How Much the Mullahs Spend on their Robes

The unbridled rise in prices in recent years in Iran has also affected the apparel of the Shiite religious community. In recent years the price of a black chador – worn by religious Muslim women – has risen as have clerical robes which previously were supposed to symbolize simplicity. The price of a standard clerical outfit, worn by any seminarian or mullah on the street, can now be at least five million tomans [$165].

The price of various types of black chador, the key element of Iran’s Islamic hijab rules by the country’s ruling clerics, is at least 400,000 tomans [$14] and sometimes as high as two million tomans [$66]. Women have denounced these rising prices for years. But despite various forms of governmental support to make chides more affordable they are still relatively expensive.

A few online stores show the price of a chador starting at 100,000 tomans [$3.50] and reaching about one million tomans [$33]. Naturally, the cheaper the chador, the lower its quality and the sooner it will wear out.

The mantle – a kind of overcoat – is another common cover in Iran for women, which can be purchased at online stores for 30,000 tomans [$1].

If there was a once time when choosing between the chador and mantle was a matter of belief and ideology for Iranian women, with the chador a more traditional and conservation option and the mantle more liberal, now a part of this choice is determined by financial ability and lifestyle. But it is impossible to accurately estimate the role that cost has when women choose their covering because the ruling religious system does not publish data related to these matters.

The course of these changes has not changed much for the clergy and their apparel. They continue to use a covering robe that has been used by the Shiite clergy for decades, and in general, no significant changes have taken place during this period.

One of the most important features of this type of cover is the high consumption of fabric compared to other conventional men's clothing in Iran, which has led to the fact that this type of cover is more expensive.

This feature has become a negative factor in the livelihoods and purchasing power of clerics and scholars in recent years – many of whom have repeatedly claimed to have difficulty in providing for their families' daily living expenses.

A look at the prices of one of the most important online stores for clerical clothes shows that a clergyman has to spend millions of tomans to buy a set of clothes. But seminary officials say that clerics generally do not have a strong economic situation.

Their garb is one of the most important elements of the Shiite clergy. Prices start from 120,000 tomans [$4] and reach up to about 700,000 tomans [$24].

The price of a meter of cloth for a turban starts at 168,000 tomans [$5.60] and reaches up to 540,000 tomans [$18] per meter. An average of six meters of fabric is needed to make a turban, which in some cases can even reach 12 meters.

The ghaba [cloak] is another pillar of clerical clothing that is currently sold for between 200,000 and 400,000 tomans [$6.50 to $13].

Clerics also have a special bag for storing and carrying turbans, which costs between 50 and 70 thousand tomans [$1.50 to $2.50], further driving up the cost of living.

Cloaks or robes are the long cloths that the clerics wear under their heavier robes. But the Robes, however, are more expensive than ghaba and cost between 400 and 700 thousand tomans [$13.50 to $23].

Nalain, or the shoes of clerics, are currently priced between 70,000 to 170,000 tomans [$2.00-$5.50].

If a cleric wants to use araghchin, a skullcap, which is less common, he has to spend about 20,000 tomans [$6.50].

The price of a clerical shirt or thawb starts from 148,000 tomans [$5] and reaches 340,000 tomans [$11.50].

Clerical trousers also currently cost about 80,000 tomans [$2.50] on the Iranian market.

These prices show that a complete set of clerical clothes in Iran costs at least two million tomans [$66] and up to an astronomical five million tomans [$166.50].

If every cleric needs two or three sets of clothes, these costs will increase significantly and reach 15 million tomans [$500].

These figures are only taken from one reputable site selling clerical clothing in Iran. There are undoubtedly significant stores in Qom and other cities in Iran that sell clerical clothing at different prices and at various levels of quality.

On the other hand, the cost of providing general clothing for men in Iranian society is very small compared to the traditional clothing of the clergy.

A look at some sites for selling men's clothing online shows that if the minimum cost of providing a cleric's clothing is two million tomans, buying three pieces of men's original clothing (pants, shirt and shoes), can cost only about 200,000 to 400,000 thousand [$6.50 to $13], which is not significant.

The clerical garments of mullahs in the Islamic Republic, which was supposed to be a habit of simplicity, honesty and spirituality, has now become an expensive outfit and, in the eyes of a significant group of people, the garments of hypocrisy.

Clerical clothing now has many negative connotations among the Iranian public – to the point that some clerics prefer not to wear their robes in public. The priests’ robes may have cost millions of tomans – and now their owners are faced with many informal restrictions on its use in Iran.