When Reza Khan, the domineering bully, wanted to introduce us to western traditions, the first thing he brought over was the style of clothing and the removal of the veil: that was accomplished by use of force through his style of bullying! Dresses needed to be short; hats needed to be a special model--they even changed the name, hats became chapeaux! If anyone dared to wear a hat different from the "Pahlavi hat," which was the name given to the style worn at the time, or wore a long dress, they were beaten and repelled.
They adopted these traditions from western culture. Women were not allowed to keep their veils. Their chadors (the Iranian hijab) were already forbidden. If they covered their hair and neck, they were beaten! Why? Because, in the West women did not wear head scarves. These styles were adopted from the West. They didn’t bring what was really needed for our nation. No knowledge, no experience, assiduousness and hard-working or risk taking habits--which were the good aspects of the western culture--none, were ever introduced to us. On the other hand, the things that were brought to our nation were accepted systematically. They brought ideas, but they accepted them with no analysis. They said we had to follow them because it came from the West. The clothing, eating, speaking, and even their style of walking were like that of westerners, so they were supposed to be accepted. There was no way out of it. For a country, this is the worst kind of poison.
The true solution is that people of nation try to be themselves; think with their own brains; see with their own eyes; and choose with their own will, doing what is good for them. We need to preserve our civilization and work ethics, relying on our own strength. We should not only emulate. Some people only accept ideas if they’re copied. They do not want to evaluate things according to the norms. They say because this psychologist or that sociologist, or an economist had a specific idea it is to be accepted. If anyone says something against that, he is strongly attacked. Sometime later, those scientists change their beliefs and say something different: again, these people accept the latter, systematically, with no analysis. This is disastrous for our country.
May 02, 2001
Banning hijab was removing the screen and the distance set by Islam between the two sexes. Hijab is a wholesome practice that benefits men and women as well as society. It renders the society healthy and safe. They had plans to inflict all the malicious abuse suffered by women in Western societies on Muslim Iranian women. Using strong-arm tactics, Reza Khan carried out this plan inside the country.
What the Western women achieved by plummeting into the quagmire of corruption and perversion was the destruction of the family. That women could only advance in science and politics or in social activities by merely removing hijab was an absolute falsity. Women could do so by holding onto their hijab and decency and we have experienced the fact in our Islamic country. Banning hijab was a prelude to stripping women of their dignity and decency. It was meant to keep people busy with powerful sexual desires. They wanted to prevent people from doing other things and they were successful for some time.
But the strong faith of the Iranian nation did not let this happen. In spite of all the strictures on hijab in the past, our Muslim women resisted suppression in various ways during and after Reza Khan's reign, and during the rest of the rule of the evil Pahlavi regime. Consequently, on January 7, 1978 in Mashhad, a great procession of Muslim women sparked off a demonstration calling for "keeping hijab". I was in exile when we heard the news of the brave faithful Muslim women who had provoked the demonstration.
What I said was only a tiny fraction of all the disasters that the Pahlavi regime had caused. They destroyed religious ideals, moral values, economic growth, our international honor, and in short, all the assets of a nation were among the acts that the dictatorial and tyrannical regime committed.
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