Without Hesitation

An Account of an Iraqi Prisoner of Conscience

On a December day in 1973, Anisa Abdul-Razzaq Abbas heard a knock at the door of the Baghdad home she was visiting. She opened the door to greet two men from the Iraqi Al-Amn security force, who immediately placed her under arrest. Her crime: being a member of the Bahá’í Faith, a religious minority in her native Iraq.

Over the next six years, Anisa - along with other members of the Bahá’í community who were arrested at that time - would spend three years in Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison and a further three years in Al-Rashaad prison before her release in 1979. During her years of incarceration, Anisa would rely on her faith to meet the myriad challenges of prison life. Day after day, she and her fellow-prisoners experienced levels of cruelty and injustice that most would find unthinkable. Separated from her husband, who was being held in the...Show More

On a December day in 1973, Anisa Abdul-Razzaq Abbas heard a knock at the door of the Baghdad home she was visiting. She opened the door to greet two men from the Iraqi Al-Amn security force, who immediately placed her under arrest. Her crime: being a member of the Bahá’í Faith, a religious minority in her native Iraq.

Over the next six years, Anisa - along with other members of the Bahá’í community who were arrested at that time - would spend three years in Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison and a further three years in Al-Rashaad prison before her release in 1979. During her years of incarceration, Anisa would rely on her faith to meet the myriad challenges of prison life. Day after day, she and her fellow-prisoners experienced levels of cruelty and injustice that most would find unthinkable. Separated from her husband, who was being held in the men’s prison, and from her children who were without both parents, Anisa was sustained through her darkest days by the steadfast devotion and sacrificial love of her family, and by the strength and solidarity offered by her fellow Bahá’í prisoners.

Anisa’s story is one of patience, courage, and steadfastness in the face of religious prejudice and state-sponsored oppression, and it is a reminder to us all of the resilient strength of the human spirit.

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Categories:
Recent Times | 
Memoirs | 
Bahá'í History
  • Contributors:
    Anisa Abdul-Razzaq Abbas (Author) | 
    Alhan Irwin (Translator)
  • Format: Softcover book | 331 pages
  • Dimensions: 150 x 225 x 20 mm | 500 g
  • Publisher: One Voice Press, 2021
  • Language: English
  • SKU: BKS-BIO-G.0410

Recent Times

Memoirs

Bahá’í History: Overviews

1844-1853: Ministry of The Báb

1853-1892: Ministry of Bahá’u’lláh

1892-1921: Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

1921-1957: Ministry of the Guardian

1957 onwards