Ṭáhirih
From Bahaikipedia
| Ṭáhirih | |
 An artistic rendition of Ṭáhirih by Ivan Lloyd
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| Born | Fátimih Baraghání 1817 Qazvin, Persia |
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| Died | August 31, 1852 (aged 35) Tihrán, Persia |
| Title(s) | Zarrín-Táj (Golden Crown) Zakíyyih (Virtuous) Qurratu'l-'Ayn (Solace of the Eyes) Táhirih (the Pure One) |
| Religion | Bábí |
| Spouse(s) | Mullá Muhammad Baraghání (c.1830-1847) (divorced) |
| Children | Two sons, and one daughter |
| Parents | Mullá Muhammad Sálih Baraghání |
Ṭáhirih (Arabic: طاهره "The Pure One") or Qurratu'l-`Ayn (Arabic: قرة العين "Comfort of the Eyes") are both titles of Fátimih Baraghání (1817 - 1852), an influential poet and theologian of the Bábí faith in Iran. As a prominent Bábí she is highly regarded by Bahá’ís, and often mentioned in Bahá’í literature as an example of courage in the struggle for women's rights. Ṭáhirih also holds a unique theological importance; as she is explained by the Báb to be the spiritual return of Fátimih, daughter of Prophet Muḥammad, and one of the fourteen Shi‘i infallibles. Her date of birth is uncertain, as birth records were destroyed at her execution.
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[edit] Before becoming a Bábí
Fátimih Baraghání was born 1817 in Qazvín, Persia. Her birth year has been under great speculation, although both Nabíl-i-A`zam and Shoghi Effendi have confirmed that her birth date was in 1817. The daughter of Mullá Muhammad Sálih Baraghání, a leading cleric she came from the leading powerful cleric family of Persia. Her uncle, Muhammad-Taqí Baraghání, was also a very powerful cleric in Persia. She also had a sister; Mardíyyih Khánum.
She was affectionately known as “Zarrín-Táj” by her father. In her early youth, her father unusually furthered the education of his daughter although he lamented that she was not a son. Fátimih Khánum was given education in the Qur’án by her father and allowed to listen into lessons given by her father to other young boys, although Fátimih Khánum would hide behind a curtain.
As was the custom of the day, Fátimih Khánum was married to her first cousin named Muhammad the son of her uncle Muhammad-Taqí at the age of just thirteen. This marriage produced three children, two sons and one daughter.[1] The two sons did not turn Bábí or Bahá’í and her daughter died shortly after her mothers martyrdom. Whilst in the home of her Shaykhí relative she read books on the movement. Inspired by her younger uncle Mullá 'Alí, and her maternal cousin Mullá Javád Valiyání she too became a Shaykhi. Her beauty and wisdom won her renown throughout Qazvín, and Fátimih Khánum started a secret correspondence with the illustrious Siyyid Kázim. He named her Qurratu’l-‘Ayn.
Desperate to meet Siyyid Kázim, she persuaded her husband, uncle and father to allow her to go to the holy cities of Karbilá and Najaf, although she really wanted to see Siyyid Kázim. At the age of twenty-six and accompanied by her younger sister Mardíyyih Khánum, Qurratu’l-Ayn arrived in Karbilá. However, to her dismay Siyyid Kázim had died ten days earlier. She made a strong relationship with Siyyid Kázim’s widow and stayed with her in Karbilá.
In ‘Iráq, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn learned of a youth named Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad claiming to be the long awaited Qá’im. Qurratu’l-‘Ayn believed in His cause and became the first woman Bábí. Subsequently she wrote poems and letters to Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad. The Báb made her His Letter of the Living unlike the other Letters, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn never physically met the Báb.
[edit] As a Bábí
While in Karbala in Iraq, Ṭáhirih started teaching her new faith. After some of the Shi`ah clergy complained, the government moved her to Baghdad.[2] There she started giving public statements teaching the new faith, and challenging and debating issues with the Shi'a clergy. At this point the authorities in Baghdad argued with the Governor that since Ṭáhirih was Persian she should instead be arguing her case in Iran, and the authorities escorted Ṭáhirih and a number of other Bábís out of Baghdad to the Persian border.
During her journey back to Qazvin, she taught the Bábí Faith on stops in Kirand and Kermanshah, where she debated with the leading clergy of the town, Aqa `Abdu'llah-i-Bihbihani.[3] Aqa `Abdu'llah-i-Bihbihani, at this point, wrote to Ṭáhirih's father asking his relatives to remove her from Kermanshah. She then travelled to the small town of Sahneh and then to Hamedan, where she met her brothers who had been sent to ask for her return to Qazvin. She agreed to return with her brothers after making a public statement in Hamedan regarding the Báb.[3] Upon returning to Qazvin she separated informally (Enc. of Islam says "divorced") from her husband, whose family was hostile to the Báb and his mission, as well as her four children.
