Bahiyyih Nakhjavani is an Iranian writer who grew up in Uganda in the 1960s. [1] She was educated at Dr Williams School, Dolgellau, United Kingdom and the United States. She taught European and American literature in Belgium, and later moved to France, where she teaches. [2]
In 2007, Bahiyyih Nakhjavani received the honorary doctorate Doctorats Honoris Causa from the University of Liège. [2] Her books have been translated into many languages.
Bahiyyih Nakhjavani was born in Iran, grew up in Uganda, and received education in Britain. [3] [4] She earned a PhD at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1978. [5]
Although originally from Nakhchivan, her father Ali Nakhjavani was born in 1919 in Baku, the capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Ali Nakhchivani, whose mother was Palestinian, moved to Palestine after the death of his father, and after growing up there, he went to Uganda in 1951 to spread the Bahá'í Faith. [6] [7] Ali Nakhjavani's father, Ali Akbar Nakhcivani, was from Ordubad, Nakhchivan district of Azerbaijan. [6] [8] [9]
Her first novel, The Saddlebag - A Fable for Doubters and Seekers was an international bestseller. It describes events set in the Najd plateau along the pilgrim route between Mecca and Medina during one day in 1844-1845, when a mysterious saddlebag passes from hand to hand, and influences the lives of each person who comes across it. Inspired by Chapter VII of The Dawn-Breakers by Nabíl-i-Aʻzam, where the Bab - the forerunner to Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baháʼí Faith - has His saddlebag stolen while traveling to Mecca and Medina for pilgrimage. The main characters are the Thief, the Bride, the Chieftain, the Moneychanger, the Slave, the Pilgrim, the Priest, the Dervish and the Corpse.
The novel Paper - The Dreams of A Scribe is an allegory centered on a Scribe who is searching for the perfect paper for writing his masterpiece. It is set in Máh-Kú, a border town in the north-west Persia, between the Summer of 1847 and the Spring of 1848. It contains 19 chapters which are structured symmetrically around five dreams. Other main characters are the Mullah, the Widow, the Warden, his Mother and Daughter, and the Prisoner.
Her third novel The Woman Who Read Too Much is also set in the middle of the nineteenth century and centers around Tahirih Qurratu'l-Ayn, a poet and scholar from Qazvin, who shocked the political powers of Qajar Persia and violated religious convention by casting aside her veil. This protagonist is a heroine from early Baháʼí/Babi history and was one of the Bab's early followers who were known as the Letters of the Living. This novel is divided into four parts with revolving points of view of mother, sister, daughter, and wife, respectively. It traces the capture, incarceration, torture and final execution of the central figure of the mysterious poet while exploring her impact on the mayor, minister, mullah and monarch in a world of intrigue and corruption in Qajar Persia. The book has been translated into French, Italian in 2007 and will be out in Korean and Spanish by 2008/9; [10] it was nominated for the 2008 Latifeh Yarshater Award, and has been published in English by Stanford University Press in 2015.
Táhirih (Ṭāhira) (Persian: طاهره, "The Pure One," also called Qurrat al-ʿAyn are both titles of Fatimah Baraghani/Umm-i Salmih, an influential poet, women's rights activist and theologian of the Bábí faith in Iran. She was one of the Letters of the Living, the first group of followers of the Báb. Her life, influence and execution made her a key figure of the religion. The daughter of Muhammad Salih Baraghani, she was born into one of the most prominent families of her time. Táhirih led a radical interpretation that, though it split the Babi community, wedded messianism with Bábism.
Amatu'l-BaháRúhíyyih Khánum was an American-born Canadian Hand of the Cause of the Baháʼí Faith. She was the wife of the Ottoman-born Iranian religious figure Shoghi Effendi, who succeeded his grandfather ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to become the Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith between 1921 and 1957. Appointed as a Hand of the Cause in 1952, her primary responsibility was to expand and protect the global Baháʼí community. In this capacity, she was among the leading Hands of the Cause who, following Effendi's death in 1957, took on the role of ensuring the transfer of the religion's supreme legal authority to the Universal House of Justice, which has governed out of Haifa, Israel, since 1963.
Baháʼu'lláh was the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born in 1817 to Khadíjih Khánum and Mírzá Buzurg of Nur, a Persian nobleman, and went on to be a leader in the Bábí movement, and then established the Baháʼí Faith in 1863. Baháʼu'lláh's family consists of his three wives and the children of those wives.
