why the violators of the Covenant should be avoided by loyal believers

The three were continually manipulated, their feelings exacerbated from day to day, until all three reached a crisis of faith and were near collapse.

If anyone cares to ask why the violators of the Covenant should be avoided by loyal believers, this one sad episode would be answer enough. Khan came to see from this and other episodes that the violators are the serpent, the believers the hypnotized dove. Or to use another metaphor, the violators are sick with a mortal disease, and if the believers, by associating with them, hope to bring them back to health, all that happens is the believers are infected themselves. He noted that once the Covenant-breakers had won over a soul, they would cast that soul out. After all, what had they to give? Loyalty and love? They would not be faithful to anyone else, he reasoned, those who were not faithful to Bahá’u’lláh. And they were not outside enemies of the Faith, Sauls who might one day become Pauls. They were not those backsliders, ineffectuals, who quietly drop away. These were contaminators and killers—they were what the Qur’án calls ‘the diseased of heart’.[76] ‘… guide into the torment of the Flame’, the Qur’án says of Satan, ‘whoever shall take him for his Lord.’[77] Satan, the dark side of man, will seize a soul, then cast him out, and tell him, ‘I cannot aid you, neither can ye aid me. I never believed that I was His [God’s] equal …’[78] Nor should anyone imagine that these persons are stupid: English has preserved a tribute to their mental powers in such expressions as ‘fiendish ingenuity’ and ‘diabolical intelligence’.

(Summon Up Remembrance by Marzieh Gail, Oxford: George Ronald, 1987)

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/g/gail_summon_up_remembrance.pdf

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This photograph Mírzá Asadu’lláh showed about everywhere, and the believers rewarded him with funds.

Khan had also learned from a confidential source that during this visit Mirza Asadu’llah had been entrusted with a secret mission by ‘Abdu’l-Baha. This assigned task was to meet with certain Persian Baha’is and receive from them a box containing the holy remains of the Bab, carefully hidden ever since His body and that of His companion, crushed by the bullets into a single mass, had been cast out onto the edge of the moat at Tabriz on the day of the martyrdom (July 9, 1850) and removed by the faithful in the middle of the second night. To protect the sacred dust from the ever-watchful mullas of Shiah Islam, the remains had been concealed in one place after another: here in a private home, there in a shrine, finally in and near the capital, until 1899. Let alone the mullas, the believers themselves were also a danger to the holy remains, because they were irresistibly drawn in great crowds to whatever spot was rumored to be the hiding place.

When Mirza Asadu’llah, together with his son Aminu’llah, later known as Dr Farid, was on his way back from Persia and, still obligated to exercise the greatest precaution, had stopped in Beirut, he called in six other believers, so that there would be eight with himself and his son, and had a group photograph taken, together with the sacred box. Beneath the group he wrote this verse from the Qur’an: ‘... on that day eight shall bear up the throne of thy Lord.’ This photograph Mírzá Asadu’lláh showed about everywhere, and the believers rewarded him with funds.

(Summon Up Remembrance by Marzieh Gail, Oxford: George Ronald, 1987)

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Number Nineteen

Turning now to the mystic number nineteen: it is found in the sacred formula of Islám which contains nineteen letters as does the Bismi’lláhi’l-Amana‘i’l-Aqdas of the Báb, and it is from these that the Nineteen “Letters of the Living” are derived: each letter represents a holy person surrounding the manifestation of the Báb.

(THE RELATION OF THE BÁB TO THE TRADITIONS OF ISLÁM BY WANDEN MATHEWS LAFARGE)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_World/Volume_3/The_Relation_of_the_Báb_to_the_Traditions_of_Islám

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how few are those that have inclined their ear to its voice!

The Pen of the Most High is unceasingly calling; and yet, how few are those that have inclined their ear to its voice!

(Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh by Bahá’u’lláh, XCVI (Selection 96))

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Quote on Free Speech by a Baha'i

"There is no free speech in the real world and you will be suppressed for telling the truth that is not supported by the system."

