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Text: Zhang Runchen
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Iran in 2022 can be summed up in four words, that is, restlessness. Since the 22-year-old girl was arrested by religious enforcers for the hijab and died as a result. It can be said that the whole of Iran set off a storm of "anti-hijab" demonstrations, which later even extended to the discussion of the political system.
Even the Iranian government eventually had to loosen its religious law enforcement regulations. So why is this hijab problem so serious in Iran, and why is the Iranian government so obsessed with making women wear hijabs?
(Iran protests)
1. The meaning of the headscarf
Looking at the history of Iran, we will find that since Iran entered the modern era, the most important question it has faced is actually the question of whether to modernize its politics and whether to integrate with the "mainstream world" of the West. In Iran, the hijab is not just a religious or Xi issue, but a symbolic issue.
Iran was once one of the few "civilized countries" in the Middle East, and Iran's Pahlavi dynasty, which has close ties to the West, actually hopes to strengthen its political authority by "forcibly banning women from wearing headscarves". So the question arises, why exactly did the Pahlavi dynasty forcibly push forward with the "turban"?
(Reza Khan)
Because the Pahlavi dynasty itself did not have legitimacy, the Pahlavi dynasty was a Sunni, and although they were the majority in the Middle East, they were a minority in Iran. They also overthrew the Qajar dynasty, which had controlled Iraq for more than 100 years, through a coup d'état. So for the Pahlavi dynasty, they could not use religion to rule Iran.
On the contrary, religion became a shackle to the Pahlavi dynasty's rule over Iran. So for the Pahlavi dynasty, the best thing to do is to vigorously promote secularization. After all, the more secular Iran is, the greater the "power in the world" will be, and the more beneficial it will be to the Pahlavi dynasty.
(Secularized Iran)
In fact, in other words, the reason why the Iranian religious government pushed the hijab bill so strongly was actually because the previous Iranian secularization government forcibly promoted the "hijab removal" bill. It's like two sides of the same coin, what you support, I must oppose.
In 1928, Reza Khan passed the Uniform Dress Code, which required Iranian men to wear Western-style clothing and hats. From this, we can also see one of the characteristics of Iran, which is overkill. The 1936 law required Iranian women to remove their headscarves in public.
(Secularized Iran)
In fact, many Iranians at that time were very uncomfortable with this, especially rural women, who would be very embarrassed in public.
Some people choose to grow their hair long so that they cover their faces, as Sadako did. Even more frightening, however, is that city police even search women's homes for headscarves, and Reza Khan's policies are enforced in Iran's major cities.
Second, conflicts are occurring
But Reza Khan's policies, in fact, have been implemented very smoothly in Iran's major cities, because city dwellers are more receptive to new things, and they have long since forgotten to wear headscarves. The Pahlavi dynasty lasted for decades, during which time Iran's urban population was de facto secularized.
(Shia forces)
But the problem is that Iran cannot influence the international situation. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in the seventies, Shiite religious forces in Iran established a theocratic republic. One might argue that the people of Iranian cities also participated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty, but the resistance during the revolution was not limited to Shia religious forces.
There are also the Communist Party, there are democrats, there are all kinds of forces, and the urban population of Iran does not support religious forces in the first place. So, the base of Shiism is actually in the countryside. In fact, any political force serves its own supporters. Since the Shia base is in the countryside, the Shia religious forces must respect the conservative rural community.
(Ilō female)
Of course, the hijab has also been worn again, and in fact, the hijab issue in Iran is essentially an urban-rural contradiction. If conservative rural groups in Iran are willing to abandon their conservative ideas and remove their headscarves, then Shia religious forces will theoretically open their headscarves.
However, we are talking theoretically. Because as Iran's hijab problem has intensified over the decades, the problem is no longer just a matter of urban-rural conflict. The hijab issue has become a question of the authority and even legitimacy of the Iranian government. If the Iranian government makes a little concession, then the Iranian urban opposition will only demand more.
(Islamic Revolution in Iran)
Because Iranian urban groups, and the current Iranian government, are not of the same mind in nature. And more importantly, Iran has been mired in religious antagonism in the Middle East for decades...
3. Stick to the tradition and maintain the tradition
As we all know, there are two major sects of Islam, one is Sunni and the other is Shia. The biggest difference between the two is that the Shiites believe that only the descendants of the holy Muhammad can be the caliphs of the Islamic world, while the Sunnis are the opposite. In essence, the biggest difference between Sunnis and Shiites lies in two words: tradition.
(Ilō female)
Shia, as a relatively "traditionalist", naturally prefer to adhere to Islamic traditions. And "untraditional" is also a major weapon used by Shiites to accuse Sunnis, especially against Saudi Arabia. Many of us feel that Saudi Arabia is actually a very conservative and traditional country.
It is true that Saudi Arabia is very traditional, but Saudi Arabia is not a theocracy, Saudi Arabia is essentially a royal state. The Saud family was a "halfway monk" who became the leader of the Arabian Peninsula by supporting the unpopular Wahhabism. Saudi Arabia is not "traditional" enough, whether compared to Jordan or Iran.
(Secularized women in Iran)
But as an "untraditional" Saudi Arabia, it will even require women to wear headscarves, so Iran naturally cannot "lag behind". Therefore, Iran must hold on to the hijab, and of course it is not only the hijab, but also drinking, women's employment and schooling, and so on.
However, with some changes in the world in recent years, the attitude of the conservative group in Iran towards the hijab is gradually loosening. First of all, the biggest impact will definitely be the great reconciliation of the Islamic world, and Iran will gradually get rid of its long-standing religious antagonism. On the other hand, there is the popularization of the Internet in the world.
(Ilō female)
With the gradual development of the Internet, the conservative people in rural Iran are becoming more and more "civilized". This just shows that the current Iranian government's construction over the past few decades has actually been effective.
At the very least, it has allowed the rural population in Iran to live a relatively modern life, which is a huge improvement over the Pahlavi era. But this also makes Iran's "conservative soil" less and less. The rise of a new class in the countryside also means that Iran's modernization reform has become imperative.
(Iran)
But the Iranian government still doesn't seem to have any intention of opening the hijab, and they don't understand that it's better to be plugged than to be loose.
Resources:
Pan Meng,Ha Quanan.From Religious Clothing to Political Symbols: The Controversy over the Removal of the Hijab by Iranian Women[J].Arab World Studies,2021,(01):117-134+159-160.
Another "hijab turmoil" in Iran, a 16-year-old girl has been confirmed to be brain dead.Observer.com,2023-10-23
Qiu Wenping: Iran's reiteration of the hijab bill is impossible, how will this protest end?.Observer.com,2023-01-12