Teacher Conference Resource Manual
U.S. Presidents and the
Middle East
Islam - Dome of the Rock. www.domeoftherock.net
Judaism - The Western Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. www.english.thekotel.org
Christianity - Church of the Holy Sepulchre. www.churchoftheholysepulchre.net
Islam - Al-Aqsa Mosque. www.noblesanctuary.com
Temple Mount. www.linearconcepts.com
Founder of Islam dies
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In Medina, located in present-day Saudi Arabia, Muhammad, one of the most influential religious and political leaders
in history, dies in the arms of Aishah, his third and favorite wife.
Born in Mecca of humble origins, Muhammad married a wealthy widow at 25 years old and lived the next 15 years as
an unremarkable merchant. In 610, in a cave in Mount Hira north of Mecca, he had a vision in which he heard God,
speaking through the angel Gabriel, command him to become the Arab prophet of the "true religion." Thus began a
lifetime of religious revelations, which he and others collected as the Qur'an. These revelations provided the
foundation for the Islamic religion. Muhammad regarded himself as the last prophet of the Judaic-Christian tradition,
and he adopted the theology of these older religions while introducing new doctrines. His inspired teachings also
brought unity to the Bedouin tribesmen of Arabia, an event that had sweeping consequences for the rest of the world.
By the summer of 622, Muhammad had gained a substantial number of converts in Mecca, leading the city's
authorities, who had a vested interest in preserving the city's pagan religion, to plan his assassination. Muhammad
fled to Medina, a city some 200 miles north of Mecca, where he was given a position of considerable political power.
At Medina, he built a model theocratic state and administered a rapidly growing empire. In 629, Muhammad returned
to Mecca as a conqueror. During the next two and a half years, numerous disparate Arab tribes converted to his
religion. By his death on June 8, 632, he was the effective ruler of all southern Arabia, and his missionaries, or
legates, were active in the Eastern Empire, Persia, and Ethiopia.
During the next century, vast conquests continued under Muhammad's successors and allies, and the Muslim
advance was not halted until the Battle of Tours in France in 732. By this time, the Muslim empire, among the largest
the world had ever seen, stretched from India across the Middle East and North Africa, and up through Western
Europe's Iberian peninsula. The spread of Islam continued after the end of the Arab conquest, and many cultures in
Africa and Asia voluntarily adopted the religion. Today, Islam is the world's second-largest religion.
“This day in history.” www.history.com
America's first mosque was built by
Lebanese immigrants in North Dakota in the
1920s. The mosque was torn down in the
1970s and later replaced. What's believed to
be the oldest surviving mosque in the U.S.
was constructed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in
the 1930s.
www.history.com
Modern-day Middle East www.loc.gov
Jerusalem www.mfa.gov
Official Laws against Women in Iran
Limitations on the lives of women are legalized in laws prohibiting women from the presidency,
leadership, judgeship and certain educational fields, as well as by inheritance laws. Firmly rooted in the
principle of vali-e-faqih, Iran’s constitution controls both the public and private lives and role of women.
The concept of male surrogate and guardianship of females is one of the main pillars of Islamic
Fundamentalism in Iran. Iranian women are not free to choose or control various aspects of their lives.
Evidence of such state-sponsor of violence against women is seen in Iran’s constitution.
Article 18 of passport law, married women requires their husband's permission to apply for a passport.
Article 21 of Iran’s Constitution indicates: "The government must ensure the rights of women in all
respects, in conformity with Islamic criteria..." This leaves it up to the clergymen to interpret the laws
pertaining to women.
Article 83 of the Penal Code, called the Law of Hodoud, stipulates that the penalty for fornication is
flogging, i.e. 100 strokes of the lash, for unmarried male and female offenders.19
Article 102 of Iran’s Constitution indicates: "Women who appear on streets and in public without the
prescribed ‘Islamic Hejab’ will be condemned to 74 strokes of the lash.”26
Article 115 of Iran’s Constitution states the condition for the presidential candidates the law states that:
“The President must come from among the religious and political statesmen (rejal)." The word rejal
literally means men of high achievement.
Article 162 of Iran’s Constitution states the condition for the attorney general. "The head of justice
department and attorney general must be ‘mojtahed’ [a religious man who is able to issue decree],
honest, and knowledgeable in legal subject matters."
Article 167 of Iran’s Constitution explains: "The Judge is bound to attempt to rule on each case, on the
basis of the codified law. In case of the absence of any such law, he has to deliver his judgment on the
basis of official Islamic sources and authentic fatwa.”
Article 209 of Iran’s Constitution states that woman's life is valued only half as much as a man's life. A
convicted man who has intentionally slain a woman is subject to execution only after the payment of
"Deyeh" by the family of the victim. "Deyeh" is defined as a sum of money that the victim's family has to
pay to the assailant's family for the physical damages, dismemberment, or death of the assailant.
