The Iranian Bahá’í Community and the Question of Hijab: A Historical Examination

The Bahá’í religion, emerging from the Bábí movement, was widely perceived as having broken with Islamic law on the question of hijab. In 1848, the Bábí heroine Tahirih appeared unveiled before a gathering of Bábí men; she was the first woman in modern Iranian history to publicly discard the veil. Yet it was not until the 1930s that many Iranian Bahá’í women, perhaps even the majority, removed the veil. It therefore seems paradoxical that despite Tahirih’s powerful legacy, the Bahá’í community did not actively promote unveiling. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá in fact instructed Bahá’ís in Iran and other Muslim-majority societies to conform to prevailing public norms regarding hijab, a stance that contrasts sharply with his strong encouragement of the community playing a leading role in advancing girls’ education. This paper investigates the underlying considerations that shaped the Bahá’í community’s cautious approach to hijab.