Demographic changes, globalization, and the war with Iraq (1980–88) resulted in a shift in how women in Iran articulated power relations. Qābel too added his voice to the debate about gender discrimination, and in 2004 he issued a fatwa that made the hijab desirable, rather than the state-endorsed, mandatory variety. But his espousal of women’s rights crossed other redlines; he believed in equality rather than complimentarity, that men should not beat their wives (in contradiction to common interpretations of Q. 4.34), and that women could act as prayer leaders in mixed congregations. This chapter examines how Qābel employed his Rational Shariah to make such far reaching conclusions.