Statements in Meeting with a Group of Elite Women

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

First of all, I congratulate you on the occasion of the birth of the Lady of the Two Worlds, the Mistress of the Women of Paradise, Lady Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her). This gathering, thanks be to God, has turned out to be a very important and valuable session. First of all, the esteemed attendees are distinguished women from various aspects of our social and scientific life and are the true elites of society; whether they are esteemed professors and prominent figures in various scientific and technical fields, or the respected families of martyrs, including the honorable wife of a martyr and the mother of four martyrs; these are examples of the pinnacle of women's movement towards perfection and elevation. Thanks be to God, this assembly is distinguished and exceptional in every respect. Another significance of this session is its symbolic aspect. Certainly, there are other esteemed women across the country who have achieved distinctions, demonstrated their capabilities, and are assets for the progress of the country and its future. This session symbolizes the vast movement of women in our country.

The topics that the ladies expressed here encompassed nearly all aspects of the discussion related to women, from the perspective that the Islamic system and the Islamic Republic should view and pursue this issue. I listened carefully to the remarks. Almost everything that can be discussed, researched, and planned regarding women's issues in the country was present in the statements of the ladies. This is very interesting and gratifying for me.

Now, if we want to make a judgment at this point, that judgment would be that the Islamic Republic has been able to reach a peak characterized by the nurturing of wise, thoughtful, and opinionated women on the most delicate and sensitive issues of a society, which I will now elaborate on. The issue of women—which today must be referred to as the "women's crisis"—is one of the most fundamental issues of any civilization, any society, and any country. In this regard, you have been able to achieve subtleties, details, and important headings and think about this issue. Therefore, that judgment is that the Islamic Republic has reached a peak that many countries in the world have not attained.

I would like to mention one point here. The issue of women and family, despite all the work that has been done—by you and by others—remains an important and debatable issue that can be expanded upon in intellectual discourse. This topic is one of the sessions of strategic thought that, God willing, we will have in the future. The strategic thought sessions, of which two have been held so far, will address the most fundamental and strategic intellectual issues of society. One of these issues is the issue of women and family, which has been anticipated in the list of these issues and will be held in the future. I hereby request the esteemed women, the intellectual women—of whom we have fortunately seen examples here today—to participate seriously in this work; discuss, think, study; examine the chapters related to the issue of women separately, in a specialized manner, scientifically, relying on Islamic sources and the pure revolutionary thought—which you fortunately possess—in the session related to this topic; let it be raised, discussed, and, God willing, followed up for planning and action.

Regarding the issue of women in society, the root of the problem lies in two things; there are two fundamental points that if we can think about these two points, propose a new plan, and carry out a persistent and continuous effort, we can hope that over time—whether in the medium or long term—the issue that today can be termed the crisis of women in the world will be resolved. One of these points is the incorrect perception and misunderstanding of the status and dignity of women in society; this perception and misunderstanding originated from the West and is not very old or deeply rooted. Those who claimed that this issue existed in the protocols of Zionist thinkers can be guessed that this is not unfounded. That is, if we look, we see that this incorrect perception, this misunderstanding regarding the status of women in society, perhaps has not existed for more than a hundred or a hundred and fifty years in the West and has overflowed from the West to other societies, including Islamic societies. This is one point.

The second point, which is the root of the problem, is the misunderstanding of the family issue and the poor behavior within family dynamics. These two problems, in our view, have created the crisis of women—which is today a fundamental problem in the world. Perhaps the term "women's crisis" may seem surprising. Today, issues such as the climate crisis, water crisis, energy crisis, and global warming are presented as the main issues of humanity; however, none of these are the main issues of humanity. Most of the fundamental problems of humanity relate to issues that connect with human spirituality, human ethics, and the social behavior of humans with one another; one of these is the issue of women and men, the status of women, and the issue of women and the dignity of women in society; this is indeed a crisis, but it is not openly acknowledged, it is not discussed, and the dominant policies in the world do not consider it in their interest, and perhaps they know that it contradicts their main strategies to raise this issue.

Regarding the first issue, which is the status of women in life and society—however you wish to express it—there is a problem here that has gradually created an imbalance; one side is the beneficiary, and the other side is the one being benefited from; humanity has been divided in this way. The beneficiary side is the man, and the one being benefited from is the woman. This has been quietly established, gradually, through various methods, with different propaganda, over decades—perhaps reaching a hundred years or a hundred and fifty years, which I cannot say precisely, and this issue is subject to research—in Western societies primarily, and then in other societies. The social status of women has been introduced and defined in this way: women as beings who must be utilized by men. Therefore, in Western culture, if a woman wants to manifest in society, to gain a personality, she must present something of her sexual attractiveness. Even in formal gatherings, the type of clothing a woman wears must be pleasing to the beneficiary side—the man.

