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November 26, 2001 * Learning to become truly secular In response to several articles lamenting the fact that Iran has lagged behind while the West has moved ahead, I have a lot to say. ["Lagging behind"] Yes Iran is 200 years behind France and Sweden and, maybe 100 years behind North America. BUT believe it or not Iran is way ahead of all of the Middle East including the supposed modern Turkey. And we should rightly compare Iran to the Middle East rather than Europe. Europe has a different history and radically different chain of events that shaped it. All of the Middle East is still stuck in this conflict between religion and modernity. Europe went through this bloody conflict a while ago because it had enough money and resources (gained legitimately and illegitimately, i.e. colonialism) to actually be able to afford thinking about things other than feeding itself and getting by. The Middle East is facing this bloody battle now. The hallmarks of extremism and fundamentalism is their swinging to extreme ends of Islam and modernity. When the conflict is severe enough extremes become the only option. Iran went through the modern, Westernized swing in the 70's. Iran experimented with 'modernity' and could not quite accept it. Now it has swung the other direction and has embraced the other extreme... fundamentalism. But it has learnt that this end of the scale is definitely worse than the other side. Iran has paid a heavy price for this lesson, as did Europe a while ago. There always is a pain to go through for resolution of such grave conflict. And no, we don't learn by observation, no one does. This doesn't means that just because Europe went through it two hundred years ago then we should learn the lesson they learnt. If observational learning and anecdotal lessons worked children would never do wrong. But they learn through experience. Iran had the guts and the intellect to work through this conflict rather than delay it. This is why Iran is the odd man in the Middle East. All Middle Eastern countries are ruled by secular governments who are afraid of (and eventually have to deal with) a sizable extremist faction. Iran is ruled by a fundamentalist regime with an overwhelming secular majority. Egypt and Turkey are ticking fundamentalist time bombs. Egypt looks up to Iran, because they think that we had the strength to overthrow our secualr regime and "liberate" ourselves. They envy Iran because of this. Little do they know... Iran went through it and realized what horrible fate was awaiting it at the other end of the modernity-secularism continuum. You see Egypt and Turkey, for example, still have to go through these conflicts before realizing that religion belongs in the private realm. Religion mixing with and politics and civil life is a recipe for disaster. We are learning to become truly secular. No we can't deny 1400 years of Islam's presence and go back and become Zoarastrians again (although I wish we could). But we must learn that rather than fighting Islam we must put it where it belongs: Friday mornings and within the hearts of those who are true believers. Europe is secular, not God-less. Iran is learning this lesson way ahead of its Middle Eastern neighbours. Iran is a fantastic country. It takes true modernity to be the only country in the Middle East where women work, teach, particiapte, drive (even cabs)... no other Middle Eastern country can boast to that while being in the middle of the grips of fundamentalism. Have faith in Iran. The fruits of the lessons Iran has learnt can be seen everywhere.. Who else could produce Kiarostami? We only need to believe in ourselves a bit. Maziar Taleshi * Dychotomy of reason I read your article with much interest and agree with most of what you've stated. ["Restoring reason"] However, I am no longer a believer in the dychotomy of reason (mind, intellect) versus emotion (heart, ...). So I believe that, for example, even in your article you would attempt to reason as well as impress the audience with what you believe, the way forward etc. As an ex-lecturer, I used to say that today's lecturers, professors etc (e.g. journalists & writers) are in fact modern preachers. I have, therefore, no difficulty with "Preacher Blair". The unfortunate thing is that I am not convinced that what drives politicians and politics in the US & Britain would lead to altruism and support for democracy in Afghanistan, Iran etc. After all when Mosharaf's support was needed, the fact that he was not an elected politician didn't matter any more (and US sanctions were lifted). Anyway, all the best to you (your studies) and family. Regards, * Highly informative Dear Mr. Shahidi, ["Restoring reason"] Thanks for a highly informative article about Afghanistan and her relation with Iran. I am afraid that very few, if any, talking heads and impostors who regularly appear on TV as experts, would have any clue about the history or culture of Afghanistan. These so-called experts are mostly former sovietologists