The Secretary-General of the Baha’i International Community is the senior officer acting on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, in the conduct of its external affairs, including its relations with Israel, the host-country of its World Centre. One would therefore assume that the relationship between the BIC and House of Justice is fairly close...
Friday, December 30, 2022
Friday, December 16, 2022
I immediately threw myself at His feet, held the hem of His robe
I then opened the door and saw ‘Abdu’l-Baha seated at a desk. I bowed and said ‘Allah’u’Abha’. He gave me permission to enter.I immediately threw myself at His feet, held the hem of His robe and entreated Him tearfully saying: ‘O my Beloved! Do not leave me to myself, cause me to move in accordance with Thy Will, and confirm me in my servitude and obedience...
Latest model Car was presented to 'Abdul Baha by the American friends
One day when we were in the presence of ‘Abdu’l—Baha, He was informed that the British Crown Prince (Edward VIII) was arriving in Haifa and that the Governor [of Palestine] wished to borrow His car, which was the latest model and had been presented to Him by the American friends. [‘Abdu’l—Baha expressed no objection]https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_Worl...
in a state of joy and delight, He said, ‘No government was able to seize the fortress and port of Akka, but when God willed it, it was conquered by two British cavalrymen
One evening 'Abdu’l-Baha granted an audience to a large number of the friends in the hall of His House. With a captivating eloquence and in a state of joy and delight, He said, ‘No government was able to seize the fortress and port of Akka, but when God willed it, it was conquered by two British cavalrymen. ('Abdu’l-Baha with the use of His two fingers...
India is like a jungle of different religions
Aqa Siyyid Mustafa, the renowned Baha’i teacher from Rangoon, Burma, found an occasion to say that the land of India is like a jungle of different religions and denominations. He said the beliefs, customs, and manners are very diverse and superstitions are rampant.https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_World/Volume_19/Essays_and_Revi...
The Light of God, manifest in Abdul Baha
Abdul-Baha, Converting People, New World Order (NWO)
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PRAISE and thanks belong to the One who is the God of all nations, and who has manifested Himself at this time, as before, for the great purpose of illumining the world with the Light of Unity. Already has He united the hearts of His peoples in the Name of Light and Glory! In the Name of Bahá’u’lláh will the world learn of harmony and of love. Although...
Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced the arrest of several prominent members of the minority Baha'i faith
Iran's Intelligence Ministry on Monday, in a rare move, announced the arrest of several prominent members of the minority Baha'i faith, accusing them of "spying" for Israel.In a statement, the ministry said the suspects based in Iran were affiliated with an Israel-backed Baha'i center in the occupied Palestinian territories dubbed 'Bait al Adl' and...
Monday, October 10, 2022
Diffusing the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation ever more widely
A greater expression of the society-building power of the Faith requires, first and foremost, still further advances in the process of entry by troops in every part of the world. The essentially spiritual undertakings of diffusing the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation ever more widely and extending the roots of His Faith ever more deeply into the soil...
Thursday, September 22, 2022
In 1957 there were less than a thousand Baha'is in India.
But even with such dynamic leadership and a new sense of being an active part of an expanding international organization, at the time of Shoghi Effendi's death in November, 1957, there were still less than a thousand Bahá'ís in the entire country.(The Bahá'í Faith in India: A Developmental Stage Approach by William Garlington, published in Occasional...
The beginnings of the Indian Baha'i Community (1872-1910)
Two members of the Afnan clan who were resident in Bombay, Haji Sayyid Mirza and Sayyid Muhammad, became Bahá'ís in the 1860s, and they wrote to Bahá'u'lláh requesting that a Bahá'í teacher be sent to India. Bahá'u'lláh asked Sulayman Khan Tunukabani (known as Jamal Effendi), who was both a Sufi and a learned scholar of Arabic and Persian, if he would...
Claims to divinity
A third significant convert during this time was a blind Sayyid, Jinab-i-Basir. Nabil states that he was the above mentioned Sayyid converted by Shaykh Sa'id-i Hindi. In contrast the Tarikh-i-Jadid claims that Jinab-i-Basir heard of the Bab's appearance in Bombay from where he traveled to Mecca and met him in person. After the Bab's death Jinab-i-Basir,...
