Roya Eshraghi
Roya Eshraghi, 23, executed along with her mother. #ourstoryisone
On 18 June 1983, 10 Baháʼí women were taken to a square in Shiraz, Iran, under the cloak of night. After months of torture and imprisonment, they were mass executed without the knowledge of their families. One was 17, most in their 20s. Their crime was their belief in a faith that promoted gender equality — absent and criminalized in Iran — justice and truthfulness. They were hanged one by one, each forced to watch the next woman’s death in a harrowing attempt to coerce them into renouncing their faith. None did.
On 29 November 1982, Roya Eshraghi’s family home was raided and searched for three hours. On this date, Roya and her mother, Ezzat-Janami Eshraghi, and father, Enayatollah Eshraghi, were arrested for the second time. (Archives)
Thou didst call all mankind unto the horizon of Thy majesty and glory, and didst guide Thy servants to the court of Thy grace and favors, to number me with such as have rid themselves from everything except Thyself, and have set themselves towards Thee, and have not been kept back by such misfortunes as were decreed by Thee, from turning in the direction of Thy gifts
I have laid hold, O my Lord, on the handle of Thy bounty, and clung steadfastly to the hem of the robe of Thy favor. Send down, then, upon me, out of the clouds of Thy generosity, what will purge out from me the remembrance of anyone except Thee, and make me able to turn unto Him Who is the Object of the adoration of all mankind, against Whom have been arrayed the stirrers of sedition, who have broken Thy covenant, and disbelieved in Thee and in Thy signs.
Deny me not, O my Lord, the fragrances of Thy raiment in Thy days, and deprive me not of the breathings of Thy Revelation at the appearance of the splendors of the light of Thy face. Powerful art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Naught can resist Thy will, nor frustrate what Thou hast purposed by Thy power.
No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
-Baha’u’llah
History of Roya's life
Roya Eshraghi was born in 1960 in Shiraz, into a Bahai Family. Roya’s parents were married in 1947 after meeting while he was on a leave of absence from the military. Roya was a teacher of Bahai’s children’s classes and a member of the youth committee. She was expelled in her 3rd year from the university because of her faith. Her father also was affected by the ongoing persecution of Bahai’s after the 1979 Islamic Revolution as his pension was cut also due to his faith. The Eshraghi’s hosted Bahai families during the Iran-Iraq war. The families usually had lost everything and were homeless. The families lived with the Eshraghi’s until they could find a home of their own. This activity drew attention and their home was raided on November 24th, 1981.The Revolutionary Guards detained her along with her parents, sister and two houseguests for 2 days. Another raid took place just over a year later on November 29th 1982 during which they were all arrested for a second time. This time they were taken to the detention center where they were insulted and abused.
About a month later On January 4th, 1983 the family was split up but eventually she and her parents were all together at Adilabad prison. During this time the family was blindfolded as interrogators insulted and humiliated one member of the family trying to put pressure on the other members often with falsehoods. Eventually Roya was told that if she didn’t sign a statement rejecting her faith she would be killed. After pressure and interrogation, Roya refused and stated that she accepted Islam but that she was a Bahai. Two days before her and her mother’s execution on June 18th, 1983 her father was also hanged together with five other believers. Roya, her mother and 8 other believers were separated from the other prisoners and hanged one by one in Chogan Square. None of them renounced their faith. Roya’s sister Nahid Eshraghi quoted the following “The news that my family, all three of them had been executed, was like my head had suddenly been hit with a sledgehammer. I could note eat for days. My body rejected everything and I was in total shock. But today I feel better, because my stood by their beliefs until the last moment of their lives and taught me, their children and thousanda of other , to never submit to tyranny and injustice, even if one has to pay with their lives. Great causes demand great sacrifices.
O ye who have suffered martyrdom! O trustees of His Revelation! O distinguished men of virtue! O illustrious and noble ones! May mine inmost reality, my spirit, my entire being, and whatsoever God hath bestowed upon me through His bounty and grace be laid down as a sacrifice for you.
I bear witness that ye are the radiant stars, the gleaming meteors, the resplendent full moons, the brilliant orbs in this wondrous Revelation. Well is it with you, O birds that warble in the gardens of divine unity; blessed are ye, O lions that roar in the forests of detachment; happy are ye, O leviathans that swim in the waters of His oneness. Verily, ye are the signs of divine guidance, ye are the banners that flutter in the field of sacrifice.
I beseech God to bless me, through the breezes of holiness wafted from that glorious centre of sacrifice, and to quicken me with the reviving breath of heavenly communion blowing from that blessed region.
I beg you to intercede on my behalf in the presence of the ever-living, sovereign Lord that He may graciously suffer me to quaff my fill from the choice sealed wine, may grant me a portion from the unbounded felicity that ye enjoy, and may exhilarate my heart by giving me to drink from your chalice which is tempered at the camphor fountain. Verily, my Lord is merciful and forgiving. By bestowing the bounty of sacrifice in this realm of existence, He aideth whomsoever He willeth with whatsoever He pleaseth.
And upon you rest the glory of the Most Glorious!
-‘Abdu’l‑Bahá
Grant, O Thou Loving Lord, that all may stand firm and steadfast, shining with everlasting splendor, so that, at every breath, gentle breezes may blow from the bowers of Thy loving-kindness, that from the ocean of Thy grace a mist may rise, that the kindly showers of Thy love may bestow freshness, and the zephyr waft its perfume from the rose garden of divine unity.
Vouchsafe, O Best Beloved of the World, a ray from Thy Splendor. O Well-Beloved of mankind, shed upon us the light of Thy Countenance.
O God Omnipotent, do Thou shield us and be our refuge and, O Lord of Being, show forth Thy might and Thy dominion.
O Thou loving Lord, the movers of sedition are in some regions astir and active, and by night and day are inflicting a grievous wrong.
Even as wolves, tyrants are lying in wait, and the wronged, innocent flock hath neither help nor succor. Hounds are on the trail of the gazelles of the fields of divine unity, and the pheasant in the mountains of heavenly guidance is pursued by the ravens of envy.
O Thou divine Providence, preserve and protect us! O Thou Who art our Shield, save us and defend us! Keep us beneath Thy Shelter, and by Thy Help save us from all ills. Thou art, indeed, the True Protector, the Unseen Guardian, the Celestial Preserver, and the Heavenly Loving Lord.
—‘Abdu’l‑Bahá