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Bahíyyih Khánum

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Bahíyyih Khánum in 1895

Bahíyyih Khánum (1846-July 15,1932) the only daughter of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and Ásíyih Khánum.[1] She was born in 1846 with the given name Bahá'íyyih Núrí,[2][3][4] and was entitled "Varaqiy-i-'Ulyá" or "Greatest Holy Leaf".[5] Brought up through the trying times her family lived through, in adulthood she served the interests of the religion and was even occasionally trusted with running the affairs of the religion and is seen within the Bahá'í Faith as one of the greatest women to have lived.[6]

During the lifetime of her father

Tehran

Born into a family of means in Tehran,[7] she recalls her parents being admired for their service to the poor.[8] As a young girl she was educated in Persian, Arabic and Turkish languages as well as Muslim and Bábí scripture. Her early life was happy; she described how she "loved to play in the beautiful gardens" along with her brother ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.[9] Following the 1852 arrest of her father and imprisonment in the infamous Síyáh-Chál underground prison in Tehran when she was six, the family's home was confiscated and it's furnishings plundered. She clearly remembered the shrieks of the prisoners awaiting their death, leaving a strong mark in her later life. She lived out the remainder of her life in privation accompanying Bahá'u'lláh through banishments and prisons often at their own expense by her mother selling marriage gifts but also continuing through her adulthood by choice.[10]

Baghdad

In January 1853 Bahá'u'lláh was banished to Baghdad and he and his family made a difficult voyage from Tehran through snow covered mountains. After arriving in Baghdad, she recollected her father helping with the house work.[11] For a time Bahá'u'lláh left Baghdad during which time the nominal head of the Bábí religion, her uncle Mirza Yahya, forbade her to leave the house to play with other children[12] or let a doctor visit her newly born brother who needed medical attention — instead leaving him to die. The mutual grief and sorrow which `Abdu'l-Bahá, her mother and she felt led them to be constant companions of each other: "I remember so clearly the sorrow of those days" she later remarked.[9] She was remembered in her youth for her dignity, gentleness, decorum, kindness and silence in public.[13] Remarking of her teen years, Shoghi Effendi comments that she was entrusted with missions "no girl of her age could, or would be willing to, perform".[14] Giving a rare glimpse into the circumstances of her father's declaration of being a messenger of God in the Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad, Bahíyyih Khánum is reported to have said that Bahá'u'lláh stated his claim to his son `Abdu'l-Bahá and four others.[15] In Baghdad Bahíyyih blossomed into a young woman; she was praised for her beauty bearing a striking resemblance to her mother with large grey eyes, golden-brown hair and ivory coloured skin.[16]

Constantinople/Adrianople

By May 1863 Bahá'u'lláh was exiled next to Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and his family went with him.[5] As she turned seventeen, after arriving in Constantinople or later in Acre Palestine Bahíyyih Khánum renounced the idea of marriage.[17] This was very strange for a woman of her rank and era, however it was a request which Bahá’u’lláh gladly accepted.[18] After a short while in Constantinople the family was again exiled to Adrianople. Bahíyyih Khánum describes how she was a strong young woman until the journey to Adrianople.[8] Remarking on her role in the 1868 split between Mirza Yahya and Bahá'u'lláh, Shoghi Effendi notes Bahíyyih Khánum was among the most active in encouraging the Bábís to accept the claims of her father.[19]

Acre

In July 1868 the Ottoman government further banished Bahá'u'lláh and his family to the prison-city of Acre, then part of the Syrian segment of the Ottoman Empire.[20] On initial arrival in the prison of Acre food was scarce and Bahiyyih Khánum remembers Bahá'u'lláh giving up food for the feeding of children in the group.[21] The family were locked in a small cluster of cells which were covered in dirt and sewage, so much so that Bahiyyih Khánum fainted a number of times.[22] The period was distressing for Bahiyyih Khánum, as it was for many of the Bahá'ís, due to the death of three Bahá'ís and hostile behaviour of the surrounding population; in particular the death of Mírzá Mihdí, Bahiyyih Khánum's youngest brother at twenty-two, destroyed any morale which was left.[22] She gathered and kept her brother's blood-stained clothes after he died in 1870.[8] As the people of Acre started to respect the Bahá'ís and in particular, `Abdu'l-Bahá,[9] `Abdu'l-Bahá was able to arrange for houses to be rented for the family, and the family finally moved to the Mansion of Bahjí around 1879 when an epidemic caused the inhabitants to flee. In 1886, her mother died and thus she was the only surviving member her family to choose to support her brother when he was named head of the religion in 1892 though first she had to recover from severe mourning caused her to be come thin and feeble for a time.[23][24] Bahiyyih Nakhjavani has characterized her as having a sleepless vigilance, a tact, courtesy, extreme patience and an heroic fortitude.[25]

