Islam in Persia
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: W. St. Clair Tisdall, Islam in Persia, bahai-library.com.
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Islam in Persia

W. St. Clair Tisdall

published in The Mohammedan World of To-Day pp. 113-130

New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1906

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Islam in Persia

EVER since the Arabian conquest of Persia,
about the year 640 of our era, the dominant religion of the country has been the Mohammedan,
which was established by the sword. The Shiah
form of Islam became supreme in the country
during the tenth century. Although the Sunni
faith was declared the religion of Persia under
Nadir Shah in 1736, yet Agha Mohammed, the
founder of the present Qajar dynasty restored the
supremacy of the Shiah faith in 1796.

There is no such thing as a census in Persia and
hence it is impossible to form accurate estimates
of the population. Lord Curzon believes that it
is between eight and ten millions. Of these some
750,000 or 800,000 are said to be Sunnis, though I
consider this estimate too high. The Behais claim
to number 1,000,000 adherents, and are certainly
very numerous. There are some 10,000 Parsis,
chiefly in Yezd and Kerman; about 20,000 Jews
in Ispahan, Teheran, Hamadan and other large
cities; 53,000 Armenians in the Armenian provinces and in Julfa (new) and its neighbourhood,
and 30,000 Nestorians about Urmia. All the rest
of the population are nominally Shiites, though
the Bakhtiyaris and the nomad tribes know little

116 The Mohammedan World of To- Day

of Islam, and the educated classes are mostly Sufi
free-thinkers. The leading sects are the Ismailis,
the Ali-Ilahis (especially among the Kurds), the
Akhbaris and the Shaikhis. It is from the latter
sect that the Babis and Behais sprang. The Babis
are now few in number, most of them having
become followers of the Baha.

The social condition of Moslems in Persia can
not be said to be a high one. Women hold a very
low position and have few rights. They are closely
veiled when they go abroad, even in the lowest
classes, except among the nomad tribes, whose
women enjoy much greater liberty. Religiously,
few privileges are granted them. They are not
encouraged to attend service in the mosques, but
in some instances have their own small places of
worship. I have heard of a case in which a woman
acted as the Imam to a small gathering of her
own sex. The well-known Mohammedan law of
polygamy and divorce holds in Persia as in other
Mohammedan lands and hence a woman has practically no social rights. Jealousy frequently leads
to murder and suicide on the part of woman. Men
have been known to murder their wives with impunity and with hardly an effort to conceal their
guilt, and that for no crime even alleged. In case
of adultery, the husband and his wife's male relatives not infrequently punish the guilty woman
with death. Of course adultery on the husband's
part goes unpunished. For murdering her husband, a woman was crucified and then strangled

Islam in Persia 117

in Ispahan during my residence in Persia. Marriage often takes place when the girl is seven or
nine years of age, in accordance with Mohammed's
example in his marriage with Ayesha. The evil
results of this are well known. The mutofah
(called in Persia siyheh] system of temporary marriages prevails under religious sanction among the
Shiites, in accordance with traditions which they
accept and the Sunnis reject. Hence at Qum and
other "holy" cities to which crowds of pilgrims
resort there are large numbers of women who
have devoted themselves to this kind of life, the
Mullas and Mujtahids there draw a large part of
their income from the fees they receive for celebrating these temporary marriages. It is rare to
find a woman who can read. It is hardly necessary to point out that such treatment of women
has tended to the moral and social degradation of
the other sex. Immorality is one of the great
vices of Persia. Lying has been elevated to the
dignity of a fine art, owing to the doctrine of
Kitman-ud-din which is held by the Shiah religious community.

The Behais are far superior in morality to the
mass of the Moslems of Persia. Except when the
first wife has no children, a man is not allowed a
second wife during her lifetime. Even under these
circumstances, he is not thought of highly should
he take a second wife. Divorce is permitted only
for a wife's adultery. The Behais profess to place
the Old and New Testaments on the same level as

118 The Mohammedan World of To-Day

the Koran and their own books. They are more
liberal in their views with regard to women's education, and some Behai women have risen high in
the esteem of the members of the sect. Some
have become Behai missionaries to their own sect.

