Monday, July 31, 2017

It is impossible to imagine the House of Justice not seeking the true spiritual foundation of the matter in consultation with the Guardian.

Guardianship, House of Justice (UHJ), Will & Testament No comments

The House of Justice, however, has its own defined functions, upon which the Guardian may not encroach. "It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved.... This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them." The House of Justice deliberates on all matters not in the Book, and legislates, majority vote prevailing. The Guardian has one vote and no power of veto. Should he believe an adopted measure to be contrary to the spirit of the Faith, he will most certainly ask for a reconsideration, and it is impossible to imagine the House of Justice not seeking the true spiritual foundation of the matter in consultation with the Guardian.

It is noteworthy too that just as both institutions receive the same Divine care and protection, so the Guardian, by virtue of his membership, partakes of the authority vested in the House of Justice, although he has no individual legislative power.

These twin pillars of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, acting in close harmony, yet within clearly defined spheres, ensure the continuity of Divine guidance not only with respect to interpretation of the revealed Word, but also with respect to the practical application of the spiritual principles of the Faith to world affairs, as well as to legislative on those matters which Bahá'u'lláh has "deliberately left" out of "the body of His legislative and administrative ordinances" Authority therefore is vested in the House of Justice, according to the Will of Bahá'u'lláh and the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Guarantee, or guardianship, comes from the Guardian by virtue of his interpretation of the Word of God, the bedrock on which the whole structure is raised.

- Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha: A Commentary
by David Hofman published in Bahá'í World, Vol. 9 (1940-1944), pages 248-260

Baha'u'llah is the Supreme Manifestation of God, all others are servants unto Him.

Abdul-Baha, Baha'u'llah, Christians, Covenant, Islam, Jews, Will & Testament No comments

“His Holiness, the Exalted One, (the Báb) is the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and the Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty. His Holiness the Abhá Beauty (may my life be a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the Supreme Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine Essence. All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding.”

- The Will and Testament of Abdul Baha

https://bahai.works/Bah%C3%A1%E2%80%99%C3%AD_World/Volume_6/Part_2/Excerpts_from_the_Will_and_Testament_of_%E2%80%98Abdu%E2%80%99l-Bah%C3%A1

The House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them.

Abdul-Baha, Guardianship, New World Order (NWO), Will & Testament, World Peace No comments

This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the executive (Baha'i Guardian), the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces (The "Twin Pillars"), the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.

- Will and Testament of Abdul Baha

https://bahai.works/Bah%C3%A1%E2%80%99%C3%AD_World/Volume_6/Part_2/Excerpts_from_the_Will_and_Testament_of_%E2%80%98Abdu%E2%80%99l-Bah%C3%A1

It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor

Abdul-Baha, Guardianship, Will & Testament No comments

It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing. He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment from all worldly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus, should the first-born of the guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words: - "the child is the secret essence of its sire," that is, should he not inherit of the spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must he, (the guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed him.

- Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, page 12

Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body.

Abdul-Baha, Guardianship, House of Justice (UHJ), Will & Testament No comments

Unto this body all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him,..

- Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, page 14

Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh would be mutilated

Abdul-Baha, Guardianship, Shoghi Effendi, Will & Testament No comments

Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. “In all the Divine Dispensations,” He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, “the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophethood hath been his birthright.” Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/WOB/wob-40.html

Here, and elsewhere, Shoghi Effendi clearly envisions the two institutions functioning at the same time,* and this would also seem to be implied by the Will and Testament at page 11:

"and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendents" and "It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice...to show their obedience...unto the guardian...to turn unto him and be lowly before him."

* Wellspring of Guidance, p. 86: "He obviously envisaged their functioning together..."

Guardianship from generation to generation.

Abdul-Baha, Guardianship, Will & Testament No comments

In the Will and Testament which He left as His final blessing and guidance for the Baha'i community the believers of the world have been given the charter of their evolving Faith. By that momentous document 'Abdu'l-Baha revealed the continuity of divine guidance for human affairs throughout this cycle in the succession of the station of Guardianship from generation to generation.

To this station He attributed the sole power and authority to interpret the Baha'i Sacred Writings, and this station He joined to the Universal House of Justice instituted by Baha'u'llah by making each successive Guardian its chairman for life.

The Baha'i World, Vol. 9, Page 738

https://bahai-library.com/docs/bw/usnsa_bahai_world_9.txt

Abdul Baha opened the door while I was naked.

Abdul-Baha, Story No comments

I asked again, and he replied, "Don't ask! I am afraid I may be driven out of paradise. You see, I always lock the bathroom door when I bathe. This time I neglected to make sure that the door was locked. When the Master knocked on the bathroom door and called my name, without thinking I asked Him to come in. He opened the door while I was naked. I was terribly embarrassed: I realized I had done what Adam did!"

Memories of Nine Years in Akka by Youness Afroukhteh translated by Riaz Masrour.

https://bahai-library.com/afroukhteh_nine_years_akka

Entry by troops will remain the focus of the global Plans

Baha'i Activities, Converting People, Entry by Troops, House of Justice (UHJ) No comments

On July 27, 2000, the Universal House of Justice addressed a letter "to the Friends Gathered at the Youth Congress in the Dominican Republic" wherein it is stated "advancing the process of entry by troops will remain the focus of the global Plans that will carry the Bahá’í community to the end of the first century of the Formative Age."

http://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20000727_001/20000727_001.pdf

"No Publisher Has the Right to Alter Author's Manuscript" but many Bahá'í books have had significant edits, deletions, and additions since their authors' deaths

Censorship, House of Justice (UHJ) No comments

On July 28, 1966, the Universal House of Justice stated "A publishing trust has the right to refuse publication of any particular title, and a National Assembly has the right to review any proposed Bahá'í publication for accuracy and propriety. But no publisher has the right to alter or change an author's manuscript without his knowledge and consent."

No Publisher Has the Right to Alter Author's Manuscript

"A publishing trust has the right to refuse publication of any particular title, and a National Assembly has the right to review any proposed Bahá'í publication for accuracy and propriety. But no publisher has the right to alter or change an author's manuscript without his knowledge and consent."

(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice written to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, July 28, 1966)

http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance.html&chapter=2#n359

Many Bahá'í books have had significant edits, deletions, and additions since their authors' deaths for various reasons, including failed prophecies.

http://bahai-library.com/salisbury_critical_examination_literature

The Bible is not wholly authentic, and in this respect is not to be compared with the Quran

Baha'u'llah, Christians, Islam, Jews, Quran, Shoghi Effendi No comments

"...the friends should unhesitatingly, and for reasons that are only too obvious, give precedence to the sayings of Bahá'u'lláh which, it should be pointed out, are fully corroborated by the Qur'an, which book is more authentic than the Bible including both the New and the Old Testaments. The Bible is not wholly authentic, and in this respect is not to be compared with the Qur'an, and should be wholly subordinated to the authentic writings of Bahá'u'lláh."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, July 28, 1936: Bahá'í News, No. 103, p. 1, October 1936)

http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance_2.html&chapter=4#n1688

These religions are not the only true religions that have appeared in the world, but are the only ones still existing.

Christians, Islam, Jews, Shoghi Effendi, Takfir No comments

"The number nine which in itself is the number of perfection is considered by the Bahá'ís as sacred because it is symbolic of the perfection of the Bahá'í Revelation which constitutes the ninth in the line of existing religions, the latest and fullest Revelation which mankind has ever known. The eighth is the religion of the Bab, and the remaining seven are: Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the religion of the Sabeans. These religions are not the only true religions that have appeared in the world, but are the only ones still existing. There have always been divine Prophets and Messengers, to many of whom the Qur'an refers. But the only ones existing are those mentioned above."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, July 28, 1936: Bahá'í News, No. 105, February 1937, p. 2)

http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance_2.html&chapter=4#n1373

Baha'i censorship

Censorship, Covenant-Breakers, Shoghi Effendi No comments

On July 28, 1944, Shoghi Effendi cabled Indian Bahá’ís "Urge hasten translation publication "New Era" (into) languages recently chosen. Kindly mail hundred copies each as soon as published."

JULY 28, 1944

URGE HASTEN TRANSLATION PUBLICATION NEW ERA LANGUAGES RECENTLY CHOSEN. KINDLY MAIL HUNDRED COPIES EACH AS SOON AS PUBLISHED.

SHOGHI

John Esslemont's book Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era remains an important text that has been used in Bahá'í missionary activity. However, from its initial publication to later editions, Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era has been significantly edited, with references to Avarih removed in subsequent editions published after Avarih's apostasy from the Bahá'í Faith.

Other significant edits include...

Perhaps the most important change in Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era was made on page 212 of the 1923 edition. Recorded as a Bahá'í prophecy (59) concerning the "Coming of the Kingdom of God," Esslemont cited Abdu'l-Bahá's interpretation of the last two verses of the Book of Daniel from the Bible. He stated that the 1335 days spoken of by Daniel represented 1335 solar years from Muhammad's flight to Medina in 622 A.D., which would equal 1957 A.D.. When asked "'What shall we see at the end of the 1335 days?'," Abdu'l-Bahá's reply was: "'Universal Peace will be firmly established, a Universal language promoted. Misunderstandings will pass away. The Bahá'í Cause will be promulgated in all parts and the oneness of mankind established. It will be most glorious!'" (60) In editions published after his death, Esslemont's words have been changed to say that Abdu'l-Bahá "reckoned the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy from the date of the beginning of the Muhammadan era " (61) and one of Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets is quoted on the same subject in which he writes, "'For according to this calculation a century will have elapsed from the dawn of the Sun of Truth....'" Esslemont appears to conclude that Abdu'l-Bahá was referring to the year 1963 and the one hundredth anniversary of Bahá'u'lláh's public claim to be a Manifestation of God. (62) These words, however, were never written by the author, but were added posthumously. And, it should be noted that the phrase "'the dawn of the Sun of Truth'" is not a reference to a particular year, in this case 1863, but to a period of years when the Bab and his followers were preparing the way for the Manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh. Hence, they are commonly referred to as the "Dawn-Breakers." (63) Further, in another quotation which originally appeared on the same page, but was also removed from later editions, Abdu'l-Bahá plainly stated, "' This is the Century of the Sun of Truth. This is the Century of the establishment of the Kingdom of God upon the earth.'" (64) Esslemont recorded Abdu'l-Bahá as declaring explicitly that the prophecy was to be computed from the Hijra or 622 A.D. and that specific conditions would exist in the world upon it's fulfillment in 1957. When it became apparent that this Bahá'í prophecy would not be fulfilled, it was replaced with the ambiguous material which has remained in the text to the present. This is evident from the fact that, although Esslemont's other eyewitness accounts were removed in the 1937 revision, the record of Abdu'l-Bahá's prophecy was left intact by the American National Spiritual Assembly and Shoghi Effendi. It was not changed until after 1957. (65) Also, Abdu'l-Bahá's conviction that all of these events would take place in this century have been expressed in other writings and it is evident that Shoghi Effendi shared his optimism as well. (66)

http://bahai-library.com/salisbury_critical_examination_literature

Unity of nations will be established in twentieth century.