Ásíyih K͟hánum was the first wife of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. She is also known by her titles of Navváb, the Most Exalted Leaf, Búyúk K͟hánum or Hadrat-i-K͟hánum. K͟hánum is a title usually given to a Persian lady and is equivalent to madam or dame. Baháʼu'lláh and Ásíyih Khánum were known as the Father of the Poor and the Mother of Consolation for their extraordinary generosity and regard for the impoverished. Baháʼu'lláh, along with Ásíyih Khánum and her children, are regarded as the Baháʼí holy family.
The following is a basic timeline of the Bábí and Baháʼí religions emphasizing dates that are relatively well known. For a more comprehensive chronology of the timeline, see the references at the bottom.
Mary "May" Maxwell was an early American member of the Baháʼí Faith.
One of the fundamental teachings of the Baháʼí Faith is that men and women are equal and that equality of the sexes is a spiritual and moral standard essential for the unification of the planet and a prerequisite for peace. Baháʼí teachings stress the importance of implementing this principle in individual, family, and community life. Nevertheless, the Baháʼí notion of the full spiritual and social equality of the two sexes does not imply sameness, so that gender distinction and differentiation are observed in certain areas of life. Significantly, while women can and do serve in an extensive range of elected and appointed positions within the Baháʼí administration at both national and international levels, they are not permitted to serve as members of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith.
The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baháʼí Revelation or Nabíl's Narrative (Táríkh-i-Nabíl) is an account of the early Bábí and Baháʼí Faiths written in Persian by Nabíl-i-Aʻzam in 1887–1888. The English translation by Shoghi Effendi was published in 1932.
S͟hayk͟h Káẓim-i-Samandar, known as Samandar, was an eminent follower of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to a prominent Baháʼí family of Qazvin of Bábí and Shaykhi background. Favored by Baháʼu'lláh, he was identified as one of his nineteen Apostles.
The writings of founding members of the Bahá'í Faith include prophetic statements of future events, some of which are viewed by Bahá'ís as having been fulfilled. According to Bahá'í belief, there have been individuals throughout history who were Manifestations of God, who founded major world religions and had certain supernatural powers, such as the ability to prophesy. The belief in fulfilled prophecies is presented by Bahá'í authors to demonstrate the validity of Bahá'u'lláh's claim to divinity.
Hasan M. Balyuzi was a prominent Iranian member of the Baháʼí Faith. He served in administrative institutions of the religion for decades, worked for the BBC, and was a prolific writer. He produced innumerable articles and a series of scholarly books on Muhammad and the central figures of the Bahá'í dispensation: the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. His consecration to serving the Faith, and his deep spirituality led to his being named a Hand of the Cause in 1957. He established a trust and a library for Bahá'í research and donated his works to it. The library contains more than 10 thousand items and continues to grow.
The Baháʼí Faith and related topics have appeared in multiple forms of fiction. The mention of this religion can be seen in science fiction, fantasy, short stories, novelettes, novels, and TV series. In 2005, an estimated value of 30 references could be found relating Baháʼí Faith to different forms of fiction. An estimated third of these references have a significant relationship with the religion in the way that these forms of fiction show the Baháʼí Faith as a crucial aspect of the story. The first known occurrence is perhaps in the writings of Marie von Najmajer, who wrote a poem dedicated to Tahirih in Gurret-úl-Eyn: Ein Bild aus Persiens Neuzeit which was published in 1874. After a series of works covering the events of the Bábí period, most of the focus shifted towards Baháʼí specific related connections. Soon Khalil Gibran wrote two books - The Prophet and Jesus, The Son of Man. There is some second-hand evidence for the sustained influence of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in these works. In modern times the first known occurrence is of a short story by non-Baháʼí Tom Ligon The Devil and the Deep Black Void, - he also wrote a sequel The Gardener. The next fictional publication, in 1991, which references the Baháʼí Faith may be a short story "Home Is Where..." by Baháʼí Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff,
Munírih K͟hánum was the wife of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, a prominent figure in the Baháʼí Faith. She was entitled the Holy Mother. Her memoirs, first published in 1924, are regarded as one of the first published memoirs by a Persian woman in the 20th century.
Alí-Yulláh Nakhjavání was an Azerbaijani-born Iranian Baháʼí, who served as a member of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Baháʼí Faith, between 1963 and 2003.
