The position of woman from the viewpoint of imam khomeini chapter1

The position of woman from the viewpoint of imam khomeini

Chapter1

BOOK ID

Translator (s): Juliana Shaw Behrooz Arezoo

Publisher (s): The Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeinis Works

Category: Women

Topic Tags: Women Islam Position

Person Tags: Imam Khomeini

point

This text comprehensively outlines the Position of Women from the viewpoint of Imam Khomeini (r. a. ). 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 women during the time of the Islamic Revolution.

Introduction

The history of mankind overflows with instances of tyrannical acts perpetrated against the deprived and meek of the earth by oppressors and men of power. Every so often, it was the oppressed who, heeding the call of a venerable descendant of the family of the prophets and saints, rose up in anger against those practicing injustice and by sacrificing their lives and enduring immense hardships allowed the people of the world to enjoy a breath of the fresh air of justice and equity.

Before very long, however, the stench from the fetid water of pride and arrogance, diffused by riches, power and deceit, once again dispersed the sweet savour of justice, stifling the justice seekers.

Women meanwhile, as half of mankind, have been made to suffer additional injustice - the description of which calls for a book thicker than that needed to record the oppression suffered by mankind in

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general - and in their role as ‘spouses of men’, invariably shared their husbands’ sorrow and were their refuge in hard times.

In many instances throughout history when the tyranny of tyrants or the tribulations of the time have caused the death of their husbands, it was the women who, single-handed, had to shoulder the burden of responsibility. In addition to these, women, whether in their role as daughters in their fathers’ house, spouses at the side of their husbands or sisters to their brothers, and women compared to men in general, have never enjoyed their proper station and have usually been regarded as the weaker sex, inferior, unfortunate, pitiful, her greatness ignored.

Even though throughout the different periods of history and in the various cultures and societies this discrimination has experienced varying degrees of severity, still, unfortunately, its perpetuation and pervasiveness are undeniable, with each period of time demonstrating at least one of its many hues.

As we know, among the Arabs in pre-Islamic times, burying girls alive was seen as a way for families to deliver themselves from what was believed to be the misfortune of having a female child. It was only in a short period in the earliest age of Islam that through the teachings and practice of the Prophet and members of his virtuous household, women recovered, to a certain degree, their true worth and station.

With the revival and restoration of the former system, this time masquerading as

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the Islamic caliphate, women’s standing once again lapsed and gradually with the passage of time fossilised misinterpretations of Islam imposed crippling restrictions and limitations on women, such that even in the last few decades veins of these ossified views expressing disdain for women and belittling their position could still be clearly seen among the contemporary petrified religious traditionalists.

It was in such circumstances that the imperialists and their henchmen, in keeping with their hegemonic tendencies, began to seek suitable ways and means of infiltrating the cultural and political life of Iran, and to this end they availed themselves of the position of women in our society. With the slogans of freedom and equality, they promoted the culture of nakedness and libertinism, in the process making use of the most draconian of despotic measures as seen in Riza Khan’s policy of forcing women to remove their Islamic veils (kashf-i hijab). [1]

This ambition, which at the time of Riza Khan’s son - a son truly worthy of such a father - took on a more subtle and clever form, was described in the imperial literature as turning women into beguiling creatures. In the Shah’s logic, the modern woman, the woman free of religious restraints, has as her mission beguilement, and all obstacles to the realisation of this mission must be removed.

Thus it was that not only women, but the other half of society too, i. e. the men, fell under the spell of beguilement. We ourselves witnessed how, in addition

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to the cabarets and dance halls and the formal and informal gatherings, the streets, city squares, parks, recreational centres, swimming pools and beaches, as showplaces of this imperial policy, were in practice changed into something akin to houses of pleasure in the service of degenerating, corrupting and narcotising the young generation.

The model of the beguiling woman is one borrowed from Western society. Unfortunately, in the original model too, woman’s true greatness and identity have been sacrificed at the altar of the Western materialist philosophy in worship of the two gods of Western man: the economy and the pursuit of pleasure.

Consequently, in the Western civilisation too, women are to a great extent either used to promote and sell goods or to promote and sell themselves. She is a commodity in the service of the ruling system and plays her part according to the dictates of the ‘establishment’.

With the help of the above observations, the greatness of Imam Khomeini’s action in reviving the true identity of Muslim women can be seen, and the luminosity of his thought demonstrated.

Imam saw for himself how the fossilised ideas of his generation viewed women as nothing other than the ‘weaker sex’ and wives imprisoned in the women’s quarters of the home. On the other hand, with his special perspicacity he realised that the role the Shah and imperialism had in mind for women as beguilers and playthings would not lead to them enjoying a better position and would

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result only in the degeneration and corruption of Muslim societies, in Muslims becoming estranged from their own culture and in them losing sight of who they are.

In his position as an enlightened and crusading marja-i taqlid [1] , he drew from the limpid waters of the heavenly fount of the teachings of the pure Islam of Muhammad and from his reflections as a mujtahid [2] on the precious heritage of the traditions of the Prophet and the teachings of the infallible Imams, upon whom be peace, and arrived at such a correct understanding of women’s responsibilities and true role in society that we see this manifested in the revival of the Muslim woman’s identity in the Islamic republic system.

It was acceptance of his view of women that, despite years of endeavours by imperialism’s propaganda organs on one side and the presence of fossilised ideas that appeared in the form of devotion to Islam on the other, brought women onto the scene during the Islamic Revolution in Iran in such a way that it was nicknamed the revolution of the chador [3] -clad by news agencies, observers and analysts.

And it was not only in the demonstrations to overthrow the Shah’s regime that the opinions of women were taken as sound and helpful, rather this was the case in all stages of the sanction, endorsement and establishment of the Islamic republic system. Subsequently, despite the backwardness which had arisen from old-fashioned policies and views and which had hampered the legitimate development and blossoming of

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their talents and capabilities, women now rapidly made up for the past and made great strides along the road to securing their proper position in society.

The composition of the delegation, which presented Imam’s historic message to Gorbachev, the former leader of the now defunct Soviet Union, provides a valuable and meaningful example of Imam’s views on the role women should play in an Islamic society. In a symbolic move, he appointed a delegation made up of clergymen, academics and a woman to announce the death of communism to the world.

Indeed, perhaps one can even claim that the composition of the delegation itself conveyed a message as correct as that old sage’s miraculous prediction forewarning of the fall of the Eastern bloc: that the revival of Islam and the world’s future power lay in the capable hands of these three sections of society, and that it would be through their correct understanding and implementation of their true mission that the tree of Islamic revolution would blossom forth and overshadow the ruins of communism and capitalism.

For the generation that ponders on the true position of women, Imam’s own attitude towards women, his directives, his unambiguous and enlightening stances and his ground-breaking edicts in this regard, which were formed within the framework of indisputable shari‘a [1] laws and were completely loyal to the principles and incontrovertible precepts of the religion, can be used as practical guidelines.

There are those to whom the traditional restrictions and denigration to

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which, unfortunately, in the name of the shari‘a, women in many countries which claim to be Islamic are subjected, are an anathema. And yet, at the same time, they also cannot accept the extremist positions taken by those claiming to defend the rights of women - who with phantasmal claims of equal rights even reject the natural and innate differences which exist between men and women, and have in practice set off down a road towards destroying the family and the moral and spiritual centres. For such people the desire to find the happy medium usually ends in frustration.

By referring to this anthology, such people will become acquainted with the opinions of a man who is a descendant of Fatima Zahra, [1] and who views woman as mankind’s educator, as one who helps fulfil mankind’s aspirations and as one from whose lap man ascends. His view of women is such that he goes so far as to say: “If nations were deprived of courageous women, of women to rear true human beings, they would decline and collapse. ”

It was he who with his unique and enlightened way of thinking and without departing from the traditions (sunna) of his forefathers and the system of Islamic laws (fiqh) saw the solution to the problem or the difficulty of women’s right in the matter of divorce - which had been the focus of much malicious propaganda by self-interested elements - to lie in women’s right to execute a divorce.

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And now we present to those interested this anthology of the valuable precepts and messages of that holy man concerning women. It has been compiled with the help of the centre for cultural study and research of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (Women’s Cultural Affairs Unit).

The excerpts selected in each section are placed in chronological order except for those taken from books Imam has authored, the source for which is given at the end of each excerpt. Regarding his messages and speeches, only the dates have been given throughout, however complete references appear at the end of the book to facilitate further research.

The Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini’s Works

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[1]: After the Constitutional Revolution from the middle of 1927, some circles close to Riza Khan began talking about the forced removal of the women’s Islamic veil (kashf-i hijab) and by the New Year of 1928 (1307 AHS) , Riza Khan’s wife and daughters appeared in public without the Islamic covering. The law calling for the removal of hijab was implemented after Riza Khan’s return from Turkey (in 1934) on 7 January 1935 (17 Dey 1341 AHS). On this day, Riza Khan, accompanied by his wife and two daughters, attended the opening ceremonies for a college along with his ministers and their wives who had removed their Islamic covering. At this ceremony, Riza Khan addressed the women saying: “We have broken the prison bars! Now the freed prisoners can make beautiful homes instead of cages. ”

[1]: Marja’-i taqlid: a scholar of proven learning and piety whose authoritative rulings one follows in matters of religious practice.

[2]: Mujtahid: an authority on divine law who is entitled to give an independent judgement on a point of theology or law.

[3]: Large cloak and veil which envelops the woman’s entire body, worn in Iran and elsewhere.

[1]: - Shari‘a: the all-embracing law of Islam derived from the Qur’an, the normative practice and authoritative pronouncements of the Prophet, and a number of secondary sources.

[1]: - Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet and wife of Imam `Ali, also known as Fatima Zahra.

Great Women of the World

Hazrat Fatima Zahra

Hazrat [1] Fatima Zahra (upon whom be peace)

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[1]: The word Hazrat is used as a respectful form of address.

The anniversary of Hazrat Fatima’s birthday and Women’s Day

Tomorrow is Women’s Day. It is the day when (the birth of) a woman is commemorated of whom the world is proud. It is the day commemorating a woman whose daughter stood against tyrannical governments, who recited that sermon and uttered those words, of which you are all aware. (1)

16 May 1979 (26 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

5 May 1980

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(15 Urdibihisht 1359 AHS)

It is a great day, on which a woman came into the world who compared with all men. A woman came into the world who was an exemplar for mankind. A woman came into the world in whom all traits of a (true) human being were manifest. So today is a great day. It is the day of you women. (3)

17 May 1980 (7 Urdibihisht 1359 AHS)

I convey my best wishes and felicitations to the noble nation of Iran, in particular the respected women, on the immensely happy occasion of the birthday of Fatima Zahra, the most felicitous day to commemorate Women’s Day.

This joyous birthday occurred in a place and time when women were not considered to be human beings and their very existence was seen as a source of shame for families among the different tribes of the pre-Islamic times. In such a corrupt and barbaric environment, the great Prophet of Islam took woman’s hand and delivered her from the slough of pagan customs. The history of Islam testifies to the limitless respect the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his descendants, showed this noble infant, so as to demonstrate that woman has a special greatness in society, and if she is not superior to man, she is certainly no less than him. So this day is the day of woman’s revivification, and the day to establish her honour and the great

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role she plays in society. (4)

24 April 1981 (4 Urdibihisht 1360 AHS)

Felicitations to the mighty nation of Iran, in particular its great women, on this blessed day of the woman, this illustrious day commemorating a lustrous being who lays the foundations on which mankind’s virtues and the exalted values of God’s representative in this world are built. And even more blessed and precious is the most felicitous selection of the 20th day of Jumada II (as Women’s Day) , the proud day of the birth of a woman who is one of history’s miracles and who is a source of pride for the world of creation. (5)

14 April 1982 (25 Farvardin 1361 AHS)

I congratulate all you ladies and women in all Islamic countries on this joyous holiday marking the glorious birth of Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace. I ask God, the Blessed and Exalted, to guide all the respected women along the path that He has laid down, so that they can achieve lofty Islamic goals. It is a source of great pride for the women that they have designated Hazrat Fatima’s birthday as Women’s Day; it is a source of pride and responsibility. (6)

2 March 1986 (11 Isfand 1364 AHS)

In fact, according to the traditions that have been handed down to us, the Most Noble Messenger (peace be upon him and his descendants) and the Imams (upon whom be peace) existed before the creation of the world in the form of lights [1]

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situated beneath the divine throne; they were superior to other men even in the sperm from which they grew and in their physical composition. Their exalted station is limited only by the divine will, as indicated by the saying of Gabriel recorded in the traditions on the mi‘raj: [1] “Were I to draw closer by as much as the breadth of a finger, surely I would burn. ” [2]

The Prophet himself said: “We have states with God that are beyond the reach of the cherubim and the prophets. ” [3] It is part of our belief that the Imams (upon whom be peace) too enjoy similar states, before the question of government even arises. For example, according to the traditions, Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, also possessed these states, even though she was not a ruler, a judge or a governor. These states are quite distinct from the function of government. So when we say that Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, was neither a judge nor a ruler, this does not mean that she was like you and me, or that she has no spiritual superiority over us.

Islamic Government, pp. 64-65.

What proves our suggested possibility concerning the truth of the ‘Night of Power’ (or Decree) Lailat al-qadr [4] is the lengthy noble hadith, [5] which appears in the exegesis of al-Burhan (Tafsir al-Burhan) and is quoted from the book al-Kafi, [6] in which it is said that when a Christian asked Imam Musa ibn

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Ja‘far [1] about the hidden meaning of the Qur’anic verse: “Ha Mim. By the book that makes things clear. We sent it down during a blessed night, for We ever wish to warn against evil. In that night is made distinct every affair of wisdom,” (Qur’an 44: 1-4) , [2] he replied, “As to the meaning of Ha Mim, it is Muhammad, peace be upon him and his descendants. The ‘book that makes things clear’ is Amir al-Muminin ‘Ali, upon whom be peace, and the ‘night’ is Fatima, upon whom be peace. ” [3]

Adab al-Salat, p. 329

Amongst the supererogatory prayers to be performed after the prescribed prayer (salat) are the tasbihat [4] of Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, which the Messenger of God, peace be upon him and his descendants, taught her and which are the most preferred of such prayers. [5] It is in the hadith that had there been anything better, the Messenger of God, peace be upon him and his descendants, would have presented Fatima, upon whom be peace, with it.

Adab al-Salat, p. 377

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[1]: Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 25, pp. 1-103.

[1]: The archangel Gabriel accompanied the Most Noble Messenger on his mi‘raj (ascension to the Divine Presence) , but being of lowlier station than the Messenger, he was unable to endure the splendour of the Divine Presence.

[2]: Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 18, p. 382, ‘History of the Prophet’, Chapter ‘Proof of the Ascension’, Narrative 85.

[3]: Al Arba‘in, Allama Majlisi, p. 177, description of tradition 15.

[4]: Lailat al-Qadr: The Night of Power (or Decree) , has a very special significance in the Muslim calendar because it is the anniversary of that night when the Qur’an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. This night has been described as ‘better than a thousand months’, and tradition holds that requests made to God during Lailat al-Qadr will be granted.

[5]: This Arabic word has a large number of meanings including ‘speech’, ‘report’ and ‘narrative’. It also has the very important specialist sense of ‘tradition’, i. e. a record of the sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammad and his descendants, and as such is regarded by Muslims as a source of Islamic law, dogma and ritual second only in importance to the Qur’an itself.

[6]: Al-Kafi: one of the most important collections of Shi`ite hadith compiled by Shaykh `Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn-i Yaqub ibn Ishaq Kulayni (d. 941 AD). Al-Kafi includes 16,199 traditions that can be traced back to the Prophet and his family by an unbroken chain of transmission. The traditions in this book cover ideological, ethical and jurisprudential matters to name but a few. Kulayni lived relatively close in time to the period of the Prophet and the twelve Imams, this, along with the method of gathering, classifying and specifying the chain of transmission, has given al-Kafi a special importance amongst the collections of traditions and puts it alongside three other books as the most important collections of Shi`ite traditions collectively famous as the Kutub al-Arba'a (The Four Books). Al-Kafi is divided into three sections: Usul al-Kafi; Furu' al-Kafi and Rauda al-Kafi. Usul al-Kafi covers ideological and ethical matters and consists of the books of: Reason and Ignorance; the Excellence of Knowledge; Divine Unity; Divine Proof; Belief; Unbelief; Qur'an and Supplicatory Prayer. Furu' al-Kafi, on the other hand, consists of books and sections on jurisprudence and is one of the authoritative reference books for deduction and independent reasoning (ijtihad) from Islamic law for the Shi`ite jurisprudents. Rauda al-Kafi comprises different traditions on numerous matters. This book, also known as Sharif al-Kafi, has for centuries been used by the Shi`ite ‘ulama and jurisprudents as a reference book. Muslim scholars have written extensive expositions on al-Kafi, amongst them Mullah Sadra Shirazi and Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi.

[1]: - Imam Abu ‘l-Hasan Musa, son of Ja‘far: seventh of the Twelve Imams, and generally known as Imam Musa al-Kazim. He was born in Medina in 744 AD and died in prison in Baghdad in 799 AD.

[2]: - Tafsir al-Burhan, Vol. 4, p. 158.

[3]: - Usul al-Kafi, Vol. 2, p. 326. Kitab al-Hujjat, section on the birth of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his descendants, Hadith 4.

[4]: - Tasbihat = words uttered in praise of God.

[5]: - Furu’ al-Kafi, Vol. 3, p. 343, Kitab al-Salat, the section on supererogatory prayers performed after the prescribed prayer, and supplications. Hadith 14.

The divine personality of Hazrat Fatima Zahra

The divine personality of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (upon whom be peace)

All dimensions that one can imagine exist for a woman and a human being were personified in Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace. She was not an ordinary woman; she was a spiritual woman, a heavenly woman, a human being in the true sense of the word. She was the incarnation of human goodness; she personified the true nature of woman and

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the true nature of the human being. She was not an ordinary woman, she was a heavenly being who appeared in this world in the form of a human being, she was a divine, celestial being who appeared in the form of a woman. She personified all the very best human and female traits that one can imagine. Tomorrow [1] then is Women’s Day, tomorrow is the day on which such a woman was born.

