In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, Prophet Muhammad, and upon his Pure Progeny, particularly His remaining vestige of God on Earth.
Today’s meeting has been very pleasant and useful. God willing, it will have abundant benefits for our future and our way of thinking. I am very happy that we were able to hold this meeting this year. Last year, some women wrote a letter in objection, stating, “Why have you dedicated Women’s Day to meeting with elegists?” They were right. Their objection was correct. Now, such a meeting does not necessarily have to be held on Women’s Day. It is fine to hold it around the time of the birth anniversary of Lady Fatimah Zahra (pbuh). Now, we will continue to hold this meeting in the future as well, provided I am alive.
Up until this moment, this meeting has been exclusively devoted to women and has been overflowing with outstanding, excellent ideas. The talks given by the women here were very good, and I personally, truly benefited from them. Of course, confirming what has been said after merely hearing it read quickly over a microphone one time is not possible. One must reflect and think about these matters. So be sure to give me the notes. The woman who spoke without referring to any notes should write down the things she said too. This way it will be both more precise and I will have more time to think and ponder on it too. Also, I can give these notes to those who can study and think about these matters.
Some recommendations were made. God willing, a solution will be found for these matters. Some of these suggestions may be related to the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. These matters may need to be discussed there or in other places, especially the issue of employing our intelligent, skilled, experienced, knowledgeable, scholarly, wise, perceptive women in different places in the country where decisions are made. This is an important matter. Of course, this issue has occupied my mind. We need to find a solution for this. God willing, we shall find a way. We will see what can be done. Well, you heard many good things from these women today. Before I forget, I would also like to admire this song that the children sang [today]. It was truly praiseworthy. Both the song and the music were very good, and it was performed very well. I would like to thank all those involved in it.
I would like to address a few points about the issue of women today. They are some important points in my opinion. I may have mentioned them before, or perhaps you may have spoken about them, but it is still good to emphasize them. I have talked about this here before to the scholarly women of Iran and also to those who listen to these talks. On the issue of women, our stance toward the hypocritical Western claimants is a position of demand, not defense. There was a time many years ago, when a number of students in a university asked me, “What do you have to say for yourself in defense of such and such case?” I told them, “I don’t have a defense. I have the right to be on the offensive.” It is the same with regard to the issue of women. The world is to blame. When I say “the world,” I am referring to the Western world, Western philosophy, and the existing Western culture. Of course, [what I am talking about] is the modernized West. I am not concerned with the historical West. That is a different matter. The modernized West is the one that has been expressing its opinion on all aspects of life for the last 200 years. We demand answers from them. They are guilty with regard to the issue of women. They are to blame. They have truly done harm. They have committed crimes. Therefore, the things I am saying are not in defense. We are expressing the Islamic viewpoint and beliefs. This is the Islamic stance. I am even hopeful that the issues that we are discussing about women, and I can see that praise God, you and the women who spoke [today] are well versed on these issues, people like you should repeat these things and talk about them. I am hopeful that you will also be able to have an impact on the public opinion of those in the West, because their women are truly suffering. The female community in the West today is suffering unconsciously in some cases and consciously in other cases. You may have an impact on them as well.
One of the points that I would like to talk about today is Islam’s viewpoint with regard to gender and the issue of women. [That is], what is Islam’s view on the issue of men and women. I will talk about this briefly and leave it up to you to research and delve into this topic further for more clarification. Regarding the Islamic viewpoint, it can be said that Islam sees individuals as “human beings” when it evaluates them on the basis of Islam and as a person. Men and women have no priority over one another. They are not different in this. The equality of men and women in terms of human and Islamic values is one of the clear principles of Islam. There is no doubt about this. In the continuation of the verses that were recited here, there is a verse in the Holy Quran that states, “Indeed the Muslim men and the Muslim women, the faithful men and the faithful women, the obedient men and the obedient women, the truthful men and the truthful women, the patient men and the patient women, the humble men and the humble women, the charitable men and the charitable women, the men who fast and the women who fast, the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard, the men who remember Allah greatly and the women who remember [Allah greatly] - Allah holds in store for them forgiveness and a great reward” (Quran 33:35). This is Islam’s view. Or in another verse, [God states], “I do not waste the work of any worker among you, whether male or female” (Quran 3:195). There is no difference [between them]. That is, there is no difference between men and women in terms of human and Islamic values. Islam views men and women as human beings. [Neither one] is more favored than the other.
