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Sara Saee

Mohammad Ali Taheri was born on the first of Farvardin month in the year 1335. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Turkey and has been presenting theories on mysticism, self-awareness, consciousness, anti-consciousness, and complementary medicine since the early 1960s – approximately 40 years ago.

They initially and until the year 1380, presented their teachings in homes and in completely private sessions. From the years 80 to 84, Mr. Taheri held classes in Karaj, and later on in Jamalzadeh-Enghelab Street in Tehran, with a limited number of participants. He also held classes in the city of Tabriz at the same time.

Erfan Circle began its official activities in 1384 (2005) and as a non-governmental legal organization, under the license of the National Youth Organization, on Sattarkhan Street. Its activities included holding Erfani (self-awareness) classes and treating patients. The license from the National Youth Organization was valid for one year and was renewed for two consecutive years.

In the year 1385, due to an increase in the number of participants and lack of space, classes were relocated to a building in Gandhi. The number of participants had increased to about 500 per session by the year 1386 and classes were suspended.

As the number of participants increased, concerns and sensitivities of the government began. In 2007, the security police summoned and interrogated Mohammad Ali Taheri, based on a written complaint from one of the former participants of his courses – who had significant influence in security institutions. The complainant claimed that attending these classes had caused family disputes for them. However, after the court proceedings, it was revealed that these individuals had conflicts even before being introduced to these teachings and their problems had no connection to these classes. Mohammad Ali Taheri was released on bail after a few hours of detention, but he promised to suspend his classes. As a result, Gandhi classes were forced to shut down in the winter of 2007 under pressure.

Despite the closure of Mr. Taheri’s classes, educational activities continued. Since late 2005, while Mr. Taheri’s classes were being held, students who had completed the relevant courses and become “Erfan Halqeh coaches” or “Masters” were also teaching and holding Erfan Halqeh classes. After the mandatory closure of Mr. Taheri’s classes in February 2008, the coaches’ classes continued. On the other hand, Erfan Halqeh activities continued at an office on Saadat Abad street. The activities of this office were limited to registering for Erfan Halqeh distance learning classes, distributing Mr. Taheri’s books and educational products such as CDs, etc.

With the closing of Gandhi classes, clinics (places where patients were treated) were also closed. The history of the formation of clinics dates back to the summer of 1384. In this year, the first clinic was opened on Takt-e Tavous Street by Mr. Taheri with the aim of providing free treatment for patients. Until the closure of Mr. Taheri’s classes, this clinic was still in operation.

In the year 1385, in a self-initiated action and upon the suggestion of some of Mohammad Ali Taheri’s students, a number of other alternative medicine centers were also established in different parts of Tehran and dedicated to treating patients. All of these centers operated as charities and provided free alternative treatments and care to patients. In the fall of 1386, on the brink of mandatory class closures, the police suddenly demanded the closure of all alternative medicine centers, citing a lack of permission from the Ministry of Health. As a result, upon Mr. Taheri’s request, all alternative medicine centers were closed.

After the closure of classes, a case was filed against Mohammad Ali Taheri at the Ministry Court due to his personal complaint and influence which led to the closure of classes. The commander of the Niloufar Security Police Station announced that they did not have jurisdiction over this case and sent it to Commander Ali Pour of the Tehran Security Police for investigation. After summoning Mr. Taheri and his appointment as the leader by him, upon the recommendation of Commander Ali Pour and his deputy, Commander Jorkesh, it was decided that Mr. Taheri would continue his activities using a cultural permit from NAJA (Law Enforcement Force) in the form of a charity. As a result, in November 2007, an institution called “Yas Paradise Charity Institute” was registered under the management of Commander Jorkesh. Although the purpose of the institution was not to teach cosmic mysticism, a number of activities were mentioned that within the framework of these activities, instructors were given permission to teach cosmic myst

According to clause 4 of the disciplinary regulations, which was specifically drafted for instructors of educational units under the coverage of the Yas Paradise Charity Institute, it is explicitly stated that: “Instructors are obligated to teach the provided course materials accurately for various courses of the Mystic Cultural and Artistic Institute of the Cosmic Mysticism and must refrain from presenting any additional or irrelevant topics.” Clause 5 of this regulation also states: “Charity instructors must strictly avoid engaging in political discussions.”

