Baghiat-Allah Al-Azam hospital in Shiraz stopped service to women who do not wear the Chador, the black head-to-toe cover for women. The banner reads “Service only for women with the preferred outfit, Chador”. Source of the image, Axnevest.
August 10, 2007
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This sort of thing makes me very angry. It’s a hospital! It’s supposed to save lives! What’s more hmportant, modest clothing or someone’s life?
Comment by Roman Kalik — August 10, 2007 @ 2:04 am
just imagine an emergency women because of accident come to this hospital and they reject her because of not having veil.
that is MADNESS.
Comment by badragheh — August 10, 2007 @ 1:08 pm
So if a woman is burned in a fire and her clothing is largely burned off, they’ll simply let her die?
If a woman arrives at this hospital with tuberculosis, which if not isolated and treated could infect millions of people around her, she will be turned away because of her *clothing*?
If a woman is raped and arrives at the hospital bleeding and half-naked, she will be turned away?
If a woman has a heart attack at home while undressed and is brought to this hospital, she will be forced to dress before she is given medical assistance (which by the way will likely require physicians to undress her at least partially)?
Do Iranian doctors swear the same Hippocratic Oath that the doctors do in the west? Because if they do, then they are now violating it utterly and should be removed from their positions. What a disgrace.
Comment by Zvi — August 10, 2007 @ 5:57 pm
[...] Related: Hospital Stops Service to “Improperly Covered†Women [...]
Pingback by Kamangir (Archer) - کمانگیر » Blog Archive » “No Business/Sexual Relationship with Improperly Veiled Women” — August 15, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
Apparently, it doesn’t need to be a hospital to deny medical treatment. It can be the own brother as well – as Maryam Namazie writes:
[...]In Iran just recently paramedics were denied access to two sisters who needed emergency assistance because their brother deemed it sinful for the paramedics to touch them. They died as a result.[...]
http://www.iheu.org/node/2776
Comment by Pia — August 16, 2007 @ 7:38 am
“their brother deemed it sinful for the paramedics to touch them. They died”
I know that’s from a seperate blog, but it suddenly raises a question I hadn’t thought of before… is there a concept of “forgiveness” in Islam? Is it possible, as with Catholics, for someone to sin and then receive forgiveness either from Allah or a cleric? Because I keep coming across this idea — “deemed it sinful” — that a fairly large group in the Islamic faith believe everyone must be protected from becoming a sinner, even if death occurs. Whereas in Christianity sin is a choice… it’s a decision made by the individual.
Comment by Gabriel... — August 16, 2007 @ 9:32 am
Well, if we’re entering the murky vale of comparative religion, Judaism has a concept of human life coming before religious law. When life is in danger, our religion *orders* us to break it in order to keep it, so to say. Human life is more important than anything else in the religion.
The exceptions to that are when someone tries to force you to murder, commit incest, or truly convert away (pretending to convert is allowed), or else said someone kills you. In those cases, you’re expected to die.
Comment by Roman Kalik — August 16, 2007 @ 10:08 am
To clarify, it’s when the laws of the faith stand between saving a human being, be it you or another, that the faith orders you to brush that law aside.
And the murder thing also applies in general, not only when you’re under the duress of another. I could mention sieges and eating people, but that’s a bit gross.
In any case, does Islam have a similar concept?
Comment by Roman Kalik — August 16, 2007 @ 10:17 am
Well, if we’re entering the murky vale of comparative religion, Judaism has a concept of human life coming before religious law. When life is in danger, our religion *orders* us to break it in order to keep it, so to say. Human life is more important than anything else in the religion.
The exceptions to that are when someone tries to force you to murder, commit incest, or truly convert away (pretending to convert is allowed), or else said someone kills you. In those cases, you’re expected to die.
My Islamic teachings have become rusty since school days but as far as I recall, all you mentioned above have equivalents in Shiite Islam, especially I recall hiding your religion or pretending to convert. Even after revolution and installment of “Velayate Faghih” system, they went further and claimed that “any” part of the religion can be stopped based on the leader’s order (for political advantage, obviously).
I think we’re missing the context here. First, I guess this Baghiat-Allah Al-Azam clinic is part of the same chain of hospitals IRGC have setup for its members. Baghiat-Allah Al-Azam in Tehran and a couple of other cities is owned and operated by IRGC and normally don’t provide service to the general public (at least in my days in Iran). They have a more strict enforcement of dress code which is much easier to enforce on government’s employees and their families. To a lesser degree it was the same case with the regular army’s hospital. I have a few personal stories of my mother being harassed because of her dress code when she went to visit friends in such hospitals. Though living close to one, we often went to other hospitals for non-emergency cases to avoid harassment and also better service.
Second, all hospitals, regardless of their affiliation, have to service emergency cases. I’ve never heard of emergency service being denied because of someone’s veil. And about the case of the brother denying medics to his sisters. I seriously doubt even the most conservative cleric in Iran has approved his action or he can refer to a religious decree on that.
Hey Kamangir, where are you? :) Some people here are getting a Taliban-like impression of daily life in Iran.
Comment by bikhaanemoon — August 16, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
Thankee. Muslim and Jewish religious legislature always seemed similar to me. The problem here though, is a mix of religion and politics. Remember that post of Kamangir’s regarding suicide-missions and targeting civilians?
Regarding the brother and the medics, the question that arises is: will he be arrested, tried, and punished?
And don’t worry, it’s not the Taliban that Iran looks like. More like the Soviet Union, where a man who was openly religious could be easily refused basic healthcare in hospitals
Comment by Roman Kalik — August 16, 2007 @ 3:40 pm
It’d be great to get more specific info on that, especially I’m curious about its location. I have asked Khorshid if she can comment on it.
I doubt such case can’t be dumped by officials easily especially these days with woman rights groups like Change for Equality and Meydaan.
Comment by bikhaanemoon — August 16, 2007 @ 5:10 pm
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