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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Messages of delight whenever a tragedy struck anyone who opposed him

He [Shoghi Effendi] communicated messages of delight whenever a tragedy struck anyone who opposed him...

(Ref. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World: 1950-57 [Wilmette, Ill.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1971], p. 24-25, 54-55, 87-88)

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"Baha'is believe that the Faith has never been split into sects!"

Also, there's a little logic problem in Baha'i doctrine that has bothered me for a while. Baha'is believe that the Faith has never been split into sects (lasting ones, anyway), and will in fact remain basically undivided. But those groups that do separate from the mainstream of the Faith are declared non-Baha'is, simply because they separated. It's a semantic trick, no more. I'm sorry, but there are other Baha'i groups that do not consider the Universal House of Justice an authority. They do believe in Baha'u'llah (though not in the Covenant as we understand it, hence the term "Covenant-breakers"), so the rest of the world would consider them Baha'is. They consider themselves Baha'is too. Only mainstream Baha'is don't, and they have a powerful psychological motive for not doing so: the bedrock of their faith would be shaken if these breakaway groups were acknowledged as Baha'is.

This is very shaky ground for the claim that this faith is superior to Christianity and Islam, with respect to a lack of internal division. It also causes mainstream Baha'is to actively shun the company and opinions of certain other people who believe in Baha'u'llah; my soul tells me this is neither healthy nor just, and paradoxically, it makes the Faith less tolerant of diversity than many other religions.

And at some levels, what's really wrong with division, as long as it doesn't cause hatred or unloving behavior? I can choose to worship in a progressive church and still love conservative parishioners who leave to go someplace more suited to their beliefs. I can be an Episcopalian and still love my Unitarian and Catholic friends. (And my Muslim friends, and my Baha'i friends, and my Pagan friends, and so on!) I can even play Democrat to my Republican friends, or vice versa. It may be a little harder to understand where they're coming from, since I don't share their beliefs, but tests such as these are opportunities for intellectual and spiritual growth, not an indication that we need enforced uniformity of beliefs. I think what the world really needs is not a ban on divisions, but a spiritual discipline that prevents those divisions from causing hatred and prejudice.

(Letter to the LSA of Arlington, Massachusetts, by Jenifer Tidwell)
http://www.mit.edu/~jtidwell/letter_lsa.html

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Conservative & Liberal Baha'is

While it is true that conservative Baha'is object to categorising Baha'is as liberals or conservatives, as gentle or hard-line, for a sociologist to suggest that such divisions do not exist in the community is frankly bizarre.

Conservative Baha'is believe it is wrong to criticise the Baha'i institutions publicly. They support the NSA's right to act as it pleases, even arbitrarily. They firmly support the demand that everything written by Baha'is about their religion be subject to in-house censorship ("literature review"). They believe the House of Justice is infallible in all its doings. They believe that women should not be allowed to serve on the Universal House of Justice. They are convinced that civil governments will eventually be supplanted by the Baha'i institutions, which will rule as a theocracy. Shunning heterodox Baha'is or "covenant breakers" is central to their religious identity. They are fiercely anti-intellectual and often consider independent thinking a sign of "covenant breaking". They are scriptural literalists, preferring any statement in the Baha'i scriptures to the findings of scientists or historians.

In contrast, liberal Baha'is believe that the Baha'i institutions are still embryonic and often act immaturely, and that criticising them for the arbitrary exercise of power is good and necessary. They tend to protest when a Baha'i governing body appears to over-reach its scriptural authority. They are uncomfortable with censorship and often quietly decline to cooperate with it. They believe the Universal House of Justice's authority to be limited to legislation, and admit the possibility that women will eventually serve on that body. They see Baha'i institutions as complementary to civil governments, and reject the belief in a future theocracy. They are uncomfortable with the practice of shunning. They admire the intellectual life, and are not afraid to think independently. They believe that where science and scripture are in apparent conflict, science should be preferred, and they generally reject a literalist approach to scripture.

(Juan R. I. Cole)

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1387523

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The Babis of Zanjan rose in arms against the Qajar governor of the town.

May 5. On this date in 1850 the Bábis of Zanjan rose in arms against the Qajar governor of the town.

On March 20, 1848, Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bushru'i, who in 1844 had become the first person to become a follower of the Báb, visited the Báb at Maku prison, where the Báb was incarcerated.

