Viva! Lessons from Andalus

The Iranian regime loves to bludgeon us with distorted history – our own and everyone else’s.

At the moment, we’re hearing a lot about medieval Spain,  specifically the period from the 9th Century onward,  known to high school students in the West as The Golden Age of Muslim Iberia, or al Andalus.

It was notable for many reasons. Muslim caliphs ruled several thousand square miles of what is now Europe. Stability and wealth allowed art, science and philosophy in the region to flourish. And Christians and Jews lived alongside the Muslim majority, free to practice their own religions and customs.

But it didn’t last. Muslim rule crumbled in the 15th Century, weakened by a ruinous civil war and repeated attacks by Christian kingdoms to the north. (Eventually, the Christians won and exiled the Andalus Jews to Morocco.)

At least, that’s what most respected historians think.

But not Iran’s leaders.

Here’s what the supreme leader’s representative in Eastern Azerbaijan had to say, according to Fars News, on October 19:

“Enemies in Andulus tempted the youth to indulge in perverted behavior. They encouraged debauchery and permissiveness, contaminating this Islamic civilization and depriving youth of their religion.”

In other words, it was moral corruption and unfettered sexuality among young people that led to the Muslim defeat by Christians.

This is not just the crackpot theory of a few mullahs and ideologues. It’s actually presented as historical fact in Islamic education courses in Iranian high schools, and even at university.

It’s also become a favorite warning parable in hardline newspapers, especially in political times like these, when morality police are out and about on the streets and in the Tehran subway. The terrible lessons of “al Andalus” are in the air.

To Iranian conservatives, danger signs are everywhere — the kind of thing that led to the Muslim defeat at the hands of Christians and infidels 500 years ago. They include immodest hejab (loose women’s headscarves), girls and boys walking hand in hand, or having a cuddle after dark (what the conservatives call “stealthy freedoms”).  All are all part and parcel of what they call the "Andulusization” of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Clearly, it must be stopped.

So hardliners recommend a series of preemptive measures:  The humanities curriculum should be Islamized; “Islamic lifestyles” must be promoted; Western conduct should not be tolerated – at least, not in public; and Muharram (the Shi’ite  month-long commemoration of the death of Imam Hossein)  should be observed with a maximum of tear-jerking ritual, parades and passion plays.

The trouble is...it’s not working.

What makes senior clergymen and the morality police furious is that the number of girls and boys following modern Western lifestyles just keeps on growing.

Let me tell you about Anar (a pseudonym she and I agreed on.)  She is a 26-year-old civil engineer. Last week she was rounded up by the morality police along with several other young women. Their crime? They were wearing clothes that weren’t loose enough, so the contours of their bodies were provocative to the eyes of men in north central Tehran.

Anar spent  half a day in morality police headquarters on Khaled Estanboli (Vozara) Street.  After multiple interrogations and photos and finger printing, she had to sign a promise to observe the Islamic code of Dress. 

Finally she was released.  And her reaction? To become even more provocative and independent in her body politics.  Standing defiantly in front of the morality squad’s offices, this is what she told me: “Viva! The Andulusization of Iran’s theocratic regime!"  

Related articles:

Morality Police to Educate Women with Bad Hejab

The Morality Patrol Is Watching You