Brendan’s Reviews > A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind > Status Update
Brendan
is on page 94 of 368
“Like [Christian] friars, the Sufis were intimately involved in the religious lives of ordinary people and were responsible for missionary activity in the countryside and beyond Persia. Given the low level of literacy at the time, and the fact that the population lived overwhelmingly in the countryside, it becomes plain that the Sufis were central to the diffusion of Islam outside the towns and cities. The center
— Jul 25, 2026 10:44AM
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Brendan’s Previous Updates
Brendan
is on page 284 of 368
Extremely sad in light of current events:
“The failure of the West fully to take advantage of the opportunity offered by a reformist president in Iran already looks like a bad mistake. One such opportunity came after the September 11 attacks in the US when members of the Iranian leadership condemned the terrorist action in forthright terms, and ordinary Iranians showed their sympathies with candlelight vigils…
— Jul 31, 2026 01:39PM
“The failure of the West fully to take advantage of the opportunity offered by a reformist president in Iran already looks like a bad mistake. One such opportunity came after the September 11 attacks in the US when members of the Iranian leadership condemned the terrorist action in forthright terms, and ordinary Iranians showed their sympathies with candlelight vigils…
Brendan
is on page 252 of 368
“The [Pahlavi] monarchy became more remote and disconnected from the attitudes and concerns of ordinary Iranians. In a sense, paradoxically perhaps as a result of combatting underground Marxists for so long, the Shah [Mohammed Reza] made the mistake of a Marxist analysis: he thought that if he could just secure material prosperity through successful development, then everything else would fall happily into place.
— Jul 29, 2026 07:55PM
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Jul 25, 2026 10:45AM
of their activity was in Persia, and especially in Khorasan, but they probably were the prime means by which Persianate culture spread and consolidated its popular influence from the Bosphorus to Delhi and beyond.”
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Recurring theme here is the divide between the ulema (Islamic ‘clergy’/scholars) and the Sufi mystics/teachers, who took very different attitudes toward the proper nature of Islam. The latter were highly influenced by Persian traditions, while the former were typically more fundamentalist and rooted in Arabic. “The impulse driving the Sufis is very close to the teachings of Jesus against the Pharisees. Jesus is revered by many Iranian Muslims (not just Sufis) for this trait—for speaking from the heart of spirituality and avoiding getting caught up in its trappings.” (110)