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The vast majority of Iranians are Muslims of the Ithn Ashar, or Twelver, Shite branch, which is the official state religion. The Kurds and Turkmen are predominantly Sunni Muslims, but Irans Arabs are both Sunni and Shite. Small communities of Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are also found throughout the country.

The two cornerstones of Iranian Shism are the promise of the return of the divinely inspired 12th imamMuammad al-Mahd al-ujjah, whom Shites believe to be the mahdiand the veneration of his martyred forebears. The absence of the imam contributed indirectly to the development in modern Iran of a strong Shite clergy whose penchant for status, particularly in the 20th century, led to a proliferation of titles and honorifics unique in the Islamic world. The Shite clergy have been the predominant political and social force in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

There is no concept of ordination in Islam. Hence, the role of clergy is played not by a priesthood but by a community of scholars, the ulama (Arabic ulam). To become a member of the Shite ulama, a male Muslim need only attend a traditional Islamic college, or madrasah. The main course of study in such an institution is Islamic jurisprudence (Arabic fiqh), but a student need not complete his madrasah studies to become a faqh, or jurist. In Iran such a low-level clergyman is generally referred to by the generic term mullah (Arabic al-mawl, lord; Persian mull) or khnd or, more recently, rn (Persian: spiritual). To become a mullah, one need merely advance to a level of scholarly competence recognized by other members of the clergy. Mullahs staff the vast majority of local religious posts in Iran.

An aspirant gains the higher status of mujtahida scholar competent to practice independent reasoning in legal judgment (Arabic ijtihd)by first graduating from a recognized madrasah and obtaining the general recognition of his peers and then, most important, by gaining a substantial following among the Shite community. A contender for this status is ordinarily referred to by the honorific hojatoleslm (Arabic ujjat al-Islm, proof of Islam). Few clergymen are eventually recognized as mujtahids, and some are honoured by the term ayatollah (Arabic yat Allh, sign of God). The honorific of grand ayatollah (yat Allh al-um) is conferred only upon those Shite mujtahids whose level of insight and expertise in Islamic canon law has risen to the level of one who is worthy of being a marja-e taqld (Arabic marja al-taqld, model of emulation), the highest level of excellence in Iranian Shism.

There is no real religious hierarchy or infrastructure within Shism, and scholars often hold independent and varied views on political, social, and religious issues. Hence, these honorifics are not awarded but attained by scholars through general consensus and popular appeal. Shites of every level defer to clergymen on the basis of their reputation for learning and judicial acumen, and the trend has become strong in modern Shism for every believer, in order to avoid sin, to follow the teachings of his or her chosen marja-e taqld. This has increased the power of the ulama in Iran, and it has also enhanced their role as mediators to the divine in a way not seen in Sunni Islam or in earlier Shism.

Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are the most significant religious minorities. Christians are the most numerous group of these, Orthodox Armenians constituting the bulk. The Assyrians are Nestorian, Protestant, and Roman Catholic, as are a few converts from other ethnic groups. The Zoroastrians are largely concentrated in Yazd in central Iran, Kermn in the southeast, and Tehrn.

Religious toleration, one of the characteristics of Iran during the Pahlavi monarchy, came to an end with the Islamic revolution in 1979. While Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are recognized in the constitution of 1979 as official minorities, the revolutionary atmosphere in Iran was not conducive to equal treatment of non-Muslims. Among these, members of the Bah faitha religion founded in Iranwere the victims of the greatest persecution. The Jewish population, which had been significant before 1979, emigrated in great numbers after the revolution.

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Iran - Religion | Britannica.com