OverviewThe Bahà±ìFaith grew out of nineteenth-century
Shì≠ìmessianic expectations much as Christianity
grew out of similar expectations within Judaism.
The Bahà±ìFaith’s founders (the Bàb and Bahà±u±l-
làh), in claiming to be the latest messengers from
God with new divinely revealed laws, irremediably
divorced the new religion from its Islamic back-
ground. Among the distinguishing principles prom-
ulgated in the Bahà±ìwritings was the equality of
women and men. More important than this princi-
ple was the fact that it expressed itself in behavior
strikingly different from the Islamic milieu from
which it emerged. This equality does not refer
solely to the spiritual plane; Bahà±ì scriptures
explicitly state that education for women and men
should be identical and that women should be
active in political affairs and hence the public
sphere. Representation of women in top Bahà±ì
administrative positions is quite high compared to
percentages of women observed in other religious
organizations, comprising a third to half of the
Bahà±ìleadership. They are, however, excluded
from membership of the highest administrative
body, the Universal House of Justice.
Women in the Bàbìperiod
One of the prominent followers of Sayyid ≠Alì
Mu™ammad al-Bàb, who in 1844 secretly revealed
himself to be the Qà±ìm, the messianic figure ex-
pected by the Shì≠ìMuslims was a woman, Fà†imih
Bigum Baraghànì, later known as ¢àhirih (¢àhirah
Qurrat al-≠Ayn). The Bahà±ìFaith would emerge out
of the Bàbìmovement when Bahà±u±llàh assumed
the leadership around 1863, claiming to be the ful-
fillment of the Bàb’s prophecy regarding the com-
ing of He Whom God would make manifest. ¢àhirih
provides one of the key models of womanhood
within the Bahà±ìcommunity.
The daughter of the leading clerical family of
Qazvìn, ¢àhirih received an excellent education
from her mother and her father, both of whom were
mujtahids in Qazvìn. Her maternal relatives be-
longed to the Shaykhìsect of Shì≠ìIslamwhereas her
paternal relatives were staunchly ±usùlì. Though
married to her paternal uncle’s son, she herself fol-
lowed in her mother’s footsteps, moving to Kar-
Bahà±ìWomen
bala, and taking up residence in the home of the late
Shaykhìleader, Sayyid KàΩim, at the behest of his
widow. She became the leader of those Shaykhìs in
Karbala who subsequently took up the Bàbìcause.
¢àhirih’s activities created controversy within
the Bàbìcommunity, through her insistence that
Islamic law was no longer binding upon Bàbìs.
During Mu™arram, ¢àhirih deliberately provoked
the ≠ulamà±by dressing in gay colors and appearing
unveiled to celebrate the birthday of the Bàb
instead of donning mourning clothes to commem-
orate the martyrdom of Imàm £usayn. To prevent
violence, the governor intervened and arrested
¢àhirih, eventually sending her back to Iran.
On her arrival in Qazvìn, she refused to take
up residence with her estranged husand, Mullà
Mu™ammad, and divorced him, taking the initia-
tive of pronouncing the †alàqherself. No doubt this
estrangement grew out of their religious differences,
for her father-in-law, Mu™ammad Taqì, virulently
opposed both the Bàbìs and the Shaykhìs, and in-
cited mob violence against them. A Bàbìsympathizer
retaliated by fatally stabbing the mullà. Though the
assassin insisted he acted alone, ¢àhirih’s husband
implicated her and executed several Bàbìs. ¢àhirih
escaped with the assistance of Bahà±u±llàh, who hid
her in his home in Tehran.
Sometime later, the Bàbìleaders met in Badasht,
Khurasan to discuss the future direction of the Bàbì
community in the face of growing persecution.
Tension developed between ¢àhirih, who advo-
cated a complete break with Islam and a militant
defense of their community, and the more conser-
vative Quddùs, who initially advocated policies
aimed at the rejuvenation of Islam. As she had in
Karbala, ¢àhirih appeared before the assembled
believers unveiled. One shocked believer slit his
own throat and fled. Unperturbed, ¢àhirih de-
clared, “I am the Word which the Qà±im is to utter,
the Word which shall put to flight the chiefs and
nobles of the earth!” (Shoghi Effendi 1944, 32–3).
Eventually Quddùs conceded that Islamic law
had been abrogated. So complete was his reconcil-
iation with ¢àhirih that the two departed from
Badasht riding in the same howdah. When they
neared the village of Nìyàlà, the local mullà, out-
raged at seeing an unveiled woman sitting next
to a man and chanting poems aloud, led a mob