- 1867-01-11 —
Three Bahá'ís were executed in Tabríz. Their arrest was precipitated by conflict and rivalry between the Azalís and the Bahá'ís. [BBR252–3; BKG237–8; BW18:382–3; RB2:61]
- BW18:382 says this was 8 January.
- 1872-01-22 —
Three Azalís were murdered by seven Bahá'ís in 'Akká. [BBD163; BKG3256 DH41; GPB189; RB3:235]
- Siyyid Muhammad Isfahání, Nasr'ulláh Tafríshí, Áqá Ján Ka'j Kuláh and Ridá Qulí, these four kept vigil from the second story window of a building overlooking the land gate to ensure no followers of Bahá'u'lláh would have access to the prison city. For some time they had been successful at preventing the entrance of pilgrims, some of whom who had spend some six months even traveling on foot. This also precluded the possibility of communications from 'Akká reaching the believers in other lands. After two years and a few months, Bahá'u'lláh was released from the His cell and was free to walk among the prison population. Some of the friends, including Salmání, decided to get rid of these enemies and, during the night, went to their place and killed Siyyid Muhammad, Áqá Ján and another person. [Sweet and Enchanting Stories, Aziz Rohani, p. 31.]
- Bahá'u'lláh was taken to the Governorate where He was interrogated and held for 70 hours. [BKG317-330; GBP190; RB3:234-239, AB34-36]
- `Abdu'l-Bahá was thrown into prison and kept in chains the first night. Twenty–five of the companions were also imprisoned and shackled. [BKG328; GBP190; RB3:237]
- See BKG331, GPB191 and RB3:238 for the effect of the murders on the local population.
- Ilyás `Abbúd put a barricade between his house and the house of `Údí Khammár, which he had rented for use by Bahá'u'lláh's family. [BKG331; GPB191]
- See BKG330; DH44 and RB3:239 for the fate of the murderers, who were imprisoned for seven years.
- Siyyid Muḥammad-i-Isfahání has been described by Shoghi Effendi as the "Antichrist of the Bahá'í Revelation." He was a man of corrupt character and great personal ambition who had induced Mírzá Yaḥyá to oppose Bahá'u'lláh and to claim prophethood for himself. Although he was an adherent of Mírzá Yaḥyá, Siyyid Muḥammad was one of the four Azalis exiled with Bahá'u'lláh to 'Akká. He continued to agitate and plot against Bahá'u'lláh. In describing the circumstances of his death, Shoghi Effendi has written in God Passes By:
A fresh danger now clearly threatened the life of Bahá'u'lláh. Though He Himself had stringently forbidden His followers, on several occasions, both verbally and in writing, any retaliatory acts against their tormentors, and had even sent back to Beirut an irresponsible Arab convert, who had meditated avenging the wrongs suffered by his beloved Leader, seven of the companions clandestinely sought out and slew three of their persecutors, among whom were Siyyid Muḥammad and Áqá Ján .
The consternation that seized an already oppressed community was indescribable. Bahá'u'lláh's indignation knew no bounds. "Were We," He thus voices His emotions, in a Tablet revealed shortly after this act had been committed, "to make mention of what befell Us, the heavens would be rent asunder and the mountains would crumble." "My captivity," He wrote on another occasion, "cannot harm Me. That which can harm Me is the conduct of those who love Me, who claim to be related to Me, and yet perpetrate what causeth My heart and My pen to groan." [GPB189-190]
- The Lawh-i Istintaq ("Tablet of the Interrogation") was revealed.
- 1934-12-06 —
The Tarbíyat Bahá'í Schools in Tihrán and all other Bahá'í schools across the country were closed by order of the Minister of Education (headed by 'Ali-Asghar-i-Hikmat, a well-known Azali) when they failed to open on a holy day. [BBD221–2; BW18:389; CB312; GPB363; PP308; RoB4p313; BN No 97 January 1936 p1]
- In spite of (or because of) their high standards of education, the Bahá'í schools, which attracted ordinary people as well as a number of rich, famous and influential families to send their children as pupils, faced harsh opposition, mainly from the more traditional and conservative elements in the society, and specifically from the Shi'i clerics. This was hardly surprising, given the strong animosity towards the Bahá'ís in Shi'i Iran. According to Shoghi Effendi, while the 'ulama' headed the opposition to the Bábis and Bahá'ís, it was the Qajar kings and governors who willingly became the means through which this opposition was translated into action, as a way to obtain the clerics' support and backing for their own policies. But as far as Nasir al-Din Shah was concerned, he had his own reasons for persecuting Bábis and Bahá'ís (between whom he did not appear to differentiate) . In 1852 an inept attempt had been made on his life. [The Forgotten Schools: The Baha'is and Modern Education in Iran, 1899–1934 p97]
- For Western accounts of the episode see BBR475–9.
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