Baha’is in Shiraz are subjected to systematic persecution by a group that calls itself Sarbazan Gumnam Imam Zaman (the unknown soldiers of the Lord of the Age). On the 17th of March Baha’i living in Shiraz received accusing Baha’is of being infidels and spies for infidel. The letter (translated from Persian) further threatens him and 8 other Baha’is with public execution.
Therefore, in accordance with the research conducted by the Sarbazan Gumnam [the Unknown Soldiers] of the Imam Zaman, established in the city of the martyred at the altar, Ayatollah Dastghayb, you and eight other infidels [i.e. Baha'is] are condemned to revolutionary execution which will be soon carried out publicly.
Two days later, as he was opening the door of his car, he was approached by a man with a gallon size container, asking him for fuel for his vehicle. After providing the man with gas from his tank, the Baha’i (whose name is withheld) was surprised to find himself overtaken by two men.
[They carried] me to a nearby tree where they chained me and secured it with a lock around my neck. They then poured gasoline all over me.
The first person quickly went to his car and got in. The second person struck a match and threw it towards me. But it did not light. The second match died when struck. The third match struck my clothes and extinguished. The fourth and final match fell near my foot and while it was lit, I put it out with my shoe.
At that point, he too ran away and got into the car and together they disappeared.
After his numerous requests for help from passersby were ignored, the man managed to reach for his cell phone and call for the emergency services. Half an hour later, the police arrived and he was taken to the station a report was filed.
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Khalil A. Khavari
4 April, 2008
These creatures who did this horrific act are Muslims? To my thinking, they are the real and most effective enemies of Islam. And all those “nice” people who simply walked by and did nothing to help the man! Shame. Shame indeed.
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leyla
6 April, 2008
i totally agree with khalil. all the acts of crime committed in the name of Islam do not reflect true Islam. and Baha’is love and respect true Islam. in my persian language video blogs i discuss such issues:
http://www.elham.tv/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=30
thanks,
leyla
http://www.elham.tv
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Peter Jackson Deer
8 April, 2008
They tried to burn him to death…with gasoline they got from his generosity? That’s so dishonorable that I can hardly find words for it.
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soulfulady
21 April, 2008
Baha’u'llah says, “The essence of true safety is to observe silence…” Indeed, there are no words for this situation. They would only add fuel to the fire anyway. Perhaps it suffices to say, in the Sacred Words of His Holiness, the Bab: “God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth but God sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself, the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.”
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dan
23 April, 2008
At a time of great test for the Baha’is in Iran, may I let you know how profoundly moved I feel, as a Baha’i living in the West, to see the moral courage of increasing numbers of ordinary Muslims who are willing to defend Baha’is, and who recognise that the Baha’i faith has respect for Islam and the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) as one of its most foundational beliefs.
I would never have read any of the surahs of the Qu’ran nor investigated the history of the Muslim Ummah if I had not become a Baha’i. Through interfaith activity I have come to befriend, admire and love a number of Muslim friends.
Thank you for what you are doing, and may God bless you.
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