# The Baha'i Faith in Algeria

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Rowshan Mustapha, The Baha'i Faith in Algeria, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> The Bahá'í Faith in Algeria
> 
> Rowshan Mustapha
> 2026
> 
> i
> ii
> Foreword
> 
> The term North Africa, as used in conversation, generally means the five countries of the
> north of the continent vis: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Having already
> written three books regarding the history of the Faith in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, I hope to
> add a history of the Faith in Algeria, which is the subject of the present book.
> 
> The readers of the above mentioned books and this book will probably immediately notice
> that the writer of these history books is not a historian in the academic sense. Destiny had
> me a live witness of most of the events I record in these history books, which become
> narratives of history rather than history. Destiny seems to have also afforded this advantage
> to this writer from amongst the pioneers and early believers in this region of North Africa.
> Hence the moral responsibility that this writer feels and which prompts him to record what
> is available before it is irreparably lost in time.
> 
> I owe a lot in this history to the memoires of Muḥammad Zeggat, Áḥmad Zagad, ‘Abdu’l-
> Ḥamid Kherbouche as well as an extensive report in Persian by one of the pioneers in Oran.
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamid Kherbouche continued his help as I was writing this history.
> 
> My wife and I have known many of the Persian pioneers as well as many of the Algerian
> believers in this history.
> 
> We visited them many times over the years especially during some ten years when Ulfet
> was Board member for Algeria. Many Algerian friends visited Tunisia and we associated
> with them delightfully.
> 
> However, this history covers the period beginning with the entry of the Persian pioneers
> in Algeria in 1953 up to the end of the century.
> 
> North Africa
> 
> iii
> Timeline
> 
> 1951          Guardian calls on Egypt to send pioneers to Algeria and
> Libya
> 1953          Persian Pioneers arrive in Algeria Ezzat’u’lláh Baghdadi
> Family and Émád Sabírán, closely followed by Khodabakhsh
> Attar and family.
> 1953          Amine Khodja ‘Abdel-Karim 1st Algerian Bahá'í.
> 1954 April    Establishment of the first LSA of Algiers
> 1960          Rúh’ulláh Sa’adat – pioneer, opens the Centre of Oran
> 1960          Kherbouche accepts the Faith
> 1960          Ibrahim Maher and family join Oran
> 1961-Feb 2    K. Attar announces only 5 Bahá'ís in Algiers including
> Amine Khodja
> 1961-May      First LSA of Oran with Algerian believers
> 1963          Algiers LSA re-established with Algerian Bahá'ís.
> 1963-June     Dr. ‘Ezzat’ulláh Ta’í elected member to LSA Algiers.
> 1964          ‘Abdel-Hamid Kherbouche opens Constantine to the Faith.
> 1966          Establishment of first LSA of Constantine
> 1966          Establishment of NSA of Algeria and Tunisia with seat
> Algiers
> 1967 Apr 12   Aḥmad Zagad accepts the Faith: Arrested and imprisoned 5
> times and exiled three times.
> 1968          First arrest of Aḥmad Zagad in Constantine.
> 1968          Mass conversion of young Algerians mainly in Algiers.
> 1968-         Oceanic Conference of Palermo – Pioneers and Algerians
> August        attend.
> 1968-Oct      Dr ‘Ezzat’ulláh Ta’í tries to register the Faith at the
> Prefecture of Algiers as a “Religious Association”.
> 1968-Nov 8.   Expulsion of Persian Pioneers from Algeria.
> 1968          Algerian Bahá'ís in Algiers, Oran & Constantine warned by
> Authorities to stop all activity.
> 1968 - Dec    Historic meeting at Bab El-Oued of 5 Algerian Bahá'ís: ‘Alí
> Zamghouni, ‘Abd’ul-Karim Khodja, Muḥammad Zeggat,
> Áḥmad Zagad and ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamid Kherbouche – Algerian
> Baha’is shoulder the promotion of the Faith in the country.
> 1969 - Jan    Muḥammad Zeggat and family occupy the locality
> intended for Ḥaẓiratu’l-Quds for its protection following
> advice of Lawyer Navidi. The Administration archives are
> collected and hidden.
> 1969          Ḥacéne Zeggat – Police Constable, first Algerian Bahá'í to
> be imprisoned for his Faith. Liberated a few months later
> as result of intervention of Mr Navidi.
> iv
> 1969         Muḥammad Zeggat and Rabeḥ Belloui expelled from their
> functions at the “Mustapha” hospital by order of the
> Minister of the Interior because of their Faith.
> 1969         The Rabeḥ Belloui case at the Hydra Algiers Police station
> in presence of Amine Khodja – threats against Muḥammad
> Zeggat and wife Ḥalima.
> 1970–Feb 2 Exile of 5 Algerian Bahá'ís: ‘Alí Zamghouni, ‘Abd’ul-Karim
> Khodja, Muḥammad Zeggat, Áḥmad Zagad and ‘Abdu’l-
> Ḥamid Kherbouche to Merouana, Adrar, Timimoune, El-
> Oued and Djelfa respectively.
> Zeggat family – Ḥalima and 5 children expelled from home
> in the street.
> 1970- Nov 4 Divers liberations with interdiction of sojourn in Algiers,
> Oran, Constantine and Annaba
> 1970 Feb 9   Second arrest of Aḥmad Zagad in Algiers.
> 1970 Feb.    Muḥammad Zeggat et Abd’ul-Ḥamid Kherbouche arrested
> confined residence in Colo and Djijel resp. for 4 months.
> The Zeggat family – Ḥalima with 5 children were expelled
> from the house which was to be requisitioned.
> 1973 - April Counsellor Muḥammad Kebdani visits the Bahá'ís in Algiers
> to re-activate the Community. A meeting is held at the
> Ḥaẓiratu’l-Quds occupied by the Zeggat family. Shu’a’ulláh
> Nickampoor was present.
> The following day, the usual Authority Service came and
> arrested Muḥammad Kebdani, Muḥammad Zeggat and
> ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamid Kherbouche –delivered to the Moroccan
> Authorities, condemned to residence in Collo after one
> week in jail, condemned to residence in Jijel after one
> week in jail, respectively.
> 1988         During a meeting in Reims with Mr ‘Alí Nakhjavani,
> Counsellor Nosrat Tirandaz and Legal adviser Moḥsen
> 'Enayát, the Comity of Algeria of 1968 was re-established.
> 1994 – Feb. The Comity of Algeria was dissolved.
> 1994-     23 Muḥammad Zeggat and Ḥalima escaped to Tunis after
> Mar          death warning.
> 2003-31      Death of Muḥammad Zeggat.
> Dec
> 
> v
> vi
> Introduction
> 
> Algeria was one of the most important colonies of France, which, after many
> conflicts and wars of independence that started in the year 1954 and lasted for eight
> years and in which about one million people lost their lives, finally gained
> independence in 1962. About one million foreigners, mainly French, were forced to
> leave the country. This vast country, which has an area of 2.382 square kilometres,
> had only 19 million people of different races living in it at the time the first Bahá'í
> pioneers went there. Algeria is the biggest country in Africa, most of which is desert.
> Ninety percent of the population live along the Mediterranean coast-line or some 12% of the
> country. The people of Algeria are mainly Berber.
> 
> An appreciation of the suffering and sacrifice of the Algerian couple Muḥammad and
> Ḥalima Zeggat, are summarised from the non-published book by André Brugiroux: “Les
> Maquisards de Bahá”, as well as my personal notes. Other Algerian Bahá'ís have suffered
> terribly from the Authorities, though to a lesser degree and I mention ‘Abdel-Ḥamid
> Kherbouche and Áḥmad Zagad in particular. Áḥmad was taken in police custody 5 times
> and exiled three times until he was obliged to flee to France with his wife following threat
> of being killed.
> 
> The savage war of independence of Algeria was not a war between two armies. It was the
> formidable French forces against Algerian guerrilla fighters. The arrival of the pioneers to
> Algeria and their efforts to teach the Faith coincided with the beginning of that terrible period
> of the struggle in the country.
> 
> The Algerian population tried, without much success, to heal the wounds inflicted by the
> war of independence, but rather only managed to enter into a ten year bloody revolution of
> the FIS (Front Islamic de Salut) throughout the 1990s that further soured their spirits. The
> Algerians who accepted the Faith have shown a tenacity and attachment that is exemplary,
> mirroring the spirit of the Algerian Resistance Fighters (Maquisards in French) who
> conducted the war of independence.
> The Bahá'ís of Oran, some of them are amongst the earliest Algerian Baha’is, were found
> with a profound attachment to their Faith after two decades of meagre contact from the Bahá'í
> world outside.
> 
> The Bahá'í Community progressed with rapid strides in Algeria in its first 2 decades but
> rapidly precipitated into complete halt and isolation.
> 
> In the year 2003, the National Spiritual Assembly of Tunisia was entrusted with the
> challenge of re –activating the affairs of the Faith in Algeria which continued to be a difficult
> territory.
> 
> vii
> viii
> Contents
> 
> TITLE                      Page N°
> Foreword                       iii
> Timeline                      iv
> Introduction                   vii
> Chapter 1
> Opening Algeria                     1
> Guardian requests NSA Egypt send Pioneers to Algeria
> Arrival of Persian Pioneers                                  1
> The Administration                                           1
> Chapter 2
> Algeria looked receptive to the Faith          3
> Rapid increase of new believers
> Purchase of Property for the Faith                           3
> The Bahá’ís are considered Zionists                          3
> The initiative to register the National Assembly             4
> Chapter 3
> Sudden rise of Persecution               5
> The first wave of persecution
> The first imprisonment of Algerian Bahá'í                    5
> A historic meeting                                           5
> Second wave of persecution                                   5
> Chapter 4
> The Perseverance of the Algerian believers.      8
> Muḥammad Zeggat singled out by the Authorities
> The Harassment Continued                                     8
> A Night to Remember                                          9
> The longest night in my life                                10
> The Tablet of Áḥmad helped again                            11
> The Head of the Supreme Islamic Council denounces the       12
> Bahá'í Faith
> Chapter 5
> Efforts to re-activate the friends of Algeria     13
> Counsellor visit
> The North African Conference in Reims – France              13
> Chapter 6
> A case of Perseverance                 15
> Ḥalima or Mrs Muḥammad Zeggat
> The clothes factory                                         16
> Ousted from home and its restitution                        16
> “My Husband” – The second Endeavour                         19
> The Children – Third Endeavour                              20
> ix
> The release of Muḥammad Zeggat – Fourth Endeavour   21
> The Difficult Road Ahead                            25
> Ousted from home again and its (fifth) Ordeal       25
> The release of Muḥammad Zeggat – Sixth Endeavour    28
> Post Script                29
> 
> x
> i
> The Bahá'í Faith in Algeria
> Chapter 1
> Opening Algeria
> 
> The Guardian requests NSA Egypt send Pioneers to Algeria
> 
> In the year 1951, Shoghi Effendi entrusted the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt with
> the opening of Algeria to the Faith. At that time, Algeria was under French colonial rule and
> the efforts of two young Egyptian Bahá’ís to go there were not successful. I do not know of
> any other effort from Bahá'ís of Egypt to pioneer to Algeria.
> Persian pioneers responded to the call.
> 
> Arrival of Persian Pioneers
> 
> The earliest arrival of pioneers to Algeria was during the year 1953.
> Three pioneers arrived within a short period between and considered the first arrivals.
> These were Mr Émád Ṣabírán, Mr Ezzat’u’lláh Baghdadi and Mr Ibrahim Maher.
> However, Mr Émád Ṣabírán left early after to pioneer to Tunisia.
> The list of pioneers that I have from Board Member Muḥammad Muṣṭafá files and Mr
> Rochan Movaddat, who had accompanied his parents to Algeria, is as follows:
> 
> Mr Ṣaleḥ Vahdat                              Mr Ibrahim Maher
> Mrs Belgheis Vahdat                          Mr Eḥsanu’llah Maher
> Miss Nosrat Vahdat                           Mrs Behjat Maher
> Miss Mahin Vahdat                            Mr Khobakhsh Attar
> Mr Rabii Baghdadi                            Mrs Attar
> Mrs Narjis Baghdadi                          Mr Eḥsanu’llah Baghdadi
> Mr ‘Ezzat’u’lláh Baghdadi                    Mr Rúhollah Mavaddat
> Mrs Farahnaz Baghdadi                        Mrs Muniréh Mavaddat
> 
> Mr ‘Alí Muḥammad Djalali, a Bahá'í erudite of Islám, came as a travel Teacher to Algeria
> late in the year 1953.
> Other pioneers to Algeria later followed, and I make special mention of Dr ‘Ezzat’u’lláh
> Tá’í and his wife Dr Rúḥíyyih. The Tá’ís came to Algeria in 1963 after some two years in
> Tunisia and were successful in teaching the Faith in their new pioneer country, Algeria.
> 
> Other pioneers to Algeria later followed, and I make special mention of Dr ‘Ezzat’u’lláh
> Tá’í and his wife Dr Rúḥíyyih. The Tá’ís came to Algeria in 1963 after some two years in
> Tunisia and were successful in teaching the Faith in their new pioneer country, Algeria.
> 
> The Administration
> 
> The establishment of the Administration in Algeria was good and rapid, initiated by the
> pioneers closely followed by increasing Algerian membership.
> 
> In 1953, Ámin Khodja ‘Abdel-Karim became the first Algerian to embrace the Faith. He
> resided in Algiers, the capital.
> In 1954, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Algiers was established – the first in Algeria.
> In the year 1961 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Oran was established with the
> participation of Algerian members.
> In the year 1964 ‘Abdel-Hamid Kherbouche, a new believer himself, established a
> Bahá’í Centre in Constantine and two years later the Local Spiritual Assembly of
> Constantine was formed with all Algerian members.
> In the year 1967 The National Spiritual Assembly of Algeria and Tunisia was
> established with its seat in Algiers.
> In the year 1968, Muḥammad Zeggat in a timeline history of the Faith in Algeria,
> indicates that a relatively large number of new Bahá’ís were registered in the region of the
> capital Algiers.
> 
> Other pioneers to Algeria later followed, and I make special mention of Dr ‘Ezzat’u’lláh
> Tá’í and his wife Dr Rúḥíyyih. The Tá’ís came to Algeria in 1963 after some two years in
> Tunisia and were successful in teaching the Faith in their new pioneer country, Algeria.
> 
> Names of some of the early Algerian Bahá’ís, around the year 1970, and their towns of
> attachment are recorded here for posterity:
> 
> In the capital Algiers region:                  In the Oran region
> 
> Mr Muḥammad Zabouri and his wife                Mr ‘Alí Samghouni and children
> Sakina                                        Mr Smain Khiari and Mrs Melika
> Mr ‘Abdel-Ḥameed Kherbouche and Mrs             Mr ‘Abdel-Kader Sarsar and Mrs Fatima
> Fatiḥa                                          Mrs Khedidja Sarsar
> Mr Kuoidar Kherbouche                           Mr Áḥmad Bendaḥou and Mrs Mbarka
> Mrs Ḥassina Kherbouche                          Mr Muḥammad Baki
> Mrs Ramila Kherbouche                           Mr Muṣṭafá and Mrs Malika
> Mr Muḥammad Zeggat and Mrs Ḥalima
> Mr Ḥacine Zeggat                                In the Constantine Region
> Mr Rachid Zeggat
> Mr Ibrahim Laamech                              Dr Ḥamid Saḥnoun and Mrs Zouhour
> Mr Rabaḥ Beloui                                 Mr Mekiar and Mme
> Mr Tahar Laouamri                               Mr Rmita and Mme
> Mr ‘Abdel-Raḥman Messkine                       Mr Kamal
> Miss Houria                                     Mr Ragaii
> Miss Messouda                                   Mr Laid Zeggat and Mrs Khokha
> Miss Nikempoor Shoau’llah                       Mr Saci Laid Zeggat
> Mr Larbi Laid Zeggat
> Mr Nabil Laid Zeggat
> Dr Áḥmad Zagad and wife Dr Rafika.
> 
> Chapter 2
> Algeria looked receptive to the Faith
> Rapid increase of new believers
> 
> The news of the rapid increase of new believers in Algeria were a source of envy of the
> believers in neighbouring Tunisia and Morocco.
> An erudite Shaykh Zabouri of Oran declared his belief in Bahá'u'lláh overnight of hearing
> the Message.
> The young Áḥmad Zagad who accepted the Faith in 1967 and within a short period his
> parents joined the believers and 7 cousins or young relatives accepted the Faith, one of them
> being Muḥammad Zeggat himself whom the Authorities later considered the leader of the
> Algerian Baha’is.
> Three Local Spiritual Assemblies were established with predominant Algerian
> membership. Three Bahá'í centres were established. For an Arab country, the progress of the
> Faith in Algeria promised a bright future.
> 
> In 1968 the Algerian Bahá'ís were suddenly deprived of the pioneers. Yet alone and
> persecuted with little contact with the outside world and harassment from the Authorities,
> the remnants of the Algerian community survived and thrived.
> 
> Purchase of Property for the Faith
> 
> Persian pioneer Mr Saleḥ Vaḥdat purchased three properties one of which, an apartment
> in downtown Algiers was dedicated to be the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Algeria.
> With the precipitated turn of events of the year 1968, only the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds remained
> under control of the friends in Algeria to this day.
> 
> The Bahá’ís are considered Zionists
> 
> In the year 1968, the Bahá’í World celebrated the Centenary of the Arrival of Bahá’u’lláh
> in the Holy Land and an Oceanic Conference was held in Palermo, Sicily between the 23rd
> and 25th of August of that year. It was the first Conference of its kind. More than 2300
> Bahá’ís attended from all over the World. The Universal House of Justice invited the Bahá’ís
> attending that Conference to visit the Holy Land soon after it ends. Many of the Persian
> Pioneers of Algeria attended the Conference. The Algerian Bahá’ís Muḥammad and Ḥalima
> Zeggat as well as ‘Abdel-Hamid Kherbouche and Áḥmad Zagad attended the Conference
> and subsequently went to the Holy Land.
> 
> That Conference was certainly followed by the Secret Services of many governments and
> specially those of Arab countries of North Africa, notably Algeria, Libya, Egypt. These
> countries were enemies of Israel and Egypt was at war with that country. The participation
> of a number of Persian pioneers of Algeria together with the Algerian Bahá’ís to that
> Conference, therefore, was not appreciated by the Algerian Authorities and they were
> convinced that the Bahá’ís who attended that Conference must have also gone to Israel – a
> country which is considered the enemy of Algeria, and visiting Israel or communicating with
> people in Israel was considered an act of treason.
> 
> ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche, who attended the Conference, confirms: (the beginning of
> our problems with the authorities) happened shortly after our return. We were certainly spied
> upon and the fact that there were believers attending the Conference who went to the Holy
> Land led the Authorities to consider us to be Zionists.
> 
> The initiative to register the National Assembly
> 
> Sometime during the month of October of 1968, Dr ‘Ezzat’u’lláh Ta’í approached the
> “Prefecture” of Hydra in Algiers “for the registration of the (Bahá'í) movement as a
> Religious Association” – these are the exact words used by Muḥammad Zeggat in his
> timeline as well as in the memoir of André Brugiroux. There is no indication that the
> Universal House of Justice had been consulted regarding this endeavour.1 Kherbouche thinks
> that because that approach was without any result, it was deemed unnecessary to inform the
> Universal House of Justice.
> However, Dr ‘‘Ezzat’u’lláh’s approach to the Prefecture may have precipitated the action
> of the Authorities to deport the Persian pioneers and arrest a number of Bahá’ís. This notion
> is refuted by Kherbouche but accepted by Muḥammad Zeggat. It is, thus, a moot issue.
> 
> In his email of September 6, 2020, Kherbouche wrote : Cette histoire de tentative d'enregistrer la Foi n'a pas
> abouti et donc 'il n'y pas eu lieu de prévenir la Maison universelle de Justice.
> Chapter 3
> Sudden rise of Persecution
> 
> The first wave of persecution
> 
> On the 3rd of November 1968, the Judiciary police summoned all the 9 members of the
> National Assembly for interrogation. I have no record of the sort of questions asked.
