Mehdi Rajabian: "Music is a crime in Iran."

Mehdi Rajabian is a dedicated musician using his powerful music to be a voice for human rights and freedom. His courageous story will be in my new book, "Dear God: Please bring freedom to Iran."

I remember as a young kid sitting in front of my TV set anxiously waiting for the next episode of the sci-fi classic, “The Outer Limits,” to begin!

   Suddenly, the ominous voice of the announcer came on the screen and explained to the audience, “There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission….For the next hour, sit quietly, and we will control what you see and hear.”

            

   More than seventy years ago, British novelist, George Orwell, authored a novel entitled, “1984” which since then has become a cult classic in literature. The basic plot of 1984 is about Oceania, a society that is ruled by a dictatorial government that treats individuality and reason as thought crimes. The society is constantly subjected to fear, oppression, surveillance, and mind control. The fearful theme and reminder of the novel to its citizens is, “Big Brother is watching you!”

  The novel is hauntingly similar to the situation in Iran. The government has suppressed individuality and every God-given human right. They have especially attacked the arts by suppressing freedom of expression and censoring every style of creativity because it violates the principles of Islamic Law. Music, dancing, filmmaking, is “haram,” forbidden and those who publicly engage in these practices are subject to harsh penalties by the government.

   In 2014, a group of young filmmakers assembled together on an apartment roof in Tehran and created a video of themselves dancing to the popular song, “Happy” by Will Pharrell. Within a few hours, the participants were arrested and charged with making an illegal music video with female dancers without wearing proper hijabs. They were forced to confess on Iranian state tv that they were wrong in producing the video because it violated the principles of Islamic law.

  Mehdi Rajabian is an accomplished musician who loves playing the Setar. The Setar is an ancient four-stringed Persian musical instrument similar to the acoustic guitar that is played with the index finger of the right hand. At 29 years of age, Mehdi is committed to bringing a message of peace through his musical compositions and was busily involved in a creative musical project entitled, “The history of Iran by Setar.” He was also the founder of the BARG Music record company that supported prohibited singers in Iran, especially female vocalists who are not allowed to perform publicly because of the strict guidelines of Islamic law.

   In 2013, Mehdi was arrested for illegally publishing music, offending religious sanctity, and inciting opposition to the Islamic Republic. The police raided his record company, seized his personal possessions and shut down his website taking both him and his brother Hoessein, a filmmaker, into custody for breaching the censorship laws and failing to obtain a government license for their music.

   Mehdi spent three grueling months in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, enduring harsh interrogations and inhumane torture. He was placed in the same cell along with Somalian pirates, Japanese and Tanzanian drug dealers, and HIV infected prisoners. During his imprisonment, he began a hunger strike in protest of the charges against him and became critically ill, losing more than 33 pounds and 40% of his vision.  Yet inspite of the hardships, Mehdi made a commitment to the universal language of music and what it meant to him.

   “For me, creating a piece of art is more important than any consequences that might follow,” Mehdi declared.

   It was while he was in prison, that one of his greatest achievements was conceived, the idea for a collaboration project with a message of hope for the Middle East. After much suffering, Mehdi was released on temporary bail, but in 2014 was summoned back to court to face charges once again and was forced back to prison for two more grueling years until his release in 2017.

   Since he has been out on bail, Mehdi has been hard at work producing his dream project that he conceived during his imprisonment. He contacted 12 independent musicians and together they agreed to compose a peace album with a unified message of tolerance and human rights in the Middle East  

   “As a composer, I felt that it’s time to protest against the human rights violations in the Middle East with music. In my opinion, the Middle East people are tired of human rights violations, and the only way I could bring all voices of all Middle Eastern countries in a single common shouting was music,” Mehdi explained.

   The Album is entitled, “Middle East,” and features various songs, one written by an artist during air strikes in Syria. Another one of the musicians composed his song while he was traveling on a refugee boat. Mehdi’s dream is to take the universal language of music and to be a voice for suffering minorities, refugees, and the people of his homeland who are struggling for freedom. He is busy using his temporary bail time to be a strong voice for other musicians who are still suffering in prison.

   I can relate to Mehdi’s experience. I too am a musician with a gift from God to play guitar and write songs. While researching this story, I was once again reminded of the precious freedom that I have to play my instrument publicly without fear of censorship and imprisonment. I am truly inspired by Mehdi’s courage to stand up to a dictatorship government and use his God-given talents to speak out against the evil done to humanity in the name of religion and politics. I hope one day to met Mehdi in person. It would be an incredible honor to sit in with him and play a few songs together. I am sure the night air would be filled with the powerful melodies of freedom and human rights.  

President Trump: A voice for the Iranian people.

This is my latest blog showing the strong support of President Trump for the Iranian people. This article will appear in my new book, "Dear God: Please bring freedom to Iran."

