In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
" There is neither might nor power but from Allah, the Exalted, the Great."
Since Mr. `Alam's administration has hastily passed a bill, giving women the right to vote and to be elected, without reflecting on the articles of the Constitution and on the consequences of the subjects it has raised, it seemed necessary to notify the Muslim nation of some points to let them know under what conditions and under which governments the Iranian Muslims are living. We call for everybody's attention to these points:
1. In the plan he has presented to the Prime Minister, Mr. Interior Minister writes:" As you well know, it is clearly stipulated in the Preamble of the Constitution that every individual citizen of the country is rightful to participate in ratification and supervision of general issues. According to the Second Article of the Constitution, the National Consultative Assembly (Parliament) represents the majority of the citizens of Iran who contribute to the economic and political affairs of their homeland. Therefore, not only is the deprivation of women from participating in elections, not permitted in the Constitution and its Supplement, but is also contrary to the Constitution, considering the phrase," every individual citizen of the country" in the Preamble of the Constitution, and the phrase," majority of the inhabitants of the country," mentioned in the Second Article. The cabinet has approved that the first item of Article X and second item of Article XIII of the Consultative Assembly Election Laws, as well as the term" male" in Articles VI and IX of the Upper House of Parliament Election Laws, be dropped. They have also obliged the Interior Ministry to obtain legal permission for this bill, after the opening of the two Houses of Parliament. It is necessary to demonstrate the flaws of these statements:
a. If women's participation in elections, as Mr. Interior Minister claims and the cabinet approves, is in agreement with the Constitution, then the cabinet's enactment is void just as if it verified the participation of the men in the elections, and if the enactment is lawful, then it can be inferred that participation of women is against the Constitution for the cabinet members.
b. If lack of participation of women is against the Constitution in their opinion, then it is irrelevant for the cabinet to oblige the Interior Minister to obtain the legal permission for the bill after the opening of the two Houses. Therefore, because they want a legal permission, it is inferred that participation of women is against the Constitution in the opinion of cabinet members. Was it not better for the cabinet to pass a bill after enough deliberation?
2. The Preamble of the Constitution is not the Constitution itself, but it is the words of the then Shah and ceases to have legal validity and the Interior Minister relied on it either out of negligence or for misleading others. Rather, if he had thoroughly studied this Preamble, he would have clearly seen that women are not allowed to participate in the elections because you will find in it the phrase," Now that the National Consultative Assembly is inaugurated according to our noble intentions" If women's participation had been observed, how can it be possible that the Assembly had been inaugurated without the participation of women according to the" noble intentions"? This clause purports that the first round of the parliament had been in accordance with the Shah's intentions and women had not participated, so they have not been given the right.
3. It can be inferred that" the majority of the citizens of the country", mentioned in the Second Article, is not what is understood by the cabinet but it means that a representative from Tehran is representative of the entire nation and that a representative from Qum is representative of the entire nation as it is stipulated in the Thirtieth Article of the Supplement to the Constitution. The proof to this claim is that just ten classes of people are not allowed to vote, although they are part of the general citizens of the country. Therefore, they have to testify that either depriving this group or their participation is against the Constitution.
4. Given that there is a mistake in the interpretation of this Article, according to Article XXVII of the Supplement to the Constitution, interpretation and explanation of laws is incumbent upon the National Consultative Assembly, and the ministers have no right to interpret.
5. If according to the cabinet, women and other disenfranchised groups have the right to participate in the elections, then all of the parliaments since the beginning of Constitutionalism, have been formed against the Constitution and have been illegal because the women and more than ten other groups mentioned in the election laws have been excluded from participation, and this has been against the Constitution! This will entail many flaws as will be cited below:
a. All the existing laws of the country since the beginning of Constitutionalism are null and void, and should be declared illegal.
b. The Constituents' Assembly, according to Mr. `Alam's cabinet, has been formed against the Constitution, so it is unlawful and void while such a claim is prosecutable according to the law.
c. Mr. `Alam's administration and all other administrations formed since the beginning of Constitutionalism have been all illegitimate. An illegal government has no right to pass a bill and others. In fact, it is even a crime for it to interfere in the affairs and treasury of the country, and it is prosecutable.
d. All of the contracts with the foreign governments, such as oil contracts, and so on, according to Mr. `Alam's administration, are null and void and this should be announced to the nation.
