APS Diplomat Redrawing the Islamic Map articles from June 2004

APS Diplomat Redrawing the Islamic Map archives from June 2004

IRAN - Resurgence In The Shiite World - Part 7.
June 28, 2004... The future of the Shiites in Iran, ruled by a Jaafari theocracy, will to a great extent depend on what will happen to the Shiite majority in Iraq. The same is true in the case of other members of the Jaafari society elsewhere in the Middle...

IRAN - Background Of Shi'ism.
June 28, 2004... The Prophet Mohammed (born in Mecca around 570 AD as Abul Qasem Mohammed Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdel Muttaleb Ibn Hashem) founded Islam and began his preaching about 610. As his father had died before his birth, Mohammed was raised by his...

IRAN - The Jaafari Background.
June 28, 2004... A newer Shiite sect is the Ithna 'Ashariya (The Twelver) whose followers hold the line down to the 12th Imam, Mohammed Al Muntazar (the Awaited - or what the Iranians call Wali-e Asr), who the faithful say went into hiding in 878 and is...

IRAN - The Safawi Movement.
June 28, 2004... Shi'ism has been a convenient banner under which the downtrodden could unite in hostility to the ruling Sunni class (whether this was Arab in the person of governors appointed by the caliph, or local rulers in Persia who had retained their...

IRAN - The Current Theocracy.(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... Iranian critics say openly that when they call Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a "shah" they mean a dictator who represents neither God nor the people. The difference with a Safawid shah is that today all things are shown on TV...