who have been recycled! I wish to encourage you to forward this article to major TV networks and newspapers. Regards, * Most intelligent Thank you for the most intelligent, grounded, and insightful commentary that I've seen from anyone throughout this whole mess. ["Restoring reason"] * Using blind followers Dear Navid, ["Not hip or cool"] I read your comments and just wanted to indicate a few things. In your article, you use the word "insult". Unfortunately, in the recent years, this word has become popular by the Islamic Republic of Iran as a criminal description. Insulting can accrue because of a major factor: Ignorance. It is sometimes the speaker's ignorance to offend the listener. Sometimes, it is the listener or the reader who has the ignorance and misunderstands the words of criticism from the writer. And sometimes the reader is neither ignorant nor uneducated, he uses his follower's blind and unquestioning trust and turns it to the followers' ignorance. In other words, if someone is making comments about a religion, he may have issues about it. As a leader of a religious system, one must listen to and read all those issues and answer any doubts and questions with logic, and correctly, to clear any misunderstandings. Instead, Mr. Rushdie gets a label of "Insulting two billion Muslims". In the past years, any questions and criticism about Islam and IRI have been recognized as a crime of "insulting Islam" and have been answered with prison, torture and bullets. Dear Navid, I have no desire to bring down one's belief, it is the immature and sometimes evil humanity who turns anything good or bad to a tool of crime. Perhaps we could all learn to deal with criticism in a mature manner and answer questions with kind and logical words not bullets. All the best, * Women can live a faithful life In response to "Questions of faith & freedom" and does the exercise of power by a woman make her a prostitute written by Ms. Darya Allen-Attar: Your article is interesting and to some extent true, yet it ignores the geopolitical, and religious influences and factors. I do not disagree with your arguments regarding women being called "prostitutes". However what you suggest in your article is absolutely not limited to Islamic lands and Muslim women! Although, we do see female Prime ministers and other government authorities in India, Sri Lanka, Philippines-just to mention a few, these countries are not Islamic yet in these non-Muslim countries, are many families who do not accept or trust their daughters to be heading for a life normal to most people (ex: normal to Iranian women.) It is seen as an abnormal and/or immoral action. Even in a democratic and modern society such as Israel, fanatic Jews or those belonging to Orthodox Judaism, do not allow their daughters to attend military services because of their strict traditional and religious beliefs. I hope I do not give the impression that "I know it all". I myself do face and struggle with questions similar to yours and here with this response to your article, I am not to attack you for I respect you and your writing but what I want to share, is my opinion and observation. I suggest that you look at these problem/s as one that goes beyond the Islamic nations. Unfortunately women in many countries are more or less not in control of their lives. Society, religions, traditions have stronger power than women's desires, be it carrier-wise or sexual. In Thailand, Japan, N& S Korea- other examples of Non Islamic countries in Asia- you can find laws and traditions that restrict a woman from working or acting in certain ways. In India and Sri Lanka you come across the word "prostitute" for workingwomen, and/or even those who choose to cut their hair short are sometimes labeled as one!! In Japan women do work until they are married (statistically speaking more than half of marriages in Japan are arranged which ironically shows how little Japanese women take part in choosing their future husbands) and it is not accepted for a Japanese wife and mother to work. Pointing examples such as that, I find your arguments one-dimensional and limited to a very small group of Muslim women compared to the way women,s treatment and restrictions are, all over the world. Rereading your article I came across these sentences: "Pious Moslem women all over the world seemingly enjoy restrictions and with free will choose to live a life in accordance to rules of behavior mandated by their particular brand of Islam, etc." In Psychology books you can find that how women when sexually active or fantasizing about a partner (or their partner) unlike men, see themselves as submissions while men are in control. Your use of the words "enjoying restrictions" seems to bring up the sexual and psychological factors! But beside sexual factors, does any human really enjoy being restricted? I personally think even in a Skinner box, mice used for experimental proposes do not want to be restricted to one place!! Also according to a Turkish Islamic scholar, Hijab from Burka to Chador, was not part of Islamic traditions until two- three decades after Muhammad had passed away (only his wives were to cover themselves.) Still today, Hijab can be found in Christians, and Jewish families in western societies such as Greece, and Israel. Once again I like to add Hijab known to be for Muslim women, has been around more than Islam itself. And since you repeatedly mention only of Aisha, Muhammad's beloved wife, I want to add about Khadija (his first wife, a rich business woman from Mecca) who was an important and famous woman in Muhammad's heart. She also was in charge of her life before and while being married to Muhammad. Another example of a Muslim woman from 13th century Islamic era of India is Sultana Rahimma who in 1236 was chosen by her father to be the next ruler of India. She was killed fighting and attacking foes to her just laws for women and casts. She,s one of many Muslim women (or women of different religions living in those regions) that were and still are fighting to establish laws and rights for themselves as well as others. In the end I want to answer your last questions by saying: Yes women can live a faithful life in Islam with rights and restrictions, equal to those imposed on men. It might take time since Islam compared to other two western religions, Christianity and Judaism is the youngest and still in its reformation phase. It takes time for a renaissance but hopefully a shorter amount of time. And yes men can and will be able to organize societies, which are free of oppression for all but it depends on us, Muslim or non Muslim women, from countries that oppress women and their rights, to bring up our sons as honest and truthful as they should be. We "women give birth to sons who later as men become sinful to women of their generations. With Kind Regards, Sheema Kalbasi, * We reap what we sow While I cannot speak for the others, I can safely say no one grudges your Harvard education. Personally speaking I am proud to see Iranians achieve such excellence. "I had a dream" made a very elegant case for barring any Pahlavi family members from holding office if we ever have truly free elections held in Iran. We need to be able to hold debates free of innuendo, acrimony and without offending each other, which is why I objected to His Lowness even though I am not a monarchist. We all need to work at improving the tone of the debate and keeping the dialogue among Iranians constructive. Haven't you wondered why it is that we are reduced to having Mr Pahlavi as the only voice of opposition that is being heard? Because there is a lack of suitable candidates people are prepared to trust. There is simply a lack of honest decent Iranians who are prepared to put their names forward. Why would anyone be prepared to endure all the mud slinging unless they are exceptionally resilient (but even then they are abandoned, does the story of Dr Mossadegh's demise ring a bell?) We reap what we sow, is it then a wonder that our choices are limited to anarchy or despotism? * Vive la republic I am not a politician nor an academic or anything of that sort. I just want to say that the monarchists and mullahs are both cut from the same cloth. They are both plunderers of our beitolmal. Nothing good has ever come from them. 2500 years of monarchy and 23 years of theocracy has clearly shown the people of Iran what is the right thing to do; and they are not just sitting and waiting for "his glorious vala-harze" to tell us what to do and what not to do. Don't ridicule the so called" masses" whom some of you describe as blatant fools. The same so called fools relegated your beloved monarchy to the trashbin of history and I sure pray to god that they will sweep aside the present dictatorship and establish a just and truly democratic system devoid of all aghazades and shazdes and bache akhoonds. There are some who say that give the chap a chance. His father, I'd say squandered all hopes for the monarchy and proved that monarchy can't be trusted. There is no guarantee that once he assumes power, he starts (of course with help from his American friends) crushing any voice of dissent (the same way the mullahs did in 1980) . There was one guy on this forum who said that he is an Iranian! Who? him an Iranian? This son of a b**** is still living off the money that his father stole from us. If he is an Iranian where was he when thousands of our fellow men were being slaughtered in the western and southern fronts before our very eyes. The MKO are even worse. I ashamed to even mention their name. To the monarchists I'd say: join the true people of Iran, join the massess, before it's too late. Monarchy will only bring more ruin and disgrace. I wish to greet all of you in the truly democratic and secular REPUBLIC OF IRAN. Vive la republic I salute you, * Completely different standing I am an engineer in the United States and I have passed through Dubai ["Dubai: Closest thing to home"]. It is modern and beautifull. But the Arabs of the Iranian origin have a completely different standing than the Iranians who have moved there after the revolution. For one thing, Iranians such as yourself can never become permanent residents. They cannot own their own homes or business unless it is under the name of an Emarati. The Arabs of Iranian origin were mostly small shopkeepers from small towns in the Fars province such as Lar or Evaz who moved to Dubai in the 1930s mostly to avoid Reza Shah's unveiling of the women.