She was a woman who embodied all the virtues of the prophets, a woman who, had she been a man, would have been a prophet, a woman who, had she been a man, would have been the Messenger of God. Spiritual qualities, heavenly qualities, divine qualities, celestial qualities, human and angelic qualities all came together in this being. She was a human being in the full sense of the word, a woman in the full sense of the word. Tomorrow then is Women’s Day. Tomorrow is the day when woman’s dignity and woman’s character came into being.

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stages have been attained. She began from the physical stage and moved on. She proceeded through the stages of a spiritual movement assisted by divine power, by the invisible hand, by the teachings of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his descendants) until she reached the stage that all others could not reach. Tomorrow then is the day on which all aspects of woman were materialised, and woman in all her dimensions was incarnated. Tomorrow is Women’s Day. (7)

16 May 1979 (26 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

It is a great day; a woman came into the world who compared with all men. A woman came into the world who exemplified humanity. A woman came into the world in whom all traits of a (true) human being were manifest. So today is a great day. It is the day of you women. (8)

17 May 1980 (27 Urdibihisht 1359 AHS)

Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, a woman who is the pride of the family of divine revelation and who like a sun shines brightly in the crown of beloved Islam; a woman whose virtues were on a par with the endless virtues of the Most Noble Messenger and the household of infallibility and purity; a woman for whom everyone, with whatever viewpoint he may hold, has praises, yet none has been able to offer her adequate praise. The hadiths [1] that have come down to us from the family of divine

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revelation are such that the listener can easily understand, for one cannot contain a sea in a bottle. And whatever others have said in her praise was according to their own level of understanding not commensurate with her standing. So let us leave this vale of wonder... (9)

5 May 1980 (15 Urdibihisht 1359 AHS)

And I hope you will accept and perform those duties you are obliged to carry out, which are to strive both in the area of education, which is an important matter, and in the defence of Islam. These are among the important tasks the performance of which is incumbent on every man and woman, on the young and old alike. (10)

2 March 1986 (11 Isfand 1364 AHS)

I do not consider myself adequate to the task of speaking about Hazrat Fatima, upon whom be peace, so I will suffice with reciting a sound tradition [1] which can be found in Usul al-Kafi. [2] This tradition quotes Hazrat Sadiq, [3] upon whom be peace, as saying: “After the death of her father, Fatima, upon whom be peace, lived for seventy-five days. She was in this world and she was overcome with grief. Gabriel, the Trusted Spirit, came to her regularly to console her and tell her of future events. ”

So according to this tradition, in these seventy-five days she had contact with Gabriel, he came and went many times. I do not think that such a thing has happened

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for anyone else other than the great prophets of the highest rank, that in seventy-five days Gabriel, the Trusted Spirit, came and went and spoke of events that would take place in the future, spoke of things that would happen to her offspring in the future.

Hazrat Amir [1] wrote down what Gabriel said, he was the writer of these revelations just as he had been the writer of the revelations the Noble Messenger had received - of course with the death of the Noble Messenger those revelations which brought divine laws ended. He was the writer of the revelations that were made to Hazrat Fatima during these seventy-five days.

Gabriel’s appearing to someone should not be taken as a trivial affair. One should not imagine that Gabriel would appear to just anyone. The necessary relationship has to exist between the spirit of that person to whom Gabriel would appear and Gabriel’s station as the paramount spirit. Whether we believe that it is the greatness of the spirit of the saint or prophet that brings Gabriel down to this lower station, or that it is God who sends him to make such revelations, whether we side with the speculatists in their views or those who interpret the literal meaning in theirs, it still remains that unless the necessary relationship exists between the spirit of that person to whom Gabriel would appear and Gabriel, the paramount spirit, then it would be impossible for such a thing to happen.

The

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relationship existed between Gabriel, the paramount spirit, and the prophets of the highest rank such as the Messenger of God, Moses, Jesus and Abraham. It did not exist with just anyone, and after these prophets it did not exist with anyone else. Indeed, I have not even heard of Gabriel descending to the Imams as he did to the prophets. As far as I know it was only to Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, that Gabriel appeared repeatedly during the period of these seventy-five days, revealing future events which would take place for her offspring and which Hazrat Amir recorded. Perhaps he spoke to her about the time of her exalted offspring Hazrat Sahib, [1] upon whom be peace, in which case he may have mentioned events in Iran too; who knows, it is possible.

Be that as it may, I consider the fact that Gabriel appeared to her when he had appeared to no one other than the prophets, upon whom be peace - and even then not all the prophets, only those of the highest rank - and some of the saints who are of the same rank as them, to demonstrate her nobility and moral excellence better than any other virtue with which she is attributed, even though those virtues too are important. The fact that she had communication with Gabriel in those seventy-five days, and that he has appeared to no one since then, demonstrates an excellence, which is, but one

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of the characteristics of Hazrat Fatima, upon whom be peace. (11)

2 March 1986 (11 Isfand 1364 AHS)

My pen and words are unable to describe adequately the great and extensive resistance of millions of Muslims enamoured of service, self-sacrifice and martyrdom in this country of the Lord of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him). Nor can I do justice to the epic events which have taken place, the acts of bravery, the good deeds and the service performed by the spiritual children of Kauthar, Hazrat Fatima, upon whom be peace, all of which spring from the knowledge gained from Islam and the family of the Prophet and from the blessings gained by following the path of the Imam of ‘Ashura [1] . (12)

5 February 1987 (16 Isfand 1365 AHS)

We are honoured that the vivifying prayers, which are called the ‘ascending recitation’ come from our Infallible Imams. We are proud that the Sha’ban invocations [2] of the Imams, the Prayer of Husayn ibn ‘Ali (upon whom be peace) on the Day of ‘Arafa, [3] the prayers of the Sahifa-yi Sajjadiya [4] known as the ‘Psalms of the Family of the Holy Prophet’, and the Sahifa-yi Fatimiya, which is a book of God’s revelations to Hazrat Fatima, are from us. (13)

5 June 1990 (15 Khurdad 1368 AHS)

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[1]: - 27 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS corresponding with 17 May 1979 and 20 Jumada II 1399 AH.

[1]: - Refer to footnote 16.

[1]: - Hadiths and their isnads, or chain of authorities, have been subjected to a wide range of types of categorisation. A basic one is to classify the hadith under one of several major categories of trustworthiness. The term ‘sahih’ or sound indicates the highest level of trustworthiness in a tradition.

[2]: - See footnote 17.

[3]: - Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq, the sixth Shi‘ite Imam. He was born, lived and taught in Medina and was buried there when he died. He was a notable scholar of hadith and in his own life gained a massive reputation for his knowledge and holiness.

[1]: - ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and husband of Hazrat Fatima and first of the Twelve Imams of Shi‘ite belief. He exercised rule from 656 until his martyrdom in 661.

[1]: - Referring to the twelfth and last Imam of Shi‘ite belief Imam Mahdi, also known as the Imam of the Age or Lord of the Age, who is now in occultation. According to Shi‘ite belief, he made an appearance as a young boy at the funeral of his father after which he entered the state of occultation. It is believed he will emerge from his occultation at a time when injustice fills the earth and his return will herald the approach of the end of time.

[1]: - Referring to Imam Husayn, grandson of the Prophet, and also known as the Lord of the Martyrs. In 680, Imam Husayn refused to swear allegiance to Yazid, son of Mu‘awiya and second caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, since Yazid did not possess legitimate authority and had succeeded to the caliphate by hereditary succession. The ensuing death of the Imam in battle at Karbala has always been commemorated by Shi‘ite Muslims as the supreme example of martyrdom in the face of tyranny. It served as an important point of both ideological and emotive reference throughout the Islamic Revolution in Iran. ‘Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram, is the day on which he was martyred in Karbala.

[2]: - A litany that was recited by all the Imams, something true of no other prayer or invocation, during the month of Sha’ban.

[3]: - Day of ‘Arafa: the ninth day of the month of Dhu ‘l-Hijja, when all the pilgrims participating in the hajj must be present at the plain of ‘Arafa outside Mecca. For a translation of the text of the prayer that Imam Husayn recited on this day, see ‘Allamah Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i, A Shi‘ite Anthology, trans. William C. Chittick, pp. 93-113.

[4]: - The book of fifty-seven prayers known as the Sahifa-yi Sajjadiya, which is one of the major Shi‘ite manuals of prayer, was composed by Imam Zayn al-’Abidin Sajjad, the fourth of the Twelve Imams and the only son of Imam Husayn to survive the massacre at Karbala.

Hazrat Fatima Zahra’s home and its blessings

Hazrat Amir (Imam `Ali) , upon whom be peace, was the leader of all Muslims with a domain perhaps ten times larger than today’s Iran. It

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extended from the Hijaz to Egypt and even farther into Africa, reaching parts of Europe. Yet when this divine leader sat with a group of people, just as we are sitting here now, even this [1] was not beneath him. He possessed one pelisse, which, tradition holds, he and Hazrat Fatima would sleep upon at night and during the day he would scatter grass upon for his camel to eat. This was also the kind of lifestyle the Prophet had. This is Islam. (14)

4 July 1979 (13 Tir 1358 AHS)

The ideology was being erased and destroyed by the deviationists remaining from the Age of Ignorance [2] and by the calculated plans for the revival of nationalism and Arabism with the slogan ‘no message received, no revelation revealed’, [3] the just Islamic government was being turned into a monarchical regime and Islam and the revelation dragged into obscurity, when suddenly a great figure, who had been nourished by the juice of divine revelation, nurtured in the household of the lord of the messengers, Muhammad Mustafa, and the lord of the Imams, `Ali Murtaza (Imam `Ali) , and raised in the care of Siddiqa Tahera (Hazrat Fatima) , rose up and through his unequalled sacrifice and movement for God created a great inciden Wafat, which brought the palaces of the oppressors tumbling down and saved the ideology of Islam. (15)

16 June 1980 (26 Khurdad 1359 AHS)

This small house of Fatima’s, upon whom be peace, and these people reared there, who numbered

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four or five, in reality manifested all the power of God the Exalted. They rendered services at which all of us, all of mankind, marvel. (16)

9 March 1982 (18 Isfand 1360 AHS)

A woman in a small room of a humble home nurtured human beings whose light shone from the vast expanse of the earth to the highest heavens, from this world to the next. May the blessings and peace of God the Exalted be upon this small room, which was the place where the light of divine majesty was made manifest and was the nursery of the elite children of mankind. (17)

14 April 1982 (25 Farvardin 1361 AHS)

We had a humble dwelling in the early days of Islam and that belonged to Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace. It was even smaller than these rooms here, [1] but what blessings it bestowed. The blessings that came from this small hut were such that they filled the world with enlightenment. And man would have to traverse a great distance before he could reach the station of those who bestowed these blessings, for the dwellers of this humble home occupy such a high station in the spiritual realm that even the hands of the angels cannot reach them, and their teachings are such that whatever good one sees in the Muslim lands, especially in our land, comes from their blessings. (18)

21 March 1983 (1 Farvardin 1362 AHS)

In the exegesis of Al-Burhan (Tafsir al-Burhan) , there is

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a narrative from Hazrat Baqir. [1] Being a noble hadith referring to several pieces of information and disclosing important secrets, we will, owing to its blessedness, relate it in full: The author of Tafsir al-Burhan, may God have mercy on him, quoting a narrative from `Abdullah ibn `Ajlan as-Sakuni who quoted from the men of Shaykh Abu Ja`far at-Tusi who quoted Abu Ja`far himself who said: I heard Abu Ja`far (Imam Baqir) , upon whom be peace, say: The house of `Ali and Fatima was the room of the Messenger of God, upon whom be peace, and the roof of their house was the Throne of the Lord of the worlds. At the back of their house there was an opening to the Throne, the curtain before the stairs of revelation having been raised. And the angels would bring down revelation to them in the morning, in the evening and at any hour or any moment. The comings and goings of groups of angels were endless. Verily did God, the Blessed and Exalted, draw back the curtain on the heavens for Abraham till he saw the Throne and He increased his seeing power. And verily did God increase the seeing power of Muhammad, `Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn, upon whom be peace. They would look at the Throne and they found no roof over their home except the Throne. Their home was roofed with the Throne of the Beneficent, and “therein

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ascend the angels and the Spirit by God’s permission on every affair, in peace,” (Qur’an 97: 4-5). I asked: “For every affair? ” He replied: “For every affair. ” I asked: “Is this what was revealed? ” He replied: “Yes. ”

Adab al-Salat, p. 448

The way of life of Hazrat Fatima

The way of life of Hazrat Fatima (upon whom be peace)

We must take this family as our role model, our women should try to emulate their women, and our men their men. All of us should learn from all of them. They dedicated their lives to the support of the oppressed and to the revival of the divine traditions. We should follow their example and dedicate our lives to them. He who knows the history of Islam, knows that each member of this family was a perfect human being, even more than that, a divine being, a spiritual person who rose up for the people and for the oppressed against those who sought to destroy them. (19)

11 April 1979 (22 Farvardin 1358 AHS)

The exemplar is Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace. The exemplar is the Prophet of Islam. We can say that our country is Islamic, that we have an Islamic Republic when all these ideals that are contained in Islam are realised. (20)

29 May 1979 (8 Khurdad 1358 AHS)

The speech of Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, decrying the government, the uprising of the Commander of the Faithful (Imam `Ali) , his forbearance over twenty

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odd years while helping the government of the time, and later his sacrifice in the way of Islam and the sacrifice made by his two dear sons: Imam Mujtaba, [1] who discredited the tyrannical Umayyad government through the great service he rendered; and Imam Mujtaba’s dear brother, the Lord of the Martyrs (Imam Husayn) , with the great service he rendered, are things about which you are all aware.

We know that despite the fact they were few in number and their weapons were insufficient, the divine spirit and the spirit of belief made them such that they were able to prevail over all the tyrants of their age, revive Islam and set an example for us all, dear brothers, which is that we should stand fast against all the powers that today have risen up in war against us, even though our numbers be few, our weapons insufficient and our readiness incomplete.

And we shall also follow our Imams, upon whom be peace, in the example they set by demonstrating that one must stand against the arrogant ones armed sometimes with words and at others with weapons, and put them in their place. (21)

9 March 1982 (18 Isfand 1360 AHS)

Strive to purify your character and to make your friends do likewise. Strive so that you react to the outrages committed against you. In your attempts to uphold all the qualities that make up the great character of woman, be as that unique woman, Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be

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peace, was. All of us should take our exemplar from Islam by looking at her and her children, and being as she was. Strive to acquire learning and godliness, for learning is not the preserve of any one person, learning is for all, godliness is for all, and striving to acquire learning and achieve godliness is the duty of us all. (22)

12 March 1985 (21 Isfand 1363 AHS)

Likewise, if you women here, indeed all our women all over the country, have accepted today as Women’s Day, that is, have accepted the day which marks the birthday of Hazrat Fatima Zahra, with all the perfection it represents and the position it enjoys, as Women’s Day, then you have a great task to perform, one which includes struggle, just as she struggled, to the best of her ability, during the short span of her life, addressing the governments of the time and passing judgement on them. To truly accept her birthday as Women’s Day, you must imitate her. To truly accept it you must follow her example in her renunciation of the things of this world, in her devotion and piety and in all the virtues she possessed. If you do not do this, then you have not entered into the true spirit of Women’s Day. Whoever does not accept these things has not entered into the true spirit of Women’s Day and has not recognised its true nature. (23)

2 March 1986 (11

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Isfand 1364 AHS)

It is greatly regrettable that yesterday (Saturday 28 January 1989 / 8 Bahman 1368 AHS) the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting organisation broadcast a derogatory remark about the role model for women, a remark which one is ashamed to repeat. The person who allowed such a remark to be broadcast will be punished and removed from office, and the others involved in this matter will also be punished. If it is proven that the intention was to insult and disparage, then most certainly the person guilty will be sentenced to death. If an incident of this kind is repeated, then the top officials at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting will receive a severe reprimand and will be punished. Of course all stages of the investigation will be in the hands of the Judiciary. (24)

29 January 1989 (9 Bahman 1367 AHS)

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[1]: - Imam is referring to the simple mat on which he was sitting in his home in Qum.

[2]: - Referring to the pagan times before the rise of Islam.

[3]: - A line from a poem attributed to Yazid ibn Mu’awiya, which denies the revelation and the basis of the prophet’s mission.

[1]: - Referring to his own humble home.

[1]: - The fifth Imam, Muhammad al-Baqir.

[1]: - Imam Hasan: son of Imam `Ali and the second Imam from the Prophet’s Progeny.

The Philosophy of Imamate as held by Hazrat Fatima Zahra

The Philosophy of Imamate as held by Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace

In order to assure the unity of the Islamic umma, [1] in order to liberate the Islamic homeland from occupation and penetration by the imperialists and their puppet governments, it is imperative that we establish a government. In order to attain the unity and freedom of the Muslim peoples, we must overthrow the oppressive governments installed by the imperialists and bring into existence an Islamic government of justice that will be in the service of the people. The formation of such a government will serve to preserve the order

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and unity of the Muslims. Just as Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, said in her address: “The Imamate exists for the sake of preserving order among the Muslims and replacing their disunity with unity. ”

Islamic Government, p. 49.

The complete texts of messages and some speeches given on the occasion of Women’s Day Imam Khomeini’s Message on Women’s Day

16 May 1979

I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Tomorrow marks the birthday of Siddiqa Tahera Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace; it is Women’s Day. All dimensions that one can imagine exist for a woman and a human being were personified in Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace. She was not an ordinary woman; she was a spiritual woman, a heavenly woman, a human being in the true sense of the word.

She was the incarnation of human goodness; she personified the true nature of woman and the true nature of the human being. She was not an ordinary woman, she was a heavenly being who appeared in this world in the form of a human being, she was a divine, celestial being who appeared in the form of a woman. She personified all the very best human and female traits that one can imagine. Tomorrow [1] then is Women’s Day, tomorrow is the day on which such a woman was born.

She was a woman who embodied all the virtues of the prophets, a woman who, had she been

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a man, would have been a prophet, a woman who, had she been a man, would have been the Messenger of God. Spiritual qualities, heavenly qualities, divine qualities, celestial qualities, human and angelic qualities all came together in this being. She was a human being in the full sense of the word, a woman in the full sense of the word. Tomorrow then is Women’s Day. Tomorrow is the day when woman’s dignity and woman’s character came into being.

Various dimensions exist for the woman just as they do for a man, for human beings in general. This external, physical side is the lowest stage of a human being’s development, be it man or woman, but it is from this inferior stage that the human being moves towards perfection. Man is a moving being, moving from the physical towards the metaphysical stage, towards annihilation in God. In Fatima Zahra’s case these stages have been attained. She began from the physical stage and moved on. She proceeded through the stages of a spiritual movement assisted by divine power, by the invisible hand, by the teachings of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his descendants) until she reached the stage that all others could not reach.

Tomorrow then is the day on which all aspects of woman were materialised, and woman in all her dimensions was incarnated. Tomorrow is Women’s Day.

Unfortunately, women have suffered from victimisation in the past, notably in

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two periods. The first was during the Age of Ignorance, the period before the advent of Islam. During this time, women were oppressed; they were treated like animals, even worse than animals. Then Islam came and bestowed its blessings on mankind, it dragged women out of that state of oppression; it pulled her from that slough of ignorance.

The second period when women have been oppressed occurred in our Iran, during the reigns of the former Shah (Riza Khan) and his son (Muhammad Riza). In the name of wanting to liberate women, they oppressed the women; they committed outrages against them. They dragged them down from that position of honour and esteem that they occupied, from that spiritual position that they enjoyed, making them instead mere objects. In the name of freedom, freedom for women and freedom for men, they deprived men and women of their freedom.

They corrupted our women and our youth. The Shah (Muhammad Riza) believed women should be ‘ravishing and beguiling’ as he put it. Of course it was because he had allowed the animal aspect of his nature, the base animal aspect with its concern for the physical, for the material, to overcome him that he viewed women as such. Accordingly, he pulled women down from their position as human beings to the level of an animal, and on the plea of wanting to give women status, he dragged her down from the status

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she enjoyed to a lower one. He turned women into dolls, whereas women are human beings, great human beings.

Women are the educators of society. It is from the laps of women that true human beings originate. The first stage in the development of sound men and women begins in the lap of a woman. Women are the educators of human beings. A country’s success or its misfortune depends on women. If they impart sound teachings, they create (sound) human beings and a flourishing country. Good fortune originates from the laps of women, they should be the source of every success and happiness, yet unfortunately this father and son, in particular this son, turned women into playthings. The number of crimes they perpetrated against the women they did not perpetrate against the men.

Women are the source of all blessings. We all saw what role the women played in this movement. History has witnessed great women in the world and what it means to be a woman, but history is remote. We ourselves have witnessed the kind of woman Islam has nurtured. In this recent period, the women who rose up were the veiled women from the south of the city, from Qum and other places where Islam enjoys a strong foothold.

Those who had the type of upbringing that the Aryamehr [1] decreed did not participate in this uprising at all. They were given a

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training that was depraving and corrupt and were deprived of Islamic teachings, whereas those who were given an Islamic education shed blood, sacrificed lives, poured into the streets and brought the movement to victory. Our movement is indebted to them. The men poured into the streets after the women; the women encouraged the men; they formed the vanguard.

Women are creatures who can destroy a power that seems everlasting, a demonic power. During their reigns, Riza Khan and Muhammad Riza Khan vulgarised women, dragging them down from that status they once enjoyed, doing the same to the men and youth too. Numerous centres of corruption were created for our youth. In the name of freedom, in the name of progress, in the name of civilisation, they dragged our youth into corruption. In the name of freedom, they deprived us of all freedoms.

Those who lived through the Riza Khan period understand perfectly well what I am talking about, they witnessed for themselves what we were put through and what our respected women were put through, just as those who lived through Muhammad Riza’s era saw what went on then. With deceptive words and bombastic terms, they set our country on a course for destruction. And worse than everything else, much worse, was the fact that they corrupted our youth.

Our human resources were put in a state of backwardness because of them. Women during the time of Riza Khan and

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Muhammad Riza Pahlavi were oppressed creatures and did not know it. It is doubtful that women were subjected to as much oppression during the Age of Ignorance as they were during the reigns of these two men, or as much degradation.

In both periods (the Age of Ignorance and under the Pahlavis) , women were oppressed. In the first, Islam came and rescued them from their bondage, and in this period too I hope that Islam will be able to take their hands and save them from the maelstrom of abjectness and oppression.

Oh honourable women, awaken! Be alert; do not let yourselves be deceived by those devils who wish to pull you into this maelstrom. They are alluring and deceitful; they are out to cheat you just as the cursed Shah was. Take refuge in Islam. Islam will bring you happiness. Tomorrow is Women’s Day; it is the day when (the birth of) a woman is commemorated of whom the world is proud.

It is the day commemorating a woman whose daughter stood against tyrannical rulers, who recited that sermon and uttered those words, words of which you are all aware---a woman who stood up to a tyrant who would kill anyone who breathed a word against him. She was not afraid; she held her ground and condemned him, condemned Yazid and his leadership. She lambasted him saying he was not fit to be called a human being.

This is

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what women should be like, and, praise be to God, this is how the women of our day are. They stood against the tyrant with clenched fists carrying their infants in their arms and helped the movement.

May God keep us from the evil of devils.

May God keep our youth from the evil of these human devils.

May God keep our women and our girls from their evil. (25)

16 May 1979 (26 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

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[1]: - Umma: the entire Islamic community without territorial or ethnic distinction.

[1]: - 27 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS corresponding with 17 May 1979 and 20 Jumada II 1399 AH.

[1]: - The title Aryamehr, which means ‘the sun and light of the Aryan race’, was created by Riza Zadeh Shafaq, a senator from the province of Azerbayjan. Asadullah `Alam, who had asked the writers and other literary personalities of the time to think of an honorific title for the Shah, chose Aryamehr. In 1967, the National Consultative Assembly bestowed this title upon the Shah. It reflected the nationalist ideology of the regime and demonstrated its rejection of Islamic ideology. R. K. Karanjia, in the book The Mind of a Monarch, p. 236, reports the Shah as one who hoped for a revival of the great Aryan civilisation as seen in the days of the Emperor Cyrus.

17 May 1979

Imam Khomeini’s address to a gathering of women on the occasion of Women’s Day

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The day is great, the gathering grand and the place blessed. It is the day commemorating the birth of Fatima Zahra, Women’s Day. It is a victorious day for women, the day of the exemplar for women in the world. Women play a very important role in society. The realisation of mankind’s hopes lies in her hands. She is the educator of great men and women. It is from the laps of women that man begins his ascent. It is in the laps of women that great men and great women are nurtured. It is a great day; a woman came into the world who compares with all men.

A woman came into the world who is an exemplar for mankind. A woman came into the world in whom all the traits of a (true) human being were manifest. So today is a great

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day. It is the day of you women.

In our era, women have shown that they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their menfolk in the struggle; one could even go so far as to say that they lead the way. Iranian women have undertaken both great human and financial endeavours. This respected class of women from the south of Tehran, from Qum and other cities, these veiled ladies, these symbols of virtuousness, took the lead in the movement and in financial sacrifice, donating their jewels and gold to the oppressed. And the most important issue here is that one’s intentions are pure.

For the few loaves of bread that Hazrat Amir (Imam `Ali) , upon whom be peace, and his family gave in charity, God revealed several (Qur’anic) verses. These verses were revealed not because of the loaves of bread, but because the intention was pure, it was an act done for God. The value of an action lies in its spiritual motives.

The actions of those sisters who took part in the movement were more valuable than those of the men; they came out (into the streets) in their veils of modesty and shouting in unison with the men brought about victory. Now, with the purest of intentions, what they had accumulated during their lives they donated to the needy. This is worth much, were the affluent to donate millions it would not match this in value.

So Women’s Day is an important

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day, and today is Women’s Day. Today is the day of you veiled ladies. This is a great gathering, a gathering of the different strata of those who (hitherto) could not come together, whom repression prevented from coming together. Today all have come together, men and women have come together in a brotherly and sisterly fashion at a holy place, at Fayziya, [1] at the place from which knowledge flows to all regions, the place at which divine laws are elucidated, the place from which knowledge and the knowledge of jihad is disseminated. The men and women of Qum are exemplary in their learning and their willingness to act, as are the men and women of Iran on the whole.

My friends, maintain this community and this unity. The devils seek to cause dissension among you. Preserve this ideological unity; preserve this uprising for God. As long as your uprising is for God, you will be victorious. Those who, using various pretexts, try to create divisions, are betraying the nation, betraying the country and betraying Islam. Be vigilant and neutralise their actions and their machinations.

Those who try to create disturbances and discord among the different segments of the population throughout the country are foreign agents, they are agents of America; they are American mercenaries. They receive money from the other side of the border, which they distribute to the workers to persuade them to down tools. They want them

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to stop working so the factories won’t operate. The farmers are prevented from getting on with their work. Oh honourable workers! Dear farmers!

Continue with your work. Stop indulging in these ideological differences. Now is the time for everyone to be working for Islam and for his country. All of you are duty bound to do so. Those who try to prevent you from working want to open the way for their masters, they want to return us to that abjectness and suffering we once had to endure. May God protect you from their malice.

May He render Islam and the Muslims victorious.

May He give us the power of discernment.

May God grant you health and happiness.

Peace be upon you and also the mercy and blessings of God. (26)

17 May 1979 (27 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

5 May 1980

Imam Khomeini’s message for Women’s Day

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

If a day is to be designated ‘Women’s Day’, what day is more deserving, is prouder, than the day commemorating the joyous birth of Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, a woman who is the pride of the family of divine revelation and who like a sun shines brightly in the crown of beloved Islam; a woman whose virtues were on a par with the endless virtues of the Most Noble Messenger and the household of infallibility and purity; a woman for whom everyone, with whatever viewpoint he may hold, has praises, yet none

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has been able to offer her adequate praise.

The hadiths that have come down to us from the family of divine revelation are such that the listener can easily understand, for one cannot contain a sea in a bottle. And whatever others have said in her praise was according to their own level of understanding, not commensurate with her standing. So let us leave this vale of wonder and turn to the virtues of women in general.

During this past half-century of blackness and bondage, this opprobrious Pahlavi era, the poisonous pens of the misguided and the words of benighted speakers sought to give women the status of a commodity, and those women who were vulnerable were drawn to centres that the pen is ashamed to mention. Anyone wishing to know something of these crimes can refer to the newspapers and magazines of the Riza Khan era, to the poems of the blackguards and scoundrels of that period, that corrupt period from the compulsory unveiling of women onwards. One can find out about the social gatherings of those days and the centres of corruption that existed.

Shame on those people. May the pens of such intellectuals be broken. Do not think that the crimes perpetrated on the plea of freedom for women and freedom for men had nothing to do with the plans of the world-plunderers and the international criminals. One of their plans was to lure the youth into the centres

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of vice and fornication, and in this they succeeded. Consequently, our country was deprived of young people who were active members of society. They robbed the youth of their ability to think, and brainwashed them into believing that they should be indifferent to the plundering and pillaging they carried out in this blighted country of xenomaniacs. [1]

Today, through the blessings of the Islamic movement, women are effective members of society, and have to a certain degree regained their proper standing. There are still a limited number of women in the upper echelons of society who have inherited the views of the black period of the former vile regime and consider women’s proper standing to lie in prinking, in making herself up and participating in bacchanalian revelry.

They have made themselves into an article of trade, they are the followers and agents of the previous regime, the executers of the foreigners’ plans and the helpers of the CIA and SAVAK.

Apart from these, the women of Iran today are committed, lion-hearted individuals who shoulder-to-shoulder with our dear men are busy rebuilding their beloved country just as they are busy rebuilding themselves through learning and education. You will not find a town or village without cultural or scientific centres composed of dedicated and honourable Muslim women. Through the blessings of Islam, the Islamic movement has brought about such a change in the spirit of the men and women of our society that they have travelled a

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road in one night that would have normally taken a hundred years to travel.

You noble people witnessed for yourselves how the respected, committed women of Iran entered the arena ahead of the men to free the country from the trammels of imperial rule. We are all indebted to them for their uprising and their efforts. After defeating the superpowers and eradicating their corrupt roots, we can truly designate a day as Women’s Day and tell the world about women and their progress in the Islamic Republic with pride and honour.

Today, women in the Islamic Republic are striving shoulder-to-shoulder with the men to rebuild their country and rebuild themselves. This is the true meaning of free men and free women, not that which was promulgated during the reign of the deposed Shah, for freedom then meant prison, repression and torture. I advise the women to forget the habits of the taghut [1] era and rebuild beloved Iran, which belongs to them and their children, such that with the help of all segments of the population it is freed from all aspects of (foreign) dependence.

I offer my best wishes to the committed women on this 20th day of Jumada II, which is a blessed day, and pray to God the Exalted for their health and happiness and for the greatness of Islam and the Muslims. (27)

Ruhullah al-Musawi al-Khomeini

5 May 1980 (15 Urdibihisht 1359)

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[1]: - The theological school situated in the vicinity of the shrine of Hazrat Ma’suma, upon whom be peace, in the city of Qum.

[1]: - Xenomaniacs: those infatuated with foreign and especially Western models of culture. This is a translation of a Persian term, gharbzadeha, popularised by Jalal Al-i Ahmad (d. 1969) in his book Gharbzadegi (Xenomania). He was a writer of great influence and Imam Khomeini was acquainted with his work.

[1]: - Taghut: one who surpasses all bounds in his despotism and tyranny and claims the prerogatives of divinity for himself, whether explicitly or implicitly. The illegitimate ruling power.

24 April 1981

Imam Khomeini’s message on the occasion of Women’s Day

In the Name of God, the

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Compassionate, the Merciful

The history of Islam testifies to the limitless respect the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his descendants, showed this noble infant, so as to demonstrate that woman had a special greatness in society, and if she was not superior to man, she was certainly no less than him. So this day is the day of woman’s revivification, and the day to establish her honour and the great role she plays in society.

I am proud of these honourable women of Iran and the change they have wrought in themselves, a change that has brought to naught the devilish plans which the foreign strategists and their dishonourable stooges, from the profligate poets to the venal writers and propaganda organisations, have spent more than fifty years trying to bring to maturity.

They have proved that the worthy Muslim women (of Iran) will not

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be misled and will not be hurt by the malicious machinations of the West and of those infatuated with the West. Even with all the propaganda which was trumpeted over those propaganda loudspeakers throughout the usurpatory reign of the Pahlavis, apart from a handful of affluent taghuti women, agents of SAVAK and people affiliated to them, millions of committed women from other segments of the population did not fall into the trap of those who had surrendered themselves to the West, and throughout the fifty years of benightment, standing proud before God and mankind, they bravely resisted the onslaught. Consequently, through this recent, divinely inspired change which has taken place, the hopes of the undiscerning, who regard the West as their qibla, [1] have been dashed forever.

May the Islamic movement of the great women of Iran be victorious and glorious. Glory be to this exalted segment of the population who with their valuable and brave contribution to the defence of the Islamic homeland and the venerable Qur’an brought victory to the revolution, and who today are actively involved in the war effort, either at the front or in other areas, and are prepared to make sacrifices.

May God’s mercy be upon those mothers who sent their strong sons to the battlefront to defend Truth and who take pride in their subsequent invaluable martyrdom. Shame on those dolls who live a base animal life in loathsome palaces abroad and at home and who think of nothing save depravation.

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May they be severed the tongues and hands of those criminals who with their words and writings are striving to destroy the Islamic Republic and drag our dear country into the laps of the Left or Right!

Endless salutations to the committed women who are currently busy all over the country rearing children, teaching the illiterate and educating people in the rich culture of the Qur’an. May God’s blessings be upon those women who have attained the high station of martyrdom in this revolution and in defence of their homeland, and upon those who are helping the sick and invalid in the clinics and hospitals. Greetings to those mothers who gave their children (for the cause) with pride and honour. Good wishes to you committed women in Islamic countries on Women’s Day.

It is hoped that the community of women will cease being indifferent and will awaken from the unnatural stupor the plunderers have forced them into, and that together, shoulder-to-shoulder, they will help those who have been deceived and guide them to the lofty station which is theirs. It is also hoped that women in the other Islamic countries will take lessons from the miraculous change that has occurred in the Iranian women as a result of the great Islamic revolution, and will strive to reform their society and bring freedom and independence to their countries.

May God’s mercy and blessings be upon the honourable women of Islam and beloved Iran. God’s peace

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be upon His servants amongst the men and women believers. (28)

Ruhullah al-Musawi al-Khomeini

24 April 1981 (4 Urdibihisht 1360 AHS)

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[1]: - Qibla: Muslim direction of prayer towards the Ka’ba in Mecca.

14 April 1982

Imam Khomeini’s message on Women’s Day

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The role of women in the world enjoys certain special characteristics. The rectitude or immorality of a society stems from the rectitude or immorality of the women in that society. Women are the only creatures who can bestow upon society individuals raised in their care whose deeds can be a blessing

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to communities and can inspire perseverance and lofty human values, or can have the opposite effect.

Without a doubt, what the dear Iranian nation, in particular its oppressed women, went through at the hands of that heinous regime during the past fifty years, which have been the ruin of Iran, was all part of the premeditated plan of the world’s super criminals. Riza Khan and his criminal son with their sick notions perpetrated such infernal and far-reaching crimes as were unparalleled or at least have few parallels in the history of this country.

The world’s supercriminals believed their continued survival lay in the capture of other nations, particularly the Islamic nations. In recent decades, when the way was open for them to infiltrate the rich, Islamic, oil-producing countries, they realised that it was only the religious class that could impede their plans to colonise and exploit those countries.

