TEHRAN -
She threw herself in front of the Guidance Patrol to prevent her from advancing, shouting at the top of her voice, "Do not take my daughter, she is sick." This is how Iranian activists filmed the attempts of a woman in one of the main squares in the capital, Tehran, to prevent the police from taking her daughter to the police headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, on charges of removing the veil. in public places.
The tape quickly spread widely on social media platforms, amid great sympathy from the Iranian public opinion, which in turn interacted with the hashtag "No to Compulsory Hijab", and condemned the patrol officers' neglect of the Iranian woman's plea to release her daughter.
Where are you?
Forbid, it changed Shamma, forbid # nah_by_obligatory_veil# nh_by_mtrsk_boden pic.twitter.com/O4DMxHNZSG
— Weda Rabbani (@vida_rabbani) July 19, 2022
After the trend was made on social media platforms, the Tehran police considered the behavior of the police unit commander in the Guidance Patrol as being outside the law and stemming from an individual behavior, stressing that it had taken punitive measures against him, and also apologized to the citizenship for mishandling it.
The incident brought the old and new debate over the veil back to the fore in Iran, which led to the division of Iranians;
Among the demands to abolish the compulsory veil law based on the principle of individual rights, and those who see it as a religious and necessary dimension in the Islamic system.
Through this report, Al Jazeera Net seeks to provide a clear picture of the causes of the veil controversy in Iran:
How did the debate over the veil start in the Islamic Republic?
After the uproar caused by the previous Pahlavi regime regarding the unveiling of the veil in Iran, and the first Pahlavi Reza Shah’s adoption of a law in January 1936 obligating Iranian women to take off their veils on the pretext that it was “a manifestation of backwardness,” the issue of the veil turned into a symbol of the revolution and rejection of the rule of the Pahlavi era prior to the victory of the revolution. Iranian women began in 1979, when Iranian women began to wear the Persian cloak (the chador) to emphasize their struggle against the Shahnshahi regime.
Following the victory of the Iranian revolution, religious scholars, led by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, demanded that Iranian women wear the Islamic veil in public places, which led to protests and opposition from a segment of Iranian women, but Islamic law imposed the veil in stages in 1981 and 1983.
In the first stage, the wearing of the veil became mandatory in government institutions and departments, until all Iranian women were imposed in public places under the law that established penalties for those who appear in public without the veil, which caused an uproar at the time between those who agree and oppose them.
The mission of the Guidance Patrols in Iran is to implement the hijab law and combat what is known as the bad hijab (Al Jazeera)
What is the story of the guidance patrols and their mission in implementing the headscarf law in Iran?
After the authorities in the young Islamic Republic issued a law imposing the wearing of the veil on all women - Iranian and non-Iranian, whether Muslim or non-Muslim - where the issue of the veil became codified, the revolutionary circles formed bodies to enforce the law, and conducted patrols under the title "Soldiers of God patrols" sometimes and "" Tha'r Allah patrols and Ansar patrols at other times, and the work of these patrols continued over the past years under different names until they became known during the last two decades as guidance patrols.
The Guidance Patrols took upon themselves the task of implementing the veil law and combating what is known as the bad veil, but it has been a subject of controversy since its formation regarding the behavior of its members with non-veiled Iranian women.
In the first months of the enactment of the veil law, when there were many reports of harassment of non-veiled women in public places, the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, opposed the conduct of these patrols and said, “No one has the right to attack these women, this kind of interference is forbidden for Muslims, and the forces of The security and (revolutionary) committees should stand in the face of these currents,” he said, describing those who commit these violations as “deviants” and “enemies of the Islamic revolution.”
How did Iranian society react to the behavior of the Guidance Patrol with the citizen who shouted at the top of her voice, "Don't take my daughter, she is sick"?
The incident aroused the ire of public opinion, along with many prominent personalities who differentiated between the issue of the veil and the behavior of those in charge of implementing its Islamic law.
The grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Hassan Khomeini, considered the behavior of the Guidance Police officers as irrelevant to the mission of guidance, and was neither Islamic nor rational, stressing that it would not benefit (the country).
For his part, the famous actor, Pervez Parastoi, referred to the hadith of the Prophet, "Paradise is under the feet of mothers", criticizing - in a tweet on Instagram - the outrageous behavior against motherhood, and asked, "How will you meet God and respond to this behavior?!".
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A post shared by Parviz Parastouei (@parvizparastouei)
Reformist politician Muhammad Ali Abtahi praised the police's decision to punish the wrongdoer, and demanded, in a tweet on Twitter, the need to teach the cadres of the Guidance Patrols kindness and sympathy in order not to repeat such incidents.
On the popular level, Iranians were divided between those who joined the "No Compulsory Hijab" campaign on social media and others who expressed their discontent with the behavior of the police for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice, stressing that this behavior does not represent them.
