What do you think?
Rate this book
Rage Against the Veil: The Courageous Life and Death of an Islamic Dissident
On February 21, 1994, a gesticulating and screaming woman entered a crowded public square in Tehran, removed her government-mandated veil and full coat, poured gasoline on her body and lit herself on fire. The crowd watched in horror as this woman, who had shouted, "Death to tyranny! Long live freedom!", committed a slow, painful suicide in a last, desperate attempt to make the world aware of the slavelike conditions of women living in Iran.A shockwave was felt in the American medical and feminist communities as well as in the Iranian political regime when the media reported that the self-appointed martyr was well-respected Dr. Homa Darabi, a lifelong advocate of civil rights and the first Iranian ever to be accepted into the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Darabi had risen from a student activist to a civil rights leader and moved on to a brilliant career in medicine as a premier psychiatrist, teaching at the University of Tehran, and establishing the first clinic in Iran to treat children's mental disorders.In this moving memoir, Darabi's sister,Parvin, and her son, Romin P. Thomson, vividly recreate Homa's childhood in Iran in the politically tempestuous '50s and '60s-a time of limited resources, tensions, and religiously sanctioned child abuse. They remember Homa's early yearnings for justice; the battle for democracy during the Shah's regime; and her marriage, which began as a loving partnership and ended under Khomeini in disaster. They unflinchingly recount the stonings, beatings, rapes, and executions of women, all performed in the name of God-outrageous abuses that Dr. Homa Darabi tried to expose to the world through her own final act of desperation.If you care about basic human rights, this scathing indictment of contemporary oppression in Iran will enrage you.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1999
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 24, 2025
I was in Tehran in the 1960s and actually visited Tehran University about the time that Dr. Darabi was graduating as an undergraduate. I met a few modern Iranian women like her whenever I visited Tehran, Tabriz, Rasht, Esfahan, Abadan, Ahwaz, or Shiraz. They were like Western women in very many respects. I witnessed bright, hopeful, happy youthful women marrying traditionally, i.e., with a man of the same quality and social rank while he was perhaps quiet, shy, but equal in almost every aspect to the woman, sometimes a relative. Then, for some reason, the Iranian husband suddenly, without warning maybe 2 or 3 years or perhaps only a year later becomes ultra-conservative, cruelly strict toward his loving companion. I would not say this was usual, but I did know of it happening. I have also experienced this with Saudi Arabian cases that I've been apprised of. I acknowledge the fact that this type of situation also exists in non-Muslim societies, like our own in the West, where there is more often just recourse.
You feel the isolation of the wife thusly treated in Veil. I couldn't put the book down, reading it in two days. It was extremely real for me and disturbing, having lived in Iran and the Middle East and loving the Iranian people and the Arabs. Like many things Iranian, Dr. Darabi's life turned out to be tragic because she was beautiful and brilliant but killed by ignorance and hate fomented by the man's misunderstood religious convictions.
I have since become more sensitive to the plight of all women wherever they may dwell. Civilization has suffered, faltered, even failed, I believe, because women and girls have been ploughed under the sod of progress and regress while attempting to nurture it to its full potential.
You feel the isolation of the wife thusly treated in Veil. I couldn't put the book down, reading it in two days. It was extremely real for me and disturbing, having lived in Iran and the Middle East and loving the Iranian people and the Arabs. Like many things Iranian, Dr. Darabi's life turned out to be tragic because she was beautiful and brilliant but killed by ignorance and hate fomented by the man's misunderstood religious convictions.
I have since become more sensitive to the plight of all women wherever they may dwell. Civilization has suffered, faltered, even failed, I believe, because women and girls have been ploughed under the sod of progress and regress while attempting to nurture it to its full potential.
July 28, 2023
Homa Darabi was an Iranian doctor and political activist. She set herself on fire in protest against the hijab in 1994. Rage Against the Veil is written by her sister, Parvin Darabi, who is an engineer by profession, and an American citizen, as well as an activist against the theocratic regime of Iran. The book describes the lives of both sisters and the different paths they took. It deals with Iranian politics, international affairs, Islamic issues, feminism, relationships in a patriarchal society, and depression.