Subsequent to his visit, Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bushru'i became involved in the Bábi uprisings. Under instructions from the Báb, on July 21, 1848, Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bushru'i unfurled a Black Standard in Mashhad, fulfilling an Islamic prophecy, and began a march with other Bábis. They were rebuffed at Barfurush and therefore made defensive fortifications at the shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí. Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bushru'i would die at the battle of Shaykh Tabarsí on February 2, 1849, but siege itself would last until May 10, 1849.

The Báb was later executed on July 9, 1850. Bábi uprisings would continue elsewhere in Iran, notably Neyriz and Zanjan.

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British and Russians were seriously interested in the Babis

It is undeniable that the British and Russians were seriously interested in the Bābīs (as they were in any movement of potential significance in the Middle East at this period) and that later contacts between Bāhāʾīs and British and Russian government officials or missionaries were often cordial and of mutual benefit, but the sort of evidence that would lead to the far-reaching conclusions of the polemical literature is lacking.

------

Whatever the truth behind these events in Nūr and Tehran, the arrests and executions that followed the attempt on the Shāh’s life seem to have put an effective end to the Bābī network in that region. Mullā Shaykh ʿAlī Turshīzī ʿAzīm, ḥusayn Mīlānī, Ḥājj Sulaymān Khān Tabrīzī, Mīrzā Rafīʿ Nūrī, and the four men from Tākur mentioned above, all perished in the period immediately following the attempt. Subh-i Azal succeeded in escaping to Baghdad, where he was followed in 1853 by his brother Ḥusayn ʿAlī, who chose to go there after he had been released from prison in Tehran on the intervention of the Russian Minister.

-Denis MacEoin, The Messiah of Shiraz

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Baha'i faith is a world religion not a Babi sect, Asiatic cult or offshoot of Shia Islam

Ceasing to designate to itself a movement, a fellowship and the like—designations that did grave injustice to its ever-unfolding system—dissociating itself from such appellations as Bábí sect, Asiatic cult, and offshoot of Shí‘ih Islám, with which the ignorant and the malicious were wont to describe it, refusing to be labeled as a mere philosophy of life, or as an eclectic code of ethical conduct, or even as a new religion, the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is now visibly succeeding in demonstrating its claim and title to be regarded as a World Religion, destined to attain, in the fullness of time, the status of a world-embracing Commonwealth, which would be at once the instrument and the guardian of the Most Great Peace announced by its Author.

https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/11#088291543

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mankind must suffer and be punished sufficiently to make it turn to God. - The UHJ

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

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

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The Lesser Peace - "It will be universal in the twentieth century."

The Lesser Peace in the Bahá’í Faith is a prophecy of political peace to be established by the nations of the world in order to bring about an end to war. Its establishment will prepare the way for the Most Great Peace, a condition of permanent peace and world unity to be founded on the spiritual principles and institutions of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh and signalizing humanity's coming of age.

'Abdul-Bahá stated in 1912:

“Question: 'Are there any signs that the permanent peace of the world will be established in anything like a reasonable period?' ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was asked.

'It will be established in this century,' he answered, ‘It will be universal in the twentieth century. All nations will be forced into it.'"

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Canada” [Thornhill: Bahá’í Canada Publications, 1987])

In January 23, 1985, the Universal House of Justice sent a letter addressed "To all National Spiritual Assemblies" concerning Bahá’í activities for the International Year of Peace declared by the United Nations, in anticipation of the permanent peace of the world:

"Dear Bahá’í Friends,

1986 has been named the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Considering the dangers surrounding mankind and the remedial prospects of the Lesser Peace to which Bahá’u’lláh has summoned the nations, we embrace this God-sent opportunity to proclaim ever more widely and convincingly the vitalizing principles upon which, as our Teachings emphatically assert, a lasting peace must be founded."

So the 20th century has gone and the prophecy failed miserably. Now they just do mental gymnastic to twist all these information saying the Lesser Peace is ongoing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/txprju/oops_something_went_wrong_with_your_prophecy/

https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/10hflg3/universal_peace_quotes_by_20th_century/

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"the Guardian expected obedience to dictates from afar, but accepted us as the members of the community..."

"Whatever real reasons he had, neither I, nor Hassan, or our respective families, have learnt. For all of us, it simply cast a shadow that we could have done without, reminding us that even when cast out of the Cause, the Guardian expected obedience to dictates from afar, issued by someone who neither accepted us as members of the community nor granted us any recognition of basic human rights."

