Dualism and Consanguineous Marriage in the Zoroastrian Religion: Accusation or Reality

Abstract

Following the Arabs’ domination over the Iranians and their migration to Iran under the order of the second Caliph, Umar (634–644 CE), they observed the differences between the urbanized culture of the Iranians and their own nomadic desert culture. This comparison generated a sense of inferiority among them. With the establishment of the Abbasid rule (750–1258 CE), which marked the beginning of the Golden Age of the Arab Caliphate, Arabs residing in Iran increasingly adopted Iranian cultural patterns by marrying Iranians, changing their names, and adopting Iranian clothing. By employing writers and religious scholars of the time, they undertook efforts to distort Iranian history, literature, and culture. In a defensive strategy, they attributed their own immoral and inhumane practices to Iranians, such as the belief in two creator gods or marriage with close relatives, including sisters and mothers. However, according to the Qur’an (7th century CE), it was the Arabs themselves who engaged in such practices even during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) in the city of Medina, practices which were later prohibited, although they reportedly continued in conquered cities thereafter. Unfortunately, the fabricated and unreliable accounts of authors affiliated with the Islamic Caliphate persisted and became foundational sources for later writers, especially European scholars such as Arthur Christensen (1875–1945), who attributed these allegations to Zoroastrians and the religion of Zarathustra. In reality, it is argued that consanguineous marriage was a practice associated with Arabs rather than with Zoroastrians.