On a crisp morning in February 1998 I was on my way to the train station in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to get the next train to Tashkent, Uzbekistan where I would get a flight to Moscow and then travel on to Europe and eventually back to the US. I had just spent about 5 months in 3 Central Asian countries helping with the efforts of the Bahá’í communities there. As I put on my backpack and was on my way out the door, I stopped to say my final farewell to the man who had been my roommate for the last couple months. His name was ‘Abdu’llah Mogharrabi, an 86 year old man who was forced to flee Iran in 1979 (at the age of 68) with nothing but the clothes he was wearing. He had served with distinction in the Shah’s army and eventually attainted the rank of general. Because of this, and doubly so because he was Bahá’í, his life was in serious danger. He spent the next 11 years in England, decided that he’d rather be doing something more meaningful with his life than waiting to die in comfort, and in 1991 went to Tajikistan during the height of the civil war which erupted in that country in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

So, as I stood there in the foyer of his modest Soviet style flat, we bid each other farewell. I don’t remember his exact words but they were along the lines of “Omidvaram ke rahe shoma khoshbakhte”, “I hope you have a blessed journey”. After expressing a similar sentiment to him, I was on my way focussing on the long trip in front of me and looking forward to indulging in a few of the luxuries of the west such as running water, electricity and heat.

The gravity of that parting didn’t occur to me until one day in early October 1999. By that time, my life in Tajikistan was more of a good memory than a fresh reality. To say that in the year and a half since I’d last seen Mr. Mogharrabi my life had changed was a bit of an understatement. I had just gotten married, moved to a new city and was expecting a child in the coming months. I don’t think there was anything that could prepare me for the news which awaited me in my email inbox that day. This is the message that I got from a friend in Canada who had been in central asia at the same time I had:

I’m so sorry Eric:

Transmitted electronically

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Baha’i Friends,

The Universal House of Justice has requested us to announce the martyrdom by assassination of Mr. Abdullah Mogharrabi, steadfast and devoted pioneer of the Faith to Tajikistan.

After spending the majority of his years in the Cradle of the Faith, serving in various teaching and administrative capacities, he left Iran, upon the advice of the institutions when his life was in danger, to settle elsewhere. He resided a few years in the United Kingdom, close to his daughter, before pioneering to Tajikistan where he had been a pillar of strength to that community since the inception of the National Spiritual Assembly in 1994. He was the Secretary of that institution for all but one year of his time in Tajikistan.

The manner in which he was killed leaves no doubt that the attack was carried out by fanatical elements in the country. It is significant that in 1993 one of the Iranian newspapers mentioned his name abusively, accusing him of anti-Islamic activities aimed at deceiving the Muslims in Tajikistan.

He was killed during the evening of Friday, 24 September 1999. The Baha’i friends who participated with the authorities in the investigation of his death reported that Mr. Mogharrabi’s hands had been tied behind his back, he had been gagged and was forced to lie face down; there were signs of torture over his body. He was shot in the back, the bullet piercing his heart. His room was left untouched, and the money which he held in various currencies was not taken. The front door to the house had been left open, which attracted the attention of neighbours a few hours after the incident.

His sacrifice will certainly draw fresh confirmations upon the efforts of the Baha’i community in Tajikistan and neighbouring countries. Despite his advanced age, 88, he tirelessly served the people of this country and its Baha’i community, providing a true example to us all of devotion to the Faith. In one of his letters to the Baha’i World Centre some time ago, he had expressed his desire to give his last breath as a martyr of the Faith. Mr. Mogharrabi’s illustrious life reminds us all of the statement made by the Blessed Beauty in the Hidden Words:

O SON OF MAN!

Ponder and reflect. Is it thy wish to die upon thy bed, or to shed thy life-blood on the dust, a martyr in My path, and so become the manifestation of My command and the revealer of My light in the highest paradise? Judge thou aright, O servant!

The House of Justice prays for the progress of his soul, and extends its loving sympathy to the members of his family. It will also supplicate on behalf of the believers in Tajikistan, a country in which Mr. Mogharrabi was proffered the crown of martyrdom.

With loving Baha’i greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

Words are useless in this case. So, let’s just say that this post is dedicated to one man. One man who prized the renewal of civilization above all else. One old man who, even in his last painful hours must have been given the opportunity to recant his Faith but had already decided long before that it was something worth dying for.

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