Yeah i suspected there was something flawed in your education system. Dagestan IS in Europe, not Asia.
And Asia is not a "region". It is a continent, which has many different regions within it.
**sigh**. Dagestan is in the Caucases, which is one of the recognized borders of Europe and Asia (the others are the Urals and the Black Sea). Being in the Caucases, Dagestan can be placed in either, depending on where exactly the border is defined.
I came across this thread, somewhat serendipitously this afternoon. Given the topic of martyrs, Iran and both modernity and ancient culture in Persia, I thought the following paragraphs might interest some readers. These following paragraphs place some of the modern Iranian problems in what I hope is a helpful perspective for readers here.-Ron Price, Tasmania.
--------------------------
Locked in the grip of an antiquated Qajar autocracy restrained only by its incompetence, Persia drifted ever deeper into stagnation. Venal politicians competed with one another for a share of the diminishing wealth of a country driven to the verge of bankruptcy. Worse still, a population that had once produced some of the greatest minds in the history of civilization--Cyrus, Darius, Rumi, Hafiz, Avicenna, Rhazes and countless others--had become the prey of a clerical caste, as ignorant as it was corrupt, whose petty privileges could be maintained only by arousing in the helpless masses an unreasoning fear of anything progressive.
Little wonder then that, taking advantage of the chaos that followed in the wake of the first world war, an ambitious army officer was able to seize power and establish a personal dictatorship. To him--as to his son after him-- deliverance from Persia's ills was assumed to lie in a systematic programme of "Westernization". Schools, public works, a trained bureaucracy and a well- equipped military served the needs of the new national government. Foreign investment was encouraged as a means of developing the country's impressive national resources. Women were freed from the worst of the restrictions that had prevented their development and were given opportunities for education and useful careers. Although the Majlis remained little more than a facade, hope rose that, in time, it might emerge as a genuine institution of democratic government.
What emerged, instead, through the single-minded exploitation of Iran's petroleum resources, was wealth on an almost unimaginable scale. In the absence of anything resembling a system of social justice, the chief effect was to vastly enrich a privileged and self-serving minority, while leaving the mass of the population little better off than they had been before. Treasured cultural symbols and the heroic episodes of a glorious past were resurrected merely to decorate the monumental vulgarity of a society whose moral foundations were built on the shifting sands of ambition and appetite. Protest, even the mildest and most reasonable, was smothered by a secret police unconstrained by any constitutional oversight.
In 1979 the Iranian people threw off this despotism and swept its counterfeit claims to modernity into history's dustbin. Their revolution was the achievement of the combined forces of many groups, but its driving force was the ideals of Islam. In place of wanton self-indulgence, people were promised lives of dignity and decency. Gross inequities of class and wealth would be overcome by the spirit of brotherhood enjoined by God. The natural resources with which providence has endowed so fortunate a land were declared to be the patrimony of the entire Iranian people, to be used to provide universal employment and education. A new "Islamic Constitution" ostensibly enshrined solemn guarantees of equality before the law for all citizens of the republic. Government would endeavour conscientiously to combine spiritual values with the principles of democratic choice.
How do such promises relate to the experience being described 25(30 now) years later by the great majority of Iran's population? From all sides today one hears cries of protest against endemic corruption, political manipulation, the mistreatment of women, a shameless violation of human rights and the suppression of thought. What is the effect on public consciousness, one must further ask, of appeals to the authority of the Holy Qur'an to justify policies that lead to such conditions?
Iran's crisis of civilization will be resolved neither by blind imitation of an obviously defective Western culture nor by retreat into medieval ignorance. The answer to the dilemma was enunciated on the very threshold of the crisis, in the clearest and most compelling language, by a distinguished Son of Iran Who is today honoured in every continent of the world, but sadly not in the land of His birth. Persia's poetic genius captures the irony: "I searched the wide world over for my Beloved, while my Beloved was waiting for me in my own home." The world's appreciation of Bahá'u'lláh came perhaps most explicitly into focus on 29 May 1992, the centenary of His death, when the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies met in solemn session to pay tribute to Him, to His teachings and to the services rendered to humanity by the community He founded. On that occasion, the Speaker of the Chamber and spokespersons from every party rose, successively, to express their profound admiration of One who was described in their addresses as the Author of "the most colossal religious work written by the pen of a single Man", a message that "reaches out to humanity as a whole, without petty differences of nationality, race, limits or belief".
The victims of injustice today number in countless millions. Each year, the agendas of the human rights organizations are overwhelmed by appeals from spokespersons for oppressed minorities of every type--religious, ethnic, social and national. In the words of Bahá'u'lláh, "Justice is in this day bewailing its plight, and Equity groaneth beneath the yoke of oppression." What has more alarmed perceptive observers of such situations than even the physical and material anguish caused is the spiritual damage done to the victims. Deliberate oppression aims at dehumanizing those whom it subjugates and at de- legitimizing them as members of society, entitled to neither rights nor consideration. Where such conditions persist over any length of time, many of those affected lose confidence in their own perception of themselves. Inexorably, they become drained of that spirit of initiative that is integral to human nature and are reduced to the level of objects to be dealt with as their rulers decide. Indeed, some who are exposed to sustained oppression can become so conditioned to a culture of brutalization that they, in their turn, are ready to commit violence against others, should the opportunity offer itself.
Ruling elites can make no more serious error than to imagine that the power they have managed to arrogate to themselves provides an enduring bulwark against the relentless tides of historical change. Today, in Iran as everywhere throughout the world, these tides roll in with insistent urgency and tumultuous force. They are not merely at the door of the house, but rise up irresistibly through its floors. They cannot be diverted. They will not be denied.--Posted by Ron Price, Quoted from the Universal House of Justice Letter, 26 November 2003.
Ron Price has been married for 47 years(in 2014) and a teacher for 35. He has been a writer and editor for 15, and a Baha'i for 55(in 2014).
The point you make, Asawar, is a good one. The content of my post is only tangentially relevant to the topic at best but, given the rambling nature of this thread over many a post and given its content spread over classical, medieval and early modern times, I thought some comment about the last century in Iran might be germane. But, of course, one can argue both ways regarding my post--and so, in the end, I take your point.-Ron Price, Tasmania
Ron Price has been married for 47 years(in 2014) and a teacher for 35. He has been a writer and editor for 15, and a Baha'i for 55(in 2014).
Given the rambling nature of this thread, spread as it is over classical, medieval and early modern times in Iran and the Middle East; given the many tangents to the thrust of the thread and given its content on martyrs, history and extremities of various kinds, I thought a few remarks about the last century or so would be germane. But, of course, I take your point, Asawar. Thanking you.-Ron Price in Australia
Ron Price has been married for 47 years(in 2014) and a teacher for 35. He has been a writer and editor for 15, and a Baha'i for 55(in 2014).
the war between the Arabs and Persian took about 20 years during which the Arabs slaughtered non-military civilian by 100's of thousands to bring their barbaric culture to Persian. You are very much misinformed The Persian did not invite the barbaric Arabs with open Aram. As a matter of fact during Ali's caliphate, 4 main provinces of Persia rebelled against the Arab rulers and overthrow them But Ali gathered strong military and attacked them and again replaced them w/ Arab rulers. It is truly a shame that the persian with their great history adopted the savage and barbaric arab customs who didn't even know how to made bread. I really recommend all Iranian go to youtube and watch miss Mehra Maleki's videos of Persian history so you can judge the history from real perspective and not the junk the was fed to you by the Arabs
I just came across you post and I find it to be nothing but outright lie. First make it clear, the Persian fought for nearly 10 years to stop the savage Arabs, During Ali's leadership of Islam in 4 major provinces of Persia the people rose up and throw the arabs out and took control of the provinces, but Ali sent in huge military to take control of the provinces and viciously slaughtered them. The savage Arabs literally beheaded 80,000 Persian in one day. The word "ajam" means mute in Arabic. To the Savage Arabs when there was Quran, there was no need for any other book and that's why they burned every single book in every library and there was no need to speak any other language but Arabic, So they forced their language on Persian and told the Persian"the ordinary people" they are not to read write or speak in persian and since the Persian didn't speak arabic they literally didn't speak in fear of their life and the savages gave the persian the nick name "Ajam"or "mute" to make fun of them. How can the civilized people of Persia welcomed the beastly savage arabs who raped their wife and children and then took them as slave? you need to brush up on history of Islam.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum