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.
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The "Enigma" of the Baha'i Religion in Iran
PART ONE: Persecution During the Qajar and Pahlavi Dynasties, 1844-1979
Chapter 1: Why Were the Babi and Baha'i Faiths Suppressed in Iran?
Chapter 2: The Violent Repression of the Babis and Baha'is during the Qajar Period
Chapter 3: The Baha'is during the Reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi
Chapter 4: Baha'is in the Reign of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
Chapter 5: The Shahrud Incident
Chapter 6: Eighty-One Stab Wounds: The Murder of Dr Berjis in Kashan
Chapter 7: True Crime: The Incident at Abarqu
Chapter 8: The Events of 1955: Hojjat al-Islam Falsafi, the Ramadan Broadcasts, and the Military Occupation of the Baha'i Center
PART TWO: The Islamic Republic in Confrontation with the Baha'i Faith
Chapter 9: Baha'i Persecution during the Last Days of the Shah's Regime
Chapter 10: The Baha'is-the First Victims of Oppression in the Islamic Republic
Chapter 11: The Persecution of Baha'is under Bazargan and the Revolutionary Council
Chapter 12: The Presidencies of Banisadr and Raja'i
Chapter 13: Arrests and Executions of the Baha'i Assemblies, 1981-85
Chapter 14: The Destruction of Baha'i Holy Sites and Community Resources
Chapter 15: After Ayatollah Khomeini: The Escalation of Persecution
Chapter 16: Efforts at Reform under President Khatami
Chapter 17: Escalating Repression under President Ahmadinejad (2005-13)
Chapter 18: An Obsession with Conspiracy Theories in the Islamic Republic
Chapter 19: Systematic Humiliation: Being Labeled Ritually Unclean (Najes)
Chapter 20: The Perspectives of Iran's Grand Ayatollahs on the Baha'i Faith
Chapter 21: The Appeals of International Organizations and the Iranian Diaspora
Epilogue
Postscript
Appendix
Glossary
Select Bibliography
Notes
Index