Abdul-Baha, House of Justice (UHJ), Prophecy, Shoghi Effendi, World Peace No comments

On 29th July 1974, the Universal House of Justice admitted "It is true that Abdu'l-Bahá made statements linking the establishment of the unity of nations to the twentieth century."

Peace Will Come

"It is true that Abdu'l-Bahá made statements linking the establishment of the unity of nations to the twentieth century. For example: '...The fifth candle is the unity of nations--a unity which, in this century, will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland....' And, in 'The Promised Day is Come', following a similar statement quoted from 'Some Answered Questions', Shoghi Effendi makes this comment: 'This is the stage which the world is now approaching, the stage of world unity, which, as Abdu'l-Bahá assures us, will, in this century, be securely established.'

"There is also this statement from a letter written in 1946 to an individual believer on behalf of the beloved Guardian by his secretary:

'...All we know is that the Lesser and the Most Great Peace will come--their exact dates we do not know. The same is true as regards the possibility of a future war; we cannot state dogmatically it will or will not take place--all we know is that mankind must suffer and be punished sufficiently to make it turn to God.'"

(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice, July 29, 1974: Ibid.)

http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance_2.html&chapter=4#n1425

The friends should uphold Islam as a revealed Religion...but need not make, any particular attempt to teach it...

Baha'u'llah, Imam Ali, Imam Husayn, Islam, Shoghi Effendi No comments

Clarification of Certain Issues Regarding Islam, the Imam Husayn, the Imamate, etc.

"Ali's appointment was clear to the Khalifs, who actually disregarded the Prophet's oral statements.

"The usurpation occurred immediately after the Prophet's death.

"Ali did not feel unqualified, but wished to avoid schism, which, unfortunately, could not be prevented.

"The schisms that have afflicted the religions preceding the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh establish its distinction from all previous Revelations, and single it out among all other Dispensations, as stated by Abdu'l-Bahá.

"The guidance vouchsafed to the Imams regarding the laws and institutions of Islam was absolute and unqualified. Their infallibility was derived directly from the Manifestation.

"The Bab's descent from the Imam Husayn is no doubt a proof of the validity of the Imamate. According to Nabil the dream the Bab had made him first conscious of His Revelation.

"The precedence of the name Husayn over Ali does establish the greatness of Imam Husayn.

"Imam Husayn has, as attested by the Iqan, been endowed with special grace and power among the Imams, hence the mystical reference to Bahá'u'lláh as the return of Imam Husayn, meaning the Revelation in Bahá'u'lláh of those attributes with which Imam Husayn had been specifically endowed.

"Joseph was one of the 'Sent Ones' of the Qur'an, meaning a Manifestation of God.

"The friends should uphold Islam as a revealed Religion in teaching the Cause but need not make, at present, any particular attempt to teach it solely and directly to non-Bahá'ís at this time.

** "The mission of the American Bahá'ís is, no doubt, to eventually establish the truth of Islam in the West.**

** "The spirit of Islam, no doubt, was the living germ of modern Civilization; which derived its impetus from the Islamic culture in the Middle Ages, a culture that was the fruit of the Faith of Muhammad."**

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, July 30, 1941)

http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance_2.html&chapter=4#n1665

How can we belong to a church which does not accept Bahá'u'lláh and His message?

Baha'u'llah, Christians, Shoghi Effendi No comments

As regards the question you asked him: he feels that the Bahá'ís in Germany should, by all means, follow the same procedure as regards withdrawing from church membership as that in America. You should point out to the believers that, by belonging to other organized religious bodies, we are not acting openly because we firmly believe Christ has come again--so how can we belong to a church which does not accept Bahá'u'lláh and His message as the fulfilment of Jesus' message and the reappearance of Jesus Himself?

http://bahai-library.com/writings/shoghieffendi/ldg/vol1/sec-66.html

Local Spiritual Assemblies according to the UHJ

House of Justice (UHJ), Money, New World Order (NWO), NSA No comments

The Universal House of Justice described Local Spiritual Assemblies as "having lofty station", "embryos of the majestic institutions ordained by Bahá'u'lláh in His Writings" listing tasks such as "to act as a loving shepherd to the Bahá'í flock...familiarize the Bahá'ís with its plans...encourage him (them)...to contribute freely and regularly to the Fund."

http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance.html&chapter=1#n149

Mirza Yahya was nominated by the Bab

Azali, Baha'u'llah, House of Justice (UHJ), Subh-i-Azal No comments

Mírzá Yaḥyá was nominated by the Báb to serve as a figure-head for the Bábí community pending the imminent manifestation of the Promised One. At the instigation of Siyyid Muḥammad-i-Iṣfahání (see note 192), Mírzá Yaḥyá betrayed the trust of the Báb, claimed to be His successor, and intrigued against Bahá’u’lláh, even attempting to have Him murdered. When Bahá’u’lláh formally declared His Mission to him in Adrianople, Mírzá Yaḥyá responded by going to the length of putting forward his own claim to be the recipient of an independent Revelation. His pretensions were eventually rejected by all but a few, who became known as Azalís (see note 177).

(Kitáb-i-Aqdas, note 190)

So on one hand, the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice testifies that Mirza Yahyá "was nominated by the Báb to serve as a figure-head for the Bábí community" and on the other, claims that he "betrayed the trust of the Báb" by claiming "to be His successor". WTH?

What is equally if not more confusing is that they accuse Mírzá Yahyá of claiming to be a Manifestation of God. Ummm if his argument against Bahá'u'lláh was that the next Manifestation - He Whom God shall manifest - is not prophesied to arise for at least 1511 years, how on earth did he claim to be one?

‘Abdu’l-Bahá immediately chastened His attendant by slapping him hard in the face

Abdul-Baha, Abuse No comments

Soon after the arrival of Bahá’u’lláh and His party in ‘Akka the Governor visited the barracks for inspection. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, accompanied by a few believers, went to see him. But the Governor was discourteous and spoke to them in a provocative manner. He threatened to cut the supply of bread if one of the prisoners went missing and then ordered them back to their room. One of the Master’s attendants could not bear to remain silent after such insulting treatment. He retorted with rage and hurled back at the Governor some offensive remarks. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá immediately chastened His attendant by slapping him hard in the face in front of the Governor and ordering him to return to his room.

The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 3, Chapter 1

http://www.peyman.info/cl/Baha'i/Others/ROB/V3/p001-031Ch01.html

She donned the Persian chader and veil

Abdul-Baha, Dissimulation, Pilgrims' Notes No comments

On Tuesday, June 12, 1906, after partaking of the midday meal with Him, 'Abdu'l-Bahá commanded me to go to visit the Holy Tomb at Bahji in company with my wife. She donned the Persian chader and veil (* As she did all through our visit to Akka and then during the entire length of our stay in Persia, in accord with the Command of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. *), and we took the baby with us. While my joy was great in revisiting the Holy Tomb, after years of separation, and in presenting Wife and Child at the Holy Threshold, the memory of the past years when I often visited the Tomb and Bahji with 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as well as the thought of the present changed conditions due to His imprisonment, weighed heavily upon my heart.

https://bahai-library.com/ali-khan_pilgrim-notes_1906#h16

Abdul Baha about the belief of certain Hindus.

Abdul-Baha, Hinduism, Pilgrims' Notes No comments

You have written concerning the statements of certain Hindus.

Exalted is God! (*Used as a note of exclamation.*) What speech is that and what an idea and supposition whose error is obvious! In the world of humanity, certain personages appeared who became the trainers of the world, shone forth like unto the sun, were adorned by the people of all religions, became recipients of Divine Revelations and dawning places of the light of Truth. Consider, therefore, the human temple, and see to what heights of loftiness and exaltation it has reached!

On the other hand, many exist as human beings who are adorers end worshippers of stone and clay, that is, the mineral, which is the lowest of beings. Consider how base and low are they when their object of worship is the basest of things, such as stone, clay and mineral!

How then can one compare the two above classes of human beings with each other? No, by God, this were a great calamity! The outward is the expression of the inward.

A witless person, no matter how intense a discipline he endures and how abundant an exertion it may make to become a new creation, he never can attain the station of the Dawning-places of Revelation and Day-springs of Inspiration. The "Tree of Zakum" (* Koran - a tree of bitterest fruit. *) will not become a lofty palm tree, and the fell colocynth (i.e., bitter-apple) will never bear a sweet fruit. What imagination is this? What a strange superstition and supposition is this! How astonishing that people listen to such superstition!

https://bahai-library.com/ali-khan_pilgrim-notes_1906#h16

Abdul Baha: "Jinabi Tahirih had a good appetite."

Abdul-Baha, Pilgrims' Notes, Story, Tahirih No comments

As a nursing mother, my wife apologized to 'Abdu'l-Bahá for what she spoke of as her "great appetite." He however referred to her duties as a mother and the labors which make part of that calling, and to the need therefore for more than usual nourishment. Speaking of appetite and taking food, He (AB) said further in part: "Virtue and excellence consist in true faith in God, not in having a small or a large appetite for food, or in similar matters. Jinabi Tahirih (Qurrat-ul-Ayn) had a good appetite. When asked concerning it, she would answer, 'It is recorded in the Holy traditions that one of the recorded attributes of the people of paradise is "partaking of food, continually."'

https://bahai-library.com/ali-khan_pilgrim-notes_1906#h16

A bee was circling His Blessed Temple.

