Archive for September, 2008

Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt & Iran
Article: It Takes More Than Words to Change Any Society
Originaly Posted On: 2008-09-14 22:09:00

The editor-in-chief of Cairo’s newspaper Nahdet Masr, Mr. Muhammad El-Sheb’h, has written an editorial, yesterday, about the question of freedom and equality in the Egyptian society.

As an introduction to the subject, he indicated that it is easy for the American society to be critical of the lack of freedom in Egypt. He then explains that the same standards cannot be transferred from one society to the other, simply because the Egyptian society functions under a different set of traditions and rules. And that it will take time, increased awareness and vigorous cultural transformation for the Egyptian society to accept these norms of freedom.

He goes on to stress that this should not be an excuse to justify the poor treatment of religious minorities, such as the Baha’is, Quran’ists and agnostics. He also points to the fact that women are not treated equally in Egypt, citing examples of discrimination in employment and promotion, and giving examples of the paucity of women candidates nominated or elected to positions of political leadership, even in so-called liberal organizations and parties.

He also speaks about the inequality resulting from people’s religious identity being displayed on ID cards and such other official documents, leading to discrimination in employment and citizenship rights. He then elaborates on the perceived need to ultimately remove religious identity from such documents.

It is indeed refreshing to read this article because it points out that there are leading Egyptians that are not afraid of being publicly honest about their true feelings when addressing issues of freedom and equality. This is a relatively new phenomenon that speaks for the inherent courage and gestalt that is omnipresent in Egypt. Voices like these are Egypt’s hope for a bright future.

It must be also said that it takes a lot more than words to change any society. For example, even though discrimination is officially frowned upon in the west, one can find many examples of it that continue to show its ugly face, as can be seen in the words and actions of some of the people living in these so-called liberated and modern societies.

Muslimahs are watching you

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

Blogger: Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead
Article: Muslimahs are watching you
Originaly Posted On: 2008-09-18 08:56:55

Reporting on Muslim women has become the craze of the day. While in many cases journalists are well-intentioned and honestly seek to report objectively on aspects relating to Muslim women, a large number of the resulting articles is riddled with stereotypes and falsities and lack any depth.

In the face of the media misrepresentations, one woman took the initiative and created an online forum dedicated to analyzing and critiquing the portrayal of Muslim women in the media. Muslimah Media Watch is now one of the fastest growing sites in the Islamosphere and Fatemeh Fakhraie, its creator and editor-in-chief, kindy consented to be interviewed.
Q. For a start, could you please give a brief introduction about yourself?

I’m a twenty-something Iranian-American Muslim woman based in the U.S. I’ve just earned my master’s degree and, thanks to the U.S. economy, am still looking for a day job!

Q. What motivated you to start your blog, Muslimah Media Watch?

For starters, I love complaining. Though I realize complaining is really only the first step to change, it’s the step I think I’m best at!

I always felt and saw the inequality that is dished out to women, and I never fully accepted it as the way things are supposed to be. As I got older, I read more and more about feminist movements in the West. While I could always identify with part of their struggles, I always felt that something was missing. There were parts of me that always felt left out. Muslim women weren’t represented. Iranian women weren’t represented. And when either (or both) of these two groups were represented, they did not represent themselves, and they were not talked about with the same tone as the other feminists who are white and “first world”.

After interning at a western feminist magazine and beginning to read a blog that centered on non-white issues (both of which discussed media representation of their respective groups), something clicked. I love media criticism, and I was sort of in the middle of these discussions, but they weren’t specifically aimed at me. So I decided to create my own blog, a space where women like me can finally have a forum for ourselves that is specific to our media representation. It includes feminism, religion, and ethnicities, which enables us to go beyond one issue and look at how they all intersect in the media.

Q. Although Muslims are often portrayed as a monolithic bloc in the media (or at best classified as either liberal/conservative), there are many dimensions to the Muslim community. How have you managed to integrate those myriads of voices without having the discussion steered away into “my Islam vs. your Islam”?

