The Great Conversion: How Iran became Shia

How did the great divide within Islam, the split between Sunni and Shia, develop? We trace how the great 16th century confrontation between the Ottomans of Turkey and the Safavids of Iran cemented what had previously been a much more porous division. Iran has been a Shia country ever since and this has shaped much of the modern Middle-East. Listen as William and Anita are joined by Barnaby Rogerson to discuss one of the crucial turning points of Persian history.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Producer: Callum Hill
Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

[Shahi-bangalah_]

There's many inaccuracies in the talk.
1.There is a significant amount of difference between sunni & shia religious tradition.
2.The fifth caliph was Hasan ra. Not Muwawiyah ra.

[ExplodedMango]

Excellent podcast but far too many ads.

[balaji-kartha]

Would like to know if the culture of Iran/ Persia influence the Shia culture. After all Persia is an old civilization, older than Islam, and they have been as sophisticated as the Turks / the Ottomans who too are an old culture! So unlike the nomadic beduins of Arabia these two are well developed
And right at the end you guys touched on the Kurds (who are ethnically different, though they speak Persian?), but there was no mention of zoroastrianism !

[GreenTaqwa]

The Mahdi is part of Islam, the Mahdi is a key point of Islamic theology and eschatology. The ummayids believed the same thing it’s a keep belief in Islam to believe in the Mahdi.