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WORK TITLE: Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran
WORK NOTES:
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BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.buffalomediation.com/
CITY: Buffalo
STATE: NY
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadia-shahram-7373ab32 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Shahram *
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Tehran, Iran; daughter of journalists and activists; married; children: two daughters.
EDUCATION:State University of New York at Buffalo, B.S., 1988, J.D., 1997.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Matrimonial Mediation Services of Buffalo Inc., Buffalo, NY, director, 2001–. Founder and president, Coalition for the Advancement of Moslem Women. Adjunct professor, law and government program, Hilbert College, 2001-07; adjunct professor, Buffalo State University Law School. Board member, Family Justice Center of Erie County and New York State Council of Divorce Mediation. Founding member, “Raising Hope.”
AWARDS:“Legal Elite” Award of Western New York, 2013; “Women of Influence” citation, Business First.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Attorney and author Nadia Shahram is perhaps best known as a speaker for women’s rights in the Islamic world. She is the founder and president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Moslem Women, and she was responsible for the release of the statements of Moslem women’s rights, the ”Declaration of Equalities for Moslem Women,” at Senaca Falls, New York, in 2014. She is also the director of Matrimonial Mediation Services of Buffalo, where she negotiates and resolves disputes within marriages.
Shahram’s first novel, Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran, looks at some of the most prominent forms of exploitation women face in the author’s native country. One of these is a practice that continues in modern Iran. On a trip back to her birthplace, Shahram saw “young women, draped in flowing garb and veils, who lingered outside the shrines and public spaces of Tehran, the city of Shahram’s birth,” related Charity Vogel in the Buffalo News. “She asked a family member … what the women were doing. ‘Temporary marriage,’ she was told. The young women would take money from men who wanted to buy their time as ‘brides’ of a short duration–perhaps an hour or two, maybe a week, maybe longer. It was sexual availability for hire–with a set time limit. And it appeared to be countenanced by the government and religious authority.” To a Westernized Moslem woman, this looked like an arrogant exploitation of women. “Shahram began reviewing the Quran and other Islamic texts and made a trip to Iran to learn more. There, she became interested in how women were affected by Islamic law,” explained Kate Mockler in the Amherst Bee. She was determined to raise awareness of some of these practices, especially temporary marriage, and was “’shocked’ at the openness of the practice.”
Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran sets out the story of a young woman named Ateesh who is forced through family pressure into marriage at the age of twelve with a much older man. When her husband’s abuse puts her in the hospital, Ateesh decides she has to leave him and seek a divorce. Her mother, who has witnessed what Ateesh’s husband has done, supports her; her father, on the other hand, discourages the divorce in the fear that it will bring disgrace to the family. With few options available to her, Ateesh has to turn to the institution of temporary marriage—which can also include other duties that a Moslem husband might expect from a wife—in order to get the money and education she needs to survive independently in a place that institutionalizes the exploitation of women. Ateesh vows that she will never again be dependent on a man for her welfare. She seeks affirmation from other women in her life, who provide her with the support she needs. “The authentic, intimate story narrated by Ateesh,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor, “pulls the reader in and encompasses not only her life but also that of other women.”
Critics praised Shahram’s fictionalized unveiling of the practice of temporary marriage. “Readers,” declared Marilyn Dell Brady in Me, You, and Books, “learn a great deal about the problems that women face in traditional Islamic societies, especially around marriage. But Ateesh is no victim, and her story inspires hopefulness. She uses what is available to be true to herself. She does not glamorize what it means to a besiqeh, but also does not let herself be stopped.” “I thought [Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran] would probably be interesting subject matter,” stated Sue Jackson in Book by Book, “but I didn’t expect such a compelling and well-written story. “
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Amherst Bee, April 14, 2010, Kate Mockler, “Amherst Professor Turned Author Launches First Novel.”
Buffalo News, April 25, 2010, Charity Vogel, “Women in the Shadows.”
Publishers Weekly, June 27, 2016, review of Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran, p. 60.
ONLINE
Book by Book, http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/ (June 30, 2016), Sue Jackson, review of Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran.
Buffalo Mediation, http://www.buffalomediation.com/ (March 29, 2017), author profile.
