Baha’i Musician Imprisoned In Iran

I am concerned to learn that a Baha’i musician has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran.

Behnam Rohani-Fard, a Bahai Musician and composer  who had resided in Tehran for some time traveled to the city of Yazd to participate in the mourning ceremony arranged for one of his family members.  In the morning hours of Monday, October 12, Mr. Rohani-Fard was detained by Intelligence agents while driving in his private car; he was taken to an undisclosed location.

In repeated follow-ups made by Mr. Rohani-Fard’s wife, she was told that her husband would be released in one week and his detention was related to his change of residence, as well as chanting religious Bahai songs. 

Readers are reminded that Mr. Rohani-Fard was a target of investigation by agents from the Intelligence Ministry in March 20 of this year.  During the investigation, Mr. Rohani-Fard’s computer and some of his personal effects were confiscated.  The agents carried a search warrant and an issued sentencing for a one-year suspended jail term, effective for the next four years.

Source:http://iranian.com/main/blog/faryarm/music-and-arrest-bahai-musician-behnam-rohani-fard

Family Of Imprisoned Baha’i Harrassed

I am saddened to learn that the family of imprisoned Baha’i Sahba Rezvani is being harassed by vandals.

The automobile of a Baha’i resident of Semnan was vandalized multiple times by unknown assailants. According to the Baha’i Committee of Human Rights Activists in Iran, in a continuation of persecutions and harassment of our Baha’i countrymen, particularly those residing in Semnan, at 10 PM on August 27, an individual or a group of assailants riding on a motorcycle broke the windows of Nezam Fanaian’s car and then dispersed. During recent months, several times Mr. Fanaian’s vehicle has been attacked by unknown persons. Despite repeated appeals to the security and police agencies in Semnan by his family and other Baha’is about the consistent attacks and harassment of the Baha’is of that region, no action has been taken to prevent these episodes. It should be noted that Mr. Fanaian’s wife is Sahba Rezvani, who has been imprisoned since last December, and is presently completing her 3-year jail term in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Source http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/5209

Baha’i Cemetery Destroyed Near Isfahan

From September 6 through September 10, using large trucks and bulldozers, a number of unknown individuals destroyed and excavated the Baha’i Cemetery of Najafabad and Vilashahr [near Isfahan]. The cemetery, which belongs to the Baha’is of Najafabad and Vilashahr, and which is known as Gulestan Javid [“eternal garden”], is situated about 9 miles from Najafabad. This land was given to the Baha’is of Najafabad and Vilashahr in the winter of 1995; it has been attacked 18 times since them. It has been reported that 119 graves are located in this cemetery – 95 are in the first section and 24 more are in the second section. According to reports by eyewitnesses, when Baha’is visited the cemetery on Thursday, September 10, 2009, they were confronted with a destroyed cemetery and excavated land. The entire first section and portions of section 2 of this cemetery had been excavated, and large craters and earth-mounds were created. In some segments, the earth had been removed to the depth of over a yard, and in other segments earth had been brought in from other areas and piled up in long rows as high as 10 yards. Moreover, parking lots located on the northern and southern parts of cemetery were also excavated up to 35 yards from the graves, and large craters and mounds were created in them. It should be noted that tracks from bulldozers and large trucks were clearly evident throughout the cemetery and surrounding land. In addition, the remains of previously destroyed facilities that had included water tanks were taken away from the property. It should be noted that the previous Baha’i cemetery of this region was thoroughly destroyed and eradicated in 1984.

Source: http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/5122

A Marriage Prayer

 

 The Baha’i writings are full of beautiful prayers for many different events-such as marriage-

O Thou kind Lord! These are Thy servants who have gathered in this meeting, have turned unto Thy kingdom and are in need of Thy bestowal and blessing. O Thou God! Manifest and make evident the signs of Thy oneness which have been deposited in all the realities of life. Reveal and unfold the virtues which Thou hast made latent and concealed in these human realities. 

O God! We are as plants, and Thy bounty is as the rain; refresh and cause these plants to grow through Thy bestowal. We are Thy servants; free us from the fetters of material existence. We are ignorant; make us wise. We are dead; make us alive. We are material; endow us with spirit. We are deprived; make us the intimates of Thy mysteries. We are needy; enrich and bless us from Thy boundless treasury. O God! Resuscitate us; give us sight; give us hearing; familiarize us with the mysteries of life, so that the secrets of Thy kingdom may become revealed to us in this world of existence and we may confess Thy oneness. Every bestowal emanates from Thee; every benediction is Thine. 

Thou art mighty. Thou art powerful. Thou art the Giver, and Thou art the Ever-Bounteous. 

  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá