List of notable and influential individuals with Baha'i heritage in Pahlavi-era Iran

1. General Dr. 'Abd al-Karim Ayadi: The Shah’s personal physician, chief of staff, and head of the army's Health Office.
2. General Asad Allah Sani'i: Former Minister of War and Head of the Shah’s Office while he was Crown Prince.
3. General 'Ali Muhammad Khadimi: Head of Iran’s national airline, HOMA.
4. Colonel Husayn Vahdat-i Haqq: A military engineer and polyglot who served as a military attaché in Germany.
5. Habib Allah Sabit: An industrialist and entrepreneur who introduced television to Iran.
6. Dr. Manuchihr Sharif al-Attiba (Manshadi): A physician and resident at Pahlavi University.
7. Huzhabr Yazdani: An affluent businessman and tycoon known for donating to Baha'i causes.
8. Mansour Rouhani: Minister of Water and Power, and later Agriculture; he had a Baha'i father but did not register as a Baha'i himself.
9. Dr. Sulayman Birjis: A prominent physician based in Kashan.
10. Abbas Shahidzadah: A successful engineer.
11. Sifat Allah Fahandizh: An officer in the Iranian Army.
12. Amir 'Abbas Hoveyda: The long-serving Prime Minister of Iran, who was raised Muslim despite having a Baha'i grandfather.
13. Parviz Sabiti: Second in command of SAVAK, born to Baha'i parents but later identifying as non-religious.
14. Mahnaz Afkhami: A government minister who had one Baha'i parent but did not identify as a Baha'i herself.
15. Shapour Rasekh: An advisor to the Shah and member of several Baha'i National Spiritual Assemblies.
16. Farrokhroo Parsa: Daughter of Afaq Parsa, who was a prominent Baha'i educator and feminist. Farrokhroo Parsa became the first female cabinet minister in Iran, serving as the Minister of Education. She was a Muslim.

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Mirza Yahya poisoning Baha'u'llah and Dr. Shíshmán sacrificing his life for Baha'u'llah

Desperate designs to poison Bahá’u’lláh and His companions, and thereby reanimate his own defunct leadership, began, approximately a year after their arrival in Adrianople, to agitate his mind. Well aware of the erudition of his half-brother, Áqáy-i-Kalím, in matters pertaining to medicine, he, under various pretexts, sought enlightenment from him regarding the effects of certain herbs and poisons, and then began, contrary to his wont, to invite Bahá’u’lláh to his home, where, one day, having smeared His tea-cup with a substance he had concocted, he succeeded in poisoning Him sufficiently to produce a serious illness which lasted no less than a month, and which was accompanied by severe pains and high fever, the aftermath of which left Bahá’u’lláh with a shaking hand till the end of His life. So grave was His condition that a foreign doctor, named Shíshmán, was called in to attend Him. The doctor was so appalled by His livid hue that he deemed His case hopeless, and, after having fallen at His feet, retired from His presence without prescribing a remedy. A few days later that doctor fell ill and died. Prior to his death Bahá’u’lláh had intimated that doctor Shíshmán had sacrificed his life for Him. To Mírzá Áqá Ján, sent by Bahá’u’lláh to visit him, the doctor had stated that God had answered his prayers, and that after his death a certain Dr. Chúpán, whom he knew to be reliable, should, whenever necessary, be called in his stead.

On another occasion this same Mírzá Yaḥyá had, according to the testimony of one of his wives, who had temporarily deserted him and revealed the details of the above-mentioned act, poisoned the well which provided water for the family and companions of Bahá’u’lláh, in consequence of which the exiles manifested strange symptoms of illness. He even had, gradually and with great circumspection, disclosed to one of the companions, Ustád Muḥammad-‘Alíy-i-Salmání, the barber, on whom he had lavished great marks of favor, his wish that he, on some propitious occasion, when attending Bahá’u’lláh in His bath, should assassinate Him. “So enraged was Ustád Muḥammad-‘Alí,” Áqáy-i-Kalím, recounting this episode to Nabíl in Adrianople, has stated, “when apprized of this proposition, that he felt a strong desire to kill Mírzá Yaḥyá on the spot, and would have done so but for his fear of Bahá’u’lláh’s displeasure.

