Chapter Eleven: The Wisdom of the Gathas from Deception and Divine Religion by Sadeq Khademi

The Gathas: An Ancient and Sacred Text

Among the most historical documents of the Magi and the most ancient religious texts are the Gathas. The term Gathas, meaning rhythmic and musical hymns, is regarded by Zoroastrians as a divine scripture, the inner core of the Avesta, embodying esoteric wisdom and the knowledge of the Divine. It articulates absolute truths, the foundations, and the messages of the faith, as well as the method for its comprehension, with utmost clarity.

The Gathas are traditionally attributed to Zoroaster, though it appears that Zoroaster is not a personal name but a title bestowed upon highly enlightened Magi. Thus, the Zoroaster associated with the Gathas, who gained renown through them and is referred to without contextual ambiguity, should not be confused with the titular Zoroaster among the Magi. There is no clear, documented history regarding the creator of the Gathas, save for what is contained within the text itself, which has been the source of numerous disputes concerning its authorship. Much of what has been transmitted about Zoroaster’s life is predominantly legendary and mythological, lacking historical veracity or the capacity for scholarly or philosophical discourse.

The Nature of the Gathas

The Gathas constitute the oldest extant religious versified text available to humanity. These musical hymns possess philosophical content, a worldview, and a sagacious value, reflecting the charisma and wisdom of their creator and signifying the pinnacle of their spiritual perfection. The principles, objectives, tenets, and methodologies of the Gathas are logically interconnected and resolute. This text, crafted with the precision of luminous reason and based on a cohesive system of Illuminationist philosophy, draws upon the foundations of the Khosravani and Pahlavi philosophical traditions. These foundations endow it with grandeur and enduring relevance, influencing even the teachings of subsequent religions.

The Gathas provide fundamental and universal propositions for philosophical inquiry and the derivation of Illuminationist and esoteric philosophy, grounded in a tangible logic of comprehension. If confined to the Gathas alone, without the addition of other Avestan texts, this philosophy follows the path of truth; otherwise, it risks entanglement in superstitions and myths.

Linguistically, the Gathas are more structured, logical, and advanced than the vernacular of their time. Despite claims that their language is obscure, they are clearer and more eloquent than the language of the later Avesta in conveying abstract and precise philosophical and theological meanings.

Even if the Gathas were the product of a collective effort by a council of Magi or the religious establishment of their era, it can be said that they bear the imprint of an individual composition, authored by a fully enlightened and charismatic Magi.

In this study, I have pursued the philosophical identity of the Gathas through textual analysis, avoiding engagement with popular tales, prevailing myths in Zoroastrian books, or oral traditions, particularly those found in the Avesta. I do not expect this work to be challenged or critiqued based on the Avestan text, Zoroastrian myths, or their elaborate doctrines.

The Avesta and the Gathas

The Avesta, the sacred scripture of Zoroastrians, is one of the great ancient texts, having undergone an extensive historical evolution spanning approximately two millennia to become what it is today. The term Avesta has been interpreted as meaning foundation, knowledge, or divine mysteries.

Within the Yasna, a section of the Avesta, lie the Gathas. It is said that these hymns (or prayers) convey the messages of Ahura Mazda, received through inner awareness and divine inspiration with the aid of Vohu Manah, possessing a sacred and divine quality.

Seventeen of the seventy-two hāts (chapters or sections) of the Yasna are called the Gathas (hymns), specifically Yasna 28–31, 43–51, and 53. By directly referring to these, provided one can accurately comprehend them, the teachings and philosophy of this ancient text can be discerned.

Apart from the Gathas, other sections of the Avesta and later texts by Zoroastrian authors lack the standard of Khosravani wisdom, the benchmark for scholarly study, or the criterion for Illuminationist inquiry. They suffer from compositional weakness, decline, and the output of ordinary minds, lacking the divine charisma (khavarna, a special God-given power and authority in Zoroastrian terminology). These cannot be considered the works of sages, let alone religious texts attributed to divine revelation or Illuminationist insight.

Linguistic and Musical Characteristics

The meter of the seventeen Gathic hymns resembles Indian poetic meters. It is said that the language of the Gathas is akin to Sanskrit and closely related to the Vedas. The rhythmic quality of the Gathas has been instrumental in their historical preservation. Over time, the term Gatha evolved into Gāh, used to denote certain modes and structures in Persian music. The Gathas are imbued with religious musicality.

The Avesta was written in the dabiri script (a script specific to religious texts), which is musical and akin to musical notation, enabling the transmission and comprehension of its content. However, the challenge lies in the fact that the few translators, commentators, and exegetes of the Avesta, as well as Pahlavi and Zend scholars, neither fully understood the language of the Avesta, particularly the Gathas, nor grasped Zoroaster’s intended meaning, especially his wisdom and knowledge. Consequently, they were unable to accurately convey it even in translation. Nevertheless, with the advancement of knowledge and information, contemporary scholars are not as deficient in translating the Gathas and have achieved far better results than their predecessors.

In addition to these challenges, the Gathas have not been transmitted to posterity in their entirety or intact, particularly as these melodic hymns were compiled through oral transmission, which is susceptible to paraphrasing, interpolation, or corruption. This has led to some instances of disorder, fragmentation, omission, addition, or textual distortion.

Controversies and Interpretations

Some Zoroastrian priests contend that parts of the Avesta were authored by Magi who opposed Zoroaster, incorporating content contrary to his teachings, against which the spirit of the Gathas stands in opposition. The numerous deities and demons, each assigned specific roles, are an example of this.

Zoroastrian priests emphasize that religious literature reflecting the beliefs of ordinary people, their lifestyles, and ancestral traditions does not constitute divine teachings that must be accepted. Religious literature requires rational analysis and critical scrutiny, especially since it became the official liturgy and state religion, aligned with authoritarian power, diverging from the fundamental and authentic concepts of the Gathas and their enlightened wisdom.

Zoroastrians regard the Gathas as the outcome of Zoroaster’s communion with Ahura Mazda, describing them as the reception of divine inspirations and dialogues with Him. In Yasna 45 of the Gathas, it is stated: “Now I shall speak of the words inspired in me by the Lord.”

The Zoroastrian teachings and religion are referred to as Mazdayasna (worship of Mazda). In essence, these teachings align with the doctrines of the Hanīf Magi, which, through the Gathas, became the first historically documented religion.

Chronology

Research on the literature of the Gathas suggests they date between 1200 and 800 BCE. The Zoroastrian community considers Zoroaster’s selection to have occurred in 1768 BCE. Thus, in 2024 CE, Zoroaster’s birth would be dated to 3792 years ago.

Geographical Context

Regarding the geographical origin of the Gathas, according to the renowned orientalist Frantz Grenet, a leading authority on Zoroastrian history, the primary geography of the Gathas can be identified as present-day Afghanistan and parts of Tajikistan (Sogdia). It is said that when Zoroaster visited the court of Hystaspes, he was familiar with the language and culture of the people of Balkh. The Pashto language spoken by Afghans today bears significant resemblance to Avestan.

Mary Boyce, a British Zoroastrian scholar, in her A Concise History of Zoroastrianism, analyzes that Ray (Ragha of Media), a center of the Hazaras, was one of the most significant Zoroastrian hubs and a stronghold of the Mas-Mughan (Great Magi). The administrative governance of this strategically located city was lost to the Magi and Iranians during the Seleucid domination (circa 305 BCE) and was transferred to a Macedonian ruler. At this time, the Magi established their governance in the northwest, in Atropatene (Azerbaijan). To sanctify this region and rival the religious prominence of Ragha (Ray), they designated their territory as Airyana Vaejah.

The latest research identifies Zoroaster as originating from northeastern Greater Iran, specifically within the region encompassing modern-day Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Airyana Vaejah (Land of the Noble), a sacred site for Zoroastrians, includes this area. In the first chapter of the Vendidad, sections 3 and 4, it is stated: “The best region created by Ahura Mazda is Airyana Vaejah… Zoroaster emerged in Airyana Vaejah.”

Ahura Mazda

The oneness of Ahura Mazda is the most fundamental principle in the teachings of the Gathas. The Gathas refer to God as Mazda Ahura. Mā means great, zda denotes absolute knowledge and self-existent wisdom, and ahura signifies the Creator God and Lord (cognate with asura, the god of the Indians). Mazda Ahura thus means the all-knowing, absolutely wise, and sovereign God.

Mazda implies omniscience, life-giving, and possessing self-existent wisdom, while ahura denotes divinity and lordship as its attributes. Mazdaka, a name found among the Medes, appears in Sargon’s inscription from the early 715 BCE.

In the Gathas, the form Mazda Ahura is used, whereas the precedence of Ahura over Mazda appears in non-Zoroastrian texts. Ahura Mazda, meaning the God of soul and wisdom, is found in Achaemenid inscriptions.

Mazda Ahura, meaning the Lord of soul and wisdom, is consistently used in Yasna 36. In Yasna 28, verse 1, it is stated: “O Mazda Ahura! Instruct me with Your wisdom and enlighten me with Your tongue about how the final day will be.”

In the Gathic teachings, in significant and great endeavors, assistance is sought from Mazda Ahura, regarded as the ultimate refuge, guide, and supporter—an eternal God who is pure, absolute light, free, and ever joy-bestowing, granting peace. At the beginning of the Gathas, in Yasna 28, it is written: “I desire, in prayer with uplifted hands, first, O Mazda, for all creation, the Spenta Mainyu (the primal wisdom and divine inspiration).”

Yasna 28, 30, 31, 43, 44, 45, and 46 describe the attributes of Mazda Ahura, which align with the God of Abraham, from which the Iranian New Year prayer can be derived.

In the Gathas, God is named Mazda Ahura, possessing the highest awareness, power, and complete oneness. He is the Creator, the benefactor, and the shaper, forming the cosmos from His own existence, not from nothingness. Mazda Ahura is self-existent, and His manifestations and attributes, which are eternal and primordial, are dependent on Him and also eternal. Thus, creation and augmentation are inherent to Mazda Ahura’s essence, never ceasing. The ceaseless giving and dynamic motion of Mazda Ahura, being intrinsic, render inquiries into its purpose irrelevant. The Gathas call for the affirmation of Mazda Ahura’s absoluteness: “You must praise with devotion and piety the One who is eternally named Mazda Ahura.”

This statement, that devotion to God requires practical piety and reverence, demonstrates the highest precision in linguistic craftsmanship and the engineering of praise and religiosity.

Though the Gathas begin with supplication and desire, in the Ashtud Gatha and Yasna 43, it is stated: “To the heart’s desire, I seek for each what they desire, that Mazda Ahura, the granter of wishes, may bestow upon them with enduring strength and truth.”

The heart’s desire is inner enlightenment, and the ultimate attainment is reaching truth, free from expectation, accepting everything as God has willed. Accepting everything as God has willed is another expression of divine religion and the ultimate aim of the system of wisdom, which finds happiness in receiving divine decree and affirming faith in it. It continues: “To the heart’s desire, I seek that one may ascend from good to better; the man who teaches us the righteous path of benefit in this worldly life and the spiritual life. Through that true path, the creations reach where Ahura resides; that noble man, who, like You, is wise and pure, O Mazda!”

In Yasna 33 and 43, the Gathas portray Mazda Ahura as a God with whom one can associate, find intimacy, and unite. He can be seen in His holy court if Mazda Ahura reveals Himself, and His truths, mysteries of creation, and commandments can be heard from His own voice. He can be witnessed in His eternal and infinite act of creation, recognized as one’s teacher, refuge, and support, granting knowledge, strength, ability, and success.

Holy Wisdom and the Evil Thought

In the Gathas, following the belief in Ahura Mazda and His life-giving oneness, two concepts are introduced: Spenta Mainyu (Holy Wisdom) and Angra Mainyu (Evil Thought, encompassing malevolence, ugliness, and impurity).

Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu manifest in the realm of action, both possessing existence, and it is not the case that one represents being and truth while the other embodies non-existence.

Spenta Mainyu is the first luminous creation, eternally aligned with Mazda Ahura, and should not be conflated with the essence of existence, which is the life-giving, wisdom-bestowing, and all-encompassing light of Mazda Ahura.

The divine and holy light (Spenta Mainyu) in the Gathas can be equated with the Holy Spirit in Christianity and Islam. However, in its superlative form, Spentotumo Mainyu, it corresponds to the expansive grace, as I have elucidated in my book Awareness and Divine Humanity.

In the realm of action, the holiest wisdom, the first luminous creation, facilitates, mediates, and assists in the pursuit of perfecting goodness, serving as the path to knowing God, righteousness, and truth. In Yasna 33, verse 12, it is stated: “O Mazda! Through the assistance of Your holiest wisdom, grant me strength.”

In contrast, Angra Mainyu strives toward ugliness and evil. All goodness and virtues fall under the aegis of Spenta Mainyu, while all evils are subsumed under Angra Mainyu. Angra Mainyu and Ahriman stand in opposition to Spenta Mainyu in the realm of action, not against Mazda Ahura.

Later, some Zoroastrian sects, now highly limited, mistakenly interpreted this duality as a principle of dualistic worship, believing in two coequal principles. However, the Gathas vehemently oppose any form of polytheism or demon-worship, reaffirming monotheism.

The monotheism of the Gathas is as follows: Mazda Ahura is the supreme essence and Creator of all, with Spenta Mainyu (the creative and benevolent force) and Angra Mainyu (the destructive and malevolent force), along with the Amesha Spentas, as His creations. Revering and honoring every element of nature, such as water and earth, and all that is life-giving and beneficial, is an acknowledgment of Mazda Ahura’s oneness and grandeur, aligned with His benevolent creation.

The Gathas do not suggest belief in dual creators or polytheism. In later periods, deviations emerged among Zoroastrians, and superficial followers, lacking esoteric wisdom, altered Mazda Ahura to Ahura Mazda, positing Ahura and Ahriman as two principles or gods, one of the gravest distortions of the sublime wisdom of the Gathas. The Gathas recognize only one Creator, Mazda Ahura, but attribute evils to Ahriman, a creation of God, and collect goodness under the umbrella of Spenta Mainyu or Holy Wisdom. In the third stage, it is stated that Mazda Ahura created six holy angels, the Amesha Spentas.

The Amesha Spentas and the Seven Stages of Perfection

Following the initial revelation, Zoroaster spent eight years in communion with sacred attributes known as the Amesha Spentas (the supreme and luminous attributes of Mazda Ahura). These attributes are immortal, eternal, and serve to manifest and reveal Mazda Ahura. In the Gathas, these angels are not specifically named and were systematized after Zoroaster.

The creator of the Gathas repeatedly stood in the presence of Mazda Ahura and conversed with Him. As stated in Yasna 49, verse 5: “O Mazda! One who, through inner desire and selfless devotion, achieves harmony between faith and pure conduct, such a person will be endowed with love and truth, adorned with wisdom, and ultimately, through these luminous attributes, O Ahura, will attain Your eternal realm.”

The Gathas outline six luminous attributes or stages, known as the Amesha Spentas, to reach the seventh stage, the light of lights, Mazda Ahura. The foundation and stages of esoteric mysticism in the Gathas, as stated in Yasna 47, verse 1, are as follows: “One who, through the sacred spiritual light and holy wisdom (Spenta Mainyu) and the best awareness and good conduct (Vohu Manah), aligns their words and deeds with righteousness and truth (Asha), Mazda Ahura, through His power (Khshathra) and divine love and piety (Spenta Armaiti), will grant them perfect dominion (Haurvatat) and immortality (Amertat).”

The Zot, a fully enlightened Magi, is endowed with divine splendor and the light of wisdom and the attribute of felicity. This life-giving force must always remain radiant to maintain enlightenment, lest it fall into decline, fade, or perish. The Zot is a perfect Magi who embodies all the divine conditions and the seven stages of perfection. One who traverses these seven mystical stages and attains them becomes a Zot, a Saoshyant (savior and guide of others), a helper, and a leader. In Yasna 48, verse 12, it is stated: “Truly, the Saoshyants and liberators of the world, endowed with knowledge and insight, will fulfill their duty inspired by pure conduct (the path of righteousness and paradise). Their actions stem from truth and purity, and their behavior aligns with Your teachings, O Mazda.”

Zoroaster’s attributes include: good thought (Vohu Manah) and virtuous conduct; piety and good deeds (Asha Vahishta), which lead to mastery over desires and reverence; power (Khshathra Vairya); love and covenant (Spenta Armaiti); knowledge acquisition leading to perfection, felicity (Haurvatat); and immortality (Amertat), each bearing a sacred duty. In Yasna 36, Zoroaster says: “O Mazda Ahura! First, through the mediation of Fire and with the assistance of Your Spenta Mainyu, we draw near to You.”

The concepts of these six divine attributes elevate humanity to the seventh stage, communion and collaboration with Mazda Ahura, granting an eternal spiritual life filled with peace and joy. The Haft Sin, the seven cities of love, and the seven trials of Rostam symbolize these seven stages of human perfection.

Theology of the Gathas

The term religion derives from the Avestan daēnā, meaning the force of conscious conscience, the spiritual power to discern good from evil, and the arbiter based on reason, exercised with freedom and volition. Religion, in this sense, is the judgment of conscience, and the function of religion is described as nurturing the conscience’s capacity for judgment.

According to a discovered inscription, Daēnā (religion) was considered among the fabricated and contrived deities in ancient Iran, one of the Median angels tasked with overseeing divine religion and God’s ordinances.

Based on the teachings of the Gathas, religion is a methodical system imbued with divine charisma, systematically employing free reason, virtuous thought, and the station of conscious conscience. It fosters virtuous character and the spiritual and esoteric force that inclines toward goodness and avoids evil in a harmonious and balanced manner, aligning with a virtuous life, immortality, and eternal spiritual bliss (anūshagī). This, in essence, is the recognition of God, divine satisfaction, and love for Mazda Ahura, comprehensively taught according to the text of the Gathas (the divine scripture) and the insights of the enlightened Zoroaster. This leads to heartfelt faith in this unique worldview, devotion, and the sincere performance of religious rites and ceremonies.

Mazda Ahura is apprehended through conscience and illumination, and Daēnā serves as the bridge connecting humanity to God.

The principles of Zoroaster’s teachings and Daēnā, meaning its ordinances and judgment, encompass: the existence and oneness of Mazda Ahura, who is without partner, great, unparalleled, the origin and culmination of all, and ever-present in manifestation and light-giving; faith in Zoroaster as the founder of Zoroastrian teachings and the religion of truth; the vitality, dynamism, and growth of creation and divine light (Spenta Mainyu) and divine creativity; the law of Asha (the natural order, cosmic truth, or righteousness, the foundation of progress); the created and phenomenal nature of Ahriman and evil; free will and the freedom of choice; the equality of rights for all humans, male and female; the spiritual and eternal realm of the soul; the seven stages of perfection (the Amesha Spentas, justice, generosity, and benevolence); the sanctity of the four elements (fire, water, earth, and air); and Frašōkereti (renewal, resurrection, and the rejuvenation of the world and its creatures).

The Daēnā of each individual, after death, appears at the Chinvat Bridge, the passage of the soul’s trial and judgment. If the soul is truthful and righteous, Daēnā manifests as a radiant young maiden; if deceitful and unrighteous, it appears as a wrinkled, hideous old crone, inseparable from the soul. Thus, this world and the hereafter are interconnected and interdependent.

Paradise, meaning the best state of existence, is the attainment of joy and spiritual tranquility. The Arabic term jannah, derived from the same concept, refers to a soft, serene, secluded canopy, free from multiplicity, where no one disturbs another, serving as a source of peace and comfort. The paradisiacal abode reflects good thoughts and deeds, a sunlit realm and a land of light.

Hell, meaning the worst state of existence, is the bondage of evil thoughts and the consequence of deceit and perverse thinking, returning to the malevolent and corrupt in both the material (body) and spiritual (soul) realms, a profoundly dark place.

In the perspective of the Magi, religion is a matter of innate disposition. However, later superficial Zoroastrians misconstrued it as ethnic and racial, restricting Zoroastrianism to Persians alone. In their view, their ethnic group was chosen by God for this religion, and their faith was deemed the true religion, transmitted through blood and ethnic inheritance. To preserve this racial religiosity, they prohibited marriage with non-believers.

When religion is ethnic, proselytizing has no place in Zoroastrianism. Consequently, Zoroastrian Magi did not engage in propagating or imposing their religion on others, though they believed others could benefit from the ethical teachings, knowledge, and culture of Mazdaism. To protect their followers from religious apostasy, they critically and scientifically analyzed other religions, identifying internal contradictions within them.

Freedom and Free Will

In the Gathas, consistent with traditional Iranian culture, God created humanity with free will and volition, granting freedom in choosing religion and between good deeds and evil actions.

Since humans possess will and the capacity for choice, on one hand, holy wisdom (Spenta Mainyu) guides them toward virtuous acts, while on the other, Ahriman tempts them toward malevolent deeds.

This freedom is so profound that even an individual endowed with divine splendor and grace can lose this blessing through transgression. In Yasna 45, Zoroaster states: “Mazda Ahura, in His sovereignty and power, has granted us the right of free choice.”

In the teachings of the Gathas, religion does not curtail human freedoms but respects the right to freedom and choice, while emphasizing truthfulness. A free and truthful follower is committed to their own conscience, collective conscience, and common beliefs.

Conscience (Daēnā), truth, ethics, education, and divine charisma find meaning and structure through freedom; otherwise, they devolve into despotism, autocracy, and disorder. Religion, in the sense of conscience, and a religious person are those who cultivate this inner and conscientious force, discovering truth and pursuing the path of truthfulness through divine illumination.

Truth and Righteousness

Religion holds validity only if it is imbued with truth and all its components are rightfully in place. In one of his dialogues with God, Zoroaster expresses: “Mazda Ahura! I praise You. When Vohu Manah came to me and asked to whom I am devoted and what my sign is in this age, I said: I am Zoroaster, the enemy of deceit, and ultimately, I will reach the boundless realm and praise You there. I strive in the path of truth. Show me righteousness so I may seek it. You said to heed the command of Sraosha (the attribute of obedience), and a great reward awaits humanity.”