While she was in Qazvin, her uncle, Mulla Muhammad Taqi Baraghani, was murdered, and the blame for this placed on her;[3] Baraghani had been an inveterate enemy of Shaykh Ahmad.[4] During Ṭáhirih's stay in Qazvin, Baraghani had embarked on a series of sermons in which he attacked the Báb and his followers. There is no hard evidence as to the identity of the murderer. It was this event that led to her being taken to Tehran and placed there under house arrest.
[edit] Conference of Badasht
After the Báb's arrest in 1848, Bahá’u’lláh made arrangements for Ṭáhirih to leave Tehran and attend a conference of Bábí leaders in Badasht. She is perhaps best remembered for appearing in public without her veil in the course of this conference signalling that the Islamic Sharia law was abrogated and superseded by Bábí law. One of the conservative male Bábís is recorded to have ripped his own throat open at seeing he unveiled.[4] It was at the Badasht conference that she was given the title Ṭáhirih by Bahá’u’lláh which means "the Pure One".[1]
[edit] Death
After the Conference of Badasht, Táhirih was arrested by officials and imprisoned in Tihrán. Despite the fact that Táhirih had made herself great allies and a wave of followers, she had made many enemies particularly the clergy. Whilst in the house of Mahmúd Khán, the Kalántar she still earned respect from women around Tihrán who flocked to see her and even the kalántar himself.
In August of 1852 two mentally unstable youths tried to assassinate the Sháh of Persia. Finally, the authorities had the perfect excuse to persecute the Bábís. A Bloodbath of believers were massacred around Persia. Táhirih was not spared. On hearing the news that she was to be killed, Táhirih was said to have been fearless. When the day came she washed, prayed, dressed herself in a white gown and adorned herself with expensive perfume.
Sources differ on what happened on that day, but ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gives the most accurate account. She was lead into a garden to be killed, but the men seemed to have been too scared to do so. Instead, they found a drunk who viciously strangled her with a scarf. Her body was thrown into a well and stones thrown on top of it. Before they martyred her she said “You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women." The Sháh of Persia, who offered to marry her, was said to have experienced genuine grief over her death. She was thirty-five, and the mother of three children.
Notwithstanding her short life, Táhirih soon won renowned not only in Persia but outside too. Her legendary valour even reached Europe. Even today, her poems are widely read in Persia by non-Bahá’ís who deny her. She is often used in Persia as an example of female emancipation and feminism. Persian scholar Azar Nafisi said on PBS's NewsHour on October 10, 2003: "The first woman to unveil and to question both political and religious orthodoxy was a woman named Tahireh who lived in early 1800s... And we carry this tradition."
[edit] Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 `Abdu'l-Bahá [1915] (1997). Memorials of the Faithful, Softcover, Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877432422.
- ↑ Nabíl-i-Zarandí (1932). in Shoghi Effendi (Translator): The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative, Hardcover, Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, pp 278-300. ISBN 0900125225.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Balyuzi, Hasan (1973). The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days. Oxford, UK: George Ronald, 163-171. ISBN 0853980489.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Maneck, Susan (1994). "Religion and Women". Albany: SUNY Press.
[edit] References
- (2004) in Afaqi, Sabir (Ed.): Tahirih in History, Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions, Vol. 16: Perspectives on Qurratu'l-'Ayn From East and West. Kalimat Press, Los Angeles, USA. ISBN 1890688355.
- Balyuzi, Hasan (1973). The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853980489.
- Banani, Amin (Tr.) (2004). Tahirih: A Portrait in Poetry, Selected Poems of Qurratu'l-'Ayn. Kalimat Press, Los Angeles, USA. ISBN 1890688363.
- Effendi, Shoghi (1944). God Passes By. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877430209.
- Nabíl-i-Zarandí (1932). in Shoghi Effendi (Translator): The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative, Hardcover, Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0900125225.
- Root, Martha L. (2000). Tahirih The Pure. Kalimat Press, Los Angeles, USA. ISBN 1890688045.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Directory of Ṭáhirih's Arabic and Persian writings at h-net
- Translation of Ṭáhirih's poetry to English by Martha Root
- Ṭáhirih - Ṭáhirih's biographical entry from Memorials of the Faithful by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
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