Mihran Shakir and his family are Baha’is and live in Kerman. For some time, Mrs. Shakir had been receiving threatening phone calls (presumably for being members of the Baha’i community). When the family attended the commemorative meeting on the night of Baha’u'llah’s Ascension, their car parked on the street was firebombed. Fortunately, the friends at the gathering had noticed the fire and quickly put it out by a fire extinguisher. The car was not damaged very much.

But during the early hours of Friday, July 18, the Shakir’s home was burned completely and arson is suspected. It so happened that the Shakirs had left for the weekend and no one was home or injured by this incident. The report notes that at 4 in the morning, one of the neighbors was disturbed by smoke and had immediately telephoned the fire department. By 5 am the fire engines arrived, had extinguished the fire and began an investigation. Soon it was learned that one of the neighbors had heard a soft expulsion about 3:30 am, but had not thought much about it. Someone else had also noticed suspicious activities on the roof. The investigators believe the fire started in the living room and initially thought it occurred because of problems with the electrical wiring. However, that appears unlikely since the fire had generated a heat so intense that it had bent thick iron bars used in the ceilings. All the furniture and interior of the house were either completely destroyed or seriously damaged.

Pictures of this horrific incident:

Despite the January 29 ruling, the Department of Civil Status has shown signs of willingness to alter its position, justifying it by resorting to fatwas (religious edicts) that claim there are only three divine religions.

We at the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights share Dr. Moussa’s amazement and confusion at the Department’s rationale, and strongly condemn this injustice.

This publication has not strayed from its predecessors, with its reiteration of baseless claims of Zionist support and covert attempts at weakening Muslims.

The book further went on stress the importance of meeting the Baha’i faith and all similar “intellectual epidemics” that diverge from Islam with firmness, and called on the state to invest all its efforts in combatting and uprooting them from society.

We at the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights fervently condemn the publication of this book, that would lead to further violence and hatred against the innocent Baha’i minority in Egypt. It is incumbent on Muslims not only in Egypt, but across the globe to rise and say enough! Enough to all the hatred, enough to all the violence, enough to all the injustice.

Reach out and make an effort to educate yourself on the Baha’is and their faith, and most importantly, respect their humanity.

Mr. Aqdasi appealed this verdict to a higher court, but on 21 April the ruling of the previous court was upheld. The verdict was then appealed to Iran’s Supreme Court and the case was fast-tracked. However later the file was put on back-logs and will not come up for a minimum of six months. He began serving his sentence on June 19.

You may read the documents in Persian here.

The news was met with much enthusiasm by Baha’is not only in Iran - the land where the faith was born - but throughout the world.

A comment posted in the Radio Zamaneh website (Persian) attributed a further clarification to the Ayatollah.

‘Right of Citizenship’ is a general term, and its limits should be defined according to public customs and the constitution of which the majority are approving. However, if any person is trying to be the enemy of country’s people, or cooperate with external enemies [of the nation] and their cooperation is proved in a credible court, they must be punished. And their citizenship is not a barrier to the law being enforced. And attention should be paid so as the youth do not get trapped by their malicious propaganda; and if doing business or having companionship with them works as a mean strengthening their position, it should be avoided.

The full text of the translated response can be read here.

From the Baha’i Faith in Egypt blog:

Kholoud Hafez Abdou is a 17 years old Egyptian student who, like all other students in her stage of education, must sit for the final exams that allow her to graduate from high school and enter university education.

Students are required to enter their religion on the application form necessary for admission to the examination. Based on the documentation in her birth certificate, Kholoud entered “Baha’i.” The high school system’s admissions administrator located in the central office rejected her application because she entered “Baha’i” and prevented her from sitting for her final exams.

Read the full entry here.

This should be strongly condemned by us Muslims. There’s really no good reason why such minorities are allowed to suffer simply because of who they are. The Baha’i community in Egypt are harmless, accepting, and willing to coexist. To discriminate against them because of their different faith is unjust.

This is sad to hear after this uplifting news that human rights for Egyptian Baha’is were finally being recognized after many years of struggles, humiliation and abuse. Unfortunately it seems that Baha’is still have a long way to go in Egypt until they are finally accepted and treated as normal citizens in the country.

Dear Baha’i friends, we’ll be with you every step of the way until your rights are fully achieved! Please stay strong and hopeful.

Last night, Feb 25, the Dana family in Shiraz, which consisted of four believers, came together for the evening meal. As they began dinner, the sound of breaking glass and then a loud explosion rocked the house. Soon the entrance of the house was engulfed in flames and the roar of a motorbike speeding away was heard. The Dana family immediately started bringing buckets of water and pouring it over the fire, while the glass in all windows were being shattered because of the intense heat. Meanwhile, the family called the police and reported the terrorist attack. After some time, despite broken glass throughout the house, the fire was brought under control and by midnight the police arrived. Evidences of a Molotov cocktail were evident and collected.