Darius, in his aforementioned inscription, prays for Greater Iran: “O God, protect this land from deceit.”

This statement reflects Darius’s endeavor to position himself and Gaumata the Magi in the realm of truth against deceit.

If the great obstacle of deceit, hypocrisy, and false religion is removed, Ahura and existence become attainable and accessible, and religion assumes truth and illumination. However, Ahura is only reachable through illumination and the heart, not through thought, expression, or discourse, nor does it come through mere contemplation or words.

A religion tainted by deceit ceases to be a pure, transparent, radiant, and uplifting truth, creating sacred oppressions through deception, attacking all that is true and righteous with cruelty, and giving rise to ignorance, despotism, and autocracy. Religion, through ethics, education, and especially the essence of truth, can resolve inner conflicts and restrain carnal desires, attaining wisdom and becoming knowledge-generating, uplifting, and elevating. Ethics, in a single word, is goodness and virtue alone. Virtue and goodness are the nature of every individual, manifesting in a free environment with a commitment to truth, righteousness, justice, and equity.

Seeking and attaining Mazda Ahura is possible through the force of Asha, purity, and truth. The philosophy of life is awareness of the truest knowledge (razishta chista), which is divine religion, with the essence of divine splendor, esoteric wisdom, and the striving for holiness, truth, and righteousness—namely, virtuous thought and good deeds.

The criterion for salvation is not merely performing religious rituals but good thoughts, good conduct, and virtuous deeds. Truth and righteousness are the foundation of love. The mysticism of the Gathas is the path of truth, love, and unity, interpreted as virtuous thought, equality, and the unity of existence and goodness. Just as the abstract attributes of the Amesha Spentas are united with Mazda Ahura, and Mazda Ahura is described through them, in pre-Sasanian Zoroastrianism, they were distinct attributes of Mazda. However, in later Avestan texts, they became spiritual personalities, eternal saints, and seven spiritual angels of Mazda Ahura. In Yasna 44, verse 17, the Gathas speak of this divine connection: “My desire is to follow the path You have shown, to join You and become one with You.”

Trinitarianism and threefold constructs of goodness and virtue indicate a tendency toward multiplicity, a departure from the truth of unity, and a deficiency in knowledge. Proximity to the heart, which is impossible without unity, is the foundation of Khosravani wisdom, not fabricated multiplicities. The trinitarian slogans that base the number of perfection on three, deeming three the supreme good and virtue, were formulated by superficial imitators based on rudimentary mathematics.

In contemporary mathematics, every number is a repetition of the unit one. In knowledge, too, no understanding is possible without attaining truth, whether that knowledge is acquired within a causal system or self-founded without cause.

The Gathas designate teaching, instruction, and salvation as the domain of the enlightened. In Yasna 32, verse 164, it is stated: “The best of all is the teaching of a pious man, given through wisdom.”

An enlightened teacher, like a physician, instructs with ethics, humility, modesty, truth, freedom, love, and intimacy with divine insights, capable of divine mentorship, divine guidance, enlightened salvation, and enlightened leadership, conveying the divine religion and its message to humanity. Such a teacher is virtuous and an Ashavan (righteous one). Naturally, such a teacher is free from arrogance, pride, and boastfulness, guiding all to the singular existence and the unparalleled God, calling only to Him and none other.

Life: An Unrelenting Struggle

In the Gathas, Yasna 46 states: “With the true religion You have ordained, whoever does not hasten to guide and save the deceitful is as if they have collaborated with them and become deceitful themselves. The righteous must be a friend to the righteous and a guide to the deceitful.”

Mundane life is a battlefield of ceaseless striving, effort, and a form of soldiering in the cause of establishing truth under the banner of Mazda Ahura, combating evils. As long as corruption exists, the struggle persists, and repose is impossible without a comprehensive triumph over ignorance, oppression, and the partial resolution of social issues. Indeed, the primary duty of a Mazdayasni is the continuous support of goodness and an unrelenting, enduring battle against evils, particularly arrogance (tarōmaiti), evil thought (aka manah), deceit and evil (druj), wrath (aēshma), and avoiding alignment with the dregvants—the deceitful, misguided, and impure—who are the destroyers of eternal life and obstacles to obeying Mazda Ahura’s commandments and ordinances.

Fire and Light

Mazda Ahura created fire from His essence and its light from His eternal light—an infinite fire that, through a descending illumination, radiates from a pure and unadorned essence to the enlightened and truthful heart, igniting the human soul and leading it to the singular Mazda, a Mazda who is unique, ever-augmenting, and, like love, never static. The wayfarer on the path of wisdom, truth, and holiness will be reached by His divine messenger, Sraosha.

Truth and love lead humanity to align with the goodness of existence, to be supported by existence, to the unity of existence, to boundless progress, to endless augmentation without impasse, and to liberation from stagnation.

Rumi, with the beautiful harmony of quatrain and music, speaks of the fire and water of love thus: “Until I recognized the fire and water of love, / In the fire of my heart, like water, I melted. / Like a rebab, I surrendered my heart, / Until I crafted the strike of love’s wound beautifully.”

Fire, one of the sacred and pure elements (ākhshij), is illuminating and a vital force that must not be defiled but preserved to enable prayer. Indeed, all that is God-given is pure and beloved.

Fire is the emblem of Fravahar and a symbol of reverence for Asha and its preservation. The candle, a symbol of the fire of love and divine splendor, burns of its own accord, and this inner fire is the source of the strength and capability of the enlightened, the cause of their insight and vision. Fire symbolizes Mazda’s presence in the heart and conscience of all beings, the foundation of life, vitality, and their energy. Just as the Kaaba is revered by Muslims and their point of orientation, fire is cherished by Zoroastrians as a symbol of Mazda Ahura.

Divine fire is the light that shines in the hearts of the enlightened and holy, granting them a virtuous soul, good character, and the knowledge of truth. Given the etymology of the term for soul, fire, manifesting as light and illumination, is the source of creation and luminous genesis. Similarly, the people of knowledge regard divine love, which settles in the heart, is apprehended by the heart, burns and shatters the heart, as the source of manifestation and emergence. Zoroaster states: “Mazda Ahura brought forth all goodness, including light. Light comes from Mazda Ahura, not Mazda Ahura from light.”

In the Avesta, fire is associated with Asha, the embodiment of divine power, cosmic order, and justice, drawing strength and authority from it. Fire embodies light, illumination, life, and, consequently, eternal existence, as well as movement, perfection-seeking, and dynamism toward the sublime, the origin, and the truth. Love is likened to fire for this reason. In the distorted Zoroastrian conception of hell, there is no fire.

The Attribute of Mithra

Fire, in the form of Mithra, is the name of an attribute and angel in Zoroastrian belief, an abstract and celestial intellect, not a deity. Mithra, meaning covenant, is a creation of the God of eternal light, one of the deities and angels serving as an intermediary between creation and Creator. By drawing near to Mithra, one can approach God. Thus, Zoroastrian Mithra should not be confused with the Roman cult of Mithraism. In the Mihr Yasht, it is stated: “Ahura Mazda said: When I created Mithra, I made him worthy of praise and worship like Myself. Mithra grants victory to those who pray to him with a pure heart and good character. From him, at dawn, the divine good creations manifest.”

Plutarch notes: “The Iranians regard Mithra as a mediator and intermediary between God and creation, his station between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman.”

In Zoroastrianism, with the aid and intercession of Mithra, humanity possesses the inner strength to ascend. As the poet says: “If a speck receives the gracious glance of the saint, / It rises to the heavens and performs the work of the sun.”

The sun and fire, symbols of annihilation, transform a mere speck not only into a world-revealer but a God-revealer. In Zoroaster’s worldview, the closer the attributes are to Mazda Ahura, the greater their light and splendor, and the higher their illumination and knowledge. Vohu Manah, the attribute of awareness, knowledge, and wisdom, is the most luminous of the Amesha Spentas. Mithra is the enemy of deceit, falsehood, and evil.

Some Rituals of the Gathas

Rituals, traditions, and ceremonies are practices and derivatives rooted in the truths, worldview, and principles of religion, forming the framework of religious law and practice. Although the Gathas themselves lack a formal legal code or prescribed rituals, Zoroastrian religious practices and ceremonies have been constructed by the assembly of Magi and priests, subject to the decisions of this clerical circle.

Zoroastrian rituals, none of which are obligatory and all performed freely and voluntarily, are ordained by the assembly of Magi and priests. Examples include the five daily prayers and the sanctity of marriage, both of which are mentioned in the Gathas.

The Five Daily Prayers

The term prayer is of Avestan origin, with the root nam signifying bending or showing reverence. For Zoroastrians, prayer is a tradition rather than a religious mandate. Prayers are recited to counteract evils and malevolence and to receive illumination. Zoroastrian prayers are found in the Khorda Avesta.

Every Zoroastrian performs prayers five times throughout the day and night. These prayers are offered in the presence of the fire in a fire temple, or, during the day, they may also be performed facing the sun. Fire and light symbolize purity and sanctity. Their prayers consist solely of recitations and specific movements.

The five prayer times are as follows: Hāvan Gāh (from sunrise and the emergence of sunlight until noon); Rapitvan Gāh (when the sun is at its zenith, from noon until approximately three in the afternoon); Uziran Gāh (from three in the afternoon until sunset); Aiwisruthrem Gāh (from sunset and the onset of darkness until midnight); and Ushahin Gāh (from midnight until dawn and sunrise).

At each prayer time, Zoroastrians recite a short hymn as their prayer.

Before each prayer, to achieve purity of soul and body, they perform padyāb (ablution), washing their hands up to the wrists, their entire face, and their feet up to the ankles, without requiring a specific order.

The Sanctity of Marriage and Monogamy

In Zoroastrian teachings, which greatly emphasize freedom and choice, a woman is free to choose her spouse, and marriage for both men and women is founded on monogamy and love. Men are prohibited from having more than one wife, and the conditions for separation or divorce are stringent.

Zoroastrians prohibit both polygamy and marriage with close relatives. Claims regarding such practices are a form of defamation and misinterpretation, stemming from a misunderstanding of the Avestan term khaētūvadatha, which recommends marriage with distant relatives, such as cousins, or encourages maintaining familial ties, visits, and interactions with kin, rather than endorsing marriage with immediate relatives. Khaētu means kin, and vadatha refers to matrimony.

The prohibition of marriage with close relatives is a divine ordinance and a universal taboo, observed even by adherents of non-religious traditions, let alone followers of divine religions. This term does not appear in the Gathas, the sole scripture of Zoroaster.

While the Gathas emphasize freedom, magnanimity, and nobility, they lack a complex system of jurisprudence or legal rulings and can be considered devoid of rituals, religious law, or responses to such matters. In Yasna 53, Zoroaster advises his daughter, Chista, to marry Jamasp, a non-Zoroastrian, based on her free choice, affection, and rational judgment, noting that Jamasp is commendable for his piety.

In all divine religions, marriage with close relatives is impermissible, and the sanctity of this prohibition is a divine ordinance. Rare historical instances of such marriages are personal matters unrelated to innate or divine religion and cannot serve as a defining characteristic of a religion, a national tradition, or an institutionalized practice. The sons of Adam, Abel, and Cain, did not marry their sisters but took wives from the most evolved nasnās (a term for pre-human beings). Moreover, they did not marry their mothers or daughters, and equating these cases with sibling marriage is an invalid analogy. Adam, created from mundane nature, was the first divine prophet among humans and adhered to divine ordinances concerning his progeny. His miracle was his mastery of the knowledge of divine names and attributes, which prompted the angels to prostrate before him. The Quran states: “And He taught Adam all the names” (Al-Baqarah 2:31).

It must be noted that Zoroastrian jurisprudence and legal rulings were constructed by non-enlightened priests during the Sasanian era, when a distorted form of Mazdaism became the official religion. These lack divine authenticity or validity.

Marriage with a non-relative expands familial networks, while marriage with relatives is not recommended by scientific inquiry. Empirical and rational investigations, when guided by reason, are valid and carry the weight of truth.

Religious law prioritizes the spiritual virtues of the bride and groom, their potential to be good parents, their compatibility, and their mutual love and affection over whether they marry within or outside the family. Finding such a spouse, whether among kin or strangers, is a blessing. In Shiite tradition, when the focus is on the roles of man and woman in love, it is termed nikāh (marriage). When the unity of man and woman is emphasized, it is referred to as love. The phrase ankaftu, spoken by the woman to the man, means “I have bestowed my love and affection upon you,” and qabiltu, the man’s response, signifies his absolute and unconditional acceptance of this love. Thus, the marriage formula in Shiism, which can be expressed through any words or actions that convey intent, carries a deeper semantic weight than the commitments in Aryan or Zoroastrian contracts, which are tied to the cycles of spring and autumn, limited to this world, and lack profound wisdom.

Greek and Western historiography, which cannot be absolved of bias and attempts to tarnish Iran’s image, distort its past, and commit fallacies by attacking Iranian identity, often fails to purely represent Iranian cultural content, tainting it with ulterior motives and anti-Iranian sentiments. These historians obscure the legacy of Khosravani wisdom, censor its works and virtues, and erase them from history. Instead of presenting Zoroaster as a model, they elaborately narrate the misdeeds of a king—if they indeed occurred—with minute details, crafting novels and proclaiming them as exemplars of Iranian life.

The actions of certain kings, the edicts of their affiliated or mercenary priests, and their distortions and innovations—if historically accurate—bear no relation to the teachings of the Gathas or to the Iranian nation and its noble people. In Islam, the legitimacy of ethnic and religious marriages is readily accepted, and marriages conducted according to the religious laws and rituals of any community are deemed valid, with their offspring considered legitimate, even if the religion or its rituals are deemed false.

After the advent of Islam, contemporary Zoroastrian priests did not permit such practices in their religious law. The Quran, in the following verse, grants divine forgiveness to pre-Islamic marriages, including those attributed to Zoroastrians conducted according to their traditions, declaring their offspring legitimate: “Except what has already occurred, for Allah is Forgiving and Merciful” (An-Nisa 4:23).

The verse states: “Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father’s sisters, your mother’s sisters, your brother’s daughters, your sister’s daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives’ mothers, and your stepdaughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful” (An-Nisa 4:23).

In Shiite tradition, although Zoroastrians and Magi are subject to the rulings of the People of the Book, due to the requirement of compatibility in marriage, which includes religious and sectarian alignment, marriage with Mazdayasni men or women, whether permanent or temporary, is impermissible.

In Zoroastrian tradition, a boy, regardless of his religion, may propose to a Zoroastrian girl who has reached the age of fourteen and meets the conditions for marriage. At eighteen, a boy may hold an engagement ceremony, exchanging rings with a girl who has reached sixteen. When the girl reaches eighteen, he may marry her.

