Wikipedia's first sentence called it “process of forced conversion that took place roughly over the 16th through 18th centuries and turned iran”. Today it says “twelver shias ) heavily persecuted sunni muslims”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Shah Ismail I started the conversion of Iran to Shia Islam Following their rise to power in Iran in the 16th century, the Safavid dynasty initiated a campaign of forced conversion against the Iranian populace, seeking to replace Sunni Islam , whose Shafi'i school of jurisprudence pervaded the country, as the denomination of the majority of the population. Over the course of three centuries, the Safavids (who were Twelver Shias ) heavily persecuted Sunni Muslims, Jews , Christians , and other religious groups, eventually transforming Iran into a bastion of Shia Islam. This process led to hostilities with Iran's Sunni-majority neighbours, most notably the Ottoman Empire . The Safavid campaign sought to ensure Twelver dominance among Shia Muslims, particularly with regard to Zaydism and Ismaʿilism —each of which had previously experienced their own eras of sectarian dominance. The political climate of 18th-century Iran, the intellectual history of Twelver Shia Islam, and the final Shi'itization of the nation were all greatly influenced by the Shaykh al-Islam Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi . In addition to marking the start of a genuinely Iranian expansion within Twelver Shia Islam, Majlesi was also a foreshadowing of the Twelver Shia Imams establishing the Islamic Republic of Iran in the late 20th century. Through their actions, the Safavids were able to establish the Shia sect as the official religion of their empire, marking a significant turning point in Islamic history , which had been universally dominated by the Sunni sect until that period. It also marked a significant turning point in Iranian history , having been the nation's first demographic change since the Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century. As a direct result of the Safavid conversion campaign, Shi'a Islam remains dominant among the populations of Iran and Azerbaijan .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1297958018.
The opening as it stood in 2010
The Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism made Iran the spiritual bastion of Shia Islam against the onslaughts of orthodox Sunni Islam , and the repository of Persian cultural traditions and self-awareness of Iranianhood, acting as a bridge to modern Iran. Through their actions, the Safavids reunified Iran as an independent state in 1501 and established Twelver Shiism as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 360665727.
The opening as it stood in 2015
The Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism made Iran the spiritual bastion of Shia Islam against the onslaughts of Sunni Islam , and the repository of Persian cultural traditions and self-awareness of Iranianhood, acting as a bridge to modern Iran. It also ensured the dominance of the Twelver sect within Shiism over the Zaydiyyah and Ismaili sects – each of whom had previously experienced their own eras of dominance within Shiism. Through their actions, the Safavids reunified Iran as an independent state in 1501 and established Twelver Shiism as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam . As a direct result, the population of the territory of nowadays Iran and neighbouring Azerbaijan were converted to Shia Islam at the same time in history.Both nations still are vastly Shia majority nations, and Azerbaijan has the second largest Shia population by percentage right after Iran.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 669480722.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Historical event The Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam was a process that took place roughly over the 16th through 18th centuries and turned Iran , which previously had a Sunni majority, into the spiritual bastion of Shia Islam .It also ensured the dominance of the Twelver sect within Shiism over the Zaidiyyah and sects of Isma'ilism – each of whom had previously experienced their own eras of dominance within Shiism. Through their actions, the Safavids reunified Iran as an independent state in 1501 and established Twelver Shiism as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam . As a direct result, the population of the territory of present-day Iran and neighbouring Azerbaijan were converted to Shia Islam at the same time in history. Both nations still have large Shia majorities, and the Shia percentage of Azerbaijan's population is second only to that in Iran.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 958413360.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Historical event For the related Iranian - Shi'ite tariqa , who led to Safavids , see Safaviyya .The Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam was a process of forced conversion that took place roughly over the 16th through 18th centuries and turned Iran ( Persia ), which previously had a Sunni majority population, into the spiritual bastion of Shia Islam .It was a process that resulted in hostility with Iran's Sunni neighbours, most notably the Ottoman Empire .The conversion also ensured the dominance of the Twelver sect within Shiism over the sects of Zaidiyyah and Isma'ilism – each of whom had previously experienced their own eras of dominance within Shi'ism. Through their actions, the Safavids reunified Iran as an independent state in 1501 and established Twelver Shi'ism as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam . As a direct result, the population of the territory of present-day Iran and neighbouring Azerbaijan were converted to Shia Islam at the same time in history. Both nations still have large Shia majorities, and the Shia percentage of Azerbaijan's population is second only to that of Iran.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1161248241.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “process of forced conversion that took place roughly over the 16th through 18th centuries and turned iran”. Today it says “twelver shias ) heavily persecuted sunni muslims”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since October 7, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
process of forced conversion that took place roughly over the 16th through 18th centuries and turned iran
Now
twelver shias ) heavily persecuted sunni muslims
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
