arthra
Baha'i
A few weeks ago the soul of Mr. Amoui ascended to the Abha Kingdom as we Baha'is describe the passing of pure souls. I met Mr. Amoui on more than one occasion and wanted to share some excerpts from his record of imprisonment in Iran as a memorial.. Here is an excerpt from his memoirs:
"The events that this unworthy servant was part of began around five years from the onset of the Iranian revolution. It began with one of the youth of our district who, not following the rules of wisdom and caution, was somehow imprisoned and after being identified as a Bahá’í was tortured. In the process he was asked the names of the active believers in the district. I was informed that my name had been mentioned by this youth and some of my fellow believers suggested that I go into hiding for awhile until things calmed down. Since I had no idea what the length of this hiding would be, and also because of concern over my family members being harassed, I did not consider it practical to heed their suggestion. On the night of February 14, 1984, a number of paramilitary groups attacked several houses that were chosen in advance. In the arrest warrant the name of the mentioned young man was written as the person who had identified me as an active Bahá’í. During the search of my house which lasted over 3 hours, they confiscated my Bahá’í writings and books. They put me in a car and I realized that I was being taken to a central station for interrogation. As soon as we got out of the car, they blindfolded me and we entered a building. From the voices around me I realized that I was not the only Bahá’í, but rather was in the company of several other Bahá’ís who were also apprehended from my district. We spent more than a week in that place of fear and horror. We were subject to a lot of mental and psychological torture in small solitary wooden rooms. During the preliminary interrogation, the person in charge of my questioning utilized a lot of violence in the first few days and was threatening me. He asked me how long I had been involved in Bahá'í activities and I responded that it had been 40 years. He asked me why I wasn't afraid to acknowledge that, as I was surely going to be put to death. I responded that it doesn't scare me as not everyone can be taken by the angel of death peacefully, and some have to be put to death by the Mullahs. This made him laugh and change his approach by allowing me to take off my blindfold and talk face to face in a friendly manner. Since I was responding to his questioning with absolute sincerity and honesty, he asked me “Aren’t you afraid of death that you dare to express yourself in such a manner?” I responded, “No, I have faith and certitude that this earthly world is nothing but hardship and difficulties and while the spirit is trapped in this earthly body, it has to go through hardship and difficulties. The day that my inner soul is released from this body and is freed from this limited earthly world, it will enter the world of eternity.” Later on I realized that this person who was questioning me was an honest, well-intentioned person who reported my testimony in the prison record truthfully...."
Read more at
Prison Memories of Mr. Amoui (Feb. 1984 - March 1989)
Video of interview with Mr. Amoui:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Geg9KUsJmgU
"The events that this unworthy servant was part of began around five years from the onset of the Iranian revolution. It began with one of the youth of our district who, not following the rules of wisdom and caution, was somehow imprisoned and after being identified as a Bahá’í was tortured. In the process he was asked the names of the active believers in the district. I was informed that my name had been mentioned by this youth and some of my fellow believers suggested that I go into hiding for awhile until things calmed down. Since I had no idea what the length of this hiding would be, and also because of concern over my family members being harassed, I did not consider it practical to heed their suggestion. On the night of February 14, 1984, a number of paramilitary groups attacked several houses that were chosen in advance. In the arrest warrant the name of the mentioned young man was written as the person who had identified me as an active Bahá’í. During the search of my house which lasted over 3 hours, they confiscated my Bahá’í writings and books. They put me in a car and I realized that I was being taken to a central station for interrogation. As soon as we got out of the car, they blindfolded me and we entered a building. From the voices around me I realized that I was not the only Bahá’í, but rather was in the company of several other Bahá’ís who were also apprehended from my district. We spent more than a week in that place of fear and horror. We were subject to a lot of mental and psychological torture in small solitary wooden rooms. During the preliminary interrogation, the person in charge of my questioning utilized a lot of violence in the first few days and was threatening me. He asked me how long I had been involved in Bahá'í activities and I responded that it had been 40 years. He asked me why I wasn't afraid to acknowledge that, as I was surely going to be put to death. I responded that it doesn't scare me as not everyone can be taken by the angel of death peacefully, and some have to be put to death by the Mullahs. This made him laugh and change his approach by allowing me to take off my blindfold and talk face to face in a friendly manner. Since I was responding to his questioning with absolute sincerity and honesty, he asked me “Aren’t you afraid of death that you dare to express yourself in such a manner?” I responded, “No, I have faith and certitude that this earthly world is nothing but hardship and difficulties and while the spirit is trapped in this earthly body, it has to go through hardship and difficulties. The day that my inner soul is released from this body and is freed from this limited earthly world, it will enter the world of eternity.” Later on I realized that this person who was questioning me was an honest, well-intentioned person who reported my testimony in the prison record truthfully...."
Read more at
Prison Memories of Mr. Amoui (Feb. 1984 - March 1989)
Video of interview with Mr. Amoui:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Geg9KUsJmgU