Of course, the duties of men and women are different, but there is a balance. There is a holy law mentioned in the Quran, in Surah Al-Baqarah, that states, “… and women also have rights similar to those of men over them, in accordance with Islamic law” (Quran 2:228). They have the same number of rights [over men] as [men] have rights over them. Something belongs to them, and proportionately, something else belongs to the other party, which is their duty and responsibility. So, when a duty is assigned to someone, they have a right in return for it. For every privilege that is given to either side, there is a responsibility. There is a complete balance. That is about the rights of men and women. Therefore, they do not have the same rights and duties, but it is balanced. One of the women mentioned this in her talk in this same sense. And work has been done on this. This matter has been studied. You can find details on this in books, different writings, and such.
When we look at responsibilities, emphasis is placed on the natural characteristics of men and women. There are certain differences between men and women, that is, in the female nature and in the male nature. There are differences in their bodies, souls, and in spiritual matters. Their duties are in accordance with these differences. These differences have an effect on the type of responsibilities assigned to men and women. This has to do with the feminine and masculine nature. Neither [gender] should act in a manner that contradicts their nature. A man who resembles a woman in his behavior, facial makeup, and other things, and a woman who resembles a man in her behavior, speech, or in her movements, are behaving improperly. They are both behaving improperly. This was about the personal duties and the different responsibilities that exist in the home and outside the environment of the home.
As for duties in society, the responsibilities of men and women are the same. Their roles are different, but their duties are the same. Jihad is obligatory for both men and women, but the nature of jihad that men undertake is different from the jihad that is undertaken by women. For example, during the 8-year [Holy] Defense war, women also had obligations. They had duties and they performed their duties well. During this period, women performed as well as men did, if not better.
If you have not done so already, I suggest you read books about [the roles of] women during the period of the Holy Defense. A number of books have been written about them. Praise God, our youth are concerned about these things and are producing such books now. Let’s say [you read] one of the books that tells the story of one of the wives of the martyrs. I doubt you will be able to read one of these biographies without shedding tears while reading it. It is impossible.
When one sees the struggles of such a woman, now the man has gone to the battlefield, but this woman is performing jihad. This jihad is obligatory on both of them. Enjoining good and forbidding evil is obligatory on both women and men, but roles have been divided. The roles are not the same. This is the view of Islam in the various fields that I have mentioned. It is both an advanced and a just view. A woman is in her exalted place and a man is in his distinguished place, both enjoying legal, intellectual, theoretical, and practical privileges, contrary to the West’s judgmental, capitalistic system. Of course, I’m referring to the modernized West as I mentioned previously.
Western capitalism is a patriarchal system. So, what they attribute to Islam, which is incorrect and is the opposite of the truth, exists in their own system. Why? This viewpoint stems from the fact that in capitalism, capital is more important than humanity. Humanity is being used to serve capital. Whoever is able to generate and accumulate more capital is more valuable. Men are more aggressive. They are stronger.
The extraction of gold, jewels, and diamonds, etc. from mines was carried out by men in Africa, in the US, and in South America. It is men who have been managing the economy, trade deals, and such. Therefore, men have priority over women in capitalism. Since capital is more in the hands of men, men have a higher priority. So, now that capital is supposed to determine the status of people, people are no longer the same. Naturally, they are different. As I have already mentioned, according to the capitalistic view, the male gender is naturally superior to the female gender.
Therefore, you can see that women are abused in two ways in capitalism. One is in the workplace itself. This is an important point. Now, this woman who said she had lived in the West, she is probably well-aware of these points. You can also find out about this in books and in places where there is information on general subjects. In many Western countries right now, the wages women receive are lower than what men receive for the same type of work. So, they assign the same work that a man does to a woman and pay her less money, because she is weaker, because she is more vulnerable. That is how it is. This is a form of abuse. One of the reasons why the issue of women’s freedom was raised in the 19th century and later in the 20th century, but mostly in the 19th century, was to pull women out of their homes and push them into factories where they could be used and given lower wages.
I would like to add something here. The same thing happened with regard to the freedom of black people in America during the American Civil War in 1860 AD. That is almost 160 years ago. In those civil wars that were going on for several years between the north and the south, over one million people were killed. In the aftermath of those wars, the issue of the freedom of slaves, the freedom of black slaves, was raised. There was agriculture in the south, and there were industries in the north. The south was the center of slaves. The slaves were mostly in the south where they were used for farming. The people in the north needed cheap labor. They needed these black people. The controversy over freeing the slaves was initiated by the people in the north. If you have read the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was written about 200 years ago, it is about that period in time. They encouraged the black people to run away, and they would take them to the other side. Why? So they could free them? No, it was because they needed cheap labor, cheap workers. It is the same method of deception used by the civilized gentlemen in the West when dealing with various issues. There are many other such examples and similar cases.
Therefore, they have truly harmed women in this case when they brought her into the workplace so that they could lower their expenses and pay her less money. Also, [they believed] men are the superior gender, so they decided that women should be used as a means for providing pleasure to men. It is actually very difficult for me to talk about this subject in any gathering, but especially in a gathering with women. But this is the reality. What can we do? They did everything they could to convince women that their value and worth was dependent on their behavior in trying to make themselves more sexually attractive to men. They did everything they could. It is a very sad story.
I have read many things in this regard. It is very difficult to talk about this. In one of the American magazines – which was shown to me around seven, eight, or ten years ago – a very famous American businessman who owned dozens of beautiful, advanced, highly modern chain restaurants, announced that he was hiring people. What type of people? He was hiring young girls and young women under the conditions that were written. One of these conditions was that the length of their dress or their skirt needed to be a certain amount above their knees. They had even published a photo of how the women should be.
You see, the plans they have for their businesses, for their industries, and for their everyday life in the streets is designed in such a manner to satisfy the desires of lustful men by way of their eyes or by other means. Well, they truly dishonored women. They took away women’s dignity. And the worst part is what I just mentioned. They have taken this to the point where a woman herself – a young woman or a young girl – sees it in her interest to appear in a sexually attractive manner in order to make herself appealing to men. Which men? The men who are walking in the streets. By drawing women to this decision, they inflicted the greatest blow to them. And now there are many other problems, many of which you probably already know or have read about.
So, what was the consequence of this patriarchal view? When a man is regarded to be the superior gender in Western civilization and the civilization is patriarchal, what happens is that women set men as their role models and a man becomes the role model of a woman. Women try to do the same jobs as men. That is the outcome. There is a verse in the Holy Quran that I think one of the women here referred to. She didn’t recite the verse, but I believe this is what she was referring to. This holy verse states, “Allah cites an example of the faithless: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot” (Quran 66:10). The example referred to for the faithless are two women. Two women who were unbelievers are the examples of women who were unbelievers. The wife of Noah and the wife of Lot betrayed their husbands. “They then betrayed them, so they did not avail them in any way against Allah” (Quran 66:10). Even though their husbands were prophets, they were of no use to them anymore. They had no benefit for them. This is about the unbelievers.
