:s2: Shaykh 'Abdal Hakim Murad on the Safavids (taken from the Spiritual Life in Ottoman Turkey) Such antinomianism drove a range of other movements. One such was the loosely defined Kalendar brotherhood of ragged wanderers, often indifferent to the normative rules of Islamic practice (sari‘at), who gathered in their own lodges (kalendarhanes) where, at least according to the chroniclers, all manner of wickedness took place. The chiliastic beliefs of some of these tarikats did more than simply scandalise the orthodox: they could end in open rebellion against the authorities. The most disastrous from the Ottoman viewpoint was the Safavid tarikat, which, although founded by the orthodox Safi al-Din Ardabili (d.1334), was suddenly converted to extreme Shi’ism at the hands of his fourth successor, Seyh Cüneid [1](d.1460). Cüneid’s grandson Isma’il (d.1524) claimed to be both God Himself and a reincarnation of Ali.[viii] Under Isma’il, whose deputies were mainly Turcoman nomad chieftains from Anatolia, the formerly Sunni country of < w:st="on">Iran was forcibly converted to Shi’ism amid extreme scenes of massacre and religious persecution which are more reminiscent of sixteenth-century European history than of that of the Middle East.[ix] Such examples drove the Ottomans to suppress the extreme (ghulat) Shi’i tarikats on their territory. This was partly achieved through the execution or deportation of those of their members who were in rebellion against the state, and partly through the official encouragement of other popular tarikats which contrived to combine a devotion to the figure of ‘Ali with a loyalist attitude to the Ottoman rulers. [1][Wadood: Shah Junaid as many Azeris call him]
Yes Sidi, Iran became officially shi'a (ja'fari rafiDi or ithna 'ashri) under the Safavids who were Turks.
:s1: Yes you are correct. I should have been more specific. But the talk is full of so much information that one cannot list it all briefly! Didn't Iran become Shia officially under the Safavids? This is probably my favourite talk of all time. It is simply awe-inspiring. This is not a normal human being talking!! Dar nasl i paak i shoma ra har bacheh noor ast Shoma ayn-i noor hastii, tamaam khaanvadeh-e-shoma noor ast! (Translation by me of a Urdu shi'r of Ala Hadrat into Farsi!)
:s1: Iran always was a Sunni Shafi'i country. The majority was maintained even until the early 1700s. Shia rule was brought to Iran by the Turks (not the Seljuqs) Mufakkir Islam is talking about the prevalance of muta'a in the Persian Empire before and after Islam. So, Mufakkir Islam is talking about those Iranians before the Turks who wanted to maintain muta'a and so accepted Shiism which allowed it. He is also talking about those rulers in Iran later on (the Turks), who wanted to maitain muta'a so that they could remain in power. Thus, you can assume that the present day rulers of Iran are also using muta'a to keep control of the population and the only way to religiously justify this is to impose shiism everywhere. jazakAllah khair Sidi Asif.
:s1: http://tinyurl.co.uk/3zk2 Enjoy the above video--one of the best I've ever heard on this topic. Very learned, very scholarly and the Urdu is not too difficult most of the time. Many of the points mentioned in this talk I've not heard mentioned anywhere else. Amazing! (For example, what was the first verse of the Qur'an to be preached in Madina?) Why did Shiaism gain a foothold only in Iran mainly? What were the aqaid of the Sahaba? The whole talk is based around the hadith, "My Ummah will be split into 73 sects..." and "The aqidah on which I and my Sahaba are on.." and also touches on many of the Islamic sciences including usul al hadith, fiqh, aqa'id, tarikh, bidah, etc. Brilliant![video width=400 height=350:915be1c72c]http://media.yanabi.com:8181/ramgen/Various/Speeches%20And%20Lectures%2FSyed%20Abdul%20Qadir%20Jilani%2FAkaid%2De%2DAhle%20Sunah%20Wal%20Jamaat%2Erm[/video:915be1c72c]