175 Years of Persecution: A History of the Babis & Baha'is of Iran
For almost two centuries, followers of the Baha'i faith, Iran's largest religious minority, have been persecuted by the state. They have been made scapegoats for the nation's ills, branded enemies of Islam and denounced as foreign agents. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Baha'is have been barred from entering the nation's universities, more than two hundred have been executed, and hundreds more imprisoned and tortured.

Now, however, Iran is at a turning point. A new generation has begun to question how the Baha'is have been portrayed by the government and the clergy, and called for them to be given equal rights as fellow citizens. In documenting, for the first time, the plight of this religious community in Iran since its inception, Fereydun Vahman also reveals the greater plight of a nation aspiring to develop a modern identity built on respect for diversity rather than hatred and self-deception.
"1136800497"
175 Years of Persecution: A History of the Babis & Baha'is of Iran
For almost two centuries, followers of the Baha'i faith, Iran's largest religious minority, have been persecuted by the state. They have been made scapegoats for the nation's ills, branded enemies of Islam and denounced as foreign agents. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Baha'is have been barred from entering the nation's universities, more than two hundred have been executed, and hundreds more imprisoned and tortured.

Now, however, Iran is at a turning point. A new generation has begun to question how the Baha'is have been portrayed by the government and the clergy, and called for them to be given equal rights as fellow citizens. In documenting, for the first time, the plight of this religious community in Iran since its inception, Fereydun Vahman also reveals the greater plight of a nation aspiring to develop a modern identity built on respect for diversity rather than hatred and self-deception.
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175 Years of Persecution: A History of the Babis & Baha'is of Iran

175 Years of Persecution: A History of the Babis & Baha'is of Iran

by Fereydun Vahman
175 Years of Persecution: A History of the Babis & Baha'is of Iran

175 Years of Persecution: A History of the Babis & Baha'is of Iran

by Fereydun Vahman

Hardcover(Translatio)

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Overview

For almost two centuries, followers of the Baha'i faith, Iran's largest religious minority, have been persecuted by the state. They have been made scapegoats for the nation's ills, branded enemies of Islam and denounced as foreign agents. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Baha'is have been barred from entering the nation's universities, more than two hundred have been executed, and hundreds more imprisoned and tortured.

Now, however, Iran is at a turning point. A new generation has begun to question how the Baha'is have been portrayed by the government and the clergy, and called for them to be given equal rights as fellow citizens. In documenting, for the first time, the plight of this religious community in Iran since its inception, Fereydun Vahman also reveals the greater plight of a nation aspiring to develop a modern identity built on respect for diversity rather than hatred and self-deception.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781786075864
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Publication date: 04/09/2019
Edition description: Translatio
Pages: 352
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Fereydun Vahman is professor emeritus at the University of Copenhagen. Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 he has been a leading voice defending the rights of Baha’is. He is the author of several books in Persian, English and Danish, and is editor of the Religion and Society in Iran series.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Acknowledgements xv

Introduction: The "Enigma" of the Baha'i Religion in Iran 1

Part 1 Persecution During the Qajar and Pahlavi Dynasties, 1844-1979 11

Chapter 1 Why Were the Babi and Baha'i Faiths Suppressed in Iran? 13

Chapter 2 The Violent Repression of the Babis and Baha'is during the Qajar Period 26

Chapter 3 The Baha'is during the Reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi 38

Chapter 4 Baha'is in the Reign of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi 51

Chapter 5 The Shahrud Incident 87

Chapter 6 Eighty-One Stab Wounds: The Murder of Dr Berjis in Kashan 100

Chapter 7 True Crime: The Incident at Abarqu 116

Chapter 8 The Events of 1955: Hojjat al-Islam Falsafi, the Ramadan Broadcasts, and the Military Occupation of the Bahai Center 128

Part 2 The Islamic Republic in Confrontation with the Baha'i Faith 147

Chapter 9 Baha'i Persecution during the Last Days of the Shahs Regime 151

Chapter 10 The Baha'is-the First Victims of Oppression in the Islamic Republic 160

Chapter 11 The Persecution of Baha'is under Bazargan and the Revolutionary Council 166

Chapter 12 The Presidencies of Banisadr and Raja'i 175

Chapter 13 Arrests and Executions of the Baha'i Assemblies, 1981-85 179

Chapter 14 The Destruction of Baha'i Holy Sites and Community Resources 197

Chapter 15 After Ayatollah Khomeini: The Escalation of Persecution 208

Chapter 16 Efforts at Reform under President Khatami 216

Chapter 17 Escalating Repression under President Ahmadinejad (2005-13) 222

Chapter 18 An Obsession with Conspiracy Theories in the Islamic Republic 235

Chapter 19 Systematic Humiliation: Being Labeled Ritually Unclean (Najes) 239

Chapter 20 The Perspectives of Iran's Grand Ayatollahs on the Baha'i Faith 245

Chapter 21 The Appeals of International Organizations and the Iranian Diaspora 255

Epilogue 265

Postscript 277

Appendix 281

Glossary 291

Select Bibliography 293

Notes 301

Index 325

What People are Saying About This

Roy Mottahedeh

‘Professor Fereydun Vahman, a very learned specialist in Iranian studies, offers a significant addition to our understanding of modern Iranian history by carefully describing the persecution of the Iranian Baha’i community, the largest religious minority in Iran.Important reading for those interested in the history of the modern Middle East and the treatment of its religious minorities.’

Franklin Lewis

‘Fereydun Vahman’s book 175 Years of Persecution provides, in accessible narrative vignettes, a sweeping account of the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community.Many articles and reports have documented the persecutions, but usually focusing on a chronologically and geographically confined space, often witha clinical approach. However, like Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee on the genocidal campaign against Native Americans, or James Allen’s Without Sanctuary, a visual history of lynching in the American south, herewe have a work thatbrings the human impact to the fore.Vahman weaves together a larger story from individual, mob, or state-sponsored acts of murder, arson, gravesite desecration, imprisonment, dismissal from jobs, deprivation of pensions and education, etc.In clear and readable prose suitable for students, activists, and the general public, this book memorably describes the beleaguerment of the Baha’i community in Iran since its inception and makes it clear why the situation of Baha’is has been described as a bellwether of the prospects for true political rights and civil society for the entire Iranian polity.’

Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi

‘Since the mid-nineteenth century Baha’is have encountered relentless repression in Iran. As members of a genuinely Iranian religious movement, they have been scapegoated as internal agents bent on the foreign domination of their native homeland. Professor Fereydun Vahman’s 175 Years of Persecution offers a lucid academic account of the lives of the Baha’is under such intolerable conditions and makes visible how their othering and marginalization have been pivotal to the making of a repressive political practice in modern Iran. This book is a must-read for all interested in modern Iran.’

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