It has been customary in Iran and Afghanistan
for Muslims to gather together in gender-specific
groups for religious instruction and practices.
Whereas men’s religious events are usually held at
mosques or local shrines, women’s religious activi-
ties, such as sufras andjalasas, are usually held pri-
vately in women’s homes or in front of mosques in
order to provide food and welfare for the dis-
advantaged. Social service activities stemming from
religious traditions, which have a long history in
Iran and Afghanistan, reveal the interchange
between religious commitment and civic participa-
tion. While women’s religious associations vary
greatly in terms of their specific agendas and prior-
ities, their entrance into public space at the begin-
ning of the twentieth century signified a new sense
of public presence that altered the distinction
between the public domain of employment, gover-
nance, and culture – reserved for men – and the pri-
vate domain of the family, reserved for women.
In Iran, middle- and upper-class women from
Tehran and the provinces started to form a number
of anjumans (grassroots associations) during the
period around the Constitutional Revolution of
1905/6. The few women who emerged onto the
political stage turned their informal religious and
social gatherings into political meetings. A number
of independent associations, which were influenced
by different nationalist and religious ideologies,
actively promoted women’s political advancement
and made concerted efforts to raise funds for
schools, health clinics, and orphanages.
In Afghanistan, the foundation for associational
activities were laid in the late 1920s when King
Amàn Allàh and his wife Queen Íurayyàintroduced
new reforms for women to express their grievances
(ibid.). However, tribal and religious opposition to
the reforms led to the overthrow of the king in
1929 – and it was not until the reign of æahìr Shàh
(1933–73) that moves toward women’s advance-
ment in the public domain were observed. Even so,
women continued to exercise political and social
influence through informal and less visible commu-
nity support networks.
In Iran the newly formed women’s associations
were appropriated by Reza Khan (1925–41) as a
result of his ambitious program of modernization.
Women’s appearance and involvement in public
life – seen as signifiers of national identity – were
also shaped by Western norms and Atatürk’s model
of reform. During the rule of Mohammad Reza
Shah Pahlavìthe state continued to institutionalize
women’s issues and address them as social welfare
concerns. Under strict state control, however, inde-
iran and afghanistan 707pendent associations were largely silenced and
did not have the freedom to assemble their own
agendas.
During the late 1960s and 1970s a coalition of
Iranian opposition groupings, comprised of men
and women with sundry Islamist, nationalist, and
Marxist leanings, challenged the Pahlavìs’ mono-
poly over political activity. Women spread political
information through informal religious networks
stemming from mosques, bazaars, and women-
only religious gatherings, jalasas and sufras.
Women activists, endorsing diverse religious and
political platforms, joined forces and played an
important role in overthrowing the Pahlavìdynasty
in 1979.
In Afghanistan the period between the 1950s and
the Soviet invasion of 1979 saw the formation of a
number of secular women’s groupings, consisting
mainly of urban-based, educated women who
aimed to advance the human rights of women.
Women’s independent activities were, however,
restricted by the rise of the People’s Democratic
Party of Afghanistan and the Soviet invasion in
1979.
In Iran, after two years of revolutionary transi-
tion, Ayatollah Khomeini and Islamic forces eradi-
cated political opposition and dominated the
revolutionary process and its outcome.
The 1980s witnessed the development of “official”
women’s Islamist religious associations. However,
many women who were not involved in the official
religious associations have organized themselves
through women-only religious gatherings, co-oper-
atives, grassroots religious charities, mosque net-
works, and the growing number of service-oriented
non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Para-
doxically, the governmental policies controlling dress
codes and gendered access to public space made it
possible for women, particularly those from fami-
lies that customarily isolate women from public
activity, to work and learn in the public arena.
Inadvertently, women’s public involvement shed
light on the impracticality of many governmental
policies.
Religious gatherings and novel NGOs have be-
come platforms for secular and religious feminists
to debate and negotiate legal status and social posi-
tions of women. Many associations, including those
that actively question the dominant role of Islam
in public life, have acquired religious overtones in
order to frame their grievances in the public sphere.
Feminist debates extend to and are informed by
women’s associations that are organized by women
who live outside Iran. Religious gatherings and