July 14, 2016

1984: “Some six hundred men, women and children are now in prison”

The year just closing has been overshadowed by the continued persecution of the friends in Iran. They have been forced to disband their administrative structure, they have been harassed, dispossessed, dismissed from employment, made homeless and their children are refused education. Some six hundred men, women and children are now in prison, some denied any contact with their friends and relatives, some subjected to torture and all under pressure to recant their faith. 
- The Universal House of Justice  (Ridvan message, 1984)

June 15, 2016

circa 1934: An example of persecution faced by a Baha’i

In Kashan a police inspector bought and carried to headquarters a Baha’i calendar printed in Tihran and sold at the Hazirat’ul-Quds in Kashan. The believer who sold the calendar was summoned and interrogated, and afterward taken to the Department of Justice, where among other matters he was questioned as to his religion. Infuriated at the reply that he was a Baha’i, the examiner stated that there are only four recognized religions in Persia (probably Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Judaism -- Editor) and asked to which of these he belonged. The believer repeated that he was a Baha’i, whereupon the examiner wrote in the registry ‘I have no religion -- I am a Baha’i,’ and told the believer to sign this statement. The believer thereupon wrote: ‘I did not say that I have no religion -- I am a Baha’i’ and to this signed his name. After further investigation a case has been filed against this believer, the outcome of which is not yet known. 
(Baha’i News, no. 81, February 1934)

May 6, 2016

1933: “The situation in Persia is growing more dangerous…”

The situation in Persia is growing more dangerous, more confused and perplexing every day. Baha’i literature is banned, confiscated and burned. Baha’i marriage certificates are denied recognition by the civil authorities and the status of those who are married among the believers is fraught with incalculable difficulties and dangers. The printing of Baha’i newsletters, magazines and calendars is tacitly forbidden and constantly interfered with. Intolerable restrictions are being increasingly imposed on Baha’i gatherings, celebrations, teaching activities, and inter-assembly communications. With the passing of Keith, that indefatigable, brilliant and wholly consecrated international champion of the Cause, the Persian believers may be entering upon a period of systematic persecution reminiscent of the sufferings of a by-gone day. I urge your Assembly to obtain the fullest and up-to-date information from the Tihran Assembly and to exert the utmost pressure on the Persian Minister at Washington.
- Shoghi Effendi  (Message to the NSA of the United States and Canada, 8 November 1933; Baha’i News, no. 80, January 1934)

April 15, 2016

Mullá Muhammad-i-Mu’allim-i-Núrí – “was subjected, Quddús only excepted, to the severest atrocities that have ever befallen a defender of the fort of Tabarsí”

Mullá Muhammad-i-Mu’allim-i-Núrí, an intimate companion of Bahá’u’lláh who was closely associated with Him in Núr, in Tihrán, and in Mázindarán. He was famed for his intelligence and learning, and was subjected, Quddús only excepted, to the severest atrocities that have ever befallen a defender of the fort of Tabarsí. The prince had promised that he would release him on condition that he would execrate the name of Quddús, and had pledged his word that, should he be willing to recant, he would take him back with him to Ṭihrán and make him the tutor of his sons. “Never will I consent,” he replied, “to vilify the beloved of God at the bidding of a man such as you. Were you to confer upon me the whole of the kingdom of Persia, I would not for one moment turn my face from my beloved leader. My body is at your mercy, my soul you are powerless to subdue. Torture me as you will, that I may be enabled to demonstrate to you the truth of the verse, ‘Then, wish for death, if ye be men of truth.’”  The prince, infuriated by his answer, gave orders that his body be cut to pieces and that no effort be spared to inflict upon him a most humiliating punishment. 
- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

March 3, 2016

1925: Persecution and martyrdom in Farahan: Ride-Quli Khan, his wife, and son

“In Farahan, province of Iraq-i-Ajam, an old believer, Ride-Quli Khan, who for years past had at the instigation of the fanatical clergy suffered humiliations and heavy losses at the hands of the mob, proceeded a few days ago to Sultan-Abad in order to renew his complaints to the provincial authorities. Profiting by his absence, a band of ruffians break into his house at night in order to carry away any valuable property. His wife, an expectant mother, is awakened and offers resistance. Armed with poignards, they rush on her and inflict on her in a most brutal fashion several mortal wounds. They even proceed to murder her son and are only prevented from doing so by the cry of the neighbors who rush forth to intervene.” 
(A communication by the secretary of the Qaghan Spiritual Assembly to the National Assembly of Persia, dated January 7th, [1925], included in a letter from Shoghi Effendi dated March 3, 1925, addressed to the ‘beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the West’; Baha’i News, no. 6, July-August 1925)

February 12, 2016

1925: Persecution in Qamsar - Aqa Rida and his wife; Nasru’llah and his wife

“In the village of Qamsar, not very far from Tihran, a Persian, Aqa Rida by name, embraces the Baha’i faith. His friends and relatives are indignant and furious. They determine to persecute him. He is several times beaten severely and injured. They secure the sanction of the local Mulla to enable his wife, without obtaining a divorce, to marry another man. This unhappy person hastens desperately to Qashan and appealing to local authorities seeks and obtains temporary and partial relief. A few days ago, the son of a Mulla, Aqa Ahmad by name, visited Qamsar. Mischief-makers instantly incite him to humiliate, torment, and even murder the miserable convert. He immediately orders his arrest. His agents without notice and in a barbaric manner break into the house of a believer called Nasru’llah, accuse him of having sheltered his co-religionist, and command him to deliver the refugee immediately. Unsatisfied by his protestations and emphatic assurances, they start to search his house, violate the privacy of his home, enter the chamber of his wife, find her lying in bed having given birth to a child the night before, approach her, violently expose her, and shamelessly injure her to the point of almost ending her life. They then turn to her wretched husband and, with the aid of clubs, sticks, and chains, pitilessly mutilate his body. Fallen unconscious, they leave him, thinking him dead, and continue their search. Having fully investigated the matter they find that the husband was right after all and that Aqa Rida had fled to Mazkan. Reinforced by two Siyyids they immediately resolve to pursue him, and arriving in the village suddenly make their appearance at a meeting where the Baha’is were gathered and there instantly recognize their victim. They mercilessly drag him out, bind his hands behind his back, thrust him to the front, and with their whips, chains, and the butt end of their rifles drive him on to Qamsar. The Baha’i women in the vicinity, alarmed and grief-stricken, run after these heartless villains, and with loud lamentations vainly implore their mercy. Annoyed by their wailing they fire at them and disperse them. They drag him to Qamsar till at last he is brought before the Mulla’s son who orders him to recant. But this ardent devotee, though young in faith, refuses to yield and with remarkable fortitude and sublime composure disdains the threats and insults of his enemies. The Mulla’s son, angry and exasperated, gives order first to throw him into the river, then to tie him to the trunk of a tree and inflict on him the most severe corporal punishment. The people, however, with unutterable cruelty drag him through the streets into the main thoroughfare and start to force handfuls of straw into his mouth and with blows and kicks strive to compel him to swallow. They then befoul his face with filth. Finally they so disgrace and dishonor him and resort to such vile methods that the pen would shrink from recording the further unspeakable indignities to which this unfortunate man was subjected...” 
(A communication by the secretary of the Qaghan Spiritual Assembly to the National Assembly of Persia, dated January 7th, [1925], included in a letter from Shoghi Effendi dated March 3, 1925, addressed to the ‘beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the West’; Baha’i News, no. 6, July-August 1925)

January 9, 2016

Public beheading of a believer during early years of the Baha'i Faith

A square in Tihran, Persia 
(Source: 'Land of Resplendent Glory', by the International Baha'i Audio-Visual Centre, 1971)