(Shoghi Effendi in God Passes By)

https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/12#972283719

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Azal poisoned Baha'u'llah with mercury chloride

Jealousy on the part of Azal, intensified by his lust for leadership, grew pejoratively deeper over the course of the Edirne period. As evidence of this, Baha’u’llah apostrophizes ‘you’ who ‘resolved to shed His [Baha’u’llah’s] blood’ (par. 26). This clearly refers to Baha’u’llah’s half-brother and arch-rival, Mīrzā Yaḥyā (‘Azal’), who poisoned Baha’u’llah, ‘probably’ with ‘sublimate of mercury’ (mercury chloride).

Then, failing that, Azal tried to persuade Baha’u’llah’s personal attendant and barber, Ustād Muḥammad-‘Alī Salmānī, to slit Baha’u’llah’s throat.

(Baha’u’llah’s Paradise of Justice: Commentary and Translation, Christopher Buck - Independent Scholar, Pittsburgh, Adib Masumian - Austin)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322466992_Baha%27u%27llah%27s_Paradise_of_Justice_Commentary_and_Translation

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We speak one word, and by it we intend one and seventy meanings

Indeed, some revealed works, especially those by Baha’u’llah, warrant numerous examinations, each of which will provide an entirely different experience for the reader; often a panoply of meanings becomes apparent at every successive level of interpretation, each of which may well result in further insights into the “intended meaning” of the work. It is in this context that at the conclusion of the Kitab-i-iqan, Baha’u’llah cites Sadiq, the sixth of the Shi’ih Imams, to acknowledge that “We speak one word, and by it we intend one and seventy meanings; each one of these meanings we can explain.”

(The Body of God by John S. Hatcher)

We speak one word, and by it we intend one and seventy meanings; each one of these meanings we can explain.

(Bahá’u’lláh, The Ki tab-i-Ian, p. 255)

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to consider oneself as more learned, more favoured, more accomplished, more righteous or more exalted is a mighty error and sin.

Those souls who have drunk from the sea of the utterance of the All-Merciful and are turning towards the All-High Horizon should see themselves as being of one rank and one station. Should this injunction be firmly established and be realized through the power and might of God, the world would be seen as the Abhá paradise. Verily human beings are exalted, as can be found in every Divine scripture; but to consider oneself as more learned, more favoured, more accomplished, more righteous or more exalted is a mighty error and sin.

(Lawh-i Ittihád, The Tablet of Unity, Bahá’u’lláh - provisional translation by Moojan Momen)

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/m/michot_tablets_bahaullah_3.pdf

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innumerable sects became the cause of the shaking of the foundations of Islam.

The Holy Law (Sharí`ah) of the Messenger of God [Mohammed] may be likened to an ocean from which innumerable gulfs branch out. And this is the cause of the weakness of the Sharí`ah of God among the peoples. Until now no-one, not kings nor subjects nor the indigent have understood the reason for this, nor have they appreciated how to regain that power that has vanished and the learning that has fallen away. Thus one gulf is Shí`a, one gulf is Sunni, one Shaykhi, another Shah Ni`matulláhí, one Naqshbandi, another Malámatí, one Jalálí, another Rifá`í, and yet another Khárábátí. Thus are multiplied the innumerable pathways to hell. Thus do the stones weep and the Pen of the All-High laments. Seest thou what has befallen a Sharí`ah whose light illumined the world and whose fire, that is to say the fire of its love, was the guide of its peoples. Well is it with those who ponder upon these matters and investigate them and are fair in their judgement. Thus did this difference in rituals become the cause of the shaking of the foundations of the Cause of God [Islam].

(Lawh-i Ittihád, The Tablet of Unity, Bahá’u’lláh - provisional translation by Moojan Momen)

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/m/michot_tablets_bahaullah_3.pdf

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Sudden growth also had its negative effects... Withdrawal rates jumped from one-third to one-half

However, sudden growth also had its negative effects. The vast majority of the new Bahá’ís knew little about the teachings of their new religion; hence many of the newly formed local spiritual assemblies had difficulty functioning. Withdrawal rates also jumped; perhaps one-third to one-half of the new believers did not remain Bahá’ís. Since the withdrawals occurred over many years, subsequent Bahá’í membership growth appeared to be less than it really was; for example, by 1979 the American Bahá’í membership had grown to seventy-five thousand, only fifteen thousand more than in 1974, but the increase reflected a much stronger enrollment rate than the net growth suggested. To complicate matters, some new Bahá’ís did not remain active but never notified the National Spiritual Assembly that they no longer considered themselves Bahá’ís. As a result, the percentage of the American Bahá’í membership with known addresses decreased. Nevertheless, the American Bahá’í community had grown significantly in size.

