The despicable actions of the morality police and Iranian government are the result of misogyny being deep-rooted in their totalitarian creed. It is this creed that justifies terrorising ‘headscarf’ protesters. Their self-branding as representative of Islam is compounded by decades of hyper-simplistic media coverage in the West, which has not made any credible attempts to dispute this. As a result, British Muslims struggle with the automatic associations between their religion and authoritarian theocracies, which should be countered.
The protests in Iran began after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in a hospital in Tehran on September 16th, 2022. She was taken into custody by Iran’s morality police, for not wearing her hijab following government standards. She passed away in the hospital the next day, having been left comatose from police brutality. This incident was unlike many others before it in that it sparked widespread outrage in Iran. Upwards of 330 people have died from clashes with authorities instructed to use force to subdue the ensuing protests. In one recent development, a protester has been sentenced to death, with thousands detained for the same crime. The climate is dystopian and heartbreakingly bleak. Cutting hair has become a symbol of the movement, protesting the hijab. I am not Muslim myself, so I spoke to some members of the Islamic Society of Edinburgh University to better understand what the Qur’an and Hadith say about wearing a hijab. They explained to me the rules of modesty in Islam, and how both men and women are expected to cover their awrah (intimate parts). Yes, this is mandated by Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). But two messages are of paramount importance in Islam. Firstly, there is no compulsion in the religion. Enforcing behaviours takes away from the meaning behind it – you cannot fully engage in the religion if you don’t believe what you’re doing. This is related to the second point, Islam’s central creed: “Judgement belongs but to God”. You can educate people but can never judge their behaviours, even privately.
What’s happening is religious manipulation, which is essentially the abuse of power under the guise of religion. History has seen this trend in most religions – Christianity springs to mind, with for instance the sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church. Most relevant to Iran is the religious manipulation conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Most of their manifesto was unfounded in holy scripture (particularly claims that they were establishing a caliphate to fulfil religious mandate). Furthermore, they completely misinterpret the term military jihad: in mainstream Muslim thought, jihad is presented as much more of an internal struggle. ISIS is thereby regarded as a terrorist cult. Yet, simple nomenclature deems them an ‘Islamic State’ while their actions and ideology indicate otherwise. There is an opportunity now to not let history repeat itself – while Iranian government wants us to believe it is an Islamic theocracy, but looking even one step further reveals that it is simply a totalitarian and oppressive regime.
Dangerously, Western headlines constantly reiterate Iran’s ‘religious’ agenda and justifications. In this context, the struggle for British Muslims is twofold. Externally, the correlation between rampant Islamophobia in the UK following events in oppressive Islamic theocracies has been well documented, ever since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Further, British Muslims inevitably begin to internalise these narratives, their perception of self becoming clouded. Some young Muslims grow up feeling ashamed of their religion, being bombarded with Islamophobic portrayals of the Middle East – particularly in the era of social media, blind reposting about news stories has become fashionable.
It needs to be made clear, for the protection of present generations and the sake of future ones, that the Iranian government don’t care about the pure practice of Islam. They care about silencing their people so they can continue to enforce their authoritarian and oppressive reign of terror. They care about diminishing the social power women can hold.
Despite their rhetoric, we need to stop tainting the name of Islam by associating it with these heinous ideologies. When the atrocities in Iran are no longer misconstrued as having religious grounds, the rest of the world will stop distancing themselves from the situation. This is political oppression: crushing protests and freedom of expression is possible anywhere. So, it becomes our responsibility to hold this government accountable by demanding information and supporting insurgents on the ground.
On a personal level, fact-check what you share online. Be aware of the harmful effects of any headlines which even subtly associate terrorism with religion – the effects are more impactful than you realise.
For more events from the Islamic Society of Edinburgh University (a really lovely group): https://www.facebook.com/isocedinburgh
For more about Islamophobia in the UK since 9/11: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021/sep/10/a-conversation-about-islamophobia-in-the-uk-since-911-podcast
For more about the (admittedly confusing) Iranian political system, and Ali Khameni in comparison to his predecessor as Supreme Leader: https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2020/dec/08/part-4-khomeini-khamenei-women
Image “Solidarity with Iranian Protests (52382003122)” by Matt Hrkac from Geelong / Melbourne, Australia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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Don’t Bring Religion into the Iran protests
The despicable actions of the morality police and Iranian government are the result of misogyny being deep-rooted in their totalitarian creed. It is this creed that justifies terrorising ‘headscarf’ protesters. Their self-branding as representative of Islam is compounded by decades of hyper-simplistic media coverage in the West, which has not made any credible attempts to dispute this. As a result, British Muslims struggle with the automatic associations between their religion and authoritarian theocracies, which should be countered.
