The Twelver Shi`i-Shaykhi Baraghani Family

and

Fātima-Ṭāhira-Qurrat al-`Ayn  (d.1852 CE)

Stephen Lambden (UC-Merced)

IN PROGRESS 2009-10

A SHI`I-SHAYKHĪ BARAGHĀNĪ-QAZVĪNĪ FAMILY.

Baraghan is a village between Qazvīn and Tehran

 

The Nores below are partly based on Momen, 2003:317ff who draws on  sections within Muhammad Ṣāliḥ Baraghānī's, Mawsū`a al-Baraghānī fi fiqh al-shi`a (n. p. 1985).

  • Shaykh Muhammad Kāẓim Taliqanī (d. 1094/1683), a student of Bahā al-Dīn al-`Āmilī (d.`1031/1622) and Mir Damad (d.1041 /1631), the "progenitor of the  Baraghānī family" .

  • Shaykh Muhammad Ja`far Firishtah  (d. 1XXX/1XXX), son of the above.

  • Shaykh Muhammad Taqī  (d. 1161/1748).

  • Shaykh Muhammad  Mala'ikah Baraghānī (d. 1200/1785) married Fāṭima who were the parents of the three sons listed below:

  • [1] Mullā Muhammad Taqī [Baraghānī] al-Qazvīnī (c. 1167 [?83] -1263 AH = c. 1753 ??-1847 CE),  al-Shahīd al-Thālīth (The Third Martyr), anti-Shaykhi-Babi uncle  of Fāṭima Baraghani = Ṭāhira, Qurrat al-`Ayn (d.1852 CE).  He married a daughter of Fath `Ali Shah who bore him three sons. He was "the first cleric to declare takfīr or (loosely) "excommunication"(ca. 1238/1822) against Shaykh Aḥmad Ahsā'ī and subsequently became the leading opponent of Shaikhism in Iran. He studied in Iran and Iraq, and accompanied his teacher, Moḥammad-`Alī Ṭabāṭābā'ī on the 1242/1826 jihad against Russia. After a disagreement in Tehran with Fatḥ-`Alī  Shah, he returned to Qazvīn, where he acquired a reputation as one of the best preachers of his day.." (MacEoin, EIr.  ADD). He was an uncle of Fāṭima Baraghani = Ṭāhira and became one of the leading, pioneer Usuli Shi`i clerics of Qazvin.

  • See further Tunukabūnī, Mirza Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān (c. 1234-1302 AH =1819-1884 CE), Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. 1st ed. [Tehran] n.p. n.d. [1887-8]  No. 2 = Hajji Mulla Muhammad Taqī  ibn Muhammad Baraghānī  al-Qazvīnī  +  recent 2004 editin = Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. ed. Muhammad Rida' Barzgar Khaliqi and Uffat Karbasi. Tehran: Intisharat `Ilmi va Farhang, 1383Sh/2004 (xxxiv+777+1 pp.) On No. 2 in this edition see  pp. 22-76 which contains useful information about Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and his takfir ("excommunication")  as well as other issues within Shaykhi history.

  • [2] Mullā Muhammad Ṣāliḥ Baraghānī  / Qazvīnī  (c. 1167-1271 AH [?] = c.1761-1854 CE) the father of Fāṭima Baraghānī  entitled Ṭāhira (d.1852 CE). He founded an important Madrasa in Qazvin known as the Ṣāliḥiyya at which several sons of  Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ahsā'ī (d.1241/1826) were instructed for a while (noted Momen, 2003).  On him and his writings see  Tunukabūnī, Mirza Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān, Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. ed. Muhammad Rida' Barzgar Khaliqi and Uffat Karbasi. Tehran: Intisharat `Ilmi va Farhang, 1383Sh/2004 (xxxiv+777+1 pp.) He is  No. 5 in this edition see  pp. 108-109 which contains useful information about  Mullā Muhammad Ṣāliḥ Baraghānī, Qazvīnī  and his Arabic and Persian writings.

  • [3] Mullā Muhammad `Alī  Baraghānī / Qazvīnī  (c. 1175-1272 A H= c.1761-1854 CE) an uncle of Fāṭima Baraghānī = Ṭāhira. He was a mystically oriented teacher at the Ṣāliḥiyya of his brother and obtained an ijāza from Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ahsā'ī (d.1241/1826). He subsequently became an enthusiastic Shaykhi  and seems to have sympathized with the religion of the Bāb.

