Memoirs of Marzieh Hadidchi (Dabbagh) (Part 38)


2018-04-24


Memoirs of Marzieh Hadidchi (Dabbagh) (Part 38)

Edited by: Mohsen Kazemi

Tehran, Sooreh Mehr Publications Company

‎2002 (Persian Version)‎

Translated by: Zahra Hosseinian


 

Division of tasks

In Neauphle-le-Château, in the Imam's house, everything was based on order and division of tasks. Everyone worked in the field of their duties; one in the field of foreign press and their translation, another one in connection with Islamic Association of students’ branch in Europe and USA, and the other one in connection with the militant clergymen. One arranged meetings, and the other one was in contact with the organizations and centers and sent messages and collected information and news. A number of persons transcribed Imam’s interviews and lectures, and... .

The Neauphle-le-Château was a bizarre market for work and activity, where no one was unemployed and there was no waste of time. In addition to doing households and protection of Imam's house, because I knew Arabic language, I spoke and discussed with people who came there to visit Imam during certain hours. In translation part, two men named Farhad and Hassan worked actively; one of them translated the news and reports of the French radio and television and the other one translated the British ones. We knew each other less; they knew me as "sister Tahereh" and I also knew them as "brother Farhad" and "brother Hasan"[1]. Among other people who worked there, Mr. Ferdosipour was in charge of handling the Imam’s houses and Mr. Serajaldin Mousavi, who was one of our companions in Lebanon and Syria, was responsible for house security.

Each person was in contact with Imam according to the type of responsibility, and for this reason, they had some memories of Imam. I remember one of these memorable memories. In Europe the laundries completely differ from laundries in Iran. In Iran, when you deliver dirty clothes to the laundries, you will receive them a few days later. But in Europe, there are some places where you take your dirty clothes and you can put them into laundry machine and wait until the work of machine finished, and then take your clothes home. When I took the clothes back home, I rinsed them again, due to my sensitivity and obsession, and then I spread them on the cloth line to be dried. One day Imam saw what I was doing and asked: "sister Tahereh! What are you doing?" I explained, "Sir, I'm afraid that the clothes are najis[2], because foreigners also use the same machines, the clothes maybe become najis." Imam said, "Any wet is not najis." I said, "I can’t figure out which one is najis and which one is not." So, I carried the laundry basket again to show Imam. He touched them and said, "No, you don’t need to wash them again, don’t bother yourself."

When I saw these kinds of Imam’s behaviors, I discovered that he paid attention to all things, so that you cannot believe it. These concerns would assure us about the way we were going.

Mahboubeh Afraz’s passing away

In Paris, Mahboubeh Afraz was killed. I knew her and Rafa’at, her sister, from the Refah School. Mahboubeh was a prominent, devout, and religious woman. She was much attached to her prayers and refused to exchange anything with her prayers, she was a strange woman. She got married in abroad![3] Mahboubeh apparently collaborated with the MKO, but she did not believe in them internally and could not adapt to them. I heard continuously that in the organizational meetings where she had attended there were verbal conflicts.

One day I was in Imam’s room when his son, Ahmad, came in and said, "One of our friends has come from Iran and needs help. Please go and see what you can do." I went out and saw a man whom I did not know. He introduced himself and said that he was Mahboubeh Afraz’s cousin[4], and then he informed me of Mahbube's death which saddened me. He gave a vague description of Mahboubeh’s killing. He did not know how his cousin had been killed and wanted us to help him in getting her corpse. Because I did not know French, it was hard for me to do this; so, I talked with several of brothers to accompany us. Dr. [Shams al-Din] Mojabi accepted to come to the forensic medicine along with us. It took about a week to receive her body from the forensic medicine. When they searched Mahboubeh’s things, they found her prayer rug and the Qur'an which had been hidden among her clothes. It was clear that she had concealed them fearfully. After a lot of research, the forensic medicine commented that Mahboubeh Afraz was poisoned with some chemicals, and even the glass which was above her bed was impregnated with the same chemicals.

It was said that nothing was heard from Mahboubeh for a while. Her sister called her several times, but nobody picked up the phone. Therefore, she became worried and then called the owner of her flat, who also was unaware of her and said he had not heard of her for a few days. It seemed that there had been regular contacts between the family and Mahboubeh, so they became very worried and eventually informed the French police. When the police opened the door of her flat and entered, they smelled the stench of rotting body and faced with her corpse.

Most likely, Mahboubeh had been the victim of conspiracy and intragroup purge by the MKO. But there are a lot of comments about who's directly involved in this murder. It seems that one of Ayatollah Taleghani’s sons who was arrested after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, confessed about this.[5]

 


[1]. ‘... more tasks were done which were collecting the news of the movement in Iran and other countries by the phones that they had, then sending Imam’s messages and announcements to Iran and other countries (this small seven some group that did not like to be known were: Farhad, Hasan, Javad, Reza, Mohsen, Hamid, and Massoud..." (Report of Rasoul Sadr-Ameli from Imam's residence in France to Tehran, Etela’at press, No. 15775, Saturday, February 3, 1979).