Attached report in Persian includes pictures of this firebombing and the shameful and coward act of terrorism.

Please download the report here.

Here are relevant pictures of this brutal incident:

To the followers of Baha’u'llah in the Cradle of the Faith

Dear Baha’i Friends,

For the past three decades you have weathered storms of persecution with the heartfelt conviction that such tribulations are, ultimately, “the precursors of that Era of blissful felicity which is to incarnate God’s ultimate purpose for all mankind.” Religious and government authorities, who have always been the instigators of the cruelty meted out to you and your forebears, continue to deny you your God-given rights. They prohibit you from responding to the calumnies they spread about you and your beliefs while maintaining a climate of intimidation that severely threatens those who would come to your aid. Throughout, the international community and your fellow Baha’is from around the world have come to your defense. But now, justice-seeking, fair-minded Iranians from every walk of life in your homeland and abroad have begun to raise their voices in your defense and, in growing numbers, want to know the truth about the Faith.

Across your nation, in cities and towns, from neighbourhoods, schools, and university campuses, business establishments, government offices, and even from prison cells, more and more of your well-wishers are coming forward. School administrators, teachers, parents, and pupils have registered their outrage at the shameful treatment of young Baha’i school children; friends and neighbours have refused to allow government officials illegal entry to Baha’i homes; university students and faculty members have publicly and privately asserted their disapproval at the wrongful denial of access to higher education to Baha’is; civil servants have responded sympathetically to your efforts to secure your rights; journalists have displayed frustration at their inability to publish the truth of your case, and there are indications that enlightened clergy are willing to see your situation redressed.

Elsewhere in the world, where there is freedom to do so, Iranian intellectuals frequently express anger and dismay at your treatment; Iranian mass media recount your story and demand that the civil rights of all Iranians be safeguarded; countless members among the Iranian Diaspora sympathize with you, laud your courage, and seek to learn more about the principles that animate your lives.

To these are now being added Iranian organizations of civil society within and outside Iran, as well as a number of Iranian political parties. In this respect, in a recent development, certain political parties have publicly expressed concern over the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran, in one instance calling for the Baha’i Faith to be officially recognized as a religious minority. The Baha’i International Community, on behalf of the Baha’is worldwide, has formally conveyed appreciation to two such groups for their actions.

These are fate-laden days. The storms of tests and trials continue, but however dark clouds may be, they cannot dim the light appearing on the horizon. In response to such propitious developments, may you, with “fixed resolve and perfect confidence,” and avoiding involvement in partisan politics, seize every opportunity to join your fellow citizens in promoting ideals conductive to the prosperity of your cherished homeland, assured of our supplications at the Sacred Threshold that your noble endeavors may be richly confirmed.

Letter in PDF, English version
Letter in PDF, Farsi version

Thirty-one Muslims in the Donggala area of Central Sulawesi have become apostates and converted to the Bahá’í religion, it is said, inviting the anger of their neighbours who are sticking firm to Islam, and the displeasure of the local bureaucracy.

The head of the Religious Affairs Office in Palolo sub-district said that the Bahai faith, led by one Mulahi, a former marriage counsellor, entered Banpers village in the 1990s, and Mulahi had persuaded 31 local people to convert.

But some Muslims in the village are not taking it lying down:

The homes of the Bahai followers in Banpers are often pelted with stones.

Nor is the local government, which held a meeting between concerned Muslims and the Bahaists in September, 2007, wherein the Bahai adherents were warned to have a think about which religion they wanted to belong to, either Islam, like before, or another religion which was recognised by the government, because Bahai is not. Another meeting will be held soon, to find out whether the Bahaists have had enough thinking time.

Continue reading the entry here.

There is no reason why formerly Muslim converts to the Baha’i faith should face persecution, discrimination, violence or humiliation of any kind. It is a human right for people to choose their own religious path without governmental and societal interference.

In the past, we have alerted our readers that such abuse was possible to take place in Indonesia, which seems to be following the lead of Iran and Egypt in terms of Baha’i human rights abuses. It is with great regret that we hear of such stories, especially when such discrimination is taking place in the name of Islam, our religion.

It was announced that three of them, Raha Sabet, Sasan Taghva and Haleh Rouhi, were sentenced to prison for four years. The remaining youth were sentenced to one-year imprisonment.

While according to laws in Iran these sentences are unenforceable, on Monday, November 19, one of the governmental departments summoned the three named Baha’i youth on the pretext that their personal belonging was to be returned. However, upon arriving, instead they discovered that they were being arrested for dispatch to Adel-Abad Prison for the execution of their sentence of four years.