History of the Babi period in India
Converting People, Independent Investigation of Truth, Personal Observations
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The Babi movement, the predecessor to the Bahá'í faith, had some connections with India. Two of the most important Babi histories make mention of several prominent Indian believers. The major Bahá'í historian for this period, Muhammad-i Zarandi, Nabil-i Azam, informs us that one of the Bab's original disciples (Letters of the Living) was an Indian...
A short introduction of the Baha'i faith by William Garlington
Independent Investigation of Truth, Personal Observations
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The Bahá'í Faith is a contemporary religious movement active nowadays in over three hundred countries and dependencies throughout the world. Evolving from the Babi movement, which spread throughout Iran and Iraq in the mid-nineteenth century, the Bahá'í Faith has slowly moved beyond the pale of Shi`ite Islam and thereby established itself as an independent...
Some estimates at the low end have placed the worldwide adult Bahá'í population at closer to 1.5 million and the adult Bahá'í population in India at 100,000 to 150,000.
Of the approximately 5 million members claimed world-wide by the Bahá'í authorities, nearly 2 million Bahá'ís are said to reside within the Republic of India.**These figures are based on official Bahá'í statistics. Since they only indicate the number of declarations (signed affirmations of belief in Bahá'u'lláh) and not active membership in a local...
Saturday, August 20, 2022
'teaching' vs 'proselytism'
Converting People, Denis MacEoin, Personal Observations
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On page 174 [of Hatcher and Martin's book], the authors state that 'Despite the strong
emphasis on teaching... proselytism is explicitly forbidden'.
Whatever distinction may be made between the English terms
'teaching' and 'proselytism', original Baha'i texts generally use
a single term that covers both concepts; tabligh. Baha'is engaged
in the preaching...
Haj and Ziyara (Pilgrimages) in the Baha'i faith
Errors stemming from a lack of familiarity with original
source materials or ignorance of Islamic and Persian matters are
not, of course, confined to issues relating to Islam as such. On
page 180 [of Hatcher and Martin's book], for example, we are told that 'Baha'u'llah encouraged
each of his followers to try, at least once during a lifetime, to
undertake...
The ignorance (?) of Baha'i scholars Hatcher and Martin about Islam
Censorship, Covenant, Denis MacEoin, Guardianship, Islam, Personal Observations, Shi'ih
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Let me turn to the book [of Hatcher and Martin] itself. The authors begin with a
woefully short (5-page) examination of the 'Islamic background' to
Baha'ism that fails utterly to do justice to the topic. This chapter
touches inadequately and amateurishly on only one or two general
aspects of Islam that have some bearing on the origins and systems
either...
Intellectually dishonest Baha'i scholars (loyal to the UHJ) try to avoid citing these scholars in their works.
Censorship, Denis MacEoin, Personal Observations
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Any study of the Baha'i faith claiming to incorporate 'the results of recent
scholarship', should have at least some
reference to studies and articles by Amanat, Berger, Smith,
Johnson, Hampson, Bayat, Lambden, Garlington, Beveridge, Kahn,
Bramson and MacEoin.(Denis MacEoin (1987) A. Article, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Bulletin, 13:2,...
MacEoin's opinion about the book "The Baha'i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion" and its authors William S. Hatcher and J. Douglas Martin
According
to its publishers, it is 'the first definitive introduction — sure
to become a standard reference work — to the... Baha'i Faith'. It
is, moreover, claimed as 'the most balanced and detailed
examination of Baha'i belief to date'. Let me, then, begin my
review by putting on record my firm opinion that this book is
absolutely none of those things...
Baha'ism is the largest of the many new religious movements (NRMs) that have come to prominence since the Second World War
I do not think I am exaggerating if I suggest that Baha'ism is the largest of the many new religious movements that have come to prominence since the Second World War...(Denis MacEoin (1987) A. Article, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Bulletin, 13:2, 193-208, DOI: 10.1080/135301987087054...
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Pros/Cons of Shoghi Effendi's leadership
Pros:He understood the direction society was going in the early 20th century, and predicted the moral decay of the West with surprising clarity for someone who died in 1957. Some of his writings on this (e.g. Signs of Moral Downfall and Isobel Sabri's Pilgrim's Notes) seemed almost prophetic.Remained true to the conservative aspects...