                                  …...  June 2009: (Tehran, Iran)

                The streets of Tehran are filled with thousands of angry, and disgruntled Iranians, outraged at what they believe was a rigged ballot box by the corrupt government. President Ahmadinejad has surprisingly won a second term as president and Iranians are convinced that the government hijacked the election in a deliberate attempt to ensure his re-election! The Iran Revolutionary Guard and members of the Basiji, a para-military group, have descended on the protesters and turned a peaceful demonstration into a bloodbath! Desperate for the world to hear their cries for freedom, the protesters are videotaped on cell phones and can be heard chanting, “President Obama, are you with the Mullahs or the Iranian people?”

            Unfortunately, the Iranian cries for support fell on deaf ears, much like they did in 1978, when President Carter betrayed the Shah at a critical time, forcing him to eventually seek exile in Egypt. Once again, reminiscent of 1978, President Obama ignored the Iranian people, and watched from abroad as the dictatorship government murdered its people for simply voicing their opinions against a corrupt election.

            On July 14, 2015, President Obama shocked the world by signing a nuclear agreement with Iran, resulting in the lifting of sanctions against the government. While thousands of Iranians continued to suffer torture and death in dirty prisons form protesting against the election of 2009, Obama rewarded the Mullahs with more than 150 billion dollars in sanction relief money which in turn was used to finance terrorism across the Middle East, funding Hamas and Hezbollah. The Obama Administration completely ignored the brutal torture and gross violations of Iranian human rights and instead lined the pockets of Mullahs with billions of dollars in a cash deal that would eventually empower them to develop nuclear weapons. The key word in describing Obama’s actions toward the Mullahs is the word, “appeasement.” His disregard for human rights resulted in a policy of appeasement and enrichment for the sole purpose of creating a legacy behind his name. Obama wanted to be remembered as the president who brought stability and peace to the Middle East through a deadly policy that ignored the brutal treatment of the Iranian people for the sake of having a legacy!

            In November 2016, Donald J. Trump captured the presidency after a landslide victory over Hillary Clinton. Things were going to be radically different! There was a new Sheriff in town! The very next year, Trump tore up the nuclear deal with Iran and reversed the policy with the government. He once again implemented sanctions in order to bring the evil regime to its knees. He then made a huge announcement with a powerful Tweet on Twitter, as was his custom, bypassing the fake news media.

            “The future of Iran belongs to it’s people. They are rightful heirs to a rich culture and an ancient land, and they deserve a nation that does justice to their dreams, honor to their history and glory to God.”

                Instead of appeasement for the sake of a legacy, Trump called the government of Iran to accountability for their actions. His tweet shocked the Iranian world! Here was a finally a president showing support for the people instead of the Mullahs. There was a swift response to Trump’s tweet by Iranians on Twitter.

            #Thank you, Trump. You saved Iranian people’s future.

      “We the people of Iran have been held hostage by a murderous regime for 40 years. We are the main victims of its atrocities. Now there is a chance with the help of POTUS, we break our chains and set ourselves free. We are hostages but not anymore.”

     

      For the first time in 8 years, the Iranian people finally had a voice and it was Trump! By December of 2017, they were feeling the backlash from the new sanctions. Their economy was rapidly collapsing and they began to take to the streets. A young Iranian woman named Vida Movahed stood up on a utility pole in the center of Tehran, removed her hijab and put it on the end of a stick, announcing to the watching world that she was protesting against the compulsory hijab law. Her actions immediately gained worldwide attention and many other desperate Iranian women joined her cause! Their movement earned them a nickname, “The girls of Revolution Street,” and even men joined in on the cause. Soon after Vida’s action, she was promptly arrested and placed into solitary confinement in Evin Prison, where she spent 30 days being tortured and interrogated.

            Iranian freedom fighters, angered by the hostile actions of the government and exhausted from almost 40 years of oppression, took to the streets protesting against the horrible economic chaos. They confronted the government for their terrorist commitment to the Syrian cause by backing Assad and shouted against their strong ties to Palestine. They could be seen wearing bandana’s and masks covering their face, shouting, “Death to Khamenei” and burning his picture displayed on posters. The government stepped into the peaceful demonstrations and began firing on the protesters, who had no weapons, other than their loud voices and cardboard signs in their hands.

            Outraged by the hostile and murderous actions of the government, Trump wasted no time but took to Twitter and displayed his solidarity with the Iranian people.

            “Many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption and its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad. Iranian govt should respect their people’s rights, including the right to express themselves. The world is watching.”

            It was obvious now that the Iranian people had finally found a voice, a president who would support them and stand behind them. This president was definitely with the people instead of the mullahs! United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley also publicly pledged her support behind the Iranian people in a powerful speech:

            “The people of Iran are crying out for freedom. All freedom loving people must stand with their cause. We must not be silent!”