And then [there is the verse], “And Allah cites an example of the faithful: the wife of Pharaoh” (Quran 66:11). Two women are mentioned as role models for all unbelievers and two women are given as role models for all the believers, both men and women. This means that if all the men in the world wish to be believers, their role models are two women. One is Pharaoh’s wife, and the other is Lady Mary. “And Allah cites an example of the faithful: the wife of Pharaoh” (Quran 66:11). At the peak of decency and chastity is the same woman who prevented Moses from being killed when he was found in the river, “Pharaoh’s wife said [to him], ‘Do not kill him’” (Quran 28:9). Do not kill him. Later, she believed in Prophet Moses and was then tortured to death. She is a role model. [Another role model is] Mary, the daughter of Imran. Now, regarding Lady Mary (pbuh), “… who guarded her chastity” (66:12), she guarded her chastity. Unfortunately, we do not have much information about what happened. There were some issues that revolved around Lady Mary, and she endured them with full strength. She guarded her chastity, and you know the rest. So, it is the exact opposite of Western culture, which sets men as role models. Here in the Quran, women are mentioned as role models, not just for women, but for all of humankind regardless of whether they are unbelievers or believers.
This is where the West’s shamelessness reveals itself. With all the harm that they have inflicted upon women - to a woman’s dignity and her honor - they pretend to be the flagbearers of women’s rights. That is, they are misusing the case of women’s rights in the world [for their own intentions]. This is truly the ultimate shamelessness. Now, sometimes someone may have secret information from somewhere, and at other times they may not. This is so obvious that I really do not want to talk about it anymore. One is shy to talk about what happened to women in the West last year, the sexual assaults and such things. Despite all that, they still say they support women and are in favor of women’s rights! This is what is called women’s freedom in the impious language of the West. When they say women’s freedom, what they mean is this type of freedom. These things are freedom [in their opinion]. This is not freedom. This is slavery. They are insulting women.
Unfortunately, it took a long time before we realized this inside the country. After the Revolution, much of this became clear to us. But before the Revolution, a number of people even said – this is what they had imagined – that this free relationship between men and women in the West allows men to be satisfied and prevents sexual abuse and offences that were sometimes committed in different places. When men are satisfied, they will no longer commit those offences. This is what they had imagined! Now, does it seem like they are satisfied? Or have they become a hundred times greedier, [as can be seen] with the sexual assaults that are taking place?
They are constantly reporting on this, about what’s happening in workplaces, in the streets, and in markets, everywhere. Harassment is even taking place in organized, ironclad organizations like the army, where women are also present. Harassment is different from consensual debauchery. Consensual debauchery is already a problem. On top of that, sexual assault is also taking place. So, not only have they not become satisfied, their greed and lust have increased a hundredfold. This is why when you look at the environment in the West today, you see there is a sex trade, sexual slavery, the transgression of all moral and conventional boundaries, and the legalization of things such as homosexuality, which is forbidden in all divine religions. Talk about homosexuality being forbidden and things like that is not just something found in Islam. These are major sins in all religions. They legalize these, and they really do not even feel ashamed about it! Therefore, one of the actions that is obligatory in our society is that we must strictly avoid the Western viewpoint on the issue of gender and sexuality.
Praise God, wise, learned, intelligent, educated women like yourselves exist everywhere. And this group that is sitting here today is a sample of the population. You are a flower from a great floral garden. Praise God, we have a large number of discerning, judicious, educated, well-informed women throughout the country. Thank God. That dream that we had about these young, pious girls growing up and becoming female scholars and scientists, praise God, that dream has been fulfilled. One of the important things that you need to do is the following. Expose the dreadful view of Western culture toward the issue of gender and the issue of women. Tell everyone. Some people are unaware of it. There are some inside our own country who do not know about it. And there are many outside [the country] who are unaware of it. They do not know about it in Islamic countries. Islamic countries have a thirst for learning about these kinds of things. The places which I have been to and where we are, here - news of this has reached me that it is like this there. And tell the people in Western countries too.
Today, it is very easy to communicate using social media. You can communicate using the social media and lay the groundwork for them to pay attention to these matters. Discuss these concepts using short, expressive statements. Make statements that are both short and expressive, and then send them to increase awareness among the general public. Use hashtags and things of that sort that exist. This is a great tool that is currently at your disposal. So this was one issue, the theoretical and practical view of Islam on the issue of men and women, and the issue of gender.
