Many Iranian youths are disappointed in the Shiism professed by the regime and traditional clergy but wish to maintain their Islamic faith, leading them to convert to Salafism. The Muslim Brotherhood and other Salafi trends tend to focus on the unity of god and the desacralization of all human beings and worldly things -- a unique way of secularizing and rationalizing Islam in order to attract young students, especially those who study science. Unlike traditional Sunnis in Iran and Salafis elsewhere in the world, Iranian Salafis tend to question the Islamic Republic's religious legitimacy and purposefully exacerbate Sunni-Shiite tensions.
| Well, sure. Salafists in the rest of the world are too busy exacerbating tensions with their less observant Sunni neighbors, sparing barely a thought for the occasional massacre of the few Shiites in their midst. Iranian Salafists are in the enviable position of being an unnoticed minority, completely surrounded by targets. |
|