(Bahiyeh Shahid, great-granddaughter of Baha'u'llah)

https://web.archive.org/web/20210503025617/https://www.abdulbahasfamily.org/zia-khanum/shoghi-effendi/

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"back-biting is forbidden"

Baha'is say their prejudiced attitude is only towards covenant breakers but it extends to people who criticize the Faith or leave the Faith also.

The whole "back-biting is forbidden" thing doesn't apply to people designated as "enemies" who will get blasted from pillar to post for all their character flaws (real or imagined) as soon as Baha'is feel they have the greenlight to destroy someone for going against their collective.

It seems deeply hypocritical until one accepts the only real principle in the Faith is that whatever the Head of the Faith deems moral and right is moral and right, individual conscience and opinion is meaningless. It's just an autocratic authoritarian theocratic regime, not a philosophical system.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/uh8pq9/do_bahais_still_love_covenant_breakers/

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‘shake their faith in what?’

Dr. Moojan Moomen, a well informed, well established writer on Bahai history and Bahai matters, has official permission from the House of Justice to come and visit us. At a recent meeting on December 5, 2011 he made a statement that prompted me to write the following letter to him on April 3, 2012:

Dear Dr. Momen:

Towards the end of our last meeting you said something that has remained with me. You thought that if Baha’is should listen to me and to what I had to say it would shake their faith. The next day, — it took me a few hours of sleep to recover from our absorbing, eight hour session — the question came to mind: ‘shake their faith in what?’ Could any amount of talking anyone heard from me or Hassan shake anyone’s faith in the core principles, ideals, or world view of the Bab or Bahaullah? Could anything you have heard us say shake a Baha’i’s faith in the definition of a Baha’i? In the purpose and goal of a Baha’i’s existence; the end towards which he should strive; the compassion, love and understanding with which he should seek to serve humanity; the ingrained spirituality and godliness that should be his guiding light; the responsibility, kindness and forgiveness that can move mountains and build a new world? Have you ever heard Hassan or I say anything that would shake a Baha’i’s faith in any of these?

What might shake their faith is the discrepancy between the ‘facts’ as they are compiled and presented on the internet, on sources such as Bahai Library on-line, Bahaikepedia, the planned Bahai encyclopedia, a variety of articles, and what actually happened. In my humble opinion, it would serve the Cause far better if more care is taken to make sure that these ‘facts’ were actually factual. In fact it would be much better to do without a great many of these articles and compilations altogether. What are you afraid of? Why does the Cause require so much fending off of ‘enemies’? They have always been there and will probably always be there. But does a Cause such as this need anything more than the luminous message it brought? Does it need ‘propaganda’ beyond its own words of wisdom and spiritual enlightenment?

Historians allowed too many witnesses and participants in the events of the time to die without interviewing a single one of them, or finding out firsthand what actually happened, how and why. They were so busy categorizing covenant breakers and shunning them that history passed them by. What you are now left with are regurgitated accounts of events that often have little to do with how things actually were.

The Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, held the will of Abdul Baha aloft and with what he interpreted as the Master’s blessings, set out to make the institution of Guardianship a jewel mounted in a framework of complete conformity, total obedience and unswerving loyalty to the authority heading the Cause, whether the Guardian or the Universal House of Justice — not forgetting that together they were divinely guided and infallible. However, like all man-run institutions, no matter how sacred in origin, these are stepping stones in a certain direction, not eternal edifices never to be questioned or changed. Maybe when you said I or Hassan could shake a Baha’i’s faith you meant faith in what these institutions brought forth, did or decided, notwithstanding their infallibility. If a Bahai believes in all this what would shake his faith: my words or what in his/her name and the name of the Bahai Faith, is being said to the world now on the internet, — coming from official Baha’i sources? Ironically, what is put on the internet — that ‘curse’ as you called it — should, considering how many ‘enemies, battles, conflicts, expellees, covenant breakers, faithless, disloyal, treacherous, arch-enemies, plotters and schemers are mentioned, all relating to the family of Abdul Baha and Shoghi Effendi, be enough to shake anyone’s faith. And that is exactly what I am talking about. If you wish to hang the families of Abdul Baha and Shoghi Effendi like washing on a line on the internet, at least have your facts right. I do not believe it serves any cause, leave alone the Cause of Bahaullah to have the names of the descendants of Abdul Baha and the immediate family of the Guardian so besmirched with mud, which, upon closer scrutiny, simply does not stick. When one fact is shown to be incorrect it casts doubt on the whole body of work. How much more when ‘fact’ after ‘fact’ is not correct?

That is what shakes a believer’s faith. When those who should know better ignore the truth, a truth that always, somehow, has the habit of putting on an appearance.

Sincerely,

Bahiyeh Afnan Shahid

https://web.archive.org/web/20190430172739/http://www.abdulbahasfamily.org/ 

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14 facts about the Baha'i Faith that any bahá'í will ever tell you!

1- The Bab revealed a series of bizarre laws in the Bayan: The rich should live in a 9 sided house; It's forbidden to read books without permission; reprinting of books after 37 and 200 years; never tear up letters; prohibition on the study of dead languages etc.

2- Many writings of The Bab are crystal clear that his dispensation was expected to last a long time (he reveals laws to sultans and kings who would embrace his faith) as well as he says that the next manifestation only will come after the complete fulfillment of his revelation and laws. Nonetheless, he was killed in the 6th year of his dispensation and Mirza Husayn Ali declared himself "Bahá'u'lláh" 3 years later.

3- The Bab appointed explicitly Subh-i-Azal as his successor and wrote him many tablets blessing his authority and explaining that whosoever opposes him, this would be opposing God.

4- It's no coincidence that none of these tablets (not even the Bayan) were officially translated to English (the translation by scholars are not officially approved) and all that have been published and came up to the public are only the "Selection from the writings of The Bab" and the notes from Shoghi Effendi (that are totally incompatible with the expected in the Bab's writings).

5- The Bab allowed his followers to marry a maximum of 2 wives but Bahá'u'lláh disrespected this and married 3 women. Later, his 2nd and 3rd wives and all her sons and relatives were abruptly excommunicated.

6- In the Kitab-i-Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh prescribed death penalty, specially death by burning: "Should anyone intentionally destroy a house by fire, him also shall ye burn."; and ordained to mark the thieves on the forehead: "on the third offence, place ye a mark upon his brow so that, thus identified, he may not be accepted in the cities of God and His countries. Beware lest, through compassion, ye neglect to carry out the statutes of the religion of God" .

7- 'Abdul-Bahá was initially worshiped by bahá'ís as if he was a sort of divinity. This is often seen in the old pictures of the first Bahá'í communities where the frame of the Maximum Name is sided with a frame written "Ya 'Abdul-Bahá" in Persian style calligraphy. Due this omission from 'Abdul-Bahá' over the cult of personality practiced on himself by many believers, his brother, Muhammad Ali, started to contest him firmly.

8- Before the passing of Shoghi Effendi, in 1957, the continuity of the Guardianship was totally expected and Shoghi Effendi was often referred as being "the first Guardian", as well as people frequently talked about the "lineage of guardians". After his passing the bahá'í books who brought up these expressions had their texts changed or removed, especially the well known book "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era".

9- Shoghi Effendi did not write a Will and Testament disrespecting a bahá'í law and this created a big mess over the right of the successorship in the Faith, that later was completely stifled.

10- Shoghi Effendi excommunicated almost all of his relatives including his siblings and his parents. He even ordered exhuming the remains of Diya'u'llah who was buried next to his father Baha'u'llah in Bahji. He rejoiced at the death of his opponents, the so called covenant-breakers.

11- There are reports about Shoghi Effendi being closeted Homosexual, but he considered homosexuality immoral, a distortion of human nature and a handicap to be overcomed through the advice and help of doctors! The Universal House of Justice confirmed this observance stating that homosexuality is a sexual problem and a condition to which a person should not be reconciled with.

12- The Bahá'í Faith has schismatic groups. Despite the attempt to cast out any other group that does not follow the authority of the Universal House of Justice in call themselves "bahá'ís", and trademark all the bahá'ís symbols, a lawsuit in 2006 determined that these schismatic groups can call themselves bahá'ís and to use the holy symbols, recognizing them officially as bahá'ís following another leadership. Some of these groups are: Orthodox Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'ís Under the Provision of the Covenant, Free Bahá'ís, Unitarian Bahá'ís etc.

13- Without a Guardian to appoint additional Hands of Cause, it was created a bizarre situation where the "equality of men and women" was put aside as the Universal House of Justice, the highest institution in the Bahá'í Faith, cannot elect female members, so the reins of the religion is taken exclusively by men.

14- The election results of the Universal House of Justice are pre-determined as the new members are generally elected from the appointed institutions of the own Bahá’í administration, specially the International Teaching Centre. All of the current members of the Universal House of Justice previously served as members of the International Teaching Centre. Additionally, with no politicking or partisanship allowed, there is little turnover in leadership and the members of the Universