“Research on secularisation in Iran is also inspiring for us in the Netherlands”

Pooyan Tamimi Arab awarded a Vidi grant for research on secularisation in Iran

Dr. Pooyan Tamimi Arab. Foto: Ed van Rijswijk
Dr Pooyan Tamimi Arab

How do Iranians, both inside and outside the country, truly feel about religion, atheism, and the separation of mosque and state? These are not easy questions to study scientifically, as Pooyan Tamimi Arab knows well. Yet, the scholar of religion has dedicated his career to precisely these topics and recently, he received a prestigious Vidi grant for his project Iran’s Secular Shift. But how does one research politically sensitive subjects in societies under authoritarian rule – and why is conducting this research also of importance for the Netherlands?

Anonymous online surveys among Iranians

Tamimi Arab and his team aim to better understand how non-religion, atheism, and calls for the separation of mosque and state are evolving. As part of the Iran’s Secular Shift project, they use anonymous online surveys, analyses of visual culture on Instagram, and critically examine discussions on satellite television channels.

The research relies on collaborations, Tamimi Arab explains. “We work with organisations like GAMAAN, The Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran, which I am part of, and Psiphon VPN, a platform used daily by millions of Iranians.” With his team, he gathers data on Iranians’ views of the Islamic Republic, religion in general, and Islam in particular.

By taking off their headscarf in the streets, Iranian women disrupted the cricial boundary between private and public life.

By weighting the incoming data, the researchers can make their findings more representative and compare them with traditional surveys that rely on telephone and face-to-face interviews. They examine factors such as age, sex, and education level. “Because the survey is anonymous and secure,” Tamimi Arab adds, “we increase the likelihood of honest answers on sensitive topics like religion.”

Woman, Life, Freedom

The data are crucial for mapping religious developments in Iran. Over two years ago, large-scale protests erupted in the country after the death of 22-year-old student Jina (Mahsa) Amini, who was fatally assaulted by the morality police. Initially led by women, these protests targeted the mandatory hijab and the Islamic regime. Tamimi Arab draws inspiration for his research from the slogan ‘Zan, Zendegi, Azadi’ (Woman, Life, Freedom), chanted during the protests and marking a significant shift in Iranian society.

Elham Ataeiazar, Religie en politiek zijn gescheiden (2023). Bron: © Elham Ataeiazar
Elham Ataeiazar is one of the artists expressing themselves through art on Instagram. © Elham Ataeiazar, Religion and Politics Are Separate (2023)

“The protests under the slogan ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’, following Mahsa Amini’s death, were strikingly visual – iconic even – especially when women removed and burned their headscarves,” Tamimi Arab says. “Instagram, the most widely used social media app in Iran, played a crucial role. Artists and activists, both in Iran and the diaspora, expressed their protests visually. By taking off the headscarf in the streets, and not only at home or in secluded places, they disrupted the boundary between private and public life, which is foundational to the Islamic regime.”

Criticism of the Iranian Islamic regime

“Many images shared during the protests included critiques of religion or, at the very least, of the theocratic state,” Tamimi Arab explains. In a theocracy, all authority is directly derived from God and exercised or controlled by religious leaders. According to Tamimi Arab, the protests were unprecedented. “There has never been a national uprising with the explicit goal of toppling a patriarchal regime on this scale – not in Iran, and as far as I know, nowhere else in world history.”

It is important to explore what it means to be non-religious in a Muslim-majority country like Iran.

Understanding the role of secularisation in this demand for change is vital, Tamimi Arab believes. One of secularisation’s hallmarks is a decline in religious belonging, beliefs, and behaviour. He elaborates: “What replaces these? It is important to explore what it means to be non-religious in a Muslim-majority country like Iran and what justifications exist for secular democracy in the 21st century.”

International interest in research into Iran

The Vidi grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) is a significant milestone for Tamimi Arab. “Thanks to the Vidi, I can expand both quantitative and qualitative research on secularisation in Iran, which has attracted a lot of interest from international colleagues.”

Elham Ataeiazar, De verplichte hemel (2023). Bron: © Elham Ataeiazar
© Elham Ataeiazar, The Mandatory Heaven (2023)

He also sees the grant as a recognition of the importance of religious studies. Yet, the news came with a bitter note. “I was in the United States for the annual conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion when I received the fortunate news from NWO. Upon returning to the Netherlands, I learned that the Bachelor’s programmes in both Islamic and Arabic Studies and in Religious Studies are being discontinued.”

Broad interest in unbelief and meaning in Iran

There is considerable interest, both in the Netherlands and internationally, in issues such as non-religiosity and atheism in countries like Iran, Tamimi Arab notes. “In the same week of the Vidi announcement, I was presenting earlier research to the Dutch Parliament. On 25 November, I will join a discussion with Stine Jensen at De Balie about her new pamphlet Goddeloos: Waarom we atheïsme nodig hebben (Ungodly: Why We Need Atheism).”

And that is just the beginning, Tamimi Arab says. “In January, I will participate in a closed symposium at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), alongside researchers studying other authoritarian regimes like China and Russia. In February, I will deliver a lecture on declining and changing religiosity in Iran during the Day for Immigration Law, addressing Dutch judges and legal professionals working in immigration law. Research on secularisation in Iran can inspire us here as well. The Vidi project has not even officially started, and it is already incredibly busy.”