Abdul-Baha, Baha'u'llah, History, Story No comments

One day I was standing in the presence of the Blessed Beauty and with a fan was cooling Him. A bee was circling His Blessed Temple. No matter how I tried to disperse the bee with the fan, the bee would not leave. At the end, I brought the fan in that direction and said, "Mutasarrif*, leave us alone!" It so happened that the fan struck the bee and tore him into two parts, so that he dropped dead. The Blessed Beauty said, "You obliterated the Mutasarrif!"

With Abdu'l-Bahá: The Diary of Mirza 'Isa Khan Isfahani by Mirza `Isa Khan Isfahani translated and edited by Ahang Rabbani.

https://bahai-library.com/isfahani_rabbani_with_abdul-baha#17

*An administrative authority of an Ottoman sanjak

Abdul Baha slapped him in the ear, lifted him and threw him down from the height of the building.

Abdul-Baha, Abuse, History, Story No comments

One day I (Abdul Baha) was sitting in the house's veranda and saw that the Mufti and another person came and said, "Do you have extra chairs?" I replied, "Yes." They came and sat. After some discussion, with reference [to the situation], they conveyed, "It is best to give us some money so we would conclude this affair." I did not heed them. He said, "At any event, I have rented this house."

With great determination, the investigators began to investigate the situation. One day I saw that one of them had come, knocking on the door. I did not wish to receive him. He cried out, "I have a critical matter to discuss." They opened the door. He came in, sat and after some discussions said, "If you give some money, this affair will conclude." I said to him, "Your purpose was then money. Why did you not say sooner? Wait and I will go bring money."

I went and performed My ablutions and stood for obligatory prayer. Afterwards, I recited prayers. He was in a hurry and I was protracting [My meditations].

At the end, I said to him, "I have sent the money." He inquired, "With whom did you send it?" I replied, "Stand up!" Then slapped him in the ear, lifted him and threw him down from the height of the building.

With Abdu'l-Bahá: The Diary of Mirza 'Isa Khan Isfahani by Mirza `Isa Khan Isfahani translated and edited by Ahang Rabbani.

https://bahai-library.com/isfahani_rabbani_with_abdul-baha#17

The Unseen, the Inaccessible, the Transcendent One lamenteth and weepeth...

Baha'u'llah, Godhood, Provisional Translation No comments

O Jamál! The Unseen, the Inaccessible, the Transcendent One (God; ghayb-i maní` lá yudrak) lamenteth and weepeth for He inhaleth not the fragrance of that which, in this Day, is beloved (of God).

- Baha'u'llah's tablet to Jamal-i-Burujirdi

https://bahai-library.com/bahaullah_lawh_jamal_burujirdi

Baha'u'llah is God !?

Baha'u'llah, Godhood, Provisional Translation No comments

There are those who have attained to the highest levels of spiritual comprehension (a'la marátib-i 'irfán) while others are different therefrom. For example, one person envisages the Unseen the Transcendent, the Inaccessible One (God; ghayb-i maní' la yudrak) in the Person (haykal) of the Manifestation (of God; zuhúr) without making any distinction (fasl; or division) or connection (between them; wasl; or union). Others there are who recognise the Person (haykal) of the Manifestation (of God, zuhúr) as the Appearance of God ([Himself] or theophany, zuhúr'u'lláh) and consider the commands and prohibitions of the Manifestation (of God, zuhúr) to be identical with such as originate with the one True God. These two positions (maqám) are both acceptable before the throne of God. If however, the supporters of these two positions should contend and quarrel with one another in their exposition of the two perspectives, both groups are, and hath ever been, rejected.

- Baha'u'llah's tablet to Jamal-i-Burujirdi

https://bahai-library.com/bahaullah_lawh_jamal_burujirdi

Disbandment of Haifa Spiritual Assembly

Covenant-Breakers, Israel, NSA, Shoghi Effendi No comments

...the Haifa Spiritual Assembly was disbanded by Shoghi Effendi at the time he sent the local community away in 1938 and 1939.

https://bahai-library.com/khanum_priceless_pearl&chapter=14

Note :

This happened at the time that Shoghi Effendi was sending the Bahá'í community in Palestine, all of them Persians, back to Iran. Many of these individuals were promised financial assistance for their resettlement by the Guardian, but never received any, becoming quite destitute. The few who remained were those intimately involved in the Administration, including the relatives who had been or later would be declared Covenant-breakers.

Shoghi Effendi's decision to disband the Palestinian Bahá'í community can only be understood in the context of the history of Palestine at the time. For example, in 1937, one year before Shoghi Effendi "sent the local community away in 1938 and 1939," the Peel Commission proposed a partition of Palestine with the establishment of separate Jewish and Arab states. According to Benny Morris, Ben-Gurion and Weizmann saw this as a stepping stone to some further expansion and the eventual takeover of the whole of Palestine.

In 1961, a cable from the Custodians declared Mason Remey to be a Convenant-breaker.

Baha'i Law, Covenant-Breakers, Ruhiyyih Khanum No comments

On 26 July in 1961, a cable from the Custodians declared Mason Remey to be a Convenant-breaker.

To All National Spiritual Assemblies, C/O BAHA'I WILMETTE

JULY 26, 1960

ENTIRE BODY HANDS OBEDIENT PROVISIONS WILL TESTAMENT CENTRE COVENANT COMMUNICATIONS BELOVED GUARDIAN ENJOINING THEM PROTECT HOLY CAUSE ATTACKS ENEMIES WITHIN WITHOUT ANNOUNCE BAHA'I WORLD MASON REMEY COVENANT BREAKER EXPELLED FAITH STOP ACTION FOLLOWS LONG PERIOD PATIENCE FORBEARANCE OPPORTUNITY GIVEN HIM WITHDRAW SHAMEFUL PRETENSION SACRED STATION GUARDIANSHIP CONSTITUTING HERETICAL CLAIM CONTRARY EXPLICIT PROVISIONS WILL MASTER STOP DESPITE UNIVERSAL REPUDIATION DENUNCIATION BY ALL HANDS INTERNATIONAL BAHA'I COUNCIL ALL NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES REMEY CONTINUING AGITATE UNFOUNDED CLAIM ACTIVELY SEEKING CREATE DIVISION RANKS FAITHFUL SOW SEEDS DOUBT HEARTS BELIEVERS UNDERMINE ACTIVITIES INSTITUTION HANDS CHIEF STEWARDS DEDICATED FULFILMENT BELOVED GUARDIAN'S TEN YEAR PLAN STOP ACCORDANCE INJUNCTION WILL TESTAMENT 'Abdu'l-Bahá, CALL UPON FRIENDS EVERYWHERE SHUN REMEY AND ANYONE ASSOCIATING WITH HIM OR ACTIVELY SUPPORTING HIS CLAIMS STOP CONFIDENT COMMUNITY MOST GREAT NAME UNITED WHOLEHEARTED CONDEMNATION THIS LATEST ILL-FATED ATTEMPT DISRUPT GOD's HOLY CAUSE WILL EMERGE TRIUMPHANT STRENGTHENED GALVANIZED ISSUE FORTH WIN REMAINING GOALS GLORIOUS WORLD ENCIRCLING CRUSADE STOP CABLE MESSAGE ALL NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES.

[CABLE]

HANDSFAITH

Shoghi Effendi received guidance from God!

Guardianship, Shoghi Effendi No comments

'When I became Guardian I did not know what the steps to be taken were. God guided me, and when He gave me guidance, I did what He guided me to do. And very often I didn’t know what the next step was going to be until I got the guidance, and when I got the guidance, we did it. And then I did not know, maybe, what the next step was going to be. I may have thought I knew what it was going to be, but I did not know, until I got the guidance, then I did it. I have supreme . . . confidence that God will guide me to do whatever is necessary for the Cause whenever it should be done.’ ‘And,’ he said, ‘the Bahá’ís of the world must have exactly that same confidence. They must have confidence that God will guide the Guardian to do what should be done for the welfare of the Cause at the moment it should be done—and unless they have that confidence the Cause cannot succeed.'

- Shoghi Effendi to Leroy Iaos, HOC
— Hand of the Cause of God, Leroy Ioas, In the Days of the Guardian

Achieving widespread publicity

Baha'i Activities, House of Justice (UHJ), NSA No comments

“National Bahá’í communities have organized and successfully conducted inter-religious conferences, peace seminars, symposiums on racism and other subjects on which we have a specific contribution to make, often achieving widespread publicity and the interest of highly-placed leaders of society.”

—The Universal House of Justice, A Wider Horizon 46-47

Baha'u'llah 'alone' can bring them peace and justice and an ordered life.

Baha'u'llah, Converting People, Covenant, House of Justice (UHJ) No comments

“Our task is to build the Order of Bahá’u’lláh. Undeflected by the desperate expedients of those who seek to subdue the storm convulsing human life by political, economic, social or educational programs, let us, with single-minded devotion and concentrating all our efforts on our objective, raise His Divine System and . . . demonstrate the Bahá’í way of life. Wherever a Bahá’í community exists, whether large or small, let it be distinguished for its abiding sense of security and faith, its high standard of rectitude, its complete freedom from all forms of prejudice, the spirit of love among its members and for the closely knit fabric of its social life. The acute distinction between this and present day society will inevitably arouse the interest of the more enlightened, and as the world’s gloom deepens the light of Bahá’í life will shine brighter and brighter until its brilliance must eventually attract the disillusioned masses and cause them to enter the haven of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, Who alone can bring them peace and justice and an ordered life.”

—Messages of the Universal House of Justice 12

Convert an increasing number of them into firmly founded groups

Converting People, Shoghi Effendi No comments

“A far greater proportion of the avowed supporters of the Faith must arise . . . for the fourfold purpose of winning over an infinitely greater number of recruits to the army of Bahá’u’lláh fighting on the home front, of swelling to an unprecedented degree the isolated centers now scattered within its confines, of converting an increasing number of them into firmly founded groups, and of accelerating the formation of local assemblies, while safeguarding those already in existence.”

—Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith 148

What is the "Universal House of Justice" doing?

