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The first edition of this review is still available.
When Starr Saffa was kind enough to send me her book, I promised myself that I would write my thoughts about it, and although I am not fluent in English, I've been able to achieve my goal after finishing the book over a month's time.
As a Baha'i it is decidedly a difficult matter to comment on a book which is inarguably critical of and confrontational to my religion. This has made certain precautions necessary. First, to focus on the general theme that Starr Saffa attempts to communicate through her book. This being the idea that we have in effect entered an epoch in which the balance between the feminine and masculine natures is near equilibrium. Second, to abstain from apologetical refutations, which can be given a more complete treatment in the future.
Starr's thesis is truly unorthodox, whether taken from the perspective of a Bayani (specifically Azali) or from the perspective of a Baha'i. She claims that Tahirih shares, along with the Bab, the station of "The Primal Point" (the Divine Verb/ "Nous"), and that they both are the initiators of a new cycle of cosmic equilibrium.In my opinion, the teachings of Starr arise from her own intuitions and spiritual reflections rather than a meticulous study of the historical figure of Tahirih, although I'm not saying that she doesn't offer some historical leads to reinforce her thesis.
In the paper, "The Most Learned of the Shi'a: The Authority of the Feminine and Fatima" (Oxford university Press - 2001), Todd Lawson explains how in a Babi context, Tahirih has a very elevated cosmic status. Starr uses the metaphysical digressions of Lawson as substantial evidence to suggest that Tahirih was recognized as the return of Fatima, and likewise had messianic status. Starr also refers to "The Dawnbreakers" by Shoghi Effendi, which recounts the story of Tahirih/Qurratul-Ayn's life and the conference of Badasht.
Starr offers some historical evidence, taken from "Resurrection and Renewal" (IRANBOOKS-1990) by Abbas Amanat, on speculations which started within certain portions of the Shayki school over the status Tahirih, even before the proclamation of the Bab. They saw in Tahirih the new "Divine Point (or origin) of Knowledge" (Nuqt'í-i-ilimí-i-ilahí) which meant that they considered her the successor to the deceased leader of the Shaykhi school, Siyyid Kazim-i-Rashti. A circle of admirers therefore arose around this eloquent and erudite master behind the curtains. Among whom numbered the widow of Siyyid Kazim, who as lady of the house in Karbila, hosted Tahirih. These persons devoted to Tahirih came to be known as Qurratis. Tahirih, as her own writings show, was a devout follower of the Bab.
After the Bab was martyred (d. 1850) there was a small group of Babis who considered Táhirih/Qurratu'l - 'Ayn as a new source of revelation equal to the Bab. According to Ismael Velasco, a Baha'i scholar, they were known as Ayyanis, but it is Moojan Momen who provides detailed historical information about them. He mentions an important group of Babis from Qazvin who from the end of the 40th decade of the XIX century declared their allegiance to Qurratul-Ayn, the Qurratis; whom after the martyrdom of the Bab came to be known as Ayanis (Nabíl ZH6:525). Some of them considered Karbalá'í Muhammad Hasan-i-Fatá as the successor to Tahirih, but eventually he declared his loyalty to Azal and became an Azali, although own son Aqa Mirza Yahya Sarraf, became a very devout Baha'i after visiting Akka and Cyprus to determine the truth.
On the discussion list, H-Baha'i, Sepehr Manuchehri, an expert on Babism, wrote:
"A decade on after the martyrdom of the Bab, there were splinter Babi groups known as Taheri in Western parts of Iran (where Tahirih had originally travelled) and Iraq who advocated a return to the teachings and style of Tahirih. This is specified by Fadil Mazandarani and Gulpayegani."
And
"But they certainly were short in duration and faded fast." (Wed, 22 March 2000).
For his part, Adib Taherzadeh indicates that "Although only a few years had passed since the birth of their Faith, eventually, the Babis of Persia became bitterly divided amongst themselves, chiefly for theological reasons. In Qazvin, the home of Tahirih where resided a great number of Babis, there were four sects, each one carrying a name. One identified itself with Quddus, another with Tahirih, another with Mirza Yahya and another as Bayani, the followers of the Book of Bayan." (El Convenio de Bahá'u'lláh, Page 68)
We know that the Ayyanis were defenders of radical antinomianism (this is noted by both Ismael Velasco and Sen McGlinn), a posture that was condemned by Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith as well as by Suhi-Azal, who was designated as the Primordial Mirror of the Bab. According to Juan Cole, there were some important followers of Azal, like Mulla Muhammad Jáfar Naraqi y Siyyid Muhammad Isfahani who taughts the suspension of all laws. Some Baha'i authors came to believe that Azal adopted a position of antinomianism at some point. However, professor Cole maintains that Azal always stood in favor of orthodoxy, atleast in "theory" considering the tone of his writings. As custodian of the Bayan, Azal tried to always project a conservative image.
Velasco y Manuchehri say that the Ayyanis or the Taheris were a Babi faction that followed the divine leadership of Tahirih. In any case, their existence didn't last long and eventually they disappeared due to becoming either Azali or Baha'i. There is no way we can show that Tahirih demanded any messianic status or thought as such about herself. In fact, like other Babis, she was condemned to death after numerous interviews with two Mujtahids (Mulla Ali Khani y Mulla Muhammad Andarmani) because she refused to recant her belief in the Bab as the promised Qaim. Tahirih's death sentence was sustained precisely because she refused to deny or recant her belief in the Bab as the promised Qaim.
It seems that Starr's assertions on the messianic status of Qurratu'l-Ayn/Táhirih contain elements which do as much to support it as to go against it. Starr's challenge is to summon more solid proofs than those offered in her book, and perhaps she will in the next edition.
According to Starr, the manifestation of the Bab and Tahirih ushered in the end of the prophetic cycle, whose balance was inclined towards the exaltation of the masculine. Including the veneration of masculine prophetic figures, which harmed and marginalized the feminine counterparts within Revelation (Mary Magdalene, Fatima).
The myth of the expulsion from paradise symbolizes the loss of this primal equilibrium which caused the patriarchal cycle, since closed. Starr's thealogy is profoundly rooted in the figure of Qurratu'l-Ayn/Táhirih, with whom she identifies as her return and spokesperson. But Starr assures us that the cosmic/spiritual equilibrium will be achieved in a new civilization where an authentic personal gnosis will allow us to recognize and rejoin our spirit with the maternal principle.
It is obvious then that she predicts an increasingly refined and metaphysically more complex return than "the adoration of the Goddess" which started in the Paleolithic era, not less than 25,000 years ago, and prevailed throughout history until the image of a masculine deity gradually substituted the veneration of the Goddess. This begin with the start of the urban revolution "after the implementation of excess agriculture" ("Dios nació Mujer" 1999 © P. Rodríguez) in a process that started 6,000 years ago and took close to 3000 to consolidate.
The aspects of Starr's "Thealogy" are based on previous works done by other researches in the field which emphasize the divine feminine and the important function of the role of the divine feminine in creation itself. A good example of such an research appears in " The Return of the Goddesses ".
It should be noted that Starr's book doesn't take an aggressive posture but rather presents ideas in a flowery and pleasant manner. I truly wish to thank Starr for sharing her indescribable and controversial book with me, and for the audacity to publish her iconoclastic ideas.
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