Moderating is a difficult job because it’s a balancing act. MMW has been accused of being both too liberal and too conservative, which makes me think that we’re right on track. My contributors and I are all from different races, nationalities, sects of Islam, etc., but we’re all Muslim women who usually hate how we’re represented.

The “my Islam vs. your Islam” discussions get old quickly; they just go on forever without going anywhere productive. I make sure that readers understand that our site is about media representation of Muslim women, not a place for religious debate.

Q. A recurring topic in your posts is that of veiling and it tends to lead to heated discussions. Why do you think the veil is such a central issue when it comes to Muslim women? Do you think it receives more attention that it deserves?

Frankly, I’m sick of talking about headscarves and Muslim women’s clothing (as I think many Muslim women are). Most Muslim women have more important issues to worry about. However, since headscarf talk is in the media, we cover it.

I definitely think that headscarves and face veils get more attention than they deserve, both in the media and in Muslim communities. In Western media, Muslim women’s clothing is used as a symbol to reinforce the idea that Muslim women are more oppressed or different than Western women.

Within Muslim communities, the headscarf has become such a central issue because it has been deified into something it’s not: a symbol, a representation, a banner. In reality, it is a piece of cloth. A bunch of fibers woven together. But people take it, give it meanings, and then use it as a flag to fly their ideals or politics or what have you.

The headscarf and face veil are personal things, in my opinion. You wear them or don’t, for whatever reasons, but either way you go about your business and don’t give a thought to whether others are wearing them or not. A bundle of fibers cannot be a measuring tool to figure out how good or bad someone is, or what their political beliefs are or aren’t. There are as many different ideas behind veils as there are Muslim women, so I don’t understand why so many people (men and women both) can’t just accept these differences and move onto bigger problems. We’re all Muslim, can’t that be good enough?

Q. Even though you tend to focus on Western media outlets, those from predominantly Muslim countries aren’t free of their stereotypes. Is there a marked difference in the way both portray Muslim women?

We aim to critique all media that affects Muslim women, and Muslim countries’ media is no exception. When the “lollipop campaign” popped up in Egypt, we were right on it.

Unfortunately, since the majority of our contributors are based in North America, we have to rely on the international Muslim blogging community, tips from our international readers, and word-of-mouth for much of our international coverage.

I do believe there are similarities and there are differences. Predominately Muslim countries in North Africa or South/West Asia (NASWA) often portray women the same way that western outlets will portray western women: fitting the cultural ideal of beauty, existing only in relation to men (as a wife, for example), as a symbol for national/cultural traditions, and/or longing for marriage or that perfect shade of lipstick. As if that’s all that women anywhere long for: “Oh, if I just had a better shade of lipstick, all my problems would melt away! If I had a new scarf, I would find the right man for me!”

Q. The term “feminist” bears a negative connotation to many in the Muslim world. As a self-proclaimed feminist, were you ever met with critical reactions and how do you respond to them?

“Feminism” is just a word. It’s been imbued with a lot of negative connotations, both in the East and West. Even if they wouldn’t call themselves feminist, a lot of women in the NASWA regions would agree with things that could be labeled as feminist: better education for girls to combat female illiteracy, more equitable divorce laws, harsher enforcement of penalties against rapists, more equal workplace conditions, etc. If people look past our labels into our discussions, they might agree with some of what we have to say.

Both MMW and myself personally meet with criticism. People sometimes dislike the stances I take as a feminist on certain things both inside and outside of MMW (though I try to keep my politics off MMW, but I write for Racialicious and other outlets when I get a chance). Muslims sometimes refuse the idea that feminism can be Islamic and non-Muslims sometimes refuse the idea that a Muslim can be feminist. It can get frustrating, but I can’t let others define me or my work. Those who want to listen and/or politely debate, will; I’m not particularly concerned about those who don’t.

