How would Iran be different to what it is now if it had remained Sunni? Early Modern History Playlist: kzfaq.info/sun/PLiPhmAD3I2JwdVOt4lI39d3XENLktUgP5

Most of the polymaths in the Islamic golden age were Persians. Whether they were Sunni or Shia, Persians always contributed to Islamic civilisation. Polymaths such as Ibn Sina , Al- Biruni , Al- Khwarizmi , Al- Razi, Al Tusi, Tabari and Al Ghazali and so many others were all Persian.

Excellent work as always! A pleasure collaborating with you again!

Great topic to talk about! Turks first encountered the caliphate but learnt more about islam from the Persians. Most of the Islam related words that we use today stems from the Persian language. For example we don't say Salat. We use Namaz.

There is a curious parallel between the Sunni/Shia struggle in Iran and the Catholic/Protestant conflict in England (and elsewhere) during the same period - both ending around 1600 with successful conversion to the newer faith.

Here from Lets Talk Religion- Great Stuff!!

Thank you brother! Fantastic job.

I'm from South Lebanon (Jabal Amil), and family lore has it that my ancestors were amongst the scholars that migrated to Persia. My grandfather even wrote a book about this called التشيّع بين جبل عامل وإيران (Shiism between Jabal Amel and Iran). It's a shame that appart from Shias few Lebanese are aware of this history despite the enormous impact it had on modern history

I have not seen a more accurate and helpful explanation of this part of history. Explains alot. Thank u❤️

1:06 Persia before the Safavids 1:24 Beginning of Safavid rule Qizilbash (Early Safavid army) Shah Ismail I (first Safavid ruler) 5:26 Religious persecution 7:53 Migration of Shia scholars to Persia & a comparatively moderate approach 10:12 Shia identity in Safavid dynasty

Love it! Thank you Hikma for teaching the world 🫡

Great work 👍🏼 Thank you 💐

Amazing job 👏 love it.

Another note to add, Uzun Hasan of the Bayandir tribe (Ak koyunlu) conquered Iran under Shia Islam long before the Safavids and he also cooperated with them and laid the foundations for Shia Islam in Persia

SALAM THANKS SO MUCH MOST PEOPLES DONT NO ABOUT THIS BEAUTIFUL INFORMATION IF YOU CAN CAN YOU MAKE PART 2? THANKS AGEIN...

Thank you so much for this

very interesting overview, combined with eye catching images

Now that you've covered how Iran became predominantly Shi'a Islamic country, will you do about Egypt and Sicily but in reverse too? After all, the Fatimids and the Kalbids were Shi'a dynasties but the peoples remained largely Sunni for those who are Muslims.

If the first Safavid shah let himself be seen as the 12th imam how did the Safavids explain the fact that Judgement Day didn't happen during his lifetime? Great video by the way! Thanks.

Informative video. These topics needs to be taught more often. Like the background music 🎶

Thank you for the lesson. Peace.🌷

Same me, Filip sent me????Excellent material, Gracias!!!

Very interesting, because for the first 1000 years, Persia produced many famous Sunni scholars. Shia as a majority sect. has only been in Iran for approximately 400-500 years. They have been Sunnis longer than they have been Shias.

Thanks for this insightful presentation.

Excellent summary

Passing Imamat down from father to son is generally true, but the next imam isn't necessarily the son of the present imam. For example, the second imam was Hasan ibn Ali (PBUH) and the third imam was Husayn ibn Ali (PBUH), and they were brothers. Despite Imam Hasan's had many sons,

Thank you so much, interesting.

Excellent work.

THANKS FOR THIS INFORMATIVE VIDEO

the number of turkish special forces in the comments is greater than the ottoman forces that fought the safavids

The Samanid Empire (Persian: سامانیان, romanized: Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply Samanids) was aempire,[8] from 819 to 999. The empire was centred in Khorasan and Transoxiana; at its greatest extent encompassing modern-day Afghanistan, huge parts of Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and parts of Kazakhstan and Pakistan. Four brothers-Nuh, Ahmad, Yahya, and Ilyas-founded the Samanid state. Each of them ruled territory under Abbasid suzerainty. In 892, Ismail Samani (892-907) united the Samanid state under one ruler, thus effectively putting an end to the feudal system used by the Samanids. It was also under him that the Samanids became independent of Abbasid authority.

Awesome video! Allahumma barik laha

Very helpful video.

