Your Favourite Muslim Intellects

"Acting like an european is an insult I presume? Is that what you are implying. As said, for us the nation has allways came first, that is why we were successfull no matter what religion, what king we had. This is why we were united even though we also have had turkic kings. These same turkic kings like Shah Abbas had the same ideology like many iranians have today, nation comes first, religion come second.

And if someone asks me what I am, I say a citizen of earth, then iranian, persian and last muslim."

Unification of some groops has one equal point, that is mostly one language, one religion and one country. IF you begin with ethnics you wont be succesfull.

Originally posted by Shompis You are talking about Shah Ismail. Iran was allready converted when Shah Abbas took the crown. I agree with you that what Shah Ismail did was wrong even though he mass converted people without any real resistance.

As far as I know, Shah Abbas I (great Abbas) is the one declaring Shiesm as the religion of his state and forcing it on all of his people.

http://isfahan.anglia.ac.uk/glossary/abbas/abbas1.html

Shah Abbas I was the first of the Safavid Shahs to establish Persia as a homogeneous state, enforcing, often brutally, adherence to Shi'ism, and imposing Farsi as a unifying language throughout the land.

But anyhow, I guess the point I talked about earlier and which Day I also re-enforced is clear. What brought Iranians togather was what you called "the trick" of religion. So religion is what unified them, not race or nationalism. What nationalism first of all? Nationalism is based on ethnic or common values? If Shah Abbas or Shah Islamil had enough common values to form their unified Iranian state, why do they need religion to be unified too? the Answer is the one you said :

Originally posted by Shompis   Declaring them the sunnites and us the shiites was just a way to unite the people, a cheap trick

In fact at that time, your citizenship is your religion. If you are a Shiah Kurd, you are expected to help the Safavid and from them, if you are a Sunni Kurd, you are expected to help the Ottomans and be of them.

But you neglect the very fact that Ibn Sina, at the time was persecuated because of his believes in particular attributed to Aristoteles. And this was a time when several different iranian dynasties were emerging and resisting the khalifates.... Why were they resisting? It wasnt religion, it was politics, it was power etc. There was no unification back then, as much as there is none today. And there is a reason why there are several different shiite sects, all of them emerged from political reasons. Originally it wasnt a clash of ideologies but they are today as the other indifferences(political most likely) are long solved or dissapeared.

wow u guys sure are good at gettin off topic..

mine would have to be ibn batuta, not sure if hes considered an "intellect", but i bet reading his books are more entertaining than The cannon

I am so happy so many of you are sharing who is ur most fav islam intellect...

But i just wondering how can this topic is leading to ethnic perspective.. come on guys...

anyhow.. thanks for the mosque picture.. it's awesome..

*whtever the ethnic of the intellect is... he is Muslim.. tht's the only matter"