> The next day November 4, 1968 these members of the National Assembly were arrested.
> 
> On the 8th of November 1968, all the Persian Pioneers in Algeria were expelled to France,
> while the prominent Algerian Bahá’ís in Algiers, Oran and Constantine were arrested and
> warned that they have to cease their Bahá’í activity, in fact cease to be Bahá’ís altogether.
> Before leaving for the airport, the pioneers asked to be allowed to read a prayer with some
> eleven other Algerian Bahá’ís including Ḥalima, the only Algerian women arrested. As the
> prayer was chanted, the guard who watched over them, is said to have stood at attention
> during the prayer.
> 
> Four days after the departure of the Persian Pioneers, the Algerian Bahá’ís,
> approximately 11 in number, were released after signing a declaration that they will not be
> active the Faith any more.
> 
> The first imprisonment of Algerian Bahá'í
> 
> In 1969, a few months after the warning of the Authorities, Ḥaçéne Zeggat, an officer in
> the Gendarmerie,2 was the first Algerian Bahá’í to be imprisoned for the Faith.
> According to the timeline of Muḥammad Zeggat, Ḥaçéne was released some months
> later after the intervention of Mr ‘Aziz Navidi – the International Bahá’í Lawyer, who had
> come to Algeria on behalf of the deported Persian pioneers to arrange for the retrieval of
> their belongings.
> 
> A historic meeting
> 
> Muḥammad Zeggat was a revolutionary. The years as a “Resistance Fighter” left their
> impression on him. He considered that if he and the few steadfast believers do not rally to
> spread the Faith, the Faith will be lost in Algeria. He took upon himself to rally the few
> young Algerian Bahá'ís he trusted to continue their efforts to propagate the Faith in their
> country.
> 
> He, therefore, arranged for what he called a “historic meeting” that took place in
> December 1969 in a locality known as Bab El Oued, on the sea front where five young
> Bahá’ís decided to take the matter of the Faith in Algeria into their hands. These five were:
> 1. ‘Alí Saḥnoune from Constantine
> 2. ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche from Constantine
> 
> State police
> 3.    Muḥammad Zeggat from Algiers
> 4.    Áḥmad Zagad came from Constantine
> 5.    ‘Alí Samghouni from Oran.
> 
> “Friends, the situation is serious. Now that the Iranian Baha'is have been expelled and
> the faint-hearted have left the sinking ship, the faith rests on our shoulders. We have the
> responsibility, nay, the obligation to ensure the sustainability of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh
> on this land of Algeria”, were Muḥammad’s thoughts addressed to the gathered five
> believers.
> ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche, however, did not attach much importance to that meeting, as
> he considered the participants to be young in age and not knowledgeable enough in the Faith
> at the time. Muḥammad described the meeting when the five met and the consultation
> started, slowly their backs curved in towards the centre of their circle. That attitude was
> certainly followed by police agents who had the duty to keep a watchful eye on them.
> However earlier in the same year of 1969 something happened that brought Rabeḥ, Ámin
> Khodja and Muḥammad Zeggat before the police of Hydra when a warning was issued to
> Muḥammad Zeggat and his wife Ḥalima.
> Immediately following that December historic meeting, Muḥammad took measures to
> safeguard the documents of the Faith, and at the request of Lawyer Aziz Navidi, when he
> came to Algiers, Muḥammad and Ḥalima Zeggat and their children moved and set up home
> in the Ḥaẓiratu’l Quds in order to protect it from being confiscated. Another villa that
> belonged to the Vahdat family, left unoccupied after they were deported was immediately
> requisitioned by the Authorities. There was a shortage of property in Algeria at the time,
> and especially in the capital Algiers.
> 
> Second wave of persecution
> 
> The few devout and steadfast friends continued to meet discretely, and continued
> observing Bahá’í feasts and occasions. But Muḥammad Zeggat was convinced that a police
> informer had infiltrated their restrained community.
> As I write these lines, I note that three of the five Bahá’ís mentioned in the “Historic
> Meeting” mentioned above, are still alive today, ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche, Áḥmad Zagad
> and ‘Alí Saḥnoune. Ulfet (my wife) and I were always associated with the Bahá’í friends in
> Algeria,3 and we know them personally. We know that Muḥammad Zeggat was a Resistance
> Fighter in the war of independence, and fortunately he was in the Medical Services, while
> Kherbouche was in the Military Communication, a Resistance Fighter also. Áḥmad Zagad
> was young when he joined the Algerian armed uprising.
> In general, the Algerian Bahá’ís have shown an exemplary attachment to the Faith and to
> their Bahá’í identity. Ulfet says that “the Algerian Bahá’ís were weaned too early,” meaning
> the pioneers were forced to leave them when they were young in the Faith.
> These young Bahá’ís, both young in age and young in the Faith were aflame, but did not
> know how to conduct themselves in serving the Faith. Their knowledge of the
> Administration was primitive and they had no one around to explain or give the example.
> During the second half of the 1970s and all through the 80s, some of the young Bahá’ís
> migrated to France and kept ties with their brethren in Algeria. Muḥammad Zeggat, who had
> 
> Ulfet was an Auxiliary Board member for Algeria for some 8 years early in the 2000s.
> studied Law after losing the chance of being an anaesthetist, quickly became a renowned
> lawyer in his hometown Chelghoum El ‘Aïd, and at the same time he continued to teach the
> Faith and promulgate its principles. He became known as “The Bahá’í”. In his book
> attacking the Faith, Áḥmad Ḥammani – President of the Supreme Islámic Council of Algeria,
> made indirect mention of Muḥammad Zeggat and of his cousin Áḥmad Zagad.
> 
> Chapter 4
> The Perseverance of the Algerian believers.
> 
> Muḥammad Zeggat singled out by the Authorities
> 
> On November 5, 1968 Muḥammad Zeggat was visited at his home by a senior policeman
> named Sa’íd who came to interrogate him on “this new Bahá’í movement”.
> Muḥammad received him badly.
> He considered that no one has the right to come to his house without notice to question
> him about his belief.
> Sa’íd, whom Muḥammad Zeggat says was to poison his and Halima’s lives for many years
> after, left but not before threatening Muḥammad with severe reprisal. “I will destroy you!”
> he said, picking up the file he came with and left.
> Muḥammad Zeggat was convinced that as an old Resistance Fighter he deserved a more
> respectful attitude from someone like Sa’íd.
> The very next day, November 6, 1968, 7 civil clad policemen stormed Muḥammad’s
> apartment at 5.00 am, and while one of the policemen was levelling a gun at Muḥammad
> ordering his “hands up”, the others went about searching the house, throwing everything on
> the floor and tearing open the mattresses looking for some proof. Suddenly one policeman
> said, “Here is the proof. He organises meetings!” – It was a picture of Muḥammad in military
> outfit haranguing the villagers to rise against the French long before he had accepted the
> Faith. It had nothing to do with the Faith.
> Poor Ḥalima was trembling in her nightgown in a corner of the room and the children
> were crying around her. Muḥammad Zeggat was handcuffed and carried away to the Hydra
> Police Station.
> 
> Soon, Muḥammad found that ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche had also been arrested at his
> parent’s home in Algiers.
> 
> The Harassment Continued
> Muḥammad Zeggat was not to have any rest. In his own words he says:
> “After that interrogation (of Nov. 6, 1968) I stopped counting the arrests. They either
> came to my home to take me away or they called me to Hydra Police Station. Every fortnight,
> sometimes every week. Each time I go through a few hours of interrogation and intimidation
> or during a whole day. At times I was left in the station overnight because they forgot to tell
> the guard to let me go home…? There was no bed or food. Many a night I was left to suffer
> trying to rest on unstable chairs in the reception room.4The rhythm was hellish”
> 
> - Ah! You meet and you are plotting! You are a traitor, we’ll destroy you!
> - As long as you do not abandon that idea, we shall not leave you to rest!-
> was their warning.
> 
> Muḥammad Zeggat was the most harassed. He was considered the leader. That
> harassment went on during the whole year of 1969.
> 
> Les Maquisards de Bahá p. 116-7
> In 1969 again, Muḥammad Zeggat and a certain Rabeḥ were suspended from their work
> in the “Hospital Mustapha” by order of the Minister of Interior because they were Baha’is.
> Muḥammad was in his final months of graduating as an anaesthetist and in the meantime,
> was working as such due to the severe shortage of qualified professionals in the country.
> Rabeḥ introduced to the Faith by Muḥammad Zeggat, and even accepted the Faith, but later
> betrayed Muḥammad and the Faith and turned tormentor of Muḥammad in particular.
> 
> These two incidents indicate that among the Algerian Bahá’ís, those who remained
> steadfast, must have been active in spite of the warnings they received and the imprisonment
> of one of them, namely, Ḥaçéne Zeggat.
> 
> A Night to Remember
> 
> On the 2nd of February 1970, Muḥammad Zeggat was called out of his home and taken to
> the Hydra Police Centre. He was scheduled to sit his final exam of anaesthesia in 5 days and
> he wanted to study. He had been in custody in Hydra only two days earlier, but the Police
> Officer insisted on taking him to the Hydra Police Station once more, in total disregard of
> his particular circumstances. Halima intuitively gave him his burnouse5 for the night in case
> he is retained.
> On the way to Hydra, the black Peugeot 403 took a detour to pick up Muhammad’s cousin,
> Áḥmad Zagad from the school where he was the General Supervisor. He was not there, but
> soon arrived at Hydra around mid-day. Four hours later, it was Amine Khodja’s turn to join
> the others.
> 
> Muḥammad Zeggat, who had gone through many arrests felt strongly that something big
> this time was in the offing.
> As usual, Halima came next morning with milk and brioches, but Muḥammad was not
> allowed to go out and see her and the children. At a certain moment Muḥammad spotted ‘Alí
> Samghouni, the friend from Oran, tugged into a cell of smugglers and robbers.
> The following morning at 5 am, a middle aged Persian man was brought in. He was in his
> pyjamas. He was slapped and beaten. But he indignantly shouted out saying: “Why do you
> arrest me. I am here at the request of the Algerian government to sort out a problem with the
> refinery. The government knows I am Bahá’í…” He was identified later as Mr Nickampoor
> – a petro-chemical expert on secondment by the Persian Government to the Algerian
> Government.
