Background of the Birth of Islam [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Achaemenid period there was no religion as the state
religion, although the priests were regarded as a
distinguished class, yet they had no official
recognition. During the Ashkani period, too, the position
was the same.

Zoroastrianism as the State
Religion

Ardshir got the idea of giving a state religion to the
country and that the government should have an official
religion, and this religion was Zoroastrianism. There may
have existed some evidence to show that this matter was
based on a social necessity in the sense that Ardshir
intended to revive a kind of Iranian nationality based on
past history, and link his lineage to the Achaemenids and
so prove himself as a kin and descendant of Kurosh; also
as Zoroastrianism was an Iranian religion with a
considerable following, he figured that by reviving that
religion, he could exploit both the lines of propaganda
to expand and reinforce his rule. If this was the case,
then by establishing a state religion and linking
religion with politics was a dictate of his time. Or
perhaps these considerations were never relevant and the
matter was wholly personal. In any case with the
assumption of power by the Sassanids, a new factor
entered the social life of the Iranians, namely that the
government recognised a state religion that is
Zoroastrianism. During the Achaemenid period, Greece was
a powerful rival of Iran on its western frontiers, a
Greece which frequently included parts of Turkey and
Syria. Although until the rise of Alexander no strong
government existed in Greece, yet even those small
governments asserted some weight. For instance even
though Athens was much smaller in area and population as
compared with Iran, still it held a high position from
the viewpoint of philosophy, civilisation, political
concepts and naval power and military potential. Thus
they were always a source of trouble for Iran. In the
Achaemenid time other antagonists on the western borders
were Chaldea, Babylon and Assyria in the region of Iraq,
and Syria and a part of Turkey, but the Achaemenids
removed these obstacles and conquered them, leaving
Greece as a strong opponent. In the Sassanid period there
was no powerful Greece any more. In the Achaemenid period
although there were governments in Rome and Italy, yet
they were not of much importance. But during the Sassanid
period that is for eight centuries, there rose a powerful
government and a great empire in that part of the world
with its center in Rome. This empire, too, had a state
religion which was Christianity In north Africa, Egypt
still retained its position as an ancient civilisation,
and the islands of Crete[33] and Sicily,[34] too,
possessed an ancient history and civilisation.

On the whole southern Europe was under the control of
a strong government with its center in Rome and
Christianity as its state religion. But whether the wide
influence of Christianity at that time or thereabouts and
its recognition as the state religion had been a pressing
necessity and an effective factor in influencing Ardshir
in adopting an official religion for his government, is a
question that requires further study. But anyhow the
Sassanid empire had as its western neighbour a vast and
powerful government in the Roman Empire where
Christianity was the state religion.

Between the Persian and the Roman empires were
situated the remains of Chaldea, Assyria and Babylon
which kept on changing hands between these two. The
middle east as far as history can recall, has never been
a quiet region, especially at the time when the empires
of Iran and Rome were engaged in playing vital rules in
the world. What is known for certain, however, is that
the Sassanid government began its work on a new basis,
namely the recognising of a state religion, a religion
which was patronised by the ruling class and was attended
by elaborate ceremonies by the Zoroastrian priests and
their organisation which was able to exert pressure upon
religious minorities and followers of other religions.
This was actually the case in many of the Sassanid years
when non-Zoroastrian minorities remained under duress.

In the discussions related to religion tolerance in
Islam and before Islam, it is worth remembering that
during the 427 years' rule of the Sassanids in Iran,[35]
almost no tolerance was shown. The Iranian government
recognised a state religion dominated by a powerful
organisation of Zoroastrian priests which kept the
religious minorities under duress. This of course was the
situation for most of the time.

Meanwhile during the period when Iran was formally
recognised as a Zoroastrian state, there appeared signs
of influence of different views and faiths, namely the
influence of Buddhism, certain Indian creeds,
Christianity and Judaism upon the thoughts and beliefs of
Iranians. This is the first characteristic of the
Sassanid rule which lasted four centuries before the
advent of Islam.

Administration of the
State

The second characteristic of the Sassanid rule was its
administration, possessing a developed organisation with
official bureaus, correspondence, decrees, accounts and
records to a greater extent than before. It could be said
that with the arrival of Alexander in Iran and
afterwards, Iran went through an evolutionary period in
this respect. Thus in this period the influence of tribes
who were called 'clerks' or 'secretaries' and worked in
government offices, grew much greater during the Sassanid
role than before, and they played a significant role. The
art of writing in the Sassanid time was not only limited
to government business, but was also important in
religion. In the early years of this dynasty's rule
'Avesta' which had till then not been compiled and
existed only in memorised form that was transferred
verbatim from person to person, was compiled with the
endeavours of the Zoroastrian priests and even
commentaries were added in the form of 'Zand' and
'Pazand'. In this way the principles of faith became
defined and organised. Here we quote from a text by the
head priest and religious authority of the time of
Ardshir Babakan, the first Sassanid king, to show the
influence of religion and ecclesiastical organisation in
the Sassanid system of government. It says:

"The Mazdai faith was strengthened by my hand,
the learned men were rightfully elevated to high placer.
Those of the 'Magi' who were seized with doubts and
uncertainties, were punished by me, or were pardoned
after they had confessed their errors and sins.[36]
Fire-temples were built by me and the Magi were assigned
to them. God, the King and I confirmed their
appointments.[37] Numerous fire-temples were built
throughout Iran. Intermarriage between kinsmen and near
relatives was once more forbidden.[38] Under my guidance
those had worshiped demons, turned back to God. Crowns
were removed from the heads of many a sovereign.[39]
Faith and religion found glory and splendour, and God's
command overshadowed everything. If I were to write down
all the tasks which have been accomplished, it would
prove a lengthy process. Wherever our army stepped, a
fire-temple was set up. In Antioch, Talis, Armenia,
Georgia ... everywhere we set up fire-temples."[40]

Thus it would appear that in these conditions the
Sassanids assumed power in Iran and the influence of
clerks, secretaries and government recorders as well as
clergymen was paramount. To show the influence of the
scribes and clerks, we will quote from Henri Masse, a
well-known European Orientalist:[41]

"At the head of the government was the Grand
Vazir who, under the direct command of the King,
administered the country and acted as his deputy when the
king was away on travel or engaged in the battlefield.
Next to him was the Zoroastrian high priest. This shows
that in those days ministerial position and
chancellorship served the king and acted for him, whereas
previous to this, the Army commander came next to the
king in precedence. At this time, although the field
commanders and generals held importance, the highest
authority in the administration of the country was vested
in the Grand Vazir and Chief of scribes and
secretaries."

In order to further illustrate extent to which the
people's political life was mixed with religion, we will
quote another part from Henri Masse's writing: "A
large number of clergymen intervened in the affairs of
the people and controlled their daily life, thereby
gaining much wealth, and extending the sphere of their
influence, and becoming an independent state within the
state.

Occasionally they would even form a front against the
king in collaboration with the nobility, and such,
confrontation weakened the Sassanid rule."

The purpose of quoting these points is to show the
degree of influence religion exerted in the social life
and in governmental affairs and administration of the
country. All this paved the way both positively and
negatively, for the spread of Islam into Iran.

Generally speaking the two characteristics of the
Sassanid period were: the mingling of politics and the
government, with religion and the extraordinary degree of
influence of the clergy and their religious organisations
to such an extent that it would be interesting to note at
that time a seminary and a college of logic existed
alongside in the city of Rey, for the training of
religious students for various positions. Another
important point was the high degree of influence the
clerks and government employees and keepers of records
had in the society.

As it has been noted earlier, the social life of
people was always divided into various clans and in this
period the order of classes was undergoing a change.

Social Class Structure

In the Sassanid time the division of the population
into the 'haves' and 'have not' became more apparent. The
distinguished classes were made up of the clerks, clergy,
military and nobles, while the ordinary classes included
artisans, farmers and tradesmen. These upper classes
during the most famous and brilliant period, namely in
the time of king Khusrow Anushiravan I, enjoyed the most
privileged life and were exempted from the payment of
taxes and from conscription in wars; all these burdens
were placed upon the class of artisans and tradesmen and
especially upon the villagers, The artisans and tradesmen
class paid taxes only, while the villagers had to give
both money and their lives in return for a meagre
livelihood. In this manner there existed a great class
difference during the Sassanid rule, especially among the
ordinary classes which were made up of rural population
and the tradesmen and artisans.