(Kash e Hejab). They do speak a presian dialect at home and do eat chelokabab but that is were it ends. They have absolutely no allegiance to Iran or the Persian culture. In public they only speak Arabic and when confronted they make stupid allegations such as the whole Fars province up to Shiraz actually belonging to the UAE. They consider the overthrow of Sheikh Khazal a crime commited by the Iranians against Arabs. In other words they do not think they are a part of the large Iranian cultural family as Tajiks or some Afghans believe. They think Persains kicked them out of Iran and now that they have become rich they should go back and take over their territories. That is despite the fact that the Shah's Iran built the first and only hospital and school for them and that most of them have got rich by basically smuggling goods into Iran. * Ghorbat, that is all This letter is regarding my article ["Dubai: Closest thing to home"], which was my way of describing our society to Iranians all over the world. It was not a point of political debate about the Islands in the Gulf or about the the rights of expatriates in the U.A.E. Unfortunately, some people have disregarded the essence of my article "living in harmony with other people" and have sent me mail arguing the legitimacy of Emaratis to their own land, the U.A.E's involvement with terrorism, and so on. The list continues. I agree that people have the right to their own opinion, but I would like to remind these persons that I am not the foreign minister of the U.A.E and cannot really do much regarding the disagreements over the Gulf Islands or appease them for their hatred of Arabs and Gulf states. I am an Iranian writing for an Iranian site, telling people about my life in Ghorbat, and that is all. I cannot be less concerned about the political views of readers concerning the U.A.E. Cheers, * We know what happens to sinners I read the article titled "An open letter to U.S. Muslims" and it disturbed me. The writer, like the believer of any religion, claims that his god opposes the killing of the innocent. What he fails to mention is if you do not believe in his religion, then you are a sinner and no longer an innocent! There are clear instructions in Quran as to how to deal with these none believers. It is indicated that a none believer should be asked to take the road of Islam. He has to be given the opportunity to see the light and convert. If he does not convert, he looses innocence and we all know what happens to the sinners. * Agassi is really Assyrian Did you know Andre Agassi is really Assyrian? Look at his last name, this is one of the famous Assyrian last names. ["Just don't do it"] His father's name is Mike short for Mikhail which is an Assyrian name. If you remember his father was the famous boxer in iran. He is not Armenian or Persian. It is true that his father is an Assyrian (Ashouri) from Iran.. And if you need proof I have pictures of his father in Iran during his boxing days till present times. His father is good friends with my dad. I must ask permission to release any pictures but I guarantee you that his roots are of Assyrian descent. Good job on you website I love it. Keep up the good work. * Sincere views Regarding "Tight knot" and other works: I just started reading your on-line news paper and am writing to say that I love it. Your writers and freelancers and sincere and present views not commonly featured here in the United States. An excellent publication. Sincerely, Michael A. Burris * Most insulting thing I think your piece "Roodar of the day" is the most insulting thing I have seen in a long time. Whoever's idea is it to put this on the site must be a moron. * Mossadegh docudrama Hello: I was watching Mahatma Gandhi's film at NPR TV station and was wondering why nobody has written a book related to Dr. Mossadegh and his roll in Iran or making a movie of his life. I read a book written by Dr. Milani about Hoveyda and was impressed about his neutral roll. Hope some one would do that for Mosadegh some day Thank you * You will rise again All I can say to you is that I as an American am so glad that your magazine is being read by many Iranians all over the world. I am not Middle-Eastern, but Anglo-Saxon and I truly believe that we are all "one" under God. I had the pleasure to work with Iranians in l978 at a language center in Dallas, Texas, and never met more educated, thoughtful and sophisticated people in my life. Your country should be taken back by those same people who, unfortunately abandoned, however good their purpose was, it's entire civilization up to the point in time that