Being a Sunni Muslim and I was nourish in a sunni family never heard and teach from my parents to curse any of the companion of the beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW. Infact I was teach that the family of the Prophet was one of the pious and God loving people , his Companions where also a God loving people Indeed there was a a difference between the companion of Prophet Muhammad but cursing was not an option I was taught .we as a sunni Muslims belive in 10 pious companion of beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW who was granted paradise by Prophet Muhammad SAW when he was alive , Hazrat Ali and whole of his family was among them , in every Friday prayer we sunii send blessing to the family of Prophet and his companion so where from the verge of hatred comes in Shia.

Love seeing the same images I use in my videos. Brings back memories.

Interesting. TQ for sharing.

Persians were from the start Pro Alids and always had a soft heart for the family of the prophet whether they be Shiites or Sunnis. The abbasid revolution that toppled the Ummayads in 750 AD had its origins in Khurasan Persia. The exiled Banu Hashims mainly the offsprings of Ali found refuge in persian villages during the brutal anti Shiite regimes of Banu Ummayad and Banu Abbas. The safavids had grassroot support and this theory that the safavids were some sort of religious zealots who committed a holocaust is just a theory. The Buyids were also shiites and ruled persia for a long time 400 years before the Safavids. To have sunni rulers doesnt mean the population was sunni. Egypt was ruled by the fatimids shias for centuries but the population was always sunni. Iraq was ruled for 1400 years by sunnis but the population was always shia.

Indeed, when Isma‘il captured Tabriz in 1501 he proclaimed himself in pre-Islamic Iranian political terms as Padishah-i Iran. In using the Persian term “Padishah,” to describe his status in “Iran,” he was repeating pre-Islamic Iranian political and geographical/political terminology that had only recently been revived by the Il-Khanid Mongols and used also by the Aq Quyunlu. His invocation of these terms suggests he thought of himself as a political heir of hismatrilineal relatives, the Aq Quyunlu. The ancient term “Iran” had fallen out of use following the Arab-Muslim invasions and had not been used by the Caliphs, or their successors, the Samanids, or the many Turkic dynasties that succeeded them. A final irony of Isma‘il’s use of the term “Iran,” or in one of his poems the phrasemulk-i ‘Ajam, the “state” or “kingdom of Iran,” is that even though Tabriz, Azerbaijan, and Mesopotamia represented provinces of the pre-Islamic Shahanshahs, the “kings of Kings” of Iran, there is no evidence that Isma‘il imagined himself to be reconstituting a new Iranian empire; rather he planned to establish a messianic Shi‘i state on Aq Quyunlu foundations. Within the decade following his capture of Tabriz in 1501, Isma‘il occupied the geographic center of the pre-Islamic Achaemenid and Sasanian Iranian empires. He did so, though, with Oghuz tribes whose knowledge of the Shah-nama and the glories of pre-Islamic Iranian kingship was almost certainly limited to inchoate oral traditions. Isma‘il was reconstituting the Aq Quyunlu state in these conquests, and like that of the Aq Quyunlu, the ultimate focus of his ambitions was eastern Anatolia, where his father and grandfather and he himself had proselytized among the Turks. Dale, S. (2009). The rise of Muslim empires. In The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals (New Approaches to Asian History, pp. 48-76). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511818646.005

Safavids were definitely one of the most interesting Iranian dynasties! It would be interesting to see a video about Abbas the Great as he changed Safavid Iran alot!

It was educating even for me as an Iranian!

In iran before safavid empire many shia Muslims lived in shia cities like qom, kashan, north of iran,sabsevar,rey,... Safavid with help of these shia people successfully converted other persian people to shia islam. Its a fact that many historian ignored it.

Great video ! I have always wondered when Iran took that drastic turn into Twelver Shiism. Any books you can recommend on the matter ?

Great content

Amazing Perfect! just... perfect and accurate!

My Favorite Persians Ferdousi ,Al Khwarizmi were Sunni Muslim You maybe Shia Today Iran but we love you From A Sunni Muslim

You failed to mention that North and Northwest Iran were already of the Shia faith. Tabriz itself is the oldest city to convert to Twelver Shi'ism. Even the Qara Qoyunlu Turkic dynasty which was based in Tabriz was twelver Ja'fari shia. Tabriz and northwest Iran were Shia since the time of Buyids.

good informative vid sir

This is very interesting l learned a lot

At 03:18 - - - - > Just to point out Iman Hassan is not the father of Imam Hussain therefore succession is not from father to son (not even to the eldest child in all circumstances) but rather to one specific male from the linage.