There is no political liberty in Persia. The people are not allowed to take any part in politics.
The Shah is an absolute monarch and his decrees
are the secular law of the country, the only secular
law in force. The religious law of Islam is put in
force by the Mullas, so far as they have power and
deem it safe to do so. At times the secular rulers
have to yield to them and there is always a great
distrust of one another between the religious and
the secular authorities. Although two systems of
law are in force, justice is not to be obtained under
either. Every important position under government is sold year by year. No Persian subject's
life or property is secure. Oppression is found
everywhere; tyranny and injustice are so common
as to occasion no surprise. But in these and other
respects Persia resembles most other Mohammedan
countries. There are no public works. The country is steadily retrograding towards barbarism,
though European influence in some slight degree
tends in another direction.

The people are intelligent and capable but there
is no national system of education. The proportion of those who can read and write is very small
and even men in high position have but an imperfect knowledge of orthography. Even the Mullas

Islam in Persia 119

know but little of Arabic, and nothing of any
other language but their vernacular. The secular
authorities are not anxious for the education of
their subjects, and the Mullas fear education lest
their people should "become infidels." Modern
Persian literature is scanty and inferior. Yet the
people themselves have great respect for learning,
and take delight in hearing a book of any kind
read aloud. This affords a great opening for the
circulation of the Bible and of Christian literature
in general. The language is copious and well
adapted for the dissemination of Christian truth.
One of the greatest obstacles to the spread of the
gospel, however, is the great ignorance of the people at large. "Orthodox" Mohammedanism
whether Shiite or Sunni, has always been opposed
to intellectual progress, since it has been felt that
such progress would be fatal to Islam.

The relation in which Islam in Persia stands to
Christianity is that of unceasing opposition. The
Koranic law which dooms to death any Moslem
who embraces any other religion is in force, theoretically at least. The late Shah of Persia at different times published three edicts in favour of religious toleration, but the Mullas compelled them
to be virtually annulled, since they said that no
one could repeal the Divine law above referred to.
But of recent years the spread of belief in the
gospel has resulted in the falling into abeyance of
this Koranic law, at least to a great extent. The
Moslems of Persia believe Christianity, as it exists

120 The Mohammedan World of To-Day

at present, to be an idolatrous and corrupt system
of religion. They hold that the gospel has been
repealed by the "descent" of the Koran upon
Mohammed, and fancy that our Bible has been
willfully corrupted both by Jews and Christians.
We are accused of worshipping three Gods. Their
knowledge of Christianity has, until comparatively
recently, been in large measure derived from the
commentators on the Koran, and from what they
have seen of the worship of the Oriental and
Roman Churches. But Protestant missionaries
of the American Presbyterian Church and of the
Church Missionary Society have already to some
extent succeeded in showing them that Evangelical Christianity is not idolatrous. Hence the
Persians are gradually coming to make a distinction between the two kinds of Christianity with
which they have thus become acquainted; and
their attitude towards us has now become much
more favourable. Of course those who know any
thing of the gospel are well aware that Islam is in
many respects antagonistic to it, and feel that one
or the other must perish. There is not, however,
nearly so strong an attachment to Islam in Persia
as in India and Arabia. As a religion it is far
less suited to the Aryan, than to the Semitic mind.
Many Persians are well aware that the religion
was forced upon their ancestors at the point of
the sword by the Arabs, their hereditary foes.
The influence of the Sufi philosophers and poets,
like the author of the Masnavi, has also been ex-

Islam in Persia 121

erted in the direction of destroying faith in Islam.
Ali is practically more revered than Mohammed,
and in his name not a few ideas have been introduced which are very different from ordinary
Mohammedan beliefs. The opposition between
the secular and the religious authorities tends to
prevent the former from seconding, with any
zeal, the efforts of the latter to stamp out Christianity. All these matters have to be considered
in attempting to define the attitude of Moslems
in Persia towards the Christian faith.

