Dr.Syed Mehboob
Senior Research Editor The News Lark
Political and Economic Analyst
Islam gives the best rights to women, which are far better than those of any other society or religion. As a mother, she enjoys more rights than men. It is said by Prophet Muhammad ( Peace be upon him), “ Paradise is under the feet of your mothers”. She has been given the best rights as a daughter, wife, and sister.
Iran is an Islamic country, and after the Islamic Revolution in February 1979, it totally changed. It follows Islamic principles and seeks guidance from the Quran, the Life of Prophet Muhammad ( Peace be upon him), and his revered family, which is called “ Ahle Bait”. Iranian women follow the tradition of Syeda Fatima ( May Allah be pleased with her), who was called the “ Chief of all the women of Paradise” by Prophet Muhammad ( Peace be upon him). Iranian women consider “ Syeda Fatima “ as their role model. In this way, Iranian women differ from their Western counterparts; however, in education, training, professional development, access to science and technology, and entrepreneurship, they can be compared with those of any advanced country. There is a huge difference between propaganda and reality. 84% of Iranian women are literate, while 97% of Iranian girls have access to the education system. More than 20,000 Iranian women are University professors. In Iran, 60% academicians are women, while in the USA, it is 56%. Iran provides maternity leave of six months to women with full pay, while in the USA, women can not avail maternity leave with pay. Suicide rate among women in Iran is only 3.6%, while it is 6% in the USA, twice than in Iran. Women prisoners in Iranian jails are 3%, while in American jails, female prisoners are 6.9%, more than double in Iran. Life expectancy among women in America is 81 years, while in Iran it is 78, very close to that of the USA. It is even though Iran has been facing inhumane sanctions for the last 40 years and faced war for eight years. The share of women in government employment in Iran is 25%. More than 1,000 women in Iran are serving as judges. 900 filmmakers are women. About 700 Managing Directors (MDs) and Entrepreneurs in knowledge-based companies are women. 40% specialists in hospitals and medical centers are women,and 80% Gynecological specialists are women. Literacy rate among women is 99.3 %.
These statistics are eye-opening and astonishing, and quite contrary to what we see in propaganda by Western media, and recently, on the scarf issue, the Indian media also joined hands with the Western one. It is interesting to note that during Reza Shah Pehelvi’s regime Islamic laws were replaced with western one and Islamic dressings were banned, wearing hijab was severely discouraged and police forcibly removed and tore chadors off women who resisted ban on the public hijab but these so called human and women’s rights champions were not only remained silent but fully backed dictator Reza Shah and his puppet government. Why west has this double standard? Allama Iqbal, one of the greatest scholars, intellectuals,philosophers, and poets of the 20th century, exposed this double standard in his poetry. It is also worth mentioning that Allama Iqbal’s Persian poetry played a very important role in Iran’s Islamic Revolution. 70% of Iran’s science and engineering students are women; they are being encouraged to play an even bigger role. The Western and Indian media propaganda shows that women in Iran are seen, but not heard; they are not permitted to drive, and they are treated as second-class citizens. These notions are wrong; for years, women in Iran have owned and managed businesses, many of them in male-dominated industries like oil and gas, construction, mining, and technology.
Iran’s progress and astonishing development in recent years and technology, despite the worst 40 years of inhumane sanctions by the West,would not have been possible without the inclusion of women. Iran recognizes and fully encourages women to participate in education, science and technology, entrepreneurship, the military, and other fields. The number of female digital entrepreneurs has increased, and their entrepreneurial activities have profoundly changed the competition scene.Astonishingly, more than 60% of university students are now female. Never before have so many women been educated as journalists, doctors, lawyers, engineers, and artists.
Women’s increasing presence in the economic and social activities is one of the main pillars of economic development. In recent years, especially after the Islamic Revolution, special efforts were made to increase the role of women in society. As a result, the field of health education enjoyed a significant improvement.
In light ofthe above arguments, it can be said that Iranian women are playing a very active role in Iran’s economic development and progress, and Iran’s Islamic government is making its best efforts to provide equal opportunities to Iranian women to participate in the education, development, and progress of Iran without sacrificing their Islamic values. There is a need to further research and to find more facts about women’s condition in Iran, as currently there is a huge propaganda by Western and Indian media about women’s condition in Iran, and millions of dollars are spent on it.