In my opinion, the greatest blow, the greatest insult, the greatest injustice done regarding the issue of women is this. A social and cultural environment has been created where women are presented as a party to be utilized for the benefit of a beneficiary party; unfortunately, this exists today in Western culture. Others have imitated them, have strived in this direction, and this has become established in the world. If someone says otherwise, they are met with uproar. Suppose in a society the issue of women's adornment and display in public spaces is condemned, an uproar will arise. But when the opposite occurs—namely, when women's nudity is presented in a society—there is no uproar in the world. However, when the covering of women, the non-display of women, and the non-adornment of women in society are raised, the dominant propaganda apparatuses of the world rise up and create an uproar; this indicates that there is a culture, a policy, a strategy that has been pursued for many years, and its foundation is to establish this incorrect and insulting status for women; and unfortunately, they have succeeded.

Thus, you see that in the West, there is gradually open opposition to hijab. The title given to this opposition is that they say hijab is a symbol of a religious movement; we do not want religious symbols to be raised in our societies—which are secular societies. In my opinion, this is a lie; the issue is not about religion or non-religion; the fundamental strategic policy of the West is the exposure and degradation of women, and hijab opposes that. Even if hijab does not stem from a religious motive or faith, they oppose it; the fundamental problem is this.

This issue then has its own consequences, its very painful repercussions in human societies: the issue of the weakening of family foundations—shocking reports, one of which was mentioned by one of the esteemed ladies here—the issue of the heartbreaking and regrettable statistics of human trafficking. Today, according to a report that has been provided—which I believe is a report from the United Nations; a report from an official center—the fastest-growing trade in the world is the trade of women and the trafficking of women. The worst countries in this regard include a few countries, including the Zionist regime. Women and girls are gathered under the pretext of finding work and marriage from poor countries, from Latin America, from some Asian countries, and from some poor European countries, and they are delivered under very harsh conditions to centers that one shudders to imagine and name. All of this is based on this incorrect perception, this unjust imbalance regarding the status of women in society. The phenomenon of illegitimate children—which has the highest statistics of illegitimate children in America—is the phenomenon of cohabitation without marriage; that is, in reality, the destruction of the family unit and the warm and intimate environment of the family and depriving humanity of these blessings; all of these stem from the first problem; we must think about this. The status of women must be defined, and we must firmly stand against the deceptive logic of the West.

Once, I said; I was asked what defense you have against what the Westerners say about the issue of women in the country. I said: We do not have a defense; we have an offensive! In the issue of women, we are demanding from the West; we are claiming against the West; they are the ones who are oppressing women, humiliating women, lowering the status of women; in the name of freedom, in the name of employment, in the name of granting responsibility, they subject them to psychological, emotional, and character-based pressures and insults; they must answer. The Islamic Republic has a responsibility in this regard. The Islamic Republic must clearly and without any flattery express its position—which is primarily a protest against the Western perspective and this unjust Western imbalance. With this perspective, then the issue of hijab, the issue of the type of interaction between women and men, all gain meaning. This is one issue.

The next issue—which is the second problem regarding women—is the issue of family. Islam's view on family and the status of women in the family is very clear. "The woman is the mistress of her house"; this is from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The status of women in the family is as stated in various sayings of the Imams (peace be upon them): "The woman is a flower and not a servant." In Arabic expressions, a servant means a worker, a subordinate, a respected servant. It is stated: within the house, a woman is not a servant; she is a flower, the flower of the house. It is said to men: the best of you are those who have the best behavior with their wives. These are the views of Islam, and there are many such statements. However, the realization of Islam's demands in the family is a matter that cannot be resolved solely by these statements; it requires legal backing, executive backing, and guarantees of implementation; and this work must be done. This work has not been done over the years. Families that were religious, men who had good morals and adhered to religious obligations made considerations; but in cases where these characteristics were absent, these considerations were not made; women have been oppressed within the family.

Of course, it is not that we think that the Westerners are ahead of us in this regard; not at all. I have a lot of statistics, and this esteemed lady also mentioned some statistics; the internal situation of Western families regarding the oppression of women and the non-observance of women's rights is certainly worse than that of Islamic, Iranian, and Eastern families; it is not better, if it is not worse; in some cases, it is certainly worse. We do not look to them; they are not our model. We have many shortcomings in the family environment; it needs legal backing, legal guarantees, and executive guarantees; and this must be realized. This issue is among the areas and fields where little work has been done in this regard within the country, and work must be done.