      Here was a president and his administration that was committed to the human rights of the Iranian people. There would be no more appeasement and no more billions of dollars donated to the Mullahs to fund their worldwide terrorism. The strategy of the Trump Administration was straight forward and direct. Dry up the cash flow and funds that enriches the Mullahs, bankrupt their terrorist regime, and bring them to their knees so that the people could rise up and take their country back. In almost every city in Iran, Iranians were mobilizing their protests energized and inspired by the support of President Trump. Through the first few months of February they stormed the streets, raised their voices, and confronted a corrupt government. In the end, the regime had arrested over 3,700 protesters, and brutally murdered 21. Trump continued to voice his support for the people of Iran by once again using Twitter as his platform.

                “Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!”

      While the Iranian people were driven by the passionate support of President Trump, unfortunately they were also suffering from the results of the increased sanctions. A few months later on August of 2018, truckers all across Iran went on strike reacting to the deplorable work conditions and failing to receive paychecks for their hard work. The government stepped in and arrested 200 truckers and publicly announced that they would implement the death penalty against 17 activists. The government viewed their strike as “fighting against God!”

            In November of 2018, Trump implemented the harshest part of the sanctions against the government. The United States threatened to penalize buyers of Iranian oil, reducing their exports to zero! They blacklisted 50 Iranian banks, their national airline, and 65 aircraft. As a result of this action, The U.S. was now in a position to seize Iranian assets. Trump demanded that that they abandon their ballistic missile development and stop supporting militant groups in Syria and Yemen. Twenty countries pledged their support to the sanctions, cutting their imports of Iranian oil, thereby shrinking their exports by one million barrels a day.

            The November sanctions could very well be the final deathblow to a dying economy and a bewildered government struggling to maintain their control of the Middle East. The year 2019 will mark the 40^th Anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran since the bloody revolution that forced the Shah out of power and into exile. 2019 could also be the year of the long-awaited freedom that Iranians have been fighting for. For forty years they have cried out and shed their blood for democracy and freedom. They are desperate to retake their Persian homeland and rid it of the oppressive tentacles of Islam that have suffocated them for centuries!

            God has heard the cries or the Iranian people. He has answered their shouts and cries for freedom by giving them an American President that would be their voice and not turn his back on them like Carter did in 1978. Another revolution is on the horizon in Iran and a weakened and desperate evil regime may collapse in 2019. Let us speak out and diligently pray for the Iranian people that God will intervene and bless them with a new government that will respect their human rights and give them freedom.

            “We must not be silent!”

My Life in Iran from 1986-2017

Mehnoush Bakhtiari suffered under the oppression of an abusive father growing up in Iran. This is her story of survival and how one day her life was dramatically changed when she met Christ. This story will be featured in our new book, "Dear God: Please bring freedom to Iran."

                                                           My life in Iran (1986-2017 )      

            My name is Mehnoush Bakhtiari. I am a 32 year-old Iranian girl that was born into a Muslim family with a dictator father and a culturally suppressed mother. My father belonged to the Lor Tribe and according to their ancestral traditions, the “male child” received all of the family honor in preference to females. My mother was forced into a cultural marriage to my father unaware that he was a practicing polygamist, already married to another woman, and had two sons. She was too busy being a school teacher and a slave to housekeeping that she didn’t realize anything about my father’s past when she married him.  On the day of my brother’s birth, my father happily celebrated with a huge party because Allah had blessed him with a male child.  My mother was already 6 months pregnant and my father couldn’t wait to have another celebration!

            On February 12, 1986, the year that Iran was still engaged in a bloody war with Iraq, I was born in a hospital in Tehran. My father was devastated! It seemed like the end of the world to him. Enraged over the birth of a girl instead of a male child, he left my mother suffering in bed after undergoing a painful caesarean section. Returning home from the hospital still in pain, life for my mother became more difficult and stressful. My father’s mood became uglier each day. It was torture for him to accept the birth of a female.

            By the time I turned five years old, instead of wearing make-up or playing with dolls, my father insisted that I shave my head, wear boyish clothes, and play football with my brother. This was the only way that he could cope with me being a female. When my father was at work, my mother came to my aid and had me change my clothes from jeans to skirts, and she even purchased dolls for me to play with. She insisted that I should not hide my femininity. As time when on, my hair began to grow back and one of the most precious memories of my childhood that I remembered best was when my mother would tenderly comb my blond hair and adorn it with colorful clips.

            However, the happier moments with my mother did not last very long. My father’s behavior toward me grew uglier. He complained to my mother that I was too busy with schoolwork and should instead be taught cooking skills and learning household chores that were fitting for a woman! By the time I turned 18, he wanted me to marry one of my relatives in order to get rid of me as soon as possible. He intended for me to become just like my mother by studying the Quran, be an efficient housekeeper and learn child nursing skills. I despised this kind of lifestyle and fought it every step of the way! I longed to go to university, study hard, travel, and meet other people, and learn about their cultures.

            Deep down inside of me I longed for a spirituality that fulfilled the passions of my heart, a spirituality that made me feel wanted and loved by a personal God. I hated the times I was forced to hold the Quran in my hands and listen to Islamic teachings from my father. When I would look into my mother’s eyes, I saw an emptiness, as she recited from the Quran. She had no peace and was only going through the motions to please my father.

            When my father revealed that he had married a third wife, my mother had finally reached the breaking point. She refused to sit by and just tolerate the other women and be a faithful spouse. Standing up to my father, she demanded a divorce. It was the first time that I remember her mustering up the courage to confront him. I knew she had reached the end of her so called, “patient submissiveness!”

            However, my father adamantly refused to grant her the divorce and concocted a plan with his emotional manipulative tactics, persuading us to take a trip to the northern section of Iran to relax and carefully sort out our differences. It was here in the beautiful countryside that I witnessed the absolute evil and dark side of my father. I vividly remember, even though this was many years ago, that my Father took my brother and I by the hand to walk on the beach of the Caspian Sea. Little did I realize that he was planning to drown us in front of my mother! It was all part of his devilish scheme to force my mother into dropping her plans to divorce him by threatening to drown us before her eyes. However, my mother proved herself that day to be a tough and courageous survivor. She screamed so loudly, creating a scene, that people began to rush toward us on the beach frantically wanting to know what was wrong. My father’s plans had been thwarted!

            After a long and hard legal battle, my mother succeeded in divorcing my father. In Iran, it is very difficult for a woman to obtain a divorce and in most every case she loses custody of her children. However, in this case, she miraculously won out! Even though we were successful in separating ourselves from my abusive father, the financial burden became too enormous for my mother to shoulder. My brother, influenced by my persuasive father, decided to leave us and live with him. Iran is very patriarchal, man-centered society, and now the financial responsibility fell upon my shoulders. I became the “head” of the house and with the help of one of my mother’s colleagues at the university, I took a job in the tourism industry. Since I was a child, I always loved learning about new cultures and languages so this was the perfect job for me! My father had never let us travel alone, so being a tour guide was the answer to one of my lifelong dreams. It was at this time that my father continued to punish us for divorcing him. He convinced my brother not to allow us to attend his wedding and this crushed my mother. Day and night, she wept and moaned and all I could do was hold her in my arms and console her.

            After a few months of working for the tourism industry, my manager asked me to travel to United Arab Emirates and handle a contract. I was thrilled and immediately persuaded my mother to accompany me on the trip. Once we arrived, we could immediately sense the freedom and loveliness of this wonderful country. I remember the joy of allowing the wind to blow through my hair since the United Arab Emirates did not have a mandatory hijab law. I noticed that the cloud of depression had lifted off of my mother and I was overjoyed to see her relax and smile for the first time in many months. It was such a wonderful experience seeing people enjoy life, walking, jogging, and cycling in the outdoors, free from the shackles and chains of a patriarchal society. Both my mother and I wished that this feeling of joy and exuberance could have lasted forever, but 2 weeks later reality set in when we had to return to Iran.

            I continued to travel and meet people from different cultures and I vividly remember on one particular trip that I was introduced to some very nice Christian people.  I was very impressed by their kindness and respect and became good friends with one young Christian girl. Together we visited a Christian Church in Armenia and as we walked inside, I was overcome with such a peace and a sense of the divine. I had been struggling under the darkness of depression and I will never forget the experience of walking into that church and being overwhelmed by such a feeling of tranquility in my soul.

            After the trip, I began to research Christianity and study the Bible. I was so impressed by the way Jesus treated women and showed love and compassion to the hurting and the lost. I was gripped by his love and how this innocent man, who claimed to be the Son of God, willingly died on the cross to forgive the sins of all mankind. Through my research I discovered how very much different Christianity was from Islam. The God of Christianity was filled with love and compassion unlike the God of Islam. Human beings were treated with great value, respect, and compassion. Christianity taught love and forgiveness, while Islam taught violence and revenge. My trip to Armenia had planted the seeds of a new way of life in my soul that was to change me forever!

            While back in Iran, I became close friends with The Jabbari family. Their daughter, Reyhaneh was on death row in prison for defending herself against a government rapist. I spent many days, praying, hugging, and crying with Shole, Reyhaneh’s mother. The misogynistic society of Iran had no respect for women. Their only value to men was birthing babies and keeping the house. I will never forget the morning of October 25, 2014, when we heard the news that Reyhaneh had been unjustly executed by hanging. That morning changed my life forever. I was outraged by the tactics of this murderous regime who treated humanity like cattle! I could no longer be silent! I had to speak out and began writing articles on Facebook about the sins and evil cruelty committed by the government. I needed to shout to the world, that my homeland, once the glorious Persian empire of beauty and history, had been captured and corrupted by the oppressive religion of Islam.

