Unrest and the atrocities of the Islamic government have turned many away from Islam. Based on an anonymous internal poll 80% of people prefer a democratic government.

Doulabi explained that the reason behind mosque closures is the devaluation of the Iranian currency and a lack of government funding. Mosques are tax-exempt, non-profit institutions supported by donations and trust funds. The government is not the primary supporter, and it does not have the right to close them either. 

Other clerics think current politics are the problem. According to Mohammad Taghi Fazel Meybodi, a cleric and a member of the Assembly of Scholars and Teachers of the Seminary of Qom: “If the government did not support mosques and interfere in the affairs of mosques, our mosques would probably not be emptied today. One of the reasons for closing mosques is that mosques today have become the base of certain factions and politics. If a cleric after the congregation’s prayer, in the mosque, speaks against this and that, or compliments so and so, and then degrades another, it is obvious that the mosque is emptied. If these mosques had returned to their original place of spirituality, morality and worship, people would have been willing to come. Another example is the issue of hijab, where the government entered with law, regulation, fines, and threats and people rejected the issue.”

Iranians in search for a better life, have turned to Christianity in large numbers, despite the fact that conversion is still illegal. They are tired of the Islamic theocracy and the empty promises.

Todd Nettleton, vice president of The Voice of the Martyrs stated: “You have a country with one of the highest drug addiction rates in the world. You have a country where corruption runs rampant. You have a country where more than half the people live below the poverty line. And the people of Iran are looking at this, and they are saying, ‘Wait a minute. If this is what Islam has brought us in the last 45 years, we’re not interested. We want to know what the other options are. We have heard multiple stories this year of Bible study, a home church being raided. Everyone there is photographed, everyone there is questioned. But then the leader of the meeting is held onto. They are arrested. They are detained, they’re put in prison.”

Don Shenk, executive director of The Tide Ministry talked about visions and dreams Muslims have and how these inspire them to look for a better life: “We get responses from listeners who say, you know, now I understand that God loves me. I always thought that God wanted to punish me. And I think there’s an awakening that is taking place across the Muslim world, not just in Iran.”

Source: https://www.crosswalk.com/