When she became a teenager, Tahirih was expected to marry. Her family decided that she should marry her paternal first cousin, Mulla Muhammad, the son of her uncle Taqi.
A family’s wealth and position determined a girl’s prospects for marriage. The groom’s parents asked for her hand in marriage, and then the father negotiated a bride price. The bride and groom did not “date” in the American sense before their marriage. By strict Islamic law, this money was meant for the bride but often went to her family.
Marriage contract from 1837 (of Khadiah Sultan Baygum and Mirza Abu Talib), Kasravi collection
The new bride was expected to work with the other women of the household and defer to the senior women. The eldest male made all the important decisions.
Men from outside the family could never see the women of the household nor go into their quarters; poor families without much living space might just use some kind of curtain for the separation of the genders.
Tahirih’s marital arrangements may well have followed this traditional pattern. But this union would be a very limiting one for her because her cousin was much more conventional and orthodox in his views than she turned out to be. A wife during this time was expected to conform to her husband’s ideas and not take an active public role. Tahirih did just the opposite as she matured.
Women’s world in Qajar Iran HERE
To hear an audiobook about Tahirih and the Bab click HERE