Translated by Ali Jabbar

Click for original post by Dhiya Farajallah

My personal testimony regarding the killing of al-Imam al-Shaheed al-Sadr

I spent my time during the last few months of al-Sadr’s detainment alongside my uncle the martyr al-Shaykh al-Shaheed Abd al-Raheem Farajullah (one of al-Sadr’s closest friends and students).

I spent this period at my uncle’s home, helping and protecting him and fulfilling some of his duties and attending to his family’s needs. My uncle – based on my knowledge – was one of two or three close companions whom was not cut of from al-Sadr [during his detainment].

Al-Sadr’s helper who was called by the name al-Haaj Abbas would secretly come to my uncle’s house every two or three days at a secret time knocking on the door in a specific way agreed upon between us, whilst I would rush to the door to usher him in. He would meet my uncle and narrate to us what al-Sadr wished to be carried out and then he would listen to the response and hurry out. This occurred repeatedly until the 5th of April 1980 after which we were cut off from al-Haaj Abbas.

Given that strange and out of the norm actions performed by the regime’s men were being witnessed both inside and outside Najaf, coupled with the unprecedented cut of electricity, my Uncle ordered me to find out what exactly was going on. I left [the house] and found that the extreme security around al-Sadr’s house had diminished and that there were secret security forces widespread throughout the city; strange faces with piercing glances wearing raincoats under which they carried weapons wrapped in the red scarf [known as the Shemagh], carrying alongside that walkie-talkie devices.

After two days, Al-Haaj Abbas came over secretly, distressed and crying, announcing that al-Sadr had been arrested. We remained in a state of distress and anticipation until the night before the 9th of April 1980, where I left the house and found that the city in its vastness was filled with security forces, heavy and medium weaponry in many areas and secretive movement unprecedented until the morning. Me and my Uncle remained extremely anxious and on the afternoon of the 9th, my uncle ordered me to find out precisely what was going on. So he asked me to go to the house of al-Sayed Sadiq al-Sadr in Mahalat al-Imara and enquire about al-Sadr.

So there I went, a young man twenty years of age, wearing a dishdasha and carrying in my pocket a small radio which I had turned on to the music station so that I can be deceptive, walking extremely fast until I reached the corner of the road of al-Sayed Sadiq al-Sadr and I observed the beginning and end of the road, finding it empty and I saw that the door of his house was open slightly so I entered very quickly. As I entered I saw some women in Hijab who had wanted to leave but were surprised to see me enter so they went back inside.

Several minutes passed until Al-Sayed Mohammed al-Sadr (who was killed years later) came down the stairs from the first floor. When he saw me and realised who I was, he relaxed and we greeted and hugged each other and asked me what I was doing there?! I told him that my uncle had sent me to find out from your father what was the latest news on al-Sadr.

He shook his head for a few moments and responded that his father could not receive any visitors at this point and that security forces had attacked the house the previous night and had taken him to the graveyard and showed him a coffin which had the corpse of al-Sadr and they told him: Here is the corpse of your cousin Barqir al-Sadr. We have killed him.

They ordered him to pray over the corpse before the burial. Signs of torture, disfigurement and burning were evident on the face of al-Sadr and he had bled significantly from his face and his pure body. So al-Sayed Sadiq al-Sadr prayed over the body and the body was buried in a place which he could not ascertain fully.

I then asked about the fate of his sister Bint al-Huda and he replied that his father was unaware of her fate and that it was unknown at this point.

I bid Mohammad al-Sadr farewell, in a state of complete shock, unaware of my surroundings, nor who I am or where I was heading, given the significance of what I had heard and its extreme impact on me.

I recovered my awareness to see my self at the house of my uncle, him standing before, asking me incessantly, and so I informed him of what I had heard and then I began to hit my head screaming and crying.

As for my uncle Abd al-Raheem Faraj Allah, he contained himself for several moments and then he turned and ran to the washroom where he puked vomit and blood and then fell to the floor. He refrained from speaking or eating for the next three days!

And God chose him for martyrdom and to follow his beloved al-Sadr after a short while, where he was arrested, tortured and subsequently killed and his corpse was never returned.