Ali Shariati (November 23, 1933 in Kahak -
1975 in Southampton, England) was an Iranian revolutionary
[1] and sociologist,
who focused on the sociology of religion. He is held as one of the most
influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century
[2] and
has been called the 'ideologue of the Iranian Revolution'.
I was introduced to him through the writings of Basit Bilal
Koshul. Koshul’s work titled ‘Recounting the Milestones: An appraisal of Islam’s
Encounter with Modernity” also outlines the life and ideas of Ali
Shariati. (
Read it here, page 66). According
to Koshul, Shariati was attempting to articulate a vision of Islam that made
Islam a living historical phenomenon, at the same time that it exposed the
vulgarity, hollowness and inanity of the attempts by the political and cultural
elite of Iran to uncritically import secular, Western culture into their
society.
I came across Ali Shariati’s lecture titled “Fatima is
Fatima” (
Read it here) which he delivered at Husseineh Ershad, an educational
institutional established by Shariati in Tehran. The essence of the lecture is
very interesting and worth reading especially in today’s world where women are
divided between tradition and modernity. I have pasted some highlights from the
lecture below but before I end this post I would like to share with you a
paragraph from the above mentioned work of Koshul.
“Shariati notes that everything that has been said about “man”
in the Qurab also applies to “woman” because, from the Quranic point of view,
both are created from exactly the same nature and each is equally liable to be
held accountable on the Day of Judgement for his or her deeds. Commenting on
the popular misconception that the woman in created “..from the rib of the man,”
Shariati notes that in Hebrew and Arabic one word means both “rib” and “nature”.
During the process of translation, the word “rib” has been used more often with
reference to the relationship of the creation of the women in relation to man.
But the following ayah of the Quran makes it clear that the woman is created
from the same nature as man:
And Allah made for
you mates, of your own nature. (Al-Nahl 16:72)”
Highlights
A new class is created. It is characterized by foreignness
and modernization. It adores the West. It is not religious. If it had a memory
of or inclination towards religion, it has long since been stamped out. Luxury,
transience, pretentiousness and foreignness prevail among this class. And their
Islam, in the words of Sayyid Qutb, is an American Islam.
Woman, in their (traditional clergy) view, must also remain
as she is today because, simply enough, her form existed in the past and has
become part of social traditions. It may be 19th century, 17th century or even
pre-Islamic, but it is considered to be religious and Islamic.
The idealistic schools of thought embrace the highest
values, the absolute and most desirable ideologies. Each and every fact is
categorically rejected if it does not suit them. They have no patience. They
deny unpleasant realities and dig out the roots of anger. Anger, violence,
pleasure seeking and greed are realities which do exist…
The opposite of idealism is realism. Its followers see everything, no matter
how ugly or unpleasant, simply because it has an external existence. They
accept a thing, attach their hearts to it and find faith. They oppose and
reject, however, all beauty, truth and correctness simply because these do not
record with existing realities. Through this rejection, they become unbelievers…
We (Muslims) only have the right to know fashion models and
beauty queens. We have only the right to know movie sex goddesses in cheap
exploitation films, the Queen of Monaco and all of the seven female guards around
James Bond. Such women are the sacrifices made to European production of
Europe. They are the toys and wind-up dolls of the wealthy. They are the slaves
of the houses of the new merchants. We Muslims only have the right to know
these examples of the women of European civilization. I have never seen
photographs from Cambridge, the Sorbonne or Harvard University telling about
female university students who go to the library to work on 14th and 15th
century manuscripts and to research artifacts from 2500-3000 years ago in
China. I have not seen pictures of those who bend over Quranic manuscripts
based upon Latin. I have not seen pictures of those studying Greek, Cuneiform
and Sanskrit texts without moving and without allowing their eyes to rove. They
don't take their heads out of their books until the librarian takes their books
away or asks them to leave.
We separate her from humanity. We thought that if she had
beautiful handwriting, she would write to her lover. With this type of
thinking, it would have been better if we had blinded her so she would never
see a 'forbidden' person. In this way, Mr. Jealous, who feels the weaknesses of
his own personality, would not have to worry about the disloyalty of his wife.
He would be safe to the end of his life.
It was the Prophet who said, "Education is necessary
for Muslims, both men and women." But it is always men who have had the
right to be educated...
They said, a Woman will be freed-not by books or knowledge
or the formation of a culture or clear-sighted vision or by raising the
standard of living, or by common sense or by a new level of vision of the
world, but rather with a pair of scissors. Yes. Putting scissors to the modest
dress!" This is how they think that women will all at once become
enlightened!
An Arab poet tells us, "If a father has a daughter and thinks of her
future, he should think about three different sons-in-law: one, the house which
will hide her; two, the husband who will keep her; and, three, the grave which
will cover her! And the last one, the grave, is the best."
This is why the Koran, in the strongest terms, warns of the
dangers of this frightening 'highest honor' when it says: He hides himself from
the people. Should he keep her with disgrace or bury her alive in the dust?
Behold, evil is what they decide" [16.59].
References
- 30th
Anniversary of the Foundation of the Islamic Republic, A Revolution
Misunderstood. Charlotte Wiedemann
- Gheissari,
Ali. 1998. Iranian Intellectuals in the Twentieth Century. Austin:
University of Texas Press.
- Abrahamian,
Ervand. 1993. ‘Ali Shariati: ideologue of the Iranian revolution’. In
Edmund Burke and Ira Lapidus (eds.), Islam, politics, and social movements.
Los Angeles: University of California Press. First published in MERIP
Reports (January 1982): 25-28
