The lowest class is made up of former villagers who flocked to the towns between the late 1950's and the early 1970's. These unskilled laborers live in densely populated communities located on the outskirts of larger cities. This class forms a majority of the local market craftsmen. At the top of the strata are real estate investors, merchants, and other commercial and industrial businessmen. The priests and other clergymen make up a class known as the ulama .
Families are traditionally patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilocal.
This means that their society is strictly male-dominated. Men are guardians and defenders of the family honor, and are responsible for protecting the chastity of their daughters and sisters. Marriages are still arranged, but only after negotiation and approval by both sets of relatives. Marriages between cousins are preferred. Prior to the Arab invasions, the Persian religion was Zoroastrianism .