It should be noted that rituals, traditions, and religious practices are not the cause of discord among religions. Ceremonies are generally culturally acceptable and rooted in local customs, varying by ethnicity, region, and geography, shaped by prevailing ethics, knowledge, and culture, rather than being divine in origin. The teachings, beliefs, and worldviews of religions are the criteria for their similarity, coexistence, or differences. Islam has two periods: the presence of the Infallible and the absence of the Infallible. The Shiite lifestyle during the absence of the Infallible bears greater affinity with the teachings of the Gathas, but during the presence of the Infallible, it is centered on the Infallible, prioritizing belief in the Infallible and adherence to the teachings of the possessor of divine guardianship and infallibility, who embodies all knowledge and truth, the gateway to God, and the fortified fortress. This belief underpins monotheistic convictions and the righteousness of rituals.

The Innovation of Kartir

During the Sasanian era, two fabricated religions, Manichaeism and Mazdakism, and constructed Zoroastrian sects, such as Zurvanism, blended Zoroaster’s teachings with Buddhist, Christian, and Greek philosophies, particularly the world-denying Gnostic beliefs of the Greeks and other accretions.

One of the Zoroastrian innovators, Kartir, lived in the third century CE and led the religious establishment. Through a governmental decree from Shapur I, who supported Zoroastrian innovators, Kartir rose from a simple fire priest of the lowest clerical rank to the exalted position of religious mentor to the emperor, high priest, and great Magi, wielding supreme authority over clerical affairs. Hormizd and Bahram granted him the title of Priest of Ahura Mazda, and he gradually ascended to the role of judge and chief of the supreme court across the Sasanian realm. Thus, he controlled the fate of Zoroastrianism and its teachings, not through scholarly merit, inner sanctity, purity, or wisdom, but through political power.

Kartir wielded such influence that he left four inscriptions at Naqsh-e Rostam, Kaaba of Zoroaster, Sar Mashhad, and Naqsh-e Rajab, all located in present-day Fars province. The content of these inscriptions reveals Kartir’s lack of divine charisma, religious integrity, and distance from Khosravani wisdom.

Kartir is notorious for his harsh and merciless suppression of religious minorities, particularly the brutal extermination of dualist Manichaeans and the eradication of followers of other religions for adhering to their faiths. In an inscription on the eastern side of the Kaaba of Zoroaster, Kartir describes his actions: “I, Kartir, from the outset endured great toil for the gods, the kings, and my own soul; I caused many fires and Magi to flourish in the empire of Iran and non-Iran alike… The rituals of Ahriman and the demons were driven from the empire, and Jews, Buddhists, Brahmins, Nazarenes, Christians, Maktaks (Jains), and Zandiks (Manichaean heretics) of the empire were destroyed.”

In the late Sasanian period, as legalistic and superficial priests gained social and political influence, the rulings of the Magi and Zoroastrian laws were codified under the term dād (law), and Zoroastrians developed a formalized jurisprudence. According to Theodorus of Mopsuestia, the Zoroastrian clergy in this period was divided into two groups, splitting Zoroastrians into two factions with opposing religious beliefs: the Magi in western Iran and the Zandiks in the east.

With governmental support for religion during the Sasanian era, Zoroastrian priests lost their spirituality, devalued the religion by making it dogmatic and authoritarian, and confined it to excessive ritualism and superficiality, stripping it of its esoteric depth. They reduced the sublime wisdom, Khosravani teachings, and Hanif content of Zoroastrianism to mere rulings, rituals, commands, prohibitions, and incantations, which were to be blindly followed without understanding their underlying purpose.

With the rise of Islam and the fall of the Sasanian government, the state-supported Sasanian religion, plagued by divisions among priests, lost its governmental backing. The spiritually hollow, superficial, and dependent Zoroastrian clerical system either willingly converted to Islam, migrated to India, or faced severe repression by Muslims in 653–656 CE, resulting in deaths. Consequently, this religious system, like the Sasanian political system, disintegrated in disarray.

The Current Status of Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrian teachings have consistently been propagated by kings and rulers, taking the form of an independent religion. Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion during the Median, Achaemenid (Persian), Seleucid (successors of Alexander and the era of Greek Hellenistic dominance), Parthian, and Sasanian periods.

In Iran, the Medes made significant efforts to spread this religion, but their limited territorial reach prevented widespread success. The Achaemenids followed, and according to available sources, they generally adhered to the religion of the Zoroastrian Magi. For instance, an inscription from Darius the Great states: “Darius says: Ahura Mazda is a great bagha (god), greater than all other baghas (gods).”

When Cyrus the Achaemenid conquered Babylon, he did not prohibit the worship of Marduk, the Babylonian god. However, under the Sasanians, Ardashir Babakan, supported by the priests of Pars, revived and expanded Zoroastrianism in Iran, making it the dominant religion and cultural framework of the people. Ardashir Babakan translated the Avesta from Avestan to Pahlavi to make it more accessible to the populace.

With the emergence of Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, the Zoroastrian priestly system, which ruled through a distorted religion, lacked enlightened sages and holy priests or kings. The priests deviated, and non-enlightened rulers and governments, supported by ordinary priests and the military, indulged in debauchery, hedonism, and wealth accumulation. Amid these corruptions, Christian missionaries, with churches in various regions, attacked the religion’s weaknesses through theological and philosophical propaganda. With the rise and dominance of Islam, Zoroastrianism lost its followers, religious sources, and priests. A religion without competent stewards or enlightened guides naturally becomes tainted with superstitions and myths by superficial followers and lay adherents. Today, many young Zoroastrians disregard Zoroastrian rulings and rituals, viewing them as priestly deceptions.

The historical deviations of priests, their intellectual decline, and superficial beliefs bear no relation to the sacred Khosravani wisdom or the Gathas.

Although the religion of the Magi and the teachings of the Gathas were imbued with esoteric wisdom and knowledge, and the philosophy of the Gathas, in its temporal context, stood at a higher pinnacle than Greek philosophy, attracting Greek philosophers, it later lost its esoteric meanings due to the vulgarization by priests and the superficiality of simple-minded Magi. This spiritual philosophy was reduced to superficial rituals, and the system of kingship, governance, and management by sages did not reach worthy successors. Kings supported ordinary priests, and non-enlightened priests endorsed incompetent rulers. This semantic decline was so profound that the term Magi came to denote ordinary, unremarkable clerics, no longer signifying the lofty divine human or the special divine splendor. Neither the Zoroaster of the Sasanians is the enlightened Zoroaster, nor are the ambitious Mazdayasni priests the assembly of Zoroastrian Magi, wise and sage-recognizing, nor is the Avesta the entirety of the Gathas with its Khosravani and illuminative wisdom.

The cultural plundering of Iran’s scientific heritage, particularly the extreme ritualism and worldliness of Zoroastrian priests, led Zoroastrianism to internal decay and decline, such that the content of the Dēnkard serves as significant evidence of the fall of this distorted religion and the extinguishing of its wisdom. Worse still, the priests enforced religious despotism. According to Pirmouri in Ancient Iran, Zoroastrianism and the acceptance of illogical content were imposed on the populace with the political support of the Sasanian government, suppressing dissenters.

During the two-hundred-year Hellenistic period (Seleucid era), when Greek generals controlled Iran’s fate, Iranian symbols of knowledge, culture, and religion were entirely eradicated with hostility and malice. The emergence and recognition of sages were obscured. The Seleucids had sufficient dominance and time to plunder Khosravani wisdom texts and destroy historical records from the Median and Achaemenid dynasties, depriving the Sasanians and other inheritors of Iran’s cultural treasury of their scientific and cultural heritage and historical documents.

