Criticism of Zoroastrianism

In the early 19th century, a Christian missionary based in British India, John Wilson, claimed that Zoroaster never had a genuine divine commission (or ever claimed such a role),{{cite book|editor1-last=Sharma|editor1-first=Suresh K.|editor2-last=Sharma|editor2-first=Usha|title=Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Zoroastrianism|date=2004|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=9788170999621|pages=17–18}} never performed miracles, or uttered prophecies and that the story of his life is "a mere tissue of comparatively modern fables and fiction."{{cite book|author1=Jenny Rose|title=Zoroastrianism: An Introduction|year=2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857719713|pages=206–7}}{{cite book|editor1-last=Stausberg|editor1-first=Michael|editor2-last=Vevaina|editor2-first=Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw|title=The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism|year=2015|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781118785508|page=75}} Others assert that all the available Zoroastrian sources regarding Zoroaster only provide conflicting images about him,{{cite book|author1=S. Nigosian|title=Zoroastrian Faith: Tradition and Modern Research|year=1993|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=9780773564381|page=[https://archive.org/details/zoroastrianfaith0000unse/page/10 10]|url=https://archive.org/details/zoroastrianfaith0000unse/page/10}} especially between earlier and later sources.{{cite book|editor1-last=Sharma|editor1-first=Suresh K.|editor2-last=Sharma|editor2-first=Usha|title=Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Zoroastrianism|date=2004|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=9788170999621|page=14}}

The Dasatir-i-Asmani, while being accepted by Zoroastrian communities in Iran and India as genuine, especially by the Kadmi, it is generally believed to be a forgery.{{cite book|author1=Jenny Rose|title=Zoroastrianism: An Introduction|year=2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857719713|page=204}}

Wilson argued that the Avesta could not be divinely inspired because much of its text was irrevocably lost or unintelligible{{cite book|author1=Jenny Rose|title=Zoroastrianism: An Introduction|year=2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857719713|pages=205–6}}{{cite book|author1=Kenneth Boa|title=Cults, World Religions and the Occult|date=1990|publisher=David C Cook|isbn=9780896938236|page=48|edition=revised}} and Martin Haug, who greatly helped the Parsis of India to defend their religion against the attacks of such Christian missionaries as Wilson, considered the Gathas to be the only texts and only authoritative scriptures that could be attributed to Zoroaster.{{cite book|author1=Jenny Rose|title=Zoroastrianism: An Introduction|year= 2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857719713|pages=207–8}}

John Wilson attacked the Zoroastrian reverence of the Amesha Spenta and Yazatas as a form of polytheism, although the Parsis at the time immediately refuted this allegation and insisted that he had in fact addressed the Bundahishn, a text whose relevance to their practice was remote.{{cite book|author1=Rose, Jenny|title=Zoroastrianism: An Introduction|year=2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857719713|page=205}}{{cite book|editor1-last=Stausberg|editor1-first=Michael|title=Zoroastrian Rituals in Context|date=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004131316|pages=479–80|edition=illustrated}} Critics also commonly claim that Zoroastrians are worshipers of other deities and elements of nature, such as of fire—with one prayer, the Litany to the fire (Atesh Niyaesh),{{cite book|author1=Hinnells, John R.|title=The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and Migration|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198267591|page=706|edition=illustrated}} stating: "I invite, I perform (the worship) of you, the Fire, O son of Ahura Mazdā together with all fires"—and Mithra.{{cite book|editor1-last=Stausberg|editor1-first=Michael|title=Zoroastrian Rituals in Context|date=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004131316|pages=50, 298–99|edition=illustrated}} Jean Kellens says that Zoroastrianism as it appears in the ancient Avesta, should be defined as the belief in an unstable polytheism.Essays on Zarathustra and Zoroastrianism, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2000. pp 35 - 39

Some critics have charged Zoroastrians with being followers of dualism, who only claimed to be followers of monotheism in modern times to confront the powerful influence of Christian and Western thought which "hailed monotheism as the highest category of theology."{{cite book|author1=Dhalla, Maneckji Nusservanji|author-link1=Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla|title=Zoroastrian Theology: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day|date=1914|page=337|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Zoroastrian_Theology/XtYVloWlvUgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Zoroastrian%20Theology%3A%20From%20the%20Earliest%20Times%20to%20the%20Present%20Day&pg=PA337}} Critics insist that the monotheistic reformist view is seen to contradict the conservative (or traditional) view of a dualistic worldview most evident in the relationship between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu{{cite book|author1=Nigosian, S.|title=Zoroastrian Faith: Tradition and Modern Research|year=1993|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=9780773564381|page=[https://archive.org/details/zoroastrianfaith0000unse/page/116 116]|url=https://archive.org/details/zoroastrianfaith0000unse/page/116}} arguing that Zoroastrians follow a belief system influenced by henotheism. Other Western scholars such as Martin Haug, however, have dismissed the concept of theological dualism as a corruption of Zoroaster's original teachings, gradually added by later adherents of the faith.{{cite book|author1=Rose, Jenny|title=Zoroastrianism: An Introduction|year=2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857719713|pages=207–208}} Critics add that the fact that such differing views have proliferated is a sign of the enigmatic nature of the Zoroastrian beliefs regarding the divinity.{{cite book|author1=Nigosian, S.|title=Zoroastrian Faith: Tradition and Modern Research|year=1993|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=9780773564381|page=[https://archive.org/details/zoroastrianfaith0000unse/page/23 23]|url=https://archive.org/details/zoroastrianfaith0000unse/page/23}}