Monday, August 15, 2022
Beloved Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery on why the women are not eligible to the UHJ
House of Justice (UHJ), Personal Observations, Women
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"... why the women are not eligible to the House of Justice. You see, but the women who have the right, who are a member National Assembly, or the electors of the Universal House of Justice, and they don't have the duty of a member of the House of Justice. You will see how wonderful it would be with these little baby running around inside that the...
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Shaykhism is "something very close to a Shi'ite Sufi order".
His [Shaykh Ahmad's] essentially Sufi metaphysics and his emphasis on experiential religion, on dreams and visions and meditations, created space for popular involvement in the Shaykhi order - which became something very close to a Shi'ite Sufi order.(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80...
Shaykh Ahmad's mystical cosmology and Kabbalah
The close parallels between Shaykh Ahmad's mystical cosmology of the letters and the gematria of the Kabbalah is striking. Moses Cordovera of the sixteenth-century Safed school in Ottoman Palestine saw the Pentateuch or Torah as made up of divine letters, themselves manifestations of the divine light, which go on to form the names of God and ultimately...
Shaykh Ahmad's attitude towards Ibn Arabi and Mulla Sadra
The radical aspect of Shaykh Ahmad's thought is apparent in its revisionism and its dynamism. On the one hand, he clearly was motivated by
what Harold Bloom called the "anxiety of influence", the desire of creative thinkers to somehow escape the conceptual and literary structures
erected by their forebears where these are perceived as limiting. Shaykh...
Shaykh Ahmad's cosmology
Shaykh Ahmad creates his poetic and imaginative cosmology by juxtaposing the idea that the world is like an organism with the notion that the world resembles a language. Like an organism, it develops over time, growing from a simple seed into an ever more complex being, putting out ramifying branches. Like a language, it is a system made up of a finite...
Shaykh Ahmad about the creation of Mohammed and his other myths
Shaykh Ahmad in his mystical and theological anthology quotes a passage from "one of the learned", about how God created the Tree of Certainty (shajarat al-yaqin), from which he in turn made the light of Muhammad bloom from one of its branches in the shape of a peacock, which praised God for seventy thousand years. After this time, God created a mirror...
Monday, August 8, 2022
Shaykh Ahmad was influenced by mythologies
The other symbol to which Shaykh Ahmad appeals in this treatise is more obviously a "cosmic reality", a natural phenomenon that, as Ricoeur has said, both manifests and signifies higher realities. The world-tree, a powerful mythological image in many cultures, has especial resonances for mystics in the world religions, for it immediately suggests the...
Shaykh Ahmad's belief about the creation of the universe.
The plane of the Universal Intellect, the first emanation from the divine Will, is also called the One (wahid), since it is on this plane that number and specification first appear. On this plane God pronounces nineteen letters, creating the lower nineteen levels of existence: the nine spheres, the four elements, the three kingdoms of nature, man,...
Shaykh Ahmad, Akhbarism and a commentary on a tradition attributed to the Prophet of Islam.
Shaykh Ahmad's short treatise on cosmological symbolism was penned in response to an inquiry from Mirza Muhammad 'Ali Mudarris* (d. 1825) of Yazd, who desired a commentary on a saying attributed to the Prophet : "God wrote a Text (kitabah) two thousand years before He created the universe, on a myrtle leaf that He caused to grow. He placed it upon...
Shaykh Ahmad's approach towards Sufi mysticism and Shi'ite gnosis. He was much influenced by Ibn Abi Jumhur al-Ahsa'i
He [Shaykh Ahmad] innovated within, quarrelled with, and pushed to its
limits the highly sophisticated heritage of Sufi mysticism and Shi'ite gnosis
('irfan) that had crystallized in the seventeenth-century School of Isfahan. In
addition, Shaykh Ahmad tapped into a little-known stream of indigenous Eastern
Arabian thought.* His use of symbolic language...
Shaykh Ahmad's started to claim when it was a bad time for the Shias
He [Shaykh Ahmad] came to "consciousness" at a tragic time for Shi'ite Islam, which was battered in the eighteenth century by the Sunni Afghan invasion of Shi'ite Iran and dethronement of Shi'ism as the state religion, by the anti-Shi'ite Wahhabi tribes of Arabia, and by growing Russian and British power.(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies...
