FOR's Peacemaking Delegation to Iran: May 2007

Report One, Part 3: Oneness and Humanity -- Religious Observations

By Andrea Briggs, Sandra Mackie, Thomas Moore, and Michael White

A visitor to Iran would have very little trouble finding out that Islam is the dominant religion there. Although there are Jewish temples and Christian churches, the minarets of mosques are numerous and everywhere. There are portraits of the ayatollahs (the supreme leaders of Iran) inside and outside of most buildings and even on the currency of Iran. Hotel rooms have Qu’rans and prayer rugs available as well as a directional indicator Mecca. Women in Iran are required to wear the chador or veil.

Iran is home to warm and friendly people who are open and willing to discuss many aspects of their lives. If the topic is religion they often volunteer their proud connection to pre-Islamic times, when Zoroastrianism was the primary religion of Persia. Many mosques and tombs in Iran contain at their entrance the Zoroastrian symbol for the universal peace of humanity represented by the image of a very stylized blue vase of flowers.

Images of ayatollahs, minarets, and chadors on women are outward signs of Islam’s presence in modern Persia, but conversation with the people here reveals much more. When asked what they believe, repeatedly the response is humanity. One shopkeeper in the village of Mosuleh, in the Alborz Mountains in northern Iran near the Caspian Sea, put it this way:

Some people believe that you must travel to Mecca to have your soul cleansed in the atmosphere of that holy place. But really we are each, everyone in the world, born with a pure heart. We choose with our heads to do right things or wrong things.

Michael White with a man in Anzali

While Iran is officially Islamic, we have been told that many different religious traditions have contributed to modern Iranian culture. Iranians have been celebrating the solstice, December 21, for as many as 3,500 years, when Persians worshipped the sun. In observing the New Year on the spring equinox, symbols important to Zoroastrianism play a major role, including mirrors, candles, gold fish, apples, and eggs. Tile decorations in mosques show flowers in vases important to Zoroastrians. 

Iranians remember that their own Cyrus the Great freed the Jewish people from the Babylonians in the 6th century B.C.E. The stories about Daniel are important to them. The tombs of four Jewish prophets are in Iran.

Some of the oldest known sites of Christian churches are in Iran, near the Armenian border. Some of these churches date to the first century C.E. Modern Iranians are fond of poetry, especially that of three Sufis: Saadi and Rumi (13th century), and Hafiz (14th century).

What is important to know about the people of Iran is that religion has not been a barrier to peace and friendship here. We have met anti-religious youth, people praying in temples, and ordinary citizens in public places. It is not hard to find common ground with anyone.

Often the connections we have made were nonverbal, through honoring and acknowledging each other. The dialogue seemed to reflect the same. Everywhere we have gone we have heard messages of oneness and hope for peace. No one seemed to put their religion or cultural differences before the simple experience of connection and equality of the heart.