Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion
Posted on 04/26/2010 by Juan
Take the Iran Quiz at Countercurrents. (The quiz is based in part on a chapter in my Engaging the Muslim World, which will be revised and in paperback in August.
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That quiz ought to become a part of college entrance exams and as a qualifier for those running for public office. Given behavior by congress and the executive branch for decades comprising both political parties, they would mostly fail the quiz, which qualifies USA policy regarding Iran as insane.
[...] Iran Quiz 27 April, 2010 — RickB Via Juan Cole, this Iran Quiz by Jeffrey Rudolph is a counterpoint to the pro-attack narrative for a broad (US) [...]
As an Iranian I think your quiz is great but I have trouble understanding why it says 1.4% of Iranians attend Friday prayers. I think this is a rather ridiculous and seemingly made-up percentage (as in a lot more do attend and have historically attended). Across the country Friday Prayers tend to attract tons of people, although pro-regime bias tends to de-attract some faithful who would otherwise go. However this goes both ways since last summers Friday prayers with Rafsanjani attracted many from the “Green Movement” and vast numbers of people (mostly young people).
Unlike Sunnism, Shi’ism does not consider attending Friday Prayers a religious duty. Most people find it more convenient to just pray at home. So, the percentage of people attending Friday Prayers is less significant than one might think. A good test of religiosity would be the percentage of people who perform daily prayers. Most Iranians do perform their daily prayers, as shown by the WVS surveys. However, there is also evidence that young people in Tehran and university students are increasingly less religiously observant.
Dear Professor Cole.
As I read your book I wondered why there seems to be no mention of water.
With Amman in danger of running out of drinking water and the Jordan river drying up and the Sea of galilee shrinking in the srought, something has to give soon.
The progress on Red Dead is disappointing
So what rivers to the North of the occupied territories might be useful to have?
What rivers to the West of Eilat might be useful to have?