Promoting the Baha'i faith in Iran in a semi-clandestine manner.
Abdul-Baha, Baha'i Activities, Converting People, History, Persian-speaking Baha'is
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Nasir al-Din Shah’s
successor, Muzaffar al-Din Shah, had a more favourable attitude towards
Baha’is. They were able to publish semi-clandestinely through alternative print
technologies, such as the lithograph and jellygraph, that proved difficult to
regulate.Baha’is were also active in the early history of Iranian newspapers where, so
long as they...
Abdul Baha censored the book
In the immediate aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution, Baha’is increasingly confronted secular modes of thought. As was the case in India, publishing and public debates often went hand-in-hand. In 1919 to 1920, Sayyid Mahdi entered into a public debate with communists on a range of economic and religious issues resulting in the publication of a treatise...
How Baha'is invaded the Bans?
In 1917, ‘Abdu’l-Baha appointed an association (anjuman) to run the operations of the press and to establish a Baha’i magazine, Khurshid-i Kavar. Mirza Mahdi [Gulpayigani] drew on his previous printing expertise to publish the magazine, using it in part to respond to what Mashhad newspapers would write about the Baha’i Faith. Since the magazine was...
Gulpaygani made his livelihood as the editor of the Russian imperial government’s Persian magazine
History, Loyalty, Persian-speaking Baha'is, Russia
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It was only twenty years later, in the aftermath of the Russian revolution in 1917, that Mirza Abu al-Fazl’s vision for a Baha’i magazine was realized through the efforts of his nephew, Sayyid Mahdi Gulpayigani. Sayyid Mahdi made his livelihood as the editor of the Russian imperial government’s Persian magazine, Majmu‘ah-i Mavara-yi Bahr-i Khizir.(Farzin...
In 1920, Muslims and Zoroastrians allied themselves with local Parsis in debating Baha’is.
Hinduism, History, Islam, Persian-speaking Baha'is
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By the 1920s, the itinerant Baha’i teacher, Mirza Munir Nabilzadah, was at the centre of a number of Iranian propagation efforts in India. As if directly responding to ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s call for the prioritization of oral engagement over the mere textual circulation of scripture, Nabilzadah’s publications were usually the direct outcome of face-to-face...
Abdul Baha's policy of vetting Baha’i texts prior to publication
‘Abdu’l-Baha’s policy of vetting Baha’i texts prior to
publication should be understood against the backdrop of these divided
loyalties. While he recognized the potential for print in propagating the
Baha’i message, he also realized it could be used to back contesting claims to
authority.(Farzin Vejdani, Transnational Baha’i Print Culture: Community...
With the death of Baha’u’llah, Nasiri press was closed down.
Abdul-Baha, Covenant-Breakers, History, Muhammed Ali (Ghusn), Personal Observations
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Mirza Ibrahim Afnan, a Shirazi merchant residing in Bombay, established the Nasiri press, the first Baha’i press of its kind. Two early publications of the Nasiri press included Baha’u’llah’s Kitab-i Iqan, an apologetic work defending the claims of the Bab, and ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s political reformist text Risalah-i Madaniyah. Both texts had a Muslim audience...
Friday, August 5, 2022
the Baha'i divorce rate in the United States was above the national average
America (United States), Denis MacEoin, Divorce, Independent Investigation of Truth
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Typical of the book's uncritical idealizing are the references (pp.158-59, 164, 203) to Baha'i marriage and family life. We are told, for example, that 'the institution of marriage must be restored to its position as the foundation on which civilization can flourish' and that 'the public will be watching to see whether... Baha'i marriages and family...
If a person is registered as a member of a church or similar religious organization he should withdraw from it on becoming a Bahá’í.
If a person is registered as a member of a church or similar religious organization he should withdraw from it on becoming a Bahá’í.In the case of new believers, it should be made clear to them in the course of teaching them the Faith that one cannot be a Bahá’í and also a member of another religious organization. This is simply a matter of straight-forwardness...
The doctrine of metempsychosis upheld by the Hindus is fallacious.
'The Bahá'í view of 'reincarnation' is essentially different from the Hindu conception. The Bahá'ís believe in the return of the attributes and qualities, but maintain that the essence or the reality of things cannot be made to return. Every being keeps its own individuality, but some of his qualities can be transmitted. The doctrine of metempsychosis...
We believe that what Bahá'u'lláh has revealed and Abdu'l-Bahá has written is from God
'We as Bahá'ís are not influenced by the categorical assertions of scholars. We believe that what Bahá'u'lláh has revealed and Abdu'l-Bahá has written is from God, and divinely inspired; that Bahá'u'lláh is a Manifestation of God, and has access to a knowledge denied to ordinary human beings.'(Letter written to an individual believer, April 22, 1954...
Monday, June 27, 2022
"she was also expelled and shunned"
Covenant, Covenant-Breakers, Divorce, Personal Observations, Punishment
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In 2009 Jeffery Goldberg and Janice Franco were declared Covenant Breakers after leaving the mainstream Haifan Baha’i community and joining the Orthodox Baha’i Faith.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17555083/bahai-court-case-robert-stockman/https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant-breaker#American_oppositionJeffrey Goldberg's history should be very...
Sunday, June 26, 2022
This is the day wherein the "neither born nor begotten" was born
حضرت بهاءالله در يکى از الواح نازله به مناسبت يوم تولّد خودشان فرمودهاند:"فيه ولد من لم يلد و لم يولد" يعنى امروز روزى است که "لم يلد و لم يولد" در آن متولّد شد.English Translation : 'in it is the one who is neither born nor begotten' [i.e. in reference to the 3rd verse of Quran 112]; meaning, today is the day wherein the "neither born nor...
Thursday, June 23, 2022
Restrictions to be imposed on a Baha'i who has lost his administrative rights.
Covenant, Covenant-Breakers, Independent Investigation of Truth, NSA, Personal Observations
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• He cannot attend Nineteen Day Feasts or other meetings for Bahá'ís only, including International Conferences, and therefore cannot take part in consultation on the affairs of the community.• He cannot contribute to the Bahá'í Fund.• He cannot receive newsletters and other bulletins whose circulation is restricted to Bahá'ís.• ...
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
kept his belief a secret, even denying his relationship to Baha'u'llah
Mirza Rida-Quli Hakim Nuri (1242/1846-1312/1894, see fig. 91), the half-brother of Baha'u'llah and a prominent physician in Tehran, believed in Baha'u'llah but kept his belief a secret, even denying his relationship to Baha'u'llah on one occasion in the presence of the shah. When Baha'u'llah had been released from the Siyah Chal in 1853, it was to...
Friday, June 3, 2022
a young follower of the Shaykhi school
In 1843 (1258–59 A.H.) Sayyid ‘Ali
Muhammad Shirazi—a young follower of the Shaykhi school—claimed
to be that “perfect Shi’i,” and by doing so he laid the groundwork for the
spread of the Babi movement.(Soli Shahvar, The 1892 Persecution of Jews and Baha’is of Jewish Origin in Hamadan, Jewish Quarterly Review, Volume 108, Number 2, Spring 20...
The Jews of Hamadan who converted to the Baha'i faith
We also learn that most Jews [of Hamadan] were engaged in
a somewhat shady antiquities business, fabricating and selling Greek- and
Sassanian-style coins....apart from coin producing, the
Jews of Hamadan were also involved in various modest trades (among
them masonry, blacksmithing, tailoring, and shoemaking), in professions
forbidden to Muslims (such...
"every activity... is for the purpose of teaching the Faith and confirming people."
The all-important thing of course is that every activity... is for the purpose of teaching the Faith and confirming people. Therefore you and the other Bahá'ís should watch the situation very closely. You should study those who attend the meetings, and when you find one who you feel would become a strong and active Bahá'í, then you should concentrate...
The rudeness of Ruhiyyih Khanum
You may find this story from a devout Baha'i interesting:The Consolation of Dr. Varqá After an Encounter With Rúhíyyih KhánumThe conversation with Dr. Varqá on the Hadden estate, alluded to above, came at moment when I was recovering from what felt like a severe rebuke from ‘Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum. I wrote “what felt like.” Of course, it wasn’t...
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Abdul Baha received an honorary knighthood, after the Occupation, for his service to the Allied cause.
