Iranian women suffered legal discrimination both before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The main justification for discriminatory laws against women is that they are based on Sharia, and therefore cannot and should not be challenged. For decades, Iranian women have struggled to prove that Sharia does not discriminate against women per se. They challenge the discriminatory rules, arguing that the patriarchal norms and traditions inserted into Islamic law deprive women of equal rights.

For these women, the problem of inequality lies in tradition and the internal contradiction between the ideals of Sharia and the norms of Muslim societies. They stress that the religious edicts harming women’s rights are limited reading of flexible Islamic legal thought. The tactic of involving Reformist scholars to provide alternative interpretations of Sharia has been effective to a large extent in raising public awareness of the origin of these discriminatory laws.

However, there is an important question that arises here: Should women in the Muslim world rely on Islam to bring about changes in the current legal status of women? The majority of Iran’s population is Muslim, at over 90%. The demographic reality makes it essential to use religious discourse to tackle the gendered nature of Iranian laws. For example, the Quran provides for "mutual divorce," balancing the rights of spouses in the case of divorce. This teaching should be used in addressing unequal treatment of men and women in divorce cases.

In 2008, I defended a case in which my client filed for divorce on the basis that she hated her husband, and this placed her in an undesirable situation that was very harmful for her as well as for the family. In court, in addition to the civil code, I discussed the ruling of "denial of harm," which is acceptable to Islam as a way to prevent hardship. I also referred to the Quran, which allows for "mutual divorce," and discussed the opinions of some Islamic jurists, such as Shaheed Sani, Mirzaye Qomi and Yousef Sanei, to ask the judge to implement the civil code in line with the Quran and grant my client a divorce. Fortunately, after some prolonged court sessions, the judge granted the divorce on the basis that the continuation of marriage would be harmful to my client. Although many similar cases are quickly rejected by family court judges on the basis that there is insufficient evidence to grant a divorce, this precedent should be used in addressing unequal treatment of men and women in divorce cases.