لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Words forthe Reader
Mani and Iran
In the Name of God
The Compassionate, the Merciful
To the spirit of my mother, Zahra, the mirror of humility, emotions, and
chastity, for whom life was only sorrow, while her existence, for me, was all
kindness.
The words you are about to read are from a lecture I gave at the
Hoseiniyyeh Ershad. To begin with, I had wanted to comment upon the research of
Professor Louis Massignon about the personality and complicated life of Fatima
(a). I had wished to refer to the deep and revolutionary influence her
memory evokes in Moslem societies, and the role she has played in the breadth
of Islamic transformations. These words were, in particular, for the university
students participating in my various classes: History and Knowledge of
Religions', The Sociology of Religions', and Islamology'.
As I entered the gathering, I saw that, in addition to the university
students, many others had come. This spoke of the need for a more urgent
response to the problem. I agreed to answer the pertinent question of womanhood
which is extremely important today for our society.
Women who have remained in the traditional mould' do not face the
problem of identity and women who have accepted the new imported mould' have
solved the problem for themselves. But in the midst of these two types of
moulded women', there are those who can neither accept their hereditary,
traditional form nor surrender to this imposed new form. What should they do?
They want to decide for themselves. They want to develop themselves. They
need a model, an ideal example, a heroine. For them, the problem of 'Who am I?
How do I become?' is urgent. Fatima, through her own 'being', answers their
questions.
I would have been satisfied with giving an analytical description of the
personality of Fatima. I found that book shops had no books about her and thus,
our intellectuals know nothing about her life. I was obliged to compensate
for this lack to a certain extent. Thus this present essay, is the same
lecture, but expanded to include a biography based upon documented, traditional
sources about this beloved person, who has remained unknown or misinterpreted.
In this bibliography, I particulary drew from historical documents. Whenever I
reached a problem of faith and explicitly Shiite views, I chose Sunni sources,
since Shi'ism grew out of the origins of Sunnism, and from the scholar's point
of view, they are irrefutable.
I cannot say that this lecture is without need of criticism. Rather, the
reverse is true. It is in great need ‑waiting for those with pure hearts,
those who enjoy to guide, those who are willing to serve, rather than those who
show hostility, abuse and make use of slander.
Ali Shariati
June, 1971
