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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
The most obvious and compelling reality of the contemporary Middle East, as with most of Asia, is the passing of traditional society and the creation, through development and social change, of an entirely new scheme of life with new norms and patterns of behavior, new forms of organization and new directions of loyalty and interest. As Middle Easterners, Iranians are waging their own battle with the complex forces of change and are shaping a new order in terms of their own values and preferences. The process of modernization is generally granted to be stimulated and emanate from a foreign, not to say Western, source—but is also now claimed to be partially self-generating indigenously--primarily in the form of new industries, new technologies and new systems of organizing knowledge and data and putting them to use for the society at large. In the face of this onslaught of diverse and often unfamiliar forces a wide range of responses and reactions may be noted.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Third Annual Conference, The Middle East Studies Association of North America, Toronto, Canada, November 15-16, 1969.
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19. It is not being suggested that this was the only principle of learning known in Islam or Islamic education. In theory everyone was free to investigate the facts and discover the principles they reveal. Indeed it is usually considered the obligatory method of learning about the major principles of religion (uṣūl al-dīn) according to Shi'ite authorities. But in practice the custom of the mass of Shi'ite Muslims was to acquire the fundamentals of their religion by catechism and in respect of the particular requirements (furūᶜ al-dīn) and the laws and regulations of Islam, to follow the mujtahid of their choice, preferably a living one.
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21. Vaqt-i ṣalāt is performed in unison so that there is no need to worry about forgetting or unconsciously changing the text.'
22. For recognition of the persistence of this type of teaching and learning and its obsolescence in the second half of the twentieth century, see, Fattahīpūr, Aḥmad Masā'il-i Īrān, Vol. III, No. 1 (Esfand 1343/February 1965), p. 5.Google Scholar On the other hand, there is no doubt that the majority of contemporary university students, along with the bureaucracy and old guard faculty, constitute themselves the conservatives of the university structure and the major barrier to improvement and change. For a popular report on this situation see, A.S. Bakhkhāsh, Keyhan International, June 15, 1969. p. 4.
23. Obviously this is not the only factor in the Iranian student's anxiety about these matters: shortage of time, lack of adequate study facilities, often unrealistic foreign language requirements, financial pressure, and volume of work, are all part of the picture. But when it is said, as it frequently is, “My studies are hard. I'm very uneasy. What shall I do if I don't succeed?” students often mean, without perhaps realizing it, that they are not used to thinking critically or analytically about the subject-matter of their studies as they are increasingly required to do, particularly on examinations. Protests are especially bitter when examinations turn up questions which do not pertain exactly to work covered in class. Where traditional and modern standards exist side by side, as is still the case in higher educational facilities in Iran today, the new demands of the latter standard and the expectations it raises in the student lead some of them to criticize the old standard for its imphasis on “lectures, lack of discussion and practical application.” See, Brinner, Lawrence M. “Problems of Iranian University Students,” Middle East Journal, 18:4 (Autumn 1964), p. 466.Google Scholar
24. The interdependence of physical environment, social values, education and the economic life, and the need for a natural harmony among them, is a common theme in recent Iranian economic commentary. See, Tehrani, Manūchehr ᶜĀmil-i Insānī dar Iqtiṣād-i Īrān, (Tehran, 1345/1966), pp. 295fGoogle Scholar; Ṣanā'i, Maḥmūd in Masā'il-i Īrān, Vol II, No. 2, pp. 62074Google Scholar; Reza ᶜUlūmi, in Majalleh-yi Otāq-i Ṣanāyeᶜ va Maᶜādin-i Īrān, Vol. IV, No. 19 (Tir 1345), p. 57.Google Scholar
25. Moore, Wilbert E. Social Change (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1963), p 93.Google Scholar For this and other irrational management procedures relating to the position of the worker in Iran, see, Eḥsan Narāghī, “The Meaning and Scope of Research on Contemporary Iranian Society,” a paper prepared for the Conference on “Iran in the 1960s: A Consideration of the Position and Prospects,” Columbia University, Middle East Institute, Center for Iranian Studies, November 6-9, 1968. p. 23.