Religious role

With the death of her mother, Navváb in 1886, Bahá'u'lláh gave her the title of `The Greatest Holy Leaf' and she took over the role of head of the household — managing the household and hosting events for the women pilgrims and other visitors — an arrangement that continued when `Abdu'l-Bahá was head of the religion.[25] `Abdu'l-Bahá entrusted her with the remains of the Báb when they arrived in Acre on 31 January 1899[25][26] and were housed in her room for some ten years in the house of `Abdu'lláh Páshá.[27] The portraits of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb and other relics were likewise kept by her except during World War I when she along with the rest of `Abdu'l-Bahá's family, and Americans Edith Sanderson and Lua Getsinger, stayed in the residence of the village head of Abu Sinan.[28] `Abdu'l-Bahá also entrusted her with keeping his last will and testament.[25] She was given the position of acting head of the religion repeatedly including during `Abdu'l-Bahá's travels to the West between 1910 and 1913 when she was in her later 60s, and then again when Shoghi Effendi was away on several trips between 1922 and 1924 when she was in her later 70s.[29] This role of leadership is a rare position for a woman to be in, historically.[1][6] In 1921 `Abdu'l-Bahá died and Bahíyyih Khánum sent telegrams, with the assistance of Saichiro Fujita,[30] announcing the passing which, among other places, arrived at Wellesley Tudor Pole's home in London where it was read by Shoghi Effendi.[31][32] As Shoghi Effendi assumed the leadership of the religion, he commented in particular how he felt Bahiyyih Khánum's support during the difficult period following the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá.[1] She was greatly respected and had instructed all Bahá'ís to follow Shoghi Effendi through several telegrams she had sent around the world announcing the basics of the provisions of `Abdu'l-Bahá's will and was witness to the events relatives took in violation of provisions of the will.[33] She stood faithful to the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh over years of infighting within Bahá'u'lláh's family that led to the expelling of many of them.[1][6]

Death

Bahíyyih Khánum died on 15 July 1932, a few weeks after Keith Ransom-Kehler reached her homeland in her name.[34] Shoghi Effendi marked her death by stating that the Heroic Age of the Bahá'í Faith was closed.[35]

Remembrances

The grave of Bahíyyih Khánum within the Monument Gardens.

After her death, Shoghi Effendi wrote a 16 page handwritten eulogy for Bahiyyih Khánum.[36] Also nine days of prayer vigil were asked of the Bahá'ís living in the Holy Land at her temporary grave site.[25] Munirih Khánum mourned "you have melted us in the furnace of separation and remoteness".[37] Nine months of official mourning were declared for the Bahá'ís to honour her memory while personal celebrations were asked to be withheld for a full year.[13]

The first step taken by Shoghi Effendi in creating the administrative Centre of the Bahá'í Faith was the acquisition of land on Mount Carmel in close proximity to the Shrine of the Báb, and the interment of the remains of Bahíyyih Khánum were placed under the Monument of the Greatest Holy Leaf, followed by the transfer of the remains of the Mirza Mihdi and Navváb in December 1939.[26][38] This location is now in the Bahá'í gardens downhill from the Bahá'í Arc on Mount Carmel at the Bahá'í World Centre.[1] Shoghi Effendi had finished the translation of Nabil's Narrative: The Dawn-breakers in 1932 and dedicated it to her.[25] Bahíyyih Khánum had devoted much of her life towards protecting the accepted leadership of the Bahá'í Faith and after Shoghi Effendi's appointment there was little internal opposition until after her death when nephews began to openly oppose Shoghi Effendi over Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdad.[39]

Anniversary of death

A world wide commemoration was held for her in 1982 and was marked with the publication of a compilation of the references to her from the heads of the Bahá'í Faith and including extracts of 92 of her letters.[40] In July 1982, during the first gathering ever held in the permanent Seat of the Universal House of Justice, a seminar on her life was held and the architect confirmed that he had deliberately designed the dome of the Seat to be reminiscent of the dome on her monument.[25] This commemoration was framed by five international conferences held in her honour — Dublin, Ireland 25-27 June, Quito, Ecuador 6-8 August, Lagos, Nigeria 19-22 August, Canberra, Australia 2-5 September, and Montreal, Canada 2-5 September 1982. Stories of the Greatest Holy Leaf, adapted by Jacqueline Mehrabi, tells anecdotes about the life of Bahiyyih Khanum specifically for children.[41]

See also

Others buried in the Monument Gardens:

A person she is often compared to: Táhirih

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Smith 2000, pp. 86–87
  2. ^ Baha'i International Community, 1992, Magazine - The Baha'is
  3. ^ Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 1, p. 14
  4. ^ H.M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah - The King of Glory, p. 17
  5. ^ a b Taherzadeh 1976, pp. 14, 293
  6. ^ a b c Bramson 2004, pp. 102–103
  7. ^ Smith 200, p. 73
  8. ^ a b c Bowers 2004, pp. 165, 210 Cite error: The named reference "RoBv2" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b c Blomfield 1975, pp. 39–65, 100
  10. ^ Khan 2005, pp. 17, 35
  11. ^ Khan 2005, p. 22
  12. ^ Khan 2005, p. 24
  13. ^ a b Bramson 2004, pp. 102–103
  14. ^ Khan 2005, p. 26
  15. ^ Walbridge 2005
  16. ^ Blomfield 1975, p. 69
  17. ^ Smith 2000, p. 86
  18. ^ Khan 2005, p. 14
  19. ^ Khan 2005, p. 33
  20. ^ Gascoigne, Bamber (2001). "Hystory of Syria and Palestine". HistoryWorld.Net. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  21. ^ Khan 2005, p. 39
  22. ^ a b Phelps 1912, p. xliii,78,90
  23. ^ Khan 2005, p. 48
  24. ^ Merrick, David (2009). "Ascension of Baha'u'llah in 1892" (PDF). Holy Day Stories. Diana Merrick. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g Universal House of Justice 1986, pp. 619, 632, 802–4 Cite error: The named reference "xviii" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  26. ^ a b Taherzadeh 1984, p. 210,430
  27. ^ Many Bahá'ís might be familiar with the House of Abbúd and the House of `Abdu'llah Pasha - the former was occupied by the family of Bahá'u'lláh after the prison from which Bahá'u'lláh eventually moved to the Mansions at Bahji where he passed away. The house of `Abdu'lláh Páshá is the house where `Abdu'l-Bahá and his family, including the Greatest Holy Leaf, stayed before moving to Haifa.(Bahá'í World Centre (2005). Visiting Bahá'í Holy Places. Bahá'í World Centre. pp. 11, 21. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help))
  28. ^ Rabbani 2005, pp. 75=103
  29. ^ Khan 2005, p. 78, 79, 84, 131
  30. ^ Sims 1989, pp. 15, 18
  31. ^ Khanum, Rúhíyyih (1958-08-28). Merrick, David (ed.). "Talks / presentations by Bahá'í notables". Rúhíyyih Khanum's Tribute to Shoghi Effendi at the Kampala Conference Jan 1958. Bahá'í Library Online. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  32. ^ Khanum 1988, p. 13
  33. ^ Khan 2005, pp. 123–4
  34. ^ Ruhe-Schoen, Janet (2009). "Keith Ransom-Kehler". The Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project. Vol. Online. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  35. ^ Momen, Moojan, "Ages and Cycles. Baha'i sacred history has been divided into a number of ages and cycles by `Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi.", draft articles for A Short Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith, vol. online, Bahá'í Library Online
  36. ^ Effendi, Shoghi (1932-07-17). "Eulogy for the Greatest Holy Leaf, Bahiyyih Khanum, in the Guardian's handwriting" (pdf). Letters from the Guardian, unpublished. Baha'i-Library.com. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  37. ^ Khanum 1987, p. 69
  38. ^ Taherzadeh 1987, p. 362
  39. ^ Momen, Moojan. "Covenant, The, and Covenant-breaker". Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  40. ^ Research Department at the Bahá'í World Centre 1982
  41. ^ Andersen, Melanie (2008). "Resources for a Baha'i Education". Homeschooling. The Berteig Family. Retrieved 2009-06-18.

References

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