Bandar-‘Abbás
| بندر عباس Bandar-‘Abbás | ||
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| City in Iran | ||
| Location of Bandar-‘Abbás
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Bandar-‘Abbás is the capital city of Iran's Hormozgan Province.
The Bahá’í community of Bandar-‘Abbás was established during the lifetime of the religion's founder, Bahá’u’lláh, and by the 1920's it had developed to be one of the leading Bahá’í communities of Iran. The cities Bahá’í community has frequently faced violent persecution with Bahá’ís being martyred, and since the 1979 Revolution the community has experienced increased intense persecution from the government.
History[edit]
The Bahá’í community of Bandar-‘Abbás was established during the Ministry of Bahá’u’lláh with perhaps the first Bahá’ís in the city being brothers Haji Muhammad ‘Avad and Haji Muhammad. The early Bahá’í community included members who held prominent positions in the city including Sultan Muhammad Khan Abul-Virdi Shirazi who served as the Governor of Bandar-‘Abbás.[1]
Early Bahá’í Mirza ‘Abdullah Khan Midhat ul-Vizarih, who was the Foreign Office agent for the city, funded the construction of a caravanserai and public baths in the city and also bought land to serve as a Bahá’í cemetery at some point before his passing in 1908.[1] The Bahá’í community faced some opposition in the early 1900's with a Bahá’í being murdered with poison in 1904.[2]
There were approximately sixty Bahá’ís living in Bandar-‘Abbás as of 1910 with many occupying important civil positions,[2] and as of 1911 the city had a Local Spiritual Assembly.[3] Mirza Muhammad Thabit-Sharqi, a Bahá’í from Yazd, moved to the city in 1916 to teach the Faith however he was arrested alongside some other Bahá’ís and beaten and bastinadoed in 1917.[2] Mirza Hasan ‘Ali Khan Shirazi, a Bahá’í who served as head of the Bandar-‘Abbás Post Office, was murdered as he left work in 1918.[2]
In 1920 the head of the municipal council attempted to coordinate an attack on a group of Bahá’ís arriving in Bandar-‘Abbás by ship from India but the Governor of the area, who at that time was the nephew of a Bahá’í although not a Bahá’í himself, intervened to protect the group.[2] In 1926 Bandar-‘Abbás was listed as one of the leading Bahá’í communities of Iran.[4] In 1927 members of the Islamic Clergy visited the city and delivered sermons denouncing the Bahá’í Faith resulting in civil unrest targeting the Bahá’í community and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tehran appealed to the authorities to protect the Bahá’ís.[5]
In November 1956 police raided the Bahá’í Centre of Bandar-‘Abbás and seized all assets and furniture in the building.[6]
Following the 1979 Revolution in Iran the Bahá’ís of Bandar-‘Abbás began to face increased government persecution with Bahá’ís beginning to be dismissed from their jobs in 1980,[7][8][9] and instructions being given for military officers in the area to identify any Bahá’ís serving in the Armed Forces the same year.[10]
On July 24, 1984, Bahá’í Rahmatu’lláh Vujdání was arrested in Bandar-‘Abbás, tortured, then executed by firing squad on August 31, 1985. His body was returned to his family and he was able to be buried in accordance with Bahá’í law.[11] On October 3, 1986, Bahá’í Iraj Mehdinejad was murdered in his home by a group who stabbed him to death and his daughter received a death threat by mail shortly after his passing.[12] Mehdinejad's son-in-law was abducted later the same year and his daughter requested that the authoritites investigate his disappearance.[13]
In 1989 Bahá’í business owner Manouchehr Zia Nakhaie-Ravari had his shop in Bandar-‘Abbás shut down due to his religion and he submitted a statement that he was prohibited to engage in politics due to his religion and as such could not have actively opposed the regime.[14] In 1991 properties belonging to a Bahá’í in the city were seized by the authorities with their legal deeds being rendered null.[15]
In 2008 a member of the Islamic Clergy in Bandar-‘Abbás denounced the Bahá’í Faith suggesting that the Bahá’ís were expanding their teaching and economic activities in the city,[16] and in 2010 a government official in the city noted he had held meetings with scholars from seminaries, Mosques, and universities to plan programmes aiming to prevent the Faith from gaining influence.[17] In August 2013 Atá’u’lláh Rezvani, a Bahá’í of Bandar-‘Abbás who had faced intense pressure from agents of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence to leave the city, was abducted while returning to his home and found murdered in his car near a train station on the city outskirts.[18]
In 2016 Bahá’í businesses in Bandar-‘Abbás were sealed by government authorities in order to place econmic pressure on the community.[19] The same year a prominent member of the cities Clergy denounced the religion warning that Muslims should not associate or meet with Bahá’ís claiming the religion was a political movement founded in England.[20] In 2020 eight Bandar-‘Abbás Bahá’ís were sentenced to two years imprisonment with an additional penalty of being banned from participating in any Bahá’í gatherings and being required to attend sectarian counselling sessions. They were charged with "assembly and collusion with the intent to disturb national security".[21][22]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moojan Momen, The Baha'i Communities of Iran 1851-1921, Volume 2, George Ronald: Oxford, 2021, p 343
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Moojan Momen, The Baha'i Communities of Iran 1851-1921, Volume 2, George Ronald: Oxford, 2021, p 344
- ↑ Star of the West, 1(17), p 11
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1926). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 1 (1925-1926), Pg(s) 103. View as PDF.
- ↑ Letter from the Spiritual Assembly of Tehran to Chief Minister about Anti-Baha’i speeches at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Furniture belonging to Baha'i Assembly handed over at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Ferdows Habibi dismissed from teaching work at primary school at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Baha'is among 450 people dismissed from government service in 9 provinces at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Several Baha'is dismissed from work at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Instructions to identify Baha'is in the Armed Forces at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Rahmatollah Vojdani at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Iraj Mehdinejad at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Laleh Mehdinejad requests Bandar Abbas Prosecutor to investigate the disappearance of her husband at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Undertaking by Manouchehr Zia Nakhaie-Ravari that his faith prohibits him from political activity and will not be involved with any group working against the government at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Properties registered in the name of Mahmoud Rafati, and his children and his heirs, have been confiscated and their deeds need to be cancelled at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Fars News Agency: Friday Prayer Imam warns about the increased activities of Baha’is in Bandar Abbas at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Mehr News Agency: Activities of Baha’is in Hormozgan at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Ataollah Rezvani at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Saham News: New wave of economic pressures against Baha’is of Bandar Abbas at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ Friday prayer Imam of Bandar Abbas: Muslims do not visit Baha’is at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ 8 Baha'is sentenced to 14 years in prison in total at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
- ↑ 8 Baha'is summoned to prison in Bandar Abbas at iranbahaipersecution.bic.org
