From: arash@sunee.waterloo.edu (Arash Jahangir)
Subject: Re: Reply to  Bahaies  gang
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 23:40:56 GMT

In article <1992Apr7.044024.8279@wuecl.wustl.edu> seyyed@wuee1.wustl.edu (Seyyed Mahdavian) writes:
>
>           ******** A book about Bahaism ********
>
>
>I was wandering in the library, suddenly I told myself: Let's look if I can
>find a book about bahaism. Unexpectedly I found an interesting book:
>
>"Studies in Babi and Bahai History" volume one, edited by: Moojan Momen
>1982 Kalimat press.
>
>This book contains a lot of pictures, including pictures from Baha-u-llah
>with pilgrims. None of the pilgrims had "Hijab" (cover). Just a look at
>the pictures of the EARLY followers of Baha-u-llah was so much informative

Just what does how one is dressed especially with reference to "Hijab" has
to do with anyone's values?  Do you really think that women are your personal 
objects that you they are be hidden behind curtains.  Is it that people
like you don't trust themselves to see a woman as God created her?  Or is it
that you don't have any trust in women?  Do you consider them as some kind of
lower intelligence, perhaps rather naive that if someone ever complements them
on their look they will immediately go and sleep with him?  Do you know that
there is nothing in Quran that indecates women should wear chadur?  The only
statement ever made implies that they should not look overly seductive.  I feel
really sorry for those who would find a woman that has not made herself look
like "loo-loo" or some other kind of vauge monster too attractive to resist!

This reminds me of my Armanian neighboughr back in Iran.  She was a woman of
about 55 60 years old and one day she had to go to one of governmental offices.
So even though it was summer and it was hot, she put on a dress with long
sleeves and closed neck and put on a scarf on her head and went to the office.
At the door the security gaurd refused to let her in.  When she asked why, the
gaurd pointed at the holes on her black socks that revealed part of her foot
through her summer shoes and told her that her appearance is not Islamic and
that she might be too "exciting" for some of the "brothers" inside.  I still
remember the old woman's voice with her thick Armanian accent that said,
"shab tA sob mAn bAghAl-eh shoharam lokht mikhAbam va hich-i nemisheh; mAn
nemidoonam shoomA mosAlmoonA aslan chee mikhorid ke injoor tahreek mishid"
(for the none-Iranians: "every night I lie naked by my husband and nothing
happens; I have no idea what the hell you muslims eat that makes you so horny")

I think if you count the number of references to each action and quality in
Quran, and the amount of emphasis that the government in Iran (I wouldn't call
them an Iranian government) you will see an inverse relationship.  The more
God has instructed people to be mercifull and kind and just, those aspects
have been ignored by that regime.  And the issues that have had relatively
mild or litle references to them, the more they have been emphasized by the
regime.  And the actions that God never said "Do" are those that are most 
frequent by the govenment in Iran.  I hope you realize that it is because of
people like you that some people have categorized Islam as the religion of
"pAeen taneh".

Arash