Welcome, Dissenters

In this week’s Unbelief Brief, even insiders of Iran’s theocracy are conceding what millions of women have already made reality: the compulsory hijab is crumbling. Meanwhile, Nigeria edges toward another blasphemy case that could carry the death penalty, and Bangladesh continues its slow slide from secular promise to Islamist dominance. 

Unbelief Brief

A conservative Iranian politician has made the striking declaration that the country’s hijab laws are unenforceable. Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, even went so far as to say that the “paradigms of the Islamic Republic are being gradually and softly reformed,” and that functionally, there is no compulsory hijab law in place. These statements come alongside recent comments from President Mahmoud Pezeshkian that he “does not believe in forcing women to wear the hijab.” Indeed, many women—particularly in large cities—are increasingly ignoring hijab mandates, to the great consternation of hardline Islamists. One member of parliament responded to Bahonar’s comments with the accusation that he “promote[s] and defend[s] nudity” at the behest of the “savage, naked Western system.”

Meanwhile in Nigeria, a cleric has been accused of blasphemy. While he could be sentenced to death if Kano State authorities find him guilty of the crime, reports do not seem to indicate that he has yet been arrested. Instead, the government of Kano State has announced that he will be suspended from his duties and summoned to defend himself before a panel of scholars. Among the allegations are that he accused the Prophet Muhammad of “urinat[ing] while standing.” Scandalous stuff, indeed.

Finally, Netra News explores the steady decline of secularism over the last two decades in Bangladesh. The previous government, headed by the Awami League party and overthrown in last year’s July revolution, styled itself a defender of secularism. Yet in practice, Islamism gained a much greater foothold in Bangladeshi society and politics since the party’s accession to power in 2009. The author, Abdullah Hel Bubun, argues convincingly that this was in no small part due to the Awami League’s opportunistic embrace of Islamists as political allies. Now, one year on, Bangladeshi Islamists seek to portray the previous as secular tyrants who oppressed Muslims, in an effort to consolidate power even further. They are being met with tepid acquiescence by the interim government.

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Until next week,

The Team at Ex-Muslims of North America

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