Category: re·flec·tions

Although not exactly ‘feminist’ by the definition of the popular images of ‘feminism’ you may have in mind, the list of books below are written by or about some key female figures of the Baha’i Faith. Each text examines the life, experiences, spiritual stations and perspectives of these women who were in the forefront of action since the inception of the Babi/Baha’i faith.

A cumulative study of these books, in the light of the teachings of the faith, while considering the role and responsibility of women within it, will perhaps provide any interested party a solid ground to form a Baha’i perspective on feminist theories and women studies in general.

 

1. Asíyyih Khánum (Navvab) 

Here is a biographical essay of the wife of Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith. Her story, little known, is one of strength, patience, long-suffering and devotion to One who was her ‘husband, the Lord of Hosts’, whom she accompanied through all the vicissitudes of exile and imprisonment.

 

2. Prophet’s Daughter: The Life and Legacy of Bahiyyih Khanum, the daughter of Baha’u’llah.

During the mid nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when women in the Middle East were largely invisible, deprived of education, and without status in their communities, she was an active participant in the religion’s turbulent early years and contributed significantly to its emergence as an independent world religion.

 

3. Munirih Khanum: Memoirs and Letters

Recollections of the wife of Abdul-Baha: including her familys association with Bahaullah and the Bab, her marriage to Abdul-Baha, and her experiences as a member of Abdul-Bahas family.

 

4. Rejoice In My Gladness The Life of Tahirih

The definitive biography of a woman born into a deeply fanatical environment in nineteenth-century Persia, who spent her life denouncing the second-class status of women and who sacrificed her life for her beliefs.

 

5. Portraits of Some Baha’i Women

Short pen portraits of seven such women whose services to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh have spanned the twentieth century. Emogene Hoagg, Claudia Coles, Anna Kunz, Amelia Collins, Kate Dwyer, Ella Bailey, Ella Quant – some well known, others less so – all devoted their lives to the promotion and development of the Faith they loved.

6. Lua Getsinger, Herald of the Covenant

The voice of Lua Getsinger as heard through her diaries, letters and talks between 1898 and 1916.

7. The Diary of Juliet Thompson

This diary is a love story. It is the day by day account which Juliet Thompson, one of the early Bahá’ís of New York, kept of her many hours with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá–first on pilgrimage to “Akká in 1909, then in Europe in 1911, and finally in America in 1912.

8. Her Eternal Crown: Queen Marie of Romania and the Bahá’í Faith

The first monarch to accept the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, she struggled against the political bonds that tie every ruler to proclaim the new religion.

9. Corinne True:  Faithful Handmaid of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Few realize that the Hand of the Cause of God, Corinne True, long honoured for her major role in the erection of the first Bahá’í House of Worship in the Western Hemisphere, was not only ‘Mother of the Temple’ but, before all else, a mother, devoted to the care of husband and four daughters and four sons.

10. Compassionate Woman The Life and Legacy of Patricia Locke

A captivating biography of Patricia Locke, a Lakota Indian, who dedicated her life to righting injustices on behalf of indigenous people, as well as all of humanity.

 

11. Legacy of Courage: The Life of Ola Pawlowska, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh 

Here is the story of a remarkable life that began in the Austro-Hungarian Empire of Franz Joseph, spanned two World Wars, and played out on three continents.

 

12. Lidia: The Life of Lidia Zamenhof, Daughter of Esperanto

Lidia Zamenhof was the youngest daughter of Ludwig Zamenhof, the creator of the international auxiliary language, Esperanto.

 

13. Maxwells of Montreal, The Early Years 1870–1922

The book draws on over 1,600 personal letters between May, Sutherland and Mary Maxwell (Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum), together with about 1,400 letters which the three Maxwells exchanged with their relatives and some of the early Bahá’ís.

 

14. Sarah Ann Ridgway

Set against the backdrop of a world moving from an agrarian society to an industrial one, Sarah Ann’s story gives us a glimpse into the lives of ordinary working people, their households, factories and schools. But there is a story within this story: the determined quest of one Bahá’í woman to unveil the life of another.

 

15. Ethel Jenner Rosenberg:

The Life and Times of England’s Outstanding Baha’i Pioneer Worker.

 

 

To conclude, allow me to point out to some previous writings on this subject:

• Some notes on Feminist Theory,
• A thesis on Martha Root : An American Baha’i Feminist,
• Possible Criticisms of the Baha’i Faith from a Feminist Perspective
• Women in the Baha’i Faith