c. 1996 Religion News Service

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (RNS)-She never knew when it would happen. Sometimes it was every day, often more than once.

The pain was excruciating as lash after lash tore the flesh from her tiny body for months at a time. Once, she lost so much blood that her cellmates feared she was dead.

A friend, Shirin, was not so lucky. She was hanged because she refused to deny her faith.

Ruhiyyih Hiebert isn’t certain why she was spared and so many fellow Baha’is in her native country of Iran were not.

But she is certain God wants her to share her story of persecution to bring awareness to the killing and torture of Baha’is by Muslim leaders in her homeland. She has traveled to more than 30 countries and 1,000 cities as a type of ambassador for the International Baha’i Center.

“This is something I feel I must do,” said Hiebert, who lives in Madison, Ala., and is a member of the Madison Baha’i community of faith. “I want people to know that Baha’is continue to be persecuted in Persia (the ancient name of Iran), with over 200 people killed since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.”

Hiebert, 33, was born in Shiraz, Iran, into a sixth-generation family of Baha’is. She had one older brother, who was later killed by a drunken driver in the United States, and one older sister, who lives in Canada with their mother.

The Baha’is have been persecuted in Iran for more than a century, but especially since the rise of the Muslim government.

“They called us unclean infidels and untouchables,” she said. “You never knew who they would arrest or kill, and no one feels safe and secure, even in their own homes.”

The first time Hiebert was taken to prison was when she was walking along the street with her family and was singled out by a revolutionary guard, who took her to a waiting car with six other guards. She was alone the first time she was imprisoned.

Each time the guards came to beat her, they would say they wouldn’t do it if she would just deny her faith. But she refused, knowing she would more than likely be whipped.

“The worst part was that they would tie you to the bed and blindfold you, so you weren’t sure where they were standing,” she said. “Then you would hear them swinging the whip in the air, and they would say if I don’t deny my faith, they would beat me. You would get so tense waiting for the whip to strike that your whole body would jump when it did. They would strike you up to 74 times, but I’m not sure why the number 74.”

Hiebert said she never entertained thoughts of denying her faith.

“Although being tortured was such a painful experience, it was also one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever felt,”she said.”I would say my prayers and by doing so, I would gain such spiritual power that I didn’t feel the physical pain. I needed another power beyond my physical power just to tolerate it.”

The second time she was arrested, Hiebert was in her home with the friend who was later killed. Each person was placed in a separate room and interrogated by the guards. During that time, her father even offered the guards tea, but they refused it because they considered Baha’is unclean. They confiscated all Baha’i books and materials from the home, in addition to the Koran, the Islamic Holy Book.

“Baha’is embrace all religions and we believe in Islam, which is why we had the Koran,” said Hiebert.

Hiebert’s second imprisonment lasted several months, but, unlike the first when she was alone, she was placed in a cell with other women, including her friend, who happened to be visiting Hiebert at her home when they were arrested.

“While in prison, we had to eat with our hands because they wouldn’t give us a fork or knife, and we had to eat from separate plates, cups and blankets from the Muslims,” said Hiebert. “They mostly insulted our faith, but sometimes it was personal. But almost always it was followed by an insult to our faith. The food was not good, and we could have nothing to read or to write with, so we just sat around sharing our stories and laughing and talking. The prisons here are nothing compared to what they were in Iran.”

The third time the authorities came searching for Hiebert, she was not home. The revolutionary guards entered one door while her parents escaped through another. Soon the family realized they had better leave their homeland if they hoped to live, so they left everything behind and set out on foot for Pakistan.

They walked or hitched rides for seven days to the Pakistani border, being helped by other Baha’is and even sympathetic Muslims. Not having a visa, they had to spend 11 months there before finally immigrating to Canada when Hiebert was 21. She met her husband, Darren Hiebert, at a Baha’i conference in Montreal in 1993.

Hiebert said Baha’is believe life is to be cherished and enjoyed and that they should take care of their health. She said there is no place for racism or hatred for anyone, even their enemies, and no true Baha’i would commit any kind of suicidal act in the name of the Baha’i faith. But most of all, she said, Baha’is are to be true to their faith.”If Baha’is have a choice of denying their faith or giving up their life, you give up your life,” she said. “If I deny my faith, there is nothing left.”

MJP END WHITE