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| Ghasem Boedi, human rights lawyer |
The Iranian government, especially in the last year, has required citizens to verbally warn women who do not comply with the hijab rules, in line with their religious duties of "enjoining good and forbidding evil."
In an interview with Voice of America, lawyer Ghasem Boedi assessed the place of the "Amr Bil Ma'ruf" (enjoining good) principle in Iranian law and how the government uses this religious principle to strengthen its control over women’s clothing.
Since last year, the Islamic Republic has started implementing new projects to enforce Sharia law and tighten control over women's clothing. The government seals off businesses on the claim that customers are not adhering to hijab and other regulations. Iranian police also use cameras to identify women passengers who do not comply with the hijab in cars, sending them SMS warnings and imposing fines on the vehicles.
"Amr Bil Ma'ruf is in the Iranian constitution. But we can only talk about it when it is based on law. In Sharia, the punishment or reward for an act is between God and His servant. Where the law exists, these cannot be included. The important point about Amr Bil Ma'ruf is that it is the state's responsibility to promote good, not the nation's responsibility. The people should not be able to criticize the state within the framework of Amr Bil Ma'ruf," the lawyer from Tabriz said.
The lawyer added that the Islamic Republic, "being unable to enforce compulsory hijab, resorted to the Amr Bil Ma'ruf principle."
"Unfortunately, in the past year, they have resorted to this and are doing everything under the name of promoting good. What I think is that the Iranian authorities know they have been powerless to stop protests related to the hijab issue. Because they are powerless, they want to use this Sharia principle to incite people who believe in Sharia against others," Ghasem Boedi said.
According to him, the government seeks to create internal conflicts among the population to achieve its political goals.
Boedi further added, "The government’s goal is not to protect Sharia or Islam. They have certain political thoughts, certain red lines. They say, 'They are crossing my red lines.' To prevent this, they are essentially pitting the people against each other. This will lead to anarchy in the country. The government wants to set the population against one another. Unfortunately, this will have negative effects. The government is creating hostility among the people, and through this, they want to guarantee the continuation of their power."
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Qasım Boedi: İran hakimiyyəti ‘Əmr bil-məruf’ prinsipi ilə vətəndaş qarşıdurması yaradır