Historical roots of discrimination against non-Arab Muslims, especially Iranians in the early days o

Historical roots of discrimination against non-Arab Muslims, especially Iranians in the early days of Islam
With the rise of Islam, in addition to the Arabs, people of other races and nations converted to Islam. Ethnic and tribal prejudices and blood ties among the ignorant Arabs on the one hand and the emergence of Islam among the Arabs on the other led to the emergence of the idea among the Arabs after Islam that Arab Muslims were superior citizens and non-Arabs were inferior and second class citizens.
For various economic, cultural, and social reasons, there has always been a kind of tribalism in the pre-Islamic Arabs. The tribe was the most important element of an individual's identity and the highest value for them was in maintaining and supporting the tribe in all aspects. After the rise of Islam and the conversion of the peninsula to Islam, and then with the conquest of other lands and the conversion of non-Arabs to Islam, that sense of tribalism was somehow mutated into e new variant, and it was said that Arabs were superior to non-Arabs.
With the development and progress of Islam, due to the increase of the freed slaves of the Arabs, a new social class emerged under the name of Mawali (non-Arabs).
The degrading and discriminatory attitude of the Arabs towards the non-Arabs was the cause of tensions between the two groups.
Some contemporary Arab scholars, as well as some Orientalists, have considered the Umayyad dynasty to be a reviver of Arabism and have placed all the responsibility for the oppression of the non-Arabs, especially the Iranians, on the caliphs and rulers of this dynasty.
Ahmad Amin, the Egyptian historian, and writer has considered the behavior of the Umayyad rulers towards the non-Arabs to be oppressive. However, he considered the second caliph's approach to the non-Arabs to be just.Jurji Zaydan has criticized Umayyad dynasty and considered the period of the rightly guided caliphs and Abbasid caliphs to be better than the Umayyad period.
In front of these people is a group that has acquitted the Umayyad dynasty and praised their behavior towards the Mawalis. They say that if there was any oppression or discrimination against the Mawalis in the rule of the Umayyad dynasty, it was very little and the same few cases were far from the eyes of the caliphs and were due to the wrong and arbitrary policies of some local governors. Abdul Aziz al-Dawri considers the Umayyad system of government as a continuation of the system of the rule of the rightly guided caliphs. He considers the cases of oppression against non-Arabs at the time of Umayyad dynasty to be the result of the conditions of the time and inevitable. At the same time, he states that the worst and most influential heresy of the Umayyad rulers in that time was putting Jizya, (a tax paid by non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Islamic law) on the new Muslims.
However, there are documents and evidences in the sources that show that the confrontation of the Arab element with non-Arabs, especially the Iranians, had a history during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman. Non-Arabs especially the Iranians, had many problems and limitations after the prophet that will be addressed below:
First: the Marriage of non-Arabs with Arab women
One of the most important issues in the relationship between the non-Arabs and the Arabs was their marriage to Arab women. Historical studies show that the non-Arabs did not have the right to marry Arab women. Some scholars, who found the existence of such a phenomenon undeniable, tried to introduce it as a long-standing culture among the Arabs and to consider this prohibition as a continuation of that ancient tradition. It should not be forgotten that the Prophet tried to abolish this tradition during his ten years in Medina; as he abolished many other traditions and replaced them with Islamic traditions.
It seems that the prohibition of intermarriage with Arab women after the death of the Prophet became a government decree during the caliphate of the second caliph. It is also narrated from him in another narration: “I will prevent the marriage of the Arab women, except for the most competent.” Sunni jurists have relied on this narration to rule that non-Arabs are not competent for Arab women and should not marry them.
At the time that Ali bin Abi Talib came to power, a group of non-Arabs went to Ali and said that the Messenger of God distributed the payments equally and married Arab women to people like Salman Farsi, Bilal Habashi, and Sohaib Rumi, although They were not Arabs; But now the Arabs are forbidding us from marrying Arab women. Ali recounted their complaint to the Arabs, but the Arabs did not allow non-Arabs to marry Arab women. Then, Ali returned angrily and said: “O non-Arabs! These Arabs consider you as Jews and Christians; "They marry your daughters, but they will prevent you from marrying Arab women."
Second: Preventing the social mixing of non-Arabs with the Arabs
Another problem of the non-Arabs in the caliphate of Omar was to prevent them from mixing with the Arabs. According to some reports, the second caliph was not satisfied with their arrival in Medina or their stay there.
Third: A small share of non-Arabs from the payments
Omar ibn al-Khattab doubled non-Arabs’ problems by creating the social classification in payments and giving some people superiority over others. Although this caused discord among the Arabs as well; non-Arabs suffered the most because they were at the bottom of the pyramid.
Fourth: Humiliation of non-Arabs and Iranians by the Arabs
The reflection of the social behavior of the Arabs in the historical records shows that non-Arabs were nothing more than servants, who, even if converted to Islam, did not deserve important work and had to take charge of the lowly affairs of society.
Later on, the Umayyad dynasty followed the policy of the second caliph and strengthened it even more. In this regard, Ibn Khaldun refers to the process of returning of the Arabs to the age of ignorance and has stated that this bias was a harmful character in Quraysh. With the advent of Islam, the ignorant bias was forgotten among the Muslims and they struggled to support the religion. But after the death of the Prophet, that bias reappeared and the people became more devoted to the Umayyad dynasty than any other group; because the sovereignty of the Quraysh was known to them.
Contrary to the above tradition, Ali bin Abi Talib's just and benevolent treatment of the Iranians played an important role in the Iranians' devotion to Ali, and they became his most loyal allies.

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