Recognition of Identity of Shiism and Educated Iranian's Thought before the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate

Shia has been explicitly and implicitly influential in formation of Iranian identity, in addition to cultural factors and elements such as customs, language and history.Shiism, especially from the Safavid period, has played a key role in the formation of identity and the restoration of Iran. Following the Arab conquests and dominance of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs over the territory now called Iran; efforts to revive its political and cultural life have begun by Iranians. Along with political and military activities, some scholars have begun discussing Iranian identity in different ways in their works. One of the identifying factors was to pay attention to a religion other than the religions supported by the Caliphate system. Despite the fact that until the collapse of the Caliphate system, and even afterwards, most of Iranians followed one of the Sunni sects, historical sources shows that Shiite ideas are visible in their contents. This attention led to the familiarity of society with Shia despite the fact that during the period prior to the fall of the Abbasid, no serious change happened. This antecedent field became a factor in the identity of Shia following the collapse of the caliphate system and later the Safavid victory. The present study uses a descriptive-analytical method to study the reflection of Shiite doctrines in historical and literary sources before the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate's system and explain its role in shaping the appropriate context for more familiarity with Shiites. It also answers this question: Can a link between the issue of Iranian identity and Shia be found in the early centuries?