Q. What would you ideally like media coverage of Muslim women to be?

Obviously, I’d be thrilled if stereotypes (such as those of exoticism, danger, repression, etc.) would finally just die out. I’d like to see Muslim women represented as we are: people of different viewpoints, races, levels of practice, sexualities, nationalities, abilities, etc. Muslim women are just like any other people: all different.

I want to see us define ourselves without worrying about becoming pigeonholed about being “this” or “that” type of Muslim or woman. I want to see us speak for ourselves without facing backlash or unfair appropriation from our communities, societies, and governments (both Muslim and non-Muslim). I’d like images of Muslim women to be contextualized instead of becoming cultural shorthand for things like “religion” or “conservative” or “security threat.”

Q. When I first visited the site, I quickly saw that it had the potential to move beyond a group blog or online forum and have a lasting impact offline. What are your long-term plans for the site? What do you have in store for the future?

First of all, I want to thank MidEast Youth for all the help you’ve given us. It’s partly because of this network that MMW has grown into what it is now.

I’d love to increase our international coverage: we have only one contributor, located in Egypt, and I’d love more input from the NASWA regions, as well as Europe, Africa, and South East Asia. I don’t know about the strength of Muslim communities in South America yet, but I’d love to see coverage from that region, as well.

So far, I’ve taken the blog thing one day at a time and haven’t given an incredible amount of thought to long-term plans. I think it would be great if we could land some interviews with Muslim women who are highly visible in the media. Eventually, it could be pretty cool have a forum similar to talkislam.info, where a community of readers can post things relevant to Muslim women in the media. Perhaps we could have a sister site that is like MMW, but goes beyond the usual topics that are covered in Muslim women’s magazines.

Tali-Jews

Saturday, September 13th, 2008

Blogger: jerusalem wanderings
Article: Tali-Jews
Originaly Posted On: 2008-09-07 12:17:00

It’s been driving me up a wall - the news with “our” crazy rabbinate putting “kosher labels” now on music which I read about here to the modesty patrols beating up women in their own apartments!

Bach and Beethoven are “ok” but the “goyishe” African beats aren’t? Smacks of simple racism to me. Handel’s Messiah is tolerated but not Reggae? Do they not listen to the lyrics in Matisyahu’s songs and hear his love of God and of Judaism there?

It is scary in the religious sector, folks. Is this really where religion is supposed to be? Is this the religion that God gave to the Jews in Sinai? What is frightening is these people totally believe they are right! Fuck! These people are far from the Source.

These are Taliban Jews and they have no place in the Holy Land! Ship ‘em to Afghanistan I say.

But - I had a good laugh the other day on the bus. An Orthodox man asked an older Morroccan woman sitting to the side of me but across the aisle to get up and move (!). She looked at him disbelievingly and then moved to sit next to me. She shook her head at me, her long earrings dangling, and then proceeded to pinch me near my rear end - twice.

I jumped.

“Excuse me?”

She laughed and told me,

“THIS is what I would have done to him, if I sat next to him.”

Did we both have a good and loud laugh.

Blogger: Baha’i Faith in Egypt & Iran
Article: An Independent Scholarly Essay on Iran’s Persecuted Baha’is
Originaly Posted On: 2008-09-10 20:48:00

An essay by a well-known dissident, Ahmad Batebi, on the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran and the deprivation of their youth of higher education, was just published by Iranian.Com on the fourth of September. The essay was originally authored in Farsi and translated to English.

The essay generated several comments that can be viewed at this link to the publishing website. The entire essay is re-posted below:

Freedom for all

The Bahais and higher education in Iran
by Ahmad Batebi
04-Sep-2008

Ahmad Batebi (b. 1977) came to international notice through his appearance on the 17 July, 1999, cover of The Economist magazine, holding up a shirt splattered with the blood of a fellow protester. This photo, which has been called “an icon for Iran’s student reform movement”, was taken during the Iranian student protests of July 1999 in Tehran. Following its publication, Batebi was arrested, tried in closed-door proceedings, found guilty of “creating street unrest”, and sentenced to death. After seven years of torture and imprisonment, he managed to escape, and it is believed that he now lives in the United States. Mr. Batebi is not associated with the Bahai community.(1) The following essay was first published on Tuesday, 2 September 2008, in Persian in RoozOnline. All footnotes were contributed by the translator. — Ahang Rabbani.

From the first hours of 27 July 2008, the results of the nationwide university entrance examination(2) were available on the official website of the National Organization for Educational Assessment.(3)

However, after entering their personal data on the registration website, most of the Bahai applicants were confronted with the strange system response, “incomplete file”. At present there are no exact statistics on how many Bahai applicants have been rejected on the base of “incomplete file”; in light of the imprisonment of the leaders of the Bahai community in Iran, perhaps such statistics will never become available through official means.

However, “incomplete file” is the most perplexing response to student applicants in place of an actual diploma. This is because if the file of a student is indeed missing some important piece of information such that that he is disqualified from receiving a diploma, then according to the regulations of the Organization for Assessment that student is disbarred from participation in the national examination, and under no circumstances would a permit card be issued for him to attend such an entrance exam.

Interestingly enough, alleging that the file is incomplete means that Bahai applicants can no longer appeal to the country’s judiciary for recourse or to outside sources, because under such conditions it is impossible to show that the file has actually been completed.

The same situation for the Bahai students occurred last year as well, but unfortunately repeated and extensive appeals yielded no action and no investigation by the government, the parliament, the judiciary, or any of the oversight agencies. It is understood that the same pattern will be repeated again this year and that once more, a large contingent of the brightest students of Iran will be deprived of higher education – the most natural right of every citizen.

Even if the Bahai youth of Iran were allowed to participate and pass college entrance examinations, they would still not be immune from the menace of a vengeful ideological government. To illustrate this point, I draw the attention of the esteemed readers to a letter of suffering by Hesam Mithaqi – a student deprived of the right to education:

“In 1385 Sh [2006] I participated in the nationwide college entrance examination and was accepted in the bachelor program for English translation in the Sanai Institute of Advanced Studies in Isfahan.

“Early in the first semester, our professor in the Islamic studies class inquired, ‘Do we have any religious minorities in the class?’ Miss Rezai [a Bahai], a Christian student and I declared that we were among the religious minorities. I also added that I intended to minor in Islamic studies. The instructor then asked me to name my religion, but since I knew that mentioning the word ‘Bahai’ would not be prudent, I avoided a direct answer. However, the instructor insisted and I stated that I followed the Bahai Faith.

“After that session, Miss Rezai and I together went to the instructor and suggested that in view of the pervasive circumstances it would be best for him to avoid a discussion of the Bahai Faith in the class and university, since it might result in complications for us, and even for him. He accepted and from that date no such discussion took place in our sessions.

“At the conclusion of the second semester and after we had received our transcripts, we were notified on 14/4/86 [5 July 2007] that back in Farvardin [March 2007] the university had received official instructions for our expulsion. In response, the school authorities had written to their superiors explaining their unwillingness to expel any student in the middle of a semester, and requesting a reconsideration of the original decision. However, they had been confronted with a hostile response. Consequently, they decided to send us along with a letter to the Organization for Assessment so they could determine our status.(4)

“After we had gone to the aforesaid Organization and some time had passed, we were told to refer back to the university as their decision would be communicated to the school. However, we stated, ‘We must return to school with your decision.’ We were then delivered into the custody of the Organization and told to refer to the Organization’s office in Tehran, on Karim-Khan Zand Avenue, for a response. Also, the reference number of a letter was given to us (86/4/18, m/1/270) and we were informed that the letter had already been sent to the Organization for Assessment’s office in Tehran.

