"Tahirih's Life" by Anisa Young

Anisa had a 4th grade mini-research project, having to make an outline, note cards, bibliography, drafts and final report, and poster presentation. Valentine's Day, parents and students toured the class' projects. She worked very hard and had a very comprehensive report on the great personage of Tahirih.

Tahirih's Life
by Anisa Young
Jan. 20, 2008

Tahirih will always be remembered in history as the first woman to believe in the Bab. She removed her veil as a statement for women’s equality with men and an announcement of the New Age of God. She boldly taught the teachings of the Bab in Iran and was arrested and eventually killed for this new religion.

Tahirih was born into a Muslim family around 1814. She lived in Qazvin, Iran. Her father was a priest and a teacher. He was a famous and intelligent clergyman in Iran. Her uncle was also a priest.

Tahirih was not like most children. Instead of playing, she would listen to her family talk about God and the Muslim religion. She learned that her family was confused about religion and did not really understand its spiritual meaning. When she found this out, she began to study religion herself. When she was still a child, she became well know because she was so smart. Tahirih was called Zarrin-Taj, which means “Crown of Gold”.

When Tahirih’s father would teach classes there would be many men studying, but no women were involved. The women were poorly educated in those days. In public women always had to wear a veil.

Tahirih became interested in the new teachings of Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim. One day Tahirih was visiting a cousin. In her cousin’s house she saw some books written by Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim. She asked if she could read them. In one of the books it said that soon a new prophet of God would come. Tahirih wrote letters to Siyyid Kazim himself to ask questions. After Tahirih received a letter she decided to go to see him in Karbila. The trip to Karbila was in 1843. When she got to Karbila she went straight to his house, but she found out that he had died. Siyyid Kazim’s family let her stay with them and read his writings.

One night after meditating, Tahirih had a dream. In the dream she saw a young man standing in the air praying. Tahirih learned that her sister’s husband was going to look for the Promised One. Tahirih wrote her brother-in-law a letter and told him to give it to the Promised One, the Bab. When the Bab saw the letter he said Tahirih was the seventeenth Letter of the Living. Letters of the Living were the first eighteen people to believe in the Bab and find Him in visions or dreams. Tahirih was also the first woman to believe in the Bab.

Tahirih returned to her father’s house in Qazvin, and a family discussion about her new Faith was held. During the conversation Tahirih’s uncle got mad and cursed the Bab and hit her. She remained calm, but prophetically said, “O uncle, I see your mouth filling with blood.” Later her unlce was killed and the family, remembering her words, unfairly blamed her and the other Babis. She was kept a prisoner in her father’s home. Many Babis were arrested or killed.

At the threat to her own life, she boldly said that God would deliver her if this cause be true. Baha’u’llah, at this time a Babi but later proclaiming to be a Messenger of God (the One promised to come after the Bab), learned of Tahirih’s danger. He immediately sent her oldest brother to help her escape.

After staying a few days with Baha’u’llah in Tehran, she went to Khurasan. A conference was called by the Bab in the little village of Badasht. It was a garden with houses. The people who gathered in Badasht talked about the New Age. Each day Baha’u’llah would reveal a new tablet and chant it for everyone. It was here that Baha’u’llah gave her the name Tahirih, which means “The Pure One”.

One day Baha’u’llah became sick and stayed in his tent. Everyone came to see him except Tahirih because women were not allowed or had to stay behind a curtain. Tahirih asked Quddus, the eighteenth Letter of the Living, to come and see her. Because Quddus refused, Tahirih went to him. When she entered she was not wearing her veil. This made the men very upset and confused.

Taking off her veil was a sign of the New Age when women would be equal with men for the first time in history. Tahirih said, “This is a day to be happy. It is the day when everything in the past is forgotten. Let all of us who have shared in this great occasion arise and embrace each other.” Her announcing the end of the old laws showed that a great revolution was about to take place in all things.

After the conference the Babis spread out to teach. Tahirih was again put under house arrest in the home of the mayor of Tehran. During that time she talked to women of the household. They grew to love her very much, and many became Babis. She also met the king of Iran who had great respect for her.

Tahirih knew that she was going to be killed. She prayed and fasted the day and night before she was killed. She was dressed in a white silk dress preparing to meet her Lord. She was strangled with her white, silk handkerchief and thrown in a well. Tahirih was killed August 1852.

Tahirih is the most celebrated heroine in Persian history. Tahirih’s last words were, “You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women.”