Table of Contents

  • FREE WILL

    Multiple Authors

    i. IN TWELVER SHI'ISM, ii. IN ISMA'ILI SHI'ISM.

  • FREEMASONRY

    Multiple Authors

    This famous fraternal order, bound by rituals and secret oaths, was introduced to Persia and adopted by Persian notables in the 19th century. It developed in the early 20th century and burgeoned in the period from 1950-78. Its practice still continues among some middle- and upper-class Persians in exile at the turn of the 21st century.  The topic will be treated in five entries.

  • FREEMASONRY i. INTRODUCTION

    Hasan Azinfar, M.-T. Eskandari, and Edward Joseph

    The principal officers of the Lodge are the Worshipful Master and the Senior and Junior Wardens. The Worshipful Master is the head and chief of the Lodge, the source of light, of knowledge, and instruction. Dressed formally on a high pedestal, he presides over the formal Masonic sessions.

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  • FREEMASONRY ii. In the Qajar Period

    Hamid Algar

    Persians made their first acquaintance with Freemasonry outside Persia, in India, and more importantly in Europe, and it was not until the first decade of the 20th century that a lodge regularly affiliated to one of the recognized European obediences appeared in the country.

  • FREEMASONRY iii. In the Pahlavi Period

    EIr

    There were three distinct phases: (1) dormancy, from 1925-1950 under Reżā Shah and for the decade following his abdication in 1941; (2) revival, and the creation of the Lodge Pahlavi; (3) burgeoning, in the period of 1955-78, when dozens of regular lodges were chartered.

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  • FREEMASONRY iv. The 1979 Revolution

    EIr

    From the onset of the 1978-79 revolutionary upheavals the Persian Freemasons became vulnerable to the anti-Masonic sentiments and threats of the main participants in the revolutionary coalition, including Islamic Fundamentalists, Leftist organizations, and Liberal-Nationalist forces.

  • FREEMASONRY v. In Exile

    Hasan Azinfar, M.-T. Eskandari, and Edward Joseph

    Many master Masons managed to leave the country legally or illegally and emigrated to Europe, Canada, and the United States.

  • FREĬMAN, Aleksandr Arnol’dovich

    Solomon Bayevsky

    (1879-1968), founder and the head of the Soviet school of the comparative-historical method in Iranian linguistics. For sixty years, Freĭman worked in various areas of Iranian languages. His work on Sogdian, Chorasmian, and Ossetic is especially important.

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  • FRENCH REVOLUTION

    Cross-reference

    and Persia. See FRANCE ii and FRANCE iii.

  • FRIDAY PRAYERS

    Cross-Reference

    leader of the congregational prayer performed at midday on Fridays. See EMĀM-E JOMʿA.

  • FRIT WARES

    Cross-reference

    See CERAMICS xiv.

  • FROGS

    Cross-reference

    See AMPHIBIANS.

  • FRONTIERS

    Cross-reference

    See BOUNDARIES.

  • FRUIT

    Hūšang Aʿlam

    (mīva). Jean Chardin (1643-1713) reported (p. 24) that “in Persia there were all the same kinds of fruit as in Europe and many others, all incomparatively delicious.” He noted the great variety of melons, cucumbers, grapes, dates, apricots, pomegranates, apples, pears, oranges, quinces, prunes, figs, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, filberts, and olives.

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  • FRYER, JOHN

    Michael J. Franklin

    (b. ca. 1650; d. 1733), British travel-writer and doctor. His writings  display a lively curiosity, which, sharpened by his scientific training, produces accurate observations in geology, meteorology, and all aspects of natural history.

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  • FŪLĀD-ZEREH

    Mahmoud Omidsalar

    lit. “[possessing] steel armor,” the name of a hideous demon in the story of Amīr Arsalān.

  • FŪMAN

    Marcel Bazin

    town and district in western Gīlān, 21 km west-southwest of Rašt, on the left bank of Gāzrūdbār river. An important town in medieval times, Fūman is again a commercial and administrative center, with a very active Tuesday market and a large tea-processing factory.

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  • FŪMANĪ, ʿABD-AL-FATTĀḤ

    Sholeh Quinn

    author of the Tārīḵ-e Gīlān, a local history of Gīlān covering the years 1517-1628.

  • FUMITORY

    M. H. Bokhari and W. Frey

    or šāhtara; term used for two species of plants of the genus Fumaria in Persia, Fumaria officinalis and Fumaria parviflora.

  • FUNERAL CUSTOMS

    Cross-reference

    See BURIAL; CORPSE.