Zoroastrian reformers, such as Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla, have argued that literary precedence should be given to the Gathas, as a source of authority and textual authenticity. They have also deplored and criticized many Zoroastrian rituals (e.g. excessive ceremonialism and focus on purity,{{cite book|author1=Kenneth Boa|title=Cults, World Religions and the Occult|date=1990|publisher=David C Cook|isbn=9780896938236|page=48|edition=revised}}{{cite book|editor1-last=Stausberg|editor1-first=Michael|title=Zoroastrian Rituals in Context|date=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004131316|page=43|edition=illustrated}} using bull's urine for ritual cleansing, the attendance of a dog to gaze at the corpse during funerary rites, the exposure of corpses on towers [for consumption by vultures and ravens]"){{cite book|author1=S. Nigosian|title=Zoroastrian Faith: Tradition and Modern Research|year=1993|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=9780773564381|page=[https://archive.org/details/zoroastrianfaith0000unse/page/116 116]|url=https://archive.org/details/zoroastrianfaith0000unse/page/116}}{{cite book|editor1-last=Stausberg|editor1-first=Michael|title=Zoroastrian Rituals in Context|date=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004131316|page=471|edition=illustrated}} and theological and cosmological doctrines as not befitting of the faith.{{cite book|author1=Jenny Rose|title=Zoroastrianism: An Introduction|year=2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857719713|page=208}} This orthodox versus reformist controversy rages even on the internet.{{cite book|editor1-last=Stausberg|editor1-first=Michael|title=Zoroastrian Rituals in Context|date=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004131316|page=51|edition=illustrated}}

Divisions and tensions also exist between Iranian and Indian Zoroastrians and over such issues as the authority of a hereditary priesthood in the transmission and interpretation of the faith, ethnicity and the nature of Ahura Mazda.{{cite book|author1=Jenny Rose|title=Zoroastrianism: An Introduction|year=2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857719713|pages=221–2}} Historically, differences also existed between the Zoroastrian branches of Zurvanism, Mazdakism and Mazdaism.{{cite book|editor1-last=Leaman|editor1-first=Oliver|title=Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134691159|page=608}}

Soli Dastur, an member of the North American Mobid Council (NAMC), criticized the belief of the majority of the Zoroastrian community that all parts of the Avesta were written by Zoroaster, describing this belief as false, as evidenced by the difference in the language of writing, and considering the to be the only part of Gathas Zoroaster's writing.{{Cite web |title=Dhalla: Saga part 2, OBSERVING RELIGIOUS LITERATURE FROM A NEW ANGLE |url=https://www.avesta.org/dhalla/saga2.htm |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=www.avesta.org}}

Cyrus Niknam,denies the existence of a bridge and considers the idea to have come from other religions in the Sassanian era and he considers it an invention of the author Book of Arda Viraf{{Cite web |title=موبد گرامی اقای نیکنام. پل چینود چگونه است؟ آیا همان پل صراط است. چگونه فرد گناه کار از آن رد می شود؟ |url=https://www.kniknam.com/content/%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%AF-%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%86%DB%8C%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%BE%D9%84-%DA%86%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%88%D8%AF-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%9F-%D8%A2%DB%8C%D8%A7-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%BE%D9%84-%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%AF-%DA%AF%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A2%D9%86-%D8%B1-0 |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=www.kniknam.com |language=fa}}

{{See also|Religious influences on Zoroastrianism}}

Dr. Ardeshir Khorshedian, the head of the Mobidan Association of Tehran, described the idea of Saoshyant as having been developed by the Zoroastrians and that the idea that Saoshyant is the promised one came from the Jews, but with the Islamic conquest of Persia the idea became more widespread among the Zoroastrians.{{Cite web |date= |title=سوشیانت یا موعود مزدیسنا دارای چه معنایی است؟ - امرداد |url=https://amordadnews.com/7480/ |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=amordadnews.com |language=fa-IR}}

