ISPA: Only 28% of Women Support the Use of Chador with Headscarf

As the results of surveys reveal that only 28% of women are inclined to wear the "black chador with headscarf," Nasser Makarem Shirazi and Gholamali Haddad Adel have warned about the worsening situation of hijab in Iran. The Mehr news agency published a report on Friday, July 25, detailing significant statistics regarding women's attitudes towards hijab and the use of "black chador" among them. These statistics were extracted from a survey conducted by the Iranian Students Polling Agency (ISPA) last winter across Iran. About half of the respondents in this survey considered the "chador to be the best type of clothing for women," yet only 28% agreed with the use of "black chador and headscarf" as hijab. The survey also indicated that 18% of those who regarded the chador as the "best clothing" for women introduced the chador with a headscarf as their preferred type of hijab. Another part of the survey revealed that approximately 35% of women and girls in Iran wear "long manteau," which is considered appropriate and in line with societal norms by most people. Mehr news agency further attempted to show through the survey results that "hijab is a free choice of Iranian women and the chador is regarded as the most popular clothing" in the country. According to Gholamali Haddad Adel, an advisor to Ali Khamenei, the situation of hijab in Iran is "getting worse day by day" and "the transformations regarding hijab in recent years are not satisfactory." Haddad Adel stated these remarks in an interview with the Young Journalists Club on Friday, July 25, adding that "if no solution is found, we will witness worse examples of hijablessness." Nasser Makarem Shirazi, a cleric from Qom, has also recently warned about the spread of "hijablessness" in Iran. According to the Rasa news agency from Mashhad, Makarem Shirazi said on Thursday night that "today hijab has gone beyond a secondary issue and has become an important Islamic slogan, which is why they fear hijab abroad." This cleric added that foreign countries create campaigns against hijab in cyberspace, such as the "Campaign of Hijabless Women," to "decay the society [of Iran] from within." This refers to the campaign for "Women’s Quiet Freedoms in Iran," which has successfully created a wave of opposition against "mandatory hijab" and the necessity for free choice of clothing in the country in recent years. Many officials of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly attacked this campaign during this time and warned those who accompany this movement in cyberspace. The issue of hijab and the right to choose clothing in Iran has long been one of the most controversial social issues, and figures like Makarem Shirazi consider the opposition to "hijab" as a "political" matter. Last week, the publication of a fatwa from this cleric, which allowed some students studying abroad to remove their hijab, once again placed the controversies surrounding hijab at the forefront of media news. Makarem Shirazi's office also reacted to the re-publication of this fatwa, stating that this fatwa was in response to a question posed 15 years ago and its publication "does not seem natural on the eve of Hijab Week." Makarem Shirazi explained this fatwa by saying that "15 years ago, we received a letter from Turkey stating that our girls are being forced to remove their headscarves in schools and universities; should they drop out and completely abandon their education?" Makarem Shirazi added that he had written in response to this question that if the dropping out of girls causes "significant individual or social harm," Islam "allows to some extent" for girls to have a freer hijab.