Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran

‘Though it is a brief treatment of the topic, it covers a range of issues from ideology to sociological setting to legal theory. It is important reading for anyone wishing to understand the status of religious freedom in Iran, but also for scholars engaging in comparative studies of religious regulation in authoritarian contexts.’ Ani Sarkissian, Asian Journal of Law and Society

‘Tous and Richardson present their readership with cutting-edge cover-age of religion in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The book provides astute analysis on the question of religious freedom through evidenced-based theory … It provides critical analysis on religion in the IRI and is suited to colleagues in the social and political sciences, and humanities.’ Milad Milani, Journal for the Academic Study of Religion

‘Tous and Richardson provide an analysis of the anatomy of Iran as a repressive theocracy. Their critical inquiry provides an overview of many of the legal developments in contemporary Iran that they describe in terms of two juridical developments namely ‘judicialization’ and ‘de-judicialization’.’ Bryan S. Turner, Critical Research on Religion

‘Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran is an important work that offers valuable insights into the complexities of religious governance in the Islamic Republic. Tous and Richardson succeed in elucidating the intricate relationship between law, religion, and politics in contemporary Iran, making the book an essential read for scholars in Iranian studies, especially those interested in sociology and law … The interdisciplinary approach of the authors is one of the book’s strengths. By integrating law, sociology, and theology, the book provides an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the management of religion in Iran. Adding to its strength is empirical data, including interviews and case studies, establishing the credibility of the analyses.’ Mahin Siddiqui, Contemporary Review of the Middle East

‘The current Element is a most interesting collaboration between a talented graduate student, whose academic work shows great promise, and a seasoned, well-respected, and well published professor emeritus … The most salient and useful feature of this short book is its rich and multifaceted theoretical discussion … Not only is Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran: A Socio-Legal Analysis a welcome methodological contribution by virtue of its exemplary sociology of law framework of analysis (and review of the relevant academic literature), but also (and especially) for its merits as a model of the collaborative potential of senior scholars working with promising graduate students, as is the case here.’ Christopher Buck, Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review

‘In Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran, Sajjad Adeliyan Tous and James T. Richardson provide a detailed analysis of the evolving ways in which the Iranian judiciary has responded to the presence of religions seen as threats to Iran’s identity as an Islamic Republic … Dense in legal and historical detail, it reveals important insights into how new religious movements test the limits of tolerance.’ Brian C. Wilson, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions

'Why have Iranians increasingly been rejecting the official Islam propagated by the state and turned to New Age ideas and movements? How have the authorities reacted to this trend? How can the sociology of religion and law help illuminate this phenomenon? This [Element] provides a theoretically informed analysis of how religion, particularly alternative and emerging religious and spiritual movements, is regulated by law in the Islamic Republic of Iran ... The [Element] covers a lot of ground for such a short text and throws considerable light on the ongoing dialectic of religion and law in modern Iran.' Hadi Enayat, Religious Studies Review

‘This scholarly [Element] provides a philosophically informed analysis of how the Iranian authoritarian theocracy’s legal system regulates religion. The authors provide insightful observations that are worth considering. This work, which is appropriate for colleagues in the social and political sciences as well as the humanities, offers critical study of religion in the IRI.’ Muhammad Asad Latif, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

‘Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran is a concise, theoretically robust, and empirically grounded analysis of a critical and understudied phenomenon. It is a precise and powerful detailed case study in the modern application of ‘rule by law’ and a clear demonstration of how an authoritarian government attempts, and faces challenges, to manage and regulate religion and religious freedom.... The book’s primary strength lies in its sophisticated synthesis. By moving beyond a purely political or theological critique, Adeliyan Tous and Richardson provide a granular analysis of the mechanisms of religious regulation in Iran. The chronology in Section 4 is a significant and original scholarly contribution, documenting the government’s persistent, decade-and-a-half-long effort to develop a legal framework to fight the perceived menace of new and deviant religions and spiritualities. Another novel contribution of the volume is its identification of a diffusion of Western anticult perspectives on how to control and suppress these movements and currents just as Western ideas about alternative religions and spiritualities have invaded Iranian cultural space.... Furthermore, the theoretical applications in the final section are very insightful.... It will be essential reading for scholars in the sociology of religion, law and society, and Iranian studies.’ Mohammad-Hossein Golyari, International Journal for the Study of New Religions

‘Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran offers a well-articulated examination of religious freedom and the status of religious minorities. While doing that, the authors deliberately avoid essentializing Islam as the source of discrimination against religious minorities. They argue that the defining factor in determining the boundaries of religious freedom is the will of decision-makers.’ Bayram Sinkaya, Journal of Church and State

‘Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran [is] a compact but essential volume . [T]he book provides a nuanced anatomy of Iran’s religious policy, tracing its roots in constitutional doctrine, judicial practice, and transnational ideological imports. It is indispensable for scholars of religious freedom, authoritarian governance, and the sociology of religion … The book’s strength is contextualizing … [the] legal structures within Iran’s ideological worldview. One of the book’s most original contributions is its analysis of how Iran imported Western anti-cult literature to justify repression … The ‘theoretical coda’ posits that authoritarian regimes survive by suppressing civil society and controlling every aspect of life, especially religion. This insight, though sobering, is vital for understanding the logic of restricting religious liberty in Iran and beyond … Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran is an excellent example of interdisciplinary scholarship, blending legal analysis, sociological insight, and historical context. It is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the architecture of religious regulation in Iran—and the global ideologies that sustain it.’ Massimo Introvigne, International Journal on Minority and Group Rights

‘[Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran] maintains a good balance between theoretical discussion of the government’s actions and descriptions of government practice. It is a description and an attempt to analyse, within academic theoretical frameworks, the manner in which the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has managed religion, and in particular managed religious minorities, by promoting its own religious ideology and constraining and repressing all other religious communities and movements mainly through the use of the judiciary … The Cambridge Elements series, of which this book is a part, is designed to publish succinct but authoritative texts focusing on a single subject. This book achieves that aim. It is succinct and yet succeeds in giving an authoritative and comprehensive survey of the manner in which the present Iranian government deals with minority religions and alternative religious movements, some of which are conceptually and organizationally very different from the state religion of Twelver Shi’i Islam.’ Moojan Momen, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion

‘Managing Religion and Religious Changes in Iran is a concise, highly erudite, study that focuses on how the Islamic Republic of Iran and the confessional communities within its society grapple with transformations in religious identity, beliefs, practices, and social and political implications of change within the setting of a Ithnā-‘Asharī or Twelver Shi‘ite theocratic state. Through fifty-seven pages of facts and evaluations, [Adeliyan] Tous and Richardson insightfully investigate the impact of sectarian authoritarianism upon the majority Shi‘i Muslim community, and the Sunni and Sufi Muslim, and Baha‘i, Christian, Zoroastrian, and Jewish minorities … [Adeliyan] Tous and Richardson have produced a theoretically complex, methodologically innovative, data driven study which yields important and relevant results. Their analyses and conclusions cannot be overlooked and should inform future studies by scholars and students of religiosity in contemporary Iran. Their research and writing reveal continuing attempts by contemporary Iranian leaders to follow the Middle Persian or Pahlavi and Classical New Persian or Farsi maxim: ‘Religion and state were born of one womb, joined together never to be sundered.’ Jamsheed K. Choksy, American Journal of Islam and Society