Me, You, and Books, https://mdbrady.wordpress.com/ (April 9, 2016), Marilyn Dell Brady, review of Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran.*
Nadia Shahram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nadia Shahram is the founder and President of The Coalition for the Advancement of Moslem Women, an organization promoting a grassroots movement for equality for Moslem women.[1] Shahram unveiled the first Declaration of Equalities for Moslem Women during the 2014 Convention Days in Seneca Falls, New York.[2][3][4][5][6] One year later, Shahram presented the Declaration to the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, where it hangs on permanent display in the Visitor’s Center.[7]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Transition to America
3 Career
4 Community Service
5 Awards and Recognition
6 Activism
7 Declaration of Equalities for Moslem Women
8 Media
9 References
Early life[edit]
Shahram was born in Tehran, Iran, one of six daughters. Her parents had an extensive library where reading the classics and traditional and famous author works was encouraged and rewarded. Her father was an activist for citizen and human rights and was jailed by the Secret Police (SAVAK) for his outspoken views, and Shahram vividly recalls her father being taken from their home in the middle of the night.[8]
Transition to America[edit]
Shahram traveled to the United States with the ambition of becoming a broadcast journalist. Shahram received her B.S. in Business Administration (1988) and her J.D. (1997) from the State University of New York at Buffalo.[9] During these years Shahram married and had two daughters of her own.[10]
Career[edit]
After receiving her law degree, Shahram trained as a family mediator at the Rochester Mediation Center and has been a practicing mediator in the field of Matrimonial Mediation since 2001.[9] Shahram’s interest in mediation and resolving disputes outside the courtroom developed during the years she lived in Paris and Zurich, where mediation is a common practice in dispute resolution.[11]
Shahram's cultural, educational and professional experiences have provided her with a broad knowledge base from which to offer expert opinions and assist courts and attorneys in dealing with Moslem clientele in matrimonial and family law. She has been extensively interviewed by, and written for the press, on occasions where culture and the law clash.[12][13][14] She also writes at length in situations where her mediation training and skills offer a peaceful and subtle approach to life.[15][16][17]
Shahram was an Adjunct Professor in the Law and Government Program at Hilbert College from 2001 through 2007.[10] She continues to teach as an Adjunct Professor at the Buffalo State University Law School.[9] She organizes and chairs conferences and symposiums on Divorce Mediation in the Buffalo area on a biannual basis.[18]
Community Service[edit]
Shahram is a board member of the Family Justice Center of Erie County,[19] a member of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York,[20] and a board member of the New York State Council of Divorce Mediation.[21]
Awards and Recognition[edit]
Shahram has received awards for her contributions to the community, including “Women of Influence” from Business First,[22] and the “Legal Elite” Award of Western New York in 2013.[23] Shahram is the founding member of “Raising Hope”, an annual fashion show fund-raiser to benefit the Family Justice Center.[24] During the years 2012 through 2014 this project raised over $100,000 for women victimized by domestic violence in the Western New York area.[24]
Activism[edit]
After the events of September 11, 2001, Ms. Shahram began to re-examine her faith of Islam, the role of Muslims in the international arena, and the perceptions of Islam in the West.[10] She later developed a course at the University of Buffalo Law School, "The Effects of Religion and Culture on Family Laws." [9] It was during one of these courses, discussing the issue of prevalence of misogyny within Moslem culture that Shahram recognized the need to address this issue publicly. Shahram is an outspoken critic of Moslem culture and frequently writes letters-to-the-Editors, which are published on various topics.[25]
Declaration of Equalities for Moslem Women[edit]
Shahram unveiled the first Declaration of Equalities for Moslem Women on July 19, 2014, during Convention Days in Seneca Falls, New York.[26] The Seneca Falls Convention is the birthplace of the women’s rights movement, where the first Women’s Rights Convention was held in 1848.[27]
Shahram’s Declaration is written in the spirit of Elizabeth Cady Stanton (a “calls to arms for female equality”) and aspires to address laws and cultural practices which are unjust, and discriminatory to women in Islamic countries.[28] Shahram’s goal is to raise one million signatures and present the Declaration to the United Nations. Once presented, the goal is to encourage the UN to assist in gender equalization in Moslem countries in the courts.[29][30][31]
Shahram has a number of small groups of graduate students making ongoing presentations throughout the New York State University system informing and securing additional signatures on the Declaration.[32] Shahram herself continues to promote the Declaration and educate people around the State of New York. She made an artistic presentation of the Declaration at the “Declaration of Sentiments: The Remix, A Celebration of the 200th Birthday of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Women’s Suffrage Centennial” on November 12, 2015,[33] and another presentation at the High Falls Film Festival in High Falls, NY on November 15, 2015.[34]
Media[edit]
While visiting her native country of Iran in 2004 and 2005, Shahram conducted hundreds of interviews and attended Islamic courtrooms as part of an extensive research project.[10] Shortly after Shahram returned from her trip she was the focus of a feature article in the Hilbert College quarterly “Connections” Magazine.[10] Shahram published her first novel, "Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran” in 2010.[35] This book was based on research and the true stories of Iranian women, with whom she conducted extensive interviews during her time in Iran, and who shared in detail their experiences.[10]
As an expert in Family law and Islam, Shahram has been interviewed by local as well as national radio and TV stations, and numerous print media sources.[36][37][38][39][40][41]
Shahram lectures and gives presentations across New York State [42] and is often interviewed by media sources such as CBC News, for her opinion.[43] She contributes frequently to the Buffalo News and often writes for the Erie County Bar Association monthly newsletter.
Nadia Shahram
Mediator at Matrimonial Mediation Services of Buffalo Inc.
Matrimonial Attorney-Mediator International Boarding School Toronto Canada
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Nadia Shahram is a practicing Mediation-Attorney in Western New York. She is a member of the Women and Erie County Bar Association and an accredited board member of the New York council of Divorce Mediation. She sits on the board of the Family Justice Center of Erie County. Ms. Sharam’s work as a human rights activist has included the Declaration of Equalities for Moslem women, which was unveiled in Seneca Falls NY in 2014. Ms. Shahram has authored a number of articles on the topic of domestic violence and has published a novel based on true stories and research conducted in Iran, titled Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran. Her awards include Women of Influence from Business First, Spirit of Woman from the Raising Hope committee, Culture and Education from the Buffalo Public Schools, the Legal Elite, and the next recipient of Yellow Rose from Zonta Club.
Experience
Matrimonial Attorney-Mediator
Director
Company NameMatrimonial Attorney-Mediator
Dates EmployedJul 2001 – Present Employment Duration15 yrs 9 mos Location5500 Main Street, Suite 216, Williamsville, NY 14221
Matrimonial Mediation Services of Buffalo Inc.
Mediator
Company NameMatrimonial Mediation Services of Buffalo Inc.
Dates EmployedJul 2001 – Present Employment Duration15 yrs 9 mos
Education
International Boarding School Toronto Canada
International Boarding School Toronto Canada
SUNY at Buffalo
SUNY at Buffalo
Degree Name BS and JD Field Of Study management and law
Volunteering Experience & Causes
Family Justice Center of Erie County a not for profit organisation
board member - fundraising
Company NameFamily Justice Center of Erie County a not for profit organisation
Cause Social Services
Fundraising for the Family Justice Center of Erie County. Ms. Sharam’s work as a human rights activist has included the Declaration of Equalities for Moslem women, which was unveiled in Seneca Falls NY, the creation of The Coalition for the Advancement of Moslem women, Culture and Control of Women Conference at the University at Buffalo School of Law, and the Raising Hope Campaign to raise money for victims of Domestic Violence.
Accomplishments
Nadia has 1 honor1
Honor & Award
honor titleWomen of Influence,from Business First, Spirit of Woman from the Raising Hope committee, and the Legal Elite from Business First, Culture and Education from the Buffalo Public Schools, and the recipient of Yellow Rose from Zonta Club.
See fewer honors
Nadia has 1 publication1
Publication
publication titleMs. Shahram has authored a number of articles on the topic of injustice against women and has published a novel based on true stories and research conducted in Iran, titled Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran.
Nadia Shahram Esq.
Nadia Shahram is an Advanced Accredited Mediator with extensive experience in the field of Matrimonial Law. She has received training as a Family Mediator from the Rochester Mediation Center in the year 2000 and has been in professional practice for the past 15 years. She is a member of Erie County and the Women's Bar Associations. Ms. Shahram is a board member of the New York State Council of Divorce Mediators and the Family Justice Center of Erie County. Nadia's keen Interest in Mediation and resolving disputes outside of court is a result of her extensive research, experience, and travels, as well as her own heritage and beliefs.
Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran
Publishers Weekly. 263.26 (June 27, 2016): p60.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran
Nadia Shahram. Unhooked Books (Consortium, dist.), $17.95 trade paper
(319p) ISBN 978-1-936268-17-7
Shahram's gripping debut novel, about the Shia Muslim practice of temporary marriage (in which the duration and dowry are arranged in advance), is more powerful for being based on real-life experiences, working as an engrossing fictional story and an expose of gender discrimination in Iran. At 12 years old, Ateesh is forced into an arranged marriage with an abusive man. When a brutal beating lands her in the hospital, her mother is determined to get her daughter a divorce, in spite of Ateesh's father's opposition because the family will lose face. Ateesh's marriage at that tender age shapes the decisions she makes for the rest of her life; she is deter mined never again to be under the control of a man. For complicated reasons, she eventually turns to temporary marriage--effectively a legalized form of prostitution--as a way to earn a living and pay for college, while avoiding the possibility of real love. Although Ateesh's early experiences are disturbing, that brutality is countered by the warm, loving relationships she shares with her mother and two grandmothers. Shahram presents a positive view of Islam but criticizes the ways that men have twisted its interpretation to rationalize the abuse of women. The authentic, intimate story narrated by Ateesh pulls the reader in and encompasses not only her life but also that of other women, exposing a wide range of inequities between the genders in Iranian culture. (Aug.)
Fiction Review: Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran
My most recent book read and reviewed for Publishers Weekly was Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran by Nadia Shahram. You can read the review I wrote for PW at this link.
This book surprised me in many ways. I thought it would probably be interesting subject matter (fiction based on the lives of real women in Iran), but I didn't expect such a compelling and well-written story. "Temporary marriage" is a Shia Muslim custom that is basically a legalized form of prostitution, where men (some of them already married) can legally form a "temporary marriage" to a woman (usually very young women) in order to have extramarital sex while technically sticking to the rules of their religion.
The story follows one main character, Ateesh, starting with her disastrous marriage to an abusive husband when she is 12, but it also incorporates the stories of many Iranian women - her friends and family members and other women she meets - to give a full view of the role of women in Iran today. This would be an excellent choice for a book group, with so many important topics to discuss.
It's a stunning, powerful novel that kept me turning the pages. Click the link above to read my full review.
Posted by Sue Jackson
Marilyn Dell Brady
Me, you, and books
conversation about reading, especially books about women and diversity, but including anything that excites my curiousity
Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran, by Nadia Shahram.
April 9, 2016
tags: Iran, Marriage, Tehran, Women and Islam
Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran: A Novel based on True Stories of Temporary Marriage, by Nadia Shahram. Unhooked Books, 2016. (An imprint of High Conflict Institute Press, Scottsdale, Arizona.)
4 stars
An informative novel about a woman who had ten temporary marriages, allowed by Islam, in order to retain her independence.
Nadia Shahram was born and raised in Iran, and came to Canada to complete her education. The Iranian Revolution thwarted her plans to return to Iran. She now lives in the United States where she practices family law and divorce mediation; her experience spans Islamic as well as U.S. law. She is a major activist for equal treatment of Muslim women. In writing this novel, she interviews a number of women and included their stories. Unhooked Books, which published this novel, is an innovative press with a range of books about marriage, divorce, child-rearing and other social and personal issues.
The narrator of Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran is Ateesh, an Iranian woman in her thirties who has had ten marriages. She had been a besiqeh, a woman involved in temporary marriages acceptable for Muslims. These involved marriage between a man and woman based with a contract stating the amount to be paid and when the marriage will end, usually a year. Although often abusive for women, Ateesh chose to use this path to support herself while attending college and law school and to retain her independence in face of the gender inequality she witnessed in the Muslim society around her. She kept her private life secret because of the stigma of being a besiqeh.
At the age of twelve, Ateesh was married to a man who abused her in extreme ways. Her mother and grandmother had to work hard to get her a divorce and even then she had to remain invisible in her village. Eventually she was able to go to the University of Tehran. She had little money and needed a way to support herself. Her first temporary husband was a cleric who helped her figure out how to protect herself as a besiqeh. She already knew how to protect herself emotionally by retaining her distance. Because of her precautions, several of her partners were good men, and none were disastrous. Eventually she fell in love and had to choose between staying in Iran where her family was or going to the United States in a permanent marriage. She also became involved in projects to help other Muslim women.
Through Ateesh, readers learn a great deal about the problems that women face in traditional Islamic societies, especially around marriage. But Ateesh is no victim, and her story inspires hopefulness. She uses what is available to be true to herself. She does not glamorize what it means to a besiqeh, but also does not let herself be stopped by guilt. Importantly, she notes that the Quran does not justify the gender inequality and abuse that many Muslims practice.