The greatest event in the recent religious history
of the country is the rise of the Babi or as we may
now call it the Behai, faith. The Behais, generally speaking, are more or less friendly towards
Christians, being themselves liable to persecution.
Their use of the Bible has done much to spread
a knowledge of parts at least of it in Persia. A
spirit of enquiry has thus also been produced and
this favours the cause of the gospel.

MISSIONS TO MOSLEMS IN PERSIA

The Church Missionary Society, though its
work in Persia began later than that of the
American Presbyterians, has always aimed at
direct work for the conversion of the Mohammedans. The American missionaries, at first and
for a considerable time, devoted themselves rather
to direct evangelistic work among the Nestorians and Armenians, hoping that they would thus
indirectly reach the Moslems. At first doubtless

122 The Mohammedan World of To-Day

this was the only possible method of proceeding.
For a considerable number of years, however,
they too have been labouring openly among the
Moslems. Beside there is the "Orient Mission"
of Dr. Lepsius. The Archbishop of Canterbury's
"Assyrian Mission" has laboured to raise the Nestorian clergy and has endeavoured rather to preserve that ancient church, and prevent its members from leaving it to join the American Presbyterians or the Roman Catholics, than to do
work among the Moslems either directly or in
directly. Recently, the Russian Church has won a large accession to its ranks from among the Nestorians; but they do not try to make converts
from the Moslems. Nor do the Roman Catholics.
Every one knows of Henry Martyn's eleven
months in Shiraz in 1811, which was the first publication of the gospel in the country since the
Mohammedan conquest. The Rev. Dr. Pfander
of the Basel Missionary Society first arrived in
Persia in 1829, but was soon expelled. The
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions began work at Urmia in 1835, its missionaries directing their attention almost entirely
to the Nestorians. Tabriz, Teheran, Hamadan
and other stations have since been occupied and
much blessing has attended their noble and devoted labours. The Church Missionary Society in
1875 formally adopted the work begun in Julfa,
near Ispahan, by the Rev. Robert (now Canon)
Bruce in 1869. Its work has now greatly ex-

TYPES SEEN IN THE CAUCASUS.

Islam in Persia 123

tended and stations have been occupied at Ispahan,
Yezd, Kirman and Shiraz. The London Society
for Promoting Christianity among the Jews also
has stations at Teheran and Ispahan. Invaluable work is also being done by the British and
Foreign and the American Bible Societies.

Mission work in Persia among Moslems presents
both difficulties and opportunities of a special
kind. Of the former something has been said
above. The ignorance of the people, the bigotry
of the Mullas, and the presence of corrupt and
idolatrous forms of Christianity (such as those
which by repelling Mohammed himself in his
earlier days of religious earnestness, had a great
deal to do with the rise of Islam) are all serious
obstacles to overcome. The want of religious
liberty and the danger of persecution, though this
has lessened of late years, make it difficult for us
to preach the gospel freely in some places, and
deter converts and enquirers from coming forward
as they would otherwise do. The doctrine of
Kitman-ud-din, which is taught to all Shiites,
and is in a slightly modified form accepted by the
Behais also, is popular, and believers have some
times asked to be allowed to adopt Christianity
with the same permission to deny or conceal their
faith in order to save life and property. This
tendency has been firmly and successfully resisted,
but it is one of the difficulties peculiar to work
in Persia. The law which renders English subjects liable to be sent out of the country by their

124 The Mohammedan World of To-Day

consular authorities, if accused of any conduct
calculated to cause offense to the religious feelings
of Moslems, has once or twice been held in terrorem over missionaries, and its terms are so vague
that it would not be easy to prove innocence, however false the charge might be. Attempts have
actually been made under this law to interfere
with the work of American and English missionaries, but these have not been successful for long.
There is at present a partiality for Islam, in contradistinction to most other non-Christian faiths,
to be met with among people in England, and
this does not assist us in our work in Persia.
We have not many Europeans in the country and
hence the scandal caused by the evil lives of professing Christians does not injure our work to
nearly the same extent as is the case in many
countries. We are not allowed, generally speaking, to erect churches, to preach in the open air
or to publish controversial literature. In many
places the Mullas, in some the civil authorities,
have opposed our opening schools for Moslem
boys. There are many other restrictions of a
similar kind, all of which are of the nature of
difficulties; but we define difficulties as "things
to be overcome" and believe that Christ Jesus
can enable us to do all things according to His
own will.