“When we visited the Organization’s office in Tehran, we met with Dr. Nurbakhsh. He said that he had worked diligently to secure the rights of the Bahais and was laboring to secure an avenue for our university attendance. He also suggested that we should not approach various governmental offices as it would bear no fruit.

“After visiting the above-mentioned office, we went to the Science Ministry and there learned that a letter sent by our university to that Ministry had gone missing! However, one of the officials
indicated that the said letter was with Dr. Muslemi. When we approached Dr. Muslemi, he denied all knowledge and said that he had sent the file to the Organization for Assessment.

“At the same time, I wrote a letter to Isfahan’s representative to the Islamic Parliament, Dr. Kamran, although his secretary would not give me the letter’s reference number. I also wrote via email to many other members of the Parliament and the office of the President, all of which went unanswered.

“To this day, I continue visiting the offices of the Science Ministry, the Organization for Assessment, the Agency for Revolutionary Education, and offices of representatives of the Parliament and other governmental agencies. However, no logical response has been given to this date, and everyone pretends that they are uninvolved and refers me to other offices.

“Now that two semesters have passed since my dismissal from the university, I have not received an official letter of expulsion. In accordance with the regulations of the Science Ministry, if a student fails to attend two semesters his expulsion is issued automatically. Therefore, I am now considered an expelled student.

“Also, I have tried to receive exemption from military service and – unbelievably! – they have me recorded as a student in the Sanai Institute of Advanced Studies. Because of my exemption as a “student”, therefore they have refused to grant me a general exemption.

It is bizarre that Bahai youth are barred from attending universities, but must enlist for military service.”

Article 30 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution requires the government to provide all citizens with free education up to secondary school, and to expand free higher education to the extent required by the country for attaining self-sufficiency.

However, after the Islamic Revolution we have persistently witnessed that nearly all Bahai students have been expelled from Iran’s institutions of higher learning because of their religion, and none were permitted to attend universities.(5)

Moreover, starting four years ago, outwardly permission was granted for Bahai students to enroll in universities. However, every year saw a large segment of these students prevented from enrolling in schools for various excuses, such as incompleteness of files, and those who were able to enroll were mostly expelled on the basis that they were Bahais.

Separate from these difficulties that the Bahai youth of Iran have been confronting, this summer has witnessed many diverse incidents of persecutions visited upon the Bahai communities in many cities of Iran.

Moreover, the leadership of the Bahai community was seized [on 14 May 2008] and to this date remains in Evin prison. These seven Bahais are: Mahvash Sabet; Fariba Kamalabadi; Afif Naeimi; Saeid Rezaie; Vahid Tizfahm; Jamaloddin Khanjani; and Behrouz Tavakkoli.(6)

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These individuals are incarcerated in section 209, administered by the Security and Intelligence Ministry. For the first time, on 20 June 2008 they were allowed a brief contact with their families; in more recent days they have been permitted a second brief contact with their loved ones. However, Behrouz Tavakkoli has been denied all communications with the outside world.

According to reports, the period of their imprisonment has been renewed, and they continue to languish in solitary confinement – despite the fact that Jamaloddin Khanjani and Behrouz Tavakkoli suffer from various ailments, including digestive and skin conditions.

In the course of these events, an interesting development is the proclamation of Ayatollah Montezeri regarding the civil rights of the Bahais of Iran. He, as one of the highest ranking clerics outside of government, openly proclaimed:

“In the Name of God,

“With greetings,

“The congregation of Bahaism not having the heavenly book like those of Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians in the constitution [of the Islamic republic of Iran], are not considered to be among the religious minorities. However, since they are citizens of this country, they have the rights of citizens and the right to live in this country. Furthermore, they must benefit from Islamic compassion, which is stressed in Quran and by the religious authorities.“(7)

The civil rights mentioned above should inevitably include all provisions enunciated in the constitution of the Islamic Republic. In this regard, Article 20 of that document proclaims:

All citizens of the country, both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law and enjoy all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, in conformity with Islamic criteria.

