ABSTRACT
In considering the history of Islam in Iran, three basic but fundamental questions immediately present themselves: First, how and why were the existing religious traditions of that country supplanted so quickly and thoroughly by Islam? Second, why did the making of Iran as a nation-state become so intertwined with one particular sectarian form of Islam, Twelver Shi ism? Third, how has that affected the country’s national identity and political development? At the present state of historical research, these questions cannot be answered as convincingly as one would like, but at least a general outline of the issues may be given.
