Conference of Badasht

The Conference of Badasht was an instrumental meeting of the leading Bábís in June–July 1848.

In June–July 1848 over a period of 3 weeks, a number of Bábí leaders met in the village of Badasht at a conference, organized in part and financed by Bahá'u'lláh, centered on Táhirih and Quddús, that set in motion the public existence and promulgation of the Bábí religion. Around eighty men and Táhirih attended the conference. The conference is considered by Bábís and Bahá'ís as a signal moment that demonstrated that Islamic Sharia law had been abrogated and superseded by Bábí law, as well as a key demonstration of the thrust of raising the social position of women.

After the Báb's arrest in early 1848, Mulla Muhammad Ali Barfurushi, aka Quddús, had sought to raise the Black Standard in Mashad. However the city forced the Bábís out, (it was later officially raised by Mullá Husayn-i-Bushru'i.) At the same time Táhirih had expressed an interest in making a pilgrimage to the fortress of Máh-Kú in the province of Azarbaijan where the Báb, founder of the Bábí faith, was being held. That proved untenable. Instead, Bahá'u'lláh made arrangements for Táhirih to leave Tehran to join forces with Quddús. Along the way they encountered Quddús and together they settled on Badasht for the location for a meeting.

The three key individuals each had a garden:

In one account the purpose of the conference was to initiate a complete break in the Babi community with the Islamic past. The same account notes that a secondary reason was to find a way to free the Bab from the prison of Chiriq, and it was Tahirih who pushed the notion that there should be an armed rebellion to save the Bab and create the break. Another source states that there was no doubt that prominent Babi leaders wanted to plan an armed revolt. It seems that much of what Tahirih was pushing was beyond what most of the other Babis were about to accept.

The first topic of the conference was seeking the freedom of the Báb from arrest. Following this the question of exactly what the Báb's precise claim was, was raised.

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