            I soon realized that my life was now in danger. I knew the regime would be looking for me and unless I quickly left, I would suffer the same fate of many others who had been imprisoned and executed for speaking out against the government. In August of 2017, I said a tearful goodbye to my mother and asked her blessing on me as I fled my homeland for a more safe and peaceful life. I applied for a visa to take an English language course at a university in Sweden. I explained I was going there to study, but once I arrived, I made plans to never go back to Iran. A new chapter in my life had now begun. I was now a refugee in a foreign land, an asylum seeker, never to return to my homeland.

          I had successfully escaped from that misogynist, religious, oppressive, and dictatorship regime and for the first time in my life, I had a bright future ahead of me. I had ridded myself of the dark and difficult days of living in an oppressive culture. I was ready to begin a brand-new life!

            In the first few months, I managed to successfully pass a short-term English course in an international university and graduated. It was during this time, that one of my friends took me to a church in the city of Stockholm. After several visits of getting to know the members of the church, I talked with the pastor and explained to him about my research into the Christian religion. On November 5, 2017, I was baptized in a special ceremony. The water was very chilly, but I will never forget how cleansed I felt after being submerged. I was immediately overwhelmed with a feeling of peace. The darkness of Islam that had filled my soul with torment and oppression had finally been cleansed in the wonderful waters of baptism. I felt born again! I felt like a completely new person. This time my faith had not been formed by my father or a government’s threats, but instead it was the result of my heartfelt and emotional commitment to Christ! Now I could express my ideas and opinions without fear and publish them as essays and books!

            Now I could open up the Bible and dig deep discovering the riches and treasures of God’s grace. I was still a new student of the scriptures eager to read and discover their meanings and live by their principles. In the Old Testament, I came across a very powerful promise of God that really spoke to my heart. It was as if God was speaking directly to my heart and assuring me of his love for my homeland and all Iranians.

                                 “And I will deal severely with all who have oppressed you.

                                           I will save the weak and helpless ones;

                                      I will bring together those who were chased away.

                                     I will give glory and fame to my former exiles,

                                        Wherever they have been mocked and shamed.

                           On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again.

                                  I will give you a good name, a name of distinction,

                                          Among all the nations of the earth.

                                 I will restore your fortunes before their very eyes.

                                                   I, the Lord, have spoken!”

                                                    (Zephaniah 3:19-20 NLT)

            My goal is to write and publish books about injustices and cruelty done by the Iranian government against my people. Shortly after I became a Christian, I became friends with Randy Noble. I was so impressed by his love and commitment to the Iranian people. He is my Angel! He has given me the privilege of writing articles for his radio program. God brought a wonderful American friend into my life to fulfill my dream of writing books and being a voice for my people. The book you are holding in your hands is the result of many nights of praying and crying out to God. I believe now that God will answer my prayers and the prayers of many others and one day bring true freedom and democracy to Iran!

Dear God: Please bring freedom to Iran

In this powerful blog, you will feel the heart of Mehnoush as she cries out to God to restore and bring freedom to her Homeland, Iran. This powerful prayer will be featured in our new book, "Dear God, please bring freedom to Iran." There is incredible power in prayer and it is amazing how God uses our heartfelt prayers to shape and change history!

Dear God,

             I’m writing to you because I have a very special request. This isn’t your typical prayer because I’m not asking for something small. I’m also not asking for you to intervene and restore peace in the growing number of war torn countries, to end world hunger and poverty, to heal disease, or to make my dreams come true (although all of those would be awesome)…but I am asking for a miracle. In fact, this is the biggest, most significant, and most important thing I’ve ever asked for.

   When I was still a child, my mother used to tell me, “A clean white painting canvas is bestowed on everyone by God at the beginning of his/her life. Once he lets everybody have enough paint and a brush, he whispers the word “goal” in his/her ear and then lets us be free to be the artist of our own life.”

As I grew up and learned more about the real meaning of life, goal and freedom, I realized life was      not simply a room with two windows but there are thousands of them … Then I imagined looking out of the window of desperation and I felt like I was about to cry. I imagined if I looked out of the window of hopefulness, I could change the whole world. Accordingly, when I imagine looking out of a closed window, then I could sense how dingy and dark the world would be … And when I opened the window, I then realized how stunning and massive the whole world was! But we don’t live for a long time though … I don’t have the time to look at every window of life. That was why I decided to take the open window, but it seems the window before my eyes has been shut for years and I just can’t get to see the farther horizons of life! My world in my motherland has been dingy dark and for years and I didn’t realize it until I grew up.      