Also Cyrus Niknam, a Mobad, writer and researcher of ancient Iranian culture, says that the idea of a savior is a wrong interpretation by the priests of the Sassanian era and that in reality there is no savior but rather a correct interpretation of the word Saoshyant is the useful from the sacred.{{Cite web |title=زرتشتیان به منجی آخر زمان باور دارند، اگر بپذيريم كه شهربانو نیز يكی از بزرگان زرتشتی است. پس فرزندان او نيز از بزرگان زرتشتی بوده اند، اين فرزندان ازامامان شيعيان هستند، آيا می توان برخی از آنان را سوشيانت دانست؟ |url=https://www.kniknam.com/content/%D8%B2%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AC%DB%8C-%D8%A2%D8%AE%D8%B1-%D8%B2%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%8C-%D8%A7%DA%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D9%BE%D8%B0%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85-%D9%83%D9%87-%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88-%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B2-%D9%8A%D9%83%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A8%D8%B2%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B2%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D9%BE%D8%B3 |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=www.kniknam.com |language=fa}}

Also Cyrus Niknam,denies the existence of a Chinvat bridge and considers the idea to have come from other religions in the Sassanian era and e considers it an invention of the author Book of Arda Viraf{{Cite web |title=موبد گرامی اقای نیکنام. پل چینود چگونه است؟ آیا همان پل صراط است. چگونه فرد گناه کار از آن رد می شود؟ |url=https://www.kniknam.com/content/%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%AF-%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%86%DB%8C%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%BE%D9%84-%DA%86%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%88%D8%AF-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%9F-%D8%A2%DB%8C%D8%A7-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%BE%D9%84-%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%AF-%DA%AF%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A2%D9%86-%D8%B1-0 |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=www.kniknam.com |language=fa}}

Much like the question of who is a Jew?, Zoroastrian identity, especially whether it is adopted through birth or belief (or both), "remains a cause for tension" within the community.{{cite book|author1=Jenny Rose|title=Zoroastrianism: An Introduction|year=2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857719713|pages=210–11, 220}}{{cite news|author1=Ariane Sherine|title=Zoroastrianism needs to adapt its archaic laws – or die|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2013/dec/08/zorastrianism-adapt-archaic-laws-die-parsi|access-date=22 June 2015|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|year=2013}} Reformers have criticised the orthodox refusal to accept religious converts as one reason for the communities' declining population.{{cite news|author1=Laurie Goodstein|title=Zoroastrians Keep the Faith, and Keep Dwindling|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/06/us/06faith.html?ref=us&_r=0|access-date=26 July 2015|work=The New York Times|year=2006}}

Zoroastrians have been criticized by Muslim authors for their rejection of predestination.{{cite book|author1=Ibn Taymiyyah|author-link=Ibn Taymiyyah|editor1-last=Memon|editor1-first=Muhammad Umar|editor1-link=Muhammad Umar Memon|title=Ibn Taimiya's Struggle Against Popular Religion: With an Annotated Translation of His Kitab iqtida as-sirat al-mustaqim mukhalafat ashab al-jahim|date=1976|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783111662381|page=117|edition=reprint}}{{cite book|author1=Tamim Ansary|title=Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes|date=2010|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=9781586488130|page=9|edition=illustrated, reprint}} This follows a famous hadith of Muhammad in which he negatively associates the Qadariyah Islamic sect with the Magians.{{cite book|author1=Richard C. Martin|author2=Mark R. Woodward|author3=Dwi S. Atmaja|editor1-last=Atmaja|editor1-first=Dwi S.|title=Defenders of Reason in Islam: Mu'tazilism from Medieval School to Modern Symbol|date=1997|publisher=Oneworld Publications|isbn=9781851681471|page=86|edition=illustrated}}{{cite book|author1=Muhammad Qasim Zaman|title=Religion and Politics Under the Early ʻAbbāsids: The Emergence of the Proto-Sunnī Elite|date=1997|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004106789|page=62}}

{{See also|Women in Zoroastrianism}}

Zoroastrianism has been criticized for the perception that it promotes a patriarchal system, expressed through such avenues as an all-male priesthood and its historical allowance of polygamy—practiced by Zoroaster himself.{{cite book|author1=Ghada Hashem Talhami|title=Historical Dictionary of Women in the Middle East and North Africa|date=2013|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780810868588|pages=186, 372}}{{cite book|author1=Dale T. Irvin|author2=Scott Sunquist|title=History of the World Christian Movement: Volume 1: Earliest Christianity To 1453|year=2002|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9780567088666|page=202|edition=illustrated}}{{cite book|author1=Solomon Alexander Nigosian|title=The Zoroastrian Faith: Tradition and Modern Research|date=1993|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=9780773511446|page=13|edition=reprint}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Criticism of religion}}

Category:Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism