By Farzad Roohi

The role of women in a religious society like the Islamic Republic of Iran, pertains, simply, to the question of who and what women are, the answer to which is found in the Koran. In these sacred Islamic verses the role and nature of women have been described by Allah, or God the almighty creator of us all. Despite the traditional multi-ethnicity of Iranian society’s social fabric, however, Islam as a universal religion for the entire country has shaped the structure of Iran’s society and the mentality of its citizens.

Within the Islamic religious belief and the Koran, the belief is that women were created for the main purpose of their husbands. The Iranian traditional creeds, enforced by religious beliefs especially after the Islamic revolution in 1979, has given rise to a universal psychological delusion that women are the weak elements of the society and thus, they fall in the category of God’s second-hand creatures. This belief implies the natural and divine condemnation of women, who are inferior to men. This social-religious belief has created a role for women as the mother of the kids and a great companionship for the almighty masculine men.

Any culture is a combination of religious beliefs and traditional practices. Moreover, a culture can be described, to a certain extent, in relation to its structural language. Persian language has been influenced profoundly by Arabic language, the said-to-be language of Allah, for the last fourteen centuries. In this case, the word "Adam" was adopted from koranic context and is used to mean human being or mankind. The word "Adamiat," from the root Adam, means humanity. Therefore, to define humanity in an Islamic/Iranian sense, we should focus on the characteristics of men rather than women. This masculine-religious notion of humanity reveals that the role of Iranian/Muslim women is limited to whatever they (women) can contribute to the survival of humanity (men).

The Koran 30.21 states the following:

“By another sign He (Allah) gave you wives from among yourselves, that you (men) might live in joy with them, and planted love and kindness in your hearts. Surely there are signs in this for thinking men.”

This verse is then based on fundamental religious notion that God created women in order that their husbands might have the advantage of their company. The astonishing linguistic definition of humanity in Persian language and the direct word of God regarding who and what women would seems to mandate women’s place in a deeply religious society like Iran.

The daily applications, among men’s conversations, of the word To Zani, which means, you are a woman, is a strong message not only to humiliate but also to impose the demeaning place of women in Iranian society. The inferior social place of the Iranian women has been shaped by the religious belief in which God created Eve from Adam declaring a dependent creation of woman on man. This notion of creation gives a meaning to the role of women in life when one believes that God created Eve to put an end to Adam’s loneliness on Earth.

The Arabic words naghess al aghl meaning, defected witted person, has been integrated into Persian language as a way to describe the intellectual capability of women in general. The religious taboo of not being capable judges comes from this religious sentiment. The Arabic word zaeefeh, meaning, the weaker, is used directly to address the presence of a woman in a group. This linguistic analysis allows us to glean the portrait of who and what women are in the modern Islamic Iranian society.

It is the stated duty of a woman to satisfy her husband in any possible way. This religious phenomenon is well justified both by men and by women because a believer should follow Allah’s command: “Give them their dowry for the enjoyment you have had of them as a duty.”(Koran 4.24) In other words, a husband should live with his wife to satisfy his own need and pleasure. Koran 26.166 also says, “Your wives, whom Allah has created for you.” In this verse, “for you” is taken to mean for your men in any possible way; sure enough pleasure is one of those ways. Therefore, God created women for men’s enjoyment.

The following verse from Koran 4.34 illustrates the status and the nature of woman, as is determined again by Allah:

“Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the others and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. Then if they obey you take no further action against them. Allah is high, supreme.”

According to this verse, then, women have no authority because of their divinely determined subordinate nature. Good women are those who obey their husbands unconditionally and those whose sexuality are the property of men that should be protected by any means. It is elaborated that if a woman disobeys her husband, it is necessary for husband to her by not having sex with her (temporarily) and teaching her a lesson by some physical punishment.

The Koranic description of women determines the role of women in a theocracy-based society, such as is the case in even modern Iran. A so-deemed universal code in the Koran can be used to define women’s role and stature in any time, in any place. The sacred verses put the notion simply, “women are created for men,” and thereby sets forth the limits of women’s roles and rights in a religion-based society.

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