims and non-Muslims in Iran between 6th to 15th centuries was predominately hostile and conflictious as their relationship was characterized by slavery, persecution, implementation of taxes and the failure of Mawali status. Failure of status conversion- Mawali Mawali is an Arabic term for non-Arab individuals who occupied the Islamic Empire. They disliked the mawalis, and they needed to acquire funds from somewhere. The imposition of taxes upon the Mawali was regarded as the right things by the Arabs. Ali, Mohammed’s son-in-law, attempted to ensure fair treatment upon the Mawali.

Unfortunately, he was assassinated. Most of the Mawali disconnected themselves from the Umayyads and merged with the Shiites. During this time, slaves were also moved into Iran from other territories like central Asia and were considered as captives of war from the military raids and campaigns of Arabs. Both inside and outside the Iranian territory, slavery was believed justified slightly by the infidel status of those people, since they were also economically profitable. Furthermore, this period was characterized by three forms of slavery, domestic slavery, industrial-agricultural slavery, and military slavery5. Domestic and industrial-agricultural slavery seemed to be common in the pre-modern times of the old world. Later, military slavery seems to have been strange in the Islamic world6. Non-Muslims also went from being subjected to slavery to the intensive labor practices in crafts and agriculture.

Most non-Muslim foreigners were exploited and subjected to slavery, while the rest were treated as semi-free individuals and settled on the royal lands. Most of them were the prisoners of war that has been selected from the rebels of the Persian rule or the Persian army. Furthermore, a considerable number of slaves who took upon domestic chores for the Persian nobles and Achaemenids were selected from the representatives of vanquished individuals. There is evidence of a hostile relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims. This depicts a rather hostile relationship between the non-Muslims and Muslims in the Iranian society of this time. This is because the non-Muslims were segregated and forbidden from engaging in some practices. Their system was rejected and considered as inappropriate. Also, the implementation of the jizya tax was burdensome to the non-Muslim population since they hardly made a reasonable income out the survival economy.

Persecution of non-Muslims Persecutions in the pre-modern Islamic Iran took the form of violence and forced conversions. This pact granted the Jews a certain amount of security, yet their status was defined as second class citizens. However, in the real sense, the pact was not strictly adhered to and in most cases, the authorities ignored the pact to the benefits of the Jews10. Furthermore, some negative stereotypes were associated with the Jews. Persians used negative connotations to describe the Jews. The Jews seemed to face some amount of prejudice11. Also, the relationship between non-Muslims and Muslims was characterized by slavery. Slavery was considered to be a great source for economic growth in Iran. Thus many Non-muslim infidels were captured and sold into slavery in order to work in plantations and royal households.

As a result, those people encountered sufferings and the loss of lives as a result of being captured and transported from non-Muslim regions. Furthermore, the non-Muslims were forced to pay taxes that posed as a burden to most of them. Amirpur, Katajun. Iran's Policy towards Jewish Iranians and the State of Israel. Is the Present Iranian State Islamofascist?" Die Welt Des Islams 52, no. jstor. org/stable/41722004. Esposito, and John Obert Voll. Islam and democracy. Oxford University Press on Demand, 1996. Lee, Anthony A. Enslaved African Women in Nineteenth-Century Iran: The Life of Fezzeh Khanom of Shiraz. Vol. London: Holmes & Meier, 1990. Van Gorder, A. Christian. Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non-muslims in Iran. Encyclopaedia iranica. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. Vol. no. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.