Does Zoroaster give you hope?

[QUOTE=Invictius;536956]I heard that 75% of the Zoroastrian followers are in India and are know as Parsis If this is true then I also heard about the Sassanid Empire which colloapse when Islam came during the 7th AD so how come so many ppl changed the fate to Islam when most followed the Zorostrian Religion?

Thanks[/QUOTE]

They were given dhimmitude status, or given the option to convert or die.

[QUOTE=Invictius;782003]But why didnt they fight back they had magnificent armies[/QUOTE]
They did fight back, for 30 years. But it wasn't enough.

While the Persians had massive armies, they had no real war-time leaders as they did in the preceding millennium, their commanders were not as good as some of the Arab leaders. So, while the Persians won some battles, most of the major ones were won by Arabs, who annexed much of the area surrounding the Iranian plateau. Yazdgerd III's assassination in 651 essentially collapsed the empire, as the political ranks were already weakened due to past indiscretions by other rulers.

The Islamic caliphate immediately implemented a system to repress Persian culture, including swapping Persian for Arabic as the official language (depending on the location and time, punishment varied from warnings to torture and death), increased taxation on non-Muslims (to benefit Muslims financially and prevent Muslims from converting), Arabization of the Persian language, and eventually, you were required to be a Muslim to work for the government.

Regarding the Sassanid collapse, it's important to remember that the Sassanids and the Romans were engaged in a centuries-long "cold war" that often flared into major, devastating conflicts. One such period was that immediately preceding the Arab conquest. The Persians had had driven the (east) Romans all the way back to the walls of Constantinople, bringing the Empire to the brink of collapse. Heraclius left the city to its seige and conducted a devestating campaign that brought the Sassanid Empire to its knees. Thus both empires were exhausted when the Arab onslaught began - soon Persia was overwhelmed completely and the Byzantines lost Egypt, Syria and the Levant.

Religion is organic and all things organic are born, live, change, grow and branch out, decline and eventually pass away leaving seeds of its former glory to sprout again in new environments. Islam overtook Zoroastrianism just as a youth may overtake an elderly person in a race. It is the fate of all facets of civilization. Thankfully the purest fruit of any religion, by its very nature can withstand the test of time and when all has run its course only that which is truly enriching and meant to thrive on into the far future will remain.

The blessed Zarathrustra gave a sublime gift to humanity: A more complete understanding of the concept of "faith."