The True Identity of Woman

By Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei

Part 3

Women are men's partners in life, not their followers

It is not the case that women must always obey their husbands. No, there is no such thing, neither in Islam nor in other religions. "Men are maintainers of women." [The Holy Qur’an, 4: 34] This does not mean that women must obey their husbands in all affairs. Similarly, we must not listen to the blind followers of Europeans who have never been to Europe and say that women should be in charge of everything and that men should obey them. No, this is wrong too. After all, husbands and wives are partners in life. They are like two friends in life. Sometimes it is the husband who should submit and some other times it is the wife who should submit. They should accept each other's tendencies and demands so that they can live together.

For spiritual matters, women are among the pioneers of the human movement towards improvement. .. When it comes to religious faith, Islam, patience, honesty and making selfless efforts to achieve human, Islamic and spiritual virtues, the Holy Qur’an says, "The believing men and the believing women, and the obeying men and the obeying women, and the truthful men and the truthful women, and the patient men and the patient women and the humble men and the humble women ... " [The Holy Qur’an, 33: 35] In this verse, ten spiritual virtues have been mentioned: Islam, religious faith, obedience, honesty, patience, humility and other things. Men and women move forward shoulder to shoulder in these arenas and the Holy Qur’an mentions both men and women. In this verse, Islam breaks the idol of male chauvinism, which used to be constantly worshipped by both men and women in the era of Jahaliyya. In the arena of political and social issues, Islam refers to women's pledge of allegiance as a necessary and living issue.

"The believing men and the believing women, and the obeying men and the obeying women ... " Muslim men and Muslim women, pious men and pious women, hardworking men and hardworking women - according to Islam, all these spiritual and human virtues have been bestowed equally both on men and on women. In these areas, men and women are equal to each other. Anybody who makes efforts for the sake of God, Allah the Exalted helps him or her live a happy life: "Whoever does good whether male or female ..., we will most certainly make them live a happy life." [The Holy Qur’an, 16: 97]

Islam supports human perfection. As far as Islam is concerned, being male or female does not at all make a difference. As far as Islam is concerned, gender does not matter and what matters is human perfection. Sometimes Islam speaks about men and other times it speaks about women: sometimes it praises women and other times it praises men. Men and women are two parts of humanity, two parts of the existence of mankind. In terms of the human aspect and the divine aspect, there is no difference whatsoever between men and women.

Women's freedom to choose their husbands

Islam has paid special attention to women as wives. First and foremost, there is the issue of choosing one's husband. According to Islam, women are free to choose whoever they want and nobody can impose their opinions on any woman when it comes to choosing a husband. That is to say, even her brothers or father - let alone her relatives - cannot impose a particular husband on her. They do not have the right to do so. This is the view of Islam.

Iranian Muslim women: followers of Hazrat Fatima Zahra (SA)

Pious women in our society should try to appreciate the value of Iranian Muslim women ... An Iranian Muslim woman considers herself at the foothill of a mountain whose peak is Fatima Zahra (SA) - the greatest woman in the history of mankind. Such a woman must turn her back on the playthings that have been created by western civilization and its conspiratorial methods. She must ignore them.

The greatness of Muslim women depends on preserving piety and hijab

It is necessary to present role models for women. It is necessary to specify that a Muslim woman is a woman who safeguards her hijab, her womanly nature and her delicacy, a woman who defends her rights, a woman who moves forward in the arena of spirituality, knowledge, research and closeness to God, a woman who shows outstanding characteristics, a woman who is present in the arena of politics. Such a woman is a role model for all women.

The greatness of being a woman should be understood as the combination of modesty and womanly chastity with Islamic and pious dignity. Our Muslim women are like this.

Identifying the right goals and making sacrifices to achieve them

A Muslim woman is a woman who moves forward on the right path, a woman who identifies the right path and is prepared to make sacrifices on the path she has identified. And such a woman can accomplish great achievements, just as Iranian women did. These are not compliments.

Following Fatima Zahra (SA) and Zeinab al-Kubra (SA) as role models

Women in the modern world need role models. If their role models are Zeinab al-Kubra (SA) and Fatima Zahra (SA), their responsibility is to develop the right understanding, identify the opportunities in a vigilant way and choosing the best courses of action - even if this is accompanied by making sacrifices and remaining steadfast in the face of everything in order to carry out the great responsibility that Allah the Exalted has put on human beings' shoulders. A Muslim woman whose role models are Fatima Zahra (SA) and Zeinab al-Kubra (SA) would act like this.

