Relations of Israel with the BIC

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 although the specifics might need to be obtained by contacting the Secretary-General.

-Peter Senior (Baha'i Studies Facebook Group)

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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 to Thee.’

‘Abdu’l-Baha bountifully lifted me up with the hand of His power and with a penetrating voice said, ‘God hath confirmed thee in serving His Cause, in elevating His Word, and in spreading His fragrances.’

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_World/Volume_19/Essays_and_Reviews

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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_World/Volume_19/Essays_and_Reviews

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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 emphasized the figure 2). He then said, ‘It is the will of God that this Faith should advance, therefore, nothing can hinder its progress or check its growth.

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_World/Volume_19/Essays_and_Reviews

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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_Reviews

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The Light of God, manifest in Abdul Baha

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 many peoples are yet slumbering, and see the Truth but dimly and as in a dream, yet, through the strength of the Word of God and the efforts of the chosen few, the world at large will perceive that vision and hasten to the Light of God, manifest in His Son (i.e., ‘Abdu’l-Bahá), the promised One, the Center of His Covenant and the Servant of His Command. May all souls perceive the Word of God and the expression of Unity manifest today, and partake of the joy therein!

(TRANSLATION OF A LETTER FROM ISRAELITISH ASSEMBLY OF BAHÁ’ÍS OF ṬIHRÁN, PERSIA, MAY 9, 1904)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_World/Volume_2/Translation_of_a_Letter_from_the_Israelitish_Assembly_of_Bahá’ís_of_Ṭihrán,_Persia

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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 transferred sensitive information there.

The center, it added, issued instructions to the detained individuals in order to revive the Baha'i faith, which is not officially recognized by the Islamic Republic, particularly in kindergartens across the country.

The development came amid a spree of arrests of individuals and networks, allegedly linked to Israel, by Iran's intelligence agencies in recent weeks.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iran-arrests-bahai-leaders-for-spying-group-calls-it-persecution/2651240

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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 of society have measurable outcomes: the number of clusters where a programme of growth has been initiated and the degree of intensity that each has reached. The means now exist for a swift advance in relation to both measures. The goal that the community of the Greatest Name must aspire to fulfil during the current series of global Plans is to establish intensive programmes of growth in all the clusters in the world. This formidable objective implies a broadening and intensification of activity on a scale never witnessed. Rapid progress towards this goal must be achieved in the course of the Nine Year Plan.

(Message of the Universal House of Justice, 30-12-2021)

https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20211230_001/1

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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 Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Bahá'í Studies, 2, 1997-06)

https://bahai-library.com/garlington_bahai_faith_india

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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 take on the task, and his arrival in Bombay in 1872 can be rightly said to signal the beginning of organized missionary activity in the subcontinent.

After a short stay in Bombay Jamal Effendi began a teaching tour that took him across the entire country and was highlighted by his attending the ceremony in Delhi at which Queen Victoria was proclaimed The Empress of India. The proselytizing style he employed can be gleaned from an account penned by one of his Indian converts, Sayyid Mustafa Rumi of Madras:

It was his custom to notify his arrival to the Governor or highest official of the place in British India and the ruling prince in an Indian state. He would then pay a visit to them and deliver the message. His list of those to whom he delivered the Message contains names of almost all the high officials and princes of the land.

Thus Jamal Effendi established an elitist approach to teaching the Bahá'í Faith in India, and it was this style of teaching that would dominate Bahá'í missionary activity in India for decades.

It seems that for the most part Jamal Effendi's efforts were met with courteous interest if not overt enthusiasm. The progressive character of many of the Bahá'í principles spoke well to reformers, and the universality inherent in many of the religion's teachings was welcomed by those who feared communalism. There were, however, exceptions. Both in Bombay and Calcutta Jamal Effendi raised the ire of conservative religious leaders. What the liberal wing of Indian intellectual leadership saw as forward looking, traditionalists viewed as dangerous. These conservative Muslim and Hindu anti-Bahá'í polemics were muted by the relatively small number of converts Jamal Effendi was able to attract by the time of his departure in 1878.

Jamal Effendi left behind him three prominent converts (Rafi u'd-Din Khan of Hasanpur, Haji Ramadan of Rampur and Sayyid Mustafa Rumi), who would begin the slow process of building the Indian community. During this time the Afnan's printing press in Bombay produced the first ever Bahá'í books to be printed. The Book of Certitude and the Secret of Divine Civilization were both published in1882. In order to further the publishing work, prominent Bahá'í calligraphers such as Mishkin-Qalam and Mirza Muhammad Ali came to Bombay.

After the death of Bahá'u'lláh and the inauguration of the ministry of Abdu'l-Bahá, the Bahá'í community in Bombay was split as a consequence of the activities of the followers of Mirza Muhammad Ali who had challenged his half-brother's right to legitimate leadership. As a result, Abdu'l-Bahá directed a number of prominent emissaries to India, both Persian and Western, to guide the community and encourage teaching. Among these were Mirza Mahmud Zarqani, Aqa Mirza Mahram, Mirza Hasan Adib, Ibin-i-Asdaq, Lua Getsinger, Mrs. H. Stanndard, Sidney Sprague, Hooper Harris and Harlan Ober. By 1908 the work of these individuals along with a small group of local converts had produced functioning communities in Bombay, Calcutta, Aligarh and Lahore. Of these, the Bombay community took the forefront in both teaching and translation work. Its advancements in the area of translation marked the first time any of Bahá'u'lláh's writings had been translated into one of the native languages of India. Bombay also managed to acquire the first Bahá'í cemetery in India, and Abdu'l-Bahá designed the layout of the sight. The activities of the Bombay community were commented upon by Sydney Sprague who in 1908 reported: "There are three meetings a week held in Bombay and there are as a rule eighty to a hundred men present." He also noted that it was not easy to become a Bahá'í: "It often means a great sacrifice on the part of a believer, a loss of friends, money and position."

During this period, a number of Indian Zoroastrians ("Parsis") were converted to the Bahá'í Faith, thereby forming a nucleus of future Bahá'í leadership in India. The conversions came about as a result of the work of agents who had originally been sent abroad by the Indian Zoroastrian community to help their coreligionists in Iran. There they came into contact with the Bahá'í Faith and supported its activities. Later, several Iranian Zoroastrian converts to the Faith traveled to Bombay (notably Mulla Bahram Akhtar-Khavari) and actively promulgated their new religion among local Zoroastrians. Although they were met with opposition by some of the conservative dasturs, these missionary converts were quite successful in opening the Zoroastrian community to Bahá'í concepts and teachings.

(The Bahá'í Faith in India: A Developmental Stage Approach by William Garlington, published in Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Bahá'í Studies, 2, 1997-06)

https://bahai-library.com/garlington_bahai_faith_india

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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, along with several other Babis, made extravagant claims, but he was eventually "faced-down" by Bahá'u'lláh who made his own claim to divinity.* Jinab-i-Basir was later executed for his beliefs in Luristan.

*Juan R. Cole, ""Baha'-Allah, Mirza Hosain `Ali Nuri." Encyclopaedia Iranica, ed. Ehsan Yarshater, (Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1983-), vol. 3, pp. 422-429.

