President Iran

What are the reasons for the cultural differences between Saudi and Iran?

Both countries are run by Islamist governments and Islamic laws, but Iran is very secular, its young people are not religious and are very Westernized, but Saudi is still a religious society. What explains this difference?

Public Comments

1. Saudi Arabia practices a very strict form of Islam called Wahhabism, Iran practices Shia Islam which has a much less strict doctrine. Also, Saudi Arabia has always been run by an Islamic government, while Iran has only recently (After the revolution) became an Islamic state, before that it was a completely secular country run by a US puppet (The Shah) so you can see why they would still have that western and secular influence. Also remember that Iran is a Persian country, while Saudi Arabia is an Arab country. Prophet Muhammad is originally from Mecca, so you could see why the people there would take it upon themselves to be the ''strictest Muslims'', even though, in my opinion, neither the government nor the religious institutions in Saudi Arabia represent true Islamic piety, this is because Saudi Arabian madrassas have been known to incite hatred and even produce some of the world's most notorious terrorists whose values do nothing but degrade Islam and the entire Muslim community (the most famous one of course- Osama Bin Laden.) But I wouldn't buy the whole ''Islamist government'' thing if I was you, do you really think that an Islamic government would assist the United States in invading an Arab country (which Saudi Arabia did back in 03.) That's the problem with mixing religion and politics, it's not a good combination, while Saudi Arabia may label itself as an Islamically run government, I really think that they represent no one but themselves, their complete disregard for human rights (especially of women) and the fact that they openly ignore some parts of Islamic law which are not to their liking (for example the Quran says ''let their be no compulsion in Religion'' i.e. don't force people to practice religion the way you want, it's up to each person, and yet Saudi Arabia ignores this and imposes strict- supposedly Islamic rules (which I would argue- they are not) even on non-Muslims in the country)
2. Iran is Sheiaa and Saudi are sunni...that is a HUGE difference.
3. That is an interesting question. I don't know much about Saudi Arabia but before 1979, Iran had a king who very much kept religion out of politics. His father, like Ataturk in Turkey, forced women to leave the veil. After the Iranian revolution, the mullahs took over & the country became a theocracy. I totally agree with you. Iran has an extremely young population, they are more interested in Hollywood movies & don't care much about religion. The mullahs may be blamed for this because forcing something down anyone's throat will not work in the long run. In summary, Iran is portrayed by the media as an extremely religious country. In reality, however, things are as you said. Edit: Of course Iranians are Persians & not Arabs. They are also Shia & not Sunnis.
4. Arab and Persian supremacy problem. Arabs think themselves Superior than Persians and Persians think that they are Superior than Arabs. In history, there were only two superior nations, Romans and Persians, Arabs were not so important before emergence of Islam, so they think themselves close to Romans rather than Persians, that's why we have a Chapter "Rome", in holy Quran (please read the reason of Revelation of the chapter Rome in holy quran), actually Romans were defeated by Persians, that made Arabs sad, holy Quran gave a happy news to Arabs that Roman will win again within 10 years, that came true later on. So it is clear historically both nations don't like each other by nature. When Arabs were powerful, Persians were defeated by Arabs, they did not accepted Arabs as there lords by heart, so they accepted a diversified sect of Islam, Shiaism, as there religion instead of true Islam, that promotes Arab culture. I think you understand the reason of differences.
5. I have many friends from Iran & saudi arab so, i can see a big difference b/w them...saudi girls always prefer to take hiijab but in iran they always try to show look like totally western people......& you are right in Iran young people are not religious...i live in canada & i see them in colleges many time you know in Small scarts ..with haff paints...we also wear jeans & t-shirts ...but we never wanna show our bodies...but....when i see them i always confuse... thay are irani or western people....for me its a big difference ....
6. Iran is not westernized; it is modernized. They are Shia. The wealth of the nation goes into development so it is very highly progressive. It probably has more female doctors and educators than any other single nation. Saudia Arabia is Sunni; it's an atavistic society stuck in the 10th century culturally. All national wealth belongs to the "royal" House of Saud.
7. Because Iran is land of aryans and saudi is land of arabs. Religion is only a part of culture.many iranian youth believe the western propaganda and have forgotten who we really are but they are only uneducated people who don't know shit about history and Iran.