• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Robert Spencer: Women are the Key to the Iranian Uprising

Jan 5, 2018 10:27 am By Robert Spencer

Khomeini removed women’s rights. Today, Iranian women remove the hijab. My latest in PJ Media:

News out of Iran is scant since the defenders of the Islamic Republic blocked all social media, but that one woman whom the world saw take off her hijab and stand silently and defiantly has become the symbol of the latest freedom uprising there.

This is fitting, because all of the convulsed history of modern Iran began with the shah’s attempts to grant rights to women. As I detail in my book The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Iran, on October 8, 1962, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi — the Western-oriented shah of Iran, whose father, Reza Shah, had admired Kemal Ataturk and set Iran on a secular path — granted women the right to vote in elections for local councils.

In response, a little-known ayatollah named Ruhollah Khomeini and his colleagues instructed Shi’ite clergy all over the country to denounce the government. Several weeks later, the shah relented: his prime minister, Assadollah Alam, announced that the Majlis (Parliament) would decide the question of women’s suffrage. But then in January 1963, the shah announced a series of reforms he called the White Revolution, including distributing land to the poor and allowing women not only to vote but also to run for office.

Khomeini declared: “What is happening is a calculated plot against Iranian independence and the Islamic nation, and it is threatening the foundation of Islam.” He and other Shi’ite clergy called for demonstrations. The demonstrations so unnerved the shah that on January 24, 1963, during a presentation on the glories of land reform, he gave an impromptu speech attacking the ayatollahs and their allies: “[A] stupid and reactionary bunch whose brains have not moved … stupid men who don’t understand and are ill-intentioned … they don’t want to see this country develop.”

The “stupid and reactionary bunch” didn’t give up, and over the years, tensions only increased. The shah exiled Khomeini, but that didn’t calm the situation. In exile in Iraq in 1970, Khomeini articulated a view called velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist). Islam, Khomeini argued, had not just given mankind a set of laws, but “a particular form of government together with executive and administrative institutions.”

He argued that Muhammad “headed the executive and administrative institutions of Muslim society. In addition to conveying the revelation and expounding and interpreting the articles of faith and the ordinances and institutions of Islam, he undertook the implementation of law and the establishment of the ordinances of Islam, thereby bringing into being the Islamic state.”

So, following the example of Muhammad, modern-day Shi’ite clerics must rule Iran and make it an Islamic state. That is, of course, what happened.

The unrest in Iran grew, and repressive measures from the shah only made matters worse. Finally, on January 16, 1979, after riots and numerous calls for him to go, a tearful shah and his family left Iran. On February 1, Khomeini returned to Iran after fourteen years of exile. He announced the formation of a new government, declaring: “This is not an ordinary government. It is a government based on the shari‘a. Opposing this government means opposing the shari‘a of Islam and revolting against the shari‘a, and revolt against the government of the shari‘a has its punishment in our law … it is a heavy punishment in Islamic jurisprudence. Revolt against God’s government is a revolt against God. Revolt against God is blasphemy.”

Khomeini moved swiftly to impose sharia. In March 1979, the new government issued a decree mandating that women must wear the hijab whenever they ventured outside, on pain of arrest. On March 8, 100,000 women, sans hijab, took to the streets of Iran to protest against this — to no avail, of course. The hijab became the most visible symbol of the totalitarian sharia backwater that the Islamic Republic of Iran became.

Today, as the Iranian people courageously stand for freedom, it is most fitting that the removal of the hijab has become the symbol of this movement….

Read the rest here.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Featured, Iran, Robert Spencer, Sharia, women's rights in Islam Tagged With: Ayatollah Khomeini, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. StellaSaidSo says

    Jan 5, 2018 at 10:38 am

    Any woman who ‘chooses’ to wear the hijab is a traitor to her oppressed sisters. Are you listening, Sarsour?

    • Terry Gain says

      Jan 5, 2018 at 10:59 am

      Sarsour is likely receiving Petrodollars for her activism on behalf of Islamic tyranny.

    • Hugo Hackenbush says

      Jan 5, 2018 at 3:27 pm

      No no! It’s only repressive in SHIA Islam. It is FREEDOM in Sunni Islam and in the West. The Ministry Of Truth told me so.

  2. elee says

    Jan 5, 2018 at 10:52 am

    Why Islam delenda est: for a millennium and a half it has caused otherwise reasonably intelligent men and women to disbelieve the obvious testimony of their eyes and ears that this s#$t don’t work. You know, like when we were having Renaissances and Enlightenments and Industrial Revolutions and all.

  3. mortimer says

    Jan 5, 2018 at 11:06 am

    Take this jihad and shove it.

    • Tjhawk says

      Jan 5, 2018 at 3:15 pm

      She’s far braver than any of the pussy hatted women’s march participants. She’s vastly braver than any of the women’s marchers who donned a hijab at the request of Linda Sarsour. The potential consequences for this Persian protester are real and could include her death at the hands of the islamic assahollas who run the place. The consequences for putting on a pussy hat or hijab exist only in their imaginations. They were never in any real danger from the evil white male heirarchy. The D.C. marchers had no understanding of true evil or true danger. I bet that woman in Iran does. Great respect to people who stand for their convictions when the consequences could be grave.

