Sentenced to death for her faith

Marziyeh spent the first 33 years of her life in Iran, growing up under a restrictive political and religious regime. “Iranians lost their freedoms in the revolution of 1979, and they are still suffering today,” she shares. “People didn’t appreciate the freedoms they once had – freedom to excel as a woman, freedom to choose what to wear and what to eat and drink, freedom of speech, freedom of religious expression…” 

Although her family were nominal Muslims, they were still expected to observe strict Islamic laws. Marziyeh vividly remembers her first day of school in 1985, observing hijab for the first time – the practice of covering one’s hair with a scarf, as required by girls and women from the age of seven. Running into the playground, singing and laughing, fuelled with enthusiasm, curiosity and excitement, her head scarf slipped. She was physically punished by an observing teacher and publicly humiliated. “It was so shocking to me that I would be treated in such a way just for running and playing. My natural, childlike desire for freedom and independence was squashed.” 

This feeling of restriction only grew during Marziyeh’s adolescence, when she had to be subtle about self-expression or else risk punishment or arrest. “I would feel a lot of stress walking in the streets as morality police could be waiting to arrest you for crazy reasons, like wearing beautiful sunglasses or having nail polish.” She also became acutely aware of how Iranian women do not have equal rights with men: “they cannot sing, they cannot dance, they cannot ride a bicycle, they cannot attend the soccer, they cannot be a judge, they cannot have the right of custody of their children if they get divorced.” 

Morality police could be waiting to arrest you for crazy reasons

Marziyeh began to instinctively question the way she saw Islamic laws being enforced, often through fear, shame and harsh physical punishment. “It set me apart as a troublemaker from the start. I could not understand the level of brutality I witnessed, and I find the memories hard to forget.” The most vivid and painful of these memories was when the young man she was engaged to marry was arrested and tortured for months with false accusations of drinking wine and having an immoral sexual relationship. Despite lack of evidence, he was forced to confess. He endured beatings so violent and relentless that he later died.  

This distress and oppression didn’t stop Marziyeh having a natural fascination and curiosity about God. She could not accept the definition of God she was indoctrinated with from a young age. The laws she was forced to observe appeared to reveal a God of punishment and exclusion, but her instincts told her to remain open. She felt sure that there was a truth about God yet to be discovered.  

Curiosity and revelation 

One night, as 18-year-old Marziyeh lay sleeping, God appeared to her in a dream in the form of a white horse. “He revealed his amazing love. I knew nothing about Jesus, but through that dream I knew there was a God who loved me. I also knew I was able to communicate with him in my own language of Farsi, rather than with the Arabic words I had been taught but didn’t understand, and God also revealed to me the true face of Islam.” 

In a country where it’s illegal to be a Christian and Bibles are hard to come by, it took nearly two years before Marziyeh met a woman who had converted to Christianity. Her new friend explained to her God’s love in Jesus; a love that aligned with all God had revealed of himself in her dream years before. “My Christian friend gave me a Bible since I was so curious. I came home and immediately started reading. I was so thirsty to find the truth. And God started talking to me through the scripture, showing me the truth and step by step guiding me.” 

Marziyeh came to the conclusion that the truth she was searching for and seeking after was to be found in Jesus, but she still found her mind plagued with doubts. So one night she prayed, talking to God as one would talk to a friend, being honest about her doubts. “I could not believe what was happening to me, because I was just talking to him one moment, and then suddenly I received the Holy Spirit. It was amazing. I began to speak in other languages. I couldn’t control my mouth. I kept crying and crying as I experienced God’s unconditional love and found him removing all my doubt.”     

Captive but free 

Marziyeh’s encounter with the Holy Spirit was transformational, replacing her doubt with certainty and courage. She could not contain the love she’d received, talking to anyone who would listen about the true nature of God, who is loving, gracious and intimate. “I found that many people wanted to listen to what I had to say. Many Iranians are thirsty to find the truth, just as I was.”

While many of her friends were receptive and intrigued by Marziyeh’s faith, they also warned her about the dangers of being so bold. If the authorities discovered that she’d converted to Christianity and was readily sharing her faith she risked arrest, torture, rape and even the death sentence. “But I had no fear,” she shares. “My only fear is losing such an amazing love in my life; losing his presence…Having encountered God in such a powerful way, nothing else in this world mattered to me. I knew the risks of speaking out in such a dangerous country, but nothing could hold me back.” 

In 2005 Marziyeh went to Turkey to attend a Christian leadership course. She met another Iranian Christian woman there and together the two of them returned to Iran, further emboldened and equipped to speak about Jesus. “We were so active. We distributed 20,000 Bibles in Iran, established two home churches and every day we were evangelising people. Over the next five years we talked to thousands of people.”

It did not come as a surprise to Marziyeh when she and her friend were eventually arrested in Tehran in 2009, as God had revealed to her in a dream that she would pass through prison. The women were sentenced to death by hanging and were initially kept in an underground dungeon. “We were treated like animals. It was dirty. There was no fresh air and we had no fresh water to drink. We slept on a cold concrete floor, covering ourselves with wet blankets that were soaked with urine. I witnessed many brutalities in that place.” 

Marziyeh clung to the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:19: “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say”, experiencing the power of these words. “People often say, ‘How could you be so courageous to stand up for your faith in such a place?’ but I tell them that it wasn’t me at all, it was Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit in me. Many times I prayed and each time God gave me the words to stand up for my faith. 

The interrogators would say, ‘Deny your faith and we will release you.’ But I could not deny Jesus. And I would tell them, ‘Even if you cut each part of my body, you’re not able to separate Jesus from me.’”

“There were many times during my interrogations when I had so much fear because their behaviour was so brutal – even just by sitting in front of you and shouting at you. You could not look at their faces, because you would see demons in their faces. And I remember I had fear, but the words of truth would keep coming out of my mouth. The interrogators would say, ‘Deny your faith and we will release you.’ But I could not deny Jesus. And I would tell them, ‘Even if you cut each part of my body, you’re not able to separate Jesus from me.’”

As the months in prison dragged on, Marziyeh and her friend’s case began to attract international attention, with Christians in the UK protesting outside the Iranian embassy. The women heard that many Christians from around the world were sending letters of encouragement to the prison, and although the guards never passed on these letters, the knowledge of their existence gave both women indescribable courage. With pressure mounting regarding their case, nine months after their arrest the Iranian authorities released them. “Our release was ultimately due to God’s grace and power. It was his miracle and for his purposes that we were freed.” 

Outworking God’s purposes 

Not many things seem to come as a surprise to Marziyeh, and on many occasions God reveals the future to her in dreams. She knew she would end up living in America one day, where she could speak openly about her experiences in Iran, about the terrifying consequences of such a regime and ultimately about the transformational love of God. “When we walk with God as a Christian, we go through difficulties and pains, but all those pains and sufferings become sweet and God uses those sufferings for a purpose.”

“The Church needs to wake up and be bold in sharing the truth with everyone, even our enemies,” she urges us. “It’s not about courage – I could not have done this in my own strength. It’s about obedience to the truth.”

Find out more about Marziyeh and her books marzisjourney.com

Words by Jane Knoop