> Over a period of three days and three nights Áḥmad, Khodja and Muḥammad were held
> in the waiting room and then moved over the following two nights to a cell where they
> found ‘Alí Samghouni – all four managed to sustain only on the milk and brioches that
> Halima brought to them every morning.
> Every evening after midnight the interrogations would start. At one point, Rabeḥ, the
> traitor, was in attendance, and managed to punch Muḥammad in the face as he came into the
> interrogation room. He then picked up a gun, and pointing it at Muḥammad’s head and pulled
> the trigger. Fortunately there was no bullet. Rabeḥ asked for the ammunition, but the other
> policemen calmed the situation. Muḥammad, nevertheless, was hit by the gun on his cheek
> and this caused a flow of blood. He was further punched and beaten all over.
> 
> a long circular cloak with a hood attached, worn especially by North African Arabs.
> - Well, Muḥammad for the last time will you deny (your Faith) or not? Sa’id
> asks.
> Muḥammad knows what the consequences are, he is completely resigned to his fate…
> -I am Bahá’í, will remain a Bahá’í and will continue to be Bahá’í until the
> end of my life. This is my final decision. Now you do what you want… was
> Muḥammad’s answer!
> He had hardly said the last word when a policeman clamped his throat while another
> punched him in the stomach. On coming round from the blackout, he found himself in a
> toilet under a cold water spray from a shower, and was drenched when they fetched him after
> half an hour. Muḥammad tried to go near the heater, but was kicked furiously towards the
> entry door of the waiting room and was left in the cold winter draft. These were atrocious
> acts, and he suffered severely.
> On February 8th, Muḥammad was due to sit for his diploma exam in anaesthesia. He
> pleaded to be allowed to go:
> - No question of letting you out. Shut up. Without diploma you cause us enough
> trouble. What will it be when you are with one,” was the answer.
> 
> For Muḥammad it was really tragic. His future was in total jeopardy.
> 
> Sa’id, the terrible tormentor, growled at the four Bahá’ís telling them that they shall be
> exiled as soon as ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche, the fifth member of the famous historic
> meeting is brought in. They were to be exiled to their “assigned residence”, as they say in
> French, to different localities in the country:
> 1. Amine Khodja was assigned to Adrar – about 1450 km south of Algiers.
> 2. Muḥammad Zeggat to Timimoune – about 1115 km south of Algiers
> 3. Áḥmad Zagad to El Oued - about 640 km from Algiers.
> 4. ‘Alí Samghouni to Merouana – about 440 km from Algiers.
> 5. ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche to Djelfa – about 305 km from Algiers.
> 
> Following that announcement, the five Bahá’ís were put on a truck and taken from Hydra
> to the barracks of the more disciplined, but more severe, National Security Service.
> Muḥammad Zeggat and his younger cousin Áḥmad, who was the first person from whom
> Muḥammad heard of the Cause, found themselves in a cell, separated from the other three
> Bahá’ís who were in a separate cell.
> 
> The longest night in my life
> “Thus commenced the longest night of my life,” writes Muḥammad Zeggat in his
> memoires, “Not even during the most dramatic moments when I was in the underground
> resistance in the hills and mountains did I have this feeling of anxiety!”
> 
> They were all there, in a contemplative mood.: Not a word from the jailers, no contact
> with their three other friends, a guard in uniform with the fixed bayonet standing at the door
> of the cell, while others were walking up and down the corridor; quite an alarming situation.
> The only comfort they had was a hot meal served them upon arrival and the first since 8
> days.
> 
> If it were true that they were to be exiled to the localities indicated, Muḥammad and
> Áḥmad reckoned, then two cars would be used because the destination of three of the friends
> was in one direction from Algiers, while the localities of the other two would be in a different
> direction, in which case again, Muḥammad should have been in the other cell with Amine
> Khoja and ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche, while ‘Alí Samghouni should have been with Áḥmad
> in one cell. Muḥammad and Áḥmad contemplated that they were going to be shot and
> executed. The other three, in their cell, happened to arrive to the same conclusion after
> similar reflection.
> Áḥmad, younger than Muḥammad, was a “Gendarme” with the FLN (Front de Liberation
> Nationale) and knows all the complex activities of the National Security Service. All that
> was taking place had the appearance to him that they will be executed by fire squad.
> To make things worse, around 11 o’clock in the night, they distinctly heard a digger
> machine working the ground beyond their cell.
> 
> “Here we are, they are preparing our burial hole” murmured Muḥammad.
> “If they shoot me,” confided Áḥmad, “Before I die I will write Allah’u’Abhá with my blood
> on the soil,” in redemption of the failure of his country, Algeria, to recognise the Faith.
> 
> To their mind, all this matter of exile is a charade just to keep them quiet. Muḥammad
> reasoned that midnight would be the time of their execution. True enough, the lights come
> on and the cell door was opened and they were asked to come out. Muḥammad looked at his
> watch, a new one he recently bought. It was midnight exactly. The digger, or whatever it
> was, had stopped working. The hole was ready. That, they were sure of.
> 
> Outside in the open ground, Muḥammad searched the hole he thought they were to be
> buried in, but in the darkness he did not see much. He said his last prayer and “a strange
> feeling enveloped me, and contrary to my previous doubt, I am ready to die, to offer my life
> for the love of Bahá’u’lláh and His redemptive Cause”
> An officer called the exiles by name, one by one, and gave each a file to take with him
> and to present to the Authority at destination. It was then that Muḥammad Zwas taken to
> join Amine Khodja, ‘Abdel-Hamid Kherbouche, while Amine Khodja joined Áḥmad. Then,
> and only then, did the exiles feel better.
> 
> The Tablet of Áḥmad helped again
> 
> In the car taking them to their exile locations, Muḥammad Zeggat, ‘Abdel-Ḥamid
> Kherbouche and Amine Khodja were chained together, and they were most uncomfortable.
> Muḥammad Zeggat asked if ‘Abdel-Hamid knew the Tablet of Áḥmad because he would
> like to have it with him in exile. ‘Abdel-Hamid said, Yes, he knows it by heart, So
> Muḥammad took a piece of paper from a briefcase he had and gave it to Kherbouche who
> started to write the Tablet down, with great difficulty, while saying the words aloud. One of
> the policemen sitting behind them heard the Words. He asked the driver to stop, saying:
> “These are Words of true religion. Free up the hands of these exiles”. Thus Kherbouche was
> allowed to end saying the prayers he knew by heart and to write it down at ease. The three
> Bahá’ís were astonished how quick the answer came with the Tablet of Áḥmad!
> 
> Seven months later, they were allowed out of their exile but with strict interdiction to live
> in any of the big cities in the country: Algiers, Oran, Constantine or ‘Annaba.
> Each one of these beloved exiles had stories to tell of the period they were exiled. Each
> one met with serious and severe tests. Each one of them saw the Protective Hand of
> Bahá’u’lláh in action and each one spread the Word that changed the attitude of the audience
> and jailers, though in some cases to the worse.
> 
> The Head of the Supreme Islamic Council denounces the Bahá'í Faith
> 
> Upon his return from exile at the town of El-Oued, Áḥmad Zagad wanted badly to resume
> his studies of medicine and also to resume his job at the Ḥiḥi College of Constantine. His
> efforts in writing to the Ministers of Education and of the Interior and finally to the President
> of Algeria, resulted in his return to his job of General Supervisor of the Ḥiḥi Boarding
> School. The Dean of the College, Mr Sadok Ḥammani, fully appraised of Áḥmad’s Faith
> and past history of exile, confirmed to Áḥmad that he sees no conflict between his belief and
> his work.
> The confidence of the Dean and probably his admiration of the Faith allowed Áḥmad to
> be included in meeting important visitors at special events. This is how Áḥmad Zagad got to
> know the Dean’s cousin, Áḥmad Ḥammani was to become the Head of the Supreme Islamic
> Council.
> Áḥmad Ḥammani knew the Faith through his cousin Dean Sadok Ḥammani and during a
> visit to Chelghoum el-‘Aid, the birth town of both Muḥammad Zeggat and Áḥmad Zagad,
> he answered a query by saying: “Bahá'u'lláh is a good man but not a new Messenger”.
> Later when Dean Sadok Ḥammani passed away, Áḥmad Ḥammani changed and in the
> year 1986 published a nasty book entitled “Clear proofs of the waywardness of Bábism
> and the infidelity of Bahá'í’sm”
> The book was widely distributed and was followed by a “Fatwa” that Bahá'ís should be
> given 3 days to denounce their faith in Bahá'í’sm or face death.
> 
> Chapter 5
> Efforts to re-activate the friends of Algeria
> 
> Counsellor visit
> 
> The Counsellor for North Africa, Mr Muḥammad Kebdani of Morocco, while not residing
> in Algeria, was, nevertheless following the events there closely. Sensing a period of apparent
> calm for the friends, Mr Kebdani made a visit to Algiers, sometime during the month of
> April 1973, some four years after the exiles related above, and met with some friends in the
> Ḥaẓiratu’l-Quds where Muḥammad Zeggat and his family lived to safeguard the place since
> the expulsion of the Persian pioneers in 1968, as was mentioned above.
> The next day, deceptively reported upon by a couple who were once considered believers,
> led to the attendance of the (usual) police to where the meeting took place, that is where
> Muḥammad Zeggat lived. They arrested Muḥammad Kebdani, Muḥammad Zeggat and
> ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche, all present at the time. After 4 days of poor sleep and lack of
> food, as well as beatings, Muḥammad Kebdani was taken to the Moroccan boarder and
> delivered to the Moroccan authorities. To the astonishment of the Algerian Police who took
> him there, their Moroccan counterpart who knew Kebdani received him with courtesy and
> respect.
> ‘Abdel-Hamid Kherbouche and Muḥammad Zeggat, however were jailed for one week
> after which Kherbouche was placed in an assigned residence in the town of Jijel, while
> Muḥammad was assigned the town of Collo – both towns along the sea coast. The duration
> of the assigned residence was of the order of four months.
> 
> The North African Conference in Reims – France
> 
> A lull and quiet period followed and during the year 1988 when in August of that year,
> the Universal House of Justice called for a Conference of the North African countries to be
> held in Reims in France at the home of the generous family of ‘Ezzat’u’lláh and Rúḥíyyih
> Ta’í. Mr ‘Alí Nakhjavání represented the Universal House of Justice. Moḥsen 'Enayát of the
> World Centre Legal Affairs was present as well as Counsellors Gila Bahta, Muḥammad
> Kebdani and Nosrat Tirandaz.
> During that Conference an Executive Committee for Algeria was formed of the five
> members: Muḥammad Zeggat, ‘Abdel-Hamid Kherbouche, Áḥmad Zagad, ‘Alí Samghouni
> and ‘Alí Saḥnoune.
> In February 1994 the Executive Committee was disbanded and the situation in Algeria
> was chaotic with the rise of the struggle between the Islamic fundamentalists and the
> Government. Muḥammad Zeggat was informed by trusted sources that he was on the list of
> the fundamentalists to be eliminated. He was, therefore, obliged to leave Algiers and come
> with his wife Ḥalima to Tunis on the 23rd of March 1994 where they remained for over a
> year. ‘Abdel-Ḥamid Kherbouche and Áḥmad Zagad were threatened to be killed by the same
> Muslim “Selefi” uprising. They had to transfer with their families to France.
> 
> Chapter 6
> A case of Perseverance
> 
> Ḥalima or Mrs Muhammad Zeggat
> Of all the Algerian Bahá’ís who experienced the difficulties of the late 1960s and early
> 70s, it was Ḥalima, Muḥammad Zeggat’s lion-hearted wife, who suffered most. It would
> require many pages to include the terrible situations Ḥalima experienced when she became
> Bahá’í, and so only a summary is presented in the following pages.
> Ḥalima had declared her Faith in March 1968. Less than 8 months later she was confronted
> with a severe test. In November 6, 1968, her home was ransacked by seven policemen while
> she crouched in a corner in her night gown with her 5 children, the youngest 1 year old. It
> was a certain Sa’íd who was leading the group of policemen that stormed the house. He
> ordered Muḥammad to be carried away. Ḥalima was wary of Sa’íd who threatened to destroy
> Muḥammad while, in the meantime, he destroyed her home!
> Sa’id then asked Ḥalima if by chance she was a Bahá’í too? She answered him defiantly
> that she was Bahá’í.
> - What do you mean? Retorts Sa’íd, surprised.
> - I mean I am Bahá’í! She affirmed.
> 
> Sa’íd tried to find out how she became Bahá’í, and having to re-join his subordinates
> who took Muḥammad away, ordered a somewhat old orderly, who looked a kind man, to
> convince Ḥalima to deny the Faith or take her over to the Police Station. Halima did not
> deny her Faith, but confirmed it even more.
> Ḥalima was, therefore, taken to the Police station where Muḥammad and the arrested
> Bahá’ís were. She was forced to leave her five children in their apartment6 on the 11th floor
> of the building with their aging grandmother, crying and screaming and hanging to her
> skirt as she pushed them away and closed the door on them. She left her heart there. She
> was, fortunately, released quickly when the superior officers realised the plight of her
> children. But her file with the Police was opened on that day – the only Secret Police file
> of a Bahá’í woman in Algeria.
> Being taken to the Police station for questioning happened many times during the more
> than a dozen arrests of Muḥammad. These arrests and interrogations varied in duration
> from hours, days, a week or even two weeks at a time.
> Every time Muḥammad is arrested or Ḥalima is taken to the Police station she is asked
> to deny her Faith, and every time she asserts her faith.
> 
> - You are a woman, what interest do you have in this religion? She was told at times.
> - What do you mean I am a woman? She would answer forcefully!
> - Your day is not far off, wait a little; your children are young now, we’ll see later…
> Was their warning…?
> 
> Every time Muḥammad was carried away, that old and kind Orderly would be left to
> survey and try to convince Halima to deny the Faith. He would try, but was always
> confronted with both Halima’s obstinacy as well as her kindness and explanation. With time
> the orderly felt sorrow and admiration for her and became friendly, to the extent of giving
> 
> This was before she moved to the Ḥaẓiratu’l-Quds
> her the phone number of his wife should she need help any time. When she served lunch for
> herself and the children she would invite him to lunch with them. In the beginning he refused
> apologetically, but with time he not only shared their meals but even prayed with them too.
> 
> The clothes factory
> In September 1969, Muḥammad had his job at work terminated and further employment
> for him banned. Muḥammad was thus unable to find work and it became evident that
> Ḥalima had to work for their living. Her immediate thought went to do some sewing. In
> her young age her mother taught her the rudiments of sewing and during the war of
> independence she developed her ability by sewing Algerian flags. She had also taken a
> course in sewing at the government institution “Couper/Couture” when she was a young
> girl.
> By chance, a clothes shop not far from their home, and belonging to a certain gentle
> Maltese lady offered Ḥalima the possibility of working at home, assembling already cut cloth
> for shirts. Muḥammad immediately took out the remains of their savings and used it as a
> down payment for a sewing machine. Ḥalima worked long hours every day and every night
> to make ends meet.
> Muḥammad, jobless and not allowed to work, took up the task of delivering the finished
> work and purchasing or transporting the supplies to the little factory.
> During the 17 months that followed, Halima developed her little factory by adding
> helpers. One of the helpers was the wife of Rabeḥ, whom she engaged as she took pity for
> her family and as Rabeḥ was also denied work like Muḥammad. This partnership did not
> work, and Rabeḥ and his wife became enemies of the Faith and were the cause of much
> suffering for Muḥammad.
> 
> Ousted from home and its restitution
> On the morning of February 2, 1970, Muḥammad was arrested as usual and taken to the
> security centre of Hydra. Although Halima was used to such events, yet she found that the
> timing was unusual. He had just returned from one of those arrests only two days before.
> Normally he was given more days to rest between the arrests.
> - Poor me, what will happen now? She lamented in her heart.
> In the afternoon of that fateful day, the fearsome Sa’id came together with 4 thugs and
> entered the apartment7 “like hordes of the steppe”. Sa’id gave the orders:
> - Out! The children also…
> Halima tried to reason with Sa’id. She invokes her young children, she cried, she
> supplicated, but to no effect!
> The apartment was sealed and Halima with her 5 children, the youngest, Chiraz, in her
> arms, were thrown out onto the pavement in front of the building in the stinging cold of
> winter. Their clothes were only those worn indoors in the apartment.
> The black Peugeot 403 left off, and the 4 children remained hanging on to their mother in
> front of the building in the street while the baby was in Halima’s arms.
> “What a nightmare! Everything happened so quickly that the confusion paralysed me. I
> am stricken and incapable of any reaction. The sounds coming from Boulevard Boulaid seem
> like those producing no feelings. The passers-by, the trees, the ground or the sky, I do not
> 
> The apartment is the Ḥaẓiratu’l-Quds to which they had transferred to keep it from being
> requisitioned.
> notice. I am unable even to try to pray. Questions torture me: What will become of me? How
> will I feed the children? Have they killed Muḥammad? Where shall I go? Each of these
> questions were as painful as can be!”
> Her first thought was to go to her family in Ferdjiou, or Muḥammad’s family in Chateau
> d’un, both some 300 kms away. But she changed and dispelled the idea. What if Muḥammad
> is not killed, in that case she has to struggle to get him out. If she leaves Algiers, she will not
> be able to do anything. She must stay here.
> “In my mind, fogged with sour thoughts, the face of ‘Abdel-Rahman, a dear friend of
> ours, suddenly appears. He is an honest ex-Resistance Fighter who lives in the same quarters
> where we previously lived, the quarter of Léveyé. I see no one else who could help me.”
> Léveyé is on the other side of town at a distance from where she was. Nevertheless, all
> six got into a bus and managed to get to the house of ‘Abdel-Rahman with tears in her eyes
> and a heart “that weighs a ton.”
> At the site of Halima and the children, ‘Abdel-Rahman understood the situation
> immediately. He knew of their plight with the Authorities. He lived in a one room apartment
> with his mother and two brothers, yet he left the room for Halima and the children, and with
> the mother and two brothers he occupied the kitchen.
> Halima’s first night was sleepless. She concluded that her first objective must be to
> reclaim her home, the Ḥaẓiratu’l-Quds. By 8 o’clock next morning she went with her 5
> children to town dressed in black like the country women and asked for the “Central” police
> station and found it. Taking her children with her had two objectives: to soften the hearts of
> the people she was to see and to protect her from harassment. She was not allowed into the
> offices, she remained in the waiting room the whole day without food or drink – the children
> were fed biscuits. No results were obtained that day. The next day she was again in the
> waiting room with her children, again without any result. On the third day she was finally
> admitted to an office where she pleaded to know where her husband was. She was advised
> to go to the Police centre in Hydra – that famous place she was brought to four times, starting
> with the arrest of 1968.
> The next day at 8 in the morning, again with the children, Halima took a rented cab to
> Hydra. Hydra is on a hill and is a large township. Her four previous visits were in a police
> car. This time she had to find her way to the centre on her own? She walked and walked all
> morning asking passers-by for the Police centre. No one wanted to help. The name of the
> place created fear. She turned to Bahá’u’lláh. The children sat on the pavement unable to
> continue walking, while the baby was crying in her arms. Standing in agony not knowing
> what to do, her tears flowed. A stranger in a country djellaba stopped to inquire after this
> pitiable scene. He was a God-sent individual who agreed to guide them to the Police centre.
> After walking for a few minutes, they came to a long medium height wall. He motioned with
> a move of his chin that this was the centre, and moved away. Halima finally found the
> entrance, and pushed the heavy gate open. She found the waiting room and waited there for
> the remainder of the day.
> Finally a civil dressed Orderly appeared:
> -You cannot stay here madam, it is 7 pm and the premises are closed. You have to go out…
> - Go out? To go where? I was expelled from my home with these five children and now I
> have nowhere to go… I beg you, these children are sick, for five days I have been walking
> with them through the town…
> The orderly hesitated, then disappeared. Suddenly she found herself climbing to the next
> floor and into the office of the Principle Commissar a Mr Salah…
> - Well, then it is you madam Zeggat. What is this … with which you come here?
> Gently she explained:
> - Ah! You do not know why you are out of your home, no one told you why? Well, I will
> tell you why: you are out because you are baha’ist…
> - It is not baha’ist, it is Bahá’í, Mister!
> She did not know from where she got the energy to make that remark to him – a remark
> that she repeated many times later, but never succeeded in getting her torturers to get it right.
> - Yes I am aware of the whole story. Yes, your husband is imprisoned here.
> - Is he alright?
> - He is alright, but he is strong-headed!
> -…
> - I am not looking for my husband, I want the keys to my home. I have nowhere to go.
> - Do you not have parents and family?
> - Yes I have, but they are poor. Who will accept me with five children?
> - What do you want me to do, then?
> - I do not know! You threw me out, therefore, you have to find a solution. I have nowhere
> to go, I am telling you again. I shall not move from here until…
> - We’ll see that tomorrow.
> Salah rings for the Orderly who takes Halima and the children out.
> 
> The next day, Halima takes to the road at 7 am. Always with the children. She had to wait
> for almost the whole day before she was taken to Salah – known as the thief of Vespa, the
> Italian small motorcycles that he was notorious of stealing when he was in France.
> - This apartment belongs to the baha’ist. It is their centre, he growls.
> - In any case, I rent it. I pay a rent to Mr Attar and Mr Ta’i.8 This is my home and I do not
> have anywhere else to live in.
> - I am fed up with your weeping!
> 
> “The Commissar falls silent while I am cold as ice from head to feet. After a minute of
> silence that seemed an age, he rings for Sa’id and the Orderly”
> - Take, here are your keys – throwing them across his desk.
> To Sa’id and the Orderly
> - Accompany this tribe to the city so that I hear no more about them.
> 
> Halima returned to her home, to the children’s delight, on the evening of February the 7th.
> The seals were removed.
> Now she decided to retrieve her husband.
> 
> The next day at 8 am, as usual with her children, Halima takes milk and biscuits to
> Muḥammad at the Hydra centre. This time the policemen ate the food in front of her and
> threw the clothes on the ground. She returned home with sadness in her heart. Just as she
> finished her lunch, the usual Policemen arrived to take her to Hydra, again, as always, in the
> black Peugeot 403.
> She was left to wait in an office. Suddenly the terror Sa’id appeared with two other men
> and, surprisingly, Rabeḥ – the Bahá’í who recanted his faith and turned Police informer.
> “I watched these men with apprehension and each time I see Sa’id, I shudder with fear.
> Sa’id looks at Rabeḥ and points at me saying:
> 
> Two Persian pioneers who were expelled in November 1968.
> - Is she the one?
> - Yes, she is the one! Answers Rabeḥ with a sly smile!
> - It seems that you and Madam Ta’i are well considered by the Bahá’ís because you are a
> couple of beautiful fillies (immoral expression). This is what you’re friend here tells me.
> Growls Sa’id.
> Rabeḥ followed with a hoard of lies and foul accusations of immorality about the
> Bahá’ís… referring to me (Halima) as the queen of … because I am the more beautiful.
> - May God forgive you Rabeḥ. God is witness that you lie and you know you are lying…
> - She hides things at her home also, said Rabeḥ, secret files and things of the Jews!
> 
> To find out the truth about these grave accusations, Halima is taken back to her home with
> the Inspector Sa’id and the informer Rabeḥ.
> - What do you want me to show you, there is nothing.
> - Do not take the trouble of talking to this … says Rabeḥ, she will not show you anything.
> I shall show you myself.
> 
> He went to the bathroom where over the toilet tank there was a shelf on which were placed
> Mr. Khodabakhsh Attar’s business files since his expulsion in 1968. Sa’id took a stool and
> climbed on it and drew the files down. He is jubilant – he got the files! He took the thickest
> file, brilliant red in colour, opened it and followed the lines with his finger reading aloud:
> black Pepper, 3 Kg hot Pepper, 1.5 kg Cummins, 3 bags Curry, 5 boxes grilled Pistachio: 30
> dinars...
> - What is this nonsense, Sa’id turns to Rabeḥ, are you fooling me? This has nothing to do
> with what I am looking for!
> Sa’id was so furious while Rabeḥ lowered his head in shame. That is why Rabeḥ wanted
> to kill Muḥammad with a revolver that night in prison.
> Sa’id asks Halima to follow him back to the Hydra centre. She complained that the
> children are tired, but to no effect.
> In Hydra they present to her Amine Khodja.9
> - This one (meaning Khodja) says that you hide the money of the Bahá’ís in your home.
> - Mr Sa’id, excuse me… do you want to be ridiculed once more? Was Halima’s quiet
> answer.
> 
> “My Husband” – The second Endeavour
> During six consecutive days Halima prepared food for Muḥammad, picked her protective
> children and went to Hydra, and during the six consecutive days the policemen at Hydra
> either threw the food away or returned it back to her. She was denied seeing Muḥammad.
> She was convinced that he had been shot dead and they did not want to tell her that.
> On the 13th of February 1970, Sa’id told her that Muḥammad has been exiled to
> Timimoune! She is further cautioned not to try to go there.
> - There is nothing but highwaymen, serpents and scorpions over there… the sun is awful
> and there is no water… if you love your children, do not go there… You are allowed to go to
> Timimoune, but you will not escape losing your life.
> 
> In spite of all warnings, Halima decided to visit Timimoune and make sure Muḥammad
> is alive. With great difficulty she finally fell on an advert in an Air Algérie agency advertising
> 
> Halima says that Khodja did not deny the Faith but probably was intimidated.
> the possibility to go there. The trip would mean three days and three nights of continuous
> travel.
> On the 3rd of March, she left the children with a young maid in whom she had full
> confidence and travelled to Timimoune. She was doubtful to find Muḥammad alive with all
> she was told about conditions there and by the time she got to Timimoune, fatigue and doubt
> rendered her mind extremely tired. Finally when she did see him coming like a haze into the
> unique Timimoune hotel lounge, she fainted.
> The officials in Timimoune were good to her, as they were good to Muḥammad also. They
> kept asking her to convince Muḥammad to deny the Faith, but were surprised to know that
> she was Bahá’í also.
> Finally, Halima returned to her home, leaving Muḥammad in his exile, but now she knew
> he is alive and hope is revived for the future. It is the 23rd of March 1970.
> But her difficulties were far from over: She found the door of the apartment locked but
> not sealed. The police could not have had anything to do with this – she figured.
> Where are the children? Every sinister thought went through her mind.
> A neighbour elder couple whom she approached for information and help informed her
> that Bashir, Muḥammad’s younger brother, visits the place often. The couple offered Halima
> to stay with them for the night at least. Halima stuck a note on the door saying she is next
> door.
> Early the following morning Bashir turned up. Halima impatiently asked him where the
> children are, while thanking the neighbours and moving into her home – next door. A shock!
> The house is empty. Even the sewing machine was carried away.
> Of all the people Halima and Muḥammad have accommodated and helped, Bashir
> received the greater share. And now he tried to dislodge Halima and take the apartment for
> himself and his family. Halima had suffered much from Bashir even when Muḥammad was
> around. Family ties were sacred in Algeria at that time. Bashir was Bahá’í, and in fact was
> imprisoned for being Bahá’í. But he changed and now, amongst other faults, he drinks
> alcohol.
> 
> The Children – Third Endeavour
> The children, furniture and all were taken to Muḥammad’s father’s home at Chateau d’un.
> He had never been in favour of Halima as a daughter in law. Should Halima go to Chateau
> d’un, she will never be able to get away even alone without the children. She not only needs
> the children as a mother, but indeed as protectors against being assaulted by the police in her
> stand to protect the house – which is the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds also, and in her efforts to release
> her husband. She categorically refused the orders of Muḥammad’s father to come over to
> Chateau d’un. She begged the father by telephone to send the children to her, many a time
> every day without success. Bashir refused to help. He had his own designs to pursue. After
> sixteen days from her return from Timimoune, her prayers were answered.
> Brahim, the husband of Muḥammad’s younger sister, listened to the heart rending
> supplications of Halima. He felt her agony and arranged to take the children and some of
> Halima’s furniture in a truck that normally transported bags of coal, and drove all night in
> heavy rain to bring them home. The children were coal black and the furniture was mostly
> damaged, but nothing mattered now that she has her children - her “combat weapons”,
> because with them she can restart the struggle with the police.
> The sewing machine table was there, but not the sewing machine. How can she feed her
> children without the means of gaining some money? Brahim appreciated this problem and
> 
> immediately returned to Chateau d’un and a few days later returned with the sewing
> machine.
> Bashir, that horrible man, was a mere onlooker in all this. He made no effort to help, and
> he even pocketed the meagre savings of Halima during her absence, leaving her penniless.
> Fortunately she had money owed from a couple of her clients which she immediately
> collected and was able to buy a kerosene stove, an essential requirement for cooking food
> for her and the children
> After settling the house and her work, Halima went to Timimoune on her second trip. This
> time she took Wahid, her third son with her. She arranged for a shorter route, yet when the
> shared taxi was between Goléa and Timimoune towards evening, they met with a terrible
> sand storm that in addition to rendering the condition inside the taxi horrible, the taxi drove
> accidently into a sand dune and stalled. It would not restart. They were stuck for the night.
> It was winter, and the desert winter nights are ice-cold.
> Halima, dosed while sitting on the sand, anxious and irritated. She had terrible nightmares
> and sobbed shaking with tears. It is then and for the second time in her life the smiling and
> radiant face of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, appeared to her in a dream, consoling and calming her. At
> dawn, her heart was overflowing with gratitude and full of energy “ready to brave the gales
> of adversity.” After a short while, a passing Jeep picked them up and took them to
> Timimoune.