At first, Homa appears to be the leader and the person who will take on the world. She is a student activist and is deeply critical of the Shah and his collusion with the Americans. She believed Khomeini would gift democracy to Iran. She was highly involved with the political scene in the country, and even spent time in prison. While all this is happening, you would think that Homa is going to do a great deal in life and live her feminism.
But no, it is Parvin who did things in her personal life. Homa chose to marry an extremely volatile and abusive young man, Mohsin, claiming that she will fight for the right to divorce if she is not satisfied with marriage with this man. From this moment on, I felt empathy for her but could not help thinking she is rather dumb. Throughout her life, Homa defended this man and refused to leave him because she did not want to teach her daughters the wrong thing. Leaving abuse is wrong? She wanted to teach the girls to remain in abusive relationships? Ugh! Homa continues to put herself second to her husband and appease him instead of ever leaving him because marriage is forever.
In contrast to this, Parvin is independent. She chooses how to live her life and marries a man who respects her. She encourages Homa continuously to improve her situation. In return, Homa is rude and abusive to her own sister to appease Mohsin. She is also adamant about her father's situation and refuses to discuss him with Parvin. All this made me dislike Homa so much!
Finally, Homa slides into depression and is trapped into a loveless and abusive marriage from which she has no escape. She loses her job and cannot get out of the country. Her daughters hate her because she allowed her husband to fill their heads with rubbish. The final act of rebellion does not even feel like a rebellion. It feels like a thoughtless act of desperation and not even much to do with the hijab.
By the end, you feel sorry for Homa but not much else. But Parvin is the heroine of this book. Hope to see Iranians end the theocracy soon!
At first, Homa appears to be the leader and the person who will take on the world. She is a student activist and is deeply critical of the Shah and his collusion with the Americans. She believed Khomeini would gift democracy to Iran. She was highly involved with the political scene in the country, and even spent time in prison. While all this is happening, you would think that Homa is going to do a great deal in life and live her feminism.
But no, it is Parvin who did things in her personal life. Homa chose to marry an extremely volatile and abusive young man, Mohsin, claiming that she will fight for the right to divorce if she is not satisfied with marriage with this man. From this moment on, I felt empathy for her but could not help thinking she is rather dumb. Throughout her life, Homa defended this man and refused to leave him because she did not want to teach her daughters the wrong thing. Leaving abuse is wrong? She wanted to teach the girls to remain in abusive relationships? Ugh! Homa continues to put herself second to her husband and appease him instead of ever leaving him because marriage is forever.
In contrast to this, Parvin is independent. She chooses how to live her life and marries a man who respects her. She encourages Homa continuously to improve her situation. In return, Homa is rude and abusive to her own sister to appease Mohsin. She is also adamant about her father's situation and refuses to discuss him with Parvin. All this made me dislike Homa so much!
Finally, Homa slides into depression and is trapped into a loveless and abusive marriage from which she has no escape. She loses her job and cannot get out of the country. Her daughters hate her because she allowed her husband to fill their heads with rubbish. The final act of rebellion does not even feel like a rebellion. It feels like a thoughtless act of desperation and not even much to do with the hijab.
By the end, you feel sorry for Homa but not much else. But Parvin is the heroine of this book. Hope to see Iranians end the theocracy soon!
June 6, 2024
THE TRAGIC STORY OF AN IRANIAN FEMALE DOCTOR
Parvin Darabi is an Iranian-born activist and writer, who has lived in the United States since 1964; Romin Thomson is her son. This book is about Dr. Homi Darabi, a well-known psychiatrist (and Parvin’s sister) who publicly burned herself to death in 1994 in protest against conditions in Iran.