the fundamentalists took over. What a wonderful civilization it was only to be brought down to the level it is now -- supporting terrorists, suppression of it's people, corruption in government, (we have that too, to some extent), and in general a suppression of it's excellent people with so many contributions to our sick and ailing world. One can only imagine what the world would be like in the Middle East if your brilliant voices could only be heard. Keep this magazine up. You will rise again and you will be free. * Executioner's bullets I would like to pick the minds of this websites diverse and knowledgeable readership. I've heard from various Islam bashers the sound Koranic/Hadith basis behind many of the deaths and executions of the molla regime. Can someone explain to me where the tradition of asking the family of the deceased to pay for the bullets of the executioner started? And some theory as to how that got into Iran, and the Islamic Republican thought process? Surely bullet re-compensation could not be based on anything the Prophet Mohammad had said. * Horoofe Farsi braye type Salam Doostane Aziz Man Narges az holland hastam. Kheyli mayel hastam ke horoofe farsi braye type kardan dashte basham. Mitonid mano rahnema-i konid ke az koja mitonam horofe farsi ra sefaresh bedaham. Ba tashakor az hamkaritan, Narges * Impact of Iranian culture on business I am a postgraduate student in Switzerland and I wanted to present with my fellow students (a Swiss and a Chinese girl) Iran concerning its decisionmaking, communication, .... in general the impact of the Iranian culture on business. We were thinking of presenting some anecdotes or some do's and dont's for doing business with Iran. I wonder if you could tell me where to find some info on this issue? Thank you in advance, Kind regards, * Najva sallam. man 18 sale, ahle tabriz hastam va az tehran mokatebe mikonam. be najvaye man ham pasokh dahid. * Second marriage comes as a big surprise I am looking for Seyed Davar Tahaei's sister and wife. They live in Iran, Tehran. I am his wife Sherri Tahaei in USA. We have two very beautiful small children and I would like for them to get to know their aunt Azam, her three children and step mother Fatemah Beheshtizadeh whom they have never met. I have spoke with Azam on the phone on many occassions but I have not got her new telephone number. I just recently found out about his marriage in Iran to Fatemah. Davar and I have been married since September of 1992. So, his marriage in Iran comes as a big surprise. Fatemah and his sister Azam I am sure would love to come visit with us in USA to meet their relatives here. My phone number is 843-873-8480. My email address is wtrldy@yahoo.com PLEASE if anyone knows Azam or Fatemah I would be sincerely greatfull if you could let them know I am looking for them. I would love to help them come visit and perhaps stay with us. I WOULD ALSO WANT TO HELP THEM GET THEIR VISAS. Azam and Fatemah please call me I happy to here from you and help you come visit!!!!! FROM MY HEART WITH LOVE FROM ALL OF US, * Tof beh roohet I'm looking at Azita Youssefi's pictures and thinking to myself, 'what went wrong in this girl's life', and 'cheghad pedar madar-e een dokhtareh ghosseh mikhoran'. It is sad, it is depressing. We can relate this to Nooneh's so-called stories. Hey everybody, we're in America NOW, let's fly the flag of 'sexual liberation' and in the process throw out the dignity, class, and gheirat that are enshrined in and a fundamental part of our Iranian culture. I'm not a conservative, nor am I religious, nor do I have a stick up my ass; in fact I've lived in America all my life. The problem-the flaw-in the thinking of these so-called 'progressive-minded' Iranians who laud Nooneh for detailing her sex life and who would similarly praise Azita for 'daring' to pose nude in public is the following: NO MATTER how long you've lived in America, if you're from a good proper Iranian family with educated parents who raised you with Iranian culture and Iranian values, it is simply NOT acceptable to do certain things. Period the end. I don't go around saying "koskesh", "kosnaneh", "kosthis", "kosthat" when I'm around Iranian women or older Iranians. I don't disrespect my parents or older Iranians, even if I disagree with them. Even though I'm completely Americanized, there are a lot of things I won't do that wouldn't otherwise raise eyebrows among Americans because I grew up with a certain value system and a culture that's different from that which I'm surrounded by. There's always a degree of Americanization that will occur when you grow up here, and that's OK. BUT if you are Iranian or Iranian-American then there are certain standards and morals which must always be respected. Posing for nude photos and talking openly about how much you like cunnilingus is just not acceptable in the eyes of other Iranians. Azita, you are a woeful disgrace to all second-generation Iranian-Americans like myself. Tof beh roohet.
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