One Iranian Bahà±ìwoman influenced by this
development was Ta±irih Tihrani (1861–1911),
born ≠Ismat Khanum. Ta±irih’s husband served as a
bodyguard to the Shah and often imprisoned
Bahà±ìs in his home. Ta±irih embraced the Bahà±ì
Faith after her marriage, and attempted to show
every kindness to Bahà±ìprisoners. For this she was
often beaten until she bled. After her husband died,
Ta±irih played an active part in the Bahà±ìcommu-
nity. She cropped her hair and received Western
Bahà±ìvisitors into her home, urging Iranian Bahà±ì
women (with limited success) to remove their veils
and mix freely with men as Western women did.
Eventually she established a girls’ school and pub-
lished articles on women’s emancipation (Najma-
badi 1997, 146–95).
At the behest of ≠Abdu±l-Bahàmany American
Bahà±ìwomen came to Iran. Their presence helped
transform gender relations within the Iranian
Bahà±ìcommunity. Dr. Susan Moody arrived from
Chicago to assist Iranian Bahà±ìdoctors in estab-
lishing a hospital. Elizabeth Stewart, a nurse, Dr.
Sarah Clock, and Lillian Kappes, a teacher, later
joined her, becoming instrumental in establishing
one of the country’s finest girls’ preparatory schools.
Iranian Bahà±ìwomen also traveled to America for
study (Armstrong-Ingram 1986, 181–210).
≠Abdu±l-Bahàexplicitly promoted women’s rights
as an aspect of Bahà±ìteachings during his trip
to the United States in 1912. He stressed the need
for women’s education, deeming the education
of mothers so essential to the proper upbringing of
children that he insisted that the education of
daughters take precedence over that of sons. De-
spite the linkage of motherhood and education,
≠Abdu±l-Bahà did not restrict women’s proper
sphere to the home. He urged women to excel in
arts and science. He held that their participation in
the political sphere would prove to be a prerequi-
site for peace. The only fields where ≠Abdu±l-Bahà
would not extend full and equal participation was
in military endeavors and membership in the
House of Justice.
Copies of ≠Abdu±l-Bahà’s talks were distributed
throughout Iran, and, along with the influence of
American Bahà±ìs residing in Iran, these awakened
Iranian Bahà±ìwomen to possibilities unthought of
in previous generations. Some began to advocate
immediate abolishment of the veil and to agitate for
women’s full participation on Bahà±ìadministrative
bodies. ≠Abdu±l-Bahàfelt that actions such as dis-
carding the veil would bring on needless persecu-
tion in an already volatile situation. ≠Abdu±l-Bahà
pleaded with the women not to do anything “con-
trary to wisdom.” Women’s assemblages at this
overview 17time should be confined to educational matters so
that “differences will, day by day, be entirely wiped
out, not that, God forbid, it will end in argumenta-
tion between men and women.” ≠Abdu±l-Bahà
stated that he himself would in time ensure that
women would achieve full equality; in the mean-
time they ought not to agitate (1986, 5–6).
Women were not permitted to serve on Bahà±ì
institutions in Iran until 1954 but by 1981, when
the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahà±ìs of Iran were arrested and executed, the
chairperson was a woman, Zhinus Ma™mùdi,
Iran’s leading chemist (Maneck 1994, 227)Recent developments
Since the late 1960s and the 1970s the Bahà±ì
Faith has seen its largest growth in areas such as
India, Latin America, and Africa. While women
have played a significant, and sometimes leading,
role in the propagation efforts, the numbers of male
enrollments in those countries has vastly exceeded
those of females. Realizing that this discrepancy
does not augur well for the future, some Bahà±ì
communities have established institutes aimed at
raising the literacy rate of rural women and pro-
viding then with basic vocational skills. It is not yet
known whether these have impacted the demogra-
phy of the community.
There exists no single theory of Bahà±ìfeminism,
but Bahà±ìs, men and women alike, are agreed on
one principle: hierarchical systems that place men
above women in a divinely ordained order have no
sanction within the Bahà±ìscriptures.Bibliography
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