khomeini and women's rights
Therefore, women should not pursue such jobs. Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, delivered the inaugural speech at the opening ceremony of the two-day conference that included senior Iranian and foreign officials. As far as birth control is concerned, that depends on what decision the government will take on the matter.”, April 19, 2014: “One of the greatest mistakes of western thoughts about the issues of women is this sexual equality. Women's rights have been a historically controversial issue. But their interpretations often differed, sometimes significantly. Islam considers this as a form of imposition on women.”, April 19, 2014: “There are some jobs which are not suitable for women's make-up. The post-revolutionary constitution guaranteed “the rights of women in all respects, in conformity with Islamic criteria.” During the Khomeini decade, the theocratic government suspended the Family Protection Laws. A whiskey-drinking professor told an American journalist that Khomeini brought pride back to Iranians. “Since a woman’s spirit is more delicate, it needs more peace and tranquility. During his one decade in power, between 1979 and 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued far more statements and fatwas than his successor. But if they are forced to take a job and work certain hours per day so that they can have a share in covering the household expenses, this is not what Islam has asked women. He often framed them in terms of how an Islamic state empowered women. Still, they condemn us for having made hijab obligatory. A women's rights activist told me that Khomeini was not the problem; it was his conservative allies who had directed him wrongly. Iran’s two supreme leaders have both been prolific on the subject of women’s rights and obligations in an Islamic state. From these statements, it is clear that Imam Khomeini believed in women’s freedom and right, but does not consider what has been included in the State and Provincial Associations Bill as ensuring their freedom believing that the Islamic Revolution has provided the ground for women’s freedom to freely participate in building the foundation of the Islamic society. Strikes Iran-Backed Militias in Syria, Part 1: Biden’s Opening Bid on Iran Diplomacy, Part 3: Europe, Russia and China on U.S. Moves, Part 4: Restoring Limits on Iran's Nuclear Program, Timeline: Iranian Fuel Shipments to Venezuela, Dual Nationals and Foreigners Held in Iran, U.S. Revokes Houthi Terrorist Designation. women’s rights under the leadership of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Ayatollah Khamenei. We are concerned mainly with the younger women who when they make up and dress up draw hordes of young men after them. Khomeini began urging women to wear veils as early as spring 1979. #Hijab doesn't thwart social, political, or academic activities at all. Islam does not want women to be an object, to be a doll in our hands. Then Islam stepped in and abolished all these discriminations and said that women must wear hijab. Women in Iran began agitating for increased rights in the late 19th Century. She can be allowed to hold this position because it is not illegal, but if we are proud of having such and such a number of female officials in charge of executive affairs, this is wrong. Khomeini’s crackdown on women’s rights and freedoms, was a decision taken knowingly and deliberately, as a prelude to absolute suppression of everyone’s rights and freedoms in Iran. The post-revolutionary constitution guaranteed “the rights of women in all respects, in conformity with Islamic criteria.” During the Khomeini decade, the theocratic government suspended the Family Protection Laws. Khomeini says the new Islamic Republic will not discriminate against women, but he quotes Islamic law to oppose abortion and says that divorce will only be allowed under “certain circumstances.” He also instructed women to go back to the veil, and reinstituted a wide range of regulations that are oppressive and demeaning to women. Religion in general and Islam in particular are women’s enemy. Some may be surprised to see women in top positions wearing hijab. What reason do we have for doing so? The Women's Rights Movement in Iran: Mutiny, Appeasement, and Repression from 1900 to Khomeini Today, this issue is thoroughly discussed in the world.”. 10 - Khomeini’s Legacy on Women’s Rights and Roles in the Islamic Republic of Iran By Arzoo Osanloo , University of Washington Edited by Arshin Adib-Moghaddam In 1983, Parliament decided that women who do not cover their hair in public will be punished with 74 lashes. It is the husband. In a live national television production on July 10, 2012, President Ahmadinejad addressed the convention hall; mostly assembled with women from the invited countries and senior Iranian officials. ", June 5, 1989: "It makes me proud to see the ladies, young and old alike, playing a role in the education, economic and military arenas and should-to-shoulder with the men, ahead of the them even, actively involving themselves in the cause of exalting Islam and advancing the aims of the Most Noble Quran. We shall never allow women to be merely men’s sex objects. They have “important but different tasks,” he said in August 2002. He went on to say that women stood shoulder to shoulder with men, providing the seat of love and kindness (kanoon-e eshq o mohebat-e ensan). Islam has not prescribed such a thing. “Islam wants to safeguard women’s nobility. Khomeini’s Islamic fundamentalist regime represented a major set back for women’s rights. They themselves have turned the lack of hijab into a law and imposed it on women. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. I expect the changes in the degree of women’s freedoms will prove to have been compromised in the last decades due to the leaders pursuing their personal ambitions and vision for Iran. Held in Tehran in early July, the two-day conference hosted female intellectuals and scholars from around the world. Khomeini’s crackdown on women’s rights and freedoms, was a decision taken knowingly and deliberately, as a prelude to absolute suppression of everyone’s rights and freedoms in Iran. Secondly, we do not say a woman has to wear a specific type of dress… there are no specifications. This is a right that Islam has granted to women… just as Islam has granted man the right to divorce, it has also granted it to women, on condition that the parties stipulate at the time of the marriage that if the husband behaves in a certain manner, the wife will have the right to execute a divorce. Emphasizing the equality of men’s and women’s rights, Imam Khomeini laid strong stress on the legal freedom of women in all social aspects. With regards to the role of women in the society, Imam Khomeini has said: “In the Islamic government, women along with men can actively contribute to the erection of an Islamic society as human beings and not as objects. The first attempt to organize a national movement for women’s rights occurred in Seneca Falls, New York, in July 1848. That is how God has placed them next to one another.”. What kind of dictatorship is this you want to impose on the women? Khomeini began urging women to wear veils as early as spring 1979. Yet their dedication to full equality has remained high. The difference between Iran’s two supreme leaders reflects the disparate readings of Islamic tenets on many aspects of life in an Islamic state. They don’t need your sympathy.”, April 21, 2010: “In ancient Persia, the wives of aristocrats and senior officials used to wear hijab. They are the ones who have to be condemned….They talk about women's rights and complain that we have imposed hijab on women. In 1983, Parliament decided that women who do not cover their hair in public will be punished with 74 lashes. Being proud of these things is good, but being proud of having such and such a number of female ministers, MPs, deputies and managers in financial organizations, is wrong. Women’s rights are severely restricted in Iran, to the point where women are even forbidden from watching men’s sports in stadiums. If we say that we have a large number of women who are active in cultural and political areas, this is alright. It meant that the right to wear hijab was for all women. Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this book to your organisation's collection. She needs comfort and a secure source to rely on. ", Sept. 18, 1996: “It is wrong to assume, we should prevent women from partaking in economic and social activities with reference to Islam. A nationalist war veteran, who held Iran's ruling clerics in contempt, carried with him a picture of 'the Imam'. Commenting on the social and familial roles of women in this address, Ahmadinejad added: “Your assignment is a very heavy one” (Mamooreat-e shoma besseeyar sangeen ast). Our laws are all attempts that we have made to preserve women's honor, but their laws are there to disrespect women.”, May 11, 2013: “Modest clothing one of the preconditions for preventing corruption…This should be prevented because this is a big danger and a big disaster. Iranwire – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, claimed in a message to the Iranian people on April 3, 1979, after the referendum for the new regime: “In the Islamic Republic, everyone is equal; the law respects the rights of religious minorities, women and others, and does not discriminate among these groups.” It restricted social freedoms, such as the right to divorce. What kind of honor is to have women carry out male tasks? Women’s rights were severely curtailed after the revolution, even though tens of thousands had taken to the streets to protest against the shah. It wishes to make her a serious and efficient human being. What kind of sympathy is this? Ayatollah Khomeini expanded the domain of fiqh and Shari’a to include all political, social, economic, personal, public, cultural, and even the military affairs. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. I am sorry that sometimes women and ladies themselves show sensitivity over this issue.”, Dec. 28, 1978: “Women, like men, are free in all these things, women are in no way different from men. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Women's Rights Movement in Iran: Mutiny, Appeasement, and Repression from 1900 to Khomeini [Sanasarian, Eliz] on Amazon.com. These things should be done so that this great disaster - for both men and women - can be prevented. In fact, Parivash Khajeluiouri, an attorney and a women's rights activist, warns that Article XII of the new Constitution paves the way for confining women to child care. This text comprehensively outlines the Position of Women from the viewpoint of Imam Khomeini (r.a.). Mandatory veil wearing was bone out of a desire to establish an anti-Western societal order in Iran. I am sorry that sometimes women and ladies themselves show sensitivity over this issue,” he said in April 2014. The shah and his family had fled the country two weeks before, ... equal rights for women… Some people want to create uproar by saying that there is discrimination against women over the issue of universities, education and other such issues. Dec. 7, 1978: “Women are free in the Islamic society and will, under no condition, be barred from universities, offices or Parliament.”, Dec. 11, 1979: “Both women and men are free to attend university. That ban … B However, Islam has not recommended imposing hard works, tough businesses, social and political tasks on women, either. Justice is a legitimate concept, but equality is sometimes legitimate and sometimes illegitimate. “We will give women every kind of freedom, but we will prevent [moral] corruption and, where this is concerned, there is no difference between men and women.”, During his first three