News Right Now: Brewing Discontent

Mahsa Amini was a 22 year old Kurdish young woman living in Iran who was taken into police custody for wrongfully wearing the hijab according to the country's public dress code. She was reportedly tortured and suffered a head injury that ultimately led to her death a few days after her detainment. Since then mass protests have taken place up and down the country with people showing resentment towards the government and their laws.

The protests which have erupted has resulted in violence with the Iranian government deploying water cannons to disperse the crowds with live shootings and arrests. They also shut down the Internet to prevent further assemblies and gatherings. The morality police and clerics have responded by defending their positions of committing no wrong. They claim they were not the cause for Mahsa’s death and she was rightfully detained for violating the state law.

Many voices have been raised, especially by western commentators and their media about issues surrounding this incident. They have given the narrative to the world that the main problem and concern is the hijab itself and its enforcement in Iran. They portray its social laws, which is supposedly being implemented in Iran, as Islam being oppressive and therefore Islam is what the deep rooted issue here.

They have exploited the death of Mahsa, and focused their entire reports, stories and views on the women who burnt hijabs and cut their hair at these protests, purely to hurl the accusations against the Islamic dress, hijab and shariah- that it is a tool to oppress and subjugate women- emphasizing and propagating that this is what has caused the masses to come out and finally speak out against it!

This couldn’t be further from the truth! We need to understand that these demonstrations and protests are really the expression of anger that the people of Iran have. They have had enough of their government and want the clerics out and to be accounted for their crimes and injustices - and rightly so. The situation in Iran is saddening. From economic instability, political corruption, unemployment, mistreatment of minorities, hypocrisies of the ruling class and the list goes on and on. All these are the combined factors where it was a matter of time before the people’s anger and grievances caused them to explode. Prominent Iranian sociologist Mohammad Fazeli from Tehran University said that the protests are not simply the outcome of recent events, but they are the product of more than 40 years of bad governance in Iran.

The target of the anger shown through burning of the hijabs or cutting hair had taken a detour, this was an incorrect action because it is very clear that the hijab is the command of Allah (swt) and not some dictate of the Iranian state. So the sentiment of the people is more so agitation towards the injustices and criminalities of the state and in actuality nothing to do with the actual hijab. It’s about the revolutionary ideas that are being forced upon the people by the regime and her clerics, especially the women facing the brunt of its aggression because of their non-proper compliance with wearing the hijab.

Iran is not an Islamic state nor does it have an Islamic system. It’s a corrupt, incompetent and an oppressive regime. Its laws and values are not those of Allah’s (swt). It needs to be removed, replaced to end the suffering and harm against women. The solution lies under the shade of Khilafah (Caliphate), where justice is divine and protects women in such a dignified way. Only when we have our shade are women truly protected and honored with her caretaker and protector with the structure and systems of Allah (swt). It is only then, will we see the true beauty and the light that Islam and her justice gives. Allah says in Surah Ibrahim verse 1

(الٓر ۚ كِتَـٰبٌ أَنزَلْنَـٰهُ إِلَيْكَ لِتُخْرِجَ ٱلنَّاسَ مِنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ)

“Alif Lam Ra. (This is) a Book which We have sent down to you so that, by their Lord’s permission, you lead out the people from the darkness (of ignorance) into the light (of faith), to the way of the Mighty, the Owner of Praise.”

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