6. Omission of the first item of Article X and the second item of Article XIII of the National Consultative Assembly and omission of the word," male" from Articles VI and IX of election laws of the Upper House, endorsed on Shawwal 1329 AH, the Parliamentary Election Laws, endorsed on Ordibehesht 14, 1339 AHS, are illegal. The administration fails to acquire such a right, according to the Preamble of the Constitution and Article 2 of the Constitution, because its grounds are void. In addition, the government is not given the right to nullify the National Consultative Assembly's laws, and according to the Article XXVIII of the Supplement to the Constitution, the executive and the legislative branches are permanently independent and separate from each other.
What has been mentioned so far is the legal aspect of this illegal bill. This bill is also in contrast with Articles II and XXVII of the Supplement to the Constitution.
In spite of every pressure, difficulty and insolence with which the government has subjected and is subjecting them, the clergy has discerned its religious duty and dictate of conscience on this (issue) by notifying the governments and Muslim society of its good and bad (aspects) , and not abstaining from well-meaning admonitions to the rulers and officials. It has to relay to the human society what is going on in this wretched, weak and hungry nation, the signs and effects of which are already appearing one after another. Along with the strict censorship on the press and severity of the police forces who would jail, humiliate or torture people for printing even a single page containing some advice and guidelines, and their distribution, the clergy witnesses that the government has made a plaything of the official religion of the country. They let it be said in the conferences that some steps had been taken for the equality of rights between women and men. While whoever believes in the equality of women's rights of inheritance, divorce and so on, which consist some of the essential laws of Islam, and annuls them, his verdict is already passed by the Islam.
The clergy observes that the economic foundation of this country is almost collapsing and its market near crashing, as it can be understood through the ever-increasing lawsuits on bounced checks. Further, the country's agriculture is at risk, for in a country where each province should be able to provide crop for the need of the whole country, they pass enactments, every now and then, for importing wheat, under the pretext of draught in one way or another. It is even heard that they have recently been importing flour in order to close the watermills of Iran. Now, in this deplorable state of affairs, the government, instead of looking for the solution, is busying itself and the people with debating topics like women's suffrage, women's rights, or participation of a half of the society, and other such charming phrases, which will bring with them nothing but misery, corruption and debauchery. They are not informed that Islam has paid women enough consideration in every respect more than anyone else has paid. It is out of respect to women's social and moral standing that they are prevented from this kind of indecent and impious social intercourse, but it is not the case, may God forbid, that they are assumed as the interdicted and convicts. One more thing is that, is entering these assemblies the only way that disproves their interdiction? If it is so, then the members of the army and the navy, those holding offices, members of the security and police forces, the king's direct descendants, and people under the age of twenty must be among the interdicted and convicts.
The clergy has anticipated all these incidents, which you are witnessing now and will see in the future, and had mentioned them in their statements a few months ago and now they are announcing more and greater dangers, afraid of the effects of these leaps on the country, its independence, economy and all its affairs. They do their momentous duties in these conditions, just as all people see and understand, and they say explicitly that the recent enactment of the government on women's suffrage is null by the Islamic law and void, regarding the Constitution. While the press is under strict censorship and pressured by the security forces, it will publish these admonitions and facts as much as they can, so that the government cannot say that the bill was not protested by the `ulama'; also they will take action in due time to stop it, God willing.
The Iranian nation also protests such bills because during the last few months, while they were under less pressure and intimidation, they announced their commitment to the `ulama' of Islam through telegrams, papers and collective letters from all around the country, asking for the annulment of the government's illegal bill on the Provincial and District Councils Elections. Then the government accepted the nation's request and entrusted it to the Parliament. Now that they have gained dominance over different groups of people, including the clergymen and the pious, through imprisonment, torture and humiliation they do things with dangerous and formidable consequences for the Muslims. May the Lord bring our government back to reason, and have mercy upon the Muslim nation and the country of Islam!" O Lord, we complaint to Thee at the bereavement of our Prophet (may Thy salutations be upon him and his progeny) at the occultation of our Wali, at the scarcity of our number, at the intensity of disasters upon us, and the unfoldings of the times to us. O Lord, send salutations to Muhammad and his progeny and let us overcome this by endowing us with Thy rapid victory and relieving grieves, Thy glorious assistance and the manifest dominance of truth." «2»" Lo! We are Allah's and Lo! Unto Him we are returning." «3»
Murtada al-Husayni al-Langaroudi
Ahmad Husayni al-Zanjani
Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i
Muhammad al-Mousawi al-Yazdi
Muhammad Rida al-Mousawi al-Gulpaygani
Sayyid Kazim Shari`atmadari Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini
Hashim al-Amuli
Murtada al-Ha'iri