Other than a few responsible and committed scholars...

Other than a few responsible and committed scholars, they failed to bring the essence of Islam to light. That is, Islam stresses inner as well as outer freedom. When presented in the form that the Prophet received it, it brings self respect. It opposes tyranny, oppression and colo­nialism for they foster dependence upon a man made system. These scholars failed to uncover the forgotten concepts of Islam. They ignored its revolutionary dimen­sion.

They stepped over the family of Ali ( ‘a ), Islam as it was at the time of the Prophet and what Shi'ism really stands for. The essential principles, the columns which hold up the personality had been so intricately carved and decorated that their basic form and function had been covered over. Pillars such as azadeh - freedom from attachments to this world or inner liberation, being in­wardly free and the seeking of justice, all lay dormant within their exterior decoration. What should be done?

One should seek out the methodology set down by the Prophet. Shariati then describes the three methods of the conservative, the reformist and the revolutionary pointing out the pros and cons of each approach. Then he turns his analysis to the method which the Prophet was inspired with.

"The Prophet preserves the form," Shariati tells us, "the container of a custom which has deep roots in society, one which people have gotten used to from generation to generation, and one which is practiced in a natural manner, but he changes the contained, the contents, spirit, direction and practical application of this custom in a revolutionary, decisive and immediate manner." Is this not the very method he puts forth for women? If your culture holds the tradition of a Fatima, seek her out.

Retain your outer feminine form but change the contents, for the infiltration of your inner essence by imported contents brought by the enemy in the guise of a friend is far more harmful than the changes one's outer form may take. The state of one's hemline is a superficial problem resolved one way this year and another way, next. It produces meaningless consumerism.

However, when the disease reaches the roots, the inner essence of the form, the form falls away from its society and remains root‑less, wandering, without meaning.