A short essay on Nigar Bahai Amsalem
Summary
In Naama Pyritz and Asaf Shafir’s polemical film,
Baha’is in my Backyard
, thegreat-granddaughter of Bahá'u'lláh, Nigar Bahai Amsalem, makes a curiousappearance [1]. She lives in Haifa in very close proximity to the Bahá'í WorldCentre. In the film, she is presented as a lineal descendant of Bahá'u'lláh who isshunned by the Bahá'í community for apparently no good reason. As it turns out,however, Nigar’s past is replete with opposition to the Bahá'í Faith, none of whichcould ever be gleaned from Pyritz and Shafir’s coverage of her. The film attemptsto present her as a nice old lady down on her luck. The purpose of this essay is to present a referenced history of this opposition based largely on the research of Dr.Moojan Momen, and debunk the notion that she is “not doing anything againstthem [the Bahá'ís],” in her own words.
The Truth About Nigar Bahai Amsalem
Original research conducted by Moojan MomenCompiled and formatted by Adib Masumian
Nigar Bahai Amsalem is the daughter of Musa Baha'i, son of Mirzá Muhammad-`Alí, and Qamar Baha'i, daughter of Badi’ullah. She and her family have wagedmany campaigns against the Bahá'í Faith over the years. For example, her mother Qamar Baha’i raised a trumped-up court case around 1950-1 challenging ShoghiEffendi's right to carry out major construction work around the shrine of Bahá'u'lláh. This court case is referred to by Shoghi Effendi himself in a telegramdated April 5, 1952, and the entire case fell apart when the star witness thatQamar had recruited, Nayyir Afnan (Shoghi Effendi’s brother-in-law), passedaway in April 1952 [2].
Another note of importance about this family, as Nigar herself claims to be “doingexactly what Bahá'u'lláh told us to do” in the film, is the family’s Azaliconnections [3]. Nigar’s aunt, ‘Ismat, was married to Jalal Azal, the grandson of Mirzá Yahya [4][5]. The family tree that Nigar presents in the film was probablyobtained through Azali acquaintances [6], as she certainly maintained contact withsome considering her relationship to Jalal Azal. Indeed, her ties to the Azalis become more apparent when one notes how Nigar made a visit to Iran in 1977 toattend the funeral of Azal’s granddaughter [7], not to mention all of theinformation which can be gleaned from Jalal Azal's notes at Princeton UniversityLibrary. His notes also testify to the fact that ‘Ismat, Qamar Baha’i, and Jalal Azalhimself planned to unite all three generations of the internal opponents of theBahá'í Faith. By three generations is meant:
•
First generation: Followers of Mirzá Yahya in his opposition toBahá'u'lláh.
•
Second generation: Followers of Mirzá Muhammad-`Alí in his oppositionto `Abdu'l-Bahá.
•
Third generation: Opponents of Shoghi Effendi, both from within thefamily of `Abdu'l-Bahá and others such as Ahmad Sohrab who rejectedShoghi Effendi's authority.[8]One wonders what an alleged Bahá'í, who should naturally be loyal to Bahá'u'lláh,is doing consorting with those who opposed him or his legitimate successors.Continuing the tradition, Nigar herself has made various efforts to discredit theBahá'ís and assert that she is the “true representative” of the Bahá'í Faith. Shemarried an Israeli Jewish dentist, which enabled her to stay in Israel while most of the others who opposed the head of the Bahá'í Faith fled to Beirut in 1948 at theinception of the state of Israel [9]. She has set up a "Bahá'í Family Society" and placed a banner to that effect over her house at the foot of Mt. Carmel, thus tryingto assert that somehow she is “the true Bahá'í“ and acting to confuse those whomay desire to obtain information about the Bahá'í Faith. This is the building for the Bahá'í Family Society: Nigar and her sister have also built a small dome over the grave of MirzáMuhammad-`Alí near Abu Atibba (as a riposte to the development of the Baha’igardens there) and tried to promote that as a holy place [10].
In conclusion, it is apparent that when one looks at her family history as well asher own acts of opposition to the Bahá'í Faith, Nigar Bahai Amsalem’s claim that“we are not doing anything against them” rings hollow. In reality, she hasintentionally withheld information on her systematic opposition to the Bahá'íFaith during her interview in
Baha‘is in my Backyard
. _________________________________________
References:
[1] The independent clip featuring Nigar can be viewed on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2F-mV4rsNA[2] This telegram also serves as an obituary for Nayyir Afnan;
Baha’i News
, no.256.[3] The term Azali refers to the followers of Mirzá Yahya (Subh-i-Azal),Bahá'u'lláh’s half-brother who was vehemently opposed to Bahá'u'lláh and hisreligion.[4] Notes of Jalal Azal at Princeton University Library, pp. 560-572.[5] The genealogical table compiled by Shoghi Effendi and published in
Baha’iWorld
, vol. 5: 1932-4, New York: Baha’i Publishing Committee, 1936, between pp. 204 and 205.[6] It is unlikely that Nigar received the family tree from anyone else other thanthrough Azali connections. She herself states in the film that she acquired thechart in Tehran, 1977. Assuming she did not get it from Bahá'ís, the only Iranianswho would have a detailed family tree of Bahá'u'lláh’s family in Iran are thedescendants of Azal and of Bahá'u'lláh’s half-sister who are Azalis. Given Nigar’sAzali collections corroborated by Jalal Azal’s notes, the notion of her receivingsuch a chart from Azalis is much more likely than from Bahá'í connections,considering the latter would be less likely to hand over such rare materials to aclearly anti-Bahá'í individual.[7] According to the friend of an Iranian bookseller located in Tehran with Azaliconnections.[8] Moojan Momen,
The Cyprus Exiles
. Published in Baha’i Studies Bulletin, vol.5, no. 3 - vol. 6, no. 1, June 1991, p. 101. Accessible online at:http://www.northill.demon.co.uk/relstud/CyprusEx.htm[9] From research done by Moojan Momen at Haifa.[10] There is a plaque commemorating the fact that Nigar and her sister built theshrine for Mirzá Muhammad-`Alí on the shrine.
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Baha'u'llah's Great Grand Daughter Nigar Bahai Amsalem
Nigar and her sister have built a small dome over the grave of Mirzá Muhammad-`Alí near Abu Atibba (as a riposte to the development of the Baha’i gardens there) and tried to promote that as a holy place.
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