Another point with regard to the issue of women’s affairs is the subject of the family, which fortunately was brought up and discussed from several perspectives in these women’s speeches today. It was very good. I really enjoyed their statements. You see, the formation of a family is the result of a general law in the universe, the general law of creation. That law is the law of pairs [marriage]. “Glory be to Him, Who created all the pairs of what the earth produces, and of themselves, and of what they know not” (Quran 36:36). The Almighty God has created everything, everything. “He created all the pairs.” There are pairs in human beings, animals, and in plants. “And of what they know not.” There are also some things that are in pairs, which we are unaware of, for example, how pairs are formed within rocks. This may be discovered in the future. The celestial bodies are in pairs. How? We don’t know yet. This will be discovered in the future. You see, “Glory be to Him, Who created all the pairs of what the earth produces, and of themselves, and of what they know not.” So that was about pairs. The verse I read was from Surah Yasin. [It is also mentioned] in another verse [of the Holy Quran] in Surah Al-Dhariyat, “In all things We have created pairs, so that you may take admonition” (Quran 51:49). [The law of] pairs is a universal law.
I would like to mention another point here on the side of our discussion. This pairing that is so obvious in the Islamic viewpoint, is exactly the opposite point of the contradiction in the Hegelian and Marxist dialectics. The main pillar of Hegel’s dialectic, which Marx later took from him, is contradiction. It implies that the movement of society, history, and humanity are caused by contradictory processes [between opposing sides]. That is, there is “thesis” and “antithesis,” and “synthesis” is formed from thesis and antithesis. This is not the case in Islam. Synthesis is not formed from antithesis. It is created from pairing. It is from pairing, compatibility, and companionship that the next position, the next generation, the next movement, and the next stage is born. Of course, this needs to be analyzed and work needs to be done on this. What I said here is a theory. It is a viewpoint. So pairing is a universal law in the world of creation. This pairing exists in plants and animals as well, but this fixed law has certain criteria for human beings. They have set certain rules for human beings in particular. Why have they set these rules? Because pairing could have occurred without rules, in the same way that irregularities exist in some parts of the world. The reason for this is that human beings do things by their own choice. A person’s movement and progress is not possible without his own decision and free will. This decision and authority must be in a particular framework; otherwise, one person may choose something and another person may choose something that is the opposite. And this will result in chaos.
We need laws in order to establish order in society, in history, and in the life of human beings. There are laws everywhere. They also exist in the matter of human beings’ pairing. Again, this is not limited to Islam. If you look at all of the religions in the world, pairing takes place based on a law. In Christianity, in Judaism, [even] in Buddhism, and in other places, in other religions – as far as I know – there is a law by which a man and a woman become a couple. Lawlessness in this area is a sin. It is a crime, it is cruel, and it creates disorder and chaos. These rules are good for the well-being of a family. If these criteria are adhered to, this will result in healthy families. When families become healthy, society will become healthy. Families are the cells that make up society. When families become healthy, society becomes healthy.
So, what is a woman’s role in the family environment? From what I have gathered from the collection of information that is available in the verses [of the Holy Quran], in narrations, and the like, what I picture in my mind is that a woman is the air that fills the atmosphere in a family. That is, just as you would not be able to breathe if there was no air in the environment, that is how it would be if there was no woman [in your family environment]. The woman of the family is like the air that is breathed in that environment. It is narrated that, “A woman is like sweet basil. She is not a maidservant” (Al-Kafi, vol. 11, p. 170). This narration is about here in the family. “Sweet basil” means that she is like a flower, perfume, a pleasant fragrance. That is, this is the air that fills the environment. The word “Qahraman” (maidservant) in Arabic is different in meaning from the word “Qahraman” in Persian. Qahraman [in Arabic] means a maid, worker, or for example, a supervisor. A woman is not a maidservant. In the family environment, you shouldn’t think that you can make the woman do all the work just because you have a wife now. No, if she wishes to do something voluntarily, that is fine. It is her home. If she wants to, she can do some things. If not, no one – whether it is a man or anyone else – has the right to make her or force her to do this or that. So, that is about women in the home environment.