I think it very much speaks to the overall cultural influence of Persia and how different places received it, i.e. South Asians receiving it through the adoption of (Sunni) Islam under the Persian empire whilst in Lebanon, it mainly comes from the close relationship with Iran that started out with that movement of scholars from Jabal Amel (which is majority Shi'a) so as a result, you see that culturally, South Asian Muslims regardless of sect (but are by a vast majority Sunni) resemble Shi'as in Lebanon more than the Sunnis in Lebanon (and I guess this is true for other parts of the fertile crescent but idk for sure)

Really facinating topic to discuss. I always wanted to know what happened in Iran. Thanks for bringing it to life.

Masha Allah very nice history 👌👍

Just a little correction is that, before Safavids shiism did exist in Iran, just that with the Safavids it became heavily politicized

I would argue that Iran becoming Shia has done a lot in preserving a sense of original cultural identity distinguishing the Shia Persians from the Sunni Arabs. A consequence of the Islamic conquest back in the 7th century I believe was the assimilation and forcing of arab culture language and tribal structures on many non Arab groups in the Middle East such as the Coptic Egyptians Assyrians and the Berbers.

Can you put your sources please. I think that will make more sense with so much info that you are putting out thanks . The music at the background is Hazaragi by the way. They are Afghan shia minorities.

Iranian Persians stand out in my mind as a people whose culture is imprisoned by their leaders. They are the descendants of people whose technological superiority allowed them to rule a vast empire, whose art and culture was high above its contemporaries. The art coming out of Iran, now, makes it's way through heavy censorship and with little or no financial support from state sources, and it is stunning how good it is. Many of us in the US don't bother to know the distinction between the Persians and Arabs, between Shia and Sunni. Even then, what we see of Persian Shia culture stands out above their neighbors in the Middle East.

Before this iranian empire many Iranian empires were shia like Iranian buyid dynasty that conquer abbasid cqliphate Or Iranian qarmatians that conquer Arabia they were shia

Interesting - effectively it seems the existence of Afghanistan as an independent state separate to Iran is a consequence of this religious split.

Really great content!

My family probably descends from one of those Shia scholars who moved into Iran after the conversion. From what i understand 14 generations ago my ancestor moved into a tiny mountain pass town near Shiraz, in Fars. It probably helped that there was at least some intermarriage with iranian people. From a dna test I had it turns out i have some markers from Iran, but a lot from the Arab world too. Of course, my dad left the country during the revolution, and settled in India, and got married to my mum, later having kids and all. Both respected each other, so although not allowed by either of their faiths, they had a secular marriage. Neither converted. Also, i was sent to catholic school, because neutral territory. Ive never been to Iran, and the plan is to visit next year around Nowruz. It would be nice to see the resting place of many of my ancestors and eat the food that ive heard stories about for decades, amkngst other things. I have never really considered myself as belonging to any particular faith as i was blasted with 5 different ones in my childhood. Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and slight smattering of Zoroastrian all played their hand. As far as the split goes, everyone knows that the umah is not faring that well under the current Hindu- fundamentalist government in India. I for one would hardly be surprised if i was being lynched because there hage been quite a few already. Sadly, the hatred persists, be it indian vs indian, hindu vs muslim, and shia vs sunni. Im pretty sure that anyone whose plan was to lynch you would not make any distinction about which sect you come from over here. A circumcised male is considered the enemy, regardless of whether they are a child or an old man. Under such circumstances, one would imagine that this hatred would reduce. Even for the sake of survival, that is not yet happened. If even the threat of genocide wont make people band together, i don't know what will. Ill end on a happy note though, a Sunni muslim friend of mine once came over to visit and to seek advice from my late father. "Uncle", he said, "I need some advice." "Yes?" "Uncle i have fallen in love with a Shia girl. What should i do?" "Matam" (Mourning) My dad replied. Hey, if life doesn't make you laugh youre clearly not getting the joke. And if a Karbalayi Sayid can laugh at the sectarian divide, maybe we could all do with a chuckle or two.

May Allah curse those who curse the Rashidun Khalifas!

