Editing Parsis (section)

== Change in religious education ==
{{Main|Criticism of Zoroastrianism}}
In the 1860s and 1870s, the linguist [[Martin Haug]] interpreted Zoroastrian scripture in Christian terms, and compared the ''yazata''s to the angels of Christianity. In this scheme, the Amesha Spentas are the arch-angel retinue of Ahura Mazda, with the ''hamkars'' as the supporting host of lesser angels.

At the time Haug wrote his translations, the [[Parsi people|Parsi]] (i.e. Indian Zoroastrian) community was under intense pressure from English and American missionaries, who severely criticized the Zoroastrians for—as John Wilson portrayed it in 1843—"polytheism", which the missionaries argued was much less worth than their own "monotheism". At the time, Zoroastrianism lacked theologians of its own, and so the Zoroastrians were poorly equipped to make their own case. In this situation, Haug's counter-interpretation came as a welcome relief, and was (by-and-large) gratefully accepted as legitimate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HAUG, MARTIN – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/haug-martin |access-date=2020-04-03 |website=iranicaonline.org |archive-date=September 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914015005/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/haug-martin |url-status=live }}</ref>

Haug's interpretations were subsequently disseminated as Zoroastrian ones, which then eventually reached the west where they were seen to corroborate Haug. Like most of Haug's interpretations, this comparison is today so well entrenched that a gloss of 'yazata' as 'angel' is almost universally accepted; both in publications intended for a general audience<ref name="cf_Gray_1927_VII562">''cf.'' {{harvnb|Gray|1927|p=562}}.</ref><ref name="cf_Edwards_1927_XI21">''cf.'' {{harvnb|Edwards|1927|p=21}}.</ref> as well as in (non-philological) academic literature.<ref name="Luhrmann_2002_871">''cf.'' {{harvnb|Luhrmann|2002|p=871}}.</ref><ref name="Dhalla_1914_135">''cf.'' {{harvnb|Dhalla|1914|p=135}}.</ref>

The migration of Parsis to India caused a lack of religious knowledge, which led to doubts in several matters, which made them send men to Iran during the Muslim rule in order to learn the religion from the Zoroastrians in Iran. However, according to the orientalist [[Arthur Christensen]] and several Arab historians, the Zoroastrian doctrine changed after the fall of the Sassanid state because the Zoroastrian clerics tried to save their religion from extinction by modifying it to resemble the religion of the Muslims. So that the Zoroastrians would not have a reason to convert to Islam, but this did not succeed in preventing the Zoroastrians from converting to Islam, and it also caused the emergence of a new version of Zoroastrianism that resembled Islam and differed from Zoroastrianism in the Sassanid era.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

The main components of Zoroastrianism as practiced by the Parsi community are the concepts of purity and pollution (nasu), initiation (navjot), daily prayers, worship at Fire Temples, marriage, funerals, and general worship via practicing good thoughts, words and deeds.<ref>{{cite web |title=Zoroastrianism |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/zoroastrian/worship/worship.shtml |access-date=March 10, 2024 |archive-date=April 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429204411/https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/zoroastrian/worship/worship.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>