Not all of the expansion of the membership was caused by conversions from the youth culture. The Nine Year Plan was also the time when the American Bahá’í community first used techniques of teaching the Bahá’í Faith to large numbers of people. In the rural south, particularly in South Carolina, the African-American population proved particularly receptive and enrolled in the Faith by the thousands. Consolidation of the new Bahá’ís proved more difficult and occurred at a slower pace. In South Carolina, the Louis G. Gregory Institute was established in 1972 to educate the local Bahá’ís. Hispanic and native American populations also were attracted to the Bahá’í Faith, particularly in the Southwest.

The Five Year Plan, which spanned the years between 1974 and 1979, saw a significant expansion in the number of local spiritual assemblies in the United States—from 822 to 1,489, 89 more than called for in the plan. Diversification of the community also continued. The number of Bahá’í communities on Indian reservations with local spiritual assemblies exceeded twenty-five. After 1975, Southeast Asian refugees became part of the American Bahá’í community. Some had been Bahá’ís in Vietnam and Cambodia, more had converted in Asian refugee camps around the world, and others became Bahá’ís in the United States. After the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1978, Iranian Bahá’í refugees also began to enter the United States; eventually about ten thousand settled.

One goal of the Five Year Plan—expanding the use of radio and television for Bahá’í broadcasts aimed at the proclamation of the Faith to greater numbers of listeners, as well as deepening the faith of Bahá’ís, especially in rural areas—proved of great importance when the persecution of the Iranian Bahá’í community began in 1978. The American Bahá’ís had developed contacts with the media and, to some extent, with government officials. That experience proved useful in creating awareness of the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran. Throughout the Seven Year Plan (1979-86) and the Six Year Plan (1986-92), press coverage of the Iranian Bahá’ís was considerable, articles about the American Bahá’í community steadily increased, and the consequent awareness of the existence of the Bahá’í religion in the mind of the public steadily improved. In 1984 the Universal House of Justice declared that the Bahá’í Faith was emerging from obscurity, a long-sought goal of the Bahá’ís.

(World Order, Series 2, Volume 25 - Issue 3)

https://bahai.works/World_Order/Series2/Volume_25/Issue_3/Text

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Removing a believer from the Baha'i membership list

Inactivity alone is not a cause for removing a believer from the Bahá’í membership list. Removal can be done only when the believer himself withdraws from the Faith or is removed from the list of voting members by formal administrative action.

(Baha'i News, No. 195, May, 1947)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_195/Text

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an administration they must obey

"Those who declare themselves as Bahá’ís should become enchanted with the beauty of the Teachings; and touched by the love of Bahá’u’lláh. The declarants need not know all the proofs, history, laws, and principles of the Faith, but in the process of declaring themselves they must, in addition to catching the spark of faith, become basically informed about the Central Figures of the Faith, as well as the existence of laws they must follow and an administration they must obey."

(Universal House of Justice, 13 July 1964)

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The Babi and Baha'i Faiths arose in the Twelver Shia Islam

The Babi and Bahá'í Faiths arose in the Twelver Shi`i milieu in Iran and are related in many ways to Shi`i belief, practice, and concepts.

(Shi`i Islam, Moojan Momen, 1995)

https://bahai-library.com/momen_encyclopedia_shii_islam

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Temporary Marriages (Mut'a, Sighih) of the Bab, Baha'u'llah and Subh-i-Azal

The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh both entered into temporary marriages (sighih). According to Bahá’í scholar Moojan Momen, "the practice of sighih, [is] a form of prostitution recognized and legalized in Shi'i Islam" (see The Baha'i Communities of Iran 1851–1921 Volume 1: The North of Iran).

The Báb’s temporary wife, Fátimih Khánum, was an Isfahání girl and the sister of the prominent Bábí Mullá Rajab-‘Alí. She was "married" around 1847, at the age of twenty-five, to "serve" the Báb during His sojourn in Isfahán.