  • Fāṭima Baraghānī entitled Ṭāhira (The Pure One), Qurrat al-`Ayn ("Solace of the Eyes") and  Zarrin Taj (Crown of Gold) the eldest daughter of (the above [2])  Mullā Muhammad Ṣāliḥ al-Baraghānī [al-Qazvini]  and Amina  (1202-1268 AH= 1787-1851). She was a Shi`i, Shaykhi and ultimately Bābī apologist and martyr (d. 1852 CE ).

Fāṭima Baraghānī,  - Qurrat al-`Ayn -  Ṭāhirih  (c. 1817-1852)

She today best known as Tahirih (the "Pure One") and as a revolutionary Babi believer. Before coming to faith in the Bab (1819-1850) in 1260/1844 she (like other members of her family) was a very learned and accomplished adherent of the Shaykhi school whose founding master Shaykh Ahmad and leader, Sayyid Kazim Rashti, she greatly admired.  She came to be known by several titles, including Zarrin Tāj (Crown of Gold) and  Qurrat al-`Ayn (Solace of the Eyes)There exist perhaps forty to fifty or more books and papers about Tahira several of which have recently been published. 

    This dynamic,  charismatic and extraordinarily learned Persian woman was enraptured by the person and teachings of the first two Shaykhī leaders. In 1260/1844 she, along with her  cousin and a number of other Shaykhis, were numbered among the first disciples of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bāb, the Hurūfāt al-Ḥayy (the 18 "Letters of the Living"). Ṭāhira remained a devoted and revolutionary Bābī, (follower of the  the Bab), from the  very beginning of his messianic career until she was brutally executed in 1852. 

For biographical details see : URL :

For useful biographical and family details see Moojan Momen,

`Usuali, Akhabri, Shaykhi, Babi: The Tribulations of a Qazvin Family' in `The Journal for the Society for Iranian Studies', Iranian Studies vol. 36/3 (Sept. 2003) 317-337.

The vast majority of the  Arabic and Persian writings of Tahira (aside from a portion of her Persian and Arabic poetry which has not been wholly collected) have not been critically edited, collected or translated.  Baha'i generated materials including books about Ṭāhira include:

Mulla Muhammad Nabil-i Zarandi (d.1892 CE) [Shoghi Effendi ed. and trans.]

  • The Dawn-Breakers: Nabils Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha'i Revelation. See index.

Fāḍil-i Māzandaranī,

  • Kitab-i Zuhur al-Haqq. Vol. 3 (n.p. [Tehran] n.d  [c. 194?]),pp. 311-369.

Hussam Nuqaba'i

Nusratu'llah Muhammad Husayni,

  • Hadarat-i  Ṭāhira . Dundas, Ontario: 2000.

Abu'l-Qasim Afnan (d. XXXX)

Martha L. Root,

  • Tahirih The Pure, 1st ed. Karachi, 1938.

  • Rep.   Kalimat Press Los Angeles, ADD...
    "Martha Root became fascinated by Táhirih's story and traveled to Iran in an effort to learn more about this remarkable woman. This book is the result of her research. .."

Though most of Tahirih's theological and apologetic Shaykhi and Babi writings and the bulk of her poems remain unpublished, several volumes have recently been published about Tahirih and her poetry including:

Amin Banani (edited and translated)

Tahirih, A Portrait in Poetry-- Selected Poems of Qurratu'l-`Ayn (= Studies in the Babi and Baha' religion vol. 17). Kalimat Press Los Angeles, 2004. ISBN 1-890688-36-3 HBk. vi+145 pp. Contains an opening essay entitled ' A Woman for Our Time' (pp.1-30) followed by another by Jascha Kessler, `On Translating a Persian Mystical Poet' (pp.31-38) and an Editor's (Tony Lee's) Note (pp. 39-43). A selection of Tahirih's poems in the original Persian (+Arabic) with English translation by Banani (and Kessler) occupy pages 45-105. Notes by Banani briefly supplement and clarify aspects these texts. See further, URL:

http://www.kalimat.com/Tah-Poetry.html

TAHIRIH IN HISTORY: Perspectives on Qurratu'l-'Ayn from East and West Edited by Sabir Afaqi The volume brings together most of what we know about Tahirih Qurratu'l-'Ayn. Included is history from: 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi; the work of scholars in India and Pakistan; and essays by Western scholars, such as E. G. Browne, A.-L.-M. Nicolas (translated from French), Abbas Amanat, Farzaneh Milani, and others. Kalimat Press Los Angeles, ADD...