Táhirih’s Journey – Karbalá’ to Qazvín11

[Muhammad Sháh] would not endorse the unjustified killing of the Bábís. So the heirs of Mullá Taqí devised a ruse. They got one of their senior supporters to inform the Sháh that they would safely bring the prisoners back to Qazvín, and there in public acknowledge their innocence and give them their freedom. That way the prisoners would be assured of their safety. This was of course a lie, but the Sháh believed them and agreed to it. The Bábí prisoners were delivered into the hands of the heirs of Mullá Taqí.

That very first night, while still in Tihrán, they killed Hájí Asadu’lláh, who had been a noted merchant of Qazvín acknowledged by all for his uprightness and piety. To cover this up, as they were still in the capital, they announced the next morning that illness had been the cause of his death. With that they set out for Qazvín, where they had already got the populace riled up with false information. As soon as they arrived in Qazvín, they left the prisoners to the mercy of the hate-filled crowd. The prisoners were all savagely put to death. Nabíl records:

…[the crowds] armed with knives, swords, spears, and axes, fell upon them [the Bábí prisoners] and tore them to pieces. They mutilated their bodies with such wanton barbarity that no fragment of their scattered members could be found for burial.

Seeing the consequence of his action, Mullá ‘Abdu’lláh, the killer of Mullá Taqí, went to the civil authorities and handed himself in. He confessed to the killing of Mullá Taqí and asked the authorities to stop the killing of the innocent which was ongoing. This however did nothing to stop the killing of the innocent. The heirs of Mullá Taqí now turned their attention to Táhirih and decided to have her murdered too.

Táhirih’s Challenge and Her Escape from Qazvín

Táhirih’s husband, Mullá Muhammad, had already succeeded to the position of his father as the Imám-Jum’ih of Qazvín [meaning the most senior cleric of Qazvín, the one leading the Friday congregational prayer]. He was the main instigator of what was transpiring in Qazvín including the plan to kill Táhirih. As soon as Táhirih found out about this plan, she sent this message and challenge to her husband [the message begins with a verse from the Qur’án]:

286 / 803