Culture of Hijab in Iran; From Past to Present
Tehran (Basirat) :The Iranian community has been observing some form of Islamic dress code (hijab) since the ancient times – the Achaemenid era in particular – up to now.
In many images and designs of the centuries before the advent of Islam and
afterwards, Iranian men and women have observed Hijab and maintained their
dignity by covering their heads and their body.
Therefore, one can say the Iranian culture and civilisation is different from
other cultures including that of Greece, in which men and women were
occasionally bare or not covering their bodies fully.
The Iranian historical trend shows that the majority of people, including men
and women, tended to put on more covered clothes than other societies.
According to Hadi Vakili, an associate professor at the History Department of
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, "the anti-hijab movement entered Iran’s history
several times, but at no point was welcomed by Iranians.”
"In the same ancient Iran, when Alexander the Great and later the Seleucids
entered Iran, their culture was not the same as those of the Iranians regarding
their clothes. In another word, they were not observing Hijab, but the Iranian
society did not accept them,” he said.
A photo retrieved from French traveller Jean Chardin’s "Travels in Persia” book
"Similarly, Mongol women or some other ethnic minorities in Iran did not have
full hijab, but they were adapted to the Iranian culture and society and started
to wear Iranian-style clothes.”
Another important event against hijab in Iran was the removing of hijab by Reza
Khan. It was a very clear example of tyranny and modernization of the Iranian
society by force of guns and bayonets. This move, despite the great efforts of
the Pahlavi regime, who used all the country’s facilities to ban hijab, failed
to be accepted by the majority of the society and was defeated by the power of
culture.
Part of this culture has its roots in the culture of Iranian tribes and their
wearing-style that dates back hundreds of years.
A few days ago, Deputy Speaker of Iran’s Parliament Ali Motahari said in a
speech that "as far as I know, if we hold a referendum on hijab today, the
majority of the Iranian society will vote for it.”
Special Wear of Iranian Ethnic Groups
Ethnic groups living in different parts of Iran are climatically and
geographically affected by the weather and the biological conditions of the
region, and most importantly by the religious, and cultural aspects of each
nation.
Sometimes through this wear, you can understand the cultural components of each
region. The identity of the local clothing of the people is inextricably linked
with the beliefs of the people and is part of the cultural attraction.
Following, we take a look at the wearing style of different ethnic groups in
Iran; an original wear that has been worn by Iranians for centuries, each of
which has a world of colours and designs.
The images that follow show the wearing style of various ethnic groups in Iran,
retrieved from various sources: