The dual religious life of the anusim (Heb. forced converts) of the town of Mashhad in Iran began following a massacre in the Jewish quarter, known in Persian as the ʿīdgāh (lit. place of celebrations, feasting place), by a hostile Shīʿī mob made up both of residents of the city and pilgrims. On that day, March 26, 1839, referred to as Allāhdād (Pers. God-given; God’s Justice), Mashhad’s entire Jewish population was forced to convert to Islam. However, the majority of this community of jadīd-i Islām (Ar./Pers. new to Islam) continued secretly to maintain their Jewish faith for …