26. “The economic crisis of the years 1958-64 had the character of a dispute between contradictory aspects of attitudes and ideas which had been ascendant during the previous years…. The behavior of the state as the initiator of development was in contradiction with its administrative mores, which remained traditionalist …. The behavior of the entrepreneurs has often characteristics linked with the traditional culture, and among the young there are many who have only transplanted the old attitudes into new fields of activities.” Narāghi, op. cit., pp. 29-30. For a discussion of the same phenomena in Arab countries see, Sayigh, Yusif A. “Cultural problems and the Economic Development of the Arab World,” in Religion and Progress in Modern Asia, ed. by Bellah, R.N. (New York, 1965), pp. 67f.Google Scholar
The relative failure of Iran to keep pace with other developing countries, such as Turkey, in economic advancement during the fifties and early sixties is variously explained, but most observers stress the central role of national psychological characteristics, behavioral norms and their traditional value sanctions. Several devices have been suggested for breaking the hold of traditional behavior patterns and psychological modes so as to promote and encourage factors of “achievement” and “other-directedness,” which are typical of societies that develop more rapidly. At least one of these — the formation of a youth corps to get young men away from their fathers and traditional home influences and to create in them nationalistic goals of high achievement — was implemented in Iran shortly after it was proposed. See, McClelland, David C. “National Character and Economic Growth in Turkey and Iran,” in Communications and Political Development, ed. by Pye, Lucian (Princeton, 1963). pp. 152-81.Google Scholar
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28. This attitude on the part of traditional Iranian fathers obviously cannot be demonstrated empirically, but it is well-enough attested in writing to suggest its incidence was fairly widespread. It is especially significant when a modern-day traditionalist will admit freely to it. See, Sayyid Reza Ṣadr, Zan va Āzādī (Qum, Dar al-Fikr 1343/1965), pp. 223, 225.
29. The spoiled child is less often a girl, and then usually an only child. For the social consequences of spoiled upbringing and its relation to the Iranian scene, see, Muhammad Ḥasan Nāṣir air-Dīn Ṣāḥib al-Zamāni, Kitāb-i Rūḥ-i Bashar, 3rd printing, (Tehran, 1343), pp. 130-32.Google Scholar
30. Action in this direction began at least as long ago as 1932 and has continued to gather momentum ever since. See the resolutions passed by the Oriental Feminine Congress held in Tehran that year as reported in Arasteh, Reza “The Struggle for Equality in Iran,” Middle East Journal, 18:2, p. 195.Google Scholar
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32. This statement is based on evidence gathered from the testimony of several respondents—students, lawyers, notaries and clerics, interviewed in the months of July and August, 1967. One written deposition from a notary was particularly critical. It is worth noting that the bill also came in for criticism from the non-traditional sector. Some critics claimed that the pressures exerted by rapid and extensive social change in Iran demand a more radical and comprehensive divorce reform and family protection law. The bill was a progressive step in the right direction, but it did not go far enough and was not based on adequate study and research. It needed much more public scrutiny and debate, and radical amendment to give it significant social impact. For this and other criticisms, see, “Family Code: only a half measure,” by Shāpour Rahbarī, Keyhan International, July 1967.
33. Keyhan International, June 17, 1967. p. 2. Cf. Dr. Valī Allah Ṭabātabā'i, “Lāyeḥeh-yi Ḥimāyat-i Khānivādeh” (The Family Protection Law), Masā'il-i Īrān, Vol. IV, No. 8 (Farvardin 1346 - March 1967), pp. 30-33.Google Scholar
34. Hinchcliffe, Doreen “The Iranian Family Protection Act,” The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 17:2 (April 1968), pp. 516-21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35. Maktab-i Islām, II: 12 (Dey 1339), pp. 66-67.Google Scholar
36. Ibid., III: 12 (Bahman 1340), p. 63.
37. Keyhan, 24 Mehr 1346, p. 10.
38. Cf. Dorūdīyān, Reza “The Problem of Securing National Unity,” Masā'il-i Īrān, IV: 4 (Azar 1345/November 1966), pp. 69-73.Google Scholar
39. See, for example, the series Taᶜlīmāti-i Ijtimāᶜī va Dīnī (Tehran: Sāzmān-i Kitabhā-yi Darsī-yi Īrān, Vizārat-i Āmūzesh va Parvaresh, 1346/1967)Google Scholar, for the second, third and fourth years of the primary school.
40. The full title is Darshā'i az Maktab-i Islām -- Māhnāmeh-yi ᶜIlmī va Dīnī (Lessons from the School of Islam - A Scientific and Religious Monthly), Ḥikmat Press.
41. This journal was again on the newsstands in the summer of 1970 (Issue No. 129).
42. Vol. 1, No. 1 (Azar 1337), pp. 2-5.
43. (Tehran: no publisher indicated, 1341/1962, 116 pp.)
44. The tragi-comic results of uncritical and indiscriminate application of Western criteria and methods in education are described by Behrangi, Ṣamad-i Kand-o Kāv dar Masā'il-i Tarbiyatī-ye Īrān, (Tehran, n.d.), pp. 5-22Google Scholar, et passim.
45. This journal too was back on the stands in summer 1970 (Vol. III, Nos. 4-5, Tir and Mordad 1349/July and August 1970).
46. Āresh, II: 2 (Esfand 1346), p. 86.Google Scholar