The history of the Baháʼí Faith in Azerbaijan is complex and intertwined with various developments in the country's history. Through that series of changes the thread of the Baháʼí Faith traces its history in the region from the earliest moments of the Bábí religion, accepted by Baháʼís as a predecessor religion. Followers of the religion formed communities in Nakhichevan before 1850. By the early 20th century the community, by then centered in Baku, numbered perhaps 2000 individuals and several Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies and had facilitated the favorable attention of local and regional, and international leaders of thought as well as long-standing leading figures in the religion. However under Soviet rule the Baháʼí community was almost ended though it was quickly reactivated as more than 30 years later when perestroyka loosened controls on religions. The community quickly rallied and re-elected its own National Spiritual Assembly in 1992. The modern Baháʼí population of Azerbaijan, centered in Baku, may have regained its peak from the oppression of the Soviet period of about 2000 people, today with more than 80% converts, although the community in Nakhichevan, where it all began, is still seriously harassed and oppressed. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 1,685 Baháʼís in 2010.
Martyrdom in the Baháʼí Faith is the act of sacrificing one's life in the service of humanity and in the name of God. In Hidden Words, Baháʼu'lláh's revelation incites believers towards martyrdom: "O son of being! Seek a martyr's death in My path, content with My pleasure […] To tinge thy hair with thy blood is greater in My sight than the creation of the universe and the light of both worlds. Strive then to attain this, O servant!"
Bahíyyih Khánum was the only daughter of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, and Ásíyih Khánum. She was born in 1846 with the given name Fatimih Sultan, and was entitled "Varaqiy-i-'Ulyá" or "Greatest Holy Leaf". 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. Greatly favoured by Bahá'u'lláh, she is seen within the Baháʼí Faith as one of the greatest women to have lived. According to Baháʼís, every dispensation has one particular holy woman or "immortal heroine". In the time of Jesus it was the Virgin Mary, the time of Muhammad it was his daughter Fatima Zahra and during the Báb's dispensation it was Táhirih. Baháʼís believe that Bahíyyih Khánum is the outstanding heroine of the Baháʼí dispensation.
Mírzá Muḥammad Muṣṭafá al-Baghdádí (1837/8—1910) was a prominent Iraqi adherent of the Baháʼí faith and one of 19 Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh. Mustafá was among the leading Baháʼís in Iraq until he moved to Beirut in the late 1870s, where he coordinated pilgrims going to see Baháʼu'lláh in ʻAkká, and later he was involved with the movement of the Báb's remains to ʻAkká.
The history of the Baháʼí Faith in Russia began soon after the founding in 1844 of the Bábí religion, viewed by Baháʼís as the direct predecessor of the Baháʼí Faith, with Russian diplomats to Qajar Persia observing, reacting to, and sending updates about the Bábís. The woman later known as Táhirih, who played a central role in the religion of the Báb, was from an influential clerical family from Azerbaijan, which was then ruled by Russia. Russian diplomats later protected Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, before and after his exile from Persia. Around 1884, the religion began to spread into the Russian Empire, where the Baháʼí community in Ashgabat built the first Baháʼí House of Worship, elected one of the first Baháʼí local administrative institutions and became a center of scholarship. The Baháʼí Faith also attracted the attention of several Russian scholars and artists. During the Soviet period, Russia adopted the Soviet policy of oppression of religion, leading the Russian Baháʼí community to abandon its administration and properties in accordance with its principle of obedience to legal government, though Baháʼís across the Soviet Union were nevertheless sent to prisons and camps or abroad. Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union Baháʼís in several cities were able to gather and organize as Perestroyka spread from Moscow through many Soviet republics. The Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of the Russian Federations was ultimately formed in 1995. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated the number of Baháʼís in Russia at about 18,990 in 2005.
Marzieh Gail, born Marzieh Nabil Khan, was a Persian-American Bahá'i writer and translator.
I first came across the word "alien" in a non-stellar context when I had to sign a card identifying myself as one, soon after the Immigrants Act of 1962 was passed in the UK ... (when) my family... (was) living in Uganda
(She) grew up in Uganda, was educated in the United Kingdom and then in the United States, and now lives in France. She is the author of Women who Read Too Much, a book on the poetess and woman leader if you like Tahirih Qurratu'l-Ayn, a 19th-century icon. Also she's written The Saddlebag. Her novels have been published in French, Italian, Spanish, German, Greek, Turkish, Hebrew, Russian, Korean and Chinese.
In short, she was born in Iran but raised in New Ganda(sic), Africa, and has lived in the U.K, the U.S., and is a British citizen, but lives in France right now, and has worked in Canada, Cyprus, Israel, and, of course, Africa. Currently, she is teaching English in Paris. … she has several books and publications in French, in Persian, and English, and, of course, translations in several languages.