Cultural values override principle of equality

Patriarchal values are being interpreted into the texts of the Koran and are preventing women from participating in discussions of the laws and their significance. Islam has become an instrument used to justify discrimination of women.

Henriette Sinding Aasen, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, is working on a research project on the legal rights of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran in the light of its history, religion and legal development. The point of departure for her project is “Democracy, Human Rights and Islam in Modern Iran: Psychological, Social and Cultural Perspectives,” a book which she has written in collaboration with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Shirin Ebadi, and other co authors.

Challenging the legitimacy of current legislation

Women’s rights are severely limited in contemporary Iran . The objective of Sinding Aasen’s research is to investigate the legitimacy of Iranian laws that discriminate against women. Among other things, she aims to show that it is the patriarchal nature of Iranian culture rather than Islam that has played a decisive role in determining the content of Iranian family and criminal law. A married woman is regarded as the property of her husband and the legal system identifies the man as the head of the family, with the right to rule over women, for example with regard to their work. This is in spite of the fact that one of the basic principles of Islam concerns the equality of persons, irrespective of their colour, race or sex. Sinding Aasen believes that the patriarchal interpretation of the text of the Koran has its origins in a view of women that dates back to before the time when Islam became the official religion in Persia.

Culture from the past

Islam was born in Arabia at a time when women were regarded as the property of men, and new born girls were often killed. The Prophet Mohammed, the messenger of Islam, rejected traditions that were hostile to women and introduced reforms in line with the message of the Koran. Important among these was the prohibition against killing girl children and the requirement that women should consent to their own marriage. In Persia , patriarchal traditions were well established when Islam was introduced as a result of the Arabian invasion in 636. In its meeting with Persian civilisation, the radical message of Islam was modified. In Persia , as in other places where Islam was introduced, the early patriarchal traditions were gradually incorporated into Islam, a practice that also helped the new religion to gain acceptance.

The revolution a disappointment for women

It is true enough that in some of the Koran’s texts, the man is identified as having authority over women. Sinding Aasen believes that these texts have been given too much significance and that they need to be seen in their historical context. It is the basic principle of equality that can claim to be the general rule.

An undemocratic society emerges when some individuals are given a monopoly on interpreting the authoritative texts while others are excluded, in the way that women in Iran have been prevented from interpreting the laws that play such a decisive role in their lives. The Islamic Revolution was a particular disappointment for the women of Iran . Many of them, including Shirin Ebadi, supported the revolutionaries’ resistance to the Shah, but they did not anticipate that the legal position of women would come to be radically weakened by the Islamic Revolution. Few of them suspected that women would be made invisible in society, a condition that the requirement to go veiled and completely covered bears witness to.

“If men had interpreted the Koran with an open mind and had included the voice of women, the situation would have appeared very different,” believes Sinding Aasen.

www.jur.uib.no

Back to front page

To order a free example of the paper edition of Features, contact the Communication and Media Centre either by e.mail or telephone +47 55 58 69 00