1) Foreign Policy

During the four centuries of the Sassanid rule, from
the viewpoint of foreign relations, wars between Iran and
Rome were the most significant events in the pages of
history. In these wars there were several points worthy
of attention, the foremost being the intervention of
religion in the conduct of wars.

At the beginning of the 5th century A.D. under the
leadership of a priest named Nestorius[42] a sect called
Nestorians came into being among the Christians in the
region of Syria. This sect differed from the other
Christians in their beliefs, and for that reason they
were condemned for heresy and excommunicated by the
powerful church of that time in Constantinope, whereas
the sect had a large following in the Middle East.
Although Zoroastrianism was at that time the state
religion of Iran, the government gave asylum to the
Nestorians in order to gather a group of supporters
between its own realm and Rome, its powerful neighbour.
This support enabled the Nestorians to build churches in
the realm of Iran and engage in propagating their
religion.

The other point is that when the Roman Emperors saw
that the powerful and centralised government in Iran had
become a source of trouble for them, after revealing its
intentions of conquering all of the Roman empire and
moreover, owing to its distance from the territories of
Iran and its inability to maintain watch over its distant
frontiers, a powerful emperor of Rome named
Constantine[43] decided to establish an eastern capital
for himself. This coincided with the time when the
Iranian emperor, too, had determined to establish a
western capital at Tysphon in the territory of Iraq,
while the Romans chose the city of Byzantine which later
on became known as Constantinople. This change of capital
from Rome to Constantinople produced many changes in the
past history, the main factor of which was the vicinity
of the two powerful neighbours who were engaged in
constant dispute, not about any ideology, but about
expanding their respective realms and conquering the
world, namely personal motives. Thus the foreign policy
of Iran in this period was firstly dominated by religion,
and secondly by the continued wars lasting four
centuries. For one hundred years, there existed a peace
pact between them, but for the rest of the period, namely
for three centuries they were continuously in a state of
war which became quite intense at the end of the sixth
century A.D. That is in the time of Khosrow Parviz when
intense wars raged between him and Heraclius, the Roman
emperor. Both these emperors were contemporaries of the
holy Prophet of Islam who sent written communications
inviting them to embrace Islam. The war between the
Emperors of Iran and Rome continued so long that they
were losing their last ounce of strength. We will discuss
these wars in more details later on when the subject of
the birth of Islam comes up.

The Appearance of
Manichaeus

As mentioned earlier, the rule of Ardshir, began with
the recognition of the Zoroastrian faith. After his
death, Shapoor the 1st, his son, became king who after
further expanding the realm of his father, dominated the
situation. He learnt that a man named Manichaeus[44] had
risen claiming to be a prophet. Shapoor 1 received
Manichaeus in court and after a few sessions fell deeply
under his influence.

Manichaeus was an Iranian who was bom in Iraq in a
village by the Tigris. He was familiar with Christianity,
Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and by mingling these three
faiths created a special creed and declared himself its
prophet. After meeting Shapoor in Khuzistan and
influencing him in favor of his religion, he obtained
from Shapoor a directive to all his governors to allow
Manichaeus and his missionaries freedom to propagate
their religion.

Manichaeus rose as a reformer of the Zoroastrian
religion, but he offered a set of teachings which were a
combination of the ideas of Zoroaster, Christ and Buddha.
For thirty years Manichaeus and his missionaries carried
out their mission, winning numerous followers until in
the time of Bahram II in the year 277 Manichaeus was
arrested and in a court held by the Zoroastrian high
priest he was charged with heresy in religion. He was
thrown in prison and after 26 days he was killed there in
an atrocious manner. His skin was then filled with straw
and hung in front of Bahram's court as a warning to
anyone who committed heresy in religion.

The question is what led Shapoor to favor Manichaeus'
religion? Historians explain that Shapoor had realised
that the Zoroastrian faith did not fulfill the needs and