      The “ Hey Hey, Ho Ho, blah blah blah has got to go” people should feel some shame, but I don’t think they will.

      • Shirley Cameron says

        Jan 6, 2018 at 3:47 pm

        Brilliantly said Tjhawk. Those fake women are nowhere to be seen now that REAL women are in TRUE danger in Iran, they should certainly feel shame for sure, but like you, I doubt they will, for they are nothing but sheep, following what they are told. How ironic really, one fake woman holding a placard in DC, marching and chanting the mantra she was told to……when asked what was she protesting, she replied the usual reply, questioned further, she got very confused as the questioner was going ”off topic”. It showed that these fake women had absolutely NO independent thought, a pack of sheep.

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 5, 2018 at 8:56 pm

      Thanks for posting that link, Mortimer. A very brave woman.

  4. mortimer says

    Jan 5, 2018 at 11:09 am

    WHITE WEDNESDAYS in Iran
    Why Iranian women wear white on Wednesday

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 5, 2018 at 8:58 pm

      Excellent news!

  5. Thomas Kimball says

    Jan 5, 2018 at 12:15 pm

    The foundation of Islam is pig dung!

    • billybob says

      Jan 5, 2018 at 12:30 pm

      …mixed with dogie doo.

  6. Colquhoun says

    Jan 6, 2018 at 4:48 am

    In the west we are being subjugated to smiling head scarfed women on the media in the media every goddam place you can think of. The aim is to get us to see this as a norm not as a symbol of oppression.

    What can you do?

    Not a lot unless you move in the circles which create this media and even then you could be black listed very quickly.

    It can only be a personal thing. What I do is always to speak up when I do have to meet and greet these type of people. I make it very plain I will show them no respect as they already decided I am not human, and their values are not normal and the rest of the world.

    It is not much, but I feel better for it. Even if I have been told I don’t seem to like Muslims (It is Islam I hate but people are people just the way they are brought up)

    My family have had experience of the Islamic way of treating non humans.

    Cheers

    Colquhoun

  7. Joy D. Brower says

    Jan 6, 2018 at 6:30 am

    I pray that this revolt does not end in disaster and death! The mullahs are a totally evil lot of failed human beings, and their insane view of “truth” and “religion” needs to be abolished once & for all! The people of Iran are experiencing a living hell – and all freedom-loving people should support the Iranian freedom fighters with everything we have! It is the only moral and righteous thing to do!!

  8. Chris Malan says

    Jan 6, 2018 at 9:11 am

    True. Women will be the undoing of every man everywhere. Look what happened to poor Samson. http://biblehub.com/judges/16-16.htm And that was just the beginning. Later, another woman, Delilah caused his downfall.

    If we can get their women to nag them we may get all of them to commit suicide.

  9. Troybeam says

    Jan 6, 2018 at 9:35 am

    Who to blame for Iran’s woes: Jimmy Carter, former president, peanut farmer. .

    The Shah: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, known as Mohammad Reza Shah, was the last Shah of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979 (wikipedia)

    The Shah Replaced by Ayatollah named Ruhollah Khomeini.

    Before all this took place Iran was a westernized nation. No burkas, no hijab, education for all, no segregation etc.

    The Iran example shows that getting involved in other nations is not always an advantage but it also shows that for the people of the nation can be a life changing event and not always for the better.

    Jimmy Carter’s choice in getting involved in Iran’s politics have damaged our nations
    security and Obama, well Thanks to President Trump he is dismantling all the damage Obama has done with his screw America and gave all deal advantages to the foreign nations while undermining America’s economy and security.

  10. Manny says

    Jan 6, 2018 at 10:04 am

    And the useful idiots have the nerve to claim Islam is pro woman. I can understand the Muslims trying to lie about it but the liberals are just morons.

  11. Gamaliel says

    Jan 7, 2018 at 2:50 am

    Never forget the role of the American Left in creating the Iranian menace. If it hadn’t been for Jimmy Carter, voted in by the American left, Iran might still be a pro-American country. Carter perceived Khomeini as a religious holy man in a grassroots revolution than the founding father of modern terrorism. Carter’s ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young, said” Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint.” Carter’s Iranian ambassador, William Sullivan, said, “Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure.” Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed on Feb. 12, 1979, that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of “impeccable integrity and honesty.”

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Crusades Were Right on Canadian Mental Health Association studies Muslim women’s mental health due to ‘discrimination’ and ‘hate crimes’
  • Crusades Were Right on Muslim cleric: ‘We welcomed the takeover of ISIS because they wanted to implement the Sharia’
  • curious george on Israel At A Crossroads?
  • Crusades Were Right on Muslim cleric: ‘We welcomed the takeover of ISIS because they wanted to implement the Sharia’
  • William Garrison on The Fantasy Islam of Rice University’s Craig Considine (Part 3)

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.