And Articles 22, 23, 28, and 30, respectively, state:

Article 22: The dignity, life, property, rights, residence, and occupation of the individual are inviolate, except in cases sanctioned by law.

Article 23: The investigation of an individual’s beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief.

Article 28: (1) Everyone has the right to choose any occupation he wishes, if it is not contrary to Islam and the public interests, and does not infringe the rights of others. (2) The government has the duty, with due consideration of the need of society for different kinds of work, to provide every citizen with the opportunity to work, and to create equal conditions for obtaining it.

Article 30: The government must provide all citizens with free education up to secondary school, and must expand free higher education to the extent required by the country for attaining self-sufficiency.

Without doubt, the problem of the Islamic regime with the Bahai Faith is based in ideology. However, the question is: Why is the Shiite sect ruling over the people of Iran, despite the fact that the Bahai Faith believes and respects the foundation of all other religions, especially Islam, is solely attacking the Bahais when other religious minorities, such as the Christians, the Jews or the Zoroastrians are not under similar pressure? From the perspective of this writer, the Shiite persecution has two reasons:

* The appearance of this religion after Islam, as the last divine religion, which according to their belief, is sent by Almighty God for the salvation of the world of humanity.

* The close proximity of certain teachings of the Bahai Faith to key beliefs of the governmental authorities, such as the phenomenon of the Lord of the Age, or the doctrine of Mahdaviyat, or eschatological views.(8) The authorities firmly believe that these issues are the foremost foundation of the divine legitimacy of the Islamic regime, while simultaneously they are also the largest differences between this sect (namely, the Shiites) and all other sects of Islam.

The Bahais believe that the Qaim of the House of Muhammad(9) was manifested in 1844 and has left behind a copious body of writings. Further, the Qaim prophesized the imminent appearance of another Person and that Person is Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Bahai Faith. Also, the Bahais believe that the teachings and exhortations of the Bahai Faith are consistent with the needs of the present age of humanity, the current state of maturity and development of the world, and the requirements of the people over the course of the next several centuries, and that it is this religion that will prepare mankind for the next stage of its global civilization.

This belie
f of Bahais from the perspective of Shi‘i law is erroneous. This belief is also the principle foundation for the pressure on the followers of the Bahai Faith, and has caused the basic human rights and civil liberties of the vast majority of our Bahai fellow-citizens, despite being native Iranians, to be denied to this day.

In accordance with a certain traditional reading of Shi‘i law, in a society in which a majority are Muslim, the people of the Book are not permitted to proselytize their religion. Therefore, in accordance with the same understanding, in such a society discussion of Bahai beliefs is also forbidden. However, it is imperative to point out that the phenomena of understanding and discernment is personal, and is the sole prerogative of the individual. One person cannot think for another person.

Similarly, every belief is personal – and religious convictions are in like manner personal and not societal. Consequently, to attain to faith is a matter of personal conviction – one cannot order a society to accept or reject certain beliefs. Nor can a society be instructed through a public declaration or announcement to renew or change the beliefs of a people. Therefore, it should be evident that when it comes to matters of belief and religious persuasion, the views of a certain leader or a school of thought or even government cannot be overrule the will of individuals in that society.

Belief and convictions to any religion is a matter of faith and personal understanding. Therefore, it is illogical to expect that such an acceptance could be left to the judgment of others. It is absurd to think that some other person can act as the agent of belief of all others, and on behalf of other people he would be charged to study, to ponder, to doubt, to question, to meditate, to trust in God and to ask for His confirmations and eventually to come to believe. When it comes to gaining faith, one cannot accept a deputy or surrogate.

To recognize and come to faith requires the most personal and deepest exercise of one’s conscience. Each of us, in our own unique way, arrives at this recognition and acceptance which entails the innermost aspects of our spiritual and psychological commitment. How can such a thing be delegated to someone else?

From another direction this question can be raised: Are individual Muslims exempt from the duty to study, contemplate and decide on the validity or the falsehood of claims to Qaimiyyat? Or has God, His traditions, divine teachings and Islamic law left this matter exclusively for the inquiry of religious leaders and the jurists of the age?

In accordance with Shi‘i jurisprudence, is every Muslim not duty bound to first consider the claim of every claimant with his own eyes, mind and discernment, and to look for the right signs and evidences, and only afterwards, in case it is needed, to consult with ecclesiastics and ask for their views? Is each and every Muslim not obligated to carefully consider, read and assess with his own mind the writings of such claimants to Qaimiyyat, and only then, if necessary, to consult with others, perhaps even ranking clerics?

Based on what principle or judgment should Muslims make their beliefs, or disbeliefs, the same, and dependent on the views of religious clerics and mullahs? Every Muslim has the spiritual and religious duty to fully investigate the truth or the falsehood of the claim to Qaimiyyat by himself. The right to come to a conclusion regarding the genuineness or fabrication of a claim to the Qaimiyyat by its various claimants belongs to all people.

Divine tradition has always been that the Messengers of God have addressed each and every person directly, and not merely the religious clerics of the age (such as the absurd claim of the Islamic Republic to have exclusive contact with the Lord of the Age). Therefore, the acceptance or rejection of the claim to Qaimiyyat is a matter for all people and not the sole domain of the ‘ulama. The divine message is for all and not just for a few.

Whether to accept or reject the Bahai Faith and all its exhortations and teachings, like any other spiritual doctrine, requires deep contemplation, study and research.

For what reason then is the Islamic Republic, having thorough command over all financial and media resources of the nation, and maintaining belief and insistence on its own divine and absolutely unquestioned mandate and ideology (which is a belief in Islam through the Rule of the Religious Jurists) and its persistent injection of this belief into all elements of the nation, so afraid of any contact between the people and not only the Bahais but every religious minority group?

Is it not the case that the government believes that Islam (its version of the Rule of the Religious Jurists) is the most complete, unadulterated and precious religious thought, and no other religion enshrines the same truth and validity? Therefore, why are the authorities so afraid of the followers of other religions, particularly the Bahais?

Is it not true that a Muslim should be able to ask his questions from others in complete liberty, and that others are also enjoined to have the freedom to share and expound without any restriction or constraint their beliefs and religious convictions? Given this fact, then the Bahais in all Islamic societies must be given complete and unhindered freedom of expression.

NOTES
(1) For further details on Ahmad Batebi see here and related links.

(2) Since university seats are limited in Iran, a nationwide examination is administered to identify the best candidates for higher education. This examination is typically given once a year and is known as the National Entrance Examination [Konkúr].

(3) The National Organization for Educational Assessment and Evaluation is a division of Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. This organization is responsible for administering nationwide tests which identify candidates for college entrance.

(4) The letters given to the students are numbered: 86/391/4, 86/390/4 and 86/390/4.

(5) For the entire period of 1980-2004, no Bahai was admitted to any institution of higher education in Iran. Since 2004, a handful of Bahais have gained admittance. In order to educate its youth, the Bahai community of Iran has formed its own university, where a worldwide network of instructors provide lectures through electronic and internet means. This university has now been forced to suspend its operations as well at the demand of authorities in Tehran.

(6) For details of the arrest and imprisonment of these Bahai leaders, see here.

(7) This decree was issued on 14 May 2008. The Persian original can be found here.

(8) Islam teaches that at the end of time, the Promised Mahdi will appear and will right all wrongs. The Bahais believe that this promise was fulfilled in the Person of Baha’u’llah, the Founder of their religion.

(9) Qaim means the One Who will arise. For the Muslims He represents the Promised One, and for the Shi‘is He also represents the Twelfth Imam, Who went into hiding in 873 AD, and is expected to reappear at the “end of time” to bring justice and equity to the world.