From the perspective of Islam and Islamic texts, there is no shortage in this section of the issue. We see that sometimes those who criticize Islamic thoughts raise objections regarding inheritance and blood money and such matters, while the objections are not valid; they have logical and strong responses. However, regarding behaviors within the family, unfortunately, it is often neglected; while Islam's view is completely clear. The family environment for women should be a safe environment, an environment of dignity and peace of mind so that women can perform their fundamental duty—which is the preservation of the family—in the best possible way.

Many discussions have been held regarding Islam's view of women, and we have also mentioned it many times. I have repeatedly stated that an example of a faithful and divinely accepted human, and an infidel and rejected person in the sight of God in the Quran is presented as a woman; this is interesting. When the Quran wants to mention examples for good and bad humans, it chooses both from women: "God has set forth an example for those who disbelieve: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot." The Quran introduces these two women as examples, that is, symbols of bad women; the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. Then the opposite point: "And God has set forth an example for those who believe: the wife of Pharaoh." As a symbol of a good woman, a superior woman, and a believing woman, two individuals are introduced: one is the wife of Pharaoh, and the other is Lady Maryam; "and Mary, the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity." Interestingly, the goodness and badness of all four of these women relate to the family environment. Regarding the two bad women—"the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot"—it is stated: "They were under two of Our righteous servants, and they betrayed them." The issue is the issue of family. The subject of the other two women is also related to family; the first, the wife of Pharaoh, her value and importance lie in that she nurtured a prophet of great stature, a Moses, and believed in him and helped him; thus, Pharaoh took revenge on her. The issue is the inner family environment with the immense impact and influence of the work she has done, which is that she has raised a Moses. The same goes for Lady Maryam: "who guarded her chastity"; she preserved her honor, she maintained her chastity. This indicates that in the living environment of Lady Maryam (peace be upon her), there were factors that could have threatened the chastity and honor of a chaste woman, and she was able to fight against them. Therefore, all of this pertains to these important aspects that have been mentioned; the family aspect and the issue of the dignity of women in society. Thus, the issue is a significant one.

Of course, we have made progress in the Islamic Republic. My perspective is an optimistic one. We saw the situation before the revolution up close. The situation that our country, our society, and our women were heading towards was a very horrifying and dangerous one. Due to the imitative nature of the work here, sometimes the outward appearance of women was worse than what we saw in photographs and reports of European women! Such a situation was being promoted. Of course, the Iranian woman, due to the gem of faith that was ingrained in her, was able to overcome this destructive wave; she participated fundamentally in the revolution; both with her presence and by encouraging men; and became a foundational pillar of the victory of the revolution. After the revolution, the movement of women has been extraordinary.

I must say; these wives of the martyrs of the path of truth and the fighters and their mothers are truly a sign of patience and resistance. When one looks at their biographies and reads them, when one observes their sufferings—of course, there were women who were the wives of fighters before the revolution who endured hardships, and there were examples seen there; but the complete examples were during the period of sacred defense—one sees what these wives endured, what these mothers endured. They sent their children to the front lines; many of them were martyred, became disabled, and these exemplars of patience and resistance stood firm like mountains. This is in the realm of spiritual and human issues. In the realm of political issues and in the realm of scientific issues, the country has, thanks be to God, made extraordinary progress. All these women scholars, professors in various scientific fields, in religious sciences, in university sciences—of whom you esteemed attendees are fortunately examples present here—all indicate the success of the Islamic Republic. My perspective is this perspective. This perspective gives hope for the future. With this movement and with this momentum, God willing, we will certainly be able to overcome the erroneous Western culture prevalent in the world. We must work, we must strive, we must follow up. The perspective is an optimistic one; however, this optimistic perspective should not prevent us from seeing the weaknesses. We have made progress, but it is possible that we could have advanced tenfold. What has prevented us from advancing to that extent are the weaknesses and problems that have existed; some of which you have pointed out, and there are other problems that must be resolved.

What I want to express at the end of my remarks is that the main work must be done by the women themselves. You are the ones who can think, engage in intellectual discourse, study, solve the dilemmas in theory and thought, and provide practical solutions in action. This will make the work much easier and closer. Of course, in this session, the esteemed women also provided suggestions; some of these are completely practical and accessible and can be executed, and for some, groundwork can be laid.

In any case, we hope that, God willing, the community of women in our country will be among the most successful communities, and our young girls, God willing, will be able to take greater strides in this field that you have created, and day by day, God willing, we will get closer to the lofty goals of Islam. God willing, this session will also leave its blessings in this area.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.