Teenage Iranian chess master banned from team for refusing to wear "hijab".

You're kidding?

 

What I will have to say here will not fit the agenda of those who want to demonize Iran, and follow the Israeli script of finding ways to isolate the country and pave the way for the combination of diplomatic, political, economic, military and propaganda which is deemed necessary to bring about "regime change" in Iran. Thus, to the extent any of you are interested in that agenda, my comments won't be helpful. For others, however, who are either curious to learn or are otherwise interested in forming their judgments based on an understanding of the issues, I will try to do my part to help.

In that context, I have already offered my views on the specific issue about the story on the young chess player here. The basic point being: a rule that requires a woman to cover her hair by wearing a scarf (even though I don't support it), and a decision not to invite a woman who may refuse to do so, is comparable to a rule in another country in the west that may require women to cover their breasts, and a decision not to invite a woman who refuses to do. The latter rule would be acceptable based on western cultural sensibilities, the former is not.

On the Sunni-Shia divide, which you have described as a 'family dispute, let me quote some passages and make some comments that will hopefully make you better understand the issue, as follows:

1- Initially, when the Sunni-Shia divide arose in the 6th century, it was actually along the lines you mention. As noted in the source I am quoting from here:

2- Eventually, however, the distinctions and differences began to transcend the initial political feud. While, even in those early years, some theological differences had arisen because, unlike the Sunnis, the Shia were not willing to restrict Islam to just the Quran and the words and saying of the prophet and his companion, and wanted to add the sayings and words of the Shia Imams as a source for what Islam stands for, the distinctions became far more pronounced when Shia scholars also developed a concept called "Ijtihad" as a source of law.

3- These theological differences that became more pronounced due to the use of Ijtihad (the use of rational considerations) by Shia scholars,then became even more significant once Iranians rallied under the Shia banner as an expression of their national identity, as well as means to thwart the threat of posed by the Sunni Ottoman empire. In the process of Shia Islam taking up an Iranian character, and beginning to coopt Iranian cultural traditions, we also had countless wars between Shia Iran (whether under the Safavids, the Afsharids, or Qajars) and the Sunni Ottoman empire. As a result, Shia Islam began to be associated with Iran to an extent that even non-Iranian Shia Muslims were often regarded as Persian fifth columnists. Something we see even today in the region.

4- The most significant rift in Islam in actuality represents, not the Shia-Sunni divide, but the larger Persian-Arab divide. The Wahhabis basically are a reaction to undeniable influence of Iranians on Islam and seek to return Islam to its pure and pristine form at the time of the prophet and his companions, representing the culture of the Bedouin Arabs before it was “corrupted” by the Persians long before the Persians had become even Shia. On this, you have to understand that Persian influences were already dominant in the administration and culture of the Abbasid caliphate to such extent that “According to one Abbasid Caliph”:

Add to that influence, the Shia beliefs that are regarded as a ‘heresy’ by the Wahhabis, and which they associated with the Persians, and you will hopefully realize that by lumping together Iran and its practices and culture with those of its enemies, you are basically trying to equate two opposites as being the same!

P.S.
All my quotations above are from: Willis Stanley, THE STRATEGIC CULTURE OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, Prepared for:
Defense Threat Reduction Agency of the Government of the United States
https://fas.org/irp/agency/dod/dtra/iran.pdf

 

Funny how right wingers do not display such outrage when a pol fails to wear a suit and tie when addressing Congress.

Double standards, much???

 

Based on polls I have seen, when it comes to hijab, Iran's population is actually roughly divided into 3 equal parts: around a third favor stricter enforcement of hijab rules, another third are more or less happy with the current state of affairs, and a little more than 30% prefer much laxer rules on hijab. The latter are heavily concentrated among the urban middle and upper middle class. On the other hand, those who favor stricter hijab rules in Iran can also be divided as follows:

1- Middle aged or older traditional women who feel insecure and threatened by women in fashionable clothing and the idea that their husbands might be attracted to them.
2- Many working class and poorer people in Iran, who are attracted to the egalitarian nature of hijab and how it helps hide economic differences.
3- People who hail from strict religious backgrounds.

Different faces of hijab in Iran: