September 15, 2003
Ayatollah & Women
akhbare-rooz (Daily News) an Iranian site out of Germany has published a group of selected quotes from Ayatollah Ali Meshkini's book called Nasayeh (Advices) on the topic of women. As an introduction, Meshkini is the chairman of the 70+ member Assembly of Experts. This is the outfit that appoints and can remove the highest authority of the Iranian regime; the Supreme Leader. He is also a member of The Guardian Council and the current Friday prayers leader for Tehran. Needless to say, this is a man in positions of significant prestige and authority. As such, what the Ayatollah thinks of almost 52% of people he represents is of extreme importance. Here are a select number of those quotes translated:
☼ "Women are not loyal, they possess inferior morals. The most respectable amongst them is still disreputable and the disreputable ones are scandalous, except for the few who under the refuge of god have been saved from corruption. Whatever secrets you share with them, they will reveal (to others), consequently in life befriend them but don't fall in love with them..." [page 142]
☼ "Depravity comes with three things: women, animals and houses. Woman's corruption is in her seeking a sizeable "marriage gift" and not getting along with her husband. Animal's wickedness is in acting unruly and not allowing people to ride them. A wicked house is too small, has bad neighbors and too many problems." [page 143]
☼ "Those who believe in God and the day of judgment would never allow their wives to go to a bathhouse". It is then added in brackets: "(the special bathhouses that cause moral corruption)" (!!) [page 135]
☼ "A woman becomes available to a man in three ways: permanent matrimony, temporary nuptials and slavery." [page 138]
I really and honestly do not know what to add to that. I can tell you this much; when after so many years I finally got a chance to visit Iran, I genuinely started to feel like I was suffocating after a couple of weeks. Not because of anything else, but only for the way women are treated, viewed and endure inhumanity, nastiness and malice in every step of their normal daily life. Just one look at the way those at the top view them (as seen above), explains where all this cruelty comes from.
Yet, the women of Iran have managed to shine through the sludge surrounding them and have been at the forefront of resisting the advances of a vicious regime, intent on squashing every basic and fundamental rights they merit. The future of Iran undoubtedly belongs to its women and they will lead the way to a free and fair society for all Iranians.
Pedram
I agree with all the above, but I also need to know how can someone in the free western world explain the worlds " Bitches and 'hos" that is used by every 10 year old boy when they wanna talk about a woman or talk to one! Made possible by the Rap Artists...
This is what opression brings, ignorance. Mullahs are acting the same way that black people in the ghettos of U.S do.
" Woman ain't nothing for them but bitches and hos."
Linda there's one way to distinguish the persecution of women in countries (in fact a way we can describe violations in general). For example, in Iran one has both a de jure (legal) and de facto (social) discrimination against women, hence the importance of CEDAW, but as Pedram has illustrated many of the clerics have a belief in the role of women which is contrary to the tenets of CEDAW. In the US, however, including much of the Western world, I still believe there's de facto discrimination against women. Yes you can look at the role of women in rap songs, but what about the fact that women only represent up to 13-20% of national legislatures while they constitute up to 50% of the population and 55% of voting constituencies. Many countries have taken the initiative, such as South Africa, Norway, India, Bangladesh to counter de facto discrimination, particularly in politics by establishing quota systems of up to 30% to have better represented in government. With the strength women exude in Iran I can only hope the country takes measures in order to counter the blatent discrimination displayed by Ali Meshkin.
Posted by: Nema Milaninia at September 16, 2003 12:46 AMFYI,
Meshkini is not a member of Guardian Council.
Siavash
I appreciate your realistic point of view.As an Iranian woman who lived all my life mainly after revolution in Iran,I shall add that despite all the pressures and limitations on Iranian women,they really struggled to gain as many of their rights as they could.The challenge is getting more and more serious...
Sadly I am not in Iran anymore;yet for me this is the new part of my challenge,maybe its the most difficult part.The future of Iran belongs to us,to the men and women who believe in freedom and ask for it.
Posted by: Artmis at September 17, 2003 09:14 PM
I appreciate your realistic point of view.As an Iranian woman who lived all my life mainly after revolution in Iran,I shall add that despite all the pressures and limitations on Iranian women,they really struggled to gain as many of their rights as they could.The challenge is getting more and more serious...
Sadly I am not in Iran anymore;yet for me this is the new part of my challenge,maybe its the most difficult part.The future of Iran belongs to us,to the men and women who believe in freedom and ask for it.
Posted by: Artmis at September 17, 2003 09:14 PM
Maybe this guy can get together with Pat Robertson and go found a country on the south pole.
Posted by: stephen at September 18, 2003 06:21 AMI don't think Pat Robertson deserves his company. Get a grip. Name one Christian religious leader of note denigrading women in such a manner? There is no symmetry to Robertson=the Ayatollah any more than there is to Bush=Hitler. These flippant analogies are getting stupid.
Posted by: penny at September 22, 2003 03:09 PMThis news is bullshit. Sorry, but I know those books, there is nothing right. Some of them are false hadithe which the author disagree!
shame on this newspaper.
.
Really funny site:
http://www.ansme.com/reference/humor/singhsons.html
.
very nice pages. It´s wonderful, being here. You do a great job.
Posted by: uzi at April 26, 2004 01:47 AM