> Halima spent ten joyful days in Timimoune this time and was honoured with her son on
> the day the Oasis celebrated the feast of “circumcision”. When Muhammed Zeggatarrived
> in exile, he looked for a way to be useful of some sort. The hospital of the Oasis, directed by
> a French doctor, lacked competent staff. Muḥammad presented himself to help without
> asking for remuneration and was taken in. At the period of circumcision of the kids of the
> village, he asked that the kids be operated by him in the hospital instead of the local barber
> whose efforts in the past gave rise to a high number of infection, and some deaths were also
> recorded. That year Muḥammad circumcised some 35 boys without any incident. Instead of
> individual family feasts, a single general celebration was held with the usual music and
> dancing. It was then that Halima, Bida and Faycal sat with honour on a decorated and
> flowered stage with Muḥammad and the notables of the area.
> 
> The release of Muḥammad – Fourth Endeavour
> Back in Algiers from her sort of holiday in Timimoune, Halima had one more victory to
> achieve: liberate Muḥammad. She arranged the house, bought a second Singer sewing
> machine to be paid for by instalments, hired two helpers in her sewing set-up, and really
> worked hard and long hours to build a small saving.
> In the meantime, she also had to stand up to the continuous harassment of Muḥammad’s
> father who after repeated efforts from Chateau d’un, came in person to convince Halima to
> divorce that “infidel” of a son.
> The visits to the Hydra centre began again.
> Her efforts over the days she went with the children to ask the detestable Sa’id to help
> free Muḥammad, ended fruitlessly. She soon realised that Sa’id cannot help and decided to
> go to one level up: Salah or Vespa! He must have more influence, she figured.
> 
> - Madam, you have the cheek of the devil! You obtained your apartment and now you want
> your husband?
> - Yes! Exactly I want my husband. How do you think we can survive, five children and
> me without him?
> - We do not wish for any harm to any one, Madam Zeggat. It is he who is harming us. We
> wish no other than good towards him, good towards you too… All he has to do is a simple
> signature!
> - A signature for what?
> - Renounce the Baha’i Faith, to confirm that he is no more Baha’i. It is simple, we have
> already prepared the declaration: all he has to do is sign it.
> - Monsieur le Commissaire, this has nothing to do with my situation. I reclaim my husband
> to solve a social problem. He has to come to Algiers, to work and feed his children. I am not
> reclaiming my husband because he is Bahá’í. If he does not want to renounce his Faith that
> is his choice, whether he is right or wrong. Everyone can have his or her point of view… I
> repeat… I claim my husband because I have five children to feed. You know this quite well,
> you see them every day with me … You cannot ignore the evidence, they are in front of you
> at this moment.
> She knows that the site of the children irritates him because one morning he reproached…
> - Madam, why do you always bring the children with you? They are young and they are
> tired… Why do you trail them with you every time?
> - Where do you want me to leave them?
> - Leave them at home…
> - Maybe you want them to burn themselves or get wounded or go over the balcony? They
> are too young. I cannot leave them alone. I am a mother who knows her responsibilities!
> 
> The truth was, the children protected her from possible sexual assault, besides softening
> the hearts of the officials.
> 
> Finally she came to the conclusion that she cannot obtain any progress from the Hydra
> centre, because on the last day, Halima asked for the return of the books and papers that were
> confiscated. “Vespa” or Salah said she had to go to the DGSN (Direction générale de la
> Sécurité Nationale) for that, because there the books and papers were retained.
> 
> She decided to go there.
> 
> It is a million times easier said than done. Where is the DGSN? The director of National
> Security is not that approachable. A photographer friend whose shop was near her home, a
> certain Hadj Karkar tells Halima that the DGSN is beyond the Kasbah and the name of the
> director is Draia.
> Halima went to the DGSN for several days, some in the morning and some in the
> afternoon, taking her children with her every time. “Mr Draia is busy!”, “Mr Draia is not
> here!” or “He is not to be disturbed!” Her answer is always “I can wait!”
> An officer finally told her to come on a Sunday or a Wednesday when he officially
> receives visitors. On Sunday she was there and asked for an audience. She was told that Mr
> Draia simply will not receive her. “Write,” was the advice of the officer – equivalent to a
> gentle go away. “Draia will never read a letter from me.” Halima was almost in tears.
> An elderly person who had followed the scene told her to go directly to Draia’s home.
> The next morning a taxi reluctantly agreed to take her and the children also to Draia’s
> residence, reaching it through a drive inside a forest. Suddenly four Maquisard-type
> individuals stopped the car. Halima came out of the taxi, as it went quickly backwards and
> disappeared.
> - Where do you think you are going, little lady?
> - I want to see Mr Draia!
> They laugh, and finally persuade her to go home because there was no way she can see
> Mr Draia. She returned home despondent.
> When Halima told the photographer, Hadj Karkar, what happened, he suggested that she
> prepare a letter and go to Draia’s home where he resides with his second wife, a young
> American.
> At her third trial to get to Draia’s house she asked the taxi to stop at a short distance from
> the house and continued with the children on foot. The Guards stopped her:
> - I come for the same thing, Mister!
> She holds the children next to her and explained her story to the new guards. She wants
> to see Mr Draia.
> From 11h30 until 13h she argues and insists with the energy of despair.
> - Today I am decided, I will not move from here until I see him. I have a letter to give to
> him.
> - In that case, give it to me and I will give it to him.
> - No, I am afraid you will not give it to him.
> 
> At that moment, precisely, a black DS (a prestige Citroen sedan at the time) with a small
> national flag on the side stopped at the gate. An elegant gentleman in a grey suit came out
> of the car, looked at Halima and the children in surprise and without a word continued
> through the gate.
> It must be Draia, Halima is certain. She begged the head guard to take her letter to him.
> The head guard ran and caught up with him. Draia opened the letter and read while walking,
> stopped and looked at Halima and the children and then continued to walk and resumed
> reading. Halima felt her heart about to explode. He stopped again looked at Halima and then
> went on his way while the head guard returned to tell Halima that she had an appointment
> with him at 4 pm at the DGSN.
> Draia’s office is perfect though austere in style.
> - O yes! I am, of course, aware of your case. What is happening to you is normal. You are
> not aware of the wrong you committed …
> - Sorry to interrupt, sir, this has nothing to do with me or with the children either…
> Draia did not for a moment think that Halima could be Bahá’í also. He did not move from
> his position. After five minutes of discussion, Halima left with no result. She was in
> disillusion!
> Nevertheless, she does not give up.
> 
> This time she decided to go directly to the President of the Republic. She is unable to
> come near the Palace. One of the Guards advised her to write to the President and she decided
> to do so.
> Time went by. She received no answer to her letter to the President of the Republic.
> Halima met the Algerian Bahá’í wife, Leila, of Nakhoustine, an Iranian Bahá’í, and petro
> chemistry expert and who was seconded to the Algerian government for his expertise. In
> spite of this, he also was deported with the pioneers.
> Leila informed Halima of the endeavours of the Bahá’í lawyer ‘Aziz Navidi at the
> Ministry of Interior regarding the belongings of the deported Bahá’ís, and suggested that
> Halima should go to the Minister of Interior for her case.
> This is how Halima one morning found herself sitting on a wooden bench with her
> children in the Ministry of Interior. The strenuous efforts of different secretaries to dislodge
> her failed. Towards mid-day she was still arguing when Mr Madeghri, the Minister of Interior
> was leaving his office to go to lunch. An orderly went to him and told him that no one was
> able to get rid of that women with her children. The man seemed courteous and gentle. He
> listened to the grievance being explained to him by the orderly and beckoned her. The guard
> tried to keep the children away, but the Minister ordered to let them come with her.
> The Minister’s office was sumptuous. Halima never saw anything like that. Even the
> children were amazed. The Minister seemed to be a kind person with the character of a
> family father. With much respect he questioned her. He heard of the Bahá’í Faith but
> admitted he did not know much about it or that there were Bahá’ís living in the country and
> a certain number were in exile.
> Halima pleaded her case as though she was condemned to death. (In her own words.)
> - It is possible to free him, says the minister!
> That was on the 26th of November 1970.
> Halima had the same feeling of disappointment on her way back home: It is possible to
> free him is easy to say and cannot be other than one more ruse to send her home and keep
> her quiet.
> 
> Five days later, there was panic on the boulevard in front of the building where Ḥalima
> lived. Ministry of Interior police in uniform and on motorcycles came up to frightened
> Halima and delivered a telegram requesting her to go to the “Central.”
> 
> Halima was terribly perturbed, and was sure she will be exiled! Maybe she overplayed
> her hand in her efforts to the extent that she should be punished. Terrible thoughts went
> through her head. Nevertheless, she dressed the kids, picked up a quantity of clothes for them
> as well as some milk and biscuits, in case they are retained, and off she went to the “Central”.
> 
> Arriving on the top of the marble steps she showed the telegram to one of the officers.
> She was immediately taken to an office where someone was waiting for her.
> - Are you Madam Zeggat?
> - Yes.
> - Well! I am to inform you that your husband will be released…
> Halima had become by now mistrustful and suspicious!
> - How do you know that? Are you going to ask him to sign the paper of renunciation? I
> know he will not sign any such paper, he will not be released?
> - No Madam, there is nothing of what you say. Your husband will be liberated on the
> occasion of the amnesty of the 1st of November.
> - And he, does he know that?
> - No, and that is why we asked you to come here.
> Always suspicious, Halima wants to know what will be asked for in exchange of his
> liberty.
> -…
> -…
> - We shall liberate him with the others.
> - Who are those others?
> - Kherbouche., Khodja, Samghouni, Áḥmad … (The other exiled Bahá’ís.)
> That evening Halima was able to phone Muḥammad in Timimoune and scream: Freedom!
> 
> The Difficult Road Ahead
> Muḥammad is liberated, but he is not allowed to reside in Algiers. On his way north from
> his exile in Timimoune, he dropped into the town of Médéa, 50 km south of Algiers, where
> an old friend of his, Tahar Laadjal, an ex-Resistance fighter lived. The fraternity between the
> Maquisards is sacred and Muḥammad had asked Halima to join him there.
> Unfortunately, Tahar knew that Muḥammad was Bahá’í and told him frankly that having
> become an infidel, their friendship was terminated.