After the death of the Báb, despite the fact that he had asked his wives not to remarry (see "Fátimih Khánum" on Bahaipedia, page now deleted but available via archive), Fátimih Khánum married Subh-i-Azal for one month. He later gave her in marriage to Siyyid Muhammad Isfahání (see The Baha'i Communities of Iran 1851–1921 Volume 2: The South of Iran).

---

Baha'u'llah married three times, first Asiyih "Nuvvab" Khanum in his youth, then his cousin, Mahd-i 'Ulya, whose family had been martyred; he had a number of children with each of these co-wives, in accordance with Middle Eastern customs of the time. In Baghdad he married Gawhar Khanum (the latter appears to have been a pro forma temporary marriage [mut'ah] of a sort required of Shi'ite law where a man had a live-in maid, and Gawhar Khanum had been brought into the household in the Shi'ite Karkh district in order to serve Asiyih Khanum). He had only one child, a daughter, with Gawhar Khanum). Baha'u'llah's eldest son and vicar, 'Abdu'l-Baha, later Interpreted the Most Holy Book to require monogamy. Baha'u'llah had altogether fourteen children from his three wives, including four daughters. Five of his sons predeceased him... Baha'u'llah died of a fever in 'Akka on 29 May 1892, at the age of 74."

("A Brief Biography of Baha'u'llah" Juan R.I. Cole, Department of History, University of Michigan)

https://web.archive.org/web/20170422142512/https://bahai-library.com/wwwboard/messages03/665.html

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how the idea of 750 rifles developed

About the firing squad, Sen McGlinn in one of his comment on Youtube, states:

The idea that the firing squad for the Bab's execution was very large is only found in much later reports. There are contemporary accounts that speak of a small firing squad, even a "platoon," and there are multiple contemporary accounts that say there was a firing squad, with no mention of its size, implying that it was what the observer and his expected reader understood by the term "firing squad." We also have some evidence about how the idea of 750 rifles developed, from bad translations and misunderstandings. This "transmission history" is also positive evidence that would have to be refuted to make a claim of a large firing squad plausible. I have some of the sources online on my Bahai Studies blog, under "750 muskets."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2ea2siOww8&lc=Ugz-UGy8ycywZ1Opn_B4AaABAg


This document contains multiple sources that have narrated the execution of the Bab in chronological order. These include multiple non-Baha'i sources including reports from British and Russian officials and etc. What is obvious, is that the earlier non-Baha'i sources do not mention the fancy miraculous and exaggerated claims that were later fabricated and propagated by Baha'is. It's an interesting document:

https://www.paintdrawer.co.uk/david/folders/spirituality/bahai/bab/Martyrdom%20of%20the%20Bab%20(Sources).doc

https://archive.org/details/martyrdom-of-the-bab-sources

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Abdu'l-Baha mistakenly calls Ja'far al-Sadiq "the seventh imam"

In a letter to Adib, Abdu'l-Baha calls Ja'far al-Sadiq "the seventh imam." Of course, Abdu'l-Baha likely knew Ja'far was the sixth imam, so it's a very minor mistake. He's a normal human, so you'd be right to shrug and say "who gives a shit." But for Baha'is who adopt the maximalist position that Abdu'l-Baha never made a mistake, it's a problem.

The letter is found in Mazandarani's Asrar, 1:82-3 (Phelps AB03482), which I typed up below. The context is the Constitutional Revolution, which Abdu'l-Baha says he asked the Baha'is to stay away from (there's a paper on the subject here). Sayyid Ali Akbar, who he mentions in the letter, kept him informed from Iran. Abdu'l-Baha is frustrated that some of the Baha'is aren't heeding his directives so he throws up his hands and says that God had other plans (a Shii idea called bada).

