“این عکس یک مرد با یک کلاه و ماسک سبز را نشان می دهد”

This picture shows a man wearing a green hat and mask.
Navid Mohabi

The Center for Research of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has recently published a report entitled “Factors Affecting the Implementation of Hijab Policies and Future Solutions”, which explicitly acknowledges the government’s failure in dealing with the issue of hijab and considers the phenomenon of hijab in Iran as an “ambiguous” and “unsolvable” issue for policymakers. This report has been published in a “meta-research” manner, meaning that it examines previous statistics and data on hijab by putting them together. Therefore, this report does not rely on new statistics and surveys, but rather on statistics that are even more than ten years old and do not necessarily reflect the current thoughts of society. This valuable study has been conducted in five aspects: the value of hijab, the necessity of hijab for Muslim women, the boundaries of hijab, the consequences of hijab and unveiledness, and government intervention in the issue of hijab, which will be discussed in this article.

The value of hijab: Decreasing trend

The first indicator for examining the value of hijab is the “disapproval of immodesty and respect for veiled women” indicator, which is based on a 1371 survey that showed 41.5% of society considered not observing hijab as a flaw, and only 36.8% stated that they have more respect for women who wear chador compared to those who wear manto and scarf.

In the discussion of beauty, the exclusive survey in Tehran in 1390 was relied upon, in which 44.7% of respondents declared that they find mantos and trousers more beautiful than chadors and veils, compared to 39.8%. In the “People’s Will” index, the exclusive survey in Tehran in 1393 was referred to, in which only 35.1% of Tehran citizens have a desire to use approved Islamic clothing by government standards. This report concludes, with reference to the mentioned surveys, that there is psychological and social pressure against religious hijab in society.

The necessity of hijab: desirable situation

This report, based on the 1387 survey by the Islamic Advertising Organization, concludes that approximately 85% of the population believe in the necessity of hijab for Muslim women. The survey asked the question “A Muslim woman should not wear any type of clothing” and provided options of agree, neutral, and disagree. Close to 84% of respondents chose the option “agree.” The survey did not provide any explanation as to what is meant by “any type of clothing” and the respondents are not aware if the question refers to bikinis or, for example, a short scarf and coat. These types of questions are known as “leading questions” in which the surveyor sets up the question in a suggestive way to receive their desired response.

Furthermore, in another survey, the Islamic Advertising Organization has claimed that 95.6% of the people have given a positive answer to the question “Do you believe in hijab?” Among the various surveys cited in this report, the discussion of “the necessity of hijab” is the only focus that, according to the claim of those involved in this report, has a very favorable situation. However, this statistic does not align with the concerned tone of the end of this research. More importantly, what casts doubt on the result of this survey is the credibility of its organizer, the Islamic Advertising Organization, which sees its duty as “guiding public opinion and countering the invasion of foreign culture.”

Hijab boundaries: Decreasing trend

In terms of the boundaries of hijab, according to this report, there are differences between people’s attitudes and religious attitudes, and the number of people who adhere to the standard of religious hijab has decreased. However, according to a survey by the Advertising Organization, close to 64.7% of respondents agree with the statement “A woman’s hijab should be in a way that her hair is not visible at all.” In another question, only 17.5% believed that it is acceptable to not observe hijab in front of a brother-in-law or sister’s husband, which seems to be an exaggeration considering the realities of Iranian society and indicates that the survey may not have been comprehensive enough.

Consequences of Hijab: Desirable situation

In the discussion of the negative effects of improper hijab, another survey from the Islamic Advertising Organization has been referenced, in which the majority of respondents attributed negative effects to improper hijab in response to questions about “inappropriate clothing”. This report emphasizes that among the five dimensions mentioned, the situation in Iran is positive and desirable in the two dimensions of “the necessity of hijab” and “the consequences of improper hijab”. However, the referenced survey is at least 10 years old and there is no information about its implementation and details provided.

Government intervention in the issue of hijab: Declining trend.

Among the main topics discussed in this report, the most significant changes and developments have occurred in the discussion of government intervention and opposition to the Basij organization. According to a study by the Student Opinion Center in 2014, only 9.39% of people believed in government intervention, while close to fifty percent declared that hijab is a personal matter. This is in contrast to the statistics from 2008, which were 7.34% and 7.55% respectively. These statistics have caused concern among government officials, as they argue that the decrease in the value of hijab alongside opposition to government intervention are two factors that can make it difficult to combat hijab-free behavior.

The emergence of social resistance against the hijab.

Among the five dimensions discussed, the research center report emphasizes that the only dimension that the majority of the Iranian people are opposed to is the issue of government interference in the hijab debate. In the remaining dimensions, either the conditions are favorable or the people’s beliefs have only had a decreasing trend, but the majority of the people still agree with it. What causes concern for the report’s producers is that society is moving towards bad hijab. In other words, the more we move forward, the more people distance themselves from the desired hijab of the government. In the discussion of policy-making regarding hijab, the researchers have referred to this side as the emergence of the pattern of social resistance and low social cohesion in the years 1376; meaning that a cohesive minority with an anti-hijab attitude has formed, which has made it difficult to implement controlling policies by the government, contrary to the early years of the revolution.

It should be noted that when the report of the Parliament’s Research Center mentions a decrease in the trend towards hijab, it refers to religious hijab such as chador, veil, or the use of mantos and scarves in a way that does not reveal the hair, not the lack of hijab. In other words, when this report refers to the decline in hijab, it means that people have moved away from the government-approved hijab, not that they have chosen to be unveiled. On the other hand, the report states that only eleven percent of society have abnormal bad hijab, while on the other hand, it is emphasized that the implementation of the hijab and chastity plan “will face high social sensitivity, media resistance, and controversial consequences of the media,” which is not in line with the tone of the writer’s statistics.

In the conclusion of this forty-page report, the authors emphasize that it is not possible to intensify the process of criminalization, maintain the current situation, or completely eradicate the issue of immodesty. The proposed solution is to increase the value of hijab by simultaneously considering “beautification of hijab through media” and “ignoring the phenomenon of immodesty.”

In explaining the reasons for the devaluation of the hijab, this report blames media productions, satellite networks, and popular Instagram influencers and “fashion trends,” but makes no mention of the oppressive and restrictive nature of compulsory hijab. The reality is that Iran is the only country in the world that imposes mandatory hijab on all Muslim and non-Muslim citizens, as well as foreign visitors. Mandatory hijab has multifaceted consequences that affect not only the private and public spheres of women, but the entire society. The segregation of women from men in work and educational environments, on buses and subways, in bread lines, and the control of individuals through surveillance at cultural centers and airports, and the prevention of entry and travel for those who do not comply with hijab, are just a small part of the government’s manipulation in public spaces. Deprivation from sports such as bodybuilding, wrestling, and swimming, and even preventing those who participate in international competitions on a personal level, shows that