However, the system of divine charisma and innate wisdom is not subject to suspension. With the emergence of subsequent enlightened and charismatic figures endowed with guiding and motivating power, and given the advancement of knowledge and the wisdom of later sages and prophets, who stand in a higher position than their predecessors, those with divine guardianship and favor, possessing greater proximity and divine love, have spoken of esoteric and innate wisdom with such expansiveness and authority that their eloquent words, despite the difficulty of comprehending spiritual meanings, lack the weariness of time-bound predecessors. They lead to practical, operational, and progressive flourishing and vitality of the spirit. Iranians embraced Islam eagerly because they saw the ancient wisdom and charisma, as well as the true principles of their religion, in the infallible leaders of this faith. Illegitimate caliphs consistently restricted and persecuted Iranians for their devotion to the infallible and pure household.

In recent centuries, priests residing in India have made significant efforts to preserve the surviving religion attributed to Zoroaster. However, this religion lacks the authentic divine teachings of Zoroaster and, without an enlightened sage, cannot be divinely authoritative. Due to fundamental changes in Zoroaster’s original teachings and extreme vulgarization, it has transformed into a wholly human, unscientific religion, lacking truth, validity, legitimacy, and completeness. In the terms of Khosravani wisdom, it lacks divine splendor. Despite efforts to reform it, in some cases, it has strayed from reason and knowledge. Divine love and connection to God cannot be attained without reason and wisdom.

Salvation and felicity depend on connecting with living, vibrant charisma endowed with divine splendor or, at a far higher level, divine guardianship and favor. Guardianship surpasses spiritual wisdom, and divine favor exceeds wisdom and enlightened rationality. In God’s judgment, deeds and rituals are not accepted without sincere and truthful belief in the living divine guardian. I have elaborated on this in my book Awareness and Divine Humanity.

Currently, Zoroastrianism, managed by the assembly of priests, has very few adherents. Despite extensive propaganda by anti-religious antiquarians, it appears to be among the forgotten and extinct religions of the world. Its philosophical continuation should be sought in Germany, in the works of the last systematic Western philosopher, Hegel (1770–1831), rather than in the writings of Iranian priests.

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), another German philosopher, referenced Zoroaster in the titles of two of his later works.

Some Zoroastrian reformists, finding Mazdayasni beliefs incompatible with reason, argue that attaining Mazda Ahura through reason and intellect is impossible, as the intellect falters in this pursuit. Instead, one must strengthen heartfelt faith, emotion, love, and inner insight and conscience to connect with Him.

According to provided statistics, fewer than 200,000 people worldwide adhere to Zoroastrianism, a religion that has undergone significant changes, vulgarization, and numerous accretions over time, making it difficult to equate it with the original teachings of the divine Magi or to consider it among the People of the Book with their associated privileges. Thus, the People of the Book are limited to Judaism and Christianity. However, the foundation of religious immunity in monotheism or the significant expediency of peaceful coexistence, ensuring lasting security, peace, and national tranquility, protects co-religionists. In Islam, merely saying “There is no god but Allah” grants salvation, immunity, and sanctity, with the perfection of Islam lying in guardianship. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Say ‘There is no god but Allah,’ and you will prosper.”

The slogan and mysticism of Islam are founded on unity and a single word: Allah. All of Islam lies in belief in Allah alone. The cited tradition conditions salvation on nothing else, exalting non-numerical, simple unity.

Based on this tradition, monotheistic Zoroastrians possess the privileges of monotheists, though they are not People of the Book. Zoroastrian wisdom and mysticism, like Islamic mysticism, possess a worldview, not mere metaphysics or spirituality detached from existence and God. Both Zoroastrian wisdom and mysticism are the oldest in the world, and such a level of awareness could not have failed to produce civilization. However, Jews, seeking to portray themselves as pioneers in all matters, distorted history through Greek and Western historians, attributing the origin of Iranian mysticism to Buddha, Neoplatonists, or Jewish Kabbalistic mysticism. Yet, the Gathas are a credible document of the authenticity and truth of illuminative wisdom and heartfelt mysticism.

In Iran’s constitution, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians are recognized as People of the Book. The term “People of the Book” originates from the culture of ignorance, in contrast to the illiterate. With the advancement of Islam, most illiterates converted to Islam, and the class of People of the Book either perished in wars, recognized through inner debate or religious enlightenment that their religion was abrogated and obsolete, converted to Islam, or chose to accept the Islamic government, peace, reconciliation, and payment of the jizya. The term People of the Book does not encompass fabricated religions, polytheists, or idol-worshippers, nor does it include Muslims, referring to a specific class. In Quranic culture, al-Kitāb denotes fundamental laws, a way of life, and anything with sound logic and valid documentation, which is necessary. However, carnal desires and passions obstruct acknowledgment and adherence to it, hindering the attainment of truth.

The Religious Identity of Iranians

Iran is the cradle of the oldest divine and monotheistic religions. Iranians have never been detached from devotion to God, monotheism, and religiosity. Iran is a sacred civilization and an innate holy city, whose religious community is endowed with a national religion—the religion of the enlightened and charismatic, which has prevented their cultural and spiritual defeat against invaders and enabled their religious and cultural triumph over them. This religion was beyond the reach of the invading Arabs and caliphal rulers.

God, rational religion, and wisdom are integral to Iranian identity, and an Iranian cannot be defined without God and charismatic religiosity. The pursuit of God and enlightened wisdom is ingrained in the Iranian disposition and identity. This innate disposition is neither eradicated nor destructible in any era, though obstacles may be imposed upon it. Geographically, Iran is the land of the religious, and God and His true religion are the honor of every Iranian. Whenever enemies of this land seek to oppose Iranian religion, they fabricate a false religious facade and spokesperson, creating religious deception. They marginalize true enlightened sages, who hold the truth of divine religion, and impose fabricated, unjust versions of religion on the people. Iranian society embraces only the enlightened and charismatic with requisite qualities, showing emotional and passionate acceptance. Thus, the Gathas and their true teachings remain part of Iranian culture, though they cannot be considered part of Iranian identity. The deep and enduring Iranian identity transcends political, geographical, and historical boundaries, overcoming all political dominations. In its continuous vitality, during dark and oppressive eras of absent wisdom, it manifests the triumphant and enchanting enlightened sage, the discourse of the sacred heart, or the divine guardianship spirit, revealing and illuminating it.

The Future of Religiosity in Iran

The trends of religious belief, religiosity, and the future of religion in Iranian society are among the most pressing questions for sociologists and futurists.

By their innate, intrinsic, and essential nature, Iranians have always and necessarily sought knowledge of God, His true religion, and divine truths, considering divine satisfaction and religious legitimacy as prerequisites for rulers, who must at least be enlightened. Being innately truth-seeking and aware, Iranians never succumb to religious defeat but engage with religion through enlightened wisdom, keeping it contemporary and intrinsic. For this reason, Iranians cannot be superstitious and reject hypocrisy, sanctimony, deceit, coercion, and autocracy. While preserving their religious identity and ideals, they resist the rigid layers of superstition, the sorcery of sanctimony, and the sword of coercion, even if supported by domination. When empowered, their resolute cultural strength inevitably rebels against such solitary, illegitimate deceptions lacking true governance. The sublime, radiant, and superior culture of wisdom and religiosity is so pervasive and enduring that it topples false, fabricated, and dark dominations, which lack a counter-discourse grounded in truth and illumination. A counter-discourse is the construction of an opposing narrative to reinforce its own semantic stability.

