Hijab: Three Modern Iranian Seminarian Perspectives

Description

This book provides an overview of the range of seminarian thinking in Iran on the controversial topic of the hijab. During the modern period, Iran has suffered a great deal of conflict and confusion caused by the impact of Western views on the hijab in the 19th century, Riza Shah Pahlavi’s 1936 decree banning Islamic head coverings, and the imposition of the veil in the wake of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Ḥijāb addresses the differences of opinion among seminarians on the hijab in the Islamic Republic of Iran, focusing on three representative thinkers: Murtaza Mutahhari who held veiling to be compulsory, Ahmad Qabil who argued for the desirability of the hijab, and Muhsin Kadivar who considers it neither necessary nor desirable. In the first chapter, the views of these three scholars are contextualized within the framework known as ‘new religious thinking’ among the seminarians. Comprehending the hermeneutics of this new religious thinking is key to appreciating how and why the younger generation of scholars have offered divergent judgements about the hijab. Following the first chapter, the book is divided into three parallel sections, each devoted to one of the three seminarians. These present a chronological approach, and each scholar’s position on the hijab is assessed with reference to historical specificity and their own general jurisprudential perspective. Extensive examples of the writings of the three scholars on the hijab are also provided.   Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Transliteration Introduction Part 1 1. Sharia, Fiqh, and the New Religious Thinkers Part 2: Hijab as Mandatory (vājib): The Views of Murtaza Mutahhari 2. The Hijab in Iran from Pre-Modern Times to the 1960s 3. The Life and Thought of Ayatollah Murtaza Mutahhari 4. Translation of Mutahhari’s ‘The Philosophy of Covering in Islam’ Part 3: Hijab as Desirable (mustaḥabb): The Views of Ahmad Qabil 5. The Islamic Republic and the Hijab Controversy (1978–2012) 6. Mullas without Turbans and Women without Veils: The Life and Thought of Ahmad Qabil 7. Translation of Qabil’s ‘The Desirability for Covering the Head and Neck’ Part 4: Hijab Depending on Time and Place: The Views of Muhsin Kadivar 8. The Hijab Controversy Continues (2005–) 9. The Worldview of Muhsin Kadivar 10. Translation of Kadivar’s ‘Reflections on the Question of Hijab’ Conclusion Appendix Bibliography Index