:salam2:
Warm wishes and peace to sister Brittany and all the brothers and sisters on the forum. I will slide a bit into politics here so please forgive me.
I have no problem with Ayatollah Khomeini as I believe he was much better than Reza Shah Pahlavi and definitely much better than his adversary saddam, at least Khomeini brought Islam back for Iranians and he desired Islamic Unity although he followed the flawed sect of shi'ism; he told saddam not to fight amongst Muslims and the saudis and saddam did great wrong by attacking a Muslim country in Iran; Khomeini and the IR of Iran also did great wrongs in slaughtering many of their own citizens which goes on to this day. Every Arab country joined the war on Iran for reasons of Arab nationalism and not religion (Syria did not involve itself in this war) and this was a 100% American war.
The war the US and Iraq launched against Iran was not Islamic it was a fitna between Muslims created by non-Muslims, we should not fight with shi'as, but shi'as must quit their cursings on the righteous companion's (R) of the Prophet sws. As for nationalism, if someone is true to Islam they shouldn't be calling themselves Persian, Arab, Turk, Pakistani, Canadian but they should be calling themselves Muslims. The Arab and Iranian hostility is largely due to this scandalous war created by George Sr and his madman.
To explain better: Sunni refers to the orthodoxy of Islam it's not a sect, whereas Shi'ism is a sect. Sunni means to follow the sunnah, ie. the lifestyle, of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sws. 500 years ago, Iran was sunni but the Azeri Safavids slowly changed that and to this day Iran remains a predominantly shi'a country. While they are Muslim, they curse Aisha, Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them all). This is a very sinful act, as these people were among the holiest Muslims alongside Ali, Fatima, Hassan, and Hussain (may Allah be pleased with them all).
Ali (R) had no quarrel with the caliphate of the first 3 caliphs (R). As for Aisha (R), she is acquitted of what they accuse her in the Holy Qur'an it self.
The massacre at Qarbala was a travesty and went against the teachings of Islam, however, this is no reason to hurt oneself and become obsessed with grief and drawing one's own blood as many of the shi'ah do; this is not to say we shouldn't be sad at what happened, but self mutilation is not part of Islam.
Also in Iran they have a shrine to the man who murdered Umar (R) so these are reasons why the Sunni world has dislike for shi'as; however they still are Muslim and should not be attacked or killed; nor should there be infighting between the sects as takes place in Pakistan, Lebanon, and Iraq; otherwise we fall deeper into the trap of Divide & Conquer whether it be in the form of Nationalism or Sectarianism.
My recommendation to you dear sister, is that you pray to Allah and ask for guidance, when you feel like converting to Islam do it for yourself and because this is the Truth sent to us by Allah. If you want to be a Muslim you must follow the orthodox ways of Prophet Muhammad (sws) to get the full benefit of the deen, as opposed to joining an innovative sect or a secret pantheistic tariqa... Maybe one day you will be able to convince your future husband and the proof is all in the Holy Qur'an and Sahih Hadith.
Salam 3alaikum w 3ala 3areisik.
And in Persian: Khodanegahdare shoma va shoharetoon.