“این تصویر نشان دهنده یک گل سرخ است”

This image shows a red flower.
Qahraman Ghanbari

One – It is a fundamental issue that in general, a person is free to do whatever they want as long as it does not cause harm or damage to society or other individuals. This means that if we want to address the issue of hijab, wearing a headscarf or chador is a personal choice as long as it does not harm or damage the community and citizens of the country. The individual is free to appear in society with a headscarf and chador, or if they do not want to appear with this covering, they are still free to expose their hair to the wind and sun without a headscarf, chador, or any other covering. In fact, this is a highly personal issue; it is not ethical to force someone to remove their headscarf and reveal their hijab for any reason, nor is it acceptable to say that women should be forced to observe hijab because men are stimulated by seeing their hair. You cannot close a dog’s mouth and

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, private matters and issues related to individual life are controlled by the government in some way. This issue is not only limited to the compulsory hijab for women, although the compulsory hijab is the most controversial and prominent issue. For example, in the early years of the revolution, men’s clothing was heavily controlled and men who wore short-sleeved shirts and shaved their faces were harassed and bothered by the authorities and police. It was also necessary to have a history of participating in congregational prayers at school, workplace, and Friday prayers in order to be employed or accepted into university. Usually, those who did not have a history of participating in congregational prayers or did not have a religious appearance (such as wearing loose pants and a shirt without a collar) had a hard time passing these tests. Even during the miraculous third millennium, when I accidentally went to court and the police station twice wearing a short-sleeved shirt, I was not allowed to enter the

Three- Fascist and totalitarian regimes are fundamentally based on ideology. Fear of the future and destruction occupies a special place in this ideology. For example, when it comes to women, in these regimes, women are assumed to be baby-making machines whose country’s future is dependent on their offspring and, of course, the upbringing of these children according to the ruling ideology. It should be noted that although perhaps close to fifteen percent of the Iranian population are Sunni Muslims and there is no law prohibiting marriage between Sunnis and Shias, according to the fatwas of most Shia religious authorities, marriage between a Shia woman and a Sunni man is not allowed. (2) and (3) Of course, there are also such fatwas on the other side, but the main issue here is that women are considered the guarantors of racial, national, and religious purity, and their marriage and having children with someone of a different religion may lead to contamination or destruction of the race. In Nazi Germany,

Four- The hijab for the Islamic Republic goes beyond just a headscarf or chador and is, in a way, a symbol. For example, General Firouzabadi, former chief of staff of the armed forces, said in 2013: “Hijab and chastity have gone beyond being just a cover for Muslim women and have become a symbol of Islam and a way to confront the West.” (4) In the time when the clergy had not yet taken power, it was promised that when the Islamic government takes over, justice, truth, and righteousness will prevail and the root of corruption will be eradicated. But today, not only justice, truth, and righteousness have not prevailed, but the root of corruption has become so deep that it seems impossible to uproot it while this system is still in place. Although forty to fifty years ago, the circle of thieves and embezzlers was limited to a royal family and their associates, and it was

According to statistics presented by the Research Center of the Parliament, 70% of Iranian women do not believe in the “religious veil”. However, the transparency of surveys in Iran has always been a subject of doubt due to security issues, and even some answers may be given with caution. Taking all of this into consideration, a neutral observer may admit that the majority of Iranian women, as citizens, follow the same veil that this report calls “customary”. The fact that we are generally faced with a half-veiled or semi-veiled appearance in public gatherings, which is neither fully veiled nor unveiled, is understandable considering security and police issues. This can even be extended to the idea that in the absence of a political system where expressing political opinions and dissent leads to deprivation, arrest, and legal consequences, some Iranian citizens are forced to express their dissatisfaction with the government in other ways or with less cost. In George Orwell’s novel 1984, the rebellion against Big Brother begins with

Notes:

1. “Vigdskia Rast, Victoria, fashion designer of women’s clothing in two totalitarian regimes: the new woman in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, May 2012, University of Washington.”

2. The opinion of Shia religious authorities on marriage with Sunnis, Vali-e-Asr Research Center, 29 Aban 1386.

3. The fatwa of the representative of the jurist in Kurdistan province and the appointed representative of the Assembly of Experts from Kurdistan province is against marriage with Sunnis, on the website of Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini Shahroud.

4. “Sardar Firouzabadi: If the Basij weakens, the enemy will become insolent”, Mehr News Agency, 1 December 2013