Women's Cycling: A Case That Is Difficult to Close

Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, has declared cycling for Iranian women to be forbidden. The website of the Supreme Leader announced on Saturday, September 17, that according to Khamenei's fatwa, "women's cycling in public gatherings and in places where they are visible to non-mahrams is forbidden." This announcement followed disagreements among officials regarding women's cycling in the weeks prior. Shahindokht Molaverdi, the Vice President, defended women cyclists who participated in the 'Clean Tuesdays' initiative on Twitter, stating: "According to the announcement from the Leader's office, women's cycling is permissible as long as it adheres to Islamic guidelines." This came after police stopped a group of women cyclists in Marivan. Subsequently, a family cycling event in Tehran was canceled, which was supposed to take place as part of the 'Car-Free Tuesdays' campaign, cycling from Laleh Park to the House of Artists. The disagreement over allowing women to cycle has been ongoing since 1992, when Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the mayor of Tehran, and Faezah Hashemi, the then-head of women's sports, spoke about plans to facilitate women's cycling in Tehran. Most of these plans were not implemented due to unofficial opposition from the Supreme Leader's office, but groups of women took the opportunity to use bicycles more in recreational areas, such as the northern regions of the country. The opposition from Qom clerics to women's cycling is evident. It is clear that there is no ruling in Islamic law regarding women's use of bicycles as a modern phenomenon, but there are hadiths about women riding saddles in horseback riding that form the basis for opponents' views on banning women's cycling. Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shia Imam, is quoted as saying, "Do not let your women ride saddles, for this will provoke and excite them and lead them toward corruption and sin." He is also reported to have said, "The saddle is a cursed mount for women." Imam Sadiq is also said to have prohibited women from riding saddles. On religious websites, Ayatollah Safi Golpaygani is quoted as saying in response to a question about women's cycling that, "Conducting such programs contrary to modesty, honor, and Islamic traditions under the guise of sports in public places not only displays women's bodies to foreign men but also promotes immorality and great corruption, and watching and encouraging such programs is forbidden." Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi also mentioned in a book published in 2010 regarding women's rulings that women should avoid cycling and skating due to the negative consequences these activities may have. Based on these quotes, even when Ayatollah Jafar Subhani was asked, "Can women exercise in loose clothing, headscarves, and pants in the presence of non-mahram men?" he replied, "They should avoid this activity." Despite women's enthusiasm for cycling in the early 1990s and many officials from the Islamic Republic stating that women's cycling does not contradict Islamic law, Khamenei's statements in 1996 halted all plans for the development of women's cycling in cities. In a meeting with Iranian sports officials, Khamenei stated, "Imagine you promote cycling, and then girls cycle in the streets of Tehran. It is obvious that this is inappropriate. A Tehran girl cycling in the street is not like a Chinese girl. When you went to China during Mao's time or even after him, you couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy. You know how the Chinese are; it is hard to distinguish between a woman and a man. Their clothing was uniform. That is not ostentation; however, this girl in tight pants and a form-fitting outfit, even if she rides a ceremonial bicycle and comes out into the street, that is ostentation." Khamenei's words indicate that aside from his view on the status of Iranian women's bodies, he refers to inappropriate clothing and the ceremonial nature of the bicycle in his argument against women's cycling, showing some awareness of the social conditions of women cyclists in the country. Such statements suggest that women's cycling is generally tolerated by the Islamic Republic only in limited contexts as a sport and within controlled environments. However, there has always been concern among religious officials and regulatory bodies in the Islamic Republic that the increased use of bicycles by women in cities could become a social phenomenon. The effort to close the case on women's cycling seems to be an attempt to end programs and campaigns that could lead to the social expansion of women's cycling in Iran. The issuance of this fatwa also represents a form of alignment by Khamenei with the clerics of Qom and a faction of hardliners who are Khamenei's main supporters in the political, social, and cultural arenas. But can this action close the case on women's cycling in Iran? Despite the efforts of officials opposing women's cycling in the Islamic Republic to portray this phenomenon as stemming from the desires of a limited group of affluent girls, social realities in Iran show that broader groups of urban women are seeking their citizenship rights to cycle. These women are concerned that the prohibition of cycling may be a precursor to banning other forms of women's social presence, reminding them of the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, it seems that women's cycling in Iran is like a Pandora's box that has been opened, and closing it is not easily possible.