The Samanid dynasty was founded by Saman Khuda, an 8th-century noble whose descendants, the House of Saman, later became rulers of Persis region, that is the Samanid Empire. He was a Dehqan from the village of Saman in Balkh province, in present-day northern Afghanistan.[12] The earliest appearance of the Samanid family appears to be in Greater Khorasan rather than Transoxiana.[13] In some sources, the Samanids claimed to be descended from the House of Mihran of Bahram Chobin. It has been claimed that the House of Saman belonged to the Oghuz Turks, although the veracity is unlikely.[13] Originally a Zoroastrian, Saman Khuda converted to Islam during the governorship of Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri in Khorasan,[14] and named his oldest son as Asad in the governor's honour.[15] In 819, the governor of Greater Khorasan, Ghassan ibn Abbad, rewarded the four sons of Al-Qasri for their aid against the rebel Rafi ibn al-Layth. Nuh ibn Asad received Samarkand; Ahmad ibn Asad received Farghana; Yahya ibn Asad received Tashkent, and Ilyas ibn Asad received Herat.[14]

Great piece! Now I know why Shias and sufis are so close to eachother in many countries like pakistan, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon.

Thanks bro 👍🏻

The Historical Dictionary of Iran, 2nd Edition, by Dr. John H. Lorentz.

The Turkish and bakui people are hard trolling in the comments section. Cringe af

An excellent informations

Great informative video! The point of Ulema leaving the region is very important, because in Egypt under Ubaidids (So-called Fatimids) ulema took great role in defence of Sunni Islam.

While Kasravi argues that the Safavids were indigenous inhabitants of Iran (i.e., Indo-European rather than Turkic), various early editions of Safvat al-Safa call Sheykh Safi al-Din 'Pir-i Turk', or 'Master/Guide of the Turks'. Later scholars, on the other hand, postulate various other possibilities for the family's ethnic and linguistic background, including Arab and Kurdish. Safavid chronicles begin their narrations of the origins of the Safavids with Safi, who was burning with the love of God' even at a young age and was known for his inquisitive nature. 26 He was not only wise and fluent in six languages (Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Mongolian, Kurdish and Gilani), but also showed signs of 'blessed ness' as the ancestor of a dynasty that would rule the entire time and place. Matthee, R. (Ed.). (2021). The Safavid World (1st ed.). Routledge. pp.18

The first Shi'a was Hazrat Salman Farsi R A, and many Persians were shia in kufa and persia at the Time of Hazrat Ali A S. but majority was non Shia. When Imam Ali Reza A S went to Khorasan , the Persians accepted the true faith of Islam (leaving the political Nawasibi Deen) after learning , understanding the TRU DEEN through his speaches and debates. The third wave of Shiaism was in IRAN when Mangol king Khuda Banda appointed The great Scholer Sheikh Tusi R A as the chief Qazi, after he crushed the anti SHIA Ulema in debates. In his time more then half of Iran was Shia. Rest were converted by Debates during SAFAVI PERIOD and still till today it is an ongoing process.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL THE NAME OF THE BACKGROUND MUSIC AT 1:04

“Prior to the Safavids, Persia was not known for its Shia scholars” (8:16) Hmmm really? Some major Shia scholars who had fundamental roles and happen to be Persian: Shaykh Tabarsi, Shaykh Tusi, Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni etc

What does it matter Shia or Sunni by force before that Zoroastrians were converted by force too into Islam

Excellent clear coverage of history, thank you. Can you please do a video about the history of the Armenians and the Persians, we are very close to each other, and once, we had the same faith, Zoroastrianism until we accepted Christianity in 302 AD, the Persians remained Zoroastrians until the Arab conquest of Persia, carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD.

The Persians a lot of important key figures that helped shape, and develop Sunni Islam as we know it today. Imam Muslim was a Persian who was born in Nishapur Iran, and died there, and is buried there today. Ibn Sina wrote a biography before he passed talking about his Persian roots, and identity, and went back to Iran before he died to buried there. Ghazali, Al Bukhari were also Persians, and actually Bukhari means "heater" in Persian, and his family name "Bardizbah" is old Persian name. Bukhari's family converted from Zoroastrianism to Islam, and there are many more prominent scholars that were Persian. When the Persians became Shia, the top scholars of Shi'ism were Persians as well.

Thanks & Jazaak Allah for giving this comprehensive overview of Shi'a in Iran. Imam Ja'afar and Imam Raza did not explicitly propagate any separate sect of Shi'a under various Abbasid caliphs. Yet, Shi'a sect identity continued in various pockets of Abbasid realm, right through the Turkic resurgence under Zangis and Seljuqs. Can you also do a ptogramme on that earlier evolution of Shi'a?

Very nice video But still i did not understood why safavid changed from Sufism to shiaism ?

i'd like to know where does it say that shah ismail claimed he was the 12th imam. i've never heard that before even though many thought Khomeini was the 12th imam as a passing, but i can't find anything online. thanks. i enjoy your objectivity about religion magic etc.