هو اللهان منادی پیمان ... در بدایت انقلاب ( انقلاب مشروطیت در ایران ( عبدالبهاء بنهایت همت کوشید که یاران بی طرف مانند و خیر دو جهت باشند ملاحظه شد که بعضی تأویل مینمایند و مداخله میفرمایند و نتیجه آنست که حکومت بهانه نماید و ماده بعضو ضعیف ریزد و جميع احبای الهی را قتل عام کنند و واسطه صلح نمایند و بسبب این قضیه حکومت نفوذ شدید یابد و اقتدار جدید نماید جناب آقا سید علی اکبر را احضار نمودم گفتم که آنچه خواستیم یاران را از مداخله منع نمائیم ممکن نشد بعضی مایل به مداخله هستند و این نتایج مضره بخشد حال محض اینکه این مداخله را منع نمایم میخواهم که عبارتی در حق مرکز سلف نویسم اگـر چنانچه باید و شاید قیام نماید فبها والا از قضایای مسلمه امر الله است . به حضرت امام جعفر صادق گفتند که ما منتظر معصوم سابع بودیم و سابعهم قائمهم میگفتند چگونه شد که تحقق نیافت فرمودند آن سابع منم ولی بدا شد خلاصه بمومی الیه گفتم که در قائمیت اما جعفر صادق بدا جائز بود حال اگر چنانچه باید و شاید معمول نگردد بدا سهل است .

He is God!

O herald of the covenant….At the beginning of the (Constitutional) Revolution, Abdul-Baha tried very hard to ensure that the friends remained neutral and well-wishers of both sides. It was observed that some were misinterpreting (my instructions) and interfering. The result is that the government uses this (interference) as a pretext to weaken and eliminate a member (of parliament), massacre all the divine loved ones, and make peace through mediation [i.e. play the peacekeeper], thereby allowing the government to gain significant influence and assert new authority.

I summoned Aqa Sayyid Ali Akbar and said, “We wanted to prevent the friends from intervening but it was not possible. Some are inclined to interfere and this will have harmful consequences.

Now, simply to prevent this intervention, I want to write a statement about the center of the predecessors [the Qa’im]. If he arises as he must and should, then good; otherwise, it is one of the settled decrees of God. They said to Imam Ja'far Sadiq, “We were waiting for the seventh infallible (imam), for as the (imams) used to say 'the seventh is their Qa'im.’” When asked why it did not materialize, Ja’far said, “That seventh is me, but bada happened.” In summary, I told (Sayyid Ali Akbar) that for Ja’far Sadiq, being the Qa'im was permissible. If something does not happen as it should, it is simply bada.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/1co10og/abdulbaha_mistakenly_calls_jafar_alsadiq_the/

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Baha'i administration defends its image at the expense of justice

Dr. Hossain Danesh a former secretary of the NSA of Canada lost his psychiatry license after multiple sexual abuse allegations. Instead of being decisively removed or publicly condemned within the Baha'i community he was given a prominent role at Landegg University and later supported in returning back to Canada to conduct seminars, on topics like "Healthy Marriage and Family Life."!

In another case a young Baha'i girl accused her father (then chair of an NSA) of sexual abuse. Rather than prioritizing the victim, the institutions allegedly focused on protecting their reputation. Baha'i administration defends its image and its important people even at the expense of justice and victims.

See: 

https://web.archive.org/web/20170823184205/http://bahairants.com/hossain-danesh-heavily-promoted-by-nsa-1048.html

https://www.oocities.org/shirinstory/bacquet.html

https://bahaitheway.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

https://archive.org/details/bahai-scandals

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The BIC owns the copyrights to the texts of the four Central figures of the Baha'i Faith and the texts of letters of the UHJ

The entire contents of the Baha'i World Centre Etext Server are copyrighted by the Baha'i International Community, Copyright (c) 1994, All Rights Reserved, as a collective work (compilation copyright). They may be freely redistributed in their entirety provided that this copyright notice is not removed...

The Baha'i International Community asserts that it owns the copyrights to the texts of the four Central figures of the Baha'i Faith (The Bab, Baha'u'llah, Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi) and the texts of letters of the Universal House of Justice, which are available for distribution by the Baha'i World Centre Etext Server, as part of its compilation copyright.

(February 1997, The Secretariat, Baha'i International Community, P.O. Box 155 31001, Haifa - Israel)

https://sacred-texts.com/bhi/cnote.txt

All material on this website, including but not limited to, text, photographs, images, illustrations, maps, audio clips, and video clips (“Content”) is protected by copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property rights. The Bahá’í International Community retains full legal protection for its Content under all applicable national and international laws.

https://www.bahai.org/legal

Trademarks owned by the Baha'i Administration

https://www.trademarkia.com/the-universal-house-of-justice-88806367

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