The Baha'i Doctor Hanged for Refusing to Deny His Faith

Health workers are the front line in our defense against the coronavirus pandemic – including hundreds of Iranian Baha’i doctors and nurses. But they are not in Iran; instead, they live in countries around the world, treating their patients, where they are admired and praised by the people and governments of the countries where they live. The one country where they cannot do their work is Iran.

Many of these doctors and nurses – who studied and served in Iran – lost their jobs after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. They were expelled from the universities and their public sector jobs, barred from practicing medicine, jailed and tortured, and a considerable number of them perished on the gallows or in front of firing squads.

The crime of these Baha’i doctors, nurses and other health workers was their faith in a religion that the rulers of the Islamic Republic believe is a “deviant” faith.

In a new series of articles, called “For the Love of Their Country,” IranWire tells the stories of some of these Iranian Baha’i doctors and nurses. In this installment you will read the story of Dr. Ruhollah Taelim, a Baha'i gynecologist in Kermanshah, known for establishing one of Iran's best gynecolgy and obstetrics wards and for offering free medical care to low-income patients, who was hanged in 1984 in Tehran.

If you know a Baha’i health worker and have a first-hand story of his or her life, let IranWire know.

Dr. Ruhollah Taelim, a popular physician living in Kermanshah, was hanged in Tehran in 1984 at the age of 47 on charges of following the Baha'i faith. The medical community of Kermanshah was astonished but none of them were able to speak out against the execution. Doctors and nurses did not commiserate in the corridors of Aria Hospital, which Dr. Taelim had established, and they were barred from holding a memorial for their colleague.

Many of Taelim’s colleagues and patients knew that, as a distinguished medical graduate from the University of Tehran and as a prominent gynecologist, he had chosen to serve in the regional city of Kermanshah despite having access to many amenities in the capital. He loved the people of Kermanshah as the people of Kermanshah loved him.

Ruhollah Taelim was born in the Pamanar neighborhood of Tehran on October 19, 1937. He was named Ruhollah because his older sister, Rouhi, had died as a child before him. His father, Ebrahim, was a cloth seller, and as a young man Ebrahim had converted from Judaism to the Baha’i faith. Sarah, Ruhollah’s mother, remained a Jew until her death.

Ruhollah graduated from Etezad elementary school with honors and entered Elmieh high school. He spent his final year of secondary education at Marvi high school. Ruhollah was then accepted to the medical school of Tehran University in 1955. The Taelims were a low-income family, and Ruhollah had to work as a salesperson in the evenings to make ends meet.

He graduated with a medical degree at the age of 25 and continued his education to become a gynecologist. The new Dr. Taelim interned at Alborz Hospital, obtaining his gynecology specialty, after which he went to mandatory military service. He completed his military training in Tehran and then went to Khorramabad to serve as an army doctor.

Dr. Taelim returned to Tehran after his military service and opened a clinic in the city. But he closed this after six months; Tehran, with its bustle and luxuries, was incompatible with Ruhollah’s calm and simple spirit. He was looking for a place where he could serve his compatriots, away from the rush of the city, and removed from its culture of competition.. A friend suggested the city of Kermanshah, and after investigating, he realized that the city needed a gynecologist.

Doctor Taelim in Kermanshah

Dr. Taelim initially worked for the army in Kermanshah and later at Motazedi Hospital, a specialized center for obstetrics and gynecology; he later worked at Dr. Mohammad Kermanshahi Hospital, Rah Hospital and Dr. Parandian Hospital.

Dr. Taelim’s abilities and personal qualities soon caught the attention of Kermanshah’s medical community.

“Dr. Taelim worked at Motazedi Hospital when I was head of the hospital.” says Dr. Vareszadeh. “I never felt that I needed to manage him. His medical skills, technique, judgment, sense of responsibility and compassion always made him a dear colleague to me. I am not judging his political beliefs but I liked him very much. He always respected the opinions of others in board meetings, and what was one of his important qualities.”

“He was a great man, a real human being and an active man,” says Dr. Mohammad Atari, another of Dr. Taelim’s colleagues. “When I came to Kermanshah, he helped me to find an office. Dr. Taelim even took care of hospital’s appearance after he had finished his medical work. For example, when water pipes or lights or curtains broke, he repaired them himself and was never idle. He loved his patients and his colleagues.”

Marrying a Muslim Woman

While working at Dr. Mohammad Kermanshahi Hospital, Dr. Taelim met a Muslim woman who was a nurse there. The two married on May 24, 1972. Dr. Taelim and his wife kept their different religions until the end of their life together, never allowing their religious beliefs to disrupt their marriage or their lives.

Dr. Taelim was a prominent Baha'i in Kermanshah. But he never imposed his Baha'i beliefs on his wife and two children, and whenever someone asked him why he did not make his wife and children Baha'is, he replied that religion should not be forced and that everyone must find the truth for themselves.

He always tried to provide his patients with the best possible treatment given the available facilities. Dr. Taelim was looking for an opportunity to establish a better-equipped hospital in Kermanshah. In 1977, this dream came true, and together with several other doctors, he established Aria Hospital in Kermanshah. This hospital, which was renamed Sajjad Hospital after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was considered one of the best equipped private hospitals in Iran at the time.  hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology ward, which was built under the direct supervision of Dr. Taelim, is still one of the most well-equipped medical wards among private hospitals in the country.

