The Rights of Women in the Velayat-e Faquih

Photo: Iranian.com


Author: Katayoun at Independence Lost

Corss posted at Independece Lost:
In the Islamic Republic a girl doesn’t have a chance to become a “woman”; she is always the “weaker one”, always there to threaten a "man’s chastity", and always the subject of his desires and needs, but never a person equal to him.As it is a well-known fact, in the Islamic Republic of Velayat-e Faquih, women are the “biggest victims”, who face daily harassment and can be severely punished for their reluctance to observe the Islamic Codes of Conduct.

In order to enforce those codes of conduct a “pseudo army of female Islamic fanatics” called “The Sisters of Zeinab” (Zeinab was the sister of the Shiai’s third Imam, Hossein, who was killed in Karbala) came to power to patrol the streets and punish women who weren’t fully compliant with the Islamic code of dress. Later on, the spiritual leader of the rev. decided to have “The Sisters” integrated into Police and security forces(Neerohay-e Entezami), and an organized groups “Sisters of Basij” a paramilitary organization connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, who have taken after their predecessors with all their Islamic heart.

According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, women are obliged to “regain their role of motherhood and to bring up good and committed Moslems”, who will promote and cherish Islamic Values. Khomeini thought, “women are ought to be tamed and treated accordingly (out of malice)”, for they are the very source of temptation and evil; they can only be good when they raise devoted Moslems.

Let’s take a look at some of the articles of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, The so called Islamic Values, which was “voted” by the Iranian (read Islamic) Parliament. For the sake of this note, we shall briefly point out the idiosyncrasies of the articles 114 and 116, both of which are of great significance in the Islamic Jurisdiction, Judiciary system, and the laws concerning the treatment of “adulteress” and “political prisoners”.

Article 114: “If a woman whose fornication has been proved by evidence (who would testify against a consenting adult’s sexual union?), and is condemned to stoning (Islamic punishment for the adulteress), runs away from the hole in which she is buried to the waist (what type of a superwoman can escape from her grave?), she should be brought back for chastisement; but if fornication has been proved by her own confession (why would any woman go for a confession that will bring her doom, a total annihilation?!), and her flight takes place after the throwing of the first stone (those who have seen those horrible clips of stoning in the infamous You Tube, would kindly agree that the first “stone” is always the killer, for the victim who is half-way buried in her own grave, is already horrified to death),she should not be brought back”.

Article 116: “for stoning, it is necessary that stones should not be too large (usually they are a small pieces of shattered concrete, very sharp around the edges and very effective causing serious-life-threatening injuries, when they hit the desired object) so that the person does not die from the throwing of the first or second stone (apparently Islamic codes of killing does not allow a less-painful-fast death, the longer it takes for the victim to die, the more sacred the whole thing will become), and they must not be too small, just the size of a pebble”.

With respect to the laws concerning the treatment of women political prisoners, Raping has been justified, and therefore it is a widespread and official practice in the dungeons of the Islamic Republic. According to Islam, virgins will go to heaven regardless of their sins. So, to prevent the Virgin political prisoners from entering into Heaven’s gate, the authorities rape them before their death sentence is carried out.

It is also worthy of note to mention that raping women political prisoners is “justified” by the following interpretation of Islam:“Knowing that most of the women prisoners have been found guilty of waging a war against Allah, they will acquire the status of prisoners of war and can furthermore be considered as slaves of the warriors of Islam (i.e., the revolutionary guards). Each of the women can thus belong to a guardian. The guardian can lawfully consider his slave as his concubine and force on her sexual relations”.

It is also important to note that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not even “spared pregnant women from execution,” if they have been found guilty of committing a crime against Islam, or opposing the regime.To conclude this note, I would like to draw your attention to some of Khomeini’s reflections on the treatment of women regarding what we had discussed so far.

In his “famous” book, The Answers to the Problems (توضیح المسائل، یا رساله) he states that:“A distinction is made between man and woman, by referring to man as Human and to woman as otherwise!”Or, “If a Human’s woman has a daughter from her previous husband, the Human can wed that girl to his son…” (Problem 2452)

Or, “If after a Human marries a woman, someone says that woman has a husband and the woman denies it, so long as it is not proven, one must accept the woman’s word (actually that’s the only time when a woman’s word has a ground for acceptance!) (Problem 2457).

Or, “If a woman has breast fed a Human’s brother, she does not become lawful to that Human…” (Problem 4282).

Perhaps some other time, I will discuss the notion of Infanticide in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Till then, have happy and positive thoughts, and remember that we count.