In addition, many veiled Iranian women launched the hashtag "I am veiled and I oppose the guidance patrols", which conservative circles considered to be in harmony with foreign plots aimed at targeting the chastity of Iranian women.
A segment of Iranians, especially from the conservative movement, demands the necessity of implementing the teachings of Islamic law regarding the veil and confronting any manifestations that violate the laws imposed by the Islamic regime throughout the Islamic Republic.
Following the controversy over the veil, the country's cultural circles organized celebrations on the occasion of the National Day of the Hijab and Chastity in the largest Iranian cities, while Iranian activists - some of whom are opponents and live in the United States - called on Iranian women to remove the veil and publish photos and videos under the hashtag "No to Compulsory Hijab." on social networking sites.
What is the fatwa of the religious authority in Iran regarding the veil of women?
It came in the religious fatwas section of the Iranian Supreme Leader's website, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in response to the question "What is the appropriate veil for women in society?"
The abaya is the best Islamic veil for women. Any clothing that fulfills the following conditions is considered an Islamic veil:
That it covers the whole body (except for the face and hands to the forearms).
It should cover everything that is considered adornment (even in the face and hands to the forearms).
Not to be noticeable to a foreigner.
That it not display the charms of the body in a way that provokes desire or leads to corruption.
That it should not be something that people refer to as good.
It should not be a men's clothing.
What are the most important demands of those in charge of the "No to Compulsory Hijab" campaign in Iran?
Farnaz Mulla Muhammad, a researcher in social affairs, active in the No Compulsory Hijab campaign, considers that the campaign came to achieve the rights of Iranian women, which they have been fighting for throughout the past century, accusing their country of depriving women of their individual freedoms, such as freedom of expression and the right to choose clothing.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, the campaign on the communication platforms was considered the tip of the iceberg of the demands of millions of Iranian women who suffer discrimination in relation to compulsory hijab, noting that the hijab law in her country is unique among Arab and Islamic countries.
Mullah Muhammad considered that the guidance patrols cause many problems for Iranian women, such as insulting, humiliating, verbal and physical harassment stemming from the ideological view, she said, adding that the country suffers from many problems, including the high cost of living, but the government turns a blind eye to them.
She concluded that the feminist movement in her country continues its struggle until the full rights of women are attained, on top of which is equality in the rights of men and women.
Farnaz Mullah Muhammad says that the guidance patrols cause many problems for Iranian women (Al-Jazeera)
What drives a segment of Iranian women to support government plans to implement compulsory hijab?
The religious factor is at the forefront of the motives supporting the imposition of the veil, according to journalist and social activist Wedadzadeh Baghlani, who believes that the issue of the veil is politicized in her country and that the feminist movement in Iran is linked to foreign parties.
Wedad explained, to Al Jazeera Net, that religious and social laws and customs play a prominent role in determining public freedoms in all countries, and that the law of the Islamic Republic has established the obligatory veil, in addition to religious fatwas that consider the veil as a duty and the task of implementing it falls on the official authorities.
She denied that the Iranian authorities are strict in implementing the hijab law, stressing that the guidance patrols are usually satisfied with enjoining good and forbidding evil, and that they only harass girls who did not comply with the guidance police's instructions.
Wedad continued, "I have previously seen reports confirming that foreign intelligence services have allocated large budgets for cultural invasion and attacking the headscarf in Iran," adding that "about 3,000 members of the Iranian opposition in the Albanian city of Tirana regularly work through social networks to influence the behavior of young people in Iran." ', according to Widadzadeh.
Majid Abhari recommends working to establish moral values within Iranian families, kindergartens, and then schools (communication sites)
What is the main reason behind the renewal of the veil controversy every year in Iran?
The Iranian sociologist, Majid Abhari, says that "the negligence of 22 Iranian cultural institutions over the past four decades and their failure to carry out their duties towards cultural issues, including the veil, has led to the generation of duplicity among new generations that are constantly exposed to brainwashing by hundreds of foreign stations operating." Day and night targeting the moral and religious values of the Iranians.
The Iranian academic - to Al Jazeera Net - explained that he had previously led a number of research projects on how to devote cultural concepts and moral values to the younger generations, and recommended working to devote moral values within the Iranian family, kindergartens and then schools, through attractive incentive programs.
Abhari called for the harmony of cultural institutions in his country to implement integrated programs in order to achieve specific goals with the hijab at the core, warning that the duality of obligatory wearing and not wearing the hijab will negatively affect Iranian society.
He considered the behavior of the guidance and counseling police in his country ineffective in implementing the hijab law, stressing that such harassment would generate stubbornness, especially among young girls who have grown up with a culture of not adhering to the legal hijab.