RELIGION-IRAN
Ruling Shiites' Influence Eroded by Other Faiths


By Ramin Mostaghim

TEHRAN, May 5 (IPS) - ''Be aware young men, safeguard your beloved Shiite Islam.''

When issuing this admonition at a gathering of senior high school students in the north of the Iranian capital in April, Hasan Mohammadi underscored his point by noting: ''Unfortunately, on average, everyday 50 Iranian girls and boys convert secretly to Christian denominations in our country.''

Some believe that Mohammadi, who had been hired by the Ministry of Education to teach Islamic precepts to high school and university students in this country run by Islamic clerics, also highlighted the ruling regime's fear that its influence is waning.

The 47-year-old cleric ''unknowing admitted the defeat of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a theocratic regime in promoting its Islam,'' said Hamad Egbali, whose son, Ali, was in the audience.

Every Friday afternoon at the Philadelphia Church, almost 2,000 Armenians, Assyrians and others former Muslims who have secretly converted gather to worship.

The church is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, a U.S.-based Protestant denomination that was active in Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Ironically, it is located less than 10 metres from the venue at the University of Tehran that Muslims use for Friday prayers.

''We have a different niche,'' explained preacher Vartan Gregorian, noting that Muslim worshippers leave the area about two hours before the first of two church services begins at 4 p.m.

This religious coexistence in this country, however, has not always been peaceful. ''By paying a high price we have managed to keep this church open to the lovers of our Lord, Jesus,'' Gregorian said.

At least four Assembly of God preachers were kidnapped and murdered during the first decade after the revolution, according to Gregorian.

In the wake of one incident, he said, state security forces asked the Philadelphia Church to close its bookstore that carried Persian and English texts. This the bookstore had to do ''so that the zealous Muslims in the Friday prayers are not offended and we are not accused of proselytising Muslims, which is a criminal act in Iran''.

One worshipper, who converted from Islam 10 months ago, explained, ''As long as we do not assert ourselves as newly converted Christians, we are tolerated. And at home, I do not debate religious issues with my brothers and parents.''

It is only at church that he can openly profess his newfound faith, he said. ''Once a week I experience a new life.''

But Christianity is not the only religion viewed as a threat to young Iranians and Shiite Islam authority.

Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, a prominent Shiite teacher in the holy city of Qom, has been quoted in the local newspapers as denouncing Sufism, an umbrella term used to describe ascetic and mystical movements within Islam that promote direct experience of Allah.

''Sufistic schools of thoughts and mystic ideas and dervishes are deceiving our youth,'' he said.

Sufis, whose beliefs are seen as heretical by orthodox Muslims, have been rounded up and jailed for questioning the legitimacy of the religious leadership in Iran, Shirazi adds.

''An unaccounted number of sufists and dervishes are in jail. These are dervishes whose followers are no more supporters of the Islamic regime,'' said Masoud, a 51-year-old dervish (master).

According to Masoud, who asked IPS not to use his family name, the ruling Islamic clerics have reason to be concerned about the waning influence of their brand of Islam over young Iranians.

''In the first decade of the revolution, the regime mobilised the youth for war and brainwashed them to make them zealous troops of the Almighty God,'' he explained. ''Nowadays, the youth indirectly take distance from established Islamic ideology, and the regime gets furious when it sees it is losing its own ideological soldiers.''

Another belief that the Islamic government's ''ideological soldiers'' are deserting it for is Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion that was once the official faith of the Persian Empire.

''(An) increasing number of young people come here to convert to Zoroastrianism,'' said Hormoz Hormouzyari, an official at the Zoroastrianism publication centre in Tehran. ''You can see the trend in (their) reading the books about Zoroastrianism.''

Hormouzyari explains that Zoroastrianism, like other religions, does not adhere to the Islamic belief in 'mahdour-ul-da', the shedding of the blood of anyone who converts to another religion.

Dissatisfaction with the ruling Shiites can be seen not only in what young Iranians are reading but also in what they are wearing as part of their faith.

Images of the god Ahurmazada, winged bulls and other pre-Islamic icons, dating back as far as the 7th century B.C., have become a popular fashion accessory. Cast in gold, they are most often worn as necklaces.

''They're showing off their protest against the Islamic values,'' Mohammad Ali Mosavi, owner of a jewelry shop in downtown Tehran, said in an interview. He explained that ''in Shiite Islam, men should not wear golden ornaments.''

Among those making a statement with his fashion is 20-year-old university student Arash Emdadi. ''I do not know what exactly this icon is,'' he said, ''but I feel (the need) to identify myself with pre-Islamic icons, as I do not see anything in Islam to be proud of.'' (END/IPS/AP/MM/CR/PR/RM/PZ/JS/04)

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