Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (6)

Edited by Mohsen Kazemi


Ahmad Ahmad Memoirs (6)
Edited by Mohsen Kazemi
Soureh Mehr Publishing Company
(Original Text in Persian, 2000)
Translated by Mohammad Karimi


Avoiding Boycott
Hojjatiyyeh Society’s goal was fighting against Baha’ism and for this purpose would use its own methods. The society would impede its members from being politicized and would try not to make the government unsatisfied. On those days, Baha’ism was expanding its corrupting ideas so fast and the fight against it was a necessity; but it was all the matter because the regime was the provenance of support and the growth of Baha’ism and as long as they had the government support, their growth was not stoppable. What the society was doing was fighting against the effect not the cause. As a result their degree of success to achieve their goal was limited. In the society it was believed that if they wanted to remain alive and continue their activities they should compromise with the Shah’s regime or at least ignore what it does. They believed involvement in political activities would impede the society of achieving its goals and considered political activities as a misleading strategy. So the society obliged its members not to get involve in political activities. Some accepted this obligation. The society would ask them to guarantee that they would not became a member of any political group and would not bring any political journal or book with themselves to the society’s sessions. Anyone who would not accept this guarantee, he or she had to leave the society. If somebody would hide his/her activities from the society whenever they were revealed, he/she would not be let to enter the society anymore.
One they some representatives of the society came to make me obliged for not entering political activities. But I refused and just said that I would morally promise not to have any political activities in society meetings and would not bring political journals and books. And they accepted. So I could continue my presence in the society while following my political activities.
After some time, I found the presence in society was fruitless without political activities and I could not digest this strategy and felt it was a kind of compromise with the regime. So gradually I brought myself out of the society and continued my political activities without any anxiety about the society.
Later when I was arrested for my activities in Muslim Nations Party I found out twenty other members of the party were also the society members and I knew them through the activities of the society. SAVAK had referred the matter to the society and asked for explanation. Society had presented some explanations and shown the obligation papers as the document of the society’s strategy for avoiding from political activities and had kept its distance from the matter.

The Seventh-Day Adventists
"The Seventh-Day Adventists" were a Christian movement which was proselytizing Christianity with the goal of confronting Islam. This movement was located in a church at the crossroads of Rasht Street and Pahlavi (today's Vali-Asr) avenue. This church was known as "Adventists' Church". Many investments were made there and they had expanded proselytizing activities for Christianity. The Seventh-Day Adventists started publishing and distributing proselytizing pamphlets named "The Saint Mary's Path" and "The Jesus Christ's Path" in 1961 to 1964. Theses free pamphlets were monthly sent to different addresses all over the country including to some civil and military officials.
After some time these people would receive some precious Christian books including Holy Bible to deepen their activity.
Mr. Mohammad Mir-Mohammad Sadeghi, Mr. Hussein Sadeghi and I were informed of this secret movement activity while continuing our fight against Baha'ism and we decided to penetrate in this movement to get more information to find a way to confront with this secret movement. So, we introduced ourselves to the Adventists and apparently showed that we were interested to be a Christian after getting more information. We participated in their proselytizing meetings.
After some time and several presences in their meetings we pretended to be really ready to be one of them. They welcomed us and gave us free books and pamphlets. They wanted to make us sure about our decision.
In Adventists church we were acquainted with somebody called Marjani. He told us that he was there to fight with them. But for gaining their trust, he would show to be a Christian. Marjani was a step in front of us; since we had just shown ourselves as interested people but he had told them that he was a Christian. He could penetrate in Seventh-Day Adventists' circles to a high level degree and had gained their trust. So he could good progress in the central circle and could find access to ten thousand addresses of the subscribers of their books and "Saint Mary' Path" and "Jesus Christ's Path" journals. He wrote down all the addresses and gave them to us.
Then our job there was to gather the journals and books apparently for distribution and in reality keeping them from being received by a lesser number of subscribers. However, when we got the addresses we decided to do something similar and therefore we started to send Islamic books and pamphlets to those addresses to neutralize their activities.
So we chose "Nedaye Haq (The God's Messege) Journal", published by Mr. Seyyed Hadi Khosrowshahi. This journal had mature leading Islamic materials coordinated with the modern time and particularly the youth problems. By this hoax we could manage make the people who were reading "Saint Mary' Path" and "Jesus Christ's Path" journals, read "Nedaye Haq (The God's Messege) Journal" either.
We had severe financial problems to do our hoax. To solve this problem we referred the matter to some people but alas. We had it in our mind to find way for solving it.


Notes:
1- "… the society activities intentionally or unintentionally were coordinated with SAVAK intentions. Definitely, SAVAK documents show the secret coordination between the society leaders and SAVAK; because the energy of the youth in the society was to be used for learning the weaknesses of Baha’ism and their books. Clearly in this challenge, the cause and effect had changed their place and it was a divergence from Islamic views. This society was far from SAVAK assaults during its activity. In the 19th article of the society’s manifest it is written: “The society would not have any involvement in political affairs.” So they would get written obligations from their members.”
See: The Martyred General Hojjatuleslam Seyyed Ali Andarzgoo – The Center for Analyzing Historical Documents at Intelligence Ministry
Dr. Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel who had been active in this society in his teen ages in (1964-66) writes in his memoirs: “Of course, there [in Hojjatiyyeh Society] they would advise us not to enter political activity. The reason that they would present was: “each person should do something. But if we want to enter political affairs, we cannot do this job... if we decide to fight Baha’ism and concurrently with the regime we would be defeated.”
Oral History Archive of the Bureau for the Islamic Revolution Literature
2- Many of Hojjatiyyeh members cut their relation with this society and began political activities. After the Islamic Revolution the society started its activity more officially under the title of “Hojjatiyyeh Mahdaviyyeh Society”. However from the early beginning some of its members became pro-revolution and some against it. Dr. Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel writes in his memoirs: “The ones who were against the revolution would say: ‘we have in Hadith that till the emergence of Imam Mahdi, any flag raised by the name of Islam would fall down.’ Or tha flag is not the right one. Some were on the contrary and would say: ‘Up to now we were working for Imam Mahdi. Now his representative has risen and we should help him.’ So they joined the revolutionaries and called themselves “Ebad-e Saleh”. Some joined the revolution without being in a party or … and were lost in the waves of revolution like drop in the sea.”
Oral History Archive of the Bureau for the Islamic Revolution Literature
It should be noted Hojjatiyyeh Society took distance from the revolution after the Islamic Revolution Triumph and in some cases stood in front of it. During 15th of Sha’ban ceremonies in the first Islamic Revolution anniversary they showed their animosity against the revolution by putting the picture of Imam after the other grand Ayatollahs and took positions against it. Finally the society was surrendered because of Imam Khomeini’s clear positions against them and they stopped their activity. 
3- Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming (or "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites. Today, the largest church within the movement is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The Adventist family of churches is regarded today as conservative Protestants. Although these churches hold much in common, their theology differs on whether the intermediate state is unconscious sleep or consciousness, whether the ultimate punishment of the wicked is annihilation or eternal torment, the nature of immortality, whether or not the wicked are resurrected after the millennium, and whether the sanctuary of Daniel 8 refers to the one in heaven or one on earth. The movement has encouraged the examination of the whole bible, leading them to observe the Sabbath.
4- Marjani who had suspicious behavior in the activities for the Seventh-Day Adventists, finally became Christian and escaped to Germany and there are no more news about him.



 
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