Religion in Iran

Following the 1979 Revolution, Iran voted by national referendum to become an Islamic Republic and to approve a theocratic constitution. The preponderance of religiosity in Iran is the Twelver Shi’a sub-branch of Islam (the official state religion) constituting approximately 90 to 95% of the population (CIA World Fact Book, 2014). Approximately 5 to 10% of the population belong to the Sunni Branch of Islam, aggregating a total Muslim population of 99.4%. The remaining less than 1% of the population are non-Muslim minorities, including Bahá’ís, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Mandeans, Yarsanis, Yezidis, and Zoroastrians. The Constitution of Iran officially recognises three minority religions along with the State religion of Islam – Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism –all have reserved seats in the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) and, under the constitution, are protected religious minorities who may worship freely and have autonomy over their own matters of personal status such as marriage, divorce and inheritance. The significant non-Muslim religious minority, the Bahá’í faith, is not officially recognised and adherents have faced persistent persecution during its existence in Iran.

The International Religious Freedoms Report (2009) and the United Nations suggest that there are currently 300,000 Christians in Iran, constituting 0.37% of the total population. Operation World (2010) suggests this figure is somewhat higher at 390,000, constituting 0.49% of the population. Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Iran at an average annual rate of 5.2% whilst the non-religious population is estimated at 210,000 (0.28%) and has the fastest annual growth rate at 7.2%. The other major religions in Iran are Bahá’i with approximately 300,000 (0.4%), Jewish with 15,000 (0.02%) and other religions constitute around 112,000 (0.15%).

The Apostasy Law

Islam is a religion of law, rituals and duties that culminate in an all-encompassing religious, social and political system and way of life. By adopting a theocratic constitution, Iran’s legal system became founded on Islamic shari’a law that is based on the Qur’an and the hadith (the collected sayings and deeds of Muhammad), which hence are seen to be divinely inspired texts and therefore unchangeable. Shari’a is a legal structure of codified and detailed rules that are pervasive throughout every Muslim’s life from family affairs to behavioural norms to politics and economics. Analogous to other political systems, breaking shari’a law has a prescribed set of punishments associated with the degree of the crime. Additionally, shari’a law identifies certain specific crimes deemed to be committed against Allah and his rights (Hudud, singular Hadd) and are therefore subject to a separate category of criminal law as they are divinely mandated and therefore obligatory. It is from this category that apostasy, defined as religious disaffiliation, in which a person renounces their religious beliefs, incurs a God-prescribed penalty of death. The apostate laws are only applied asymmetrically as conversion to Islam is both welcomed and actively encouraged. Apostates can be reprieved if they revert back to Islam within a given time period.

Taking account of the nature of the Iranian state as an Islamic theocracy, and Islam’s apostasy laws, the paradoxical religiosity conversion of Muslims to Christianity that is observed in Iran is remarkable. The robust growth experienced by Christianity, and even the apparent rejection of religion by significant numbers of people, suggests that the current apostasy laws do little to deter the questioning of the credence and the verisimilitude of the Islamic doctrine portrayed in Iran. The perceived threat posed by Christianisation and secularism to the Islamic State (acknowledged in public statements by the Supreme Leader and other influential leaders in October 2010) has increased the persecution of religious minorities in Iran as the Mullahs consistently inveigh non-Muslims to consolidate the Islamic State. This rhetoric was encapsulated by the proposed bill in September 2008, which approved amending the ambiguity on the language on apostasy which could be later codified into Iranian legislation. Judges currently revert to Islamic law for apostates in order to pass the death sentence; however, should the bill be mandated this will endanger the lives of all converts from Islam.