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Bírjand

From Bahaipedia
بيرجند
Bírjand
City in Iran
Location of Bírjand
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Bírjand is the capital city of Iran's South Khorasan Province.

History[edit]

The Bábí religion was introduced to Bírjand in 1858 when Nabíl-i-Akbar, who had accepted the religion in approximately 1852, settled in the city. As Akbar had formal Islamic clerical qualifications the Governor of Bírjand placed him in charge of a Mosque and met with him twice a week upon his return to the city. Akbar began teaching the Bábí Faith to select individuals in the city and surrounding villages who he felt would be receptive to its teachings.[1]

Due to Nabíl-i-Akbar's success in establishing a Bábí community in 1861 members of the Islamic clergy in the area submitted a request that a fatwa be issued for his execution to senior clerics in Isfahan and Najaf and also began a campaign to defame the Bábí religion which caused the Governor to become prejudiced against the religion. As a result Akbar was expelled from the city.[2]

As of 1864 Akbar was living in Mashhad where he learnt of Bahá’u’lláh's claims to be the Manifestation of God prophesied by the Báb and he accepted the claims then encouraged the Bábí community of Bírjand to accept Bahá’u’lláh through letters thereby establishing the Bahá’í community of Bírjand.[3] In 1866 Nabíl-i-A‘ẓam visited Birjand to teach the Bahá’í Faith,[4] and in 1868 Darvish ‘Ali Akbar, a Bahá’í who was the son-in-law of the Letter of the Living Mullá Khudá-Bakhsh-i-Quchání, settled in Birjand and was immediately arrested. His brother-in-law visited the city to find out what had happened to him and was also arrested and tortured to death, with ‘Ali Akbar also being tortured while imprisoned. ‘Ali Akbar was ultimately released due to the intervention of family members.[5]

As of 1889 it was estimated there were four thousand Bahá’ís in the region surrounding Birjand and a government official planned to fine the community four thousand tumans, one for each Bahá’í. In September that year a copy of the Kitab-i-Iqan was circulated at a religious college which caused some controversy resulting in two Bahá’ís being arrested and beaten.[6]

In April, 1924, a period of persecution of the Bahá’í community began with Bahá’ís being assaulted and their homes vandalized in Birjand and surrounding villages.[7] Despite this the community remained active and as of 1926 was noted as being one of Iran's well established Bahá’í communities,[8] and sent a delegate to the first National Bahá’í Convention of Iran in 1927.[9]

In 1937 a member of the Birjand Local Spiritual Assembly was summoned to a meeting with the Police of the city and informed that the Bahá’í community were not allowed to hold gatherings of more than four people and the police later raided a meeting of the Local Spiritual Assembly.[10][11] Also in the late 1930's a Bahá’í was arrested for having a Bahá’í wedding rather than an Islamic wedding.[12] In the early 1940's the mujtahid of Birjand forbade Bahá’ís from using public baths and four Bahá’í homes were destroyed and vandalized with threatening placards being placed on Bahá’í businesses.[13] In 1946 a period of violence against Bahá’ís broke out in the city with many Bahá’ís leaving the city,[14] and the authorities invited them to return once order had been restored.[15]

The 1979 Revolution in Iran resulted in intense persecution of the Bahá’í community across the entire country. In February 1979 the Bahá’í community of Birjand conveyed a message to the Revolutionary authorities expressing their intention to obey government directives,[16] however in October a property belonging to the Umaná Company in Birjand was seized,[17] and Bahá’ís were denied and removed from employment in government services.[18][19][20] In 1980 Bahá’í couple Muhammad-Husayn and Shikkar-Nisá’ Ma‘súmí were murdered in a home invasion in Birjand.[21]

Persecution of the Bahá’ís of Birjand has continued into recent years with a Bahá’í being arrested with his home and place of work being raided in 2012,[22] Bahá’í owned businesses being forcibly closed by government officials in 2013,[23] and Bahá’ís being expelled from University due to their religion.[24] In 2020 eight Bahá’ís of Birjand were arrested and sentenced to prison.[25]

Refereces[edit]

  1. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha’i Communities of Iran 1851-1921, Volume 1: The North of Iran, George Ronald: Oxford, 2015, p 229
  2. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha’i Communities of Iran 1851-1921, Volume 1: The North of Iran, George Ronald: Oxford, 2015, p 230
  3. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha’i Communities of Iran 1851-1921, Volume 1: The North of Iran, George Ronald: Oxford, 2015, p 231
  4. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha’i Communities of Iran 1851-1921, Volume 1: The North of Iran, George Ronald: Oxford, 2015, p 234
  5. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha’i Communities of Iran 1851-1921, Volume 1: The North of Iran, George Ronald: Oxford, 2015, p 235
  6. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha’i Communities of Iran 1851-1921, Volume 1: The North of Iran, George Ronald: Oxford, 2015, p 237
  7. ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha’i Communities of Iran 1851-1921, Volume 1: The North of Iran, George Ronald: Oxford, 2015, p 238
  8. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1926). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 1 (1925-1926), Pg(s) 103. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1928). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 2 (1926-1928), Pg(s) 189. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 7 (1936-1938), Pg(s) 141. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 389. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 8 (1938-1940), Pg(s) 74. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 9 (1940-1944), Pg(s) 100. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/report-attacks-bahais-birjand
  15. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/return-bahais-birjand-who-fled-city-safety
  16. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/bahais-brijand-and-qaenat-express-their-obedience-mehdi-bazargans-government
  17. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/order-evacuate-and-surrender-building-owned-omana-company-birjand
  18. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/department-education-brijand-refuses-hire-tahereh-ahmadi
  19. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/firouz-ahmadi-protests-his-dismissal-work
  20. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/reply-rahmat-mirkazemis-query-about-his-dismissal-work
  21. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/wife-and-husband-shikkar-nisa-and-mohammad-hosein-masoumi-murdered-brijand
  22. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/bahai-international-community-iran-news-bulletin-13-2012
  23. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/bahai-international-community-iran-news-bulletin-08-2013
  24. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/bahai-international-community-iran-news-bulletin-02-2014
  25. ↑ https://iranbahaipersecution.bic.org/archive/8-bahais-birjand-summoned-go-prison
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