Rage Against the Veil: The Courageous Life and Death of an Islamic Dissident (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Romin P. Thomson (Author) "When my uncle Hossain called from Iran to tell me what had happened, my sister had already been buried..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, New York, Aunt Maryam (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"As you read this heart-breaking story, you will find yourself, too, raging against the veil." -- American Association of University Women

"Dr. Darabi died to expose the world to the injustices surrounding her, and the authors brilliantly relay that final message to readers." -- Independent Publisher

"If you care about basic human rights, this scathing indictment of contemporary female oppression in Islam will enrage you." -- Contact Publications, February 2000

"a powerful story about one woman's heroic struggle that turned to despair and tragedy." -- Free Inquiry, Summer 2000

Product Description

On February 21, 1994, in the middle of a square in Tehran, a screaming woman poured gasoline over herself and ignited it. Her last cries to the gathering crowd were "Death to tyranny! Long live freedom! Long live Iran!"

In the early hours of the California morning, Parvin Darabi was awakened by the ringing phone and confronted with the dreadful details of her sister's death.

Soon the news traveled around the world that Homa Darabi--a well-known doctor of medicine and an activist for freedom in general and women's rights in particular during the shah's regime and after the Islamic revolution--had burned herself to death.

In shock, Parvin Darabi struggled to understand this tragedy. She had admired her older sister as a spirited and vigorous leader against the tyranny of the shah and the oppression of Islam. She knew Homa as a fighter for women's rights and a brilliant doctor. Why did her sister do this to herself? What caused her to take this outrageous step?

To find an answer and to raise awareness of the slave conditions of women in Islam, Parvin and her son, Romin P. Thomson, have written RAGE AGAINST THE VEIL.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; First Printing edition (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573926825
• ISBN-13: 978-1573926829
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,105,023 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who is supposed to tell us what to read?, October 23, 1999

By A Customer

I am a Christian and I started reading Rage Against The Veil before the Islamic Human Rights Commission banned it in Europe. I wanted to learn a little more about Islam and Iran. I don't know why the book is so offensive to the IHRC, except perhaps because it speaks out for free thought and choices for citizens in Iran, especially women. The biography is a somewhat personal account of sisters Parvin and Homa Darabi, growing up in Iran, and the decisions and choices they have to make. To a westerner this day to day living gives a little glimpse inside of an Islamic country. The marriage laws of the country are very important in the book, especially if one is a woman. Planned marriages at an early age, are the norm for girls. Thirteen or sixteen years old might be the average age of a bride, but a nine year old girl can be married to a fifty year old plus man. Muhammad himself married a nine year old girl, and the nine year age for wives is written into the Koran. Obviously the girl has no choice. She might be the first wife for her husband, or the fourth wife. A married woman has to have permission from her husband to go anywhere, and permission from her husband to get a divorce. Another book, The Princess, by Jean P. Sasson, is somewhat comparable to Rage Against The Veil, except in The Princess the main character and her sister are princesses, and the location is Saudi Arabia. Much abuse of human beings is mentioned there. A Phillipine national is hired to work as a housecleaner in Saudi Arabia, and then finds out she has to do her work and also sexually satisfy two young men in the family. She did get back home to the Phillipines alive, after two years. I do not see why Rage Against The Veil was singled out to be banned. Once one starts to ban books there is no limit to what should be banned. A nine year old girl in Iran is considered a woman and can be given a sentence by a court of law to be executed. One such execution is mentioned in the book. The best thing to do is to read Rage Against The Veil yourself and see what it says.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book banned by Islamic Human Rights Commission!!!, October 21, 1999

By A Customer

I read this book and as a Muslim-born woman in an Islamic society, it could have been my life. Except that I was not able to achieve as much as the Darabi sisters did. I was married off to a much older man when I was only sixteen years old. I never got the opportunity to develop myself into a doctor, a writer, a lawyer, a judge or even a teacher. I have lived a sad life most of the time. Never had anything in common with my husband and never learned to love a man as a man. To me men are either fathers, husbands, brothers or sons and never a partners, friends or lovers. I don't understand why the Islamic Human Rights Commission recently banned this book. I did not find anything Islamophobic in the book. I believe Muslims should read books to learn what is happening to people in the name of their Allah and their religion so that they can stop these brutalities rather than just stop the sale of books that are not in their liking. Why doesn't Islamic Human Right Commission stop the brutality in Afghanistan, Sudan, Algeria, Iran and others. Just campaigning to stop a distributor from distributing a book such as Rage Against the Veil is not a move for the acceptance of Islam. But Islam always promotes violence and wants to conquer with sword. The book is a true life story of any woman in Islamic countries except that most women in these countries are not as courageous and outspoken and accomplished as Dr. Homa Darabi. Most women in Islamic countries, in many ways like myself, live an unhappy life of working as domestic help for our husbands and children. We have no life of our own.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching story, shows that there is still so much oprression, May 9, 2000

By A Customer

This book describes the life of a female Iranian doctor, Homa Darabi, who was highly gifted and eager to help the people in her country, and whose only intention in life was to sacrifice herself for others. Since she also was sensitive and fragile, she was broken by the oppressive system in Iran which forced her to become a housewife, also she probably had been one of the most qualified doctors in Iran - as far as can be told from the book she was e.g. both morally and intellectaully far superior to her husband who also is a doctor. Her desparation left her only one way out: burning herself.
We all have to be grateful to Mrs. Parvin Darabi, who is Homa Darabi's sister, and her son Mr. Romin Thomson that they prevented her story from being forgotten. A word to muslim readers:
The problem islamic countries is not whether or not to wear a veil etc. but whether or not a woman (or a man) can be f o r c e d to follow the rules of a faith not shared by her (or him). In western countries you have the right to be islamic, but in many islamic countries freethinkers, homosexuals etc. seem not to have the right to pursue t h e i r way of life.