11:45 that word "Omar Koshan" literally means "Omar Killing" in Persian

Why is there a change of design in thumbnail?

Cool video

"Mulla Salih Qazvini, writing about Isfahan toward the end of Safavid rule, reveals through an anecdote a sense of resentment against non-Muslims in power. He relates that a crazy man (majnun) from Isfahan complained to a general (emir) that in this town only the religiously impure (najis) had authority, rather than human beings. The general responded: ‘Indeed, the impure are the ones riding horses and donkeys, and me I am walking on foot’.The reference here to the impure is to non-Muslims, most probably Armenians and Georgians, who prevailed publicly in Isfahan, distinguishing themselves through their status that allowed them access to horses". Page - 47, The Slaves of the Shah.

This is really a complicated topic. No true Muslim would avoid respecting the prophet or his family. But this was taken to an extreme by the Shia proponents and unfortunately utilized as a political ploy. I feel sad for Iran

its very sad to see the land of some of the greatest ppl like at-tabari and salman al-farsi got destroyed by these shias

Actually Iran also had a big population of zoroastrians in that time which have been killed or exilied or converted to shia.

Love all Muslim's of Iran from Pakistan.

Cuse we iranian love imam Ali(ع) .

What's the music at the start/introduction?

What were Shia regions prior to Safavid Iran? I know that western Yemen has been Shia for a long time and there are some Shia in Syria. Were there other regions that were predominantly Shia?

They may have been Iranians or Turks, or even of Kurdish or Arabic origin, but their appeal was religious rather than ethnic or tribal. Devotion to the Safavid order was widespread among the Türkmen tribes of Azarbayjan and Anatolia. Safavid followers wore a distinctive red turban and were known as Qizilbash, or “red-heads.” The Safavid order was both Sufi and Shiite in orientation, and it is thanks to the Safavids that Iran is a Shiite country today. Religious overtones aside,in most other respects theirs was a typical turkish dynasty. As late as the 1660s and 1670s, a Frenchman at the Safavid court could still write: “Turkish is the language of the armies and of the court; one speaks nothing but Turkish there, as much among the women as among the men, throughout in the seraglios of the great; this comes about because the court is originally of the country of this language, descended from the Türkmens, of whom Turkish is their native tongue. Jeroen Duindam (2016). Dynasties: A Global History of Power, 1300-1800. Cambridge University Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-107-06068-5.

The City Hyderabad (Deccan) structure was drafted from Isfahan City Persia

Like ...very good

Hey mate, what’s the name of the music running in the background

If Iran was Sunni Muslim the reality of Muslim world will change completely Persians Sunni Muslim has contributed so much to islam even so they are now shia I love iran

What in your opinion is basic difference in 3 ibrahimite AS based religions...

Fascinating.

The earliest report on cannibalism in this case comes from the Tarikh-i Shah Isma`il va Shah Tahmasb-I Safavi ( sometimes know also as Zayl-I habib al-siyar) of Khwandamir`s son Amir Mahmud, completed around 1550. Mahmud writes that after the rout, Shah Isma`il was presented with enemy who had been captured alive and he asked them about Shibani Khan`s fate. They said that he had not escaped and a search of the battlefield would likely turn up his body. In Mahmud`s words: When Ismail`s bloody-minded warriors of faith (ghaziyan) heard this from two commanders, they began an intensive search. After much rummaging, they found the body, bearing no wound or cuts, under a pile of slain Uzbeks. They immediately severed the head and brought it to the victorious king, but when he saw this he demanded the whole malice-filled body. Sword-girding countries immediately presented the body, and the brave hero first struck its belly three times with his sword and then said: whoever among our sincere soldiers (qurchiyan-I kasir al-ikhlas) and special servants (mulaziman-I kasir al-ikhtisas) lovesout imperial head (sar-navvab-I humayun-I ma) should partake of the flesh of this enemy. Truthful people present at the event have reported that such a crowd then rushed in upon the body of that impure being that a number of people were injured. Those were far from the body purchased morsel of flesh from those who were near and consumed them. The way they ate this raw, impure (haram) meat, caked with dirt and blood, surpassed the relish with which starving hemp addicts must wolf down the roasted meat of a fattened lamb in moments of being beset by hunger and the cravings of their drug habit.

As a atheist l don’t believe in any God but l find religion…particularly a religion where millions are prepared to die for it fascinating..excellent video by the way !.

Nice

It's all about personal power over believers and prospective believers. It is all the same every time: Power Power Power