-Nasim Aghdam

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Some scholarly and academic sources against the Baha'i faith

Books:

1) What is the Baha'i faith? by William Miller

2) Making the invisible visible by Denis MacEoin

3) Religion and Cyberspace by Morten T. Hojsgaard, Margit Warburg

4) Citizens of the World by Margit Warburg

5) The sources for early Babi doctrine and history by Denis MacEoin

6) The Messiah of Shiraz by Denis MacEoin

7) The Baha'i Faith in America by William Garlington

8) Resurrection and Renewal - The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 844-850 by Abbas Amanat

9) Nuqtat'ul-Kaf by Edward Browne

10) New History of Ali Mohammed The Bab by Edward Browne

11) Materials for the study of the Babi religion by Edward Browne

12) Baha'is in Exile by Vernon Elvin Johnson

13) The Religion of the Bayan and the claims of the Baha'is by Jalal S. Azal

14) A lost history of the Baha'i faith by Shua'u'llah Behai

15) Broken Silence - The story of today's struggle for religious freedom by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab

16) The Bahai Religion and its Enemy the Bahai Organization by Ruth White

17) The Complete Call to the Heaven of the Bayan by August J. Stenstrand

18) Twelve Principles: A Comprehensive Investigation on the Baha'i Teachings by Masoud Basiti, Zahra Moradi, Hossein Akhoondali

19) A Fraudulent Testament Devalues the Bahai Religion into Political Shoghism by Hermann Zimmer

20) History and Doctrines of the Babi Movement by Maulana Muhammad Ali of the Ahmadiyya Movement

21) Abdul Baha's grandson - Story of a twentieth century Excommunication by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab

22) Abdul Baha's Questioned Will and Testament by Ruth White

23) Modernity and the Millennium by Juan R. I. Cole

24) Baha'i Leads Out of the Labyrinth by Ruth White

Articles:

1) Baha’ism: Some Uncertainties about its Role as a Globalizing Religion by Denis MacEoin

2) The Baha'i Faith in America, 1893-1900: A Diffusion of the American Religious Zeitgeist by Joshua Rager

3) The Baha’i minority in the State of Israel, 1948–1957 by Randall S. Geller

4) The Baha'is of Iran - The Roots of Controversy by Denis MacEoin

5) The Babi concept of Holy War by Denis MacEoin

6) Challenging apostasy: Responses to Moojan Momen’s ‘Marginality and Apostasy in the Baha’i Community’ by M. Stausberg

7) Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy in Nineteenth-Century Shi'ism - The Cases of Shaykhism and Babism by Denis MacEoin

8) Fundamentalism in the contemporary U.S. Baha'i community by Juan R. I. Cole

9) The Baha'i Community of Acre by Erik Cohen

10) The Azali-Baha'i crisis of September, 1867 by Juan R. I. Cole

11) Half the Household Was African: Recovering the Histories of Two Enslaved Africans in Iran, Haji Mubarak and Fezzeh Khanum by Anthony A. Lee

12) The illegitimacy and fraud of the bogus UHJ is exposed through Ali Nakhjavan's blatant perversion of the truth by Nosrat Bahremand

13) An Examination of Suppression and Distortion in 20th Century Baha'i Literature by Vance Salisbury

14) Race, Immorality and Money in the American Baha’i Community by Juan R. I. Cole

15) The Baha'i Faith in America as Panopticon, 1963-1997 by Juan R. I. Cole

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Abdul Baha's stand on domestic violence

“Hold thy husband dear and always show forth an amiable temper towards him, no matter how ill tempered he may be. Even if thy kindness maketh him more bitter, manifest thou more kindliness, more tenderness, be more loving and tolerate his cruel actions and ill-treatment”.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Lights of Guidance, p. 226)

Women should be obedient to their husbands:

“O Handmaids of the Self-Sustaining Lord! Exert your efforts so that you may attain the honour and privilege ordained for women. Undoubtedly the greatest glory of women is servitude at His Threshold and submissiveness at His door; it is the possession of a vigilant heart, and praise of the incomparable God; it is heartfelt love towards other handmaids and spotless chastity; it is obedience to and consideration for their husbands and the education and care of their children; and it is tranquility, and dignity, perseverance in the remembrance of the Lord, and the utmost enkindlement and attraction”.

(Universal House of Justice, Lights of Guidance, p. 225)

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Unity among the Babis / Baha'is?