They saw that a decree only half a line long issued by a popular marja’ [1] was enough to bring the British government and the powerful Qajar court to their knees. They saw too the key role women played in that movement and observed how in the Constitutional Movement [2] and events subsequent to it, it was the women, in particular the deprived, middle-class women, who could, through their uprising, inspire their menfolk to act. They became aware that as long as these elements retained their powerful influence, their plans would come to naught.

And so, in order to

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gain control over these countries and their abundant resources, they felt it necessary to weaken the pillars of religion, the religious leadership and the religious segments of the population. They laid their plans in those early days and began to act upon them. They had some success, and then they found Riza Khan to perform this service for them. Subsequently, they brought him to power and he embarked on a pertinacious crusade against these three obstacles.

Those who can remember those days know only too well what this criminal traitor did with the aid of his perfidious agents who had no homeland, and what measures they took to lead the innocent women astray, to turn them into consumers and drag them into corruption in order to expedite the success of their plans. It is enough for the present generation, who did not experience those black days, to look at the books, poems, writings, plays, songs, newspapers and magazines of that period, and the centres of corruption, the gambling houses, liquor stores, and cinemas, which are all vestiges of those times.

Alternatively, they can speak to those who lived through that period and ask them what acts of oppression and betrayal were carried out against women, this segment of the population that nurtures human beings, in the guise of advancing their position. It goes without saying that the majority of religious women especially society’s deprived resisted this assault. But among the perfidious imperialists

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in the affluent and hedonistic echelons of society, their plans found success, and it was these people who created a favourable market for their masters.

Even now that through the providence of God Almighty and the actions of the exalted nation, particularly its lion-hearted ladies, the hands of the oppressors have been severed, still an insignificant minority persist in their foolish ways. It is hoped that, God willing, they too will see the tricks of the devils, both great and small, and will escape their cunning traps.

Today, which is Women’s Day in our beloved Iran, we must be especially proud of our women, for what is more deserving of pride than that which our great women did in standing against the former tyrannical regime, and, upon its destruction, against the superpowers and their retainers, in the forefront of the struggle, demonstrating such perseverance, resistance and bravery the likes of which have not been recorded of men in any age.

The resistance demonstrated by these great women in the imposed war and the sacrifices they are making are so astonishing that pens and tongues cannot adequately describe them, indeed they put them to shame. Throughout this war, I have seen the mothers, sisters and wives who have lost their dear ones do things that I don’t think could be witnessed anywhere else other than here in this revolution. One event in particular stands out in my mind from all the rest, and that is the marriage of

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a young girl to a dear revolutionary guard who had lost both his hands in the war and had received injuries to both his eyes.

That brave young girl whose magnanimous spirit overflowed with sincerity and genuineness said: `Since I cannot go to the war front, let me pay my debt to the revolution and my religion through this marriage. ’ No writer, poet, speaker, painter, artist, mystic, philosopher or jurisprudent, indeed anyone you care to name, can adequately convey the spiritual magnificence of this event or the human worth and the divine tones contained therein. No one can evaluate this great girl’s self-sacrifice, her otherworldiness and devotion to God using current criteria.

This blessed day is the day of women such as her, may God keep them for Islam and Iran. May I offer you young ladies married to men who have been reunited with God (been martyred) a word of benevolent, fatherly advice. Do not refrain from remarrying, and through your marriages, rear children like yourselves: steadfast and valuable to society.

Do not listen to the devilish insinuations of some people who pay little attention to what is right, preferring instead the path of corruption. I also advise the dear revolutionary guards, the soldiers and the youth to avail themselves of the opportunity to wed these ladies, and, with such a valuable spouse by their sides, continue along the honourable path of life they have chosen.

May God the Exalted be your

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friend and your strength. Endless greetings to women, these valuable and persevering beings. Blessed for you all be this most precious day of the woman.

May God support this beloved country and be the friend and helper of us all. (29)

Ruhullah al-Musawi al-Khomeini

14 April 1982 (25 Farvardin 1361 AHS)

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[1]: - Refer to footnote 2.

[2]: - The Iranian Constitutional Movement of 1905-1911.

12 March 1985

Imam Khomeini’s address to a gathering of women on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of Hazrat Fatima (upon whom be peace) and Women’s Day

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Praise be to God on this blessed day which is the exalted day of the woman. The ladies of Iran have made great strides along the path of Islam and have freed themselves from the shackles, which bound them. I offer my best wishes to all ladies on this blessed day and especially to those here now.

I hope that just as you ladies were committed in all affairs concerning the advancement of Islam before, during and after this revolution, in the same manner, by God’s grace, you will remain committed and will continue to serve this country which was ruined under the tyrannical rule of oppressors who trampled upon our rights, wanted to wipe us off the map, corrupt our youth and pervert the minds of our women, dragging them into a way of life that was contrary to the way they should have been living.

God the Blessed and Exalted has bestowed His favour on us all and has assisted

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us, so that hitherto we have been successful in our aims, and we attribute much of that success to the service rendered by you ladies, and for that we are deeply indebted to you. You are the ones who, in addition to the activities you yourselves carry out, redouble the activities of the men. You are the ones who suffered psychological torture during the taghut era.

Praise be to God, with your strength and your commitment you expunged this devilish force from the pages of history, and stopped the plans they were brewing up from being realised. God knows that if it were not for this movement and the efforts of the Iranian people, women and men, young and old alike, this nation would have lost everything.

God be praised, you worked hard, you suffered and were steadfast in every stage (of the movement). Iranian women were actively involved in all affairs, from the cultural to the economic, and today a large number of them are involved in agriculture, a large number in industry and still others in the educational arena in the areas of literature, science and the arts. All of these efforts are commendable in the eyes of God the Blessed and Exalted, and you are all in God’s care. As long as you remain committed, God the Blessed and Exalted will assist you.

Strive to purify your character and to make your friends do likewise. Strive so that you

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react to the outrages committed against you. In your attempts to uphold all the qualities that make up the great character of woman, be as that unique woman, Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, was. All of us should take our exemplar from Islam by looking at her and her children, and being as she was. Strive to acquire learning and godliness, for learning is not the preserve of any one person, learning is for all, godliness is for all, and striving to acquire learning and achieve godliness is the duty of us all.

I hope that the state organs will help you and will meet your needs in all areas, and in your educational activities will adequately provide you with the things you need. I hope that you will be assisted by God and will be successful in everything you do.

The Iranian ladies have brought Islam to the stage it is now at by sacrificing their lives, their youth and their time, and I hope that from now on it will be advanced even further. You can be sure that as long as you remain active and committed to Islam, as long as you are ready to give your young ones for the cause and are willing to train them properly, then Islam will progress and will sever the hands of the enemies of religion from this country, and all Islamic countries, allowing happiness and goodness to follow, God willing.

I hope that Muslim women wherever

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they may be will imitate you dear ones who are striving to elevate the status of women and to make up for the injustices, which were perpetrated against you in that era.

May God grant you all success and help us all to successfully serve Islam. May He preserve your faith and protect your way of life.

You must remember that the veil, which Islam has prescribed for you is to protect your status. Whatever God has decreed for man or for woman is to keep alive the true values they possess, values that may be destroyed by the devil’s insinuations or at the corrupt hands of imperialism and its agents. May God grant us all success in serving Islam and the nation.

Peace be upon you and also the mercy and blessings of God. (30)

12 March 1985 (21 Isfand 1363 AHS)

2 March 1985

Imam Khomeini’s address on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of Hazrat Zahra (upon whom be peace) and Women’s Day

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I congratulate all you ladies and women in all Islamic countries on this joyous holiday marking the most glorious birth of Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace. I ask God, the Blessed and Exalted, to guide all the respected women along the path that He has laid down, so that they can achieve lofty Islamic aims. It is a source of great pride for the women that they have designated Hazrat Fatima’s

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birthday as Women’s Day; it is a source of pride and responsibility.

I do not consider myself adequate to the task of speaking about Hazrat Fatima, upon whom be peace, so I will suffice with reciting a sound tradition [1] which can be found in Usul al-Kafi. This tradition quotes Hazrat Sadiq [2] , upon whom be peace, as saying: “After the death of her father, Fatima, upon whom be peace, lived for seventy-five days. She was in this world and she was overcome with grief. Gabriel, the Trusted Spirit, came to her regularly to console her and tell her of future events. ”

So according to this tradition, in these seventy-five days she had contact with Gabriel, he came and went many times. I do not think that such a thing has happened for anyone else other than the great prophets of the highest rank, that in seventy-five days Gabriel, the Trusted Spirit, came and went and spoke of events that would take place in the future, spoke of things that would happen to her offspring in the future.

Hazrat Amir [3] wrote down what Gabriel said, he was the writer of these revelations just as he had been the writer of the revelations the Noble Messenger had received - of course with the death of the Noble Messenger those revelations which brought divine laws ended. He was the writer of the revelations that were made to Hazrat Fatima during these seventy-five days.

Gabriel’s appearing to someone should not be taken as

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a trivial affair. One should not imagine that Gabriel would appear to just anyone. The necessary relationship has to exist between the spirit of that person to whom Gabriel would appear and Gabriel’s station as the paramount spirit.

Whether we believe that it is the greatness of the spirit of the saint or prophet that brings Gabriel down to this lower station, or that it is God who sends him to make such revelations, whether we side with the speculatists in their views or those who interpret the literal meaning in theirs, it still remains that unless the necessary relationship exists between the spirit of that person to whom Gabriel would appear and Gabriel, the paramount spirit, then it would be impossible for such a thing to happen.

The relationship existed between Gabriel, the paramount spirit, and the prophets of the highest rank such as the Messenger of God, Moses, Jesus and Abraham. It did not exist with just anyone, and after these prophets it did not exist with anyone else. Indeed, I have not even heard of Gabriel descending to the Imams as he did to the prophets.

As far as I know it was only to Hazrat Fatima Zahra, upon whom be peace, that Gabriel appeared repeatedly during the period of these seventy-five days, revealing future events which would take place for her offspring which Hazrat Amir recorded. Perhaps he spoke to her about the time of her exalted offspring

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Hazrat Sahib, [1] upon whom be peace, in which case he may have mentioned events in Iran too; who knows, it is possible.

You should be proud, as indeed we all should be proud, that this day has been designated Women’s Day, and you must accept the responsibilities that come with it. If you have accepted the twentieth day of Jumada II, which is the birthday of Hazrat Fatima Zahra, as Women’s Day, then you have also undertaken its concomitant responsibilities.

If a nation accepts such and such a day as the day of struggle and endeavour (jihad) , then on that day they should engage in that struggle, if someone does not, then he has not truly accepted that day as the day of jihad. If a nation accepts

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a day as the day of war but someone declines to take part, then that person has acted against his human responsibilities.

Likewise, if you women here, indeed all our women all over the country, have accepted today as Women’s Day, that is have accepted the day which marks the birthday of Hazrat Fatima Zahra, with all the perfection she represents and the position she enjoys, as Women’s Day, then you have a great task to perform, one which includes struggle, just as she struggled, to the best of her ability, during the short span of her life, addressing the governments of the time and passing judgement on them. To truly accept her birthday as Women’s Day, you must imitate her.

To truly accept it you must follow her example in her renunciation of the things of this world, in her devotion and piety and in all the virtues she possessed. If you do not do this, then you have not entered into the true spirit of Women’s Day. Whoever does not accept these things has not entered into the true spirit of Women’s Day and has not recognised the true nature of this illustrious day.

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is incumbent on every man and woman, on the young and old alike.

Defending Islam, defending the Islamic country, is an indisputable duty of the clerics, of those whose lives are Islam and who are Muslim. That which is disputable is women’s role in the lesser jihad. [1] It is not incumbent on women to take part in this jihad. However, defending oneself, one’s country, one’s life, one’s property and defending Islam is the duty of us all.

Consequently, if defence is a duty incumbent on us all, then the preparations for this defence must be carried out, and these include military planning and military training for those who are able. For it is not the case that it be our bounden duty to defend ourselves and we have no idea how to do so. We have to know how to defend ourselves. It goes without saying, however, that the environment in which you receive military training must be a sound one, an Islamic one, all aspects of decency and modesty, all Islamic aspects being upheld.

God be praised, just as women have always been in the forefront of every public struggle that has arisen in Iran, for example during the protests against the tobacco concession [2] and during the Constitutional Movement, so too the women of this Islamic Republic participate to a considerable degree in tackling the problems we face today. In fact I must say their participation is two-fold. If a number of

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women enter an arena, let us say a war arena, then in addition to the fighting they do, they also act as inspiration for the men, emboldening them.

For where women are concerned men are very sensitive. It is not the case that if the women embark on a defence (of their country) , they do so alone, no, they defend, but they also inspire others to take part in that defence. Men are sensitive where women are concerned. If a man sees a hundred men being killed, he may not be moved, but if he sees one woman, even a woman who is a stranger to him, being treated disrespectfully, his sensitivity will force him to react. Thus your spearheading role in all affairs, including matters of defence, jihad and assisting in the war effort, will encourage the men to do more, it will embolden them.

Today we are in such an arena, we are facing the world’s propaganda against us and this war which has been imposed on us, and, God be praised, we are achieving victory on both fronts. May God help these youths of ours who are laying their lives on the line for the cause. I should thank them for being united, for coming together and acting as one hand.

Currently, there is no talk of being in the army, the revolutionary guards, the volunteer forces, the police or any other unit, all are united in driving back these depraved forces ranged

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against us. God be praised, as you have heard, these groups have hitherto been victorious on every front. Saddam, on the other hand, has had to try to hide his humiliation by giving medals of bravery to his defeated soldiers.

In Khorramshahr, if you recall, even though his troops were driven out, nevertheless he awarded them medals. And now too, in the case of Fao, [1] I have heard that he has conferred medals of bravery on his troops even though the world - despite the fact that its propaganda organs will not admit this directly - has recognised their defeat there. These days he must be handing out a lot of medals for bravery, for every day his troops are being defeated! Every day he must hand out such medals.

You ladies must bear in mind that just as it is necessary for the men at the fronts to push forward and spearhead the battle, so too it is necessary for you to help on the home front and to prepare yourselves so that if, God forbid, there comes a time when national defence is obligatory for everyone, for every able-bodied person without exception, you are ready to fulfil this obligation. Education is, of course, also a bastion, a bastion of the Islamic culture.

You know that throughout these past centuries, from the period after the demise of the Prophet, upon whom be peace and blessings, to the present, the Islamic culture has

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been trampled underfoot, the laws of Islam falling into abeyance. This culture must be brought alive again. You ladies must be active on the educational and cultural fronts just as the men are.

I hope that God will grant you all success and you will make advances on these fronts too. Pray that those who are at the war front defending their country and Islam will also be successful, God willing. May you all be healthy and successful.

Peace be upon you and also the mercy and blessings of God. (31)

2 March 1985 (11 Isfand 1364 AHS)

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[1]: - Refer to footnote 25.

[2]: - Refer to footnote 27.

[3]: - Refer to footnote 28.

[1]: - Refer to footnote 29.

[1]: - The lesser jihad is the struggle against the visible enemy in the battlefield, and the greater or supreme jihad is the ceaseless war man is called upon to wage against his lower self.

[2]: - In 1891, Nasir al-Din Shah granted yet another in a long line of concessions he had already given to foreigners in return for money to satisfy court consumption and to finance his tours of Europe. This time, in return for a personal gift of twenty-five thousand pounds, an annual rent of fifteen thousand pounds to the state and a twenty-five percent share of the profits for Iran, one Major Gerald Talbot acquired a fifty-year monopoly over the distribution and exportation of tobacco. Akhtar (Star) , a liberal Persian paper published in Istanbul at the time, expressed the general concern of Iranian merchants: "It is clear enough that the concessionaire will commence the work with a small capital and will purchase the tobacco from the cultivators and sell it to the merchants and manufacturers for higher prices, and all the profits will remain in the purse of the English. As the Persian merchants have no right to export tobacco from Persia, those who were formerly engaged in this trade will be obliged to give up their business and find some other work. The concessionaire does not take into consideration how many merchants who were engaged in this business will be left without employment and will suffer loss in finding other occupations. " The clergymen and maraji' of the time immediately opposed the concession and demanded its cancellation. Ayatullah Mirza Hasan Shirazi, the maraji'-i taqlid at the time, determined the destiny of this struggle. He issued a religious fatwa stating that the use of tobacco in whatever form was haram (forbidden) and was tantamount to declaring war with Imam az-Zaman (the Twelfth Imam). The bazaar in Shiraz, the main tobacco-growing region, shut down and a general strike of the leading bazaars particularly Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz, Mashhad, Qazvin, Yazd and Kermanshah ensued which spread into a state-wide consumer's boycott. Ayatullah Shirazi's representative in Tehran, Mirza Hasan Ashtiyani, led the protest there. Hookahs were smashed and tobacco was set on fire as the consumer's boycott received support from practically all classes of Iranian society, even members of the royal harem. Consequently, Nasir al-Din Shah, seeing his position threatened by this rebellion was forced to annul the concession and pay the penalty. See Nikki Keddie, Religion and Rebellion in Iran: The Tobacco Protest of 1891-92.

[1]: - During the Iraqi-imposed war on Iran (1980-88) , the Iranians launched a big assault in February 1986 in the south which resulted in the capture of 310 sq. miles / 800 sq. kms in the Fao Peninsula. A determined effort by Iraq, which mounted 18,648 air missions between 9 February and 25 March 1986 (compared with 20,011 missions in the whole of 1985) to regain Fao met with failure. During this operation the Iraqis also deployed chemical weapons.

Hazrat Khadija

Hazrat Khadija [1] (upon whom be peace)

When the Most Noble Messenger (upon whom be peace and blessings) was given his prophetic mission and began to propagate his message, an eight-year-old child (the Commander of the Faithful, upon whom be peace) and a forty-year-old woman (his wife Khadija) were the only people who believed in him; he had no one else.

Everyone knows of the vexations that plagued the Prophet, the obstacles that were placed in his way, and the opposition that he faced. Yet he never despaired or said, “I am all alone. ” He persisted and, with his spiritual power and firm resolve, was able to advance his cause from nothing to the point it has reached today, where seven hundred million people are gathered under his banner.

