In the dominantly oriental delineation, women are regarded as peripheral elements with no role in making history; and in the dominantly western classification, women are creatures whose sexual category is preferred over their humanity and are thus sexual instruments to serve the interests of men and modern capitalism. The lionesses of the Islamic Revolution of Iran and the 8-year sacred defense era against Saddam invasion proved that there is a third paradigm which is neither oriental nor western. Muslim Iranian women opened to the women of the world, a new chapter in history that proved one can be a woman, maintain her chastity, modestly dressed and noble, and yet actively be at the center of the events. One can protect the pure stronghold of the family and yet build new strongholds on the political and social arenas and make great accomplishments. [They were] women who coupled the utmost of their feminine tender emotions and kindness with the spirit of endeavor, martyrdom and resistance, victoriously conquering the most demanding fields through their courage, sincerity and self-sacrifice.
During the Revolution and the Sacred Defense Era, some Iranian women emerged who would globalize the definition of woman; their presence in the arena of growth and self-purification of herself; in the arena of safeguarding a healthy home, and a balanced family; and in the arena of social leadership and the endeavor to bid what is right and forbid what is wrong: endeavor in the social realm. They can break any major impasse.
New sovereignty and charisma has emerged in the recent era, thanks to the blood of these combatting women, who influenced women in the Muslim World firstly, and is going to, sooner or later, influence the position and fate of women of the world, secondly.
As long as the light of Hazrat Khadijah al-Kubra (s.a.) and Hazrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.) and Hazrat Zainab (s.a.) continues to shine, the old and new anti-woman plots will not bear any results. Not only did thousands of Iranian women with Karbala-like spirit stand up against the apparent cruelties against women but they also revealed the true nature of modern cruelties to women.
They showed that women's divine right to dignity is the most important right of women, a right that has never been recognized in the so-called modern world and it is time for this right to be recognized.
I congratulate families of these eminent martyrs and I hope that by the blessed blood of these noble and selfless hardworking women, the media, artists, intellectuals and the cinema can show the world--in desperate need of knowing-- how Muslim Iranian women engaged in great jihad (selfless endeavor).
The Iranian, Muslim, and mujahid woman is going to be the second leader for all women of the world, after the first leaders, who were mujahid women of the early years of Islam.
God’s peace be upon the great lady of Islam, Hazrat Fatima (s.a.), and upon all eminent women who endeavored during the beginning years of Islam, and upon self-sacrificing ladies of the Islamic Iran.
Mar 6, 2013
Regarding the Islamic view of women, there is an essential point that I would like to discuss; this Islamic view is opposite of the Western view of women. The western view of women is an insult to women: they call it "freedom," but it is not, in fact, representative freedom. Over the past two, three decades, Westerners have chosen charming names for their crimes against humanity. Whenever they've committed murder; whenever they've plundered a country; whenever they've enslaved people; whenever they've confiscated other nations' sources of wealth; whenever they've imposed wars on nations or whenever they've committed other crimes, they chose deceptive and beautiful names for their actions: liberation, human rights, democracy and other such things. Describing the western attitude towards women as "freedom" is a deception: it has nothing to do with freedom. The cornerstone of Western culture is that women should be socially presented as a product, an object that men can benefit from; for instance, promoting immodest clothing is a step in this direction.
Over the past 100 years, or more, violence against women in the West has been on the rise: there has been no decrease of violence in this regard. Sexual freedom and unprincipled sexual behaviors in the West have not curbed sexual desires, which are natural and instinctive. In the past, they used to promote the idea that men and women should be allowed to have free relationships with one another to diminish their sexual desires; later on, clearly, quite the opposite happened. The more that they allowed men and women to have free sexual relationships with one another, the more the resulting situation of sexual desires increased. Today, Westerners feel no shame of promoting homosexuality as a moral value: this makes any dignified human embarrassed, but Westerners have no shame. The Western view of women is perverted, flawed, misleading and simply wrong. The Islamic view of women brings about dignity, honor, growth and an independent identity for women: this is our assertion, and we can prove it with extremely compelling evidence.
In an Islamic environment, a woman achieves scholarly growth; she achieves personal growth; she achieves ethical growth; she achieves political growth; she becomes a pioneer of the most essential social issues: yet, she remains a woman. Being a woman is an advantage for any human: a source of pride. Isolating women from much needed feminine environments and characteristics will not bring about a feeling of honor for most women. Moreover, housekeeping, raising children and taking care of one's husband must not be considered a source of disgrace for women! Western culture led to the collapse of family values. Today, one of the greatest problems of the Western world is the breakup of family environments and an increase in the number of orphaned children! The West is suffering from the consequences of neglecting family values and will suffer more: these social developments build up over time. The West will be harmed greatly by this problem, and the flashy, materialistic civilization of the West will collapse along the faults of this problem.
Islam regards women as dignified humans. Men and women share the same characteristic of being human. A human is a human before being a man or a woman. People are equal as far as human nature is concerned: this is the Islamic view. Allah, the Exalted, has bestowed certain physical traits on men and women. Both men and women play a role in creation, in the growth and transcendence of humanity, and in the course of history, but the role of women is more important than that of men. The most important duty of humanity is to aid in human survival through reproduction; in this regard, the role of women is incomparable to the role of men: this is why the home environment is so important. --This is why the family is important. This is why imposing restrictions on human sexual instinct is important. --This is the view that should be adopted on Islamic issues and shari'a. The West, which has strayed from the righteous path, calls these things "limitations” while they label its misleading bondage of women as "freedom." --These are among plots that the west was carried out.
According to Islamic ideals, there is a paradigm for Muslim women to follow. This model is complete: an Islamic woman is a woman who possesses faith; she embraces "ifaff" [chastity, virtue]; she manages the most important elements of human education; she is influential in society; she can grow, scientifically and spiritually; she is the doyenne of the very important foundation of family and a great source of comfort for man: all of these qualities exist, as well as other female qualities such as delicacy, softness of heart, and preparedness for receiving the divine light. These qualities make up the paradigm for the Muslim woman. These are the very characteristics that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) applied to various statements while praising Fatima Zahra, Khadija al-Kubra (God's greeting be upon them), and women in general.
Against this [Islamic paradigm], there is a deviant prototype for women: it has taken up different forms during various eras. Today, that deviant prototype is the standard used by several western women. Presently, instead of all the outstanding characteristics witnessed in Muslim women, the socially acceptable qualities of women promoted by the west are mostly geared towards her ability to attract [negative forms of] attention and objectification from the opposite sex. Henceforth, today, [among western cultures] the most socially encouraged quality of the western woman is nudity. [For example,] During formal meetings –where men and women are allowed to participate together – men cover themselves completely, the women, however, are expected to bare as much as possible: this happens during formal meetings, let alone their social environment!
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