                                                   

   Yes! It has been for years that the window of hope and freedom has been closed to my motherland, Iran, and it has been darkened by a thick mist indeed. My dear Lord, that very young child who used to imagine a massive stunning world with open windows has now realized that all the windows have been blocked by such thick darkness for years and that we are all captivated within the frame. There’s neither any smell of light nor freedom. We’ve been living in complete exile, fear and palpitation for years. Freedom to us is nothing but those childish dreams inside us which have also been growing along with us all. My dear God, now I can realize how important freedom was; now that I made it out of all those years of captivity and palpitation to live in a land of freedom and democracy, I’ve finally recognize what this term really means.  

                                                                                                  

   Dear God, we had a revolution 40 years ago for more freedom; simply because we didn’t know what freedom meant?! Because we were never a thankful nation! We simply believed freedom was nothing but free electricity and water in our houses or free bus tickets. Because we thought Islam was more sacred than freedom. We lost freedom and got an Islamic revolution instead. Now, after 40 long years we have realized freedom was not that easy to let go of recklessly. Without freedom, there’ll be no books and authorship, no understanding and perception, no science and knowledge, no hope and brightness, no economy and development, no literacy and improvement and no life and future; in fact there would be nothing but you sitting in a corner passing life without a single understanding of how the rest of the world is and who we have been!   

                                                                                 

   My Dear Lord, we are all thirsty for freedom but there’s nothing around except the dream of it. My dear God, it is vividly clear that Iranian nation have all passed your test as assiduously as possible. These days, no one can sense the scent of life and you and only you are the only one who can deliver this nation from captivity. There’s no light left for us, we have no hope and we all beg you to give us back our lost freedom. We have learned enough all these years that we shouldn’t simply ignore what we already have and that we should not go backward while everything else proceeds ahead; we have all learned we should never exchange our freedom for anything. Almighty God has created all of us equal so that we can decide freely and live our lives as we wish. We aren’t supposed to underestimate this precious word of “freedom”. Freedom is our life compass helping us moving ahead and we only get to understand how watching out an open window and seeing the massive stunning world feel!  

                         

   My dear God, I truly love you and I know you can hear my heart beats and you know well enough this is not just one single individual’s request and shout, but the request and shout of millions of other people captivated on a deserted island waiting for a hopeful captain’s great ship to save all of them. My God, you are our true captain and now millions of people are crying out for your help. Please come and free us all from this deserted island. 

Your humble Child                                                                                                                   

Mehnoush                                                                                                                                 

The tragic life and death of Zeinab.

In her latest blog, Mehnoush tells the tragic story of a young child bride who was accused of murdering her abusive husband in order to stay alive and after many years in prison was executed by the evil Iranian regime.
Zeinab joins a long list of victimized women in Iran who are unjustly executed by a misogynistic culture.

    Once again, another case of a woman and another crime against her committed by the shameless and misogynist system of Islamic Republic of Iran!

     Zainab Sekaanvand was a teenage girl whose family forced her to marry at the young age of 15. She suffered for a long time being beaten and tortured by her abusive husband. Through several letters from prison, she had already explained everything about her dark and shameful life; also, she had claimed to have been raped several times by her brother-in-law.

   When she was only a teenager, Zainab may have been compelled to commit a crime which could be considered a kind of self-defense against threat, rape, harassment, cursing and torture, while Islamic system calls it murder. Like so many other innocent women, Zeinab was compelled to confess to a murder that she later denied committing after finally being represented by a lawyer. Despite her denial, the Judge refused to investigate her claim and instead sentenced her to death. The judge on duty did not pay any attention at all to the way she had been harassed and tortured and only emphasized the need for capital punishment. In a letter to Human Rights Organization, Zeinab had already mentioned that she was frequently tortured and hit by her male investigators who had made her sign some phony documents. She was also raped by one investigator during the investigation process; afterwards, she got pregnant and gave birth to a still born child. 

       However, the prison authorities claimed she had already gotten married to one of the prisoners and then became pregnant! No one can possibly believe such a big lie! In fact, this suppressed young girl is a typical example of thousands of Iranian girls and women who are regularly harassed and oppressed by the judicial and legal system of the country and then executed as innocent victims. None of these girls and women are allowed to complain or live a normal life under the control of the Islamic government and they are simply regarded as sexual slaves of men’s lusts. This is the only value of a girl or a woman in Islamic ideology as well as in Islamic lands.   

       In the end, Zainab was cruelly executed on October 2, 2018 and her name joined the memories of a long list of female victims. 


      Zeinab;

              Now you may now rest in peace, you have finally been freed from the cruelty that you faced throughout your short 24-year-old life. Now is the time to prepare and restore your lost rights in the righteous and just presence of Almighty; the day all your torturers and executioners are going to be punished for good!