With the governmentalization of traditional religion on one hand and the century-long, unsuccessful modernization movement on the other, coupled with the exponential and qualitative growth of education and university literacy, which in four decades has advanced as much as several centuries in Europe, and the rapid penetration and high usage of the internet, media, and social networks, not only has the essence of religion and faith in Iran not been marginalized, but, according to several reputable sociological studies, belief in God, the Prophet, and the afterlife remains steadfast and qualitatively deep without significant deviation.

The global trend of religiosity is such that with the superficiality of religious clerics lacking charisma, illumination, or revelation, a broad spectrum of religious individuals shifts from superficiality and reliance on religious intermediaries to self-referential or personal religiosity, often shapeless and contingent.

Self-referential religion, if free from self-worship and aligned with innate religion, provides a foundation for devotion to the Exalted Truth. Otherwise, the veil of self-worship renders it a dead religion, a lifeless carcass, like a sacrifice without the invocation of God’s name.

Despite the governmentalization of religion in some regions, if religion cannot be purified of superstitions and religious corruptions, and its stewards fail to find a scientific standard language to articulate religion, self-referential religious individuals, particularly those unable to trust government-supported or platformed clerics—who lack living illumination, flexibility, and appropriate responses to societal realities, remain trapped in ancient traditions, succumb to materialism and greed, turn religion into a marketplace for commerce and profit, or, worse, resort to violence, afflicting the masses and elites with traumatic events and insecurity—lack the expertise to recognize enlightened sages, the ability to discern divinely illuminated figures, or the capacity to identify sacred rational personas favored by God. This enables religious deception and impostors to dominate.

Personal and self-founded religiosity, due to its self-referential nature, avoids deceptive and superstitious religions that seek to colonize human life. True religion, like these self-referential religious individuals, is repelled and averse to such deviant, deceptive, and superstitious religions. However, if people lack access to or reject charismatic and luminous religion, they lose the wisdom of religion, and self-referential religion lacks validity, credibility, security, and the tranquility of charismatic religion, as well as the assurance of truth, righteousness, and spiritual growth.

Charismatic religion presents religious teachings and interpretations of sacred texts rationally, justifiably, confidently, free from superstitions, descriptively, and through dialogue, not merely speech, without compromising divine satisfaction, otherworldly salvation, or religious validity. It elevates religious individuals from general religiosity to truth-seeking and guardianship-oriented religiosity with expertise and proficiency, endowing religiosity with depth and essence.

Based on empirical evidence from several academic studies guided by sociologists and prominent Iranian academics and cultural institutions, religiosity in the contemporary era has become individualistic, pluralistic in numerous and sometimes contradictory styles, with diverse religious narratives, particularly scientific interpretations of religion, overtaking governmental, institutionalized, and monolithic religiosity.

The term religion in this study refers to the essence of religiosity and faith, encompassing rational, spiritual, emotional, and God-centered religion, as well as personalized and secularized religion, which revives the authentic, innate individuality and identity-seeking of humans through the individual themselves. Thus, religion may not align with, for example, the teachings of the Church, the caliphal Islam that venerates the Ottoman caliphate, the official Iranian state’s interpretation of Shiism, dry jurisprudential Islam lacking the roots of divine guardianship and heartfelt wisdom, authoritarian and superficial positivism devoid of esoteric knowledge, or the religion of the enlightened.

This study excludes anything deemed meaningless or unscientific in faith, considered regressive or superstitious by the populace.

As noted, in the contemporary era, monolithic governmental religion annually expends vast sums from public coffers, particularly from the resources of the underprivileged, in a stagnant economy to promote and revive its official religious narrative, which lacks a scientific standard language and suffers from mute, monolithic expression. In such a dark environment, self-referential religion becomes a common and widespread reaction to governmental and official religion and its institutionalized heteronomy, which has not incorporated or engineered the aforementioned characteristics of individualistic self-founded religion.

In self-referential, personal, and private religion, individuals establish a direct and living connection with God through their religious essence and disposition, practicing religion freely, non-obligatorily, without compulsion, contingently, enjoyably, and with self-respect.

Self-referential religion, with its magnanimous expectation of transforming traditional religiosity and scientizing religion, accuses governmental and institutionalized religion, which allocates massive budgets from public funds to religious research centers, of commodifying religion for the benefit of state-affiliated religious figures, turning it into a source of wealth, status, and prestige. It also deems these centers unresponsive to the currents of rationality, spiritual seeking, and the challenges of modern experimental realities.

Self-referential religious individuals, after years of governmental religious dominance, have experienced its inefficacy and lack of results, leading to self-diagnosis. Most people and elites consider the traditional religious narrative incompetent in politics and managing worldly affairs, thus turning to self-referential religion, rejecting the dominant governmental religious authorities and their monolithic narrative, and refusing to practice religion according to its values and interpretations.

Self-referential religiosity prevails when individuals show little regard for institutions and official governmental religious stewards or rituals with political and state dimensions. It becomes widespread when the rate of those advocating for the critique and revision of dominant religious thought, which fails to properly and scientifically address rulings, is superstitious, and for some rulings and laws lacks not only sanctity but also respect and practical adherence, is significantly high. The discerning reader understands that in an environment dominated by coercion, accurate processing is impossible, so one should grasp the meaning and set aside the words.

The philosophy of governance is to ensure the health and happiness of the people. However, a superstitious religion and system not only fails to secure this but obstructs it, sowing corruption among the populace. Such a government becomes self-destructive.

Religiosity in the style of the enlightened, grounded in truth, knowledge, fairness, chivalry, truth-seeking, and superstition-fighting, always sides with the people and is people-centric, possessing a high capacity to attract self-referential and even traditional and Salafi religiosity, transforming it into scientific and knowledgeable religiosity. The enlightened intermediary in charismatic religiosity receives divine authority and favor, thus employing natural and compatible methods, innovation, and surprising strategies to uphold rights. If the superficial, monolithic, and dominant jurisprudential religious narrative, which lacks the language of dialogue, at least removes its restrictions against charismatic religion and its enlightened figures, and research into this religious narrative occurs in a free, networked, and systematic discursive environment, sustained and promoted academically through dialogue with the people, the enlightened narrative of religion—whose progress, productivity, and institutionalization is a time-intensive process—will shape the future of Iran in the next century.

The methodical, charismatic, knowledgeable, and descriptive religious narrative, due to imposed restrictions, a securitized outlook, and totalitarian tendencies, remains in the shadows, obscurity, and complete social isolation. Even in this book, it can only be discussed from perspectives that secure permission for publication and distribution.

Iranians are among the most rational historical peoples, practicing religiosity innately, knowledgeably, and descriptively, with self-awareness and rationality. Thus, the wise and descriptive religion of the enlightened aligns and harmonizes with the innate religiosity of Iranians, finding acceptance. However, they regard superstitious, monolithic, and deceptive religions as enemies, and if entangled in them, with the expansion of awareness and enlightening communications, they end them through disengagement. They will also disregard secular interpretations of religion that fail to properly understand religion, religious beliefs, and jurisprudence and do not believe in the innate religiosity, rationality, and awareness of Iranians. Rational and conscious religiosity will persist silently and invisibly beneath the clamor of systematic secularization narratives. If Iranians are given the opportunity to learn the religion of the enlightened, their religion-receptive nature will swiftly embrace the religion of the charismatic, and religion, revitalized by luminous rationality and the knowledge of divinely chosen intermediaries, will gain new societal acceptance, with Iranian religious identity remaining a permanent part of their ethnic identity.