decades in power, beginning in 1989, Khamenei has made more distinctions between the rights of men and women, effectively diminishing the ideological interpretation about whether they are equal in all aspects of life. Check if you have access via personal or institutional login. This organization of American nuns had been in conflict with the Vatican over issues related to women's rights, including reproductive rights. Discrimination against women started in the Constitution and expanded into all … Dec. 28, 1978: “Women can gain the right to execute a divorce, if she adds this condition to her marriage contract.”, Feb. 1, 1980: “A woman can stipulate that if her future husband turns out to be of corrupt moral character or if he mistreats her, she would possess the right to execute a divorce. In the summer of 2012, the Islamic Republic convened the first international conference on Women and the Islamic Awakening. The Khomeini decade: 1979-1989 ... * The struggle for women's rights is central to the larger struggle for individual rights. TEHERAN, Iran, March 11 — Theconfrontation between Islamic leaders under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and their secular opponents grew more intense today around the issue of women's rights. Andrew Hanna, a program specialist at the United States Institute of Peace, assembled this report. Why should women be entrusted with carrying out male tasks? But their interpretations often differed, sometimes significantly. Khomeini was comparatively more of a modernist, while Khamenei has been a strict traditionalist. Khamenei specifically rejected sexual and job equality. That ban … Indeed, he spoke about the broader goals of “reforming the world” (eslahe jahan shoddast), and continued to say that “just because it is a big job, do not think that you cannot achieve it.”. TEHERAN, Iran, March 11 — Theconfrontation between Islamic leaders under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and their secular opponents grew more intense today around the … We should prepare the ground for women to study such fields.”, Dec. 7, 1978: “What will be checked equally among both men and women is moral corruption which is prohibited for both sexes. this decision was announced when A heavy prison sentence plus … Part 2: Profiles of Women Politicians, Activists, Sanctions 6: U.S. Sanctions Many Iran Proxies, Sanctions 7: Iran’s Economy by the Numbers, Sanctions 5: Trump's "Maximum Pressure" Targets, U.S. This is no exception in Iran, where the struggle between modernization and keeping with traditional Islamic values has been a topic of constant disagreement between political leaders. Islam wants to safeguard women’s nobility. Why should we do this? ", Sept. 3, 2016: “The Islamic Republic’s movement should be directed towards… preventing social harms and factors that result in the collapse of family particularly the issue of divorce, compensating for the harm that divorce inflicts by continuous identification of factors leading to divorce and to the collapse of family, and creating the right culture for denouncing divorce.". Khomeini had abolished equal property and divorce rights for women, richly deserving the “male chauvinist” epithet hurled at him by Kate Millett, the American feminist author of Sexual Politics who was expelled from Iran. “Women have taken part in the recent struggle in Iran to the same degree as the men,” he said on January 23, 1979, one week before returning to Tehran in Paris. The issue of hijab is one of the preconditions for this. The Iranian regime is now represented on an international panel to protect the rights of women. Starting with acknowledging the Great Women of the World, such as Hazrat Fatima Zahra, the compilation then covers the status and rights of women in Islam as well as the role of women in their families, and the Jihad of a woman, specifically giving examples from … If we feel proud of having a large number of intellectual and educated women, this is good and it is alright. Sayyid Ruhullah Musawi Khomeini. In 1983, Parliament decided that women who do not cover their hair in public will be punished with 74 lashes. But the wives of ordinary people did not all wear hijab, and there was no obligation to do so. On March 8, Millett looped arms with fellow women demonstrators to protest against Khomeini’s proposal to reinstitute a mandatory dress code for women… Women’s rights are severely restricted in Iran, to the point where women are even forbidden from watching men’s sports in stadiums. Khomeini began urging women to wear veils as early as spring 1979. Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a young mother from upstate New York, and the Quaker abolitionist Lucretia Mott, about 300 people—most of whom were women—attended the Seneca Falls Convention to outline a direction for the women’s rights movement. Once the man has accepted such a stipulation, he can never repudiate it. A Growing Crisis: The Impact of Sanctions and Regime Policies on Iranians\' Economic and Social Rights The Khomeini Period (1979-1989) During the time that Ayatollah Khomeini was ruling Iran, sanctions against the Islamic Republic were essentially unilateral, imposed solely by the US. fundamental human rights that were enshrined by the United Nations for every human being on the planet nearly 70 years ago On February 1, 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran in triumph after 15 years of exile. He spoke of women’s unique capacities for loving kindness (mohebat), compassion (mehraboony), nurturing (tarbiat), providing help (komak), and respect (ehteram). Iranwire – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, claimed in a message to the Iranian people on April 3, 1979, after the referendum for the new regime: “In the Islamic Republic, everyone is equal; the law respects the rights of religious minorities, women and others, and does not discriminate among these groups.”