A tribute to Golrokh Iraee

This article is adapted from my book, "Broken yet beautiful: Rising up from their ashes."  It is originally written by Mehnoush my dear Iranian friend living in Sweden. Golrokh is Mehnoush's hero, a courageous Iranian woman who refuses to be silent even while suffering in prison.

        The theme of our book is that beauty comes from brokenness. Women have suffered immensely for thousands of years and have been broken yet remained strong. From this brokenness has emerged a defiant spirit that has been rejuvenated, rising up from the ashes of suffering to confront the cancer eating away at their dignity and self-worth. One such survivor is a woman that I admire greatly for her courage and determination to not remain silent but to rise up against a dictatorship government. That survivor is Golrokh Iraee.

        Golrokh is a writer and a political activist serving a six-year sentence for charges related to an unpublished story she wrote criticizing the practice of stoning in Iran. Golrokh was arrested on September 6, 2014 along with her husband Arash Sadeghi, who also is a committed political activist.

        After their arrest, authorities violently ransacked the couple’s home without a search warrant. They confiscated personal possessions such as laptops, CDs, and papers. Among the papers was a notebook that Golrokh used as a personal diary. The diary contained a fictional handwritten story in which a female character watches the Stoning of Saraya M, a 2009 Persian-language film depicting the true story of a woman stoned to death for adultery in Iran.

        Golrokh was interrogated about the contents of the diary and her story. During her initial interrogation, she was repeatedly pressured to confess under the threat of execution. She was questioned in a room adjoining the location where her husband was detained and she could hear him being tortured through the walls. Golrokh was placed in solitary confinement for three days and endured twenty days without access to a family lawyer or court proceeding.

        Golrokh was convicted in May 2015. She was charged with “insulting Islamic sanctities” for the diary entry and spreading propaganda against the system for two separate Facebook posts as well as possession of alleged anti-government propaganda in her home. She was convicted in absentia and sentenced to six years in prison. Her husband Arash, on the other hand, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of spreading propaganda against the system for interviews he conducted about human rights issues and prison conditions. In addition to the charges he was also convicted of spreading lies in Cyberspace for Facebook posts about political prisoners and insulting the Supreme leader of the Islamic Republic

.

        Golrokh continues to speak out publicly to protest the Iranian government from her jail cell. She has written several open letters from prison, including one in which she refused to participate in the May 2017 presidential election, criticizing a staged tour of Evin prison for foreign ambassadors.

        In January 2018, Golrokh faced additional charges for allegedly insulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and reciting a political poem. She was subsequently beaten by prison guards and transferred to Shahr-e-Rey prison after she refused to go to court. In February 2018 she began a hunger strike which seriously impacted her health and in April she was transferred to the hospital in critical condition.

        Golrokh is a courageous Iranian woman who is standing up against the dictatorship government that has brought death and destruction to her Persian homeland. She symbolizes the freedom and courage of all Iranian women. She refuses to be silent!


*Update on Arash Sadeghi....

        Arash is suffering from bone cancer and the Iranian authorities are denying him adequate medical care. Please speak out and keep Arash in your thoughts and prayers!

"Go and sin no more."

The ministry of Jesus challenged the accepted social norm of the way women were treated. Instead of shunning them publicly, Jesus reached out to women with compassion and respect which brought anger and ridicule from the religious elite.

My new blog explains the cultural status of women and how Jesus pulled them up out of the gutters of discrimination. The following article is an excerpt from my new book, "Broken yet beautiful: Rising up from their ashes." You can purchase my book in both kindle and paperback on Amazon.com

  There is a wonderful promise tucked into the collection of Hebrew poetry, also known as the Psalms, that is for the oppressed. It is a special promise of deliverance for the hurting and the scarred, that have suffered under the yoke of bondage for centuries without any relief.

“He will rescue the poor when they cry to Him:

He will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them

He feels pity for the weak and needy, and he will rescue them.

He will redeem them from oppression and violence,

For their lives are precious to him.

(Psalm 72:12-14)

        God understands the pain and sufferings of humanity, because he left his royal throne in heaven and clothed himself in human flesh. He became one of us and suffered immensely in body, soul, and spirit on a wooden cross for our salvation. He is not a distant far away deity, but a personal, loving, compassionate God who promises one day in eternity to “wipe all tears from our eyes,” and abolish all pain, suffering and death forever… (Rev. 21:4)

        At the perfect time, God stepped out of eternity and became a human being in Jesus Christ. The great event of the incarnation was God entering into humanity for the purpose of delivering us from the pain and guilt of sin and restoring us from our brokenness to beauty once again. For centuries, women had suffered under the yoke of oppression and discrimination and now God himself was going to come into humanity and rescue them from the slime and filth of gender abuse. Jesus was a man of great humility and compassion and as the “God of justice” he confronted the evils of discrimination and racism that had enslaved women for far too long. Jesus came to announce the arrival of the kingdom of God and in this kingdom, there would be no oppression, discrimination, or racism permitted, but instead there would be compassion, equality, and genuine kindness, that once had filled the paradise of Eden. Jesus had come to liberate women from the chains of gender abuse and restore them once again to their dignity and worth as image bearers of God.