She (Parvin) wrote in the first chapter of this 1999 book, “The news of my sister’s death was a tremendous shock. She had been one of the most prominent child psychiatrists in Iran. She was married and had brought two successful, ambitious daughters into the world… She was the first Iranian ever to be accepted to the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology… She taught at the University of Tehran, worked at its hospital, and managed her own private practice. However, her life was haunted by the fac that she had … A sense of obligation---that she must do something to help the nation she was raised in… But Iran did nothing to welcome her or appreciate her. She was mired in a society that placed little value on the rights of women… she was destined to always be no more than a woman in a country in which being a woman meant little. Throughout her life, she fought to change the inequities and reverse the injustices faced by all people in Iran. In the end, however, obstacles proved too powerful for her to overcome.” (Pg. 15-16)
She explains, “There are no clear answers to why my sister took her life in front of so many. Some may wish to think that this was the tragic end of a sick person, but I don’t believe that. That is why I wish to tell her story. I want to mourn the memory of Homa Darabi and to use what I remember about her to find the threads with which the fabric of her final days was woven.” (Pg. 19)
She states, “As she [Homa] studied, her disdain for the status quo grew. There wasn’t much vertical movement in Iran, she found out. People were basically trapped in the economic class they were born into. One of the only exceptions to this came to students who managed to earn a college degree. Homa knew this, and she forced both of us to keep studying.” (Pg. 55)
She notes, “Homa invested a lot of her future in the idea that she would one day have the right to divorce anyone she married. She thought that she could use such a right as protection in case anything went wrong with her marriage. It was a kind of safety net for her. But in Iran and other Islamic countries, women are not given such a right automatically. They must ask for it at the time of marriage. But even when such power is granted, it is not easy for women to petition for divorce. The right, in fact, is almost entirely reserved for men. Under Islam, a man can divorce his wife without ever explaining anything to her. He decides on his own. On the other hand, a woman who has secured the right to divorce as part of her marriage contract must work with the courts. This makes the process a long and time-consuming one.” (Pg. 101-102)
She acknowledges, “Homa was never very close with her spiritual side. She didn’t believe in any of it… Homa laughed at those who claimed a higher power was trying to prevent her marriage. She saw everything as coincidence and she saw no more than bad luck involved in the delays.” (Pg. 110)
She recalls, “In April 1975, I received an offer from the Iranian Electronics Industry to work in Iran for a year. I asked Homa what she thought about the idea of me going back. She loved it… I knew why Homa felt so strongly about returning. She loved Iran. She missed it all the time. I think she only stayed in the United States because she felt it was best for her daughters and her career. The dream of returning never left her. She had always wanted to go back and use her education to help the people there. Deep down, I knew that one day she would.” (Pg. 147)
Soon, Home returned to Ohio and then to Iran. She was needed back at the university. She had big plans for Iran. One of Homa’s deep regrets about Iran stemmed from the manner in which the nation traditionally dealt with problem children… These children were considered untreatable. Homa had spent several years qualifying herself … so she could one day return to Iran to establish a clinic where children with these disorders could be treated. Up her return, she did just that. Establishing the clinic was a challenge for Homa, but finding patients was not. Children were brought from all over the country to be treated by her… The job gave her tremendous satisfaction.” (Pg. 157)
In 1984 (after the 1979 Iranian Revolution), the sisters talked by telephone, and Homa told her, “We’re worth half what a man is. I feel like all the activism of the past three decades has been wasted. The Iran of today makes a thirteenth-century Iran look modern… We wanted it to be a revolution against inequality and injustice brought by the Pahlavi regime. Women did show up, protesting in the streets, but they were there for all the wrong reasons. Many of them were paid. But Iranian women, like myself, never supported the implementation of Islamic rule. We fought for progress, but were simply outnumbered.” (Pg. 166)
Ultimately, Homa lost her position at the university, because she told her (very religious) boss, “she would rather die than wear a chador.” Parvin comments, “to be fired for such a pathetic reason, because she wouldn’t cover herself from head to toe. It was all the result of a revolution she had supported A revolution she had wanted to se. I felt very sad for her. I knew she’s been cheated.” (Pg. 201-202) Parvin said to her sister, “‘I’ve never understood how the revolutionary government got Iran’s educated, working women to accept the rules of hijab. Did the majority of them want to be covered this way from head to toe?’ ‘I don’t think so. It started as a symbol… By wearing it, you were making a statement against the pro-Western regime of Pahlavi… It started in the universities. Female students started wearing scarves over their heads. Then in 1980, Khomeini declared [it was compulsory].’ … ‘But Homa, those are the thoughts of ignorant men. What about all the forward-thinking ones?’ ‘The forward thinkers… fought for women. They don’t like living in these conditions. But most of them have fled to other countries.’” (Pg. 229-230)
Her sister was depressed, and told Parvin, “I used to be a doctor. I lost my mob, and I lost my practice, and now I have no skills. I’ve been without work for too long. It would be impossible to start again… I am such a helpless person… All I do all day is sit and eat when people put food in front of me… My situation is hopeless. I have no money… I don’t want to live anymore… I’ve caused enough hardship.” (Pg. 249)
This tragic story will be of great interest to those wanting to know what life in post-Revolution Iran is like.
