The main story is not a bit complicated and has now become familiar worldwide through electronic, print and social media. Shortly, it can be described as:
Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian girl from Kurdistan, a province that lies in the western part of Iran. She was a happy owner of a bright beautiful smile that was literally brimming filled with life. As per sharia law devised by the Iranian parliament, she used to wear a typical black Abaya and cover her head and neck with Hijab. Like each young person of her age, Mahasa too must have had so many dreams and plans about her life and future that unfortunately, dashed to the ground within an instant when she committed a horrible mistake inside the boundaries of the Islamic Republic of Iran by leaving a part of her head uncovered while travelling with her parents to Tehran to see a relative.
She was arrested and brutally tortured by Iranian morality police and; resultantly, went into a state of coma. When she was taken to the hospital, doctors declared her brain dead. Only a few days later, she finally died leaving her aggrieved parents and countless infuriated supporters of human rights behind.
Later on, the self-proclaimed guardians of sharia tried to convince the world, that Mahasa’s death was a natural incident caused by a sudden heart attack when she was being educated politely and lovingly by morality enforcers. To these staunch supporters of sharia, it is justified to educate people, especially women, ignorant of religious teachings.
Since Quran has always been regarded as the origin of all the laws devised under the head of sharia, these self-proclaimed guardians of Islam often use one of the most popular Quranic phrases Amr-bil-maroof-o-nahi-anil-munkir (invite people to all that is good and enjoin the doing of all that is right and forbid the doing of all that is wrong) as an excuse to torture and kill the people who seem slightly out of the bounds of any irrationally devised sharia law. Here I am using the phrase “irrationally devised law” simply because if we ponder over the phrase Amr-bil-maroof-o-nahi-anil-munkir rather deeply and in a bit rational manner, it may conveniently be taken in a far politer sense than killing or torturing anybody.
Here, I have a point that, despite being so valid, has always been overlooked, probably deliberately, by the Iranian proponents of sharia. Since 1979, Iranian authorities have been attempting persistently to enforce the burqa and Hijab upon women simply because these two pieces of cloth are regarded in Iranian society as what Islam suggests for women to wear.
Irrespective of what Islam suggests for women to wear or not to wear, there is something that Islam suggests for men too. Yes, Islam suggests for men keep their eyes down and not stare at women whether properly covered or not. Now the question is, when women are being detained, tortured and killed continuously in Iran for not wearing clothes suggested by parliament under sharia law, how many men have been arrested, tortured or killed by the same morality police so far for simply staring at women and for not keeping their eyes down? I assure you that having sifted through the entire period of sharia rule in Iran, you will not find a single such precedent. Of course, I am not the one who supports brutalities, whether done to women or men; it was just a simple question that leapt into my mind while measuring the weight of the sense of justice and equity associated with the type of sharia forcibly prevailed in Iran.
It is quite obvious that Mahasa did not harm anyone and her life has been snatched away from her hands for simply doing nothing. A few strands of hair left uncovered, whether intentionally or unintentionally, were not killing anybody and the law that victimized her is nothing more than a disgusting product of typical misogynic instincts and incorrigible paranoia of a few inveterate psychopaths ready to torture and kill women any time but exempt men in the parallel sort of crime.
Though hardline law makers and enforcers of sharia may use Amr-bil-maroof-o-nahi-anil-munkir to release their frustration upon innocents they cannot do it at the expense of another popular Quranic phrase la-Ikrahu-fid-din (there is no compulsion in religion). The phrase la-Ikrahu-fid-din is used persistently by moderate Muslims whenever it comes to convincing non-Muslims about Islam being a religion of peace. In light of la-Ikrahu-fid-din, it is quite obvious that if a woman does not want to wear clothes as per any kind of sharia, nobody is supposed to force her; if anybody does, simply goes against Quran, so should be condemned by the entire Muslim community. In short, all the brutalities done against people in the name of sharia are paving the way for already growing Islamophobia all around the world and annihilating successfully all the attempts made by moderate Muslims for promoting Islam as a religion of love, peace, humanity and tolerance.