I recommend this book to a wide range of readers, especially those interested in how Islamic traditions restrict woman and how a woman can thrive in face of them.
Women in the shadows
Attorney Nadia Shahram's novel tells the true stories of Iranian women exploited by 'temporary marriage'
By Charity Vogel
Published Sun, Apr 25, 2010
Nadia Shahram knew when she saw them that she had to ask questions -- had to find out.
They were young women, draped in flowing garb and veils, who lingered outside the shrines and public spaces of Tehran, the city of Shahram's birth.
She asked a family member who still lives in the Iranian city what the women were doing.
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"Temporary marriage," she was told. The young women would take money from men who wanted to buy their time as "brides" of a short duration -- perhaps an hour or two, maybe a week, maybe longer. It was sexual availability for hire -- with a set time limit. And it appeared to be countenanced by the government and religious authority.
Staring at them, Shahram, an attorney who works in Williamsville, knew she had to find out more about these young women's lives.
"There were some who just refused to talk to me," Shahram said, on a recent weekday morning, inside the brightly hued office where she practices matrimonial mediation. "But some of them, they really wanted to get their stories out."
"I couldn't sleep for a long time, after talking to those women."
During and following that 2004 visit to her native land, Shahram interviewed some 100 people connected to the practice of "temporary marriage" in Iran: women who sold their time and sexual favors as short-term wives; men who participated in the practice; family members of the women; and more. She took a second trip in 2005 to continue her research.
The stories she heard undergird her new book, a novel called "Marriage On the Street Corners of Tehran," which is subtitled "A Novel Based on True Stories of Temporary Marriage." The book is available at the University at Buffalo bookstore and Talking Leaves bookstores.
Though the book is fiction, Shahram said the haunting lives it reveals are real.
"The cases I have used here, 99.9 percent of them are accurate, real cases," said the attorney, who was in her late teens during the country's revolution in the late 1970s, and who now teaches in the UB School of Law.
The book treats a subject that is a real problem in Iran and certain other areas of the Muslim world, said Dr. Khalid Qazi, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Western New York.
"It is real, in Iran," Qazi said. "There are some societies in Muslim countries -- Iran being one of them -- where 'temporary marriages' are practiced."
But Qazi said the practice -- which he said might also happen among immigrant Muslim populations in Western New York on occasion -- is not a true practice of Islamic marriage.
"'Secret' marriage, or 'temporary' marriage, is not allowed in the Muslim faith," Qazi said. "Marriage is a union of two consenting parties that must be public and publicly celebrated."
Shahram was born in Tehran to well-educated parents who were journalists and publishers -- her name means "rare," or "one of a kind" -- and came to Toronto to begin her high school education in the mid-1970s. She chose the University at Buffalo for her college career after a visit to Buffalo.
"I absolutely fell in love with Buffalo," said Shahram, who as a girl dreamed of becoming an Iranian version of Barbara Walters. "Down the QEW -- I loved it. My friends said, 'We want to go to L.A., to Hollywood,' but I loved Buffalo."
She completed her undergraduate degree at UB in 1988 and earned her law degree from the school in 1997. In her solo private practice, she has handled more than 500 cases of matrimonial mediation.
In 2004, Shahram decided to begin researching contemporary Islam, partly as a way of processing what had happened to the United States on 9/1 1.
"After what our country went through on 9/1 1, I was ... anxious and concerned to find out: What is Islam? Is it peaceful? Is it violent? If it is violent, I am changing my religion," said Shahram, recalling her thoughts at that time.
During her childhood in Iran "during the shah regime," Shahram said, religion was a muted thing. Her parents practiced the Islamic faith, but did so privately, "behind closed doors."
Nowadays, more than 30 years after the country's revolution, religion seems different, Shahram said -- and, she thinks a lot of that is because it has gotten mixed up with politics.
That leads to many unfortunate situations, she said, among them the practice of these so-called "temporary" marriages, which are, she claimed, ignored -- or even condoned -- by civil governments and religious leaders in the country.
"One of the most shocking things for me was that 'temporary marriage' was promoted and encouraged," she said. "I saw an advertisement in the newspaper, advertising it."
Shahram said it is her belief that this practice is a corruption of Islamic beliefs about marriage, which are supposed to be bound by contract-like arrangements. But there is never supposed to be an expiration date on the unions, she said.
