What is problem of Sufis in Iran?

By Bahman Aghai Diba - Persian Journal
Wednesday, February 22, 2006

The Islamic-Arabic (sic) [Ed. note: it is Islamic-Persian] government of Iran has recently attacked the center of Sufis in Qom, and arrested a number of Dervishes (Iranian Sufis). Although arresting the Iranian Sufis by the Islamic regime is a new move, bothering the Sufis in the last 27 years is nothing new.

The regime of Iran has always looked with suspicion and sometimes disgust to the Sufis because the Dervishes do not believe in any role for the Mullahs. They believe that people do not need any middleman for contacting God. The Dervishes are very devoted to their way of life. They see the religious zealots as corrupt people. However, these are not the reason of the recent attacks against them

The real reason is that the people of Iran, especially younger generations, out of desperation or any other reason, are welcoming the Sufi gathering more am more. The Sufis had their gathering in the past and they tried to stay away from politics. However, the welcoming of the Sufi ways of life and the Sufi type of approach to the religion (especially towards Islam) has found a new wave during the last years. Every year, more and more people try to have gathering under the name of Sufis.

The new stage of Islamic fundamentalism, after the election of the new president by the Islamic-Arabic regime of the Iranian Mullahs' Mafia, has opened the way for trouble making of the organized street thugs (like Baseejis) and the disciplinary forces for the Sufi gatherings. Although Sufi Muslims strictly observe Islamic practices and beliefs, some conservative Muslim clerics see it as a danger to Islam.
Some even argue that Sufism is a deviation of Islam. "Unfortunately under the years of the rule of the Islamic government we have seen limitations on non-Muslims -- above all, Baha'is, Jews, and also Christians -- and on Sufi groups, and their meetings have been disrupted," says Lahidji Iran's hard-line daily "Kayhan" on 14 February quoted senior clerics in Qom as saying that "Sufism should be eradicated...".

Sufis have always been respected in Iran because of their humble and down to earth behavior. Definitely their approach to life is different from the dictatorial imposition of the special interpretation of Islam by the Mullahs of Iran.
Some of the people in Iran have found a way of getting away from the rulings of the Mullahs through the adherence to Sufi practices. The Sufis are among the most peace-loving and tolerant people in Iran and probably in the world. They are suffering under the Iranian regime and they consider such suffering as part of the duty that they owe to their faith.