Converting People, House of Justice (UHJ), New World Order (NWO) No comments

“From the beginning of this Dispensation the most urgent summons of the Word of God, voiced successively by the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, has been to teach the Cause. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His own words, ‘spent His days and nights in promoting the Cause and urging the peoples to service.’ Shoghi Effendi, discharging the sacred mission laid upon him, raised the Administrative Order of the Faith, already enshrined within the Sacred Writings, and forged it into a teaching instrument to accomplish through a succession of plans, national, international, and global, the entire Divine Plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and he clearly foresaw . . . a series of plans to be launched by the Universal House of Justice, extending over ‘successive epochs of both the Formative and Golden Ages of the Faith.’”

—The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance 22–23

Birth of a child out of wedlock

Abuse, Marriage, Sanctions, Shoghi Effendi No comments

"Generally, administrative rights should not be suspended because of the birth of a child out of wedlock. The questions to be considered are whether the party is guilty of blatant and flagrant immorality, whether such conduct is harming the Faith, and whether the believer has refused or neglected to improve her conduct despite repeated warnings.

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, March 23, 1983)
http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance.html&chapter=1#n206

‘Abdu’l-Bahá's 'Divine Plan"

Abdul-Baha, Entry by Troops, New World Order (NWO), Prophecy No comments

‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote the Tablets of the Divine Plan—His “grand design for the spiritual conquest of the planet.”1 This Plan, “divine in origin,”2 “the mightiest Plan ever generated through the creative power of the Most Great Name,” holds within it “the seeds of the world’s spiritual revival and ultimate redemption.”3

The Divine Plan, “impelled by forces beyond our power to predict or appraise,”4 is sweeping across the “five continents of the globe,” gathering “within the field of its operations nation after nation.”5 The implementation of this Plan will lead to the “enlargement of the limits of the Faith and the multiplication of its institutions over the face of the planet” and the “acceleration of the construction and completion of the administrative framework of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Order.”6

The Divine Plan will continue to unfold through “numerous crusades of successive epochs” that will reach “as far as the fringes” of the “Golden Age.”7

1 The Universal House of Justice, A Wider Horizon 49
2 Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith 7
3 Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith 62
4 Shoghi Effendi, Messages to America 101
5 Shoghi Effendi, Messages to America 97
6 Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith 7
7 Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith 21

Also check : The Spiritual Conquest of the Planet - Our Response to Plans - Melanie Smith and Paul Lample

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/s/smith_lample_spiritual_conquest.pdf

The financial condition of NSA of US in 1995

Money, NSA No comments

Currently, the agencies of the national administration are understaffed and under funded. Years of Fund deficits and repeated staff reductions have resulted in extreme austerity, with most of the friends at the National Center performing several functions at significant sacrifices to themselves and their families.

You state the "many NSA members serve as full-time paid employees, and some receive substantial perquisites." The reality is that three members of the National Assembly are compensated for their services -- the Secretary-General, the Assistant Secretary and the Secretary for External Affairs. The National Assembly annually reviews their status and establishes their compensation based on need, just as it does with other employees. There are no perquisites included.

The average level of compensation for staff of the National Assembly is $23,400, quite low considering the cost of living in Greater Chicagoland.

Moreover, despite an annual inflation rate in the Chicago area of 4%, the National Center personnel have only received increases totaling 3% over the last 14 years. A more detailed discussion of these and other questions can be found in the materials distributed at the National Convention.

We are saddened that the subject of compensation of the friends who serve the National Spiritual Assembly, at significant financial and professional sacrifice, has become a point of conjecture and contention among some of the believers.

The primary burden of the National Fund is properties, not staff, or the 3% spent on travel and other expenses. Maintenance and repair of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, the permanent schools and institutes, and the Bahá'í National Center costs millions of dollars each year. These funds are almost never available when needed and, therefore, must be borrowed. The accumulation of funds borrowed over time for building repairs accounts for the deficit in the National Fund. What you describe as "extraneous properties" are routinely sold, with the exception of those of negligible value for which buyers are difficult to find.

We hope that this information, and the detailed reports distributed at the National Convention will dispel the concerns held by a few members of the community.

You are in our prayers and in our hearts.

National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States

(signed) Robert C. Henderson

http://bahai-library.com/nsa_1995_convention_response

Affiliation with Faith Alone is Insufficient

Baha'i Law, Covenant, House of Justice (UHJ), Shoghi Effendi, Takfir No comments

"So far as non-Bahá'ís affiliating with the Bahá'í Faith is concerned, either a person becomes a Bahá'í and accepts Bahá'u'lláh as the divine Manifestation for this day, or he does not. The tenets of the Bahá'í Faith are simple as outlined by the Guardian, but they do not permit of any variations. In other words, if any members of the ... Movement wish to become Bahá'ís, they will be most welcome; but they can only become Bahá'ís on the basis of accepting Bahá'u'lláh as a divine Manifestation, and of course, with this goes the acceptance of the Bab as the Forerunner, and Abdu'l-Bahá as the Center of the Covenant, and the present Administrative Order.

"When a person has reached the sea of immortality, it is idle to keep seeking elsewhere...."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the Spiritual Assembly of Japan, July 24, 1953: Japan Will Turn Ablaze, pp. 76-77)

You must not dissociate yourself from Church

Abdul-Baha, Christians, Freemasonry, Islam, Jews No comments

During his visit to London in 1911, 'Abdu’l-Bahá had the following interaction with a Christian...

A student of the modern methods of the higher criticism asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá if he would do well to continue in the church with which he had been associated all his life, and whose language was full of meaning to him. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered: “You must not dissociate yourself from it. Know this; the Kingdom of God is not in any Society; some seekers go through many Societies as a traveller goes through many cities till he reach his destination. If you belong to a Society already do not forsake your brothers. You can be a Bahá’í-Christian, a Bahá’í-Freemason, a Bahá’í-Jew, a Bahá’í-Muḥammadán. The number nine contains eight, and seven, and all the other numbers, and does not deny any of them. Do not distress or deny anyone by saying ‘He is not a Bahá’í!’

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/ABL/abl-53.html#pg98

Greatest Name for blessing and protection.

Abdul-Baha, Miracles, Rituals, Ruhiyyih Khanum No comments

The Greatest Name, “Ya Baha’u’l-Abha”, was written in Persian script by the famous Baha’i calligrapher Mishkin- Qalam in the days of Baha’u’llah Himself Later ‘Abdu’l- Baha chose this design and advised the believers to place it in their homes as a blessing and protection.

A Manual for Pioneers, Ruhiyyih Rabbani, the frontispieces

Teach ye the Cause of God, O people of Bahá

Baha'u'llah, Converting People No comments

Teach ye the Cause of God, O people of Bahá, for God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds.

-Baha'u'llah in Gleanings

http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/GWB/GWB-128-printable.html

God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of teaching His Cause. Whoever ariseth to discharge this duty, must needs, ere he proclaimeth His Message, adorn himself with the ornament of an upright and praiseworthy character, so that his words may attract the hearts of such as are receptive to his call. Without it, he can never hope to influence his hearers.

-Baha'u'llah in Gleanings

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/GWB/gwb-158.html

Punishment for those who turn away from Baha'ism

Baha'u'llah, Punishment No comments

He who shall accept and believe (in Baha'i Faith), shall receive his reward; and he who shall turn away, shall receive none other than his own punishment.

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/GWB/gwb-161.html

Baha’u’llah says about his own descendents!

Baha'u'llah, Covenant-Breakers No comments

And similarly, if the root of a tree be corrupted, its branches, and its offshoots, and its leaves, and its fruits, will be corrupted.

- Baha'u'llah

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/PDC/pdc-21.html

Baha’u’llah referred to his children as "leaves" and "branches"

Americans will be familiar with the Bahaists from Persia

History, Independent Investigation of Truth No comments

Americans will be familiar with the Bahaists from Persia (whose "exported article" is very different from the native product)

The Palestine Post, Sunday, January 15, 1933
http://www.jpress.nli.org.il/olive/apa/nli/?href=PLS%2F1949%2F07%2F17&page=1#panel=document

During Abdul Baha's stay in Haifa clean and appropriate baths were not available in the city...

Abdul-Baha, Baha'i Law, Independent Investigation of Truth, Science No comments

During ‘Abdu'l-Bahá’s stay in Haifa, clean and appropriate baths were not available in the city, so the friends and companions were desirous to construct a bath for the Master. When Ustád Áqá Bálá, the Caucasian builder, came for pilgrimage, Dr. Yúnis Khán and Hájí Mírzá Haydar ‘Alí came up with a plan to ask Ustád Áqá Bálá to beseech ‘Abdu'l-Bahá for permission to construct a bath in the Master’s residence.

Ref. Sweet and Enchanting Stories, Aziz Rohani, Page 80
http://bahai-library.com/pdf/r/rohani_sweet_enchanting_stories.pdf

See also : Abdul Baha would not bathe for months
https://thebahaiinsider.com/2016/06/26/abdul-baha-wouldnt-bathe-for-months-at-a-time-how-bahais-suppressed-this-fact/

Baha'u'llah as Imam Husayn in dreams of people.

Baha'u'llah, Dream, Imam Husayn, Story No comments

He dreamt he had attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh— even though he had not met Bahá’u’lláh up to that time. In his dream he threw himself at Bahá’u’lláh’s feet, who told him, “We protected you so you could visit Us alive.” Hájí responded that he had neither any money nor the energy to move. Bahá’u’lláh told him, “But you have reliance (on God),” to which he responded in the affirmative.

When he woke up, he noticed, to his surprise, a caravan tented nearby, having Karbilá as their destination. Then he saw a man leaving the tent, coming directly toward him, telling him to follow. After he entered the tent, he saw a handsome man addressing him respectfully, saying; “Last night I dreamt of Imám Husayn who pointed you out to me and bid me to have you as my guest all the way to Karbilá.” So he gave Hájí a horse and provisions and they all headed out toward Karbilá. The man did not even ask Hájí’s name and particulars, and Hájí arrived in Baghdád in utmost comfort and ease. There he separated from his host, telling him; “He who came to your dream came to my dream as well and bid me to go to Baghdád.” The host, overcome with great joy, exclaimed that he had been told to offer hospitality all the way to Baghdád and not Karbilá.

So Hájí was able to attain the presence of Báha’u’lláh, realizing he was exactly the personage he had seen in his dream. Bahá’u’lláh showered Hájí with bounties.

