The challenge within

In 642 AD on the fields of Nehavand a grand Zoroastrian nation passed away into the realm of history with the patriots of Sassanian Persia making the highest sacrifice in a last ditch attempt to save their noble religion and their homeland from Arab invaders. The final stand off at Nehavand might have failed but the hope of revival lived on with the last Sassanian Emperor Yazdegird III who vowed to continue the struggle against all odds. Over the passage of time zealots and stalwarts endured innumerable hardships in their attempts to keep the indomitable spirit and fire of Zoroastrianism burning in their hearts and minds.

As we look back we wonder why Yazdegird III did not accept the terms of the Arab invaders and embrace Islam, a practice not uncommon in his time, and a proposition which would probably have saved his kingdom and the lives of his family. Yazdegird chose to stand up for his religion and for his people, ultimately becoming a martyr. The struggle of Yazdegird and the martyrs of Neha­vand was a struggle to preserve and protect the tenets of Zoroastrianism and the preaching of the world’s first prophet. This struggle was continued by their successors, who went to great lengths to preserve this legacy, bearing countless adversities and transcending national boundaries, from the deserts of Yazd in Iran to the caves of Bahrot in India.

Today this great religion faces another challenge, this time from within through so-called reformists who, in the name of liberalism, open-mindedness and tolerance, seek to destroy everything that earlier generations sought to protect. There have been demands to open up the doors of the religion through conversions into the Zoroastrian fold. There have been demands to do away with the system of disposal of the dead practised for generations and a call for sanction of interfaith marriages. Ironically, if these demands are ever fulfilled, then we would achieve what the Arab invaders could not — the complete destruction of the religious and racial identity of the Parsi Irani Zoroastrians, an identity which has been protected by our ancestors for thousands of years.

Present day Zoroastrians now carry the responsibility of protecting the faith. The stage is set for battle. The spirit of Yazdegird looks on from heaven praying to Ahura Mazda to instill wisdom into the minds of the fellow Zoroastrians, lest we meet a second Nehavand.

ZERICK HOSI DASTUR