Historically such disloyalty, synchronizing with the expansion of the Faith, had its appearance when some who were professedly loyal to the Báb, disobeyed His Covenant by refusing to accept Bahá’u’lláh as the expected One of the Bayan. They were urged on by a sordid ambition which brought them ignominy, oblivion and loss. Later the same condition became apparent after the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh when a few corrupt people violated His solemn Covenant by refusing to accept its Center, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Again, a diminishing few, urged on by vaulting ambition and an obvious desire to organize within the Cause, a group that would circle around themselves, have refused to acknowledge the station of our beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, and the New World Order of administration called into being by the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

(Baha'i News, No. 133, February, 1940)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_133/Text

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Who are true Baha'is?

Our community health and vigor consists of an abounding faith—a deep, immovable conviction as to the fundamental truths which constitute the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. These fundamental truths are precisely those which the Guardian set forth as the qualifications of Bahá’ís:

“Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner, the Author, and the True Exemplar of the Bahá’í Cause, as set forth in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our Beloved’s sacred Will; and close association with the spirit as well as the form of the present day Bahá’í administration throughout the world ...”

Bahá’ís who have accepted these qualifications and not wavered in their devotion to them; Bahá’ís who realize that each individual believer should study and pray in order to remain in the spirit of the Faith, and whole-heartedly uphold the general activities of the Cause—these believers have health of spirit because they remain within the area of nearness where the Holy Spirit sends its beneficent rays.

(Baha'i News, No. 133, February, 1940)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_133/Text

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Defection of some of the great teachers of the Faith

The reaction of the believers in that country to the news of the defection of some of the great teachers of the Faith was to shun them almost immediately.

(The Child of the Covenant: A Study Guide to the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha by Adib Taherzadeh)

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Experience of a guy who was briefly involved with the Baha'i faith.

I was approached by the Bahai people and I joined their group because they preached to me the unity of all religions and it didn't matter what faith I had that we come together to work together for the betterment of the community and overall humanity but they also preached to me their religion and asked me to convert, I said why did I need to if it's about uniting all religions and faiths and then tell me I need to believe in their prophet and God, they tried to use me, waste my time and scam me for money, they are just like Jehovah witness, I never want anything to do with Bahai people ever again, they are all 2 faced liars.

Source : www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmgmocliRec

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By so doing, the Hands will be setting up a new category of Covenant-breakers, for which they have no authority, as far as I can see it.

MAY 12, 1960

STRONGLY DISAPPROVE BEG NO ACTION UNTIL RECEIVE MY LETTER.

Mason's claim is laughable, preposterous, abominable. It shows that his mind has deteriorated.... The action of those who uphold this ridiculous claim is indeed abominable. But I cannot bring myself to accept the thesis that the Hands have the authority to expel anyone for this reason. Where do the Hands obtain their authority to expel anyone from the Community? From the Will and the Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá These are the exact words of the Master, which I have read and read, and which I quote: "My object is to show that the Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and protest against the Guardian of the Cause of God, cast him out from the congregation of the people of Baha) and in no wise accept any excuse from him. How often hath grievous error been disguised in the garb of truth, that it might sow the seeds of doubt in the hearts of men!" Perhaps I'm mistaken, but nowhere else have I found the express authority given to the Hands of the Cause to expel people for any reason other than opposition to the Guardian. The Hands can and must expel anyone who associates with Covenant-breakers, old and new. They can and must expel anyone who disregards a definite injunction of the beloved Guardian. Such acts constitute opposition to Shoghi Effendi But I'm convinced (and perfectly ready and willing at the same time to believe otherwise, if conclusive proofs are shown to me) that the Hands have no authority to expel anyone for any other reason, albeit they are exercising their indubitable right to protect the Faith. By so doing, the Hands will be setting up a new category of Covenant-breakers, for which they have no authority, as far as I can see it. Now if the majority of the Hands agree in a Conclave that they are knowingly taking upon themselves powers, not given them by the Sacred Text, because it is forced upon them through circumstances beyond their control, I will have to submit to the majority decision, although under protest, and then I shall know where I stand. But at the present time unless you convince me to the contrary, I cannot accept this thesis as resting upon the sanction of the Sacred Text.

Hasan M. Balyuzi

(Ministry of the Custodians: An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause 1957-1963)

https://bahai-library.com/uhj_ministry_custodians&chapter=4

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Official Baha'i history of the Babi Movement and the Baha'i Religion by Moojan Momen

The approach of the Muslim year 1260 (1844) was accompanied by a general rise in expectancy of the return of the Hidden Imam. This was because that year marked the one thousandth anniversary of the disappearance of the Twelfth Imam and the beginning of the period of Occultation. There were several indications in the Qur'an and the Traditions that the dispensation of Muhammad would be one thousand years long and thus the year 1260 was greatly anticipated throughout the Shi'i world. (according to the Baha'i sources viz. Amanat and Cole)

Sayyid 'Ali Muḥammad Shīrāzī (1819-50), who took the title the Bāb (the Gate), was, until the death of Sayyid Kazim Rashtī in 1843, closely associated with the Shaykhi School. Then, in 1844, he put forward a claim and gained many adherents, initially mostly from among the Shaykhi School. At first the Bab only appeared to be claiming to be the Gate to the Hidden Imam and his followers kept to the Islamic Shari'a. But in 1848 he advanced the claim of being the returned Twelfth Imam himself who had come to abrogate the Islamic dispensation and inaugurate a new prophetic cycle.

Developing the argument of the Shaykhi School, from the Babī viewpoint, just as the Hidden Imam existed in the world of Hūrqalya, the realm of archetypal images, so the return of the Twelfth Imam was not the return of the self-same physical body of the Imam but rather the advent of a man who in the realm of Hūrqalya is the archetypal figure of the Imam. Thus it was that the Shaykhi teachings paved the way for the Bab and it is doubtful if the Bāb would have attracted so many adherents if it had not been for the Shaykhi doctrines.

The Bāb was put to death by a firing squad in Tabriz in 1850. He had appointed as his successor Mirza Yahyā, Subh-i Azal, and had prophesied the advent of another messianic figure whom he called 'Him whom God shall make manifest'. Privately in 1863 and publicly in 1866, Mirza Husayn 'Ali (1817-1892), who took the title Baha'u'llāh (Glory of God), claimed to be this messianic figure foretold by the Bāb. The majority of Babīs became Baha'is. Bahā'u'llāh considerably expanded the scope of his appeal beyond the confines of Shi'i Iran by claiming to be the fulfilment of the messianic expectations of other religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism

Baha'u'llāh was succeeded by his son 'Abbas Effendi (1844-1921), who took the title 'Abdu'l-Bahā (Servant of the Glory). He was given the position of authorised interpreter of Baha'u'llāh's teachings. He appointed his grandson, Shoghi Effendi (d. 1957), as Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. Since 1963 the religion has been administered by an elected body, the Universal House of Justice.

(An introduction to Shi'i Islam - The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism by Moojan Momen)

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Bahá’u’lláh is the Collective Center of unity

Today His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is the Collective Center of unity for all mankind, and the splendor of His Light has likewise dawned from the East. He founded the oneness of humanity in Persia. He established harmony and agreement among the various peoples of religious beliefs, denominations, sects and cults by freeing them from the fetters of past imitations and superstitions; leading them to the very foundation of the divine religions.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá 

(Star of the West, Volume 23 - Issue 12, Page 282)

https://bahai.works/Star_of_the_West/Volume_23/Issue_12/Text

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they should be placed immediately before the Universal House of Justice.

In matters related to the Covenant, the friends must be firm and steadfast; they should be wary, lest the arguments put forward by those who sow seeds of doubt become the cause for confusion or lead to disputation and disunity. Should questions arise that cannot be resolved, they should be placed immediately before the Universal House of Justice. The friends must be especially careful to avoid being enticed by the whisperings of the remnants of the Covenant-breakers and their supporters, who seek to shake the believers’ faith. Whereas in the past the violators of the Covenant sought to undermine the authority of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, today they challenge the Universal House of Justice. Of particular concern are those who, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá warns, “assert their firmness and steadfastness in the Covenant but when they come across responsive ears they secretly sow the seeds of suspicion.”

(THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE, 18 February 2008)

https://www.payamha-iran.org/sites/payamha-iran.org/files/sites/adefault/files/2008-02-18%20-%20English.pdf

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