Islamic Government, p. 135.

When the Most Noble Messenger (upon whom be peace and blessings) was given his mission, he was

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given it to perform alone: “Arise and deliver thy call,” (Qur’an 73: 2). The call began with the Prophet. The day he announced his prophethood, only a woman and a child believed in him, but the perseverance required of all the honourable prophets for leadership was present in him to the point of perfection. “Stand firm (in the straight path) as thou art commanded,” (Qur’an 11: 112). (32)

19 November 1978 (28 Aban 1357 AHS)

As we are all aware, the prices of goods these days are sky-high and some people are suffering because of this. However, their suffering is nothing compared to what the Prophet and his great, dearly beloved wife Hazrat Khadija had to endure during those years. Tradition has it that they would put a goatskin used to make butter into water and let it soak then suck the skin in the hope of getting some of the fat or something nutritious from it. When they did such things for Islam, when they stood fast before the enemies of Islam, you who are the people of that great man must not complain about shortages. There is no scarcity of foodstuffs, what there is a shortage of is that prinking, that making-up which one group wanted. God willing, it no longer exists, and if it does, it should be done away with. (33)

4 June 1983 (14 Khurdad 1362 AHS)

Hazrat Zaynab

Hazrat Zaynab [1] (upon whom be peace)

Tomorrow is Women’s Day; it is

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the day when (the birth of) a woman is commemorated of whom the world is proud. It is the day commemorating a woman whose daughter stood against tyrannical rulers, who recited that sermon and uttered those words, words of which you are all aware---a woman who stood up to a tyrant who would kill anyone who breathed a word against him. She was not afraid; she held her ground and condemned him, condemned Yazid and his leadership. She lambasted him saying he was not fit to be called a human being.

This is what women should be like, and, praise be to God, this is how the women of our day are. They stood against the tyrant with clenched fists carrying their infants in their arms and helped the movement. (34)

16 May 1979 (26 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

The Lord of the Martyrs, his followers and the members of his household taught us our duty: sacrifice on the field of battle, propagation off it. The sacrifice made by Imam Husayn, upon whom be peace, was of great value before God the Blessed and Exalted and helped advance his movement. So too, almost to the same degree, the sermons delivered by Hazrat Sajjad [1] and Hazrat Zaynab were just as effective.

They taught us that women and men should not be afraid before a tyrant or a tyrannical government. Hazrat Zaynab, upon whom be peace, stood up to Yazid and humiliated him in

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a way that his tribe, the Bani Umayyads, had never before experienced.

They both made it clear, along the way to Kufa, in Kufa itself, in Damascus and in the address Hazrat Sajjad delivered from the pulpit, that they had been misrepresented, that the battle was not one of right against wrong, but that was what the regime wanted people to think it was. It wanted to make it seem that the Lord of the Martyrs had risen up against the ruler of the time, against the successor of the Messenger of God. This both Hazrat Sajjad and Hazrat Zaynab revealed in public. (35)

17 October 1982 (25 Mehr 1361 AHS)

The manner of the struggle, how a struggle between a small number of people and a large group should be waged, how an uprising against a tyrannical regime with wide-reaching control should be carried out with only a limited number of people, are things which the Lord of the Martyrs has taught the nation. And after that tragic event took place, his noble household and his greatly esteemed son demonstrated what must be done.

Should there be surrender? Should there be a letup in the struggle? Or should one act as Zaynab, upon whom be peace, or Hazrat `Ali ibn Husayn, upon whom be peace, did? Following that great tragedy, beside which others pale, Hazrat Zaynab persevered and spoke out against atheism and freethinking, she spoke out at every opportunity, throwing light on the issue.

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And Hazrat `Ali ibn Husayn, though still convalescing, spoke out whenever appropriate, informing people of the facts. (36)

17 October 1982 (25 Mehr 1361 AHS)

Observe that the best of God’s creatures of his age His Holiness the Lord of the Martyrs, upon whom be peace, and the finest youth of the Bani Hashem tribe and his followers left this world as martyrs. Yet in that abominable court ceremony before Yazid, Hazrat Zaynab, upon whom be peace, swore that what she had witnessed at Karbala was nothing other than a beautiful event. The death of a perfect being, the martyrdom of a perfect being, is beautiful in the eyes of the friends (awliya [1] ) of God, not because he fought and was killed but because he fought for God, he rose up for God, and was killed. (37)

10 February 1987 (21 Bahman 1365 AHS)

We have repeatedly seen great Zaynab-like women cry out that they have lost their children and sacrificed everything they have in the way of God the Exalted and beloved Islam, and are proud to have done so. They realise that what they have achieved instead is higher even that the gardens of paradise, let alone the unimportant chattels of this world. (38)

5 June 1989 (15 Khurdad 1368 AHS)

Hazrat Maryam

Hazrat Maryam [2] (upon whom be peace)

In the Most Noble Qur’an there are verses, which indicate that persons other than the prophets have seen angels, have seen Gabriel even, and they have spoken to them.

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We will recite some examples here: “Behold, the angels said: Oh Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee, chosen thee above the women of all nations,” (Qur’an 3: 42).

Then the angels related for Mary many of the circumstances of Jesus Christ’s life and the miracles he would perform. They revealed to her knowledge of the unseen. In Sura Maryam, Verse 17, we read: “Then We sent to her Our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. ” The visits made by the angels and Gabriel to Mary are mentioned in many verses of the Qur’an, and the knowledge of the unseen God revealed to her.

Kashf al-Asrar, p. 126.

Almighty God’s blessings and peace upon Hazrat Jesus, the son of Maryam, the spirit of God and exalted prophet who raised the dead and awakened the slumberers. Almighty God’s blessings and peace upon his exalted mother the Virgin Mary, the veracious into whose womb God blew life and who delivered a great son to those thirsty for divine mercy. (39)

23 December 1978 (2 Dey 1357 AHS)

Hazrat Jesus (upon whom be peace) - whom these people follow and whom they believe spoke only of spiritual matters - was just the same. From the beginning he had to struggle. When he was born, only a short time after his birth, he spoke saying he had brought a book (of revelation).

This is what the Qur’an says

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of him, that when he was born, he spoke to his mother, who was upset by the accusations levelled against her (by the Jews) , telling her to grieve not, that if anyone came to speak to her to say she was fasting - as probably she was - and for them to go and ask the child.

Her people came to her just after the birth and began to speak to her in an impertinent manner. Hazrat Mary pointed to the child for them to go and speak to him. They asked: “How can we converse with him? ” Then Jesus spoke telling them that God had given him a book (of revelation). (40)

10 November 1987 (8 Aban 1366 AHS)

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[1]: The wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his descendants).

[1]: The daughter of Fatima, upon whom be peace.

[1]: - The fourth Imam from the Holy Prophet’s Progeny, `ites, `Ali, known as Zayn al-`Abidin and al-Sajjad (658-712 C. E. ). The son of Imam Husayn by the daughter of Yazdigird, the last Sassanid king of Iran, he was not able to carry arms at Karbala because of illness, and thus he was saved the fate of his three brothers. For most of his life he lived in seclusion in Medina, having contact with only a few select followers. His piety - which is reflected in his collected prayers, Sahifah as-Sajjadiya - is proverbial. He is buried in the Baqi’ cemetery in Medina.

[1]: - The word awliya - like the cognate wilayat - has numerous different meanings. It is used here in the general sense that can be deduced from Qur’an 10: 62-63: “Verily the friends (awliya) of God - those who believe and guard against evil - shall suffer no fear nor shall they grieve. ”

[2]: The Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, upon whom be peace.

The status and rights of women in the Islamic system

The status of and esteem for women in Islam

Islam wants men and women to develop. Islam freed women from those circumstances, which existed for them during the age of ignorance of pre-Islamic times. Islam did not serve men to the extent that it did women. You cannot imagine what circumstances were like for women during pre-Islamic times and to what degree their situation improved with the advent of Islam. (41)

9 November 1978 (18 Aban 1357 AHS)

Islam did a service for women, which has no precedent in history. Islam raised women up out of that slough and gave her back her identity. (42)

9 November 1978 (18 Aban 1357 AHS)

Question: In the eyes of Western countries, Shi`ism

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is seen as being a conservative element hindering progress. We have heard Shi`ite calls for the exclusion of women from active roles in society and a return to Shi`ite laws, which envisage religious tradition as the basis of state laws, something stipulated in the Constitution but later and unlawfully dropped. We have also heard that Shi`ism rejects the Western lifestyle because it does not conform to religious customs. Would you please give us your view on this on the basis of the Shi`ite faith?

Reply: Shi`ism is a revolutionary school of thought and is a continuation of the true Islam of the Prophet. Just like the Shi`ites themselves, their faith has always been the target of craven attacks from dictators and imperialists. Not only does Shi`ism not exclude women from society, it gives them their elevated status in society. We accept the developments of the Western world, but not the West’s corruption of which Westerners themselves complain. (43)

15 November 1978 (24 Aban 1357 AHS)

Islam took women by the hand and made them equal with men, whereas before the Prophet came, women had no standing. Islam gave women strength. (44)

11 December 1978 (20 Azar 1357 AHS)

We want women to attain the high rank of true humanity. Women must have a share in determining their destiny. (45)

6 March 1979 (15 Isfand 1357 AHS)

If nations were deprived of courageous women to rear true human beings, they would decline and collapse. (46)

6 March

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1979 (15 Isfand 1357 AHS)

Islam holds you in higher esteem than it does men. Islam wants to save you; it wants to save you from becoming this plaything they want to turn you into. Islam wants to train you to become a perfect human being. (47)

8 March 1979 (17 Isfand 1357 AHS)

Unfortunately, women have suffered from victimisation in the past, notably in two periods. The first was during the Age of Ignorance, the period before the advent of Islam. During this time, women were oppressed; they were treated like animals, even worse than animals. Then Islam came and bestowed its blessings on mankind, it dragged women out of that state of oppression, [and] it pulled her from that slough of ignorance. (48)

16 May 1979 (26 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

... Women are human beings, great human beings. Women are the educators of society. It is from the laps of women that true human beings originate. The first stage in the development of sound men and women begins in the lap of a woman. Women are the educators of human beings. A country’s success or its misfortune depends on women. If they impart sound teachings, they create (sound) human beings and a flourishing country. Good fortune originates from the laps of women; they should be the source of every success and happiness... (49)

16 May 1979 (26 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

Mothers are the source

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of all blessings, but if, God forbid, they bring their children up badly, they become the source of all evil. (50)

17 July 1979 (26 Tir 1358 AHS)

The realisation of mankind’s hopes lies in the hands of women. She is the educator of great men and women. It is from the laps of women that man begins his ascent. It is in the laps of women that great men and great women are nurtured. (51)

17 May 1979 (27 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

Women raise brave men in their care. Like the Noble Qur’an itself, women have the function of rearing and training true human beings. Indeed, it is their duty to do so. If nations were deprived of women to rear true human beings, they would decline and collapse. (52)

1 February 1980 (12 Bahman 1358 AHS)

The position of women is a high one. Women in Islam enjoy a high rank. (53)

1 February 1980 (12 Bahman 1358 AHS)

We want women to enjoy the high rank of true humanity, which is theirs, not to be a plaything in the hands of men, in the hands of depraved men. (54)

1 February 1980 (12 Bahman 1358 AHS)

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forbid, come out into the streets dressed up and made up, placing themselves in full view of depraved men. Women must act like true human beings; they must be pious. Women enjoy a dignified position; they have free will, just as men have. God created you free beings and gave you dignity. (55)

1 February 1980 (12 Bahman 1358 AHS)

One of the benefits of the Islamic movement obvious today is that women, these effective members of society, have to some extent regained their standing. (57)

5 May 1980 (15 Urdibihisht 1359 AHS)

Women’s rights in Islam

As regards the issue of the right of the woman to execute a divorce, if, at the time of marriage, she stipulates that she would possess this right either conditionally or unconditionally, the question has been raised: What about those women who have already entered into matrimony?

They oppose this legal power of the faqih even when they don’t know what his powers are. If a man mistreats his wife, this is one of the concerns of the faqih who will first of all counsel him then secondly punish him,

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and if he sees that none of this has worked, he will grant the divorce. Support this guardianship of the faqih, it is a gift from God the Blessed and Exalted to the Muslims.

Among the concerns the faqih deals with are matters relating to the question you have just posed: what must those women do who already have a husband and are experiencing difficulties in their marriage? They must refer the matter to a faqih, either at a court or elsewhere, and he will deal with it. If the complaint is valid, he will punish the husband, he will try to compel him to behave properly, and if this fails, the faqih will grant the woman a divorce. He has the legal power to do so if he sees that it would be damaging to the people involved if the marriage were to continue.

Even though divorce is the prerogative of the man, in situations where the faqih believes it to be in the interests of Islam, in the interests of the Muslims, and when he realises there can be no other course of action, he will grant the woman a divorce. This is what the guardianship of the faqih is about. It is a divine gift to you. (58)

31 October 1978 (9 Aban 1357 AHS)

Islam put women on a par with men, and made them equal with men. Of course, there are certain Islamic precepts, which apply

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only to men, and others which apply only to women, but this does not mean that Islam discriminates between men and women. (59)

11 December 1978 (20 Azar 1357 AHS)

Question: Women make up a large section of the Muslim population, what role and what rights do you foresee for them in the Islamic system?

Reply: The Muslim women of Iran are currently participating in the political struggle and the demonstrations against the Shah. I have been told that in some Iranian cities they hold political meetings. In the Islamic system, women will have the same rights as men: the right to education, the right to work, the right to own property, the right to vote, the right to stand for election.

In all aspects that men have rights, women have the same rights. However, there are some things unlawful for men, because of the corruption they create in men, and others unlawful for women because of their tendency to corrupt women. Islam wants the human dignity of both men and women to be safeguarded. It doesn’t want women to be playthings in the hands of men. The image they have portrayed abroad of women being treated harshly under Islam is not a correct one.

This is false propaganda emanating from elements motivated by self-interest. In Islam both men and women enjoy free will, any differences, which exist, do so for both of them and concern their different natures.

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(60)

7 December 1978 (16 Azar 1357 AHS)

The laws of Islam are all for the benefit of both man and woman. (61)

6 March 1979 (15 Isfand 1357 AHS)

Just as the rights of men are propounded in Islam, so too are those of women. Indeed, Islam shows a concern for women that it does not show for men. It pays a greater regard to their rights than those of men. Women have the right to vote; indeed they enjoy more rights than women in the West. They have the right to vote, the right to elect or be elected. They control their finances; they are free, free to choose their profession. In the East certain restrictions are placed on men for their own good.

Consequently Islam prevents gambling, drinking and the use of heroin because these are a cause of corruption. Restrictions exist for everyone. Religion imposes restrictions for the benefit of society, it is not the case that something is beneficial to society and Islam places restrictions on it. (62)

29 March 1979 (9 Farvardin 1358 AHS)

The rights of all segments of the population have also been observed in the law. The rights of the religious minorities, women and other segments of society have all been taken into consideration. Islam does not discriminate between the various groups (in society) , the only difference between them stems from their piety and fear of God the Exalted. (63)

1 April 1979 (12 Farvardin

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1358 AHS)

Because Islam has laid down special rights for women, show moderation in their case if it is not proved that they are spies. Likewise the black Americans, for they have been subject to oppression and suffering for an age and those there may have been forced to come to Iran. Dear Students! [1]

Hand over those African Americans and women whom you do not believe to be spies to the Foreign Ministry so their immediate departure can be arranged. The noble nation of Iran does not give permission for the others to be freed, consequently they will be detained until the American government acts on the (Iranian) nation’s demands. (64)

17 November 1979 (26 Aban 1358 AHS)

When women wish to marry, there are certain prerogatives they can stipulate for themselves that are contrary neither to the shari‘a nor to their own self-respect. For example, 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.

This is a right that Islam has granted to women. If Islam has imposed certain restrictions on both women and men, it is for the benefit of both. All Islamic laws, be they those which permit or those which prohibit, are for the benefit of all. Similarly, just as Islam has granted man the right to divorce, it has also granted it to woman, on condition that the

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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.

Once the man has accepted such a stipulation, he can never repudiate it. Apart from making it possible to include such a stipulation in the marriage contract, Islam forbids the husband to mistreat his wife; if he habitually mistreats her, he is to be punished, lashed even, and if he still persists, the mujtahid will grant the wife a divorce. (65)

1 February 1980 (12 Bahman 1358 AHS)

Just as God has laid down laws for men imposing restrictions to prevent them from becoming corrupt, so too He has laid down laws for women. These are for your benefit; all Islamic laws are for the good of society. (66)

1 February 1980 (12 Bahman 1358 AHS)

Question: What exactly are the rights of women in an Islamic republic? What will become of coeducational schools? And how will such issues as birth control and abortion be dealt with?

Reply: In an Islamic republic, from a human rights point of view, there is no difference between men and women for both are human beings, and women have as much right as men to determine their destiny. In some areas, however, differences exist between men and women, which have nothing to do with their status as human beings. Anything that is not incompatible with the high social standing and

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dignity of women is allowed. Abortion is prohibited in Islam. (67)

5 November 1980 (16 Aban 1359 AHS)

Question: The issue of divorce being a man’s prerogative is something that has upset and worried a group of militant Iranian women who believe that under no circumstances do they have the right to execute a divorce. Some people have and still are exploiting this issue. What is your opinion?

Reply: The law has prescribed an easy way for the respected women to be able to execute a divorce, and that is when she enters into marriage she must stipulate her conditions. If she stipulates that she can execute a divorce whenever she wants or under certain conditions, such as if the husband were to mistreat her or get another wife, then she will have no problem in getting a divorce. I ask God Almighty to grant the honourable women success. It is hoped that you will not fall under the influence of those who oppose Islam and the Islamic revolution, for Islam is beneficial to all. (68)

29 October 1980 (7 Aban 1359 AHS)

Question: Please tell us how married women should practise taqlid. [1] Can she follow the rulings of a different mujtahid [2] from the one her husband follows, and if so would that contradict the requirement of a woman to obey her husband?