Article 300 of the Penal code states that the "Deyeh" of a Muslim woman is half of the "Deyeh" of a
Muslim man. By law the life of a woman has half the value of a man in Islamic criminal law in Iran.
In 1998, Iran’s Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the bill on same inheritance rights for man and
women. They said the proposal was contrary to Islamic law, which stipulates that a woman’s share may
only be one half that of a man’s.
Iran’s Parliament adopted a law, in April of 1998, to fully segregate the health care system for women and
girls. This law has seriously compromised women’s health because there are not enough trained female
physicians and health care professionals to meet the needs of all the women and girls in Iran. The same
law also points to another new law of prohibiting the discussion of women’s issues or rights outside the
interpretation of Shari’a (Islamic law). Women’s rights can only be discussed by religious male figures in
Iran.
Family courts do not provide women any protection from abusive husbands. The plight of the Iranian
women is depicted in the story of a woman saying:
"I was married at the age of 12, and I had my first child when I was 13. My husband was unemployed and we
fought all the time. We never applied for a divorce because I was afraid of losing my child. Finally one night, he poured a
bucket of acid over my body and I was completely burned. When I rushed to the sink to flush my face and body. I realized
that he had shut off the main water supply. I was taken to the hospital. My operation was held up pending advance money
for the surgery, and permission from my husband to operate on my face. My mother sold all of her valuables and provided
the money. My husband said he would only permit my operation if I consented to not seeing my children for the rest of my
life. Finally, with hospital's pressure on the family court they allowed me to receive the operation on my face and body. "
Article 105 of the Civil Code "In the relationship between a man and a woman, the man is responsible
as head of the family." The Council of Guardians, has decreed, "A woman cannot leave her home without
her husband's permission, even to attend her father's funeral".
Article 1117 of the Civil Code states that the husband may ban his wife from any technical profession
that conflicts with family life or her character.
Article 1133 of the Civil Code states: A man can divorce his wife whenever he so chooses and does not
have to give her advance notice.
Article 102 of the Penal code, states that married offenders (adulterers) are liable to stoning regardless
of their gender, but the method laid down for a man stipulates he be buried up to his waist, and a woman
up to her neck.
Article 114 of Iran’s Civil codes states: When rajm [stoning] is being administered on a man he must be
placed in a pit almost down to his waist, and when administered on a woman she must be placed in a pit
almost down to her chest. Such barbaric behavior by the regime includes dictating the style, size and the
administration of stoning while differentiating between male vs. female victims. Female victim up to her
neck to avoid physical escape, however, even if condemned female victim is able to flee the scene,
authorities are obliged to arrest her and execute her by firing squad. As for the male victims, they are
buried up to their waist and if able to escape the scene no further punishment awaits them.
FACTS and FIGURES
- Tens of thousands of women have been executed in Iran since 1979, when the mullahs took
power. They were executed on political grounds, for their opposition to the policies of the ruling
government. Among those executed were tens of pregnant women.
- The worst kinds of torture are inflicted on woman prisoners who oppose the regime. These
include repeated sexual assaults, amputation of body parts and...
- Women played a very active role in the 40,000 teachers' demonstrations outside the Majlis on
January 12, 2002. In these series of demonstrations, a number of women were arrested and
imprisoned on charges of just participating in a demonstration.
- At least 22 women have been sentenced to stoning or stoned to death during Khatami's tenure
Girls between ages 10 to 17 are the prime victims of sexual slavery in Iran. In Tehran alone,
4000 street girls roam the city on daily basis and are subjected to sexual and physical
violence. Reports indicate that 90% of the runaway girls end up in prostitution or sold in Persian
Gulf human trafficking market. Women and girls bare the brunt of Iran's poor economic
conditions. 700,000 children, aged 10 to 14, work in black labor market in Iran. The latest
statistics released by Iran's Organization of Management and Planning shows that 51% of
the country's population live below the poverty line. Iran’s deputy Health Minister, Ali Akbar
Sayari, admits that 20% of Iranian people go hungry daily. 67% of the students deprived of
education are girls between 11 and 16 years old. Only 11% of Iranian women are employed.
The rate of mental and psychological problems among women is almost 26%. In the western and
southern regions of the country, suicides are mostly self-immolations among women, which rates
more than 6 in every 100,000 women. In a western province of Iran, deputy of governor on
women's affairs, Heyran Pournajaf, reports "About 70% of those who commit suicide in Ilam are
women.” The director general of social affairs of the governor reports that "90% of these women
were between 17 and 35 years old. The real number of suicides is much higher than what we
have." The World Health Organization has placed Iran on the top 3rd ranking country on
death by suicide.
www.wfafi.org
Other resources:
Middle East Government Types
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/wariraq/lesson_helper/pdfs/mideastgovernments.pdf
Al Qaeda statements and founding principles PDF
www.fas.org/crs/terror/RL32759.pdf