Dr. Taelim also opened a private clinic in Kermanshah. His modesty increased his popularity and the wives of many city officials and Muslim clerics became his patients.

He was available 24 hours a day, rushing to the hospital at any time, if he had been called. Even when one of his legs was broken and in a cast, in 1981, whenever the hospital asked for him, he would go with a cane and in a wheelchair.

The Aria Hospital accountant remembers: “Dr. Taelim was meticulous with the expenses and  looked at the details of the hospital accounts. He was scrupulous and did not allow anyone to take advantage. And he always gave me a part of his own salary to give to needy families.”

Many times a patient would come to Aria Hospital or his Dr. Taelim’s clinic, who was in financial difficulties, whom Dr. Taelim would visit, treat and even operate on for free. He personally wrote on the files of such cases that the fees were settled.

Dr. Taelim’s brother remember that he also, on one occasion, personally bought 20 wheelchairs in Tehran for the use of disabled people in Kermanshah.

The Islamic Revolution and the Problems Facing Baha’is

The expulsion of Baha'is from government jobs began a few months after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Baha’i members of staff at the Ministry of Health and Medical Education were among the first to be expelled. The sudden expulsion had left many Baha'is in dire financial straits – Dr. Taelim hired many expelled Baha'is at Aria Hospital.

Due to his expertise and popularity among the people in Kermanshah and its officials, Dr. Taelim could contact the governor, mayor and leading religious figures, such as Ayatollah Ashrafi Esfahani, whose wife was one of Dr. Taelim's patients. Dr. Taelim made several visits to the visited the authorities on behalf of the Baha'i community in Kermanshah. For example, on one occasion he visited Ayatollah Esfahani, who was the Friday prayer leader of the city, to obtain a cemetery land permit and finally obtained the permit.

A man named Paknejad contacted Dr., Taelim on behalf of the Mostazafan Foundation of Kermanshah in 1980 and made enquiries regarding properties owned by Baha’is in the city. Paknejad and several agents later went to Dr. Taelim's office and arrested him. Other doctor in the city, when they heard of Dr. Taelim’s arrest, called for his release. Dr. Taelim was released on a bail of 60,000 tomans or about US$8,500 in 1980 prices.

Dr. Taelim’s colleagues urged him to leave Kermanshah and Iran after his release. One doctor even told Dr. Taelim that he had an acquaintance who could smuggle him and his family across the border as Baha'is were not allowed to leave the country at that time. “Criminals run away,” Dr. Taelim is said to have responded, “I have done nothing that warrants an escape. This is my homeland and I must serve my country.”

Shortly afterwards, a patient of Dr. Taelim’s, who was connected to one of the revolutionary organizations, informed him that a list of Baha'is in Kermanshah that were to be detained had been prepared and that his name was at the top of the list.

Finally, in September 1982, Baha'i community officials asked Dr. Taelim to leave Kermanshah at least for a short time. He moved to his mother's home in Tehran.

When those Baha’is who had been detained in Kermanshah were released, the danger seemed to have eased; Dr. Taelim returned to Kermanshah, but because his name was on the list of potential detainees, he presented himself to the Revolutionary Court and was released after several hours of interrogation.

Arrest and Execution

Dr. Taelim continued treating his patients until December 1983, when a man named Tajik from the Mostazafan Foundation called him and asked him to go to Tehran to be questioned about the properties of the Baha'i community in Kermanshah.

Dr. Taelim and his wife left for Tehran on a bus at 8pm on December 4, 1983. They went to the Mostazafan Foundation in Tehran the next morning. After two hours, Dr. Taelim's wife, who was waiting outside the building, noticed that Dr. Taelim was leaving the building surrounded by several people. As she approached him, Dr. Taelim stopped for a moment and told his wife, “I am trapped and I am doomed.” These were the last words of the famous doctor, to his wife, having spent his whole life serving the country and his compatriots.

Ruhollah Taelim was transferred to Gohardasht Prison after his arrest. He was harassed by an official named Sheikh Rahnama for about five and a half months. Dr. Taelim was asked to change his religion, which he refused to do, so he was transferred to Evin Prison.

A doctor from Kermanshah, who was the son of a prominent cleric in the city, visited Dr. Taelim on behalf of his medical colleagues while he was being held in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, to persuade him to feign the denial of his religious belief in the face of persecution. When he saw Dr. Taelim's bandaged hand, hurt as a result of torture, the son of the cleric said, “Be whatever you want in your heart, but just say one word, say you are a Muslim, and save yourself.” Ruhollah Taelim only smiled in response.

Nothing is known about Dr Ruhollah Taelim’s trial. The only information available is that he, like other Baha'is, was taken for interrogation to Branch 8 of Evin Prison, which was reserved for Baha'is. The head interrogator and official in charge of the branch was the Revolutionary Guardsman Hamid Tolouei.

Dr. Taelim was hanged at an unknown location about a year after his arrest on December 9, 1984, for being a religious “dissident” and for his adherence to the Baha'i faith. No information is available on the whereabouts of his grave.