Reply: Women are independent in matters relating to taqlid, but must obey their husbands in marital

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affairs. They should not leave their homes without their husbands’ consent.

Istifta’at, Vol. 1, p. 13.

Question: During the taghut period, when the so-called courts for family protection finalised a divorce, they would collect a sum of money from the husband as ‘rent’ on the bride’s dower, if it were cash, because of the period which had elapsed since the marriage, in addition to the main dower to be paid to the woman. If the dower is cash and the time for collecting it has not been legally stipulated, is it permissible to put rent on the original dower?

Reply: Rent cannot be put on money and taking an additional sum is prohibited.

Istifta’at, Vol. 1, p. 210.

Question: If, when the marriage vows are exchanged, the woman stipulates that she reserves the right to execute a divorce, can this right be taken from her?

Reply: If she stipulates this condition at the time of the marriage, it cannot be taken from her later. [1]

Istifta’at, Vol. 2, p. 319.

---------------

[1]: - Addressing the students following Imam’s line who seized the American Embassy on 3rd November 1979.

[1]: - The adoption of the authoritative rulings of a scholar of proven learning and piety in matters of religious practice.

[2]: - Refer to footnote 3.

[1]: - If when exchanging the marriage vows the woman stipulates that she will become the man’s wife only if he accepts her condition that she has the irrevocable right to execute a divorce, and the man accepts this condition, then that right of the wife cannot be taken away from her.

Women’s role in the establishment of an Islamic society

Question: What does a return to Qur’anic laws mean for women? To what extent will entertainment (alcohol, films, etc. ) be available to the people?

Reply: In an Islamic system, women, in their role as human beings, can work alongside men to establish the Islamic society, but not if they wish to act as mere objects. Women do not have the right to lower themselves to such a level, nor

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do men have the right to think of them as such. As to those things known as entertainment, Islam opposes anything that tends to lead human beings towards acquiring a frivolous nature or towards self-estrangement. The consumption of alcohol is forbidden in Islam, as are films, which pervert the exalted nature of the human being. (69)

9 November 1978 (18 Aban 1357 AHS)

Question: In Islam, to what extent are women permitted to participate in the establishment of an Islamic government?

Reply: In Islam, women have a sensitive role to play in the establishment of the Islamic society. Islam elevates women to the extent that they can regain their human status in society and leave that woman-as-object level. In proportion with such growth, she can assume responsibilities in an Islamic government. (70)

10 November 1978 (19 Aban 1357 AHS)

Women like men have a part to play in building the Islamic society of tomorrow. They enjoy the right to vote and be voted for. Iranian women participate in Iran’s current struggle just as the men do. (71)

23 January 1979 (3 Bahman 1357 AHS)

Islam grants woman a say in all affairs just as it grants man a say. All the people of Iran, men and women alike, must repair the ruins that the previous regime has left us; the hands of men alone will not suffice to accomplish the task. Men and women must collaborate in this respect. (72)

6 March 1979

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(15 Isfand 1357 AHS)

Women must have a say in the fundamental destiny of the country. Just as you have participated in our revolutionary movement, indeed played a basic role in it, now you must also participate in its triumph, and must not fail to rise up again whenever it is necessary. The country belongs to you and, God willing, you will rebuild it. (73)

6 March 1979 (15 Isfand 1357 AHS)

You and we together, the government and nation together, must right this chaos, for neither can do it alone. If the ladies think they can leave it up to the men to do, who in turn think they can leave it up to the ladies, or both think the government can do it or all three think the clergymen can do it, then they are all sadly mistaken. For the situation is so chaotic, the problems so many that it is up to each individual to do his duty and rebuild wherever he is to the best of his ability. (74)

13 September 1979 (22 Shahrivar 1358 AHS)

Women have the right to participate in politics; indeed it is their duty to do so. The clergymen too have a right to concern themselves with politics, and it is their duty to do so. The Islamic religion is a political religion; everything in it has a political dimension, even its acts of worship. (75)

16 September 1979 (25 Shahrivar 1358 AHS)

Greetings to you great women who

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through your counsel wish to lead us to the right path. (76)

16 March 1981 (25 Isfand 1359 AHS)

It is also hoped that women in the other Islamic countries will take lessons from the miraculous change that has occurred in the Iranian women as a result of the great Islamic revolution, and will strive to reform their society and bring freedom and independence to their countries. (77)

24 April 1981 (4 Urdibihisht 1360 AHS)

14 April 1982 (25 Farvardin 1361 AHS)

Women’s activities in the social and political arenas

All of you must cast your vote, a vote for an Islamic republic, not a word less (in this designation) nor a word more. [1] You too must vote, you are no different from others, indeed you lead the men. (79)

8 March 1979 (17

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Isfand 1357 AHS)

It is necessary for me to reiterate that the crusading and brave women all over Iran must participate in the referendum. The women who played a sensitive role in the victory of the Islamic revolution at the side of men, indeed who led the men, should realise that by actively participating they will ensure the further victory of the Iranian nation. Participation in this referendum is one of the national and Islamic duties of the men and women. (80)

24 March 1979 (4 Farvardin 1358 AHS)

Women have the right to vote; indeed they enjoy more rights than women in the West. They have the right to vote, the right to elect or be elected. (81)

29 March 1979 (9 Farvardin 1358 AHS)

I ask Almighty God to grant you health and happiness and I hope that side by side with the men you will vote for the Constituent Assembly [1] and the National Consultative Assembly so that an Islamic republic, the Constitution of the Islamic Republic and the Consultative Assembly of the Islamic Republic can be founded and we can attain that which we want. (82)

10 April 1979 (21 Farvardin 1358 AHS)

Of course there is no objection to women taking up employment, sound employment, but we do not want a repeat of the way it was during the Pahlavi era. Then they did not have employment in mind for women, rather their aim was to degrade both men and women, pulling them down from that

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position they occupy. They did not want a natural growth for either sex. (83)

16 May 1979 (26 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

It is one of the blessings of the movement that you ladies from the coastal regions, and indeed the other respected ladies of Iran, are now involved with the issues of the day and political issues. The criminal hands, which were manifested in the form of the hands of Muhammad Riza and his father, had excluded all segments of the population from involvement in social and political affairs.

Political matters were never presented for the consideration of the ladies, nor for that matter the brothers either. And if a political issue was put forward for the people to decide on, it was still based on their (the West’s) plundering policy. If some classes of the population, the so-called political classes, became involved in the political issues of the day, they were simply involving themselves in policies dictated by the West and aimed at plundering the East. (84)

3 July 1979 (12 Tir 1358 AHS)

It is today when all segments of society have a say in their own affairs, in the affairs of the country and the political affairs of state. It is today when all people of the nation, whether the esteemed ladies or the brothers, have a say in determining their own destiny. (85)

3 July 1979 (12 Tir 1358 AHS)

The respected women and dear ladies have gone into the villages to help

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with the harvest and other things. Of course they are not reapers in the same sense as the farmers are, but by their action, small as it may seem, they enable the reaper to work twice as much of his land and thus double his harvest.

For when the men who reap the land see that these ladies, who normally sit in the shade and have nothing to do with such work, are prepared to come out into the sun and harvest the barley, it breathes new life into their spirit. So the action of these ladies is also valuable in that it gives renewed vigour to the farmers and they work even harder. (86)

21 July 1979 (30 Tir 1358 AHS)

We all voted for an Islamic republic, you too voted, but voting alone is not enough. Our votes mean only that the country of Iran is now officially an Islamic republic. But it will be a true Islamic republic only when you ladies, along with these gentlemen, undertake your responsibilities and we all see ourselves as having a duty to perform. (87)

13 September 1979 (22 Shahrivar 1358 AHS)

It is important that each of us sees ourselves as having a duty to perform. So, for example, I, as a theological student, consider it my duty to serve (the nation) to the best of my ability, while you sisters must consider it your duty to help rebuild this country which they (the Pahlavis) ruined

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and destroyed, beginning in the area where you live, and through your efforts put it right. (88)

20 September 1979 (29 Shahrivar 1358 AHS)

The sisters who hitherto have not been involved in the issues of the day must now involve themselves. (89)

20 September 1979 (29 Shahrivar 1358 AHS)

Women must have a say in determining their destiny. Women in the Islamic Republic must vote. Just as men have the right to vote, women too have that right. (90)

1 February 1980 (12 Bahman 1358 AHS)

Today, women in the Islamic Republic shoulder-to-shoulder with the men are striving to rebuild themselves and their country. (91)

5 May 1980 (15 Urdibihisht 1359 AHS)

I return once again to you sisters and dear ones and remind you that you must attend to the matter of observing Islamic rules in your environment. The country is an Islamic one, it is an Islamic republic, [and] there must be a change in all aspects of its character. (92)

13 May 1980 (23 Urdibihisht 1359 AHS)

Who has mobilised these women to involve themselves, and quite rightly so, in all the country’s affairs? God has called them to this task and they are obeying His call. (93)

12 July 1980 (21 Tir 1359 AHS)

Today, the ladies must act on their social and religious duties and protect public morality, and in so doing carry out their social and political activities. (94)

10 September 1980 (19 Shahrivar 1359 AHS)

I hope that this movement will end in victory and

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you will all be successful, God willing. May you expand your gatherings everywhere in an even more splendid manner so that women will awaken and reject those things of the past, reject that former role of being a plaything, of having to dress up and make up. You yourselves know how much damage that attitude did to our economy and how much harm it did to public morality. Today’s women, like the men, must be properly educated and concern themselves with the issues (of the day) , they too must exercise sound judgement in their involvement in the (country’s) affairs, and God willing, they will be successful. (95)

10 September 1980 (19 Shahrivar 1359 AHS)

All the women and all the men must involve themselves in social and political affairs. They must be supervisors, supervising the work of the Parliament and the government; they must express their opinions. (96)

10 September 1980 (19 Shahrivar 1359 AHS)

Guiding a nation is a momentous task to undertake, and guiding half of that nation - the women - is even more so. This task [1] is fraught with difficulties; indeed the decision to take it on is itself an important undertaking. But now that you have resolved to do such a thing, let nothing weaken or shake that resolve. (97)

7 February 1981 (18 Bahman 1359 AHS)

You ladies who are occupied with this humanitarian and Islamic task can be absolutely certain that because you are doing this work for God, you

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will be successful. (98)

7 February 1981 (18 Bahman 1359 AHS)

Today we see that the respected ladies of Iran throughout the country are useful members (of our society) and form a committed and devout community serving their country. They are the mainstay of this country. I hope that, mindful of Islamic precepts and armed with the weapon of faith and devotion to Islam, they will carry this victory forward and will be the mainstay of this revolution too. (99)

23 May 1981 (2 Khurdad 1360 AHS)

It is the duty of every man and woman of legal voting age to go to the polling stations and cast their vote for a president. If you waver in this regard, then those who wish to see this country destroyed may be victorious. All of you, all of us, men and women together, are bound by duty to determine our destiny just as we are bound by duty to perform our namaz (the ritual prayer). (100)

4 July 1981 (13 Tir 1360 AHS)

I advise both men and women who are of legal voting age to take part in these elections and vote for any of the candidates they wish. Participate they must. (101)

27 November 1982 (6 Azar 1361 AHS)

Wherever one looks in Iran, one sees women pursuing Islamic activities, religious and even political activities, while at the same time preserving their modesty and their dignity. Whereas those women who freely mingled with men in society produced nothing

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other than corruption throughout the whole of the taghut period, these women (today) , in this short span of time, have been so active that the results of their endeavours are already beginning to show in Qum and other cities. (102)

13 March 1983 (22 Isfand 1361 AHS)

If those people [1] who wish to sabotage the activities of these ladies - this great service they are performing which before God is a worthy service - are Muslim, then they are committing a cardinal sin, and if they are not Muslim and by their actions merely seek a return to the dissoluteness which once existed, then they should know that the season of wantonness is over, and the ladies of Iran will no longer give them permission to return to the way they used to act.

I must thank all of you. Praise God, you are busy doing religious activities and you also have political insight. Iranian women today enjoy both religious and political acumen. The obstacles that once prevented you from carrying out religious and political activities have now been removed. I hope that very soon each one of you will reach the point where you will be able to educate others. (103)

13 March 1983 (22 Isfand 1361 AHS)

You must involve yourselves in all aspects of the country’s life to the extent that Islam has allowed, such as taking part in elections. The elections are one of the most talked about issues in Iran at the moment, and

participation in them today is something that must be done. The ladies must be active in the elections just as the men are, for when it comes to their destiny, there is no difference between them and others.

The destiny of Iran is the destiny of all. Islam has served you ladies more than it has the men. Islam protected you, so now you reciprocate by protecting Islam. This means taking part in these elections, for they will determine the formation of the second parliamentary assembly. Elections play a very important role in your destiny and ours, a primary role. It is elections that must lay down the path the country follows in all its affairs, whether domestic or foreign.

Therefore, you ladies must play a very active role so that the parliament does not become one that is, God forbid, infiltrated by some unscrupulous elements and is gradually drawn towards the East or the West, becoming the kind of parliament that existed in the previous era and imposing on us policies which parliaments of that time imposed on the people. (104)

8 April 1984 (19 Farvardin 1363 AHS)

Just as men should concern themselves with political matters and safeguard their society, so too should women. Women should take part in social and political activities shoulder-to-shoulder with men, while, of course, at the same time complying with Islamic principles. God be praised, this is happening today. (105)

8 April 1984 (19 Farvardin 1363 AHS)

are proud that the ladies, both young and old, are present in the cultural, economic and military arenas, and that they are active shoulder-to-shoulder with the men or even more so than they are - in the area of elevating Islam and advancing the goals of the Most Noble Qur’an. (106)

5 June 1989 (15 Khurdad 1368 AHS)

---------------

[1]: - The reference here is to arguments advanced before the referendum of 29-30 March 1979 by various non-Islamic elements who said it would be enough to have a republic, that to speak of Islam in this connection was unnecessary, or others who said they wanted a ‘democratic republic’ not an Islamic one, or those who said they wanted a ‘democratic Islamic republic. ’ For more of Imam’s views on this matter refer to p. 337 of the book Islam and Revolution, translated by Hamid Algar (Mizan Press).

[1]: - As it turned out, the plan to form a Constituent Assembly that would draw up the definitive text for a new constitution was abandoned in favour of convening a numerically more limited Assembly of Experts, for which an election was held on 3 August 1979.

[1]: - Referring to the publication of an informative magazine for women.

[1]: - Referring to those people who for various reasons opposed women’s social activities.

Women and Education

Question: Can women attain the position of mujtahid? [1] Would you please elaborate.

Reply: It is possible for a woman to become a mujtahid, however she cannot become a marja’ -i taqlid [2] for others.

Istifta’at Vol. 1, p. 21.

The men and women of Qum are exemplary in their learning and their willingness to act, as are the men and women of Iran on the whole. (107)

17 May 1979 (27 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

If you are in a position that requires you to educate small girls, educate them well. If you are in a place where your position is to propagate, then do so well. All segments of the population in whatever post they may occupy must carry out their duties well. (108)

13 September 1979 (22 Shahrivar 1358 AHS)

One of the most significant effects of this movement is the change brought about in all of you, in the ladies, in the brothers and sisters alike. That change is the sense of duty that we all now feel, a duty to our country, a duty to educate, to educate people in those things that will be useful to

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them in religious and worldly affairs. (109)

16 September 1979 (25 Shahrivar 1358 AHS)

All those who are illiterate should rise up and embark on a campaign to learn, and all the literate brothers and sisters should rise up to teach them. The Ministry of Education, with all the facilities it has at its disposal, should also take action in this regard, not allowing bureaucracy and administrative formalities to get in its way.

Brothers and sisters in faith! You must mobilise yourselves in order to eradicate this painful shortcoming. Teaching and learning are forms of worship which God the Blessed and Exalted has called on us to perform. The congregational prayer leaders in the provincial towns and villages should invite the people to this task.

Those who are literate should teach reading and writing to the brothers and sisters who are not in the mosques, in other religious centres and even in their homes. They should not wait for the authorities to take action. For their part, the illiterate people should not shrink from this task. (110)

28 December 1979 (7 Dey 1358 AHS)

The women of Iran today are committed, lion-hearted individuals, who shoulder-to-shoulder with our dear men are busy rebuilding their beloved country, just as they are busy rebuilding themselves through learning and education. You will not find a town or village without cultural or scientific centres composed of dedicated and honourable Muslim women. (111)

5 May 1980 (15 Urdibihisht 1359

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AHS)

I hope that the teachers, the brothers and sisters, wherever they may be, in whatever capacity they may be teaching, whether as trained teachers, as students or simply as scholars with a knowledge to pass on, consider themselves to be both teachers and students. Teachers to call the people to the straight path of guidance of the prophets, and students as they themselves tread that path. (112)

30 August 1980 (8 Shahrivar 1359 AHS)

Elderly men and women too can learn. They too can receive an education. They should not give up on themselves. (113)

27 December 1980 (6 Dey 1359 AHS)

I hope that the sisters and brothers busy with their studies and propaganda activities at the Shahid Mutahhari (may God grant him peace) school of higher education are mindful of the fact that this school was named after a martyr who was very beneficial to Islam and whose teachings serve as instruction for our youth, as well they should.

You sisters and brothers who attend this school should arrange your daily programme in such a way that other Mutahharis or another Mutahhari will emerge from your midst. Resolve to see this happen, direct your attention to God and let everything you do be for God the Blessed and Exalted alone. Strive to pursue your studies well at the school, and even more importantly, strive to achieve moral edification.

Be Islamic, and as you complete your Islamic studies, so too perfect an Islamic spirit

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in yourselves. Alongside your studies be serious about observing Islamic decrees and striving to purify yourselves Islamically. (114)

1 March 1981 (10 Isfand 1359 AHS)

Endless greetings to the committed women who are presently busy throughout the country educating children and illiterate people and teaching the rich culture of the Qur’an. (115)

24 April 1981 (4 Urdibihisht 1360 AHS)

Women who in the past were deprived of an active involvement in society, have, over these past few years, praise God, entered the arena. And they have done so in a fitting manner, with shari’a rules being adhered to. They are now active in the areas of education and propagation. (116)

13 January 1982 (23 Dey 1360 AHS)

Praise God, those shackles that once bound our beliefs have today been cast off. Today, all segments of the nation are engaged in education, including the ladies. Today, ladies are among the theological students in Qum and other places; wherever they are in the country, they are busy with education. And this is something that has materialised in this revolution.

Previously, the ladies were confined to such an extent that they did not even have the right to join a group of ten people and discuss scientific or religious matters. Today, however, while observing Islamic precepts, they can go and speak anywhere in the country, even abroad. In these matters we were very backward, today we must make up for that, we must redress the failings. (117)

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September 1983 (15 Shahrivar 1362 AHS)

I ask God, the Blessed and Exalted, to grant you ladies and sisters success both in your educational endeavours and in your ability to take action and to purify yourselves morally. For just as knowledge alone is to no avail, so too is blind purification. It is knowledge and purification together that will take man to the stage of the true human being.

I ask God the Blessed and Exalted to grant you ladies, indeed all the sisters throughout the country and the brothers, success in advancing these two aspects, which are learning and action, together with Islamic morals, so that Islam can be put into practice in Iran in a way that pleases God the Blessed and Exalted. (118)

8 April 1984 (19 Farvardin 1363 AHS)

Now the situation is such that the women, shoulder-to-shoulder with the brothers, are studying mysticism, philosophy, all branches of science, and, God willing, of industry too. At that time they used to say that the half of Iran’s population in veils could not do anything, not that they wanted them to be able to do anything for they prevented the men too from being productive. No, they simply wanted to get them to enter society adopting the style that they, their friends and adherents had adopted, and thus drag society into corruption.

God, however, did not want them to succeed. Today, you ladies are a source of pride, for along with

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your brothers in the theological schools you are busy studying and teaching or pursuing other Islamic activities; and I hope you will prove to be even more active than they are. Still you must be careful and act contrary to what was expected under the former regime. They wanted to destroy Islamic values and put European values in their place. Act contrary to this so that some of those who were deceived, and are still to be found in Iran, may be influenced by you and adopt your style instead. (119)

8 April 1984 (19 Farvardin 1363 AHS)

Sciences without exception, and particularly Islamic sciences, are not the preserve of any one section of society. The respected women of Iran have proved throughout the revolution that shoulder-to-shoulder with the men, they can render valuable services to Islam and the Muslims in political and social activities, and be the spearhead of the movement to educate the great community of women (in Iran).

Praise God, currently an institute is in the process of being built in the holy city of Qum, the city of learning and struggle (jihad) , for the education of the respected ladies. It is hoped that through the efforts of the learned `ulama and the teachers at Qum’s theological schools, may their blessings continue, this Islamic goal is achieved and proves to be an effective step towards the intellectual development of women and the blossoming of Islamic learning among them.

Therefore, I appoint their excellencies

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the Hujjat-ul Islams Hajj Shaykh Ali Meshkini, Musawi Ardabili, Hajj Shaykh Ahmad Jannati, Hajj Shaykh Muhammad Fazel, Hajj Shaykh Muhammad Ali Shar‘ei, Hajj Shaykh Muhammad Riza Tavassoli and Hajj Shaykh Hassan Sane‘i, may their blessings continue, as the organising committee for this institute so that they can take the appropriate steps to appoint the managerial board, prepare the articles of association, determine its name and see to its other affairs.

It is hoped that with the assistance of Almighty God and the prayers of Hazrat Mahdi, may our souls be sacrificed for his coming, this institute will render a valuable service to the community of revolutionary Muslim women of Iran. (120)

22 August 1984 (31 Murdad 1363 AHS)

All of these efforts are commendable in the eyes of God the Blessed and Exalted, and you are all in God’s care; as long as you remain committed, God the Blessed and Exalted will assist you. (121)

12 March 1985 (21 Isfand 1363 AHS)

Strive to acquire learning and godliness, for learning is not the preserve of any one person, learning is for all, godliness is for all, and

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striving to acquire learning and achieve godliness is the duty of us all.

I hope that Muslim women wherever they may be will imitate you dear ones who are striving to elevate the status of women and to make up for the injustices, which were perpetrated against you in that era. (122)

12 March 1985 (21 Isfand 1363 AHS)

---------------

[1]: - Refer to footnote 3.

[2]: - Refer to footnote 2.

Freedom of women in the Islamic system

Question: You have been accused of being against civilisation and you have turned the accusation against the Shah. That is not necessarily convincing. How do you stand on specific issues like agrarian reform, industrialisation and

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the status of women?

Reply:... As for women, Islam has never been against their freedom. It is, to the contrary, opposed to the idea of woman-as-object and it gives her back her dignity. A woman is a man’s equal; she and he are both free to determine their destiny and choose their occupations.

But the Shah’s regime is trying to prevent women from becoming free by plunging them into immorality. It is to this that Islam raises objections. This regime has destroyed the freedom of women as well as men. Women as well as men swell the population of Iranian prisons, and this is where freedom is threatened. We want to free them from the corruption menacing them. (123)

6 May 1978 (16 Urdibihisht 1357 AHS)

Question: Regarding social issues, what is the view of His Holiness the Ayatullah on the presence of women in universities or the workplace? Will there be restrictions placed upon them that do not exist in society today? What is His Holiness’s opinion on birth control and coeducation in universities?

Reply: Women are free in the Islamic society and will, under no condition, be barred from universities, offices or Parliament. What will be checked equally among both men and women is moral corruption which is prohibited for both sexes. As far as birth control is concerned, that depends on what decision the government will take on the matter. (124)

7 December

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1978 (16 Azar 1357 AHS)

Both women and men are free to attend university, both are free to vote and stand as parliamentary representatives, that which is objectionable is the way these people (the Shah and his regime) want women to be: a plaything in the hands of men. To quote the Shah “a woman should be beguiling. ” We want to get rid of this mistaken idea. We want a woman to be a person like other people, a human being like any other human being, to be free as others are free. (125)

11 December 1978 (20 Azar 1357 AHS)

Question: In the event of your movement’s triumph and the establishment of an Islamic government, what will your approach to social development and progress be, particularly with regard to women? Will you permit polygamy?

Reply: Women are free, just as men are. We will act in accordance with Islamic law. (126)

12 December 1978 (21 Azar 1357 AHS)

These people you call lawyers have always misguided our women. Today, the Shah’s prisons are filled with our ‘free’ women, yet these lawyers have consistently endorsed the Shah’s crimes. Which of the two is free? (127)

28 December 1978 (7 Dey 1357 AHS)

Question: What changes do you feel are needed regarding the position of women in Iranian society? How, in your opinion, will an Islamic government change the status of women, for example as regards employment in the civil service

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and working in different professions such as medicine, engineering etc. , and in other areas such as divorce, abortion, the right to travel and compulsory wearing of the chador?

Reply: The Shah’s malicious propaganda, along with that of people bought with his money, has obscured the issue of women’s freedom for the people, so that they think Islam has come just to make women stay at home. Why should we oppose women’s education? Why should we oppose them working?

Why shouldn’t women be able to work in the civil service? Why should we oppose women being able to travel? Women, like men, are free in all these things, women are in no way different from men. Yes, in Islam women must dress modestly and wear a veil (i. e. have hijab) , but that does not necessarily mean she has to wear a chador. Women can choose any kind of attire they like so long as it covers them properly and they have hijab.

Islam does not want women to be an object, to be a doll in our hands. Islam wants to safeguard women’s nobility, it wishes to make her a serious and efficient human being. We shall never allow women to be merely men’s sex objects. Islam has prohibited abortion. Women can gain the right to execute a divorce if she adds this condition to her marriage contract. The respect Islam shows woman and the freedom it grants

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her is equalled by no other system of laws or school of thought. (128)

28 December 1978 (7 Dey 1357 AHS)

Question: A good many women who have reached a level of freedom and education in Iran are afraid that they will be forced to return to a reactionary religious regime. What have you to say to put their minds at ease?

Reply: Islam has given women freedom. It is this government and this Shah that have deprived them of freedom and have restricted them in every aspect. (129)

5 January 1979 (15 Dey 1357 AHS)

Question: Is an Islamic government a retrogressive one? The Shah wants to create a modern country, the Arab countries too seek progress, but Islam opposes reform and social change such as freedom for women. What is your view on this?

Reply: The Shah’s government opposed our social development and gave away the freedom and independence of our country. An Islamic government is not a retrogressive one. It sanctions all the manifestations of civilisation apart from those that disrupt the nation’s peace of mind and are incompatible with the nation’s view of public decency. Islam not only sanctions freedom for women, it is actually the founder of freedom for women in all the dimensions, which exist for a woman. (130)

10 January 1979 (20 Dey 1357 AHS)

Question: What will be the policy of the government of an Islamic republic on women’s freedom, the fight

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against illiteracy and the cinema?

Reply: The Shah has not done anything positive in Iran, trying to mend the damage he has done will take quite a while. The Shah has given freedom neither to women nor to men, we, however, will give freedom to all. Cinemas under the Shah’s regime have been in the service of corruption, in an Islamic republic they will have to serve the good of the nation. We will fight illiteracy in the best way possible. (131)

11 January 1979 (21 Dey 1357 AHS)

Question: What will the role of women be in a future Islamic government?

Reply: Women are free to participate in many affairs, free in the true sense of the word, not in the sense that the Shah wanted. Some of our women are in prison, and of those who are not, a great number take part in the demonstrations and the struggles. An insignificant number are ‘free’, free in the sense that the Shah wants them to be free. We are most definitely opposed to that kind of freedom. (132)

15 January 1979 (25 Dey 1357 AHS)

Question: What will be the status of women in your future government?

Reply: They will have the status of a true human being and a free individual, contrary to these past periods we have lived through when neither our women were free nor our men. The nation whose men and women were not free [and]

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were repressed, has now thrown off the yoke and from now on men and women are free. However, if they wish to act immodestly or contrary to the interests of the country, then naturally they will be prevented from doing so. (133)

15 January 1979 (25 Dey 1357 AHS)

Question: What will be the role of women in the Islamic government? For example, will they be able to get involved in the affairs of state by becoming, say, members of parliament or ministers? That being, of course, if they demonstrate that they are suitable for and sufficiently competent to hold such a post.

Reply: The Islamic government will determine the course to be taken in such matters. Now is not the time for me to comment on such things. Women, like men, are participating in building the Islamic society of tomorrow; they can vote and be voted for in elections. Women have taken part in the recent struggles in Iran to the same degree as the men. We will give women every kind of freedom, but we will prevent corruption, and where this is concerned, there is no difference between men and women. (134)

23 January 1979 (3 Bahman 1357 AHS)

Question from one of the female reporters: The fact that I have been accepted as a woman shows that our movement is a progressive one, even though some have tried to portray it as retrograde. Do you think women must necessarily

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wear Islamic dress (hijab)? Must they cover their hair or not?

Reply: To say I have accepted you means nothing. I have not personally accepted you; you came here without my knowledge. This is not proof that Islam is progressive. Islam did not become progressive the minute you walked in here. Progress is not what some of our women or our men think it is.

Progress is determined in terms of human and spiritual perfections and by how useful a person is for the nation and the country, not by whether people go to the cinema or dances.

These are things they made you think were progressive so they could drive you into a backward state. Later we must remedy this. In salutary activities, you are free; you are free to go to university and to do any kind of respectable job. The whole nation is free in this respect. However, if anyone wants to do something immodest or harmful to the nation, he or she will be prevented. This is a sign of being progressive. (135)

23 January 1979 (3 Bahman 1357 AHS)

There is no suppression in Islam. In Islam there is liberty for all strata of society, for women, men, for whites and blacks, for everyone. From now on men should be afraid of themselves, not of the government, they should be afraid lest they do wrong. (136)

1 February 1980 (12 Bahman 1358

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AHS)

Islam has set you free. Islam has declared men and women free; all are free. (137)

6 April 1979 (17 Farvardin 1358 AHS)

Today you are free, all the brothers and sisters are today free, free to criticise the government, free to criticise anything that goes against the path of the nation and Islam, free to make fundamental demands of the government. This movement has made you free, has liberated you from the bonds, which bound the nation.

You have gathered here freely, and freely you are propounding political and social issues vital to the nation, you are not the ladies of a few years ago. Today you are having a say in your destiny. You are propounding political issues and are making demands of the government. This is the meaning of freedom. (138)

3 July 1979 (12 Tir 1358 AHS)

This freedom that our nation now enjoys, which the women, men, writers and so on, now enjoy, this freedom is in all affairs, which are beneficial to you. You are free to go out and say what you have to say, to criticise the government, criticise anyone who puts a foot wrong, no one is going to ask you why you are doing so.

You are free to join the Construction Crusade (Jihad-i Sazandeghi) and help your countrymen. Anything that is involved with the growth of man, the growth of the sisters, brothers and these dear children, is free for you. That

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which is not free, indeed which Islam prevents, is gambling which corrupts the nation, drinking which corrupts the nation, and all types of obscenities which were made available during the time of that criminal (the Shah). Islam forbids such things. (139)

30 September 1979 (8 Mehr 1358 AHS)

Question: In the future government, what will freedom for women be like? Will they have to cease attending schools and remain at home or will it be possible for them to continue with their education?

Reply: The things you have heard said about women and other issues are all simply propaganda put about by the Shah and people guided by self-interests. Women are free (in Islam) , free to study, free in other areas too, just as the men are. It is at the present time that neither women are free nor men. (140)

13 November 1978 (22 Aban 1357 AHS)

Question: Your Holiness, what do you expect the American government to do in exchange for the release of the female and black hostages that you have ordered?

Reply: We released the women and the blacks because women are shown a special regard in Islam and the blacks have been subject to pressure and oppression in America. We do not consider them totally culpable, for perhaps they were pressurised into coming here.

We did this out of obedience to the command of Islam and God, we don’t expect anything from Mr. Carter [1] and we do

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not want any reward for what we have done. The issue here is that Mr. Carter must hand this criminal (the Shah) back to us. A criminal who has committed crimes against a people in a country must, according to all international laws, be returned to that country. Yet he (Carter) goes against all the rules of reason. (141)

18 November 1979 (27 Aban 1358 AHS)

Question: Your Holiness, in Neauphle-le-Chateau [1] you promised that not only would freedoms be protected but that they would reach all, whereas after the victory of the revolution we witnessed demonstrations against women, pressure being brought to bear on tribal minorities such as the Kurds and the banning of certain newspapers and political groups. Could you please explain these apparent contradictions?

Reply: The women who demonstrated are the remnants of former problems, women whom the Shah brought into the arena as “free women” and whom he led to corruption. They prefer the former situation, which that corruption had brought about, those freedoms that the former regime wanted: freedom for the youth to do anything they wanted, to embrace vice and to act indecently.

But they saw that Islam does not consent to indecency and to actions, which drag the country into corruption and drive the nation into a state of backwardness. It was these women who came out onto the streets, with faces made up as everyone observed, and demonstrated. Otherwise freedom most certainly has not

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been and will not be curtailed. The people are fee, but not to create corruption and drive the nation into backwardness. (142)

26 November 1979 (5 Azar 1358 AHS)

5 May 1980 (15 Urdibihisht 1359 AHS)

I ask the youth, the girls and boys, not to sacrifice their independence, freedom and human values, regardless of the trouble and suffering this may cause them, for a life of luxury, pleasure, indulgence and frequenting the centres of corruption which the West and its agents, men without a country, open to you. (144)

5 June 1989 (3 Khurdad 1368 AHS)

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[1]: - James Earl Carter, the former American president.

[1]: - A hamlet near Paris where Imam took up residence in early October 1978 during his period in exile.

Islamic dress (hijab)

Question 1: If a lady does her daily prayers (namaz) dressed in modest attire such as a baggy manteau, trousers and a large scarf or miqna’a, [1] is this permissible or not?

Question 2: If a lady doing her prayers at home wears a thick, long chador while underneath she has on a sleeveless top or dress and wears no socks, are her prayers invalid?

Reply 1: There is no problem.

Reply 2: Her prayers are not invalid.

Istifta’at Vol. 1, p. 137.

Question: What are the rules governing the viewing of TV films which sometimes show unveiled women, and

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listening to a musical instrument being played?

Reply: There is no problem concerning the viewing of foreign films in which the actresses are not known and which do not have a corrupting influence. Dance music is forbidden, but there is no problem with other types of music.

Istifta’at Vol. 2, p. 17.

Question: I am a woman working as a hairdresser for Muslim women who observe the Islamic cover (hijab). I work in an environment closed off to men. Could you please state your esteemed opinion of income earned in this way?

Reply: Based on the conditions set out in the question there is no problem, and income earned in this way is religiously legal.

Istifta’at Vol. 2, p. 32.

Women are free to choose their activities, their destiny and also their manner of dress, providing it complies with the rules. Present-day experience in the action against the Shah’s regime shows that women have found more freedom than ever before in the mode of dress which Islam stipulates for them. (145)

1 November 1978 (10 Aban 1357 AHS)

Question: For a long time now Your Holiness has been criticising the Shah’s policies, to what extent will your policies, with regard to the following, differ from those of the Shah: Social issues, will Islamic laws be put into effect and what difference will they make to daily life in comparison with the present laws?

‘Beneath the banner of Islamic government’, could Your Holiness explain more

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precisely what this means? Will women have the right to freely choose between the veil and Western dress? Will cinemas continue to exist? If so, what kind of films will be selected for viewing? Will alcoholic beverages be banned? Finally, will Iran become another Saudi Arabia or Libya?

Reply: The implementation of penal laws in Islam depends on many conditions first being fulfilled and involves many preliminaries. Many aspects must first be justly considered and Islam must be implemented fully. If these conditions exist, it will be seen that Islamic laws are not as harsh as others. Women are free to choose their activities, their destiny and also their manner of dress, while complying with the rules.