Women choose to enter these temporary companionship relationships for the money, and because they have no other options, Shahram said.
"These are intelligent young women," she said. "But they have no choices. There are no waitressing jobs, no jobs at McDonalds. No female jobs like that exist."
The women do it even when such an action threatens their chances for a permanent marriage -- often working very hard to keep their involvement in these brief marriages secret, if they can.
"They keep it from their friends and family," Shahram said. "They usually keep a regular profession during the day, or at night."
Qazi, at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said that while he has not read the novel, he thinks Shahram's treatment of these hidden, secret marriages performs a useful service in educating people about a taboo topic in Islamic culture.
"Anything that educates people is useful," he said.
Shahram said she is in the process of turning the interviews that led to her novel into a non-fiction film, a documentary which will reveal this little-seen aspect of contemporary Iranian Islam to the public gaze.
Shahram said she also has started work on a second film project about the idea of "honor killings" -- a term she rejects as an incorrect description of a misunderstood phenomenon -- that will include interviews with Muslim women both in Iran and the United States. She would like to incorporate the local case of Aasiya Hassan of Orchard Park into that film, if possible, Shahram said.
"The more we talk about it, and the more we discuss it (the better)," said Shahram. "This is like my profession as a mediator. My goal is, everybody comes to know about these practices -- and how harmful it is to women."
e-mail: cvogel@buffnews.com
***
What: "Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran: A Novel Based on True Stories of Temporary Marriage"
Who: Author and attorney Nadia Shahram
Where:Local bookstores including Talking Leaves
Excerpt: "Grandmother Tuba and I spent the following days chatting, preparing food for Grandfather, and receiving friends at home. I tried to stay busy and away from dark thoughts of my marriage. I filled my mind with thoughts of the future — of an education and independence. It was the middle of the summer, and the aroma of fresh grapes on the vine filled my parents' courtyard."
2010-04-14
Amherst professor turned author launches first novel
by KATE MOCKLER Reporter
Shahram Shahram Nadia Shahram is a familiar face to many in the region. Some know her as their professor at the University at Buffalo Law School, where she teaches courses on Islamic family law. Others may have seen her quoted on CNN about issues affecting Muslim women and about the recent murder of Aasiya Zubair Hassan in Orchard Park.
But now, people will know her in another way: as an author, with the recent release of her first novel, “Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran.”
The novel highlights the practice of “temporary marriage,” which is unique to Iran. Under temporary marriage, any man (regardless of his marital status) may temporarily marry as many single women as he pleases. The man and woman work out a contract, with an agreed-upon sum of money and an expiration date.
Temporary marriage is based on what Shahram describes as a misinterpretation of Muslim law and is a way to get around the prohibition on prostitution. Many women who engage in temporary marriage do so because they have fled an abusive situation or been cast out of their families. Shahram first became aware of the practice of temporary marriage after the attacks on Sept. 11.
“It really shook me up about Islam,” she said. “My quest into my religion began with Sept. 11.” Shahram began reviewing the Quran and other Islamic texts and made a trip to Iran to learn more. There, she became interested in how women were affected by Islamic law.
“The more I got into it, the more I came to know about other practices that we don’t hear about in America,” Shahram said.
She was determined to raise awareness of some of these practices, especially temporary marriage. Shahram recalls being “shocked” at the openness of the practice of temporary marriage.
“I saw ads for temporary marriage in leading newspapers. I saw women walking around in different sections of town and men just approaching them,” she said.
“Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran” is a carefully researched novel. Shahram interviewed hundreds of women, buying their time in exchange for their stories. She has been working on the novel since 2004 and completed it earlier this year.
“In fiction, you can speak the truth but dramatize at the same time. You don’t see the passion, the human suffering in research papers,” Shahram explained.
This past weekend, Shahram held a reading and book signing at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Buffalo. She has another reading planned at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, at Canterbury Woods, 705 Renaissance Drive, Amherst. This summer, she will travel to California, not only to promote the book but also to meet with film studios about a possible movie deal.
“My hope is that by putting not just this practice, but numerous practices that hurt women on the table, it will stop,” she said. “I’m hoping that religious people will revisit Islam and see that this is a misinterpretation, and women are suffering from it.”
“Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran” is available at Talking Leaves Bookstore, at the University at Buffalo bookstores and online at www.nadi ashahram.com.