From Málmírí’s Memoirs, A Treasury of Bahá’í Stories

Ref. Sweet and Enchanting Stories, Aziz Rohani, Page 149
http://bahai-library.com/pdf/r/rohani_sweet_enchanting_stories.pdf

Dreamy wife of Abdu'l-Bahá, Munirih Khanum

Abdul-Baha, Dream, Story No comments

Search for the word 'dream' at the below link. :)

http://www.paintdrawer.co.uk/david/folders/Spirituality/001=Bahai/Munirih%20Khanum%20-%20Early%20Life%20Story.htm

Abdul Baha was regarded as a Moslem notable in Palestine

Abdul-Baha, Dissimulation, Islam, Palestine No comments

The Master Himself, though so widely loved and respected, was not known as the Head of an independent religion, but rather regarded as a Moslem notable and Holy Man.

http://www.bahai.org/documents/essays/collins-amelia/tribute-shoghi-effendi

he had only a hard slap in the face from 'Abdu'l-Baha

Abdul-Baha, Abuse, Bribe, Money No comments

In the meantime, Sa'da'd-Din Ramadan, the chief of the merchants, hurried to see 'Abdu'l-Baha. He begged for money. Only money, he pleaded, would make the Governor give up his machinations; there was no time to lose. 'Abdu'l-Baha kept him waiting, while he thought that 'Abdu'l-Baha was filling a purse with gold that he might take it to the Governor. For his pains he had only a hard slap in the face from 'Abdu'l-Baha, and was told not to tarry there, as money had already been sent to the Governor.

Ref. : 'Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah by H. M. Balyuzi

http://holy-writings.com/index.php?a=RESULT&d=/en/Bahai%20Faith/2%20-%20Bahai%20Studies/H.M.%20Balyuzi/Abdu%27l-Baha%20-%20The%20Centre%20of%20the%20Covenant.txt&q=happiness&q2=2&c=1&i=de

Islamic traditions that pointed to 'Abdu'l-Baha!

Abdul-Baha, Baha'u'llah, Islam, Miracles No comments

Haji Mirza Haydar-'Ali, whom we have come to know in these pages, has recorded another testimony by Baha'u'llah to the station and the powers of His Son. The Haji had composed a treatise, drawing upon those Islamic traditions which pointed to 'Abdu'l-Baha. This compilation and commentary he presented to Baha'u'llah. Applauding it, Baha'u'llah told him that his deductions and conclusions were absolutely right.

Ref. : 'Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah by H. M. Balyuzi

http://holy-writings.com/index.php?a=RESULT&d=/en/Bahai%20Faith/2%20-%20Bahai%20Studies/H.M.%20Balyuzi/Abdu%27l-Baha%20-%20The%20Centre%20of%20the%20Covenant.txt&q=happiness&q2=2&c=1&i=de

Who was responsible for Baha'u'llah's sufferings (2) !?

Abuse, Bab, Baha'u'llah, Converting People, Godhood, History, Imam Husayn, Juan Cole, Russia No comments

In July of 1850 the Bab was executed by the Iranian government. Thereafter a number of important Babis put forth extravagant claims, including, in 1851, Sayyid Basir-i Hindi of Multan. Baha'u'llah challenged Sayyid Basir, and asserted his own divinity instead (many Babi leaders of the time represented themselves as participating in a pleroma of divine manifestation, similar in some ways to that claimed by Sufis or mystics). In June, 1851, the vizier put pressure on Baha'u'llah to leave the country, which suggests that the government had by that time infiltrated the Babis and discovered who the community's real leader was. Baha'u'llah went to the shrine city of Karbala in Iraq, the site of the tomb of the Imam Husayn, where a small but active Babi group existed. He found that it was led by a Sayyid `Uluvv, who had made claims to being God incarnate. Baha'u'llah faced the man down and convinced him to retract those claims. On the other hand, during his stay in Karbala between August 1851 and March 1852, Baha'u'llah told some of his close companions that he was himself the return of the Imam Husayn, whose return Shi`ites expected after the advent of the Qa'im or Mahdi. During Baha'u'llah's absence, the more radical leaders of the Babi community in Tihran, such as Azim and Azal, plotted the assassination of Nasiru'd-Din Shah in retaliation for his execution of the Bab. In the meantime, a new vizier had come to power, Mirza Aqa Khan of Nur, a cousin of Baha'u'llah, and he called Baha'u'llah back to the capital. There was some expectation of better relations between the government and the Babis.

On his arrival, however, Baha'u'llah discovered the assassination plot, and denounced it. The plot was carried out on August 15, 1852, by some young fanatics, but failed when the pistol misfired. Baha'u'llah was staying with his brother-in-law, a secretary to the Russian ambassador. The shah demanded that the Russian legation allow Baha'u'llah to be surrendered to the government, but the Russians handed him over to the vizier, Aqa Khan Nuri, who was sympathetic to him. The vizier found it impossible to protect Baha'u'llah when anti-Babi riots broke out in Tihran, and Baha'u'llah was arrested and made to walk in chains to the Siyah-Chal, the Black Pit dungeon. The vizier, furious, offered his resignation over Baha'u'llah's false arrest. During his imprisonment in the filthy, disease-ridden dungeon Baha'u'llah saw several Babi friends executed and suffered horribly. He underwent mystical experiences, feeling energy wash over his body from the crown of his head, and saw a visions that encouraged him to arise to reform the Babi community (Nabil's Narrative, 595-650).

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahabio.htm

Who was responsible for Baha'u'llah's sufferings (1) !?

Abuse, Azali, Baha'u'llah, History, Subh-i-Azal No comments

Disregarding the reiterated injunctions of Baha'u'llah, seven of the exiles (Baha'is) decided to rid their community of its tormentors. They spoke to no one of their abominable plan. One night, when all was quiet in the town, they managed to enter the home of the adherents of Mirza Yahya and slew them. With Siyyid Muhammad and Aqa-Jan Big perished a recent recruit to their circle, Mirza Rida-Quliy-i-Tafrishi. This third victim had time and again broken his word, and all ties between him and the followers of Baha'u'llah had finally been severed.

Immediately pandemonium broke loose. The whole city was roused. People felt unsafe. Such were the fears of the populace that 'Abbud, whose house adjoined the residence of Baha'u'llah, added to the thickness of the walls separating the two houses.

'Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah by H. M. Balyuzi

http://holy-writings.com/index.php?a=RESULT&d=/en/Bahai%20Faith/2%20-%20Bahai%20Studies/H.M.%20Balyuzi/Abdu%27l-Baha%20-%20The%20Centre%20of%20the%20Covenant.txt&q=happiness&q2=2&c=1&i=de

The Martyrdom of Bab & his Remains

Azali, Bab, History, Independent Investigation of Truth, Subh-i-Azal No comments

They (Primal Point and his disciple Mirza Muhammad Ali Zanuzi) were martyred by a firing party of soldiers. Three volleys were fired in all 290 Mirza Jani in New History, P. 383; 298 Dr Browne’s footnote 1 in New History, P. 301 and Suleyman Khan’s statement to Mirza Jani, New History, PP. 309-310.

The first firing party was composed of Christian soldiers and the second firing party of Moslem soldiers. Subh-i Azal’s reply to A.L.M Nicholas, the translator of the Bayan.

In the presence of a great crowd Mirza Muhammad Ali was suspended by ropes from the parapet, and his body was riddled by a collies of bullets fired from the firing party.

Then a volley was fired by the same firing party at the BÂB, who was similarly suspended. When the smoke rolled away “a cry of mingled exultation and terror arose from the spectators, for the BÂB had disappeared from sight! It seemed, indeed, that his life had been preserved by a miracle, for of the storm of bullets which had been aimed at him, not one had touched him; nay, instead of death they had brought him deliverance by cutting the ropes which had bound him, so that he fell to the ground.” 29F New History P. 299-304; Mirza Jani in New History P. 383; E.G. Browne in A Year Amongst the Persians, Persian Translation, PP. 78-79.

Had the BÂB been able to maintain his presence of mind, and rushed out among the crowd the spectators would have hailed his escape to be miracle. They would have identified themselves with his cause. No soldier, be he a Christian or a Moslem would have dared to take a shot at him again. Disturbances would have broken in Tabriz, the second capital of Iran, culminating in the toppling of Qajar dynasty. 29G Gobineau, chapter X, Persian Translation, P. 229.

But, dazed by the terrible experience he had just passed through, he took refuge in one of the rooms of the barracks there he was soon found. “was seized, dragged forth, and again suspended; a new firing party was ordered to advance (for the man who had composed the first firing party refused to act again); and before the spectators had recovered from their first astonishment, or the BÂBis had time to attempt a rescue, the body of the young prophet of Shiraz was riddled with bullets” 29H A Traveller’s Narrative note A PP. 182-183; E.G.Browne in A Year Amongst the Persians, P. 64 Mirza Jani in New History, P. 383.

But the BÂBi historian Mirza Jani writes: “The bodies of the two victims were exposed for two days, after while they were buried. Some of the BÂBis exhumed them, wrapped them in white silk, and according to the BÂB’s own instructions, brought them to Hazrat-i Wahid-i Thani [i.e. Subh-i Azal], who, with his own hands, buried them in a certain spot in a tradition handed down from the Imams as the last resting-place of the Qaim. This matter is at present kept secret, and it is unlawful for anyone who has knowledge of it to divulge it till such a time as the lord may see fit to make it known”. Mirza Jani in New History, P. 383.

There is corroborative evidence to uphold Mirza Jani’s factual report on the burial of the body of the Primal Point and of his fellow-martyr.