Present-day experience in the action against the Shah’s regime shows that women have found more freedom than ever before in the mode of dress which Islam stipulates for them. We are opposed to cinemas whose programmes corrupt our youth morally and subvert Islamic culture, but we approve of programmes which educate society and which contribute to its healthy, scientific and moral development.

Alcoholic beverages, alcoholism and other narcotics, which are harmful to society, will be banned. The Islamic republic government that we have in mind will not be like any of the regimes mentioned (i. e. Saudi Arabia and Libya). (146)

1 November 1978 (10 Aban 1357 AHS)

Question: Some of the Islamic customs, such as the mandatory veil, have

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been abandoned. Will the veil be once again enforced in the Islamic republic?

Reply: The veil, in the form we commonly understand it to take and which goes by the name Islamic hijab, is not opposed to freedom. Islam is against indecency. We invite the women to accept the Islamic hijab. Indeed, our brave women are tired of the calamities that the West, in the name of civilisation, has brought upon them, and they have turned to Islam. (147)

28 December 1978 (7 Dey 1357 AHS)

In Islam women must dress modestly and wear a veil (i. e. have hijab) , but that does not necessarily mean she has to wear a chador. Women can choose any kind of attire they like so long as it covers them properly and they have hijab. (148)

28 December 1978 (7 Dey 1357 AHS)

Women must not enter the Islamic ministries improperly dressed. They can work there, but they must have hijab and must observe shari‘a principles. (149)

6 March 1978 (15 Isfand 1357 AHS)

Question: This chador, is it right that these women hide themselves under a chador? These women took part in the revolution, they gave lives, they were imprisoned, [and] they fought. This chador is an old custom, the world has changed, is it right that they should have to hide themselves in this way?

Reply: First of all, this is something that is their choice, and they have chosen it for themselves.

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What right do you have to deprive them of their choice? If we tell the people to come out and demonstrate their approval for Islamic dress, whether the chador or some other form, out of our population of 35 million, 33 million would come out. What right do you have to stop them?

What kind of dictatorship is this you want to impose on the women? Secondly, we do not say a woman has to wear a specific type of dress, particularly in cases of women your age [1] there are no specifications. We are concerned mainly with the younger women who when they make up and dress up draw hordes of young men after them. It is these women we are stopping. They don’t need your sympathy. (150)

12 September 1979 (21 Shahrivar 1358 AHS)

Imam Khomeini, the Leader of the Revolution and Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in reply to a question about the attacks by a number of ignorant and possibly anti-revolutionary elements on women not properly observing the Islamic dress code, issued this edict:

It is possible that the attacks on women in the streets, alleys and market places are being carried out by perverse elements opposed to the revolution. No one has the right to perpetrate such an attack and this kind of behaviour is unlawful (haram) for Muslims. The police and revolutionary committees must prevent such incidents. (151)

4 July 1980 (13 Tir 1359

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AHS)

Whereas under the former regime one’s consequence and standing were measured by obnoxious make-up, by what one wore and in what kind of house one lived, the values found today in Islamic countries, particularly in Iran, are human, moral values. These values have come about because of the change that has taken place in the ladies.

Those who once liked to show off amongst the female community with their costly clothes and pernicious make-up are now condemned and stand shamefaced. In those days, our Muslim ladies were embarrassed wearing Islamic dress, and the deprived classes who observed the Islamic dress code felt ashamed of the way they dressed before the affluent, but corrupt, classes. Today the opposite is true, and now one of those people who once put on such corrupt displays of make-up and dress would be ashamed in your midst. (152)

16 March 1981 (25 Isfand 1359 AHS)

12 March 1985 (21 Isfand 1363 AHS)

Questions put to Imam about television programmes by the managing director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) organisation and member of the IRIB’s supervisory board:

1. On the airing of TV programmes in which

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the woman’s role requires her not to observe fully the rules of the Islamic dress code concerning the face, neck and hair.

2. On the airing of sports programmes such as wrestling and football in which some parts of the sportsmen’s bodies are uncovered.

3. On watching such programmes when broadcast on TV.

Reply: There is no problem from the point of view of the shari‘a to watching these kinds of films and plays, indeed many of them are educational and it is perfectly permissible to broadcast them. The same goes for sports programmes and music, most of them present no problem. On rare occasions transgressions do occur and greater care must be taken to avoid them.

Two points, however, must be heeded. Firstly, the person who does the actor’s make-up must be mahram [1] for the person being made up. It is forbidden for anyone else to perform this task. Secondly, people watching the programmes mentioned above must not do so in a lustful manner. (154)

21 December 1987 (30 Azar 1366 AHS)

Most probably the struggle against the wearing of the veil by Muslim women in educational institutions is a perverse attempt to undermine this great manifestation of the Islamic world’s defence of the Most Noble Messenger, peace be upon him and his descendants. The issue is one which vexes the Islamic nations: why in the so-called free world forcing women and girls to remove their veils is considered pure democracy, yet

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when we simply state that anyone who insults the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him and his descendants, should be sentenced to death, and the council of Islamic jurists issues an edict to this effect, this is considered undemocratic!

Why does the world sit back and remain silent in the face of people who do not allow Muslim girls who have chosen to wear Islamic dress into universities to attend classes or teach? Is it not that the interpretation of freedom and how it is used lies in the hands of people who are opposed to the fundamentals of a freedom which is sacrosanct. Today God has made us responsible, we must not be negligent. Today, we must struggle against apathy, inaction and silence and the enthusiasm and momentum of the revolution must be maintained. (155)

22 March 1989 (2 Farvardin 1368 AHS)

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[1]: - A scarf sewn at the front under the chin and covering the chest.

[1]: - Addressing Oriana Fallaci, a famous Italian journalist.

[1]: - Either someone of the same sex or who shares a degree of consanguinity with the person being made up, if of the opposite sex, thus precluding marriage.

Advice for safeguarding and perpetuating the Islamic movement

Today, the movement is in greater need of the nation of Iran, of ideological unity, of the honourable ladies, of Chahar Mardan [1] than it ever was before its victory and at its climax. It is today that the hands of the criminals and traitors, those who see their interests endangered, are working to try to stop this movement from flourishing. It is today that these treacherous hands must be severed. It is today that the hands of those who spread dissension and create excuses to cause division in the ranks of the Muslims

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must be severed. Our honourable women must sever the hands of these traitors, our powerful men must sever the hands of these traitors, the clergymen, wherever they are, must be vigilant and must sever the hands of these traitors and frustrate their machinations. (156)

25 April 1979 (5 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

You ladies, you brothers and sisters alike, must be vigilant, the Iranian nation must be vigilant and not let the blood of our martyrs be in vain, not let the spilt blood of our youth be meaningless, not let it be trampled underfoot by personal interests. Rid yourselves of personal interests. Do not let treacherous hands create different groups. (157)

25 April 1979 (5 Urdibihisht 1358 AHS)

In this period of history, at this juncture we now find ourselves, where one road leads to ultimate victory and the other, God forbid, to defeat and a return to the former state of affairs, it is the duty of all of us, whether you respected ladies or the rest of the nation, all of us, the brothers and sisters alike, to safeguard that ideological unity, that unity of purpose which was Islam - everyone shouting out together for Islam - and which brought this movement to victory. Hold gatherings, fill the mosques and remember your aim, which is to put all Islamic laws into effect in Iran. (158)

2 July 1979 (11 Tir 1358 AHS)

All of these respected sisters and you brothers, all the people of Iran, all of

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us must now be mindful of this path that our movement is following. This movement must be kept alive so that these problems are overcome. (159)

8 July 1979 (17 Tir 1358 AHS)

Now, it is the bounden duty of us all, whether the law enforcement officers or the people, the ladies or the brothers, to protect this trust which is in our care and which is from God. This trust is Islam; it is the Qur’an. (160)

2 September 1979 (11 Shahrivar 1358 AHS)

We must all join hands together, not only the men but the women also, all segments of society are one, they must join hands together to repair this ruin they have been left with, and to get their lives back together. (161)

9 January 1980 (19 Dey 1358 AHS)

My brothers! My sisters! Be alert, for today we are faced with great responsibilities. If we lose this movement that has reached this stage, this revolution that has reached this stage and this Islamic Republic that has been made a reality in our country, we will all be responsible. (162)

19 January 1981 (29 Dey 1359 AHS)

Complete Texts of some of Imam’s Speeches Concerning the Position and Rights of Women in the Islamic System

Address to a group of women in Qum

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Incessant greetings to the women of Iran! Peace be upon you, respected ladies. May the mercy of God be upon you, lion-hearted women, whose noble

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efforts have delivered Islam from the fetters of enslavement to foreigners. The peace of God the Blessed and Exalted be upon the nation of Iran, upon the ladies and the men.

Courageous sisters, you fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the men and ensured the victory of Islam. I thank you, women of Iran and women of Qum. May God and the Imam of the Age be pleased with you. Carrying your infants in your arms, you came into the streets and supported Islam with your ardent demonstrations.

I have heard what happened in Qum and other cities; I have heard what happened in Chahar Mardan. I take pride in all the courageous deeds accomplished by the women of Iran, in Qum and other cities for you have been in the vanguard of our triumph and have encouraged the men. Our men are indebted to your courage, lion-hearted women; I am indebted to both the honourable men and women.

Islam has particular regard for women. Islam appeared in the Arabian Peninsula at a time when women had lost their dignity, and it raised them up and gave them back their pride. Islam made women equal with men; in fact, it shows a concern for women that it does not show for men. In our revolutionary movement, women have likewise earned more credit than men, for it was the women who not only displayed courage themselves, but also reared men of courage. Like

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the Noble Qur’an itself, women have the function of rearing and training true human beings. If nations were deprived of courageous women to rear true human beings, they would decline and collapse. It is the women who strengthen the nations, who make them brave.

In the earliest age of Islam, the women participated in wars together with the men. The position of women is a high one. Women in Islam enjoy a high rank. We saw how in this movement the women, the honourable ladies, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the men, in front of them even, in the line of battle. They lost their infants and youth, but still they bravely resisted the enemy.

We want our women to attain the high rank of true humanity, not to be a plaything in the hands of men, in the hands of depraved men. Women must have a share in determining their destiny. Women in the Islamic Republic must vote. Just as men have the right to vote, women too have that right. In this recent period, the women were degraded. One of the great acts of treachery committed against our nation (by the former regime) was that they robbed us of our human resources, they reined in the power of our youth and that of our women, they degraded our women, betrayed our nation.

They turned our women into playthings, into something akin to dolls. Our women were warrior-like, but they

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wanted them to be profligate pleasure-seekers. They insulted woman’s dignity; they wanted women to become mere objects, a possession to pass from one hand to another. God, however, determined otherwise.

Islam grants woman a say in all affairs, just as it grants man a say. Just as men should avoid corruption, so too should women. Women should not allow themselves to be playthings in the hands of dissolute youths, they should not degrade themselves and, God forbid, come out into the streets dressed up and made up, placing themselves in full view of depraved men. Women must act like true human beings; they must be pious.

Women enjoy a dignified position; they have free will just as men have. God created you free beings and gave you dignity. Just as God has laid down laws for men imposing restrictions to prevent them from becoming corrupt, so too He has laid down laws for women. These are for your benefit; all Islamic laws are for the good of society. Those who want to see women as playthings in the hands of dissolute men are traitors.

Women should not be tricked, they shouldn’t imagine their station in life calls for them to come out into the streets dressed up and made up, with no veil and scantily dressed. This is not the role of women; this is the role of a doll. Women must be brave, they must involve themselves in

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the fundamental destiny of the country, [and] they are the makers of true human beings, the educators of mankind.

May God protect you women of Iran, you women of Qum, from the dangers presented by corrupt people, people who in reality are animals (not human beings). Just as hitherto you have always participated in our country’s movements, just as you partook in this movement and played a role in its victory, so too now you must continue to participate and rise up again whenever the need arises. The country belongs to you.

God willing, the hands of foreigners, of venal elements and plunderers have been severed, they have left and the country is yours, yours to rebuild. All the people of Iran, men and women alike, must repair the ruins that the previous regime has bequeathed to us; the hands of men alone will not suffice to accomplish the task. Men and women must collaborate in this respect.

There is one particular point concerning women to which attention should be paid. When women wish to marry, there are certain prerogatives they can stipulate for themselves that are contrary neither to the shari‘a nor to their own self-respect. For example, 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.

This is a right that Islam has granted to women. If

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Islam has imposed certain restrictions on both women and men, it is for the benefit of both. All Islamic laws, be they those which permit or those which prohibit, are for the benefit of all. Similarly, just as Islam has granted man the right to divorce, it has also granted it to woman, 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.

May God adorn all of you with dignity, health, happiness and perfect faith and character.

Peace be upon you, beloved and respected ladies. (163)

6 March 1979 (15 Isfand 1357 AHS)

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[1]: - Chahar Mardan: a district in the city of Qum the people of which played a very significant role in the struggle against the Shah’s regime.

Imam’s address to a group of ladies from Qum

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

When I left Qum you ladies and gentlemen of this city were afflicted with troubles, but you had your youth at your side. When I returned, they were gone. Their loss brought grief not only to the hearts of the mothers and fathers, but to my heart also. I saw the pictures of these brave youth on the walls of the Fayziya

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theological school. [1] I offer my condolences to the people of Qum, to the bereaved mothers, on their loss.

When I left, the whole of our country was afflicted with such troubles; indeed the whole of our country for the past fifty odd years has been in a state of affliction, hardship, repression and dependence on foreigners. God only knows what this father and son [2] have done to this country of ours. Throughout its history Iran has not witnessed the likes of such acts of treason.

All the monarchs throughout the 2,500 years or more of monarchical rule in Iran were traitors; even those who were reputed to be good were traitors, yet their treachery did not reach the bounds, which that of these two did. Indeed, no one really knows to what bounds Riza Shah and his son’s treachery did in fact reach, the extent of their crimes was huge, but the extent of their treachery was even greater.

What scenes we witnessed during the reign of Riza Khan, a reign that perhaps most of you cannot remember. In Qum and indeed in all the towns and cities in accordance with the wishes of those who instructed him and in the name of kashf-i hijab, he violated that which is inviolable in Islam; he violated that which is sacrosanct to the believers and to our respected women. What his agents did to our veiled ladies! How they treated them! They tore off their

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chadors and scarves and confiscated them. I myself witnessed these scenes, and you witnessed what this son did to this country on the plea of creating a ‘great civilisation’.

We cannot imagine the true extent of what they did to this country. We cannot know the volume of their crimes and their treachery. We don’t know where they have bank accounts or the exact amount they have in them. We don’t know for sure that the amount, which has been revealed, is the true amount. It’s not known how much they have in Swiss, American, British or other banks. It is said that recently $3 billion has been taken, but we have no idea how much was taken previously.

At the time of the father, when he entered the war and the Allies sent him into exile, he collected together the crown jewels, filled his suitcases with them and took them with him. As I was told, once out at sea a ship used for transporting livestock drew up alongside the ship on which he was travelling, and he was told (by the British) to board it. That wicked man, who himself was worse than an animal, asked what he should do with his suitcases, he was told they would be brought for him later. But the British took them and kept them for themselves.

In the reign of this son too everything we had, all our self-respect, all our resources, has been taken.

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Our material strength was damaged, but not to the extent that our human resources were. The people were not allowed to develop, centres of corruption were made, gambling houses and houses of ill repute built and placed at the disposal of our youth. They were made to be unmindful of their destinies. So many of our youth became addicted to drugs during his reign, they were stupefied through addiction so they wouldn’t bother about their destinies or where their true destiny lay.

However, God, the Blessed and Exalted, wanted otherwise; He helped you and during these past two years the movement - which originated in the 15th Khurdad movement [1] - blossomed. You ladies have proved that you are in the vanguard of the movement; you have proved that you lead the men; men get their inspiration from you. The men of Iran have learnt lessons from the ladies of Iran and the men of Qum have learnt lessons from you dear ladies. You are in the vanguard of the movement.

Islam holds you in higher esteem that it does men. Islam wants to save you, it wants to save you from becoming this plaything they want to turn you into. Islam wants to train you to become an integrated and virtuous human being, so that in your care suchlike human beings may be raised.

I thank you all for participating in this movement. I thank all the mothers who took part in this

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movement and lost their loved ones. I am deeply sorry for their loss. May God have mercy upon the souls of their martyrs. May He grant you all mercy, happiness and help you attain perfection. All of you must cast your vote, a vote for an Islamic republic, not a word less (in this designation) nor a word more. [1]

You too must vote, you are no different from others; indeed you lead the men. Men are raised in your care, you are the educators of men, recognise your own worth, just as Islam does. All of you take part in this upcoming referendum and vote for an Islamic republic.

I hope that an Islamic republic will be established and Islamic justice and a just government will emerge to save our country from these problems, stop the hands of foreigners from ever again having free rein in this land and ensure freedom and independence for you all. May God’s mercy be upon you all.

Peace be upon you, and also the blessings and mercy of God. (164)

8 March 1979 (17 Isfand 1357 AHS)

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[1]: - The seminary situated in Qum next to the shrine of Hazrat Fatima, the Immaculate One (upon whom be peace) , the sister of Imam Riza, the eighth Imam from the Holy Prophet’s Progeny. Her tomb in Qum is the centre of the shrine complex.

[2]: - Meaning Riza Khan and his son Muhammad Riza Pahlavi.

[1]: - On 3 June 1963, Imam Khomeini delivered a historic speech in Qum, repeating former denunciations of the Shah’s regime and warning the Shah not to behave in such a way that the people would rejoice when he should ultimately be forced to leave the country. Two days later, he was arrested at his residence and taken to confinement in Tehran. His arrest prompted a major uprising in many Iranian cities, which resulted in the deaths of not less than 15,000 people in the span of a few days when the Shah’s troops opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. The date on which this uprising began was 5th June or 15th Khurdad according to the solar calendar used in Iran and became known as the uprising or movement of 15th Khurdad.

[1]: - Refer to footnote 63.

17/11/15

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