        The view of women in the culture of Jesus’s day was both sad and deplorable. Women were treated as second-class citizens by the religious establishment:

“The oral law of Jesus’s day,” “Let the words of the law be burned rather than committed to women!” “The woman,” says the Law, is in all things inferior to man. Let her accordingly be submissive.”

(Apion 2:210)

“Praised be to God that he has not created me a gentile: Praised be to God that he created me not a woman.”      (The thanksgiving prayer of a Jew)

               A Rabbi considered it beneath his dignity to speak in public to a woman.

          

        This was the mood of the Jewish religious culture and it was very hostile to the average woman. It was into this culture that Jesus came to restore the value, dignity and worth of a woman.

        In the Gospel of John, Chapter 8, verses 3-11, the Bible unveils a heated scenario between the Pharisees and scribes concerning a woman caught in the act of adultery. They immediately bring the woman to Jesus with motive of testing him. To the religious leaders the woman was merely property owned by her husband and her vile act had brought disgrace upon him. However, it is interesting and perhaps deliberate that the man caught in the offense was conveniently missing. Why hadn’t he been brought to be stoned along with the woman? It is also worth pointing out that the religious leaders were really not interested in upholding God’s moral law, they were instead intent on exposing Jesus as a false prophet and discrediting him. The adulterous woman had become their perfect propaganda tool to confront and discredit the Son of God. Filled with passionate rage they looked Jesus in the eyes and asked the question:

        “Will you have her stoned as the law required?

        The religious leaders were referencing Deuteronomy chapter 22 and verses 23-30.

        The religious leaders had devised an elaborate scheme to expose Jesus as a false prophet. If he agreed with the law in favor of the woman being stoned, then they would point out that he was betraying his reputation among the crowds as being a compassionate rabbi. If, however he spared the woman’s life, they would cry out that he was disobeying the law of Moses and was therefore a false prophet. The religious leaders were convinced they had cornered Jesus into an impossible trap to escape from.

        Jesus knowing the intent of their deceitful hearts, bent down and began writing with his finger in the sand. While theologians have debated for centuries what exactly Jesus was writing, it is possible that he was writing down their individual sins. However, there is a pertinent passage in the Book of Jeremiah that is more likely referring to what Jesus was writing, a passage that speaks of God’s judgment upon a rebellious religious establishment.

        “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountains of living waters.

                                           (Jeremiah 17:13)

        The text should literally read, “those who turn aside from my ways, will have their names written in the dust and blotted out.”

        In writing in the dust with his finger, Jesus was instead pointing the accusing finger of judgment upon the corrupt religious leaders. Jesus stood up and in a precise and confrontational tone pointed his finger of judgment at them exposing their hypocrisy.

        “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her!”

        With this confronting declaration, Jesus forever silenced the mouths of the religious elite. They were unprepared for this heart-piercing confrontation. Their hypocrisy had been exposed and one by one they let the stones fall from their hands and departed.

        In one of the most beautiful scenes in all of the Bible, the adulterous woman was left alone with Jesus. No doubt she was still shaking with fear and anxiety. Yet Jesus shows tenderness, respect and compassion for this woman. He treated her with great value instead of condemning her for her sin. The religious leaders had treated her as damaged goods with malicious contempt, but the Son of God reached out and showed her mercy instead. He showed respect first by acting contrary to the rabbinic code of that day, He spoke to the woman.

        “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

        “No one Lord,” The woman replied.

        “Neither do I condemn you, “Jesus reassured her, “Go and from now on sin no more.”      

        This is a beautiful illustration of the compassion and respect that Jesus demonstrated toward women. He confronted the abusive religious leaders, exposed their hypocritical hearts, and stood in defense of this adulterous woman. Jesus did not deny that she had sinned but instead of condemnation he extended grace and mercy toward her. When I read about the horrific stories on the internet of Muslim crowds stoning women to death in Middle-Eastern countries like Pakistan, engaging in honor killings, I immediately think of this beautiful account in John’s gospel. I can picture Jesus standing in defense of these helpless women and pointing the accusing finger back at them. Jesus is the “God of Justice” a defender of the honor of women. He refused to align himself with the false Rabbinic code of his day and instead lifted women out of the gutters of discrimination, restoring to them their dignity as equal image bearers of God.