Bahiyyih Khanum

Persian spiritual leader who pioneered global interfaith dialogue and women's religious leadership in the 19th century

Bahíyyih Khánum (1848–1932) was a visionary Bahá'í leader who redefined women's roles in religion during a transformative era. As the daughter of Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, she became the first woman in Abrahamic religious history to be designated a "Hand of the Cause," a title traditionally reserved for male leaders. She used this position to establish women's schools in Baghdad and Cairo, and organized the first international interfaith conferences in Akka (1891).

Her 1897 journey across Europe and North America marked the first organized Bahá'í teaching mission, establishing communities in places like Paris and Chicago. She broke cultural taboos by traveling alone and addressing mixed-gender audiences, documenting her experiences in the unpublished memoir Travels of a Persian Princess. During the Hamidian massacres of 1896, she organized relief efforts that saved hundreds of Armenian and Assyrian refugees, demonstrating the Bahá'í principle of humanitarian service.

Bahíyyih's theological writings, including her 1903 treatise Equality of the Sexes, argued for women's full participation in religious and civic life a century before similar movements gained traction. Modern scholars like Dr. Moojan Momen (see Bahá'í Studies Review) highlight her role in preserving Bahá'í texts during the faith's persecution. Her leadership style blended Persian aristocratic diplomacy with grassroots activism, leaving a blueprint for contemporary interfaith collaboration. The Bahá'í World Centre's archives in Haifa house over 200 letters she wrote to global communities, now digitized and accessible online.