Mona Mahmudnizhad ( fa, مونا محمود نژاد, September 10, 1965 – June 18, 1983) was an
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian
Baháʼí who, in 1983, together with nine other Baháʼí women, was sentenced to death and hanged in
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
on the grounds of being a member of the
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
.
The official charges ranged from "misleading children and youth" to being a "
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
", as the
Baháʼí World Centre
The Baháʼí World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Baháʼí Faith, representing sites in or near the cities of Acre and Haifa, Israel.
Much of the international governance and coordination of the ...
is located in Israel.
The nonprofit
Mona Foundation
Mona Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports grassroots initiatives focused on education and raising the status of women and girls in the US and abroad. They believe that universal education and gender equity are the cornerstones ...
focusing on girls' education was named after her in 2001.
Childhood
Mahmudnizhad was born on September 10, 1965, to Yad'u'llah and Farkhundeh Mahmudnizhad, who had left their home in Iran to teach their religion in
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
.
In 1969, the government of Yemen expelled all foreigners and the Mahmudnizhad family returned to Iran. They spent two years in
Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
, six months in
Kermanshah
Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...
and three years in
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
before finally settling in Shiraz in 1974. During this time, her father worked repairing small appliances and served the Baháʼí community in various
Baháʼí administrative bodies.
Arrest, sentencing and death
While Baháʼís regularly faced
persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
in Iran, it increased following the
Islamic Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
of 1979.
At 7:30pm on October 23, 1982, four armed
Revolutionary Guards
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
, on the orders of the public prosecutor of Shiraz, entered the Mahmudnizhad household and ransacked it in search of Baháʼí material. They then took Mona and her father into custody. They were blindfolded and taken to Seppah prison in Shiraz, where they were placed in separate quarters; Mahmudnizhad was detained there for 38 days.
On November 29, 1982, she and five other Baháʼí women were transferred from Seppah prison to Adelabad prison, also in Shiraz.
After some time, she was taken to the
Islamic Revolutionary Court
Islamic Revolutionary Court (also Revolutionary Tribunal, ''Dadgahha-e Enqelab''Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs'', Basic Books, 1984, p.59-61) (Persian: دادگاه انقلاب اسلامی) is a special system of courts in the Islamic ...
where she was interrogated and then returned to prison. A few days later, she was again interrogated in front of an Islamic Revolutionary judge.
After these interrogations, which involved physical torture by being whipped on the soles of her feet with a cable, Mahmudnizhad was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
called for
clemency
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
; despite this, the sentence of the 10 women was carried out on the night of June 18, 1983, at a nearby polo field.
The other women who were hanged with Mahmudnizhad were:
* Nusrat Yalda'i, 54 years old.
* 'Izzat Janami Ishraqi, 50 years old.
* Roya Ishraqi, 23 and daughter of 'Izzat.
* Tahirih Siyavushi, 32 years old.
* Zarrin Muqimi, 28 years old.
* Shirin Dalvand, 25 years old.
* Akhtar Sabit, 19 or early 20s.
*
Simin Saberi
Simin Saberi ( fa, سیمین صابری, also transliterated as Símín Sábirí; March 2, 1959 – June 18, 1983) was one of the victims of the Baháʼí community in Iran, who was sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court for her b ...
, 24 years old.
* Mahshid Nirumand, 28 years old.
In September 2007, the
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) is a registered non-profit organization based in New Haven, Connecticut. IHRDC was founded in 2004 by a group of human rights scholars, activists, American government interest advocators, and hist ...
published a case study on the subject.
Depictions
Mahmudnizhad's story is the subject of several art works. Music artist
Doug Cameron recreated Mahmudnizhad's story in a music video, ''Mona with the Children'', which made the pop charts in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
(#14 for the week of October 19, 1985).
The video was distributed throughout the music scene and was effective in bringing the
persecution of Baháʼís
Persecution of Baháʼís occurs in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world is located. The origins of the persecution stem from a variety of Ba ...
in Iran to international public attention.
A play based on Mahmudnizhad's story titled ''A Dress for Mona'' has been produced
and in 2008
Jack Lenz
John Frederick "Jack" Lenz is a Canadian composer. He has written, performed, and produced music for film, television, and theatre, along with working on non-soundtrack album ventures. He is also the founder of Live Unity Enterprises, an organiza ...
planned to produce a film called ''Mona's Dream''.
[ (archived)] Her pictures are also featured in Mithaq Kazimi's
Quenching The Light video.
See also
*
Persecution of Baháʼís
Persecution of Baháʼís occurs in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world is located. The origins of the persecution stem from a variety of Ba ...
*
Human rights in Iran
From the Imperial Pahlavi dynasty (1925 to 1979), through the Islamic Revolution (1979), to the era of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1979 to current), government treatment of Iranian citizens' rights has been criticized by Iranians, by intern ...
*
Táhirih
Táhirih (Ṭāhira) ( fa, طاهره, "The Pure One," also called Qurrat al-ʿAyn ( "Solace/Consolation of the Eyes") are both titles of Fatimah Baraghani/Umm-i Salmih (1814 or 1817 – August 16–27, 1852), an influential poet, women's rights ...
Notes
External links
Website for ''A Dress for Mona'', a play about Mona Mahmudnizhad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahmudnizhad, Mona
Iranian Bahá'ís
People executed for refusing to convert to Islam
People executed by Iran by hanging
Executed Iranian women
Executed Iranian people
Bahá'í martyrs
1965 births
1983 deaths
20th-century Bahá'ís