So, a woman sometimes assumes the role of a wife in the family, and at other times she assumes the role of a mother. There are certain attributes for each role. In the role of a wife, a woman is primarily a manifestation of calm, “…and made from it its mate, that he might find comfort with her” (Quran 7:189). She’s a source of calm, because life has its ups and downs. In this sea of life, a man is busy with work and the turbulences. When he comes home, he needs calm. He needs comfort. This comfort is created by the woman at home, “He finds comfort with her.” [This means] that a man should feel calm next to his wife. A woman is a source of tranquility, love, and serenity. A woman’s role as a wife is to provide love and serenity.
As I mentioned previously, if you read the books about the wives of the martyrs, love and serenity can be clearly seen there. One can also see how this man who has made his way to the middle of the battlefield – whether in the Holy Defense, in defending the holy shrines, or in other difficult fields – finds calm next to his wife. His mental turmoil abates, and love keeps him on his feet and gives him courage and strength so that he is able to carry on with his work.
So, this is what a woman is like as a wife. She is a source of tranquility. She is a source of love, calm, and such things. Now, I have already mentioned this about tranquility, “…and made from it its mate, that he might find comfort with her.” This is a verse [from the Holy Quran]. In another verse, it is stated, “He created for you mates from your own selves that you may take comfort in them, and He ordained affection and mercy between you” (Quran 30:21). “Affection” means love. “Mercy” means kindness. Love and kindness are exchanged between a husband and wife. This is what a woman’s role is as a wife. It is not a small role. It is a very important role. It is a very big role. This is related to marital life.
With regard to motherhood, the role of a woman is a role where she gives life. A woman produces beings which come from her. This is how it is. She is the one who carries, she is the one who gives birth, she is the one who feeds, and she is the one who looks after [the child]. The lives of human beings are in the hands of mothers. Children owe their lives to their mothers. The love that the Almighty God has placed in a mother’s heart for her child is unparalleled. There is no other love like it or that is equal to it in quality. She provides life, and generations continue. Mothers bring about the continuation of generations. It is due to motherhood that the human race continues.
Mothers are a foundation for transferring the elements of national identity. National identity is something important. This is about the identity of a nation and a nation’s character. This is primarily transferred by mothers, things such as language, habits, manners, traditions, good morals, and good habits. All of these are primarily passed on by mothers. Fathers are also influential, but much less so than mothers. A mother has the greatest impact.
She is the one who sprinkles the seeds of faith in hearts. It is mothers who raise children to be believers. “Faith” is not a subject to be taught or learned. Faith is something that grows. It is a spiritual growth that must be planted. It is the mothers who plant the seeds for it. The same goes for ethics. So she (a mother) plays quite an extraordinary role.
Now, these two roles are important. I have said this many times already, and it is something that I believe. These things are the main, most important duties of a woman. One of the women here announced that she is a housewife. Well, that’s very good. According to Islam, the main role of a woman is her role as a housewife. However, what’s important is that being a housewife does not mean staying at home all the time. Some people make a mistake about this. When we say housewife, they think we mean that you should sit at home and do nothing, that you have no duties, you should not teach, you should not struggle on the path of God, and that you should not get involved in social work or political activities. That is not what being a housewife means. Being a housewife means taking care of your home, and alongside that, you can do any other work that you are able to manage, you are interested in doing, and you are enthusiastic about. However, all of these come after being a housewife.
If you are caught in a situation where you have to choose between saving a child’s life and working in an office, the child’s life comes first. Do you have any doubts about this? No, no woman has any doubt that a child’s life comes first if [she is in a situation where she has to choose between] a child’s life and working in an office. The same goes for a child’s behavior, a child’s faith, and a child’s upbringing. In other words, in the same way that you have no doubt about [saving] a child’s life, [the same also applies] to a child’s upbringing. Of course, there are some places where you can come up with a solution in one way or another for the so-called doubts between this and that, and solve this in cases. But if there are truly times when you have no other option, then this [the child] takes priority over that [working in the office]. However, if that work is permissible and necessary, and in some cases it is imperative, if that social work is obligatory at times, it is a duty. You must do that work. In that case, you must do it.