Parvin Darabi is an Iranian-born activist and writer, who has lived in the United States since 1964; Romin Thomson is her son. This book is about Dr. Homi Darabi, a well-known psychiatrist (and Parvin’s sister) who publicly burned herself to death in 1994 in protest against conditions in Iran.
She (Parvin) wrote in the first chapter of this 1999 book, “The news of my sister’s death was a tremendous shock. She had been one of the most prominent child psychiatrists in Iran. She was married and had brought two successful, ambitious daughters into the world… She was the first Iranian ever to be accepted to the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology… She taught at the University of Tehran, worked at its hospital, and managed her own private practice. However, her life was haunted by the fac that she had … A sense of obligation---that she must do something to help the nation she was raised in… But Iran did nothing to welcome her or appreciate her. She was mired in a society that placed little value on the rights of women… she was destined to always be no more than a woman in a country in which being a woman meant little. Throughout her life, she fought to change the inequities and reverse the injustices faced by all people in Iran. In the end, however, obstacles proved too powerful for her to overcome.” (Pg. 15-16)
She explains, “There are no clear answers to why my sister took her life in front of so many. Some may wish to think that this was the tragic end of a sick person, but I don’t believe that. That is why I wish to tell her story. I want to mourn the memory of Homa Darabi and to use what I remember about her to find the threads with which the fabric of her final days was woven.” (Pg. 19)
She states, “As she [Homa] studied, her disdain for the status quo grew. There wasn’t much vertical movement in Iran, she found out. People were basically trapped in the economic class they were born into. One of the only exceptions to this came to students who managed to earn a college degree. Homa knew this, and she forced both of us to keep studying.” (Pg. 55)
She notes, “Homa invested a lot of her future in the idea that she would one day have the right to divorce anyone she married. She thought that she could use such a right as protection in case anything went wrong with her marriage. It was a kind of safety net for her. But in Iran and other Islamic countries, women are not given such a right automatically. They must ask for it at the time of marriage. But even when such power is granted, it is not easy for women to petition for divorce. The right, in fact, is almost entirely reserved for men. Under Islam, a man can divorce his wife without ever explaining anything to her. He decides on his own. On the other hand, a woman who has secured the right to divorce as part of her marriage contract must work with the courts. This makes the process a long and time-consuming one.” (Pg. 101-102)
She acknowledges, “Homa was never very close with her spiritual side. She didn’t believe in any of it… Homa laughed at those who claimed a higher power was trying to prevent her marriage. She saw everything as coincidence and she saw no more than bad luck involved in the delays.” (Pg. 110)
She recalls, “In April 1975, I received an offer from the Iranian Electronics Industry to work in Iran for a year. I asked Homa what she thought about the idea of me going back. She loved it… I knew why Homa felt so strongly about returning. She loved Iran. She missed it all the time. I think she only stayed in the United States because she felt it was best for her daughters and her career. The dream of returning never left her. She had always wanted to go back and use her education to help the people there. Deep down, I knew that one day she would.” (Pg. 147)
Soon, Home returned to Ohio and then to Iran. She was needed back at the university. She had big plans for Iran. One of Homa’s deep regrets about Iran stemmed from the manner in which the nation traditionally dealt with problem children… These children were considered untreatable. Homa had spent several years qualifying herself … so she could one day return to Iran to establish a clinic where children with these disorders could be treated. Up her return, she did just that. Establishing the clinic was a challenge for Homa, but finding patients was not. Children were brought from all over the country to be treated by her… The job gave her tremendous satisfaction.” (Pg. 157)