Corroborative evidence of Mirza Jani’s statement

In his epistle addressed to “Ism-allah-al Jawad” (i.e. Sayyid Jawad of Karbala, J.R.A.S July 1892, P. 4803, the Primal Point, among other things, tells him to write to “Muhammad in Calcutta”, to arrange for the construction of a crystal casket for the Point’s body and to “forward this epistle to him and to such as be on the sea besides him …”. Reference is made to this epistle in J.R.A.S July 1892, but the personage concerning the construction of a crystal casket is not quoted.
Mirza Abdul Rahim Hirati and his brother Mulla Muhammad Taqi Hirawi were Bahais. Fitna-i BÂB by Abdul Husayn Nawai, P. 46 the former performed the burial service over the Point’s body.
بر جسد باب نماز گذارد.
ibid, P. 46, footnote 6.
The Primal Point’s own instructions as to the disposal of his remains referred to by Mirza Jani are quoted by Dr Browne in T.A P. 46 footnote 1. The quotation is part of the Point’s epistle to “Anis”, namely, Suleyman Khan, the son of Yahya Khan of Tabriz, J.R.A.S 1892, P.480. The epistle is quoted in full in ibid, P.489.
Suleyman Khan was the brother of Farrukh Khan (see the Zanjan upheaval). Subh-i Azal’s narrative, appendix III, New History, P. 411. Suleyman Khan was one of the most ardent and steadfast martyrs of the BÂBi faith. Dr Browne’s footnote 1, P. 239, T.A.
Suleyman Khan was killed in the Teheran massacre of 1857. T.N, P.332, item 26. Suleyman Khan recovered the bodies of the two martyrs for a consideration. New History, P. 311.
Apparently the powers-that-be who received the consideration sought to justify themselves by spreading a rumour that wild beasts had carried away the bodies of the two martyrs.
In his epistle addressed by Aqa Sayyid Husayn of Yazd from “the proximity of Mashhad” (i.e. the place of martyrdom, Tabriz, where the Primal Point was martyred) to Anis” (i.e. Suleyman Khan) in “the land of Baha” [i.e. Teheran, the letter Ta in Teheran and Baha have the same numerical equivalent, Viz., 9]. The former states that he has made “the bearer (of the epistle) Ism-allah’ul-Hazir, the bearer of the throne of god [i.e. the Primal Point’s body] and has sent him Collection of some of the autograph epistles of the Primal Point and of his amanuensis Aqa Sayyid Husayn of Yazd.

In his narrative, appendix III, New History, PP. 412-413, Subh-i Azal writes: .. Suleyman Khan sent certain persons to obtain permission of that holy body [i.e. the Primal Point’s body], together with (the body of the departed Aqa Muhammad Ali, and to deliver them over to him, and because they had been co-mingled by the blow of the bullets, they put them in one coffin, and so shrouded them.
For this reason I also refrained from disturbing them, [and the other body] was deposited in the same place and in the same coffin with the lord, until [both] were stolen [by the Bahais, Browne’s footnote 1, on P. 413].”
In his reply to Browne touching the disposal of the remains of the two martyrs, Subh-i-Azal writes: When the Primal Point was imprisoned in Chihriq he wrote to say that “the place of Shah Abdul Azim is a good land, by reason of proximity of Wahid for keeping; and god is the best of Keepers.” (Para 3 supra). After the martyrdom of the Primal Point his body kept in the house of Suleyman Khan on the Point’s behest, I sent a letter to Suleyman Khan and had that Trust conveyed to Tehran with the assistance of two believers. In those days the “Pretender” [i.e. Mirza Husayn Ali Baha] had sought asylum in the Masjid-i-Shah, with a complaint against two of his brothers about inheritance. I was unwilling to keep that Trust in the precinct of Shah Abdul Azim as graves of the dead were daily ripped up and others were interred in them.
Therefore I deposited it in a spot in the shrine of -----. Two persons had knowledge of the spot, Aqa Mahdi of Kashan, who was martyred in Tehran (T.A. Note T., P. 330, item 14), and ibid, p.46), and my brother Mirza Musa.
After the “Pretender” had set up his pretensions, he assigned certain persons to steal the Trust, and the Trust was stolen. The remains of the two martyrs were “stolen” by followers of Baha on Baha’s own instructions from Edirne, following the schism between Subh-i-Azal and Baha.

For more than thirty years the remains of the martyrs were bandied about by their Bahai bearers at Teheran for fear that they will be detected by the authorities, and what remained of the remains is claimed to have been brought to the Holy Land in 1899, and buried on Mt. Carmel at Haifa in 1909, where the Point’s alleged tomb may be seen together. The Point’s alleged tomb, like Baha’s tomb at Acre, faces the Qibla.

What became of the bodies of the two martyrs?

According to the Moslem sources such as the Nasiku’t-Tawarikh the Rawzat-al Safa and other Moslem historians, the bodies of the two martyrs were cast into the moat outside the city walls to be devoured by animals and vultures. Abdu’l Husayn Nawai in the Fitna-i BÂB, P. 84

According to Browne, the bodies of the two victims were dragged through the streets and Bazaars and then thrown into the wilderness to be devoured by beasts. 30A Brown in A Year Amongst the Persians, Persian Translation P. 79.

According to Gobineau, the bodies of the two victims were dragged through the streets and Bazaars and then thrown outside the city walls to be devoured by beats of prey. 30B Gobineau chapter X, Persian Translation, P. 230.

According to Awara (Ayati), the historian of the Bahai movement, he states emphatically in a book written after he defected from the movement that the Point’s body remained in Tabriz and that it would have been impossible at such a time for the BÂBis to have recovered and removed it. Awara in Kashful-Hiyal, Vol. ? P. 142.

According to the New History, the two bodies were removed from the place in which they were buried. New History, P. 312.

In footnote 3, P. 312, Dr Browne states that “the removal of the BÂB’s body was effected by Baha against the Will and without the knowledge of Subh-i Azal”.

According to Shoghi Effendi the mingled bodies of the BÂB and his fellow martyr, Mirza Muhammad Ali, were placed in the shrine of ----, where they remained until the year 1867-1868, when on Baha’s own request from “Edirne”, they were removed by two of his followers. Places of concealment of the remains of the two martyrs changed hands many times with the change in their conditions.

The remains were brought to “Acre” on January 31, fifty lunar years after the Primal Point’s execution in Tabriz”.

On March 21, 1909” the remains were buried by Abdul on Mt Carmel at Haifa. 30G. Shoghi Effendi in God Passes By PP. 273-274 and P. 276.

Shoghi Effendi produces no documentary evidence in support of his statement that the alleged tomb contains what remained of the remains which were buried bandied about by many a custodian.

Ungrammatical writings of the Bab

Bab, Edward Browne, Independent Investigation of Truth, Subh-i-Azal No comments

Browne deeply admired the heroism of the Babis in the revolutionary period 1848-52, found a “sublime beauty” even in the Bab’s more ungrammatical writings, and was impressed by Gobineau’s account of the Babi leader Ṣobḥ-e Azal.

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/browne-edward-granville

Edward Browne considered the Azalis more reliable than the Baha'is

Azali, Bab, Edward Browne, Independent Investigation of Truth No comments

He thus considered the Azalīs more reliable than the Bahais in putting him in touch with the Babi past and regretted the rivalry between the two groups. He seems early on to have taken the Azalī side in the struggle; when Iranian Bahais reproached him for inclining to Azal, he did not deny it and blamed Bahai violence toward Azalīs (1893, repr. 1926, pp. 578-79). In his 1889 papers for the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society he set out for the first time in English a detailed account of the evolution of Babism and the rise of Bahaism after 1850. He entered into frequent correspondence with Azal and his followers and in the spring of 1890 voyaged to Cyprus, where he spent two weeks with Azal, then to ʿAkkā (Acre), where he spent a week with the Bahais.

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/browne-edward-granville

In 1986, the NSA of the United States formally dissolved the LSA of Los Angeles.

Baha'i Activities, Juan Cole, NSA No comments

On 19 July 1986, "the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States formally dissolved the Local Spiritual Assembly (LSA) of the Baha'is of Los Angeles, then a community of some 1200 adult believers and among the larger urban Baha'i communities."

Juan Cole's article "Race, Immorality and Money in the American Baha'i Community: Impeaching the Los Angeles Spiritual Assembly", published in the journal Religion, "analyses the dissolution of the Baha'i local assembly of Los Angeles in 1986–88 by the National Assembly. Official explanations for this move focused on lapses in morality and administrative discipline, but local interviewees, as well as some official pronouncements, suggest that the conflict had two roots: the globalisation of the community and resultant ethnic conflict among whites, African–Americans and newly immigrant Iranians; and national/local conflicts over power and money. Low-information elections, the unaccountability of elected officials, censorship and difficulties in acknowledging social conflict were the causes of these episodes in the Baha'i religion."

Official Bahá'í Funeral Service for Believers Only

Baha'i Law, Shoghi Effendi No comments

"An official Bahá'í funeral service should only be given for a believer, but there is no objection to the reading of Bahá'í prayers, or indeed to a Bahá'í conducting the funeral service of a non-Bahá'í, if this has been requested."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, July 20, 1946)

http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance&chapter=2#n657

Semen is not unclean

Baha'i Law, Baha'u'llah No comments

God hath decreed, in token of His mercy unto His creatures, that semen is not unclean. Yield thanks unto Him with joy and radiance...

-Baha'u'llah (Kitab-i-Aqdas)

http://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-aqdas/#r=ka_en-1-74

...semen (human) is pure, for you, you are created of this very semen.

-The Bab (Kitab-i-Bayan)

https://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/K-O/N/nba/Arabic_Bayan.pdf

Huququ'lláh is NOT to be paid to the UHJ

Baha'i Law, Baha'u'llah, House of Justice (UHJ), Huququ'llah, Pilgrims' Notes, Ruhiyyih Khanum No comments

Bahá'u'lláh established in His Most Holy Book a very unique voluntary form of tax, a source of revenue, the great importance of which He adequately defines by giving it the exalted title of "The Right of God" (Huququ'lláh) but He never states to whom this revenue is payable, and in view of the fact that the revenues of the International House of Justice are clearly stipulated and this Huququ'lláh is not included among them, the question naturally occurs — what person or institution is to receive it? 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will elucidates this riddle and fills in the conspicuous blank left by Bahá'u'lláh.

Twenty-Five Years of the Guardianship
by Ruhiyyih (Mary Maxwell) Khanum Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1948

https://bahai-library.com/khanum_25_years_guardianship

David Kelly, a Bahá’í, was found dead from an apparent suicide

Suicide No comments

On July 17, 2003, David Kelly, a Bahá’í, was found dead from an apparent suicide, two days after appearing before a parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee. An authority on biological warfare employed by the British Ministry of Defence, and formerly a weapons inspector with the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq, David Kelly was a prime source for the false information of Iraq's purported possession of weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The power to ex-communicate lies with the Guardian alone.

Baha'i Law, Covenant-Breakers, Sanctions, Shoghi Effendi, Takfir No comments

"...he feels that all National Spiritual Assemblies should bear in mind that this is the heaviest sanction we possess at present in the Faith, short of ex-communication, which lies within the powers of the Guardian alone, and is consequently a very weighty weapon to wield."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, March 3, 1955: Messages to Canada, p. 51)

A Bahá'í deprived of his voting rights cannot be married in a Bahá'í marriage ceremony

Baha'i Law, House of Justice (UHJ), NSA, Punishment, Sanctions No comments

"A Bahá'í deprived of his voting rights cannot be married in a Bahá'í marriage ceremony; a Bahá'í in good standing cannot marry a Bahá'í who has lost his voting rights; the marriage of a Bahá'í who has lost his voting rights does not fall within the jurisdiction of a Bahá'í administrative institution."

(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly, February 25, 1976, cited by the International Teaching Center)

http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance.html&chapter=1#n199

Bahá'í law of Zakát

Baha'i Law, Baha'u'llah, House of Justice (UHJ), Islam, Quran, Shoghi Effendi No comments

Bahá'u'lláh states that the Bahá'í law of Zakát follows "what hath been revealed in the Qur'án" (Q&A 107). Since such issues as the limits for exemption, the categories of income concerned, the frequency of payments, and the scale of rates for the various categories of Zakát are not mentioned in the Qur'án, these matters will have to be set forth in the future by the Universal House of Justice. Shoghi Effendi has indicated that pending such legislation the believers should, according to their means and possibilities, make regular contributions to the Bahá'í Fund.

- Kitab-i-Aqdas

http://theaqdas.org/fullindex.php?term=future%20legislation&belongsTo=powers%20and%20duties;%20House%20of%20Justice,%20Universal%20(International)&level=3

Punishments will be applied by the Universal House of Justice.

House of Justice (UHJ), Punishment No comments

The punishments for theft are intended for a future condition of society, when they will be supplemented and applied by the Universal House of Justice.

Kitab-i-Aqdas

http://theaqdas.org/fullindex.php?term=future%20legislation&belongsTo=powers%20and%20duties;%20House%20of%20Justice,%20Universal%20(International)&level=3

We neither take sides in the present tragic dispute between Israel and Palestine!

Israel, Jews, Palestine, Shoghi Effendi No comments

The Jews alone offer somewhat of a parallel to the attachment which the Baha’is have for this country inasmuch as Jerusalem holds the remains of their Holy Temple and was the seat of both the religious and political institutions associated with their past history.

The Baha’i Faith is entirely non-political and we neither take sides in the present tragic dispute going on over the future of the Holy Land and its peoples nor have we any statement to make or advice to give as to what the nature of the political future of this country should be.
- Shoghi Effendi

http://bahai-library.com/shoghieffendi_letter_un_palestine

Two Baha'i Opium traders

Opium No comments

1) Mírzá Áqá Taryakí

His given name was Muhammad. He was known among the family as Áqá Mírzá Áqá Kúchak [the junior]. He engaged in a business trading in opium with China.

2) Mírzá ʿAlí Taryakí

As his trade was mostly in opium, he was known as Hájí Taryakí. In the latter part of his life, he attained the presence of Baháʾuʾlláh in Haifa.

Source : The Genesis of the Bábí-Baháʾí Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs, By Mirza Habibuʾllah Afnan, Translated and Annotated by Ahang Rabbani, Page 333

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/a/afnan_rabbani_genesis_faiths.pdf

Where a reformer comes out hating his opponent, one might as well distrust that reform from the start.

Abdul-Baha, Azali, Subh-i-Azal No comments

‘Abdu’l-Bahá said “If a religion be the cause of hatred and disharmony, it would be better for it not to exist than to exist...Where a reformer comes out hating his opponent, one might as well distrust that reform from the start.”

http://centenary.bahai.us/news/pointed-points

Three kind of Baha'i Status

Punishment, Sanctions, Shoghi Effendi No comments

Hands of the Cause of God in the Holy Land:

The Guardian considers there are three conditions, so to speak, in regard to Bahá'í status or lack of it: a member of the Bahá'í Faith, in good standing, possessed of all his administrative rights; a member of the Faith who is being severely punished either because of flagrant disobedience of some very important injunction of the National Assembly, or because of conduct extremely detrimental to the good name of the Faith, which he has not rectified through having his voting and administrative rights suspended; and a person who is excommunicated by the Guardian because of disloyalty and enmity to the Faith. "Deprivation of voting rights" and "deprivation of membership in the Bahá'í Community" are really the same thing.

No contribution should be accepted from a person deprived of his voting rights. He is not eligible for election to Bahá'í bodies, cannot attend the administrative gatherings such as elections or Nineteen Day Feasts. However he can attend Bahá'í meetings as he is not excommunicated.

https://bahai-library.com/uhj_ministry_custodians&chapter=5

Extreme punishment of deprivation of voting rights

Punishment, Sanctions, Shoghi Effendi No comments

Hands of the Cause of God in the Holy Land:

As you know, the beloved Guardian for a number of years before his ascension permitted the various National Assemblies to apply the extreme punishment of deprivation of voting rights in cases where believers continued to disobey an important decision of a National Assembly, or in cases where the conduct of an individual continuously and flagrantly violated Bahá'í standards to a point where the good name of the Faith was placed in jeopardy.

https://bahai-library.com/uhj_ministry_custodians&chapter=5

Baha'is themselves can take help from Pilgrim Notes and memoirs but non-Baha'is cannot!

Pilgrims' Notes, Story No comments

Pilgrim Notes :
https://youtu.be/jpmDP3kIdhM?t=492

Stories / Memoirs :
https://youtu.be/vU5Xfe7V8LM?t=1970

Greatest and most fundamental principle of the Baha'i Faith

Abdul-Baha, Covenant-Breakers, Will & Testament No comments

"And now, one of the greatest and most fundamental principles of the Cause of God is to shun and avoid entirely the Covenant-breakers, for they will utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past."

Second section of the Will and Testament of Abdul Baha
Ruhi Book 8, Unit 1 (March 2012)

http://bahai-library.com/pdf/ruhi/ruhi8a.pdf

The beloved of the Lord must entirely shun them

Abdul-Baha, Baha'i Law, Covenant-Breakers No comments

"Hence, the beloved of the Lord must entirely shun them, avoid them, foil their machinations and
evil whisperings, guard the Law of God and His religion..."

Ruhi Book 8, Unit 1 (March 2012)

http://bahai-library.com/pdf/ruhi/ruhi8a.pdf

Abdul Baha warns his followers about his brother.

Abdul-Baha, Covenant-Breakers, Muhammed Ali (Ghusn) No comments

"A thousand times shun his company. Take heed and be on your guard. Watch and examine; should anyone, openly or privily, have the least connection with him, cast him out from your midst, for he will surely cause disruption and mischief."

Ruhi Book 8, Unit 1 (March 2012)

'The Afnan in China' was the main contact for opium traders.

Abuse, Bab, Baha'u'llah, Opium No comments

It is noted in his biography in Fasaʾi, Farsnamih Nasiri, vol. 2, p. 45, that, due to economic depression in Fars and family bankruptcy, Haji Mirza Muhammad-ʿAli went to China for 10 years. There, he became the main contact for the opium trade of the merchants of Isfahan, Yazd, and Fars. In the Writings of Bahaʾuʾllah, he is referred to as “the Afnan in China.” See Bahaʾuʾllah’s Tablet in Fayzi, Khandan Afnan, p. 83.

Source : The Genesis of the Bábí-Baháʾí Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs, By Mirza Habibuʾllah Afnan, Translated and Annotated by Ahang Rabbani, Page 319

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/a/afnan_rabbani_genesis_faiths.pdf

Baha'is killed 3 Azalis

Abuse, Azali, Baha'u'llah, History No comments

In banishing Bahá’u’lláh to the prison city, the Ottoman government had sent four Azalis to ‘Akká as well. These were Siyyid Muhammad Isfahání, Nasr’ulláh Tafríshí, Áqá Ján Ka’j Kuláh and Ridá Qulí. These four kept vigil near the land gate to ensure no one would meet Bahá’u’lláh. They kept watch from the second story window of a building overlooking the land gate so that if a pilgrim, after spending some six months traveling on foot, intended to enter the city they could somehow prevent his entrance. Thus pilgrims were forced to sit outside the moat, waiting and gazing at the window of Baha’u’llah’s prison cell, perchance He would come to the window and put His hand out the window, blessing them. This was the extent of their pilgrimage.

This situation lasted for some time. After two years and a few months, Bahá’u’lláh was released from the prison. Some of the friends, including Salmání, decided to get rid of these enemies and during the night went to their place and killed Siyyid Muhammad, Áqá Ján and another person.

Ref. Sweet and Enchanting Stories, Aziz Rohani, Page 31

http://bahai-library.com/pdf/r/rohani_sweet_enchanting_stories.pdf

Babis were using Opium

Abdul-Baha, Baha'u'llah, Opium No comments

In a Tablet to Núri'd-Dín (INBMC 52:307 no. 347), 'Abdu'l-Bahá speaks very critically about Siyyid Mírzá and states that everything he has written should be considered lies and calumnies. He also says that Siyyid Mírzá is beyond all guidance, admonishment or reasoning and such efforts are fruitless. He traces Siyyid Mírzá's rebellion to the time of Bahá'u'lláh, when the Latter emphatically forbade him from using opium and yet he refused to obey.

Memories of My Life - Translation of Mírzá Habíbu’lláh Afnán’s Khátirát-i-Hayát, Ahang Rabbani

http://oj.bahaistudies.net/OJBS_1_Rabbani_Afnan_Khatirat.pdf

Babis were engaged in Opium Trade

Abuse, Bab, Baha'u'llah, Opium No comments

The Shirazis (Babis) were engaged in commercial activities, ranging from trade in traditional commodities to that of newly introduced items, such as opium (taryāk). It was Ḥāji Mirzā Moḥammad-ʿAli (1824-96), Moḥammad-Taqi’s eldest brother, who was mostly involved in the opium trade with his younger brother, Ḥāji Mirzā Bozorg, at least until the consumption of, and trade in, opium was banned by Bahāʾ-Allāh.

(item 155; Ganjina-ye ḥodud, pp. 428-29; E. Afnan, p. 17 of draft article)

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mohammad-taqi

Shoghi Effendi excommunicated his brother for marrying a lowborn Christian girl

Abuse, Christians, Covenant-Breakers, Shoghi Effendi No comments

Husayn Ali was Shoghi Effendi's brother. In April 1945, Shoghi Effendi sent the following cable to the Bahá'í world: "My faithless brother Husayn, after long period of dishonourable conduct, has abandoned the Master's home to consort with his sister and other Covenant-breakers" (''Bahá'í News'', No. 174, p.2).

In March 1950, Shoghi Effendi would send a further cable: "Faithless brother Hussein, already abased through dishonorable conduct over period (of) years followed by association with Covenant-breakers (in) Holy Land and efforts (to) undermine Guardian's position, recently further demeaned himself through marriage under obscure circumstances with lowborn Christian girl (in) Europe" (''Bahá'í News'', No. 229, p.1).

Shoghi Effendi would later defend the use of the term "lowborn Christian girl" as follows: "Regarding his cable concerning Hussein: he has been very surprised to note that the terms 'low-born Christian girl ' and 'disgraceful alliance' should arouse any question; it seems to him that the friends should realize it is not befitting for the Guardian's own brother, the grandchild of the Master, an [[Afnán]] and [[Aghsán]] mentioned in the Will and Testament of the Master, and of whom so much was expected because of his relation to the family of the Prophet, to marry an unknown girl, according to goodness knows what rite, who is not a believer at all" (''Bahá'í News'', No. 236, p.4).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant-breaker#Husayn_Ali

https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File%3ABaha%27i_News_174.pdf&page=2

https://bahai.works/Baha%27i_News/Issue_229

https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File%3ABaha%27i_News_236.pdf&page=4

Believers of God (Baha'u'llah)

Abdul-Baha, Baha'u'llah, Godhood No comments

On July 13th 1910, 'Abdu’l-Bahá addressed a tablet to the "Believers of God in Persia," which was published in "Star of the West" magazine.

http://bahai-library.com/star_west_volume_1&chapter=7

Acquisition of vitally-needed property

Abuse, Israel, Shoghi Effendi No comments

On November 12, 1952, a cablegram sent by Shoghi Effendi announced the "acquisition of vitally-needed property" of the Mansion of Bahji and the area around it from "the Development Authority of the State of Israel...The exchange of said property, including land and houses, was made possible by the precipitate flight of the former Arab owners."

http://bahai-library.com/writings/shoghieffendi/mbw/sec-25.html

The dead should be buried with their face turned towards the Qiblih.

Baha'i Law, Rituals, Shoghi Effendi No comments

"The dead should be buried with their face turned towards the Qiblih. There is also a congregational prayer to be recited. Besides this there is no other ceremony to be performed."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, July 6, 1935)

You have shown insincerity... we are not going to readmit you to the Bahá'í community

House of Justice (UHJ), Sanctions No comments

"It was the approved practice for many years for Bahá'ís to leave blank the space for religion on official forms in Iran. This was not a denial of their religion, it was merely a tacit refusal to state it. In recent times, however, the authorities refused to accept forms made out in blank, and would deny passports and exit visas to anyone who entered Bahá'í' in the appropriate spaces. In order to get such documents a Bahá'í would either have to enter Muslim' (or one of the other recognized religions) on the forms or would have to employ an agent to do it for him. This thus became a conscious act by the Bahá'í to deny his faith, and the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran at that point warned all the believers that such an action was unacceptable."

"Those Bahá'ís who have left Iran by official routes since the governmental regulations changed have made a conscious choice. While the majority of their fellow-believers have preferred to face all manner of difficulties, rather than deny their faith, these people have chosen to make this denial rather than face whatever problems were before them. They have left Iran freely, with the permission of the authorities as Muslims. They have chosen freedom and comparative ease at the cost of giving away their faith, and have got what they wanted. Some, however, once they are free, want to have their membership in the Bahá'í community back again. The attitude of the Bahá'í institutions in refusing to immediately readmit them should not be regarded as a vindictive punishment. These institutions are simply saying: `You have shown the insincerity of your belief by denying it for your personal advantage, we are not going to readmit you to the Bahá'í community until we have some confidence that you are sincerely repentant of such an act. In the meantime you can abide by the choice you yourself have made.'

http://bahai-library.com/uhj_dissimulation_iran_emmigrants

The significance of the number nine...

Bab, Shoghi Effendi No comments

"First, regarding the significance of the number nine: Its importance as a symbol used so often in various connections by the believers lies in three facts: first, it symbolizes the nine great world religions of which we have any definite historical knowledge, including the Babi and Bahá'í Revelations; second, it represents the number of perfection, being the highest single number; third, it is the numerical value of the word 'Baha'."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, July 9, 1939)

Is Bab buried in Haifa, Israel?

Bab No comments

1) On 11th July 1850, the remains of the Báb were removed from the Tabriz, where he had been executed two days previous, and transported to Milan. The remains would subsequently be transported to Tehran, Isfahan, Kirmanshah, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and eventually Acre in 1899. On March 21, 1909, the remains were then interred in a special tomb, the Shrine of the Báb, erected for this purpose by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, on Mount Carmel in present-day Haifa.

https://bahai-library.com/rabbani_remains_bab_tehran

2) While it is true that Bahiyyih Khánum was entrusted with the most confidential matters of the Faith, such as being charged with secretly housing the remains of the Báb in her room for over a decade.

Source : With ‘Abdu’l-Bahá - Reminiscences of Khalil Shahídí, translated by Ahang Rabbani, Pages 109
https://bahai-library.com/pdf/r/rabbani_reminiscences_khalil_shahidi.pdf

Account of Baha attempting to poison Subh-i-Azal from Azali source

Abuse, Bab, Baha'u'llah, Miracles, Subh-i-Azal No comments

The Hasht Bihisht (p. 304-305) gives the account of Baha attempting to poison Subh-i-Azal as follows:

"The first juggle and trick of sorcery which he [i.e. Baha] outlined was this, that he brought to Hazrat-i Azal [i.e. Subh-i Azal] a dish of plain food, with one side of which he had mixed with some poison, intending to poison His Holiness. For hitherto the apportioned breakfast and supper of His Holiness the Fruit [Hazrat-i Thamara, one of the titles conferred on Subh-i Azal by the Point] had been from the house of Mirza Husayn Ali [i.e. Baha]. When that poisoned dish was placed before His Holiness, Mirza Husayn Ali pressed him to partake of it. By a fortunate chance the smell of onions was perceptible in the food, and His Holiness, being averse to taste it. Mirza Husayn Ali continued to press him urgently to eat. He replied, “it smells of onions, I will not eat it; if it is so good, eat it yourself." From this answer Mirza Husayn Ali supposed that His Holiness had divined his evil design, and, simply put the view of disguising the truth and putting a better appearance on the matter, ate a little from the other side [i.e. the unpoisoned side] of the dish, in order that the suspicion of His Holiness might perhaps be dispelled and he might eat the poisoned side. But His Holiness, because of the smell of onion would not eat"

A Prophet can kill anyone whom he perceives to be an enemy to religion

Abuse, Bab, Baha'u'llah No comments

Prof. Browne even admitted that, while to him he was unsure as to which side in the conflict was in the wrong, it seemed more likely to him that it was the Baha'is who were. Baha'i sources seem to admit without remorse that their people killed Bayanis, and they made such statements as this in response to criticism:

"You cannot pretend to deny that a Prophet who is an incarnation of the universal intelligence has as much right to remove [i.e. kill] anyone whom he perceives to be an enemy to religion and a danger to the welfare of mankind as a surgeon has to amputate a gangrened limb?"
(A Traveller's Narrative, p. 372).

Baha'u'llah - Bayan is not abrogated

Bab, Baha'u'llah No comments

"I swear by God that if any one of the People of the Bayan were to mention that the Book [the Bayan] is abrogated, may God smash the mouth of the speaker and the calumniator, and by him who holds my soul and myself in his hands one letter from the Bayan is the most loved with me than all that are in the heavens and on the earth"

(1862 Letter of Bahá during the Baghdad Period).
http://www.bayanic.com/notes/Abbas/AbbasWill-06.html

“I swear by God that if any of the people of the Bayan [Babis] was to mention that the Book [Bayan] is abrogated, may God break the mouth of the speaker and the calumniator.”

Azal’s Notes, pp. 165, 599, 1055, 1056, 1086, Letter No. One of Baha. See appendix II, #4.
Also
The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings, by William Miller

The Kitab-i-Badi

Abuse, Baha'u'llah, Provisional Translation, Subh-i-Azal No comments

Bahá'u'llah’s work, the Kitab-i-Badi, which the Baha'i administration has not yet translated contains the most severe of insults and foul language against Subh-i-Azal and his followers:

“When the one who turned away from God halted (in accepting me) and fell off the path, in that moment his body left the garb of humanness and appeared and became visible in the skin of animals. Sanctified is He who changes the beings how he likes” (Kitab-i-Badi, p. 110).

“From this day, any individual that mentions as human [or humanness] a single person from those who deny me—whether that [denier] has a high or low stature—they will be excluded from all of (God’s) Merciful Graces, let alone trying to prove [those deniers] have dignity or stature” (Kitab-i-Badi, p. 140).

“Say, Oh you donkeys! Whatever God says is the truth and will not become void by the words of the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism)” (Kitab-i-Badi, p. 174).

Hikmat : Apparent suspension of a Bahá'í principle.

Baha'i Law, Politics No comments

In many cases hikmat calls for the apparent suspension of a Bahá'í principle in order to ensure the protection of the Faith.

- Susan Stiles Maneck,
http://bahai-library.com/bsr/bsr06/62_maneck_hikmat.htm

Comment: In other words Baha'is may lie under any circumstance to ensure the protection of their organizational cohesiveness.

Monday, July 31, 2017

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Friday, July 28, 2017

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Monday, July 24, 2017

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Friday, July 21, 2017

Corroborative evidence of Mirza Jani’s statement

What became of the bodies of the two martyrs?

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Monday, July 17, 2017

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Friday, July 14, 2017

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Friday, July 7, 2017

Blog Archive

Topics

Popular Posts