Caution: The following article contains a graphic image.
He tells SBS Pashto he was “excited” to begin observing Ramadan, just moments before he was allegedly stabbed and robbed by passengers in his rideshare car.
The terrifying attack in the Melbourne suburb of Roxburgh Park allegedly occurred in the early hours of April 13 and saw the Afghan asylum seeker robbed of his car.
The 47-year-old says he feels “lucky to be alive” after sustaining 15 stabbed wounds, and he now faces a slow recovery after he was released from the hospital.
"I could have been killed, but God saved me for my children."
He suffered wounds to his chest, stomach arms and legs in the attack, and was left on the street bleeding before nearby residents called the ambulance.
Mr Hanafi and his son who he hasn't seen for years. Source: SBS Pashto
His car was later recovered in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows.
Victoria Police has confirmed that two men were charged over the attack, including an 18-year-old Broadmeadows man, who faces a total of eight offences including aggravated carjacking and intentionally causing injury.
A 19-year-old Dallas man was charged with 33 offences including aggravated carjacking and intentionally causing injury.
Stitches from one of the wounds. Source: SBS Pashto
Mr Hanafi says he wasn’t aware at the time if anyone was witnessing the attack but is grateful to the individual who contacted the police.
"I was taken to hospital, and God has given me a new life.
“Luckily [the knives] didn't reach my heart, and God saved my heart.
"After I was attacked, I saw death with my own eyes, I thought about my children, widow sister and all those who are dependent on me, and my life here in Australia. I was very disappointed, I thought I have died." 
Source: SBS Pashto
Arrived by boat
The father-of-six arrived in Australia by boat in 2013, seeking a better life away from the war in Afghanistan.
He’s been living on a temporary visa (SHEV) since 2016 and says the uncertainty of his situation has left him in a state of limbo, as he's not a permanent resident and faces Taliban retribution if he returns to Afghanistan.
"Since I can't bring my children and I am going through a tough situation, I feel like I have no one in Australia and have no family, and my children also feel the same, and they are growing like orphans as they don't have a father to live with them.
It is more than eight years that I live in limbo, and no one asks about me.
He says he ran a successful business in Afghanistan supplying food to local villages.
But things took a turn for the worse, he affirms, when he signed a contract to supply food items to the Afghan National Army, which saw him targeted by the Taliban.
“The Taliban targeted my family, killed my father, and killed my brother and brother-in-law. I was forced to close my business and flee to a neighbouring country with my mother, sister, and children and wife.
“I work in Australia and support my family in Quetta, Pakistan.
"I don't think we will be able to live in Afghanistan anymore because we have suffered a lot. I lost my father, my brother and also my brother-in-law.
“I came to Australia for peace, and now people in my area know that I fled to Australia, which has posed even more threats to me. Kandahar is my area, and it has turned into a Taliban base.”
Mr Hanafi says he will no longer operate as a rideshare driver, after three years in the job.
Source: SBS Pashto
“My wounds are recovering, but I have pain in my head. I sometimes feel they will come back and kill me; I am not psychological ok I have constant fear."
SBS Pashto has contacted Mr Hanafi’s employer, Ola, about the incident, but has not received a response as of the writing of this story.
