The Days of the Revolution

Ibrahim loved Imam Khomeini (r.a.) in a special way from the time of his childhood. The bigger he became the more this affection increased until the years before the revolution when it reached its peak. It was the year 1356 AHS. There was still no news of the conflicts and issues related to the revolution. One Friday morning we were coming back home from a religious meeting which had been held in Jhaleh (Shohada) Square. We were not far from the square when some of our friends joined us. Ibrahim started talking to us about Imam Khomeini (r.a.). Then he shouted in a loud voice, “Peace be upon Khomeini.” We joined in with him. A few other people joined us too. We were chanting and moving along until we came to the Shams intersection and several police cars came towards us. Ibrahim dispersed everyone quickly. We spread out into the allies. Two weeks passed. We came out from that Friday morning meeting again. Ibrahim stood in front of the cinema in the corner of the square. Then he shouted, “Peace be upon Khomeini,” and we continued with him. The people who were coming out from the meeting repeated this with us. It was an exciting scene. A few minutes later, before the police came, Ibrahim dispersed the crowd. Then we got in a taxi and moved towards the Khorasan Square. When we had moved forward a couple of intersections, I realized that they are stopping the cars and checking the passengers one by one. A few cars from SAVAK and about 10 officers were standing around the street. The face of the officer who was checking the cars was familiar. He had been in the square among the people! I pointed him out to Ibrahim. He noticed what I meant. Before they got to our taxi he opened the door and quickly ran towards the sidewalk. The officer who was in the middle of the street raised his head and saw Ibrahim. He shouted, “That’s him! That’s him! Catch him…” The officers ran after Ibrahim, and Ibrahim ran into an alley. They followed him. When the officers were distracted enough, I paid the taxi and got off. I went to the other side of the street and continued on my way… It was noontime when I got home. I didn’t have any news from Ibrahim. There was no news of him until night. I called a few friends too. They didn’t have any news either. I was very worried. It was around 11 p.m. when I was sitting in the yard and suddenly I heard a sound from the street. I ran to the door and saw in surprise that Ibrahim was standing behind the door with the same face and everlasting smile. I jumped into his arms. I was very happy. I didn’t know how to express my happiness. I asked him, “How are you brother Ibram?” He breathed deeply and said, “Thank God. You see that I am at your service; healthy and in good shape.” I asked him, “Have you eaten dinner?” He said, “No, it’s not important.” I quickly went into the house and brought the bag of bread and some of our dinner. We went into the Ghiasi (Shahid Saiedi) Square. After eating a few bites he said, “A strong body is useful at these times. God helped. Although there were several of them, I escaped from them.” That night we talked a lot about the revolution, the Imam,… Then we agreed to go to the Lorzadeh Mosque at nights to listen to the speeches of the Clergyman Chavoshi. It was night when Ibrahim, three other friends, and I went to the Lorzadeh Mosque. The Clergyman Chavoshi[1] was very brave. He said some things in his speech which many people didn’t have enough bravery to say. He narrated the tradition from Imam Musa Kazem (a) where he said, “A man from Qom calls people to what is right. A strong group, whose members are like pieces of iron, gathers around him.”[2] This was very strange for people. His revolutionary talks continued. Suddenly I heard a sound from the door of the Mosque. I turned around and saw that the SAVAK forces had entered from the front door of the Mosque and were hitting anyone who passed by with clubs. The crowd flooded to get out of the Mosque. The officers with their batons hit everyone who passed by with severe blows. They didn’t even have mercy on the women and children. Ibrahim was very angry. He ran to the door. He fought with a few of the officers. Those cowards! A few of them together started hitting Ibrahim. During this conflict, the way opened. Many women and children left the Mosque. Ibrahim fought with them bravely. Suddenly he hit a few of the officers and ran away. We escaped from the Mosque following him. Later we found out that they had taken the clergyman that night. A few people were martyred and injured. The blows which struck Ibrahim’s back resulted in a severe backache, which he had until the end of his life. It even had a great impact on his wrestling.   With the start of the events of the year 1357 AHS, all of Ibrahim’s thoughts became focused on issues related to the revolution and the Imam (r.a.). He was distributing cassettes, declarations, etc. He did these things very bravely. In the middle of the month of Shahrivar, he took many of the boys to the Qaytariah Hills and participated in the Eid Fitr group prayer which was led by the Martyr Mofatteh. After the prayer it was announced that a march will be held going towards the Jhaleh Square on Friday.

 [1] The Clergyman Chavoshi was one of the revolutionary scholars who was killed by the Monafiqeen.

[2] Bihar, vol. 60, p. 216.