Shu'ubiyah Movement And The Reconstruction Of Iranian National Cultural Identity

Under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad,the Arabs ended the "Age of Ignorance"(Jahiliyyah)and entered the Islamic era.The year 622AD was the beginning of the Islamic calendar.With the growing power of Arabs,they conquered regions such as West Asia and North Africa.As the governing territory of the Arab Islamic government continued to expand,more and more conquered nations were included.At the time when the two great empires of Arabia,the Umayyad and Abbasids,were handed over,three nationalist views emerged in the Islamic world:the first is that Arabs are the best people,because Arabs are the ruler of other ethnic groups,Islam is born among Arabs,the Prophet Muhammad is an Arab;the second view is that Arabs are no better than other nations,they advocate ethnic equality,Arabs are not superior to other nations,nor other nations are superior to Arabs,because the most honorable in Islam is the one who fears Allah most;the third view is that other nations are superior to Arabs and they devalue the role of Arabs.They believe that Arabic culture is inferior and Islam is not unique to Arabs.These three views were debated in the late 7th and early 8th centuries.Among them the latter two groups were known as "Shu'ubiyah",who first advocated egalitarianism.In the Umayyad dynasty,Arab rulers strongly promoted Arab nationalism,and all other nations wanted was to win equal rights.During the Abbasid dynasty,other nations were gradually liberated from their status of being ruled and entered the Abbasid ruling system.As their strength and power increased,they gradually began to elevate their positions and depreciate Arabs.The"Shu'ubiyah" movement was most intense and far-reaching in Iran,reshaping post-Islamic Iran politically,culturally and religiously.After the fall of the Sassan Persian Empire,Iran became a province of the Arab empire,and Iranians were also at the bottom of Islamic society.They were called"Mawali",which means "released slaves",or slaves who gained personal freedom.The word actually implied Arab's contempt for Persian Muslims.In their quest for national equality,Iranians began to participate in the Shi'ite and Hawaliji uprisings,eventually helping the Abbasid family overthrow the Umayyad dynasty and gained access to the Abbasid court of the Arab Empire.The Iranian Prime Ministers controlled the political affairs of the country and had considerable power.They supported the revival of Iranian ancient culture and competed with Arab nationalism.Persian literati also wrote poems to boast of their ethnic origin.After achieving national equality,Iranian nationalism emerged.The efforts to promote Iranian culture and build the inheritance of Iranian national culture reached its climax after the establishment of independent local dynasties in Iran.The Safar dynasty,the Saman dynasty and the Ziyar dynasty all rose up in eastern Iran and established independent regimes.After gaining political independence,they all vigorously carried forward Iran's pre-Islamic cultural tradition,especially advocated Iranian literati to create new Persian literature,and preserved the common memory of the nation by epics,so that Iranian culture could be inherited,continued and carried forward after two centuries of Arab rule.The main basis for the pursuit of equality by other non-Arab nations is the doctrine of equality advocated by Islam.In the process of using Islam to fight against Arabs,Iranians gradually learned and chose Shia by participating in Shi'ites uprising against the Arab Empire.It also fits with the ancient Iranian tradition of "legitimacy",making them become the followers and guardians of the prophet family.Under the influence of Shu'ubiyah thoughts,Iranians continued to explore and promote Persian culture and integrated Zoroastrian"Hidden Prophets" into Shiite beliefs.The integration of Iran's religious culture before and after Islam strengthened the continuity and inheritance of Iranian culture and made the Shiite religion an inseparable attribute of the Iranian nation.Through the reconstruction of Iran's national politics,culture and religion,Shu'ubiyah has reshaped the national cultural attributes of Iran after Islam and created Iran's unique Iran-Islamic cultural identity.The thesis uses historical research methods to sort out the three levels of Shu'ubiyah development in Iran,and summarizes the important role that Shu'ubiyah movement played in shaping Iran's post-Islamic national cultural identity.