Abdul-Baha, Israel, Palestine, Personal Observations, Politics
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"During one of my early tours of inspection I met in Haifa for the first time Sir Abbas Abdul Baha : (he received an honorary knighthood, after the Occupation, for his service to the Allied cause), the head of the community of the Bahais, who had most of their followers in Persia and in the United States, but their centre at Acre and Haifa. He looked...
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
People get converted to the Baha'i Faith so easily!
In Oakland, California the community had a Persian dinner Saturday night at a hall in a park. Six Persian families prepared dinner for eighty people, many of whom were guests, The group included American Indians as well as people of other than American backgrounds. A welcoming talk of explanation of the occasion, children’s recitation of verses from...
Sunday, May 29, 2022
Persecution of Baha'is is a golden opportunity for teaching - The UHJ
Converting People, Denis MacEoin, House of Justice (UHJ), Independent Investigation of Truth
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In 1982, the Universal House of Justice wrote that 'the effect of these developments (i.e. the persecutions in Iran) is to offer such golden opportunities for teaching and further proclamation as can only lead, if vigorously and enthusiastically seized, to large scale conversion and increasing prestige'. Internal documents relating to the subject of...
Saturday, May 28, 2022
The Bab's claims in the beginning of his mission
Bab, Denis MacEoin, Dissimulation, Imam Husayn, Shaykh Ahmad, Shi'ih
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It is of particular value in helping us form a clear picture of the Bāb’s ideas at this juncture, especially since it seems to represent the first step taken to address himself to a wider audience than the Shaykhi ulama for whom his earlier works had been written. In the course of this work, he states that the Islamic legal system “shall not be abrogated”;...
"Slay those who have joined partners with God, and leave not a single one of the unbelievers alive upon the earth"
More explicitly, the Bāb links the waging of holy war with the necessary preparations for the advent of the Qāʾim: “O armies of God!”, he writes, “when you wage war with the infidels (al-mushrikīn), do not fear their numbers. ...Slay those who have joined partners with God, and leave not a single one of the unbelievers (al-kafirīn) alive upon the earth,...
"...his dispatches concerning the Báb and the Bábís were 'laid before the Queen'."
The two British Foreign Secretaries who received news and dispatches regarding the Báb and the Bábís were the Earl of Aberdeen, who held office from September 1841 to July 1846, under Sir Robert Peel; and Viscount Palmerston, whose tenure of office extended from July 1846 to January 1852, under Lord John Russell. The British envoy chiefly involved...
Qayyum al Asma and the Quran
Major Henry Rawlinson (1810–1895) (the British political agent in Baghdad) elsewhere speaks of Bastāmī’s “perverted copy of the Koran.” The text of the Qayyūm al-asmāʾ itself, however, indicates that this was a most superficial response and that the theory behind the tafsīr was much more complex than mere imitation of the Qurʾān.(The Messiah of Shiraz,...
Friday, May 27, 2022
Abdul Baha's contacts with British Military heads
Abdul-Baha, Israel, Palestine, Pilgrims' Notes, Politics
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It appears that General Allenby, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces, had called upon him at Haifa a week ago and at the Master's wish had driven with him to Acre and taken tea at Bahje, outside the city. The party included Lady Allenby, General Bols, Chief of the General Staff, and also Colonel Staunton, Military Governor of Haifa, who has become...
Thursday, May 26, 2022
Introduction of Babism by Denis MacEoin
Babism was the precursor of Baha’ísm, but unlike its now
very widespread successor it began as a highly chiliastic and militant affair
during Iran’s Qajar dynastic period, even bent on waging holy war to secure the
abrogation of the Islamic order and bring in a new messianic (Mahdist)
dispensation. Centered on Sayyid ‘Alī Muhammad Shīrāzī, the Bāb...
Statistical Report Program
Converting People, Independent Investigation of Truth, Personal Observations
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Two major computer programs launched by the Bahá’í World Center are in use worldwide:SRP (Statistical Report Program), implemented in the United States in 2007, a repository of information about how many enrolled Bahá’ís live in each cluster and local community; how many institute courses have been completed; how many core activities, Feasts and Holy...
"I personally hesitate to commit myself to the Baha'i faith"
Abuse, Independent Investigation of Truth, Muhammed Ali (Ghusn), Personal Observations, Subh-i-Azal
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Shua Ullah, the eldest grandson of Baha'u'llah said it best:"I personally hesitate to commit myself [to the Baha'i faith] with the existing conditions amongst us, as today we observe only the differences of ideas, lack of cooperation, discord, enmity, selfishness, and hatred—while we should believe that smiles are better than frowns, kindness better...
According to a prominent Baha'i historical figure, the formation of Israel was "a most remarkable bloodless revolution occurred, when 4,000,000 Moslems fled and 1,000,000 Jews marched in and began tilling their ancestral soil, and a new nation was born."
Abdul-Baha, America (United States), Bahiyyih Khanum, Israel, Palestine, Pilgrims' Notes
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May 18. On this date in 1954, Ruhaniyyih Ruth Moffett arrived in Israel. She described the founding of that country six years previous as "a most remarkable bloodless revolution occurred, when 4,000,000 Moslems fled and 1,000,000 Jews marched in and began tilling their ancestral soil, and a new nation was born. Today the blue and white flag with the...
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
The Russians, fearing the effect of Babi propaganda near their border
After having been protected at Isfahan, in 1847 the Bab was imprisoned in Sunni Kurdistan where he continued to spread his predictions of catastrophe via his disciples. The Russians, fearing the effect of Babi propaganda near their border – they already had faced two Messianic preachers in the Caucasus – demanded that the prisoner be moved away from...
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
How Baha'is ask for money?
With two and one-half months still to be accounted for, we are far short of the target. Total receipts must amount to $144,232 monthly to achieve the intermediate goal set for November 12 or $108,298 monthly to reach the final goal of $1,060,000 by March 31.Bahá’ís are privileged to contribute to the International Bahá’í Fund, the Continental Bahá’í...
The Bab appointed Mirza Yahya (known as Subh-i-Azal), to become the chief of the Babí community upon His passing.
Baha'i Scholar Peter Terry states,The Báb appointed Mirzá Yahyá (known as Subh-i-Azal), to become the chief of the Bábí community upon His passing. Mirzá Yahyá assumed that position but did not exercise it in any systematic or constructive fashion, according to the Bahá'í reports of the period in question, from July 1850 until April 1863. Bahá'u'lláh...
Abdul Baha also met various diplomats & U.S. military officers
While in North America, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was treated as a dignitary and an eminent advocate for world peace. He met with many of the great American social, religious, and political leaders of the age. These included Jane Addams, founder of Hull House in Chicago; Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone; Samuel Gompers, president of the American...
Baha'u'llah's writing a will did not save his family.
Abdul-Baha, Baha'u'llah, Independent Investigation of Truth, Personal Observations
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A niece of Bahíyyih Khánum recounts that nine days after the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, His will was read, first to the men, and then to the women of the household. The will established Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant with the believers, making clear that His son 'Abdu'l Bahá was appointed not only as the Center of the Covenant but also as Bahá'u'lláh's successor......
Some Covenant-breakers
I reached 'Akká by night, and went to the hospice, where I found Hájí 'Abbás. He was an Arab from Baghdad, and became a Covenant-breaker in the end. Hájí 'Abbás had been in Beirut, heading for 'Akká, and I had said to him, "Don't tell anyone in 'Akká that Ustád Muḥammad-'Alí is coming."Jamal-i-Burujerdi, this man was an important Bahá'í teacher during...
"my words... are preserved from sin and ignorance and error."
Al-Ahsā’ī went much further than any of his contemporaries in claiming more or less perpetual access to supernatural sources of knowledge, thus: The “ulamā” derive their knowledge one from the other, but I have never followed in their way. I have derived what I know from the [Twelve] Imāms of guidance, and error cannot find its way into my words, since...
Monday, May 23, 2022
“orders had been given to beat me and throw me out”
Covenant-Breakers, Independent Investigation of Truth, Injustice, Ruhiyyih Khanum
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"According to Ruhi Afhan, he was even banned from visiting Baha’u’llah’s tomb, and threatened by Shoghi Effendi’s wife, who informed him that “orders had been given to beat me and throw me out” if he ever went to the Shrine. This only changed as a result of a lawsuit by Kamar Bahai in 1952." (Letter by Ruhi Mohsen Afnan to the Baha’i Spiritual Assembly...
