Táhirih’s Journey – Karbalá’ to Qazvín9

Shortly after Táhirih had arrived in Qazvín, a Shaykhí Mullá ‘Abdu’lláh

, who was not connected to her happened to be travelling through Qazvín. He witnessed the brutal beating in the streets of another Shaykhí by the public. When he enquired as to why they were so hateful towards the Shaykhí’s, he was told that this was the righteous thing to do, as the great Mullá Taqí had pronounced the Shaykhís to be heretics. Mullá ‘Abdu’lláh went straight away to Mullá Taqí’s school and there asked him in person if all this was true. Mullá Taqí affirmed his previous ruling and denounced Shaykh Ahmad, saying “Him and his followers I regard as the embodiments of error.” This inflamed Mullá ‘Abdu’lláh who went and bought a dagger and one night when Mullá Taqí was alone in the mosque, stabbed him to death.

Táhirih arrested and Bábí companions sent to Tihrán for execution

What ensued was grave unrest. The friends and heirs of Mullá Taqí took advantage of this situation to push their agenda. They arrested as many companions and associates of Táhirih they could find in Qazvín, and sent them all to the capital Tihrán, with the request to the Grand Vazír and the Sháh to have them all executed. As to Táhirih, they placed her under house arrest in her father’s home and told her guards that she was not allowed to leave her room, except to perform her daily ablutions. The friends and heirs of Mullá Taqí also spread the word that Táhirih was the real instigator of the crime.

Bahá’u’lláh’s First Imprisonment for the Cause of God

The companions and associates of Táhirih who had been arrested arrived in Tihrán together with some of the heirs of Mullá Taqí. These prisoners were treated very poorly, and not even given enough food and water. Their fate was unknown.

Bahá’u’lláh, who was at that time in Tihrán, was informed of this situation, and He intervened. He went to the officials who were holding them to plead their case. The greedy officials decided that they could try and get money out of Bahá’u’lláh, so they arrested Him too and refused to allow Him to return to His house. They were hoping to get bribes to release Bahá’u’lláh.

Bahá’u’lláh remained in captivity for several days. Nabíl records that this was “the first affliction that befell Bahá’u’lláh in the path of the Cause of God; the first

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