The protests in Iran began after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in a hospital in Tehran on September 16th, 2022. She was taken into custody by Iran’s morality police, for not wearing her hijab following government standards. She passed away in the hospital the next day, having been left comatose from police brutality. This incident was unlike many others before it in that it sparked widespread outrage in Iran. Upwards of 330 people have died from clashes with authorities instructed to use force to subdue the ensuing protests. In one recent development, a protester has been sentenced to death, with thousands detained for the same crime. The climate is dystopian and heartbreakingly bleak. Cutting hair has become a symbol of the movement, protesting the hijab. I am not Muslim myself, so I spoke to some members of the Islamic Society of Edinburgh University to better understand what the Qur’an and Hadith say about wearing a hijab. They explained to me the rules of modesty in Islam, and how both men and women are expected to cover their awrah (intimate parts). Yes, this is mandated by Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). But two messages are of paramount importance in Islam. Firstly, there is no compulsion in the religion. Enforcing behaviours takes away from the meaning behind it – you cannot fully engage in the religion if you don’t believe what you’re doing. This is related to the second point, Islam’s central creed: “Judgement belongs but to God”. You can educate people but can never judge their behaviours, even privately.
What’s happening is religious manipulation, which is essentially the abuse of power under the guise of religion. History has seen this trend in most religions – Christianity springs to mind, with for instance the sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church. Most relevant to Iran is the religious manipulation conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Most of their manifesto was unfounded in holy scripture (particularly claims that they were establishing a caliphate to fulfil religious mandate). Furthermore, they completely misinterpret the term military jihad: in mainstream Muslim thought, jihad is presented as much more of an internal struggle. ISIS is thereby regarded as a terrorist cult. Yet, simple nomenclature deems them an ‘Islamic State’ while their actions and ideology indicate otherwise. There is an opportunity now to not let history repeat itself – while Iranian government wants us to believe it is an Islamic theocracy, but looking even one step further reveals that it is simply a totalitarian and oppressive regime.
Dangerously, Western headlines constantly reiterate Iran’s ‘religious’ agenda and justifications. In this context, the struggle for British Muslims is twofold. Externally, the correlation between rampant Islamophobia in the UK following events in oppressive Islamic theocracies has been well documented, ever since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Further, British Muslims inevitably begin to internalise these narratives, their perception of self becoming clouded. Some young Muslims grow up feeling ashamed of their religion, being bombarded with Islamophobic portrayals of the Middle East – particularly in the era of social media, blind reposting about news stories has become fashionable.
It needs to be made clear, for the protection of present generations and the sake of future ones, that the Iranian government don’t care about the pure practice of Islam. They care about silencing their people so they can continue to enforce their authoritarian and oppressive reign of terror. They care about diminishing the social power women can hold.
Despite their rhetoric, we need to stop tainting the name of Islam by associating it with these heinous ideologies. When the atrocities in Iran are no longer misconstrued as having religious grounds, the rest of the world will stop distancing themselves from the situation. This is political oppression: crushing protests and freedom of expression is possible anywhere. So, it becomes our responsibility to hold this government accountable by demanding information and supporting insurgents on the ground.
On a personal level, fact-check what you share online. Be aware of the harmful effects of any headlines which even subtly associate terrorism with religion – the effects are more impactful than you realise.
For more events from the Islamic Society of Edinburgh University (a really lovely group):https: //www.facebook.com/isocedinburgh
For more about Islamophobia in the UK since 9/11:https: //www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021/sep/10/a-conversation-about-islamophobia-in-the-uk-since-911-podcast
For more about the (admittedly confusing) Iranian political system, and Ali Khameni in comparison to his predecessor as Supreme Leader:https: //iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2020/dec/08/part-4-khomeini-khamenei-women
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