Chowrangi

Iranian cleric opposes women to be appointed governors

Why do mullahs hate women so much? I know many clerics who’re infuriated when they see women driving or working in offices. For some strange reason, Saudi Arabia doesn’t allow women to drive or go out of their houses without being accompanied by a close male relative (like a son or brother or husband). I can understand this kind of thinking among illiterate men who think women are agents of Satan. But this is the twenty first century and most Muslims don’t believe that allowing women any freedom poses a danger to their religion or culture.

So today I was surprised to read that an Iranian cleric (Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpayghani) has warned the government there not to appoint women as governors of provinces (I’d always thought Iranian mullahs were not as illiterate as their Pakistani counterparts). I’d like to mention here that Pakistan has had women governors, ambassadors and even a prime minister, although the Jamaat-e-Islami violently reacted when someone proposed that women should drive buses (even though in some areas of Karachi and Lahore more women than men are seen driving cars).

Talking about the Iranian mullah (Daily Times, 16th October 2009), he is reported to have said that “God will be furious if women become governors.” I’d like to know how he came to this conclusion. I have found nothing in the Holy Koran or the Hadith to support this view.

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Shakir Lakhani

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9 responses to “Iranian cleric opposes women to be appointed governors”

  1. Mohamed Avatar
    Mohamed

    You don’t seem to be warming up to the idea of a women-majority army, this will only cast doubts about your real intentions on women’s equality. I don’t need convincing on “women’s army” or “group of fighters” I will take your word for it. I am happy for you, if you notch more feathers on your cap in the struggle for women’s equality, but obviously, you will have to put a bit of effort in getting the word out and make it happen. I wish you all the best with the women’s army to fight the taliban!

    ”I don’t know what GEO or its owner has anything to do with this. You should see a psychiatrist to cure yourself of this obsession with GEO and Jang”

    “Obsession”? Did we discuss them earlier? Well once, I guess.

    Obviously psychiatric treatment is a requirement for those unacquainted ones “obsessed” with belittling Islam and discrediting learned scholars like Shaykh Bin Baz and Shaykh Salih Al Munajjid by equating them with ignorant mullahs.

    Reply
  2. Shakir Lakhani Avatar
    Shakir Lakhani

    @ mohamed: the woman’s army (actually it was a group of women fighters) was reported by the BBC in the days when the Taliban were terrorizing the people of Afghanistan. I don’t know what GEO or its owner has anything to do with this. You should see a psychiatrist to cure yourself of this obsession with GEO and Jang.

    Reply
  3. Mohamed Avatar
    Mohamed

    “As for a woman’s army to fight the Taliban, there was such an organization in Afghanistan before the Taliban…”

    There you go… You don’t even need to theorise, you already have a case-study at hand. Go ahead and BLOG and get Mir Shakil ur Rehman on the bandwagon. It can trumpeted it on GEO and Jang newspapers, build public opinion and coerce the government… oops! I guess the government won’t need coercing on this one, and will happily replace the men’s army with a women-majority army. Yoo-hoo! We will have taken another giant step in women’s liberation and equality, AND, this one, originated in Pakistan! Yea, another first! For all you know, Taliban may run helter skelter in confusion when they see women chasing them. Guess what, all these first and even a war won, going to your personal credit. So what’s the next step? BLOGGING TIME!!

    Reply
  4. Shakir Lakhani Avatar
    Shakir Lakhani

    @ Mohamed: Not only Christians, Jews and Muslims, even ancient Parsis had this belief that women are agents of the devil. I’ll have to do some research before finding out which Muslim mullahs have said such a thing, but the attitude of mullahs towards women proves that they regard women as inferior and embodiments of evil. If you read the Hadith, you will find much there to indicate that the Prophet (saw) tried hard to make men treat women with respect, but unfortunately whatever he said or did was ignored after his death. As for a woman’s army to fight the Taliban, there was such an organization in Afghanistan before the Taliban were kicked out of that country (it was composed of Ismaili women, as far as I know).

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  5. Mohamed Avatar
    Mohamed

    “…women are agents of satan…”? Wasn’t this a medieval European thought, I am surprised mullahs say this. For example? Can you name some mullahs who say this? I am sure if they say this publicly, there would be other scholars who would correct them.

    The Saudi ban on women driving never made sense to anyone. Don’t know where they get that from. I guess tribal culture. However, women at the prophet’s SAWS time would ride horses and assist in nursing the wounded in the battlefield.

    I do admire the women for the guts they have in fighting oppression, especially those who stood-up to the oppression at Lal Masjid. Women have stood-up as examples to pusillanimous, weak men. There are too many examples to list here. One of the many women is Yvonne Ridley, she is a lone woman army, and I really admire her valour.

    Shakir, speaking of woman army, what do you think about an army of women to fight the Taliban. I think they have a right to have majority-women army. Why not? If men can have majority-men army, why not the women have the same privilege, in this age of equal rights? I will support you 100% if you campaign for such an army, you could start with a simple blog post.

    Reply
  6. Hamid Majid Abbasi Avatar
    Hamid Majid Abbasi

    @shakir
    dats wat i meant and it was just to exchange certain ideas in case u were……………thanx

    Reply
  7. Shakir Lakhani Avatar
    Shakir Lakhani

    @ Hamid: “bt hav u been a leftist in some era?” If by leftist you mean communist or atheist, the answer is “no”. All I want is for Muslims to unite against hypocrites who want to force their version of Islam upon them.

    Reply
  8. Hamid Majid Abbasi Avatar
    Hamid Majid Abbasi

    @shakir
    wonderful post as it brings info…………….bt hav u been a leftist in some era?

    Reply
  9. tayab Avatar
    tayab

    Whenever I read post from Shakir, its nothing but filth. He picks up an individual’s act and generalises it as if it is true for all.

    We all know about wrong actions taken in the name of Islam and there is not point keep insulting religious scholars just because there are a few bad examples.

    I am not sure if Shakir is out there to redicule our faith or he is on mission to pick up and document each wrong doing by mullahs.

    Shakir, I am not againt your freedom play with filth but I am hate the stink.

    Reply

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