The Chador as a Symbol of Fear during Khomeini's Insurrection

During Ayatollah Khomeini's insurrection against the Shah in the fall of 1979, educated Muslim women protestors wore the chador as a political symbol in support of Khomeini. This article explores the reactions of middle-class, educated Jews in Shiraz to the resurgence of the chador. For the Jews, the chador represented a return to their debased status as a najes (unclean, polluted) religious minority. They feared that an impending Islamic regime would revive the Shi'ite regulations against them that the Shah and his father had overturned.