> Muḥammad decided he will go with Halima home and stealthily at night they went home
> in Algiers. If caught, he would go to prison. But after a few minutes of reflection he decided
> to abide by the order of keeping out of Algiers and stealthily again went to his hometown
> Chateau d’un, 300 km south –west of Algiers. There he lived in his father’s home. Everyone
> in Chateau d’un knew Muḥammad and his history of Maquisards amongst other qualities,
> but they also knew that he has adopted another religion than Islám. He is, therefore, Kafir,
> Jew, traitor… He sustained the humiliation for 45 days until one of his uncles added to his
> insults by spitting on his face in the market place. Muḥammad left that night his father’s
> home and covered with the heavy shepherd’s coat, called cashabia, he slipped into his home
> to the joy of Halima and the children. The date was January 16, 1971, and for the following
> 6 months Muḥammad was in hide-out in his home. He did not leave the sitting room while
> the women workers were on their sewing machines in the adjacent rooms. The doorbell was
> to be rung twice by the members of the house or the women workers to make sure they are
> friends. Muḥammad was freed from exile but condemned to the hide-out and to inactivity.
> On the 6th of July 1971, Muḥammad could stand his inactivity no more. Halima had
> developed her sewing factory and acted as the deliverer of the products as well as the
> purchaser of supplies. That day, he decided to go out at night for a walk.
> Slowly the night walks developed into midday walks and ended with Muḥammad
> replacing Halima as deliverer and purchaser for the factory.
> Throughout the remainder of the year 1971 and the whole of 1972, Halima’s factory with
> Muḥammad’s help, flourished and Muḥammad started a clothes shop in his hometown
> Chateau d’un – re-christened Chalghoum-El A’íd, and became more accepted by his father
> now that he is a successful businessman…
> Muḥammad also bought 3 hectares of farmland not far from the town centre of
> Chalghoum-El A’íd, which he baptised as “Fessikh” – meaning delta in (local Algerian)
> Arabic, which eventually became the place where Bahá’í summer schools or meetings are
> held.
> 
> Ousted from home again and its (fifth) Ordeal
> Following the incident that took place on the 4th of April 1973 when Counsellor
> Muḥammad Kebdani visited the Zeggats as mentioned above, and the assignment of
> Muḥammad to reside in the locality of Collo, Halima was confronted with a problem even
> greater than any she met with before.
> On one morning at 8 o’clock, and Halima still in night dress, the horrible Sa’id and a few
> policemen turned up and ordered her to go out of the house.
> - The house was returned to you in the hope that you stay quiet. Unfortunately you
> continue your stupidity. This time nobody can save you, neither Boumediene10 nor God nor
> your Bahá’u’lláh. This time you are out for good. I live far from Algiers. That is not right. I
> will take this luxury apartment. Out you go, and quickly.
> 
> President of Algeria.
> At 10 in the morning the apartment was sealed with red wax and Halima was on the
> pavement with her 5 children, Bida, the oldest, was then 10 years of age and Chiraz, the
> youngest, 2 years old.
> Hadj Karkar, the kind photographer, was witness to the scene. He chastised the police and
> the speed of action that took place. The police got into their cars and left. Halima and the
> children went into Karkar’s shop.
> That afternoon Karkar, took Halima to his home where his wife, who was aware of the
> case, welcomed her and the children with all kindness and served the whole family dinner.
> They offered to keep Halima and the children as long as they need to, but Halima chose to
> go to her brother in law Bashir who now lives in a sumptuous villa in the suburb of Algiers.
> Bashir received Halima badly and took her in, in a basement and offered a meagre
> breakfast to the kids, while his were served richly. The children were losing weight and their
> health     began      to    suffer     as    the     days     went     by.     Halima     and
> the children lunched at a pastry shop with pizzas and cakes and drinks. The shop owner
> realised that she must be in trouble.
> Again she went to see Sa’id to ask the whereabouts of her husband. While waiting outside
> his office to be admitted, she overheard him shout in a telephone conversation and
> understood that Muḥammad was in the prison of the “Centrale” which somewhat assured
> her. But she was refused to see Muḥammad.
> Then she was able to trace the office where Salah (Vespa) was. He was promoted head of
> all the Police of Algiers.
> Salah informed her that the apartment will be seized by the government, being considered
> the centre for the Bahá’ís. No argument of Halima on this subject was acceptable.
> Her daily tribulations with the Central continued during 5 days without success. She
> continuously kept Karkar informed of her efforts. Karkar was a former Maquisard and he is
> also a Chaoui11 like Muḥammad - a noble character. Karkar suggested that Halima try to
> contact a certain Madam Merbah whose husband Moulay Merbah is the head of the Military
> Security – a dreaded man. He actually took her to a few hundred metres before the house on
> Hydra hill and wished her good luck.
> The house was certainly stately, with a garden, gardener, roaming guard holding a
> Doberman dog… and all the appearance of importance and luxury. She rang the gate bell
> and answered the loud speaker and waited. An elegant man came up to the gate.
> After an exchange of questions and answers, the man, who seeing Chiraz feverish in her
> arms, consented to go and explain to Madam Merbah, who she was and why she wanted to
> see her...
> He returned to tell her that Madam Merbah will not see her. Halima was trembling.
> Madam Merbah was her last resort. The answer was negative. She told the messenger to
> kindly tell Madam Merbah that she will return the next day at 8 o’clock.
> At eight next morning, she rang the bell.
> Again, “the wall answered” as her son conceived to name the operation. A few minutes
> later the gate opened slightly and a man looked out into the street up and down, counted the
> children and went away without a word, after closing the gate. Halima started to lose hope.
> But the gate re-opened and a tall and thin lady with a serious and pale face appeared.
> Contrary to all appearances, Madam Merbah turned out to be a kind hearted lady. She
> listened carefully to Halima and told her she will telephone her at ten in the evening.
> 
> A Berbers group
> Unfortunately, the telephone was in Bashir’s quarters at first level, while Halima and the
> children were in the basement. Bashir and his father who lived with him arranged to answer
> Madam Merbah’s ten o’clock call but did not call Halima who was sitting up waiting. Halima
> realised how the wickedness of Muḥammad’s family was limitless towards her.
> The next morning Halima took the children and went to Madam Merbah. She was
> welcomed into the palatial house and served most generously herself and the children, with
> coffee and chocolate and more.
> At this meeting there was opportunity for Halima to explain the Bahá’í Faith and Madam
> Merbah promised to do all she can to return the apartment to Halima and very kindly asked
> her to return the next morning at the same time, 10 o’clock.
> At the third meeting Halima was extremely distressed to see Madam Merbah paler, tense
> and irritated. With a nervous gesture she handed over to Halima the government Party’s daily
> Moudjahid paper saying: Is that what you talked to me about yesterday?
> 
> In enormous red script the 21st April 1973 daily front page reads:
> 
> MAIN BASSE SUR LE ZIONISME12
> 
> With a picture of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa and even a portrait of
> Muḥammad and mention of Kherbouche and Kebdani as well as the seized apartment…
> within the two page article.
> 
> Halima is stunned but explained fully the false accusation of Zionism. Insisting that what
> the article said was not correct at all.
> 
> - Madam Zeggat, do you agree with them, are you also baha’iste?
> - Yes, of course, I am Bahá’í, but that has nothing to do with what the police are doing to
> me. They took my husband – that is a matter of men! But sending me out of my home for
> the second time is my problem.
> - What do you mean for the second time?
> 
> While Halima gave the lady a summary of what happened in 1968 and since then, she felt
> that the attitude of Madam Merbah was changing towards better sentiments towards her. Yet
> the last answer was all the same, a shock for Halima:
> - In that case there is nothing that I can do, unfortunately.
> Halima did not give up, continued to explain and plead her situation… Lady Merbah
> concluded:
> - There is nothing I can say now, I am obliged to talk to my husband, he will certainly be
> furious. Do not expect any positive response… The problem is that we are here in a political
> imbroglio… I will telephone to you tonight…
> 
> At 10 pm Madam Merbah phoned, Halima was next to the phone…
> 
> - Madam Zeggat, I regret, there is absolutely nothing that I can do!
> 
> CLAMP DOWN ON ZIONISM
> - Madam Merbah, with all the respect I have for you, tomorrow at 8 I will come to you. I
> cannot leave you, you are my only hope and I swear I will remain in front of your door until
> a solution is found to my problem!
> 
> For the fourth meeting with Madam Merbah, followed the same generous reception,
> Halima was gratified with a promise that Madam Merbah will seriously speak with her
> husband that night and telephone to her.
> At the fifth visit on the tenth day since her expulsion from her home, Madam Merbah tells
> her:
> - Go and see Mr. Dighi at Bab el Oued.
> 
> Mr. Dighi is the Director of the DGSN who had refused to receive her, but Madam Merbah
> assured her that her problem was settled. Mr. Dighi received her in his office. He was
> expecting her and directed her to go immediately to the “Commissariat du Grand Alger” to
> see, among all people: Mr. Salah or Mr Vespa!
> Halima went immediately to the Commissariat. Finally, it was Sa’id himself who gave her
> the keys and personally unsealed the apartment.
> 
> The release of Muḥammad – Sixth Endeavour
> July the 5th of the year 1973 was a beautiful summer day.
> After the re-possession of her apartment in April, Halima continued her visits to Madam
> Merbah almost weekly. She was Halima’s only support and her company inspired peace to
> the soul.
> That day, Halima was on her way to Madam Merbah for one of her visits feeling low and
> depressed. Muḥammad was still at his new exile in Collo. Madam Merbah surprised her
> with:
> - Return to your home quickly, your husband is released!
> 
> At the entrance of the building she found two motorcycle policemen waiting, with a
> further policeman ringing the bell of the apartment. She was told that she had a summons to
> come immediately to the “Grand Alger.”
> 
> She went there immediately and was directed to the office of Salah (or Vespa):
> - Once more, Madam Zeggat, your husband is released!
> Victory again. Thank you Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> Post Script
> I have to stop at this point of the history of these five men and one woman, the
> early Baha’is in Algeria. Maybe at some future date, another friend may continue the
> fascinating history of the Faith in Algeria. At this moment the Faith is making a timid
> progress in Algeria with the help of the National Spiritual Assembly of Tunisia, but I know
> the character of the Algerian – man or woman. Someday, hopefully soon, the Bahá’í world
> will hear about Algeria.
> 
> °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
>
> — *The Baha'i Faith in Algeria (Used by permission of the curator)*