Religion and Social Conflicts in Iranian Kurdistan: over the Past Half Century

Conflict in societies is a pervasive issue that manifests itself in various economic, political, scientific and religious dimensions. Religion, although often cohesive, cannot be denied the contradictions based on it. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to investigate the social conflicts based on religion in the last half century in Kurdistan province. This research aims to investigate religious-based social conflicts in Kurdistan over the past half century. The research has a qualitative approach to the subject and uses two historical methods via historical documents including biographies, books, papers and oral history. In this way, informed people in Kurdistan are also interviewed. The second method includes ethnography which the researcher uses the observation and conversation techniques to debate the lived experiences of the studied population (religious people of various religious sects). In the meantime, these experiences are used to address relevant social conflicts. The findings suggest that the distribution of conflicts between groups are identified from a geographical point of view. Seven categories of religion-based social conflicts in Kurdistan including “religion as the eliminator of conflicts”, “religion as the concealer of conflicts”, “religion as the representer of conflicts”, “religion as the perpetuator of conflicts”, “religion as strengthener and intensifier of conflicts”, “religion as source and origin of social conflicts” and “religion as underminer of conflicts” are extracted. Each of the said conflicts has arisen between intellectual groups with different religious attitudes or religious groups with secular thinking attitudes. These conflicts have sometimes been embodied in the form of conflicting views, and sometimes in the form of physical and force majeure. These conflicts are sometimes strengthened and undermined by religion in the form of a process and long term, or are immediate and short term.