An Iranian Christian convert and former prisoner of conscience, Rasoul Abdollahi, has died following an accident at his home at the age of 55.

Rasoul, who spent two years in prison following his arrest at Christmas in 2010, died on Tuesday, 1 July, and was buried today.

Below, we hear from fellow former prisoner of conscience Farshid Fathi, who got to know Rasoul while he was exploring the Christian faith and later spent time with him in two different prisons.

Please can you tell us about Rasoul? What was he like and how did you get to know him?

I have known Rasoul since 20 years ago, when he contacted me through an email and wrote a message that he’s interested to know more about Christ, and then I went to meet him.

At first I was cautious a little as I didn’t know what kind of person I’m going to meet. So we met with one another for the first time in Tehran, in a shopping centre in the west of Tehran. We had a long talk, and I had the privilege of praying with him, and I led him to the Lord.

He became a follower of Christ on that day, 20 years ago, and then I started discipleship course with him. He was an educated man, who was very familiar with poets like Saadi and Hafez and had many beautiful poems memorised. He was an educated and well-read person. 

For eight months, we met and discussed the content of the discipleship course in the street, in the coffee shop and also in the shopping centre. 

Finally, after eight months, I told him “We are gathering in a place, like an underground church, and I want to invite you to that place.” So he came to our underground church.

Later he finished our three-month training course on leadership and became one of our church planters and church leaders. He planted a church in Qazvin. He was such a nice man.

You spent time with him in prison. Please can you tell us about some of your memories of your time together there?

Rasoul got arrested, like all of us, on 26 December 2010, and his wife also was arrested. He has two children, a son who was around seven or eight years old at that time – the same age as my daughter – and a daughter who was around 13 or 14.

They kept him for four months in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, before releasing on bail in April 2011.

And almost a year after that, I met him again in Ward 350 of Evin and I brought him to my room, and he became a roommate and our friend in prison.

When Rasoul came to prison, as a Christian he was dried-up and was sad to an extent. He explained: “No-one came to even say hi after I got released from prison; nobody came to pray with me, and I was totally isolated after I got released from solitary confinement.” But during his time prison, God actually started restoring him in a beautiful way.

Everybody loved Rasoul in prison, because he was a very gentle, educated man. After a while of being in our room, he went to room number 9 where he shared a room with some other political prisoners, social activists and other inmates. They all really liked him.

In recent days, when I informed them that Rasoul had gone to be with the Lord, they sent me very nice messages. One of them wrote: “We just saw kindness from Rasoul in prison, and no complaints.” This is how Rasoul was spending time in prison.

Of course we had a great time praying together. On Sundays, like the other Christians, he joined me on my bedside, where we worshipped and had Communion. Later, he was transferred to Rajaei Shahr Prison, when I was already there.

Finally, Rasoul got released from Rajaei Shahr. They had sentenced him to three years, but after serving two years of his sentence, he was released under a conditional release. I had the privilege of saying goodbye to him and praying with him before he returned home.

His only concern in prison was his family. He was employed in a government-owned industry, so when he ended up in prison, they took his house from him. So his wife and his two children had no place to go, and had to rent a house with the help of friends.

The sad thing was how he was treated under interrogation in Ward 209. They had beaten him badly, especially on his leg. When I later saw him, he was actually not able to walk properly. He explained only after I noticed his condition and asked him what had happened. Even one of the other interrogators had suggested to him to file a report about the guy who was beating him. Now, I don’t know whether that was just for show or not, but he had said “they were not allowed to beat you”.

So, they tortured him. But despite that there was no sign of bitterness or complaint in him. He was a man that was carrying his cross in a peaceful way, very calm, just carrying his cross.

But overall, I think prison-time was great in the sense that God had sent him back to prison for restoration. And I’m very happy for that. Due to the lack of fellowship, he said “I was like a dry land and God brought me back.” This is what Rasoul said. That “He brought me back to prison to restore me”.

What will you most remember about Rasoul?

What I can remember the most about Rasoul is that he was a strong man. He didn’t talk during the interrogations for 22 or 23 days – even longer than me – and they tortured him, but he didn’t say anything. He was a strong man, very strong inside. And he loved the Lord very much. This is how I remember him.

He wasn’t someone who would put up a show or make a lot of noise; he was just carrying his cross. He loved poetry. He loved Hafez and Saadi. He loved the Word of God.

From the people that knew Rasoul who wrote to me yesterday, two things were evident about him: they were his disciples in Qazvin a long time ago, before we went to prison, and one of them said “he was a man of God”. And the other said “he was like a pillar for me; that I could count on his support”. He was like that; a gentle person with a gentle heart, who knew the Word of God well and walked with the Lord in humility.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

The last thing I want to say is that I’m very sad that we couldn’t bury him as a Christian. Because he was not just a Christian; he was a person who really suffered for the Lord, was tortured for the Lord. But because we [converts] can’t have Christian burials in Iran anymore, they buried him today in an Islamic way. This is one thing that really breaks my heart.

However, we should celebrate his life, because he is with the Lord and he lived for the Lord, and I absolutely believe he was a faithful man to the end, to the Lord who is the beginning and the end.

Finally, I want to ask for your prayers for his daughter and son, and also his wife. May the Lord bless you.