[2]. In Islamic law, najis (Arabicنجس‎) are things or persons regarded as ritually unclean.

[3]. Mohammad Yazdanian, Dr. Mahboubeh Afraz’s husband, son of Ali Akbar, was born in Kashan in December 1948. He joined the MKO at Sharif University of Technology (Ariamehr), and after the ideology of the organization changed in 1975, he was in charge of Middle East section of organization. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Yazdanian was arrested and was executed in August 1983, when he was active in ‘Peykar’ Organization.

[4]. Ali Akbar Salimi Jahromi (Afraz sisters’ cousin) was born in 1938 in Jahrom. He was one of the political militants who spent some time in exile and prison. On June 28th 1981, he, as secretary general of Department of State for Administration and Employment Affairs, was martyred in the explosion of the Islamic Republic Party bureau.

[5]. In an interview, Mrs. Gohar-al-sharia Dastgheib has said about Afraz sisters: "About the character of Mrs. Rafa’at Afraz, I can say that she was a devout and faithful woman who was strictly adhere to the Quran's edicts. She came from a religious family. Especially after coming to Tehran and attending in martyr Rajai’s meetings and also coming and going to the Hedayat mosque, where Mr. Taleghani was its religious leader, she was interested in Islamic movements and developed. She was clever and efficient. She studied at the Law School and served at the Refah School. We knew each other many years before the revolution, because she was familiar with my husband’s family, but when they came from Jahrom and we came from Abadan to Tehran, our socializing increased. Thanks to her and also the insistence of Mr. Rajai and Bahonar, I went to the Refah School too. Although she had a weak and impotent body, but her intellectual power, faith and conviction made her to be very active and motivated. She was wiser and more alert than it was expected. Mr. Rajai was very trusted in her. She was very interested in the Qur'an and worked in the field of commentary and also worked on Nahj al-Balagha. Many times her mother mentioned that she was awake at night and not to sleep. She was an informed person and well-functioned. She impressed on teachers and studied on them. Considering her insight about Islam, when we heard that she has been considered as Marxist, we became very worried because it seemed very unlikely. We began to search when we heard that, [...]. After the revolution, the Marxist groups worked hard to attribute the active people to themselves. She was close to be sacrificed in this way. I searched about her, [and] martyr Salimi also made some inquires, and in a book [...] it was stated that a person [Torab Haghshenas] who was beside her at the time of her dying, has said that Rafa’at has declared the Shahada. Knowing her history, the change of her stance seemed unlikely; or I heard a lot of people said that she was sent to Dhofar because she was not willing to change her stance. After the revolution, Mr. Rajai defended her hard and considered her a Muslim, and he insisted that a ceremony was held in commemoration of her. Mr. Rajai, who had heard hypocrites’ defensive words and expressions in prison and also had heard somethings from Taghi Shahram [...], clearly and decisively declared that she has died unjust, but as a Muslim. And about her sister, Mahboubeh Afraz [I should say] that she was very harmless, devout, calm, informed, and pious. She had high scientific degrees and although she was two years younger, but she was the top student in her field (medicine in University of Tehran). Until the last year when she taught biology in the Refah high school, I knew that she was Muslim and school authorities and her colleagues and students trusted in her and she was sinless in every respect. But now I can’t say certainty that those days, when she wanted to go abroad, she was still Muslim or changed her stance. What I can say is that when Mr. Salimi went to Paris for her funeral, I obliged him to ask if she has died as a Muslim, we attend in her burial and memorial service, otherwise, if she has been a Marxist, we will not attend. He then telephoned me and said that she had been as I wished, and then he wrote a letter in which informed me she has passed away. Mahboubeh even had decided to come to Iran and had gone to Imam’s house in Paris several times and had been severely impressed by him. She changed, of course, her stance. I do not know that she had changed her stance when she was in Iran or when she was going to abroad. But later she converted to Islam and expressed her interest in the Islamic movements of the people and the slogans. The Marxists of the organization poisoned her by her husband, because they had found out that she was going to come to Iran." (Message of the Revolution; No. 165; July 5, 1986; pp. 46-47)

Mrs. Behjat Afraz, head of department of prisoners and missing persons in Hilal Ahmar, said: “My sisters, Rafa’at and Mahboubeh were pursuing a sacred goal in fighting, which was overthrow of the dictatorial and authoritarian regime of the Shah and establishment of the Islamic system. My sister, Rafa’at was very pious. She lived simple and was a good thinker and ascetic and she spent the night in prayer. And the atheist elements of the MOK martyred her for persevering in her beliefs on August 30, 1975. And my other sister, Mahboubeh, was martyred unfair in Paris in November 1978.”



 
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