Saturday, May 21, 2022
As of October 27 [2021], there were 38 Baha’is in prison.
Censorship, Injustice, Personal Observations, Politics, Spying
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NGOs reported that as of October 27 [2021], there were 38 Baha’is – 16 men and 22 women – in prison.(INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORTS, by U.S. Department of State, Custom Report - e17950a37d)https://www.state.gov/report/custom/e17950a3...
sacred obligation is to deliver the message to their fellowmen at once, and on as large a scale as possible.
There is so much suffering, such a great and desperate need for a true remedy and the Bahá’ís should realize their sacred obligation is to deliver the message to their fellowmen at once, and on as large a scale as possible. If they fail to do so, they are really partly responsible for prolonging the agony of humanity.-Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance,...
Thursday, May 19, 2022
The Bab and the law of tattoo
We have already seen how in the Persian Bayán cleanliness and beautification is emphasized as a means of spiritualizing the material body. The Báb even allows the believers to have a tattoo on their bodies: since the heart is the seat of the love of God, the Báb states that it is permitted that the phrase “O Thou My God” (Alláhumma), for males, and...
The Babi Laws
The apparent tolerance shown in the many positive statements made in the Bayān is quite contradicted by a string of very harsh regulations governing relations with non-believers. The latter are forbidden to live in the five central provinces of Iran; the shrines and holy places of previous religions (including the Shīʿī shrines in Kūfa and elsewhere,...
Refutation of Abdul-Baha's claims
Abdul-Baha, America (United States), Covenant, Independent Investigation of Truth, Will & Testament
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Read 'The Three Questions' by Dr. Ibrahim Kheiralla. It gives a refutation of Abdul-Baha's claims based on the Kitab-i Aqdas and other writings of Baha'u'llah, and it is a pretty short read.https://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/K-O/K/kheiralla/T3Q.htmThere is a post about it here:https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeSpeechBahai/comments/ttcbw0/dr_khei...
Some reasons why Fazl'ollah Mohtadi Sobhi left the Baha'i faith
Abdul-Baha, Abuse, Dissimulation, Personal Observations, Pilgrims' Notes
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His first real doubts started after seeing 'Abdu'l-Baha for the first time and realizing that he was nothing like how he was described by Baha'i missionaries. Finally after seeing how Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí was treated by 'Abdu'l-Baha and his followers he devised a plan to extend his 19-day stay in Haifa to investigate the truth (...)He recounts many...
"And if ye say that He is in need of a guardian for His cause, verily this is an injustice"
Baha'u'llah, Guardianship, Muhammed Ali (Ghusn), Subh-i-Azal
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The religion basically started with what we would now call 'covenant-breaking', as Baha'u'llah rebelled against Azal who was the legitimate head of the faith at that time. In his defence, Baha'u'llah wrote:"These are the days of the Manifestation and God is manifest like unto the sun in the midst of heaven, and in the courtyard of His sanctity, nothing...
The local Arabs of Acre did not embrace the new creed.
Baha'u'llah, Converting People, Israel, Palestine
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"Bahá'u'lláh's influence and renown among local Arabs was apparently considerable; however, they did not embrace the new creed. Nowadays there is not a single Bahá'í family of Arab origin in Acre. Local Arabs explain that at the time of Bahá'u'lláh's influence in Acre; in the competition between the Bahá'ís and the Shadliya, the latter predominated....
on some occasions Abdul Baha led the prayers in the mosque.
During the Mandatory period, the Bahá'ís of Acre, though considered a sect, remained firmly within the confines of Islam. 'Abdul Bahá himself, before he left Acre during the last years of the Ottoman rule, had the use of a separate room in the central mosque of Acre and on some occasions led the prayers in the mosque.(Erik Cohen, “The Baha'i Community...
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Bitter and spiteful attitudes within Baha'u'llah's own family
Abdul-Baha, Covenant-Breakers, Muhammed Ali (Ghusn), Personal Observations, Shoghi Effendi
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Sadly, I cannot do justice in providing a fair description of this religion, whose aim it is to unify the world, without taking note of the bitter and spiteful attitudes within Baha'u'llah's own family. One of Baha'u'llah's daughters challenged Shoghi Effendi's authority in court, but she was unsuccessful, partially because some of her key witnesses...