In this way, the activities of the mystical group have been legal and authorized by official authorities until the classes are open. Sardar Alipour – who was the commander of Tehran security at the time – Sardar Jorkesh, and Judge Lahrasi and some members of their families founded this institution.

Mystical Circles Committees.

The formation of the Sufi committees began from the time of Gandhi’s classes, and the first committee was called “The Committee for Reflecting on the Past and Future of Medicine”. The purpose of its formation was to collect medical documents and evidence from treatments performed by alternative medicine practitioners, in order to present them to the Ministry of Health to prove the scientific validity of alternative medicine.

Alongside the Medical Committee, other committees were also formed, all consisting of specialists who, after completing courses in mysticism, were willing to collaborate and align teachings with science, philosophy, religion, etc. Among these committees, the Quranic Studies Committee, Scientific Committee, Physics Committee, Law Committee, and Public Relations Committee can be mentioned.

Books by Mohammad Ali Taheri.

The first book by Mr. Taheri was published in 1384. Dr. Esmaeil Mansouri Larijani, a professor of Islamic mysticism, became familiar with Mr. Taheri’s discussions and classes through his students and held several face-to-face meetings with him for further criticism and research. This ultimately led to the writing of an introduction to the book “Halkh-e Erfan (Cosmic Mysticism)”. This book was published in 84 as Mr. Taheri’s first book, with an introduction by Dr. Esmaeil Mansouri Larijani.

In the year 1385, the second book, titled “Man from Another Perspective”, was also published with an introduction by Dr. Larijani and with the official permission of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. However, after the arrest of Mohammad Ali Taheri in 1390, Mr. Larijani came under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards and cut off his collaboration. He also requested in writing to have his footnote removed from the book “Man from Another Perspective”.

The third licensed book by Mr. Taheri is called “Human Insight”. In 1389, during Mr. Taheri’s 67-day detention, this book was also published with the official permission of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance under the Ahmadinejad government.

After that, two other books titled “Several Essays” and “Human and Knowledge” were published in Armenia.

Other books published after Mr. Taheri’s arrest have not been approved by him and have been printed by his students. During the six-day Norooz holiday in 1391, Mr. Taheri did not approve the new books due to the lack of writing and final version approval.

In addition to published books, in the years 1385-1386, the results of scientific research by doctors and psychiatrists on the effects of two complementary medicines, “Faradarmani” and “Saimentology”, on physical, mental and psychological illnesses were published in nine special issues of “Medical Science” magazine. The supervision of this was under the responsibility of Dr. Seyed Shahabeddin Sadr, the former head of the Medical System of the country and the head of the Health Commission of the Parliament (who was previously the Deputy Minister of Health). Seven specialized issues have also been published in medical news publications, “Tab Kol Negar” and “Medical Science” (under the editor-in-chief, Seyed Shahabeddin Sadr), in order to disseminate the results of medical research on Faradarmani and Saimentology.

Also, several articles by Mohammad Ali Taheri were published in official newspapers of the country, including in Hamshahri newspaper (2009 and 2008), Resalat newspaper (2009), Sobh-e Eghtesad newspaper (2010), Arman newspaper (2010), and Ebtakar newspaper (2009).

Activities.

Scientific.

And.

Academic.

During Mohammad Ali Taheri’s legal activities, several official agreements were made with several domestic universities and foreign institutions, which resulted in the issuance of certificates for participation in free courses in two fields of psychosomatic therapy and psychosomatics. In these centers, certificates were issued for both in-person and online participants. All of these classes were closed down before or after Mr. Taheri’s arrest, with negative propaganda from security institutions and threats and intimidation from university officials.

• University.

  Science.

  Medicine 1388:

  Classes were held in two groups of 1100 people. The second session coincided with the controversial presidential election and the university’s announcement of its commitment to avoiding any group meetings as an excuse to cancel university classes. However, with the efforts and intervention of Dr. Tavakolian (Deputy of Iran’s University of Medical Sciences), the seminars on Scientology continued to be held remotely for a long time.

• Notebook.

  Education.

  Hi.

  Free.

  University.

  Tehran.

  1387: This is a year in the Persian calendar, equivalent to the years 2008-2009 in the Gregorian calendar.

  These courses were held in person in several sessions (eight sessions) for different groups including doctors, paramedics, and regular individuals, and then continued remotely. The total number of participants was approximately six thousand.

• Academy.

  Between.

  The international.

  Echo.

  Energy.

  Republic.

  Azerbaijan:

  This academy, which awarded honorary doctorates in mysticism and healing to Mohammad Ali Taheri, entered into an agreement with the Institute of Mysticism to pursue research collaborations and ultimately issue academic degrees in various fields, according to the terms of this agreement.

• University.

  Medical.

  My age.

  Armenia:

  The Traditional Medicine University of Armenia awarded an honorary doctorate to Mohammad Ali Taheri in the paradise of Ardibehesht in the year 1390. Just a few days before his arrest, the president of the Traditional Medicine University of Armenia, along with a delegation, had come to Tehran to award an honorary doctorate to Mohammad Ali Taheri, the founder of Iranian complementary medicine (Faradarmani and Saimentology). According to Aftab News, this was the second time in 22 years since its establishment that the Traditional Medicine University of Armenia had awarded an honorary doctorate to a researcher. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s national television also broadcasted and announced the news of the honorary doctorate from the Armenian university on their Channel 2.

67-day detention in 1389.

In the year 1389, just a few months before Mr. Taheri’s second arrest, the “Taher Addiction Recovery Project” was successfully carried out in eight addiction recovery camps in the city of Isfahan under the supervision of doctors and psychiatrists. It was also broadcasted on the documentary channel of Sima. After witnessing these successes, the addiction recovery camps were targeted by the forces of the Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enghelab-e Eslami (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and were destroyed and shut down.

Mohammad Ali Taheri was arrested on April 18, 2010. According to Mashregh News Agency, he was arrested on charges of “acting against national security.” It was also announced that his detention was due to the establishment of illegal organizations. Mohammad Ali Taheri was imprisoned for 67 days in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, Section 2A, and was then released on bail.

During his arrest, Mr. Taheri was promised that he could only focus on conducting scientific research in the field of psychotherapy and psychosomatics. However, security forces secretly went to various universities and hospitals and threatened them; in fact, contrary to their false promises, an order was issued to stop all research. At the same time, information was sent to officials at the University of Tehran, including Dr. Mansouri Larijani, Sardar Jorkesh, Sardar Alipour, and Judge Lohrasbi, from the Legal Committee, and even Judge Lohrasbi was demoted. As a result of this pressure, officials at the University of Tehran denied the cooperation agreement that had been signed between the university and the Erfan Halqeh Institute.

In the year 1389, research projects at the doctoral level were carried out extensively at the National Police University, but these projects and the results of their scientific research were never published in the media.

Year 1390.

“Taheri was arrested again on the 14th of Ordibehesht month in 1390 (May 2011). In the first nine months of his detention, he was subjected to severe psychological torture by the interrogators and investigators, who presented a forged execution order on one hand and threatened his family and students on the other. He was forced to confess without any possibility of contacting his family or lawyer. The security forces also used the tactic of broadcasting his confessions on television. However, Mohammad Ali Taheri had anticipated this and had prepared a video beforehand, in which he mentions that any confessions made during his detention were a result of the pressures put on him. This video was immediately released on social media after the broadcast of his confessions on television.”

After nine months of solitary confinement, Mr. Taheri finally learned in court that the accusations made by the interrogators and interrogator (Mr. Asadi) were false. He was informed about the case-making and the creation of security shoes and baseless charges, including “interference in medical affairs”, “insulting sacred beliefs”, and “contact with an unrelated woman (based on a video clip of him trying to control a woman in an unbalanced state in a class of 300 students by holding her wrist)” – without being given the opportunity to defend himself in court – and was sentenced by Judge Pirabbasi in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court to five years of imprisonment, a fine of 900 million tomans, and 74 lashes. The appeals court also upheld this sentence without considering any of the written works of Mr. Taheri that were present in the case and the defenses that were added to it.

Letter to Ahmad Shahid in 1391.

After a conditional six-day leave, a letter was published by Mohammad Ali Taheri (in spring of 1391). In this letter, which was published on the fifth of Farvardin of that year, Mr. Taheri explicitly listed the violations of human rights and misconduct of judges, courts, interrogators, and other relevant individuals regarding himself and other prisoners. He also declared his readiness to testify and provide a report on the human rights violations of the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards, interrogators, and investigators in Iranian prisons to Ahmad Shahid.