The Enigma of the Veiled Iranian Woman

John Mark

Shelini Harris

Religion 204 Islam

March 31, 2008

“The Enigma of the Veiled Iranian Woman” by Azar Tabari

This article was written about the events surrounding the overthrow of the Iranian Monarchy in February of 1979. Millions of Muslims took to the streets in organized and disciplined demonstrations and marches to protest against the Shah of Iran. The number of people, the tactics, and the general strike paralyzed the country for months culminating in the overthrow of the monarchy and installation of a new Islamic government. The most intriguing and interesting aspect was the mass participation of women, and the use of the veil to show solidarity. Women put aside their personal preferences about the veil and felt obliged to wear them in the demonstrations. They were not willing a month later to have the new regime take away their newfound and hard-won women’s rights. The women who fought so hard no doubt felt used by the new government.

“Yet in less than a month after Khomeini’s accession to power this ‘unimportant side issue’ became the centre of one of the first significant oppositions to his Islamic republic. Tens of thousands of women, many of whom had all along felt uneasy about the pronouncements of the clergy on women’s rights under Islam, took to the streets on International Women’s Day, outraged at the first direct attacks against women’s rights with the suspension of the Family Protection Law which had restricted, although it had not abolished, polygamy and had made it possible for a woman to apply for a divorce permit” (Tabari 20)

This oppression by the male elite has its roots in the very beginning of Islam itself.

It is no secret that Umar was a very vocal opponent against women’s rights and was in direct conflict with the Prophet’s vision of equality for all people. Noted for his rough treatment of women, he was a proponent of the traditional pre-Islamic custom of male superiority and submissive...