Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran
A Socio-Legal Analysis

This Element shows how Iran, an authoritarian theocracy, manages religions and spiritual currents operating within its territory.

Sajjad Adeliyan Tous (Author), James T. Richardson (Author)

9781009460071, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 13 June 2024

80 pages
23 x 15 x 0.5 cm, 0.136 kg

'This scholarly [Element] provides a philosophically informed analysis of how the Iranian authoritarian theocracy's legal system regulates religion. The authors provide insightful observations that are worth considering. This work, which is appropriate for colleagues in the social and political sciences as well as the humanities, offers critical study of religion in the IRI.' Muhammad Asad Latif, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

This Element offers a theoretically informed examination of the manner in which religion, especially alternative and emergent religious and spiritual movements, is managed by law and legal mechanisms in the authoritarian theocracy of Iran. It highlights how these phenomena have been affected by the intersection of law, politics, and Shiʿi theology in recent Iranian history. The growing interest of Iranian citizens in new religious movements and spiritual currents, fostered by the cultural diffusion of Western writings and ideas, is described. The development of religious diversity in Iran and a corresponding loss of commitment toward some Islamic doctrines and practices are of considerable concern to both the Iranian religious and political establishments. This has led to social control efforts over any religious and spiritual movement differing from the regime's view of Islam. Those efforts, supported in large part by Western anticult ideas, culminated in the passage of a piece of stringent legislation in 2021. The Element closes with applications of theorizing from the sociology of law and of religion.

Introduction and relevant background
1. Religion and religious freedom in Iran's post-revolutionary constitution
2. Religious freedom status of minority religious groups in Iran: an overview
3. Religious life, cultural diffusion, and religious pluralism in Iran
4. Social control of new religious movements in Iran: a chronology and analysis
5. Conclusions, relevant sociological theories and theoretical applications
References.

Subject Areas: History of religion [HRAX]