Why the Safavid Dynasty?
Epilogue
December 2, 2022Advice to all the Ahlus Sunnah
December 2, 2022BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents
Why the Safavid Dynasty?
Perhaps one may ask, Iran has been ruled by a myriad of dynasties. The Anshariyyah, the Qajariyyah, the Bahlawiyyah, the Zindiyyah, and others; all Shia dynasties. Why single out and discuss the Safavid Dynasty? Is the focal point Iran as a hostile state to Iraq, or is the Iranian Shia? In other words, is the focus, a religious dimension or a nationalist dimension?
The Safavid Dynasty was the first in the history of Shia thought—from the 4th century Hijri—to be able to practically realize and implement a theory which remained unrealized for 6 centuries. Even though many Shia dynasties had appeared in pockets throughout history such as the Fatamids in the East and Egypt, before them the Buwayhids in Iraq and the Persian lands which made a shell of the Abbasids, and a number of smaller Shia states; however, none of these carried out mass executions and displacements as the Safavids had done. The Safavids were responsible for forcible conversions, introducing new dogmas, resurrecting extreme ideologies, and creating sectarian hatred that lives on to this day.
More than twenty years after the Iranian Revolution, it has become abundantly clear that that this revolution and its resulting state has been built upon resurrecting the Safavid ideologies of old. At the very beginning they attempted to export this revolution, but failed due to the Iran-Iraq war. After the war and the weakening of Iraq, the 50-year plan of Shia expansion in the region by way of missionaries emerged. The Ahlus Sunnah rulers and masses remained oblivious of this and of the Western–Iranian cooperation. Their plan then changed and, no holds barred, they reverted once more to the bloody Safavid ideology. This was a conglomerate of a Shia and Persian dream to reinstate the magnificent Persian Empire. If it wasn’t for the news outlets and satellite channels which exposed their practices, the bloodshed today would have been far worse compared to what we have already seen and heard.
Historians and thinkers may become lethargic to this truth and would perhaps seek to explain it away in a manner that does not reflect the reality. Or they might attempt to become blind to historical actualities and pursue an alternative justification that is not in line with what is. This will continue until the Safavid thought is not understood. A thought that wishes to marry nationalist—populist—ambition upon the drivetrain of Shia hatred.
NEXT⇒ Advice to all the Ahlus Sunnah
BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents
Why the Safavid Dynasty?
Perhaps one may ask, Iran has been ruled by a myriad of dynasties. The Anshariyyah, the Qajariyyah, the Bahlawiyyah, the Zindiyyah, and others; all Shia dynasties. Why single out and discuss the Safavid Dynasty? Is the focal point Iran as a hostile state to Iraq, or is the Iranian Shia? In other words, is the focus, a religious dimension or a nationalist dimension?
The Safavid Dynasty was the first in the history of Shia thought—from the 4th century Hijri—to be able to practically realize and implement a theory which remained unrealized for 6 centuries. Even though many Shia dynasties had appeared in pockets throughout history such as the Fatamids in the East and Egypt, before them the Buwayhids in Iraq and the Persian lands which made a shell of the Abbasids, and a number of smaller Shia states; however, none of these carried out mass executions and displacements as the Safavids had done. The Safavids were responsible for forcible conversions, introducing new dogmas, resurrecting extreme ideologies, and creating sectarian hatred that lives on to this day.
More than twenty years after the Iranian Revolution, it has become abundantly clear that that this revolution and its resulting state has been built upon resurrecting the Safavid ideologies of old. At the very beginning they attempted to export this revolution, but failed due to the Iran-Iraq war. After the war and the weakening of Iraq, the 50-year plan of Shia expansion in the region by way of missionaries emerged. The Ahlus Sunnah rulers and masses remained oblivious of this and of the Western–Iranian cooperation. Their plan then changed and, no holds barred, they reverted once more to the bloody Safavid ideology. This was a conglomerate of a Shia and Persian dream to reinstate the magnificent Persian Empire. If it wasn’t for the news outlets and satellite channels which exposed their practices, the bloodshed today would have been far worse compared to what we have already seen and heard.
Historians and thinkers may become lethargic to this truth and would perhaps seek to explain it away in a manner that does not reflect the reality. Or they might attempt to become blind to historical actualities and pursue an alternative justification that is not in line with what is. This will continue until the Safavid thought is not understood. A thought that wishes to marry nationalist—populist—ambition upon the drivetrain of Shia hatred.