Your first thought about Iran is probably related to the negative aspects of extreme Islam. They exist, no doubt. But look at this family in the park. They could have been any family in any park in the world, but they’re dressed differently.
Achund family in the park
The man with the turban is a Mollah – i.e. Islamic clergy. The white turban indicates that he’s Iranian. If he were Arab, i.e. a Seyyed, it would have been black. The turban is actually a long long piece of white cloth which he wraps around his head every day. The cloak may be gray, as this man’s, brown or black – its color doesn’t signify anything.
This picture was taken before the recent decree that special state permit is required for clergy who want to wear clergy attire. This actually means that from now on only Achunds (this is how we seculars call the Mollahs) who identify with the regime are allowed to be identified as clergy.
The most surprising thing for Westerners in this picture would be the little girl, who is not wearing any Hejab (Hejab is a generic name for any sort of head or total-body -covering for women, from handkerchief to Burka. It comes from Arabic, meaning “concealment”). Girls have to wear Hejab when they go to school, but out of school they are not obliged to wear Hejab until they reach a certain age, which differs from community to community.
All my texts, pictures and graphics are licensed cc-by-nc-sa. You are welcome to share and make non-commercial use of them, as long as you give me proper credit and a link, and allow others to do the same. Contact me, here on the upper left side, if you want to make commercial use of the materials on the site, or if you would like me to be your personal, event or business photographer and/or graphic designer.