Of course, the extent to which it is obligatory depends on how important that obligatory action is. Now, I used a person’s life as an example, [but] there are times when the importance of an obligatory action is higher than the life of a child, the life of a spouse, or the life of someone’s parent. Thus, when you address Imam Hussain (pbuh) [in Ziyarat Ashura], you say, “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you.” Who else is higher than a person’s father and mother? May their lives be sacrificed for you. Or there is a verse in the Holy Quran that states, “Say, ‘If your fathers and your sons, your brethren, your spouses, and your kinsfolk, the possessions that you have acquired, and the trade in which you fear a loss, and the dwellings you are fond of are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and fighting in His way, then wait until Allah issues His edict’” (Quran 9:24). We should not love these things more than God and jihad in the way of God. That is how it is in some places.
When there is a truly significant, crucial obligation, it can become even more important than the life of a child. However, in normal matters in other cases, the core responsibility of a woman revolves around her family. It is truly impossible to manage a family without a woman being present, without her endeavors, and without a woman’s sense of duty. Things do not get managed. Things cannot be managed without a woman. Sometimes there are small problems in a family that cannot be resolved without the gentle touch of a woman. No matter how strong and capable a man is, he cannot solve some of these problems. These subtle problems and sometimes complicated problems can only be handled by a woman’s gentle touch. So, this was about the family.
Now, regarding the issue of the family, if we look at the issues in the West, it is a disaster, a disaster! The West has broken up families. It has truly destroyed them. Although, when I say that they have destroyed families, I do not mean that families don’t exist in the West. They do. Some families are actually good families. They truly are families. Others appear to be a family, but on the inside they are not. I was reading in a Western, American text that in order to really see the children and be a so-called family, the husband and wife set a time to be together. So, you come from your office and your wife comes from her office at such and such time to have tea together in the afternoon, at a set time – for example from 4 to 6 pm. The children come from school too, and they all have a cup of tea together. That is what they call a family. One person goes off and does his own thing. The other stays up late and goes out with friends. This is not a family. It is the appearance of a family.
The West has truly broken up families with the various issues that I mentioned earlier. And this has led to the gradual collapse of families. It has even caused the Western scholars to raise their voices. They themselves – many of their well-wishers, reformists – are paying attention to this and are trying to call people’s attention to it. However, I think they do not have a choice anymore. In some Western countries, the downhill slope has become so steep that it can no longer be stopped. They are going downhill. That is, the families cannot be reformed anymore. This was about the issue of the family.
There are a few other things, but unfortunately, I cannot go into detail about them. One is the issue of hijab. Hijab is obligatory in the religious laws. It is a religious law. It is a religious obligation. There is no doubt about the hijab being obligatory. Everyone must know this. Now, they may raise doubts about whether or not the hijab is necessary. But no, there is no doubt about it. It is a religious obligation that must be observed. However, those who do not fully observe the hijab should not be accused of being irreligious or against the Revolution. No.
I have said this before. There was a time during one of my trips to other provinces, where I mentioned this in a gathering with a number of religious scholars. Some scholars had gathered there. I said, “Why do you make accusations against certain individuals sometimes? This woman, for example, who has exposed some of her hair is often referred to as having ‘bad hijab.’ This should be called ‘inadequate hijab’ instead. Her hijab is inadequate. Why do you accuse such people? When I came into this city, a large crowd came to greet me. Perhaps, at least one-third of the crowd was made up of such women. They were shedding tears. You cannot say they are against the Revolution. How can you say they are against the Revolution when they come forward with this kind of enthusiasm and eagerness, and they take part in certain religious or revolutionary ceremonies?” They are our own children. They are our daughters.