Refusing to give in to the destructive and enslaving policies of the West

Iranian and Muslim women should continue their struggle with firm determination in order to free themselves from the traps that have been set by the destructive culture of the West, and they must not at all fall for the deception of those [westerners] who want to use women as an instrument to move their destructive and enslaving policies forward. There is a need for subtle vigilance in order to draw the line between women's scholarly, cultural, social, artistic and political position and the efforts that are made to reduce them to the level of an instrument for achieving political and personal goals, and this must not be confused with what is favorable to any liberated and aware human being.

Observing Islamic rules and acquiring knowledge: not contradictory

What I am trying to say is that there is a message that you ladies should convey to the world. Convey this message to the world in a completely clear way. And this message is not one that can be conveyed in speech or in writing, rather it is one that can be best expressed in action. Iranian women - especially those who have managed to move forward in different scholarly areas within the framework of Islam and Islamic rules, and most importantly within the framework of hijab - should clarify to the women and female students throughout the world that knowledge does not mean unprincipled behavior, that lack of commitment to moral principles relating to man-woman relationships is not the requirement for acquiring knowledge, that it is possible to acquire knowledge and achieve high positions while observing these moral principles. And your existence can be an example of the global message of Islam.

The hijab of Iranian women: a model in the world

You should know that Muslim women in many parts of the world are watching you and they are learning from you. The fact that in certain western countries and in certain Islamic countries which are ruled by non-Islamic governments, Islamic hijab is the target of so many attacks by the enemies of religion shows that women have developed a tendency towards hijab. I saw with my own eyes that in some places in the neighboring countries there was no mention of hijab. In the neighboring countries where hijab used to be treated lightly, women - especially intellectual women and female students ­have developed a tendency towards hijab over the past twenty years, since the victory of the Revolution. They have developed interest in hijab. They have turned to hijab and made efforts to preserve it, and the examples have been witnessed in these neighboring countries as well as in western countries. You are a role model.

You see that women and Muslims are turning to hijab in different countries - both in Islamic countries where there was no mention of hijab and the people had been submerged in western education, and in European countries. Of course, Muslims were the first to show their tendency towards hijab. And we saw after the victory of the Islamic Revolution that in distant countries whose people were under the influence of western and European culture, they were experimenting with the kind of hijab that you Iranian women are wearing. This shows that you have made progress.

Tendency towards luxurious lifestyles, fashion, variety and excessive makeup in front of men

The tendency towards luxury was gradually decreasing in our society and at the beginning of the Revolution, ladies would not pay attention to luxury and avoided showing off but according to the reports these things are unfortunately on the rise in our society once again. The intellectual, thinking and knowledgeable women in our society should be aware of this danger. Women must not develop a tendency towards luxurious lifestyles. Of course, the same thing is threatening our men as well, but women are more likely to fall into this trap. But then again in many cases men are under the influence of their wives in this regard. You should really combat this issue in society as well as in your life.

I believe the tendency towards fashion, luxury, variety and excessive makeup in front of men is one of the biggest factors that might derail society and our women. Ladies must resist and confront these things.

Women's failure to dress and behave appropriately in office environments

I would like to put special emphasis on our men and women's behavior and clothing in office environments. Certain people are complaining about this issue. The families of our martyrs and our pious women complain to me about this problem. They call my office, write letters or speak to me whenever they find the opportunity, constantly complaining that the behavior of certain women in our society is not appropriate for the dignity of Muslim women.

Chapter 4: Women in Western World and Materialistic Civilizations

Sexual liberty: destroying the boundaries between men and women

... They get along with everything, except for two, three things. One of the things that they cannot tolerate - which is probably the most important thing - is having a principled distance between men and women, namely exercising self-restraint in the face of what is known as sexual liberty. They seriously resist this - other things do not matter. From their point of view those who insist on preserving a distance between men and women are reactionary. If in a country women are kept away from men according to certain principles, they consider this uncivilized behavior.

Today Iranian women are far more active than the past in the arena of knowledge, politics, art and different social activities, but these things are a secondary issue as far as the western mind and ideology are concerned, as far as the rituals which have been introduced by the Zionists and the arrogant powers are concerned. The primary issue is what Islamic Iran is rejecting categorically: the destruction of boundaries between men and women, destroying women's human dignity and turning women into objects of pleasure or robots that consume luxurious products.

In the West unprincipled relationship between men and women is a common thing. Lack of a distance between men and women is common in social interactions. I am not saying that in western countries all men and women are morally corrupt. No, I am not making such a claim. I would not make such an accusation. The claim that all men and women are morally corrupt in the West is actually wrong. There are definitely good and noble men and women among westerners, but sexual liberty dominates western societies. Sexual liberty is a cultural norm in the West. In western culture sexual liberty is permissible and unconditional.

To be continued…..