The opportunities and encouragements which
are afforded for prosecuting the work of the
preaching of the gospel in Persia are now very

Islam in Persia 125

considerable, perhaps at the present day greater
than in any other Mohammedan country. This,
however, has been the case only during the last
few years. When I succeeded Dr. Bruce as secretary of the Church Missionary Society Persia and
Bagdad mission in 1892, it was considered impossible for any Persian to be baptized without almost
absolute certainty that he would be put to death.
Some of our first converts after that were actually
sentenced to death, and others were in the very
greatest danger. But for years past the persecution has been lessening. We attribute this largely
to the work of medical missions, which have, in
addition to more direct results, proved to even
our most bigoted opponents that Christianity produces love and good works. It is not too much to
say that missionaries are more popular now in
Persia than are any other foreigners. For many
years Julfa was the only station which the Church
Missionary Society could get permission to occupy.
It required years of effort to establish our work
even in the neighbouring city of Ispahan. To one
city, the capital of a province, we have since been
warmly invited by the prince governor, and in
other places we have been welcomed. It is hardly
too much to say that the whole country is open
to evangelistic effort, in itinerating and medical
mission work especially.

Among the direct results of mission work may
be reckoned the opening up of the country at large
to the gospel. Converts have not yet been very

126 The Mohammedan World of To-Day

numerous, but there are small native Christian
communities containing Persian converts, male
and female, at every Church Missionary Society
station and probably at every station of our
American brethren, too. As no attempt is made
to gather converts into such centres, but each
man, when baptized, is urged to return to his
home and there let his light shine before men,
there are converts scattered in many other parts
of the country. It would not be safe as yet for a
Persian convert to be ordained, and the Church
Missionary Society missionaries, following the example of our missionaries in Uganda, have decided
to pay no Persian catechists for evangelizing their
own countrymen. But all the more on this account does the gospel spread through the voluntary efforts of those who have themselves found
life and peace in Christ. Their happiness and
their changed lives produce a great effect on those
who know them. Thus the influence of the gospel
is spreading from day to day and prejudice is dying
down. For years past the Mullas have been bewailing the fact that, as they say, "the venom of
Christianity is spreading throughout the land,"
and they confess that Islam is doomed. At one
time they used to preach the necessity of murdering
both missionaries and converts as the only way to
prevent the steady advance of the gospel, but this
is much more rarely done now. Besides those
who have been baptized, a considerable number of
persons are known to us as secret believers, and

A MOSLEM CONVERT, PERSIA.

Islam in Persia 127

we hear of many who are intellectually convinced
and who would probably come forward for baptism were religious liberty firmly established in
Persia. Thus not only have direct results already
been evident but the indirect are still more clear
and full of hope and encouragement. That the
Church Missionary Society at least fully realizes
this, is clear from the very considerable and steady
increase in the number of missionaries during the
past thirteen years.

Among the most important methods used in
spreading the gospel are the following: 1. Medical missions, with male and female doctors and
trained nurses. 2. Itinerating. 3. Women's work
among the women. 4. Visiting Persians who are
friendly, receiving return visits from them, and in
all such intercourse plainly and lovingly preaching
Christ. 5. Services in missionaries' houses. 6.
Friendly discussions with those who come to argue
with and try to confute us. This is done lovingly
on our part; great patience and courtesy are
shown; care is taken to say nothing to hurt the
feelings of our opponents, and an attempt is made
to show how any truths that are half concealed
in Islam are fully manifested in the gospel of
Christ. Bitter controversy is carefully avoided.
7. Circulation of the Bible, nearly wholly by sale.
8. Literary work, publication and circulation of
tracts and books in Persian. This is greatly
aided by the establishment of the Henry Martyn
Memorial Press at Julfa. 9. Careful teaching and

128 The Mohammedan World of To-Day

testing of enquirers and the preparation of candidates for baptism.

[Conditions vary in different parts of Persia.
This is seen from the two paragraphs here appended to Dr. St. Clair Tisdall's scholarly article.
The first of these paragraphs is written by the
Rev. S. Wilson, and the second by the Rev. S. M.
Jordan, both missionaries of the American Presbyterian Board and both long acquainted with
northern Persia. — EDS.]

(a) A number of things might be mentioned in
addition to the above, and new phases of the work
which have developed in the six years since Dr.
Tisdall left Persia. One of the most striking is
the opportunity now afforded for education of
Moslems. Dr. Tisdall, while mentioning in the
last section nine ways of reaching Moslems, omits
the school, whereas that is now one of the most
hopeful means. For example in Teheran the mission school, which two years ago had forty or
fifty Moslem boys, last year had one hundred and
fifteen Moslem pupils, receiving regular Bible
instruction and attending the religious services of
the school. In Tabriz the Moslem pupils in the
Memorial Training, Theological Schools, of which
I am principal, have increased in three years from
three to fifty. These Moslems are sons of officials
and nobles of both cities, whose coming to our
schools gives assurance that there will be no inter-

Islam in Persia 129

ference with them. The same is true in Urmia,
where, even in the midst of the excitement due to
the demand for the punishment of the murderers
of Rev. Mr. Labaree, a special school for Moslem
boys was opened with an attendance of fifty.
The school for girls in Urmia has an attendance
of thirty-five, and that of Teheran of twenty-five
Moslem girls who have broken through the restraints of the harem to seek an education under
Christian influence. These facts are indications
of our large increase of liberty and of opportunity
for Moslem work.

(b) So far as I know, none of the missionaries
of Northern Persia share Dr. St. Glair Tisdall's
opinion that the Behais are more open to the
gospel than Moslems. In fact many consider
them much less so, for although they profess to
accept the whole Bible, yet, by their allegorical
interpretation and denial of all miracles, they
effectually change its meaning. Having incorporated into their books some of the moral precepts
of Christ, and having adopted a semi-Christian
vocabulary, they delight to discourse at length on
love, on a tree being known by its fruits, and on
kindred themes; but having left out Christ, the
centre, they have missed the essential thing, and
now in Persia they are notorious as being religious
in word rather than in deed. In fact many of
them are simply irreligious rationalists.

By neither Moslem, Jew, nor Christian are they
considered morally superior to the Moslems, while

130 The Mohammedan World of To-Day

in some respect they rightly are judged less so.
Up to some five years ago they professed to be
seekers of the truth wherever found. Since that
time the Behais in Teheran, at least, have been
warned to have nothing to do with the missionaries.

They have grossly exaggerated the number of
their converts so that the Moslems now say of
them that the Behai claims for a convert every
man who speaks to him on the street! I know
that they have so claimed two of our missionaries.
In Teheran there are not more than 10,000 to
15,000, while the outside figure for all Persia is
200,000, with the probability that half that number is nearer the truth.

The one promising aspect of the movement is
that it is an opening wedge, making for religious
liberty and a disturber of unquestioning faith in
Islam. Many of those stirred up by Behais to
seek for truth outside of Islam are not satisfied
with the mere husk of the letter which the Behais
teach and so continue to seek for the spirit which
can be found only in Christianity.

The increase of numbers in our schools is in
part due to the fact that many Moslem parents
prefer that their children come under Christian
rather than Behai influence, which is rife in other
schools of the capital, for we are honestly open in
our methods whilst they are the reverse.

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-- Islam in Persia (Used by permission of the curator)