(The Bahá'í Faith in India: A Developmental Stage Approach by William Garlington, published in Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Bahá'í Studies, 2, 1997-06)

https://bahai-library.com/garlington_bahai_faith_india

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History of the Babi period in India

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 known as Shaykh Sa'id-i-Hindi. Following instructions he took the Bab's claims throughout several provinces of Iran and into his own homeland. The fruits of this latter venture, however, were far from productive, as his only success was the conversion of a certain Sayyid in the town of Multan. After this the Shaykh's activities are not recorded.

Another Indian who was ordered by the Bab to journey to India was a dervish referred to in Mirza Husayn of Hamadan's history Tarikh-i-Jadid as "the Indian believer." He came to the prison of Chihriq where the Bab was being held and managed to meet him, receiving from him the title "Qahru'llah." After several encounters with local religious authorities, including a brief arrest in the city of Khuy, he set out for India on foot. Whether or not he completed his journey is unknown.

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, along with several other Babis, made extravagant claims, but he was eventually "faced-down" by Bahá'u'lláh who made his own claim to divinity. Jinab-i-Basir was later executed for his beliefs in Luristan.

That there were other Indian believers is made evident by Mahjur's monograph on the Babi insurrection in Mazandaran. He lists four Indians as being among the 318 Babis who fought at Fort Shaykh Tabarsi. Moreover, in the 1850s the Afnan clan, relatives of the Bab, established a trading center in Bombay. Although some knowledge of the Bab's claims had thus penetrated into South Asia and fired certain local millenialist expectations, there was lacking the needed doctrinal and ritual coherence that is required of community. Both the physical distance from the sources of inspiration, as well as the disruption and turmoil evident amongst the Babi communities in Iran, especially following the Bab's execution, made community virtually impossible. Thus it would not be until the movement came under the influence of Bahá'u'lláh and, later, of Abdu'l-Bahá, that a true community would begin to develop.

(The Bahá'í Faith in India: A Developmental Stage Approach by William Garlington, published in Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Bahá'í Studies, 2, 1997-06)

https://bahai-library.com/garlington_bahai_faith_india

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A short introduction of the Baha'i faith by William Garlington

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 religion. The movement's founder, Mirza Husayn 'Ali of Nur, Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), is considered by adherents to be a messenger of God equal in station to, among others, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha and the Hindu avatars. Banished from Iran in 1853 by the order of Nasiru'd-Din Shah, he lived in exile, being sent to Baghdad, Istanbul (Constantinople), Edirne (Adrianople), and, finally, the prison city of Acre (Akka or now Akko) located in the bay near Haifa in what was then Ottoman Syria and is now Israel. After Bahá'u'lláh's death the leadership of the community passed to his eldest son, Abbas Effendi, Abdu'l-Bahá (1844-1921), who following his release from captivity in 1908 visited both Europe and North America. In 1921 Abdu'l-Bahá's grandson, Shoghi Effendi, succeeded to the head of the Faith, having been named Guardian of the movement in Abdu'l-Bahá's will. During the Guardianship (1921-1957) the Bahá'í Faith increased both in size and administrative capabilities by establishing communities in over 130 countries and developing local, national and international administrative institutions. From 1957 to 1963 the Bahá'í Faith was guided by The Hands of the Cause, a group of initially 27 individuals (22 men and 5 women) who had been personally appointed by Shoghi Effendi to help him oversee the international activities of the movement. Since 1963 the affairs of the Faith have been directed by the Universal House of Justice, a body of nine men (women are currently prohibited from serving on this body) elected every five years by national representatives, whose headquarters is located in Haifa. 

(The Bahá'í Faith in India: A Developmental Stage Approach by William Garlington, published in Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Bahá'í Studies, 2, 1997-06)

https://bahai-library.com/garlington_bahai_faith_india

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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 Bahá'í community (regular attendance at functions, participation in the administrative process through voting etc.) the question of what they mean sociologically remains problematic. If the participatory qualification is required, then the numbers would fall off dramatically in both instances. 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.

(The Bahá'í Faith in India: A Developmental Stage Approach by William Garlington, published in Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Bahá'í Studies, 2, 1997-06)

https://bahai-library.com/garlington_bahai_faith_india

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'teaching' vs 'proselytism'

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 of their faith are termed muballighun, while those who leave their homes as missionaries are muhajirun (a term with important Islamic connotations). To engage in tabligh is, literally, to convey information about one's faith by whatever means, with the aim of winning converts whenever and whereever possible. Even in English, the term 'convert' is used by Shoghi Effendi, and in practice the activities of Baha'i 'mass teaching' teams, which sometimes enrol hundreds of individuals in single 'mass conversions' (a term frequently used in modern Baha'i literature) is entirely consistent with anything implied by the English term 'proselytism'. If the authors are embarrassed by the proselytizing activities of their missionaries, surely it would have been better for them to have said so directly rather than trying to invent a prohibition which does not exist, except in the broad sense as a ban on the use of compulsion.

(Denis MacEoin (1987) Article, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Bulletin, 13:2, 193-208, DOI: 10.1080/13530198708705441)

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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 a nine-day pilgrimage to the World Centre of the Baha'i Faith in Haifa, Israel'. As in Islam, there are two types of 'pilgrimage' in Baha'ism: hajj and ziyara. The former, which corresponds to the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, is, in Baha'ism, a rite undertaken by men only, either to the house of the Bab in Shiraz or that of Baha'u'llah in Baghdad. It is this pilgrimage which was ordained by Baha'u'llah. Ziyara is a much simpler 'visitation' to the shrines of saints. In the case of the Shrines of the Bab and Baha'u'llah in Haifa and at Bahji, near Acre, it was 'Abdul Baha who prescribed the pilgrimage. The nine-day period and the format of the current extended 'pilgrimage' (which actually involved much more than plain ziyara) were largely worked out by Shoghi Effendi and the present-day Baha'i administration. The 'Baha'i World Centre' did not, of course, exist at the time of Baha'u'llah.

(Denis MacEoin (1987) Article, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Bulletin, 13:2, 193-208, DOI: 10.1080/13530198708705441)

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The ignorance (?) of Baha'i scholars Hatcher and Martin about Islam

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 Babism or Baha'ism. There is no discussion of the concept of religious law (Shari'a) or any of its components, such as ritual prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, marriage, inheritance, or other aspects if socio-economic legislation. Shi'ism is treated largely as a millenarian movement, whose main function seems to have been to prepare for the advent of the Bab in 1844: there is no attempt to look closely at Shi'ite theories of prophethood and imamate (especially the use of the term mazhar ilahi), at the 'covenant' system of succession, or at concepts of cyclical time, all of which have an immense relevance to our subject. It would also have been extremely useful to have said at least a little about the development of Shi'ism in Iran, especially with regard to conditions in the nineteenth century. The result of all this is that, when certain topics such as prayer, pilgrimage, or the 'Baha'i covenant' are discussed later in the book, the reader is left with the false impression that these are wholly independent developments, where they are, in fact, extensions of standard Islamic theory and practice.

Generally speaking, the writers show either explicit ignorance of matters Islamic or give the impression that they are simply quite unaware of those many areas in which Baha'ism shares its world-view with Islam. Thus, for example, we are told that 'the early nineteenth century was a period of messianic expectation in the Islamic world as well as in the Christian world' (p.6); that the development of a covenant system of succession (wilaya) is 'the distinguishing feature of the Baha'i religion (p.50: it is, in fact, closely modelled on the Shi'ite imamate); that 'the Baha'i focus on achieving world unity and a world civilization... is both contemporary and unique' (p.132: in fact all of the basic themes involved occur in some form within Islam); that 'one of the teachings of its [the Baha'i Faith] founder.. is that God's greatest gift to humankind is reason' (p.xvi: this is a basic Islamic teaching).

(Denis MacEoin (1987) Article, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Bulletin, 13:2, 193-208, DOI: 10.1080/13530198708705441)

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Intellectually dishonest Baha'i scholars (loyal to the UHJ) try to avoid citing these scholars in their works.

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, 193-208, DOI: 10.1080/13530198708705441)

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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 and that a balanced, serious, and informed study of the subject remains to be written.

The book is, in fact, nothing more than a straightforward work of Baha'i apologetics masquerading as an academic introduction.

Whatever it has now become, Baha'ism is a religion firmly rooted in Shi'ite Islam and in nineteenth-century Iranian culture, particularly during the most controversial phase of its origins within the Babi sect. Since all the scriptural and almost all the historical materials relating to the early period of the movement (up to the 1890s) are in Persian and Arabic (the bulk of them still in manuscript), it is hard to grasp how two Western writers, neither of whom is an Islamicist and neither of whom knows Persian or Arabic, could possibly hope to clarify to anyone's satisfaction 'many of the central textual and historical issues'. I wonder if they even know what most of the central textual and historical issues are. 

Denis MacEoin (1987) A. Article, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Bulletin, 13:2, 193-208, DOI: 10.1080/13530198708705441

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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: 10.1080/13530198708705441)

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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 of the Baha'i Faith (as it relates to personal morality, chastity), in spite of any pressure there may have been from liberal converts of the time to compromise on these.

• Wrote some things limiting the sphere of the UHJ's powers (I guess it might have been in his interests to do this)

Cons:

• Held unreasonable grudges that were in the long term very bad for the Baha'i Faith. Used Baha'i Faith as a tool to retaliate against those he had grudges, and did his best to make it sting. Excommunicated his family members, and never forgave them, in spite of them apologizing and begging for decades to be let back in. Because of Shoghi Effendi none of Baha'u'llah's family is in the Baha'i Faith any more.

• Enforced unreasonable policies with respect to obedience to governments. Declared Baha'i refugees to be Covenant Breakers for not staying in Iran and getting martyred. Made Lidia Zamenhoff stay in Poland and get slaughtered in the Holocaust.

• Cultural purging of the Baha'i Faith. For example, I believe Shoghi Effendi was the first to ban Baha'is from having dual membership in both the Baha'i Faith and in Sufi Orders

Neutral:

• His roles as interpreter and translator is mixed. Some interpretations/translations were good and some were bad.

• He is the originator of this doctrine of Abdul Baha having a "special station" between a human and a manifestation but closer to a manifestation. This is a bad doctrine, but it didn't really change much since the Baha'is already pretty much viewed Abdul Baha as being a prophet or prophet-like. Who knows - this doctrine may have even been an effort by Shoghi Effendi to prevent Baha'is from viewing Abdul Baha as a prophet.

• Shoghi Effendi contributed to the bureaucratization of the Baha'i Faith, but I think he may be given a little to much blame. Most of the problems of the Baha'i administration are simply a result of over-centralization, and I think this is mostly Abdul Baha's fault for creating the institution of the UHJ. Institutions like the ITC and Regional Council were created directly by the UHJ, not Shoghi Effendi. Abdul Baha is also responsible for the Soviet-style Council Democracy hierarchy of the LSA, NSA, and UHJ.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeSpeechBahai/comments/wm9h24/proscons_of_shoghi_effendis_leadership/

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Beloved Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery on why the women are not eligible to the UHJ

"... 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 building of the Universal House of Justice just crying "mama, mama, mama" or something else. Now you can understand that. Bahá’u’lláh, in His wisdom, gave it to a woman an exemption from this honor [?] that he is to be a member of Universal House of Justice."

https://bahai.works/Transcript:Ugo_Giachery/Speaking_at_Scandinavian_Summer_School,_1974

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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 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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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 worlds and worldly beings, as the letters undergo a "fall" or materialization. The gnostic motif of the material universe as "fallen" or evil is missing in Shaykhism, though gross matter is seen as inferior to subtle spirituality. But similarities between the two movements clearly exist, and they derive in part from a common Mediterranean heritage of ancient Jewish conceptions, Neoplatonism, and Gnosticism, which percolated into the Shi'ism of the eighth century and into medieval Judaism. The possibility that Muslim mystics and Kabbalists in places such as Muslim Spain, Isma'ili Yemen, and Ottoman Palestine influenced one another also cannot be dismissed. Beyond such a shared legacy of ideas, Kabbalism and Shaykhism developed some of their resemblance because the masters of both employed a similar spiritual logic in reworking this heritage.

(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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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 Ahmad's acceptance of much in Ibn 'Arabi's metaphysics while sharply criticizing the Andalusian Sufi himself, and his love-hate relationship with previous Shi'ite theosophers such as Mulla Sadra and Mulla Muhsin Fayz Kashani demonstrate this anxiety no less than do his doctrinal innovativeness and his idiosyncratic scripture commentary.

(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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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 number of discrete units that are combined and recombined according to regular laws.

By appealing to both symbols in the same treatise, indeed, Shaykh Ahmad powerfully transcends the dichotomy between nature and culture. If the natural world is spelled out by primal, divine letters, then nature is cultural. If humans are microcosms of the world-tree's leaf, then culture is natural. Nature is cultural insofar as it, like an orthographic system, "makes sense", and letter symbolism thus acts powerfully to reject an understanding of the universe as random and meaningless. It was argued by the great anthropologist, Claude Levi-Strauss, that myths in primitive culture were often about the transition from nature to culture, and that the contradiction between the two was expressed symbolically, so that nature is represented by fresh food that spoils whereas in culture raw food is cooked. In contrast, Shaykh Ahmad's cosmologies, the product of a highly sophisticated and literate intellectual tradition, deny the nature/culture contradiction by challenging the validity of this binary opposition and showing how each of these opposing concepts demonstrates characteristics of the other. The identification of the microcosm, the human soul, with the macrocosm of the primal leaf even undermines the distinction between the self and the world. In transcending these contradictions, Shaykh Ahmad forcefully underscores the sacredness of the universe, which reflects in its orthographic and organic meaningfulness the creative design of the divine Mind.

(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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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 in which it could see itself, and the cosmic peacock then bowed to God five times, thus originating the five daily prayers of Islam. God created from the light of Muhammad the spirits of the believers, and their station in life was determined by which part of the Prophet's body of light they first saw upon coming to consciousness. The origins of this cosmological myth may plausibly be seen to lie in ancient Iranian mythology, with the Saena tree as the Tree of Certainty, the Saena bird or Simurgh as the peacock, and the five Zoroastrian daily prayers as the bird's five prostrations.

(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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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 spanning of earth and sky; more, it speaks of development, of the growth of a towering complex being from a tiny kernel. The Indo-European root deru is the origin of both the English word "tree" and the word "true". "Druid", the name for holy men in Celtic Europe, means the "knower of the tree (or the true)" (deru-wid). In ancient Iranian mythology, preserved in Zoroastrian texts, the Saena tree that stood in the midst of the cosmic Lake Vourukasha was said to be the source of all seeds. In this fabulous Tree of Healing (vispobish) nested the Saena bird, with the head of a dog and the body of a fowl, which from time to time flapped its enormous wings, sending the multifarious seeds of the Saena tree flying over the earth, upon which they landed and from which they grew into the vegetation that covered it. In Islamic mysticism, many elements of this myth were taken over. The Saena bird, for instance, became for Suhrawardi and Faridu'd-Din 'Attar (d. ca. 1230) the "Simurgh" (a contraction of Saena meregh), and they see it as symbol of the soul's mystical unity with God. It is said that its haunt is the mystical mountain of Qaf (a transformation of an Iranian mythic geographical symbol) beyond the world-sea (i.e. Vourukasha). Kazem Tehrani has pointed out that for Suhrawardi, the tree of all seeds is associated with a return of the soul to the "first form" (shakl-i avval), identified with the nest of the Simurgh, a conception that differs slightly from 'Attar's notion of the mythical bird as a mirror in which the soul sees itself. The Iranian idea of the Saena tree was probably mediated to Shaykh Ahmad through writings of such Iranian mystics, and it has for him, as well, connotations of the soul's return to its primal, pure estate.

(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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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, jinn, and angels. The nineteen letters form the words, bism Allah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate", whereby the chapters of the Qur'an begin. This phrase is the universal manifestation of all the levels of contingent being, and for that very reason consists of nineteen letters. When the numerical value of the One (wahid) is added to numerical value of the higher divine plane of Unicity (ahad), the results is equivalent to the letters forming the name kaf, corresponding to the Roman K. The letter kaf, in turn, stands for the Divine Will. It is also the first letter of the Arabic phrase "Be !" (kun) whereby God created the universe. This kaf revolves, and from it emanate all things. A similar discussion occurs in the important treatise of Ibn 'Arabi, The Tree of Being (Shajarat al-Kawn).

...The poetic and dream-like quality of letters as constitutive of the world is immediately apparent, but as cultural constructs they would appear to fail Ricceur's test for the authentic symbol insofar as they lack a cosmic dimension. It is here that the old Greek practice of calling both the elements (earth, air, fire and water) and the letters of the alphabet stoicheia becomes important. For Shaykh Ahmad, as well, the letters are elements, so that letter mysticism in this Greco-Arabic tradition is not only cosmological linguistics but also atomistic physics, and a natural, "cosmic" dimension to the alphabet as symbol can therefore also be discerned.

(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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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 the Throne, then called out : 'O community of Muhammad - peace be upon him and his House - My compassion transcends My wrath. I have given to you before you even asked, and forgiven you before you sought forgiveness. Whoso among you bears witness that there is no God but Me, and that Muhammad is My servant and messenger, I shall usher him into paradise by reason of my compassion".

*Mudarris was a prominent cleric of the strict constructionist or Akhbari school of jurisprudence in Yazd.

(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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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 captured the imagination of tens of thousands in the Arab East, Iran, and India, and the controversial, mystical Shaykhi order came to be established in his name, largely after his death. Out of this matrix later developed the messianic Babi movement and the Baha'i faith, a new world religion, suggesting that al-Ahsa'i's ideas, while they could be taken in a conservative direction as occurred among Kerman Shaykhis, also contained radical potentialities.

*I now have ample textual proof that Shaykh Ahmad is much influenced by theosopher Ibn Abi Jumhur al-Ahsa'i (b. 1434) and the great Bahraini thinkers of the Safarid period (1501-1722); see : Juan R.I. Cole, "Rival Empires of Trade and Imami Shi'ism in Eastern Arabia, 1300-1800", International Journal of Middle East Studies 19 (1987): 177-204.

(Juan R. I. Cole, The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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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 of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Studia Islamica No. 80 (1994), pp. 145-163 Published By Brill)

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Promoting the Baha'i faith in Iran in a semi-clandestine manner.

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 made no explicit reference to their religious affiliation, they could thrive and prosper. Mirza Mahmud Khan was the editor of the late nineteenth century Isfahan-based newspaper Farhang, a copy of which was regularly sent to ‘Abdu’l-Baha in ‘Akka. Sayyid Faraj Allah Kashani edited the newspaper Surayya in Egypt, Tihran, and Kashan during the 1903–1910 period. With the outbreak of the Constitutional Revolution in 1906, Baha’is continued to play a part in publishing newspapers. In the capital Tehran, Sayyid Ahmad Khavari Kashani published the newspaper Mizan. During these years, the Baha’i female activist Ta’irah published a series of articles in the leftist newspaper Iran-i Naw. Another Baha’i, Muhammad ‘Ali Hidayat, established his own press, Matba‘ah-i Khurasan, and published two newspapers: Bisharat and the constitutional-era Tus.

In the capital Tehran, the Imperial Press (Matba‘ah-i Shahi) sometimes employed Baha’is where they engaged in clandestine Baha’i publishing. Mirza ‘Ali Akbar Rawhani Milani Muhibb al-Sultan was a case in point. Muhibb al-Sultan lived in Central Asia for several years, including in Bukhara and Samarqand, before making a pilgrimage to ‘Akka in 1895 to 1896. He stayed there for six months, copying Baha’i texts, before returning to Ashkabad. Two years later, he once again made pilgrimage to ‘Akka, copied Baha’i texts, but this time he travelled and settled in Iran. Reaching Tehran in 1898/1899 he worked for the Imperial Press. Two Baha’is close to Muzaffar al-Din Shah — Ahmad Khan Sani‘ al-Saltanah and his son Mirza Ibrahim ‘Akkasbashi — had established the press thereby providing Muhibb al-Sultan crucial access to print technology. In addition to his involvement with the Imperial Press, ‘Akkasbashi was Muzaffar al-Din Shah’s court photographer and the first Iranian to record a motion picture. Muhibb al-Sultan was appointed the director and editor of the Imperial Press. In his spare time, he published a great number of Baha’i publications through jellygraph (tab‘-i ‘aksi) in his own handwriting. The fall of the Qajar dynasty and the rise of Riza Shah provided Muhibb al-Sultan the opportunity to use type-set printing for Baha’i Persian publications in Iran for the first time. The life of Muhibb al-Sultan in some ways parallels that of Mirza Mahdi Gulpayigani. Like Mirza Mahdi, he travelled extensively through Central Asia, Iran, and made pilgrimage to Palestine. Both men benefited greatly from being involved in government print operations and utilized their expertise to produce Baha’i publications.

Through the efforts of Muhibb al-Sultan’s clandestine press, the popular Baha’i poet Na‘im was able to publish his apologetic works meant to assist Baha’is in their propagation efforts. ‘Abdu’l-Baha even commissioned the translation of an English apologetic work into Persian with the intention of having it published by Muhibb al-Sultan for the Iranian community.

(Farzin Vejdani, Transnational Baha’i Print Culture: Community Formation and Religious Authority, 1890–1921, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 4, December 2012)

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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 on socialism and the Baha’i Faith. Sayyid Mahdi’s engagement with secular modes of thinking included Kashf al-Ghita, a posthumous expanded version of his uncle’s refutation of the British scholar E. G. Browne’s works on the Baha’i Faith. ‘Abdu’l-Baha censored the book for its overly polemical tone, once again demonstrating his active monitoring of printed Baha’i books.

(Farzin Vejdani, Transnational Baha’i Print Culture: Community Formation and Religious Authority, 1890–1921, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 4, December 2012)

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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 blocked from being imported into Iran from Khurasan, it was often brought to Gilan — a province in which Baha’is were in charge of customs duties — and circulated from there.

(Farzin Vejdani, Transnational Baha’i Print Culture: Community Formation and Religious Authority, 1890–1921, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 4, December 2012)

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Gulpaygani made his livelihood as the editor of the Russian imperial government’s Persian magazine

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 Vejdani, Transnational Baha’i Print Culture: Community Formation and Religious Authority, 1890–1921, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 4, December 2012)

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In 1920, Muslims and Zoroastrians allied themselves with local Parsis in debating Baha’is.

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 encounters. Sometime in the mid-1920s, he published an advertisement in three Bombay newspapers inviting people to a dialogue on the Baha’i Faith. Local journalists covered the ensuing debate between Nabilzadah and his Shi‘i and Zoroastrian interlocutors.

In response, an Iranian Muslim ‘Abd al-Husayn Sipanta and an Iranain Zoroastrian Shah Bahram [Shahrukh], allied themselves with local Parsis in debating Baha’is. They organized a conference at the Zoroastrian Fire Temple (atashkadah) in Bombay aimed at refuting Baha’i messianic claims to being the fulfillment of the Zoroastrian tradition. They enlisted the expertise of the famous Iranian Muslim Iranologist and scholar of Zoroastrianism, Ibrahim Purdavud. A series of articles questioning the validity of the Baha’i claim that Baha’u’llah was the promised Zoroastrian messiah Sayoshant were published in the Indian newspaper Jam. Nabilzadah described his response to these articles as “teeth-shattering” (dandan-shikan) and as leaving his opponents silenced.

(Farzin Vejdani, Transnational Baha’i Print Culture: Community Formation and Religious Authority, 1890–1921, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 4, December 2012)

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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 Formation and Religious Authority, 1890–1921, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 4, December 2012)

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With the death of Baha’u’llah, Nasiri press was closed down.

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 in mind and made no explicit reference to their authors’ identity. The overwhelming majority of publications were devotional works, including collections of prayers and other scriptures for the consumption of the Baha’i community.

Calligraphers and scribes acted as cultural brokers mediating between the Baha’i leadership located in Palestine and the Nasiri press in India. Since lithography could faithfully reproduce hand-written text, calligraphers and scribes were significant agents in the early history of Baha’i publishing. Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha dispatched a number of calligraphers and scribes to Bombay, including Mishkin Qalam, Muhammad Husayn Khurtumi, and Jamal al-Din Effendi, in order to engage in a range of tasks related to publishing, varying from delivering manuscripts for publication to preparing lithographed texts. These texts found their way to Iran often through the efforts of these same middlemen. For instance, the itinerant Baha’i scholar Mirza Abu al-Fazl disseminated nineteen lithographed copies of the Bombay Kitab-i Iqan during a trip to Tabriz.

By the mid-1890s, the Nasiri press was at the center of both financial and religious controversy. Presses in India, whether publishing in Persian, Urdu, or Hindi, were rarely successful commercial ventures despite a large potential readership domestically and, in the case of Persian, abroad in Iran and Central Asia. This was especially the case with a Baha’i press whose potential readership was sparse and geographically dispersed. With the death of Baha’u’llah in 1892, the Nasiri press found itself embroiled in the ensuing controversy over succession between ‘Abdu’l-Baha and his half-brother, Mirza Muhammad ‘Ali.

(Farzin Vejdani, Transnational Baha’i Print Culture: Community Formation and Religious Authority, 1890–1921, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 4, December 2012)

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the Baha'i divorce rate in the United States was above the national average

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 life represent a new beginning: whether the teachings of Baha'u'llah give hope that the general trend toward the disintegration of this basic social building block can be reversed' (p.203). What we are not told is that, some years ago at least, the Baha'i divorce rate in the United States was above the national average; or, for that matter, that Baha'i law permits a man to marry two wives (the current ruling that requires monogamy is an administrative, not a spiritual obligation, according to Shoghi Effendi), Or that another law allows a husband to repudiate his wife unilaterally if, on consummation of the marriage, he discovers her not to be a virgin.

(Denis MacEoin (1987) Article, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Bulletin, 13:2, 193-208)

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13530198708705441

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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 and honesty. A great part of the teaching of Jesus Christ concerned His Second Coming and the preparation of His followers to be ready for it. The Bahá’ís believe He has come. No Christian Church believes this; on the contrary, they either look for Him still, or have ceased to believe that He will come. For a Bahá’í to be a member of a community which holds such beliefs is disloyalty to Christ and hypocrisy towards the Christians.

You should not formalize the method by which the withdrawal from the church is to be made, and certainly nothing should be added to a declaration form, if you use one. It should be left to the Local Spiritual Assembly which is accepting the declaration to satisfy itself, as it deems best in each case, that the new believer has already resigned from the church, or does so within a reasonable time of his declaration.

In regard to the old believers, your Assembly should tactfully, and in a kindly way, make the Bahá’í position clear to them and gently persuade them to resign from their former churches. This is a matter for great tact and discretion. If such a believer remains adamant you will have to consider depriving him of his voting rights.

Lights of Guidance by Helen Hornby

https://bahai.works/Lights_of_Guidance/Churches

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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 upheld by the Hindus is fallacious.'

(To an individual believer, March 27, 1938)

https://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance_2.html&chapter=4#n1820

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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 on behalf of the Guardian)

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"she was also expelled and shunned"

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_opposition

Jeffrey Goldberg's history should be very known to ALL. The absurdity practiced by the Bahá'í administration and the Bahá'í community cannot be forgotten. They all should have been arrested at that time.

Jeffrey claims,

"My wife did not join the OBF at that time but she was also expelled and shunned because she refused to take my children and divorce me as they had insisted she must."

https://fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/shunning3.htm

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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 begotten" was born therein.

The claim Baha'u'llah is attempting to make here, which falls flat on its face, is that he is the One Uniquely Single (الأحد) Who is the Everlasting (الصمد) that in high Islamic metaphysics is glossed as the completely unknowable and transcendent aspect of the ipseity of the Essence of the Godhead. 

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Restrictions to be imposed on a Baha'i who has lost his administrative rights.

•  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.

•  He cannot have a Bahá'í marriage ceremony and therefore is not able to marry a Bahá'í.

•  He may not have a Bahá'í pilgrimage.

•  Although he is free to teach the Faith on his own behalf, he should not be used as a teacher or speaker in programs sponsored by Bahá'ís.

•  He is debarred from participating in administrative matters, including the right to vote in Bahá'í elections.

•  He cannot hold office or be appointed to a committee.

•  He should not be given credentials (which imply that he is a Bahá'í in good standing).

Two points in this list are especially noteworthy: To go on pilgrimage is a religious duty for each male Baha'i who is able to do this so by prohibiting this, the National Spiritual Assembly prevents the believer from obeying the Baha'i law. The second issue concerns the refusal of a Baha'i wedding ceremony which is open even to Non-Baha'is. That means that a Baha'i without administrative rights is ranked lower than a Non-Baha'i (at least in this matter). Accordingly, the privileges which are not denied mainly include those open to Non-Baha'is as well...  Furthermore, a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi states that although “it is not forbidden for the friends to associate with the individual, yet their association should be on a formal basis". It remains unclear what such an association should look like...

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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 Rida-Quli's house that he came to recover prior to setting out for Baghdad...

(The Baha'i Communities of Iran, Moojan Momen, p. 318)

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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 2018)

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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 as wine making or distilling liquor), with fewer numbers engaged in polishing precious coins and practicing medicine.

(Soli Shahvar, The 1892 Persecution of Jews and Baha’is of Jewish Origin in Hamadan, Jewish Quarterly Review, Volume 108, Number 2, Spring 2018)

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"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 on teaching him. Thus, if you are able to confirm some souls, you will have rendered distinguished and outstanding service. Actually this is the goal of all such activities in all of the universities.

(From a letter dated 1 June 1955 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)

https://bahai-library.com/compilation_guidelines_teaching#1992

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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 Khánum

The 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 a severe rebuke; it was a rather mild one. But coming from such a distinguished member of that illustrious institution, it felt like a blow. Its impact left me, in fact, momentarily dazed and confused. It does not matter now how that misunderstanding occurred or what was said. Let’s just say that it was one of those awkward exchanges that resulted from certain expectations and the embarrassment produced by a misconceived remark I made in the confusion of the moment.

Now, I know that I am not the only Bahá’í who experienced first hand Rúhíyyih Khánum’s direct manner. And in retrospect, I can see clearly now how I set myself up for it, well-intentioned though I was. Although the memory of the incident gradually dissipated, I must admit that it troubled me for years, that is, until the time of her passing. Then, mysteriously, a welcome and sudden psychological uplift occurred; instead of feeling embarrassed, I felt comforted and strangely peaceful. After her death, what I had once taken as a rebuke became a source of comfort; what I had experienced then as thunder and lightning became a refreshing rain shower. I am at a loss to explain this mysterious transformation, but it permanently removed the least twinge of discomfort.

Dr. Varqá and I crossed paths when I was still freshly reeling from the impact of the encounter. Unhinged, I unburdened myself to this fount of compassion and generosity there and then. Dr. Varqá knew exactly what I was feeling. He had seen it before. The receptivity, the “gentle kindliness, the humane understanding, the compassion and the loving-kindness of this man” of which I wrote above became embodied in that moment in his very presence. We spoke in French; Dr. Varqá had not yet learned English. “Now, now,” he said, with a comforting gesture of the hands in that soft, mild voice of his, as he threw a cloak of kindness over me, “Remain calm. Don’t be upset. These things happen sometimes. It has happened even with my wife, you know.”

Dr. Varqá wasn’t telling tales out of school; even less, did he have any intention of detracting from the high station of the great ambassadress of the Bahá’í Faith. He was simply recognizing, with that ocean of sympathy and understanding that defined his entire spiritual being, the human frailty and humanity that defines every Bahá’ í. Then we spoke of other things.

https://jack-mclean.com/essays/divine-simplicity-remembering-the-last-hand-of-the-cause-of-god-dr-ali-muhammad-varqa/

Just imagine how bad she ACTUALLY was when this is how she comes across when Baha'is who view her as one of the most holy people ever talk. Also shows the creepy worship of the Hands in the fact the person that wrote this puts themself entirely at fault for being insulted ("She wasn't rude, taking offense was the real crime."). And people wonder why the Faith's admin is filled with autocratic arseholes!

So much flowery language to put a nice wrapping paper on a story which is really, Ruhiyyih Khanum berated (and apparently traumatized) a young person who looked up to her and someone else comforted the young person by saying "Don't worry, she's just a massive dick and abuses my wife in the same way". What a horrible story.

For context Ruhiyyih Khanum was born into an incredibly wealthy Canadian family, then married the Guardian and was promptly worshipped by the Baha'i community. It's no wonder she was a deeply entitled unpleasant person. Seriously, most of the other Hands seemed to be relatively pleasant mellow people and embody what draws people into the Faith, but in virtually any first hand account I've ever read or heard about Ruhiyyih Khanum it's always the polite euphemistic "She was very direct" or "Had a strong sense of humor", which to me emphasizes she was basically a trust fund brat who got off on lording her superiority over people.

Even most of her written works are bitching about and bashing the Baha'is. Admittedly in amusing ways at times, she certainly knew how to roast people, but when you consider these people almost certainly would have read what she wrote and known she was belittling and insulting their sincere efforts and even without naming names she was humiliating them on a personal level to an international audience. What exactly was stopping her from being conceptual and not calling out specific acts? That's what Baha'is expect everyone else to do to 'maintain unity'.

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Abdul Baha received an honorary knighthood, after the Occupation, for his service to the Allied cause.

"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 the prophet; and everything about him and his house and garden had a studied but appropriate beauty. Though I suspected that he could speak English and other tongues, he spoke always through an interpreter of his Persian. His prophetic manner, however, could not conceal a manifest shrewdness."

(WANDERER BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, by Norman Bentwich, KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD., LONDON, 1941, p. 98)

books.google.com/books/about/Wanderer_Between_Two_Worlds.html?id=sJYaAAAAIAAJ

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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 the Holy Prophets, music and fun combined with the delicious dinner to give everybody the true Bahá’í spirit of joy. One guest asked to sign a declaration card, others asked to be invited again.

(Baha'i News, Issue 410, p. 13)

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Persecution of Baha'is is a golden opportunity for teaching - The UHJ

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 the Iranian persecutions indicate that the dominant concern of the movement is not so much the issue of human rights as the possibility of further publicity. This is particularly evident in the latest development, namely the production of a rather tasteless pop video based on the arrest interrogation and execution of a teenage Baha'i girl hanged in Shiraz in 1983. The video has been put on the market in several countries, along with a single record and an L.P., as part of a 'major proclamation' known as the 'Mona Project', whose aim is to get the Baha'i message across to young people.

-Denis MacEoin

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13537908608580587

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The Bab's claims in the beginning of his mission

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”; speaks of his verses as “utter nothingness when compared with a single word of the book of God or the words of the people of the house of purity [i.e., the Imāms]”; praises Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsāʾī, but condemns his followers; refers to a vision of the head of the Imām Ḥusayn, which he appears to have regarded as instrumental in giving him his earliest inspiration; condemns the concept of the oneness of existence (waḥdat al-wujūd) as unbelief; lists the seven bases of mystical knowledge (maʿrifa) as divine oneness, concepts, the gates (abwāb), the imamate, the pillars (arkān), the nuqabāʾ, and the nujabāʾ; states that prayer through the Imām or others is unbelief, and denies that either al-Aḥsāʾī or Rashtī prayed through ʿAlī or thought him the Creator (a point on which, as we have seen, they had been attacked); regards the station of the Imāms as higher than that of the prophets; states that “most of the men and women of the Twelver Shiʿi sect, by virtue of their ignorance of this station [i.e., of the nuqabāʾ]”, shall go to hell; declares the enemies of al-Aḥsāʾī and Rashtī to be unbelievers like the Sunnis; speaks of the former as the “pure Shiʿi” (shīʿa khālis);̣ writes of the necessity of belief in a physical resurrection and the Prophet’s ascent to heaven (the miʿrāj), condemns the idea of spiritual resurrection and maintains that al-Aḥsāʾī did not speak of it; and, finally, speaks of obedience to himself, as the “servant” of the twelfth Imām, as obligatory. When compared with statements in earlier works, it is clear that the Bāb had opted for the use of taqiyya or concealment of one’s true beliefs, perhaps because this text was in Persian and more easily understood.

(The Messiah of Shiraz, p. 187)

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"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, so that the earth and all that are on it may be purified for the Remnant of God (baqiyyat Allāh), the expected one [i.e., the twelfth Imām in his persona as the Mahdī].”

(The Messiah of Shiraz, p. 180)

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"...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 in forwarding such reports to London was Lt.-Col. (later Sir Justin) Sheil, the Minister in Tihran. Lord Palmerston's letters to him (F.O. 248/134) state that his dispatches concerning the Báb and the Bábís were 'laid before the Queen'.

(H.M. Balyuzi, The Bab - The Herald of the Day of Days, p. xi)

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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, p. 176)

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Abdul Baha's contacts with British Military heads

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 a firm friend and promises to do all possible for Abdul Baha and the Movement generally.

I cannot report the intensely interesting conversation between General Allenby and Abdul Baha, because it was of a private nature. Sufficient to say, that the Commander-in-Chief was deeply impressed, and asked for literature on the Baha'i Movement, with which I have since provided him.

Abdul Baha has now been visited by all the important military personages in Palestine, including the Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Arthur Money, Chief Administrator, General Ronald Storrs, Military Governor of Jerusalem, and many military heads of departments, to say nothing of a constant flow of officers and men who call upon him daily.

(Leroy Ioas Papers, 1919, p. 8 - The U.S. Bahá'í National Archives)

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/p/pilgrims_notes_us-archives_1919.pdf

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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 (1819–1850) or the “Gate” foreshadowing the coming of “He whom God shall make manifest” (The Twelfth Imam), the original core group of converts in his new dispensation from Spring, 1844, were all middle- or low-ranking ‘ulamā (clerics) recruited exclusively from the ranks of the semi-heterodox Shaykhi school of Shi’ism, to which the Bāb himself was affiliated.

(Denis M. MacEoin, Gnosis in Babism and Gnostic Signs in Babi Talismans, 2018)

https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315561608-54

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Statistical Report Program

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 Day observances are held regularly in a cluster; and how participation is in each. In the words of the House of Justice, this is “the most essential information required to evaluate the progress of a cluster.”

The newer SRPi (Statistical Report Program for the Training Institute), which manages information on how many people—Bahá’ís and others—participate in institute courses, children’s classes and junior youth groups.

These are the only programs that “decentralize the collection and maintenance of statistical data” about local communities and pass it on to regional, national and global-level institutions.

https://www.bahai.us/9/community/news/2014/march-april/finally-the-truth-behind-the-numbers/

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"I personally hesitate to commit myself to the Baha'i faith"

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 than coldness, commendation better than criticism, sympathy better than deception, love better than hate, friendship better than enmity, unity better than discord, and peace better than chaos."

The hate against different opinions is impregnated in the roots of the Bahá’í Faith. This just came up very early after The Bab's death when followers of Bahá'u'lláh and Subh-i-Azal started to kill each other.

(A Lost History of the Baha'i Faith, by Eric Stetson)

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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."

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 star of Bethlehem flutters proudly over the world'' youngest democracy --" "nation as eternally old as yesterday, as eternally young as tomorrow". Phonex-like, from the ashes have risen again to build a new homeland, to develop the most stupendous, life-salvaging operation ever undertaken in the whole history of mankind, and to fulfill the promise of the Ages!"

https://bahai-library.com/moffett_pilgrims_notes#1

Ruth J. Moffett was born on January 19, 1880 and met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on a train platform in Chicago in 1912. After attending one of his lectures, she became a Bahá'í and became active in service in 1919. Her teaching efforts took her throughout the Americas, Europe, Egypt and the Near East. The Greatest Holy Leaf (Bahiyyih Khanum) named her Ruhaniyyih, conoting spirituality, joy and beauty. Ruth J. Moffett died on July 5, 1978.

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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 their territories. The Bab was thus taken to the Ottoman border to the Chehriq fortress, but still numerous visitors came to see him. As the agitation continued, Mirza Aqasi decided to have him judged at Tabriz to humiliate him in front of his followers when he continued to claim to be the Twelfth Imam. Despite the determination of the ulama who interrogated him and judged him to be guilty of apostasy, he was declared insane and got away with a bastinado. At the same time, the Babis rose up in the north of the country, notably around the stronghold of Sheykh-Tabarsi in Mazandaran. After a ten-month siege they surrendered; the survivors were disemboweled and had their throats slit. But the Bab, although better supervised in the fort where he had been taken after his trial in Tabriz, continued to make himself heard by visitors to whom he spoke via his prison’s window. He was still there when the Shah died.

(Iran - A Social and Political History since the Qajars, Yann Richard, Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris, Cambridge University Press, p. 33)

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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 Fund, the National Bahá’í Fund and the International Deputization Fund. To facilitate a contribution to the National Fund the National Spiritual Assembly has approved the enclosure of an envelope so addressed with this issue of Bahá’í News. You are urged to give prayerful consideration to the use of this envelope for a special contribution at this particular time to help wipe out the accumulated deficit and permit the National Program of proclamation to proceed unhindered in any material way.

(Baha'i News, No. 116, October 1967)

https://bahai.works/U.S._Supplement/Issue_116/Text

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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 became cognizant of His Mission, that He was "Him Whom God shall make manifest" promised by the Báb in many of His writings...

(Baha'u'llah In His Own Words by Peter Terry)

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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 Federation of Labor; W. E. B. DuBois, the prominent African American leader; Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, a well-known philanthropist and the wife of Senator George F. Hearst; Admiral Peary, who traveled to the North Pole; and former president Theodore Roosevelt. 'Abdu'l-Bahá also met various diplomats, U.S. military officers, members of Congress, and Supreme Court justices.

(Prophet's Daughter, The Life and Legacy of Bahíyyih Khánum : Outstanding Heroine of the Baháʼí Faith By Janet A. Khan · 2005)

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Baha'u'llah's writing a will did not save his family.

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... Despite the clear provisions of the will, within a very short time, disunity regarding its interpretation emerged within the extended family and the community. 'Abdu'l Bahá's position and authority were challenged. ...none of the male members of the family were willing to assist 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the tasks that he was now called upon to perform.

(Prophet's Daughter, The Life and Legacy of Bahíyyih Khánum : Outstanding Heroine of the Baháʼí Faith By Janet A. Khan · 2005)

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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 Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime. But, afterward, he rebelled against 'Abdu'l-Bahá's authority and became one of the most implacable of Covenant-breakers. See God Passes By, pp. 247-48; Stories from The Delight of Hearts, pp. 128-29, 135-43 passim; The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Vol. 2, p. 119-19, 264-67.

This Siyyid Mihdiy-i Dahijí broke the Covenant after the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and became known as Takhtih-Kanah-sí [Bedbug] because of his stubborn personality. Ismu'lláhu'l-Mihdí (The Name of God, the Guide] is a title which was conferred on the siyyid by Bahá'u'lláh. See The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Vol. 2, pp. 272-75.

(My Memories of Baha'u'llah by Kalimat Press, Muhammad-'Aliy-i Salmani - 2001)

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"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 all that I confirm in my books is from them and they are preserved from sin and ignorance and error. Whoso derives (his knowledge) from them shall not err, inasmuch as he is following them. (Sharh al-fawā’id [1818] [Tabriz(?) 1856], vol. 2, p. 4)

This knowledge was, moreover, transferable. In speaking of his successor, Sayyid Kāzim Rashtī, al-Ahsā’ī emphasized his own role as a medium for transmitting divinely inspired knowledge, that Rashtī “has learnt what he knows orally from me, and I have learnt orally from the Imams, and they have learnt from God without the mediation of anyone” (quoted in Kirmani 1960–1961: 71).

(GNOSIS IN BĀBISM AND GNOSTIC SIGNS IN BĀBĪ TALISMANS, Denis M. MacEoin, p. 580)

https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315561608-54

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“orders had been given to beat me and throw me out”

"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 of Iran, 1970)

https://www.abdulbahasfamily.org/

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As of October 27 [2021], there were 38 Baha’is in prison.

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/e17950a37d/

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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, p. 127

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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 Most Gracious” (ar-Rah.mán), for females, be inscribed on their chests, in the most beautiful of calligraphy. (Persian Bayan 8:6) 

(Gate of the Heart, Understanding the Writings of the Báb – Nader Saiedi P.329)

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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, together with the Kaʿba) are to be demolished; all non-Bābī books are to be destroyed; believers are not to sit in the company of non-believers, nor marry them; the property of unbelievers can legitimately be taken from them by believers.

Once in the realm of worship and ritual, no holds are barred. There are elaborate regulations for pilgrimage, fasting, the drawing and use of talismans, the manufacture of rings, engraved stones, and tattoos, the use of perfume, the washing and disposal of the dead, and so on. Here, more than anywhere, the Bāb gives free rein to his tendency to surrealism. Instituting his house in Shiraz as the new Kaʾba, he writes that it is to measure thirty-six cubits long and wide. If it were possible, his followers would be commanded to fill it to the top with diamonds, to replace its earth with elixir, and its water with red perfume. Since that isn’t possible, mirrors will do instead. Believers are expected to wear or carry any number of inscribed rings, stones, and talismans. Coffins are to be made from crystal, marble, or polished stone. And so on.

(Denis MacEoin, The Messiah of Shiraz, p. 650)

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Refutation of Abdul-Baha's claims

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.htm

There is a post about it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeSpeechBahai/comments/ttcbw0/dr_kheirallas_view_on_abdulbahas_station_as/

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Some reasons why Fazl'ollah Mohtadi Sobhi left the Baha'i faith

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 things that troubled him in Palestine. 'Abdu'l-Baha posing as a Hanafi Sunni and attending the Friday prayers at the Muslim mosque and denying he was part of a new religion, accepting Knighthood from the British crown while a number of Muslims had rejected it at the same time, 'Abdu'l-Baha's close relatives indulged in leisure and living off the money sent by Baháʼís from abroad, bias and discrimination in favor of western pilgrims over Iranian pilgrims and 'Abdu'l-Baha's constant belittling of the people of Iran in his letters to the western Baháʼís.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fazl%27ollah_Mohtadi_Sobhi

http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/areprint/authors/subhi/Payam-i_Pidar.pdf

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"And if ye say that He is in need of a guardian for His cause, verily this is an injustice"

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 of the vanities of the world existeth which would necessitate a guardian to divide it. And if ye say that He is in need of a guardian for His cause, verily this is an injustice on your part with regard to God, the Protector, the Eternal. For the cause is, and shall be going round Himself and shall never separate from Him. Beware lest ye create for God a minister, an equal, an adversary, a like, a guardian, a companion, or a match." (see "A Lost History of the Baha'i Faith")

Years later Muhammad Ali would use the same quote as defence against 'the Master' and 'the Guardian'.

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The local Arabs of Acre did not embrace the new creed.

"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. Until now, Acre is a centre of the Shadliya."

(Erik Cohen, “The Baha'i Community of Acre”, Folklore Research Center Studies, vol. 3, 1972, pp. 119–141.)

It seems that not even the 'great majesty' of the 'Glory of God' in person convinced people from Acre of his claim as the new messenger of God. The Shadli's leadership was more convincing.

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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 of Acre”, Folklore Research Center Studies, vol. 3, 1972, pp. 119–141.)

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Bitter and spiteful attitudes within Baha'u'llah's own family

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 died, as Shoghi Effendi gleefully reported (Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World: 1950-57 [Wilmette, Ill.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1971], p. 25). He communicated messages of delight whenever a tragedy struck anyone who opposed him (ibid., pp. 24-25, 54-55, 87-88). Toward the end of Shoghi Effendi's administration, there were few members of Baha'u'llah's extended family left who were not Covenant Breakers. Baha'u'llah had three wives (Asiyih, Fatimih and Gawhar). Of those, the second, Fatimih, was the mother of Muhammad Ali, who had opposed Abdul Baha. She and all of her offspring were declared to be Covenant Breakers for this and other reasons. Gawhar had one daughter, Furughiyyih, who, along with her husband, Siyyid Ali Afnan, was critical of Abdul Baha, thus qualifying her for expulsion. Asiyih Khanum had three children who survived into adulthood, but the daughter, Bahiyyih Khanum, chose lifelong celibacy, and the younger son, Mirza Mihdi, died of a fall when he was only twenty-two years old. That left Abdul Baha.

Abdul Baha had four daughters, of whom one, Munavvar Khanum, had no children, and the other two, Tuba Khanum and Ruha Khanum, earned the title of Covenant Breakers because they supported their children in various actions that were construed as defiance of Shoghi Effendi. All of Tuba's and Ruha's children, Shoghi Effendi's cousins, were stamped as Covenant Breakers. So, that left Shoghi Effendi's mother, Diya'iyyih Khanum, and her offspring. Shoghi Effendi had two sisters and two brothers. The sisters both married sons of the ostracized Furughiyyih and her husband, Siyyid Ali Afnan, thus giving cause for them to have to vacate the community, and the brothers, Husayn and Riad, were far from Shoghi Effendi's standards as well. He said of Husayn that he was "faithless" and guilty of "dishonorable conduct," and he referred to Riad as "treacherous" and "despicable," which clearly put them into the category of Covenant Breakers. In short, among the descendants of Baha'u'llah of Shoghi Effendi's generation, the great-grandchildren of Baha'u'llah, there was only one person who was not a Covenant Breaker, and that was Shoghi Effendi (ibid., p. 16).

Nonetheless, Shoghi Effendi won his lawsuits to the effect that he was the authorized leader of the Baha'i World Faith. All the various Covenant Breakers had to sign over all communal property in Iran, Iraq and Israel to his organization, and were expelled from Israel (ibid., p. 124).

-Neighboring Faiths - A Christian Introduction to World Religions (Winfried Corduan)

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