how the sufi became a target of the extremist Islamic regime in Iran

With the recent horrific persecution of the Gonabadi Sufi Order in Iran, we must ponder how the Sufi became a target of the extremist Islamic regime in Iran.

Contrary to what some say, Sufism is not a sect, but it exists in both Sunni and Shia Islam as a method and approach toward the religion. Sufis, like yogis, are mystics who focus on the purification of their inner self. Many of Islam’s greatest poets and scholars during the Islamic Golden Age such as Rumi, Suhrewardi, Shabistari, Hafez and Saadi were Sufi.

In the beginning of the 16th century, when most of Iran fell under the control of the Safavid dynasty, many active Sufi Orders existed throughout the region. The Safavid monarch himself was a Sufi and his dynasty owed its origin to the Sufi Order founded by the mystic Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1253-1334 AD). However, for several reasons including the need to centralize power, the monarchs felt the need to move away from Sufism and establish Twelver Shiism as the state-sponsored religion of the Kingdom. A class of Shia clerics emerged and so did a brutal systematic suppression of Sufism. It is the irony of history that the demise of Sufism came under the Safavids, who themselves came to power as a Sufi network. [1]

Since the 1979 revolution, the Iranian government which fears a popular interest in Sufism has intensified its persecution of Sufi Orders. The Sufi lack of interest in exoteric Islam and religious laws have always been a point of conflict between the Sufi and the clerics. The Gonabadi Order is one of the three main branches of Nematollahi Sufi Order which traces its origin to 14th century Iran. Their core ethical beliefs can be summarized as selflessness, generosity, broadness of spiritual vision and religious tolerance. They are devoted to the use of music in their ceremonies and the beautiful writings of Sufi poets such as Rumi. [2] The Iranian clergy who do not agree with the Sufi belief system continue to demolish their centers and find excuses to imprison their leaders. The level of hatred and persecution of Sufi mystics has become so absurd, that Tehran’s Police Chief and Revolutionary Guard Corp General Rahimi went so far as saying that it’s a merciful act on the part of the Iranian regime to not be using RPGs against the Gonabadi dervishes. [3]

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Sources include:
[1] Anzali, Ata. “Mysticism in Iran: The Safavid Roots of a Modern Concept”
[2] UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency. “Iran: Information about the Gonabadi dervishes…”; 
[3] Radio Farda. "We Could Have Used An RGP Against Dervishes," says Police Chief. Feb 23, 2018.