A Muslim Man, a Jewish Woman

   And the Ayatollah

      In 1979, the Islamic Revolution swept over Iran like a tsunami. In a matter of days the government of the nation went from progressive to repressive. It was out with the new and in with the old. The Shah of Iran loved the West and was a progressive leader. But once he was deposed, the nation of Iran had a rude awakening; Sharia Law. Iranians found themselves with one new rule after another in their lives. The Iranians we have talked to that were there when it happened have all said that it was the ultimate nightmare.

         Can you imagine waking up in Iran and realizing that everything had changed almost overnight? The Islamic Revolution was an attempt to return to a form of “literal Islam.” But what if you lived there and you were not a Muslim? What if you lived there and you were Jewish?

         Surprised to hear that there were Jews living in Iran at that time? There still are. Jews have been living in Iran for 2500 years. It all started with the Babylonian Captivity. Many Bible scholars believe that the nation of Israel was taken captive in 586 B.C. Daniel 9:26 tells us that the kingdom was soon taken away from King Belshazzar and the Babylonians and given to the Medes and the Persians. God gave the famous “handwriting on the wall” prophecy to Daniel and the Babylonian kingdom collapsed later that night as the king was killed.

         The Medo-Persian Empire was the next dynasty to be established. It was this empire that the Jewish girl Esther or Hadassah in Hebrew became the queen of when she married Xerxes. Jews have lived there ever since. But with strict Islam firmly in control of the nation now Iran is not the country that it once was.

         That’s where the problem of being Jewish comes in to play. For centuries Iranian Jews got along just fine in the home of the Old Persian Empire. But now, the Ayatollah of Iran began to routinely voice his disgust for the nation of Israel. The Jewish nation was now the “little Satan” and America was the “great Satan.” Jews are generally accepted in Iran and free to practice Judaism. The new focus on Israel as the enemy of Iran beginning in 1979 convinced some to migrate back to the land of their forefathers.

         Shireen and her family stayed. They were Jews but loved Iran and privately hoped that the Ayatollah and his regime would be overthrown one day and things would get back to normal. For Shireen though, Judaism had become stale, predictable, and unfulfilling. It was her heritage and she felt guilty for thinking those things. In 1948 the Jewish population in Iran was about 100,000 .The Jewish Virtual Library claims that the Jewish community in Iran is one of the oldest Jewish communities outside Israel and still the second largest in the Middle East with a population of approximately 25,000. (Jewish Virtual Library “The Jews of Iran” Copyright 2008)

         As Shireen began to question Judaism she realized that to do so openly would bring unbearable pain to her family. After all, her ancestors had survived 25 centuries outside of Israel and kept the faith through intermittent oppression and persecution. But she was empty. She never considered Islam even though some of her relatives converted under pressure. She detested having to dress like a Muslim in public. Since the revolution the government instituted mandatory Islamic dress for every woman even visitors. The chador and the scarf were put on grudgingly each day as she headed out to work.

         Her bank position paid the bills and she hoped to be married one day and raise a family. Hassan worked in the bank too and Shireen admired him because he treated her with respect and was pleasant to everyone. He was always up and the mood in the room changed whenever Hassan walked in. One day Hassan and Shireen were both eating lunch and all of a sudden the room was empty so she decided to ask him a question. “How do you do it Hassan? You always have a smile on your face. I don’t get it.”

         At that point Hassan looked around, took a deep breath and said: “Shireen, I am a follower of Jesus. He has changed everything about me. I didn’t used to be this way.” Shireen was shocked. “I can’t believe that you just said that. You could get killed talking like that in Iran. What if the Islamic clerics or the Ayatollah himself heard this?  But, you really were a Muslim and now you are a follower of Jesus?” “Yes I am!” He blurted the words out with a big smile.

         Shireen questioned him further: “why would you switch religions? What’s the difference?” Hassan had his chance and he explained his faith in Jesus Christ beautifully. He ended with this “It’s religion that you are sick of Shireen and so was I. But now I have a relationship with a loving Father and that was something that I could not have in Islam.”

         Shireen opened up “but I am not a Muslim.” “I know that Shireen” he answered quickly. “You’re Jewish, I can tell. Even though your ancestors have lived here for centuries and in many ways assimilated into the Persian culture there still are differences between our races and religions. I’ve known that you are Jewish for a long time and I have been praying for you everyday!”

         “With those words” Shireen recalls, “I knew Hassan’s faith in Christ was what I had been looking for and what had been missing in my life. Jesus had to be the answer to all my questions about God.  I was desperately searching for. Do you realize how powerfully this hit me? Here was a Muslim man that told me all about Jesus and I was a Jewish woman! And we live in Iran! Talk about risk. His love for Jesus was all over his face. And Jesus put that love in his heart for me. He prayed for me and his passion getting the truth to me transcended any fear he might have of getting caught.”

         Shireen received Christ in the break room of the bank that day. “I was forgiven and I had a relationship with my loving father in Heaven who had pursued me.” Later that week she left her apartment at midnight, traveled a few miles to an address that Hassan had given her. She knew it was dangerous but she wanted to attend her first church service. It was an underground meeting in a home and the believers were waiting for her. All of them were former Muslims like Hassan. When Shireen walked into the basement of the house, the believers spontaneously jumped to their feet with applause and hugged her so hard that she thought she would be crushed!  They worshipped and praised the Lord with all of their hearts. The leader of the group then explained to Shireen how Hassan had told them about the burden he had felt for her to find Christ. “So we have been praying for you for months now Shireen. Welcome to Jesus’ family.”

         Today Shireen is involved in ministry. She is married. No she didn’t marry Hassan!  But she did marry a wonderful man that grew up as a Muslim and came to Christ about the same time that Shireen did. Considering the world that we live in today I find it amazing that a Jewish woman married an Iranian man. Only God could pull that one off! Shireen and her husband are serving their savior somewhere in Europe. Hassan lives in Iran and is married also.

          As Shireen told me her story, I was taking notes as fast as I could. All the time I was wiping away tears as she was too. She closed with these words that I will never forget. “Tom, none of the world’s problems will ever be solved with politics. None of it will be solved with war either. When you give your life to Jesus he fills you with his love. All of the barriers between races and religions become meaningless. He is the only one that can break through all of that. Hassan could be in jail for telling me about Jesus, but he didn’t care. It was worth it to him. But when I walked into that room and 30 former Muslims were jumping up and down, hugging and loving this little Jewish girl…….then I knew that I truly had found God.” 

 

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