I have repeated this on numerous occasions during the Eid al-Fitr prayers in the Eid al-Fitr sermon, or in the ceremonies that are held in the month of Ramadan on the Qadr Nights. I have seen pictures of this. I could not go there, but I would be shown pictures. And there were women who were covered in different ways in these ceremonies and were shedding tears. I envy them for shedding tears like that! I tell myself that I wish I could shed tears like that girl or that young woman. How can you make accusations against such a person? Yes, not observing the hijab properly or having an inadequate form of hijab is not the right thing to do. But this does not mean that we should exclude these individuals from religion and the Revolution and consider them to be outsiders. Why [should we do such a thing?] We all have certain flaws that we need to correct. The more [flaws] we correct, the better. This was another issue that had to do with the subject of hijab.
One issue that I don't have time to talk about unfortunately, is the service that the Islamic Republic has provided to women. This should not be forgotten. I don't think any of you have seen the period before the Revolution. I have spent almost half of my life in the period before the Revolution. In the pre-revolutionary period, there were very few women who were wise, intelligent, educated, scholars, researchers, and experts in various fields. There are all these female university professors, all these female specialists and consultants in the medical sciences, and all these research scientists in different departments. When I say different departments, there are places that I have actually visited and seen for myself. Intelligent, female scientists are working in advanced scientific and technological areas. Such a thing did not exist before the Revolution. This is an outcome of the Revolution. We have all these female university students. In some years, the statistics have shown that there were more female students than male students. There is much meaning in this. There is all this intense desire to study [and gain knowledge].
And then in athletics, you see our young girls going out onto the sporting field and becoming champions. They win gold medals while wearing Islamic covering. In what better manner can you spread awareness about hijab? Some of these women came and gifted me their gold [medals]. Of course, I return these to them so they can keep them for themselves. But I am truly proud of these kinds of women. In an international arena, millions of people are watching them by way of the cameras. An Iranian woman goes there, receives her gold medal, and raises her country’s flag, all while observing hijab. Is there a way better than this for spreading awareness about hijab?
Women have made progress in different fields, in scientific Olympiads, in different places, everywhere. That is how it really is. Well, a few women here said that [women] are not being employed, they are not involved hands on in the decision-making process. Yes, this is a shortcoming. There is no doubt about it. This flaw must be dealt with. However, the existence of all these wise, intelligent, female scientists, researchers, scholars, and writers is truly remarkable. I really enjoy reading these books that are given to me about the biographies of the martyrs, the martyrs’ wives, and the families of the martyrs. The authors of these books are usually women who have taken the lead from men. What writings! [We also have] female poets, very good poets. The poem that our female program host recited here today was a very good poem that she had written herself. This is also another point.
I would also like to add that in these recent events, you saw how they worked against hijab and such things. Who were the ones who stood up to these efforts and incitements? The women themselves. The women stood up to them. They [the enemies] had pinned their hopes on these women whom you say are wearing a bad form of the hijab. They had pinned their hopes on them. They were hoping that these women who have incomplete hijab would remove it completely. But they didn’t! They slammed those propagandists and instigators.
The final thing that I would like to say is that despite all the things that I have mentioned, despite all the praiseworthy things that have been mentioned, which are all true, I must point out in all fairness that women are oppressed in some families in our society. Because of a man’s physical strength, the volume of his voice, his greater height, and his thicker arms, he abuses women. Women are oppressed. So what is the solution? What needs to be done? We want to safeguard families. The solution is that the laws that are related to family need to be strict and firm so that no man will be allowed or be able to oppress women. The laws should come to the aid of the side that is oppressed. Of course, there are also a few cases where the opposite happens. That is, the woman is the oppressor. We also come across cases like that. Of course, there are not many cases like that, and most of the cases are as I mentioned before. We hope that God willing, all of these matters will be corrected.
I benefited from what the women said here. I hope that, God willing, all of these issues will have a positive outcome in the best way possible. I ask Almighty God to grant all of you what is good, health, and well-being.
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you.