In 1984 (after the 1979 Iranian Revolution), the sisters talked by telephone, and Homa told her, “We’re worth half what a man is. I feel like all the activism of the past three decades has been wasted. The Iran of today makes a thirteenth-century Iran look modern… We wanted it to be a revolution against inequality and injustice brought by the Pahlavi regime. Women did show up, protesting in the streets, but they were there for all the wrong reasons. Many of them were paid. But Iranian women, like myself, never supported the implementation of Islamic rule. We fought for progress, but were simply outnumbered.” (Pg. 166)
Ultimately, Homa lost her position at the university, because she told her (very religious) boss, “she would rather die than wear a chador.” Parvin comments, “to be fired for such a pathetic reason, because she wouldn’t cover herself from head to toe. It was all the result of a revolution she had supported A revolution she had wanted to se. I felt very sad for her. I knew she’s been cheated.” (Pg. 201-202) Parvin said to her sister, “‘I’ve never understood how the revolutionary government got Iran’s educated, working women to accept the rules of hijab. Did the majority of them want to be covered this way from head to toe?’ ‘I don’t think so. It started as a symbol… By wearing it, you were making a statement against the pro-Western regime of Pahlavi… It started in the universities. Female students started wearing scarves over their heads. Then in 1980, Khomeini declared [it was compulsory].’ … ‘But Homa, those are the thoughts of ignorant men. What about all the forward-thinking ones?’ ‘The forward thinkers… fought for women. They don’t like living in these conditions. But most of them have fled to other countries.’” (Pg. 229-230)
Her sister was depressed, and told Parvin, “I used to be a doctor. I lost my mob, and I lost my practice, and now I have no skills. I’ve been without work for too long. It would be impossible to start again… I am such a helpless person… All I do all day is sit and eat when people put food in front of me… My situation is hopeless. I have no money… I don’t want to live anymore… I’ve caused enough hardship.” (Pg. 249)
This tragic story will be of great interest to those wanting to know what life in post-Revolution Iran is like.
April 18, 2016
I myself sometimes lost track in the question of whether religion or culture that oppressed women. It can be intertwined and it can be each other contributing factors. This book retold the story of Homa Darabi in the perspective of his sister, Parvin Darabi. She is described as a very smart woman and an excellent doctor. However, depression, loveless marriage, uncaring daughter, tyranny of her own country renders her own helplessness. She could have been one of great female politicians but even Iran is too cruel towards her. I am frustrated by certain things especially the way she made a decision for her own life but I can't judge her. I'm sure it is hard enough for her relatives to see her going against the wall again and again especially her own sister. It's overwhelmingly sad and pitiful tale of a brave doctor.
Want to Read
October 5, 2013"What is it like to live as a woman in a strict Islamic society? What is it like to live in such a society when you are a well-educated, talented, politically active, and self-assured woman who knows what she wants in life? It's tough to imagine such a situation, but Parvin Darabi tells the story of one person: her sister. Unfortunately, her sister is unable to tell us herself because she committed suicide by burning herself to death in Tehran. What drove her to this act of desperation?" Complete review at http://atheism.about.com/od/bookrevie...
April 14, 2008
The story of her sister's life and death is very interesting, though the book is written with a bias agenda and has clearly been ghost written by a not-so-adequate writer. Quick read (i think it took me a couple of hours. its very revealing about Iranian society both before and after the revolution. Also addresses global displacement & women's rights. Fails to make any positive claims for the chador despite a very vocal and present activism for it. . .which is a bit of a simplistic view.
May 1, 2011
Needed something to read until my library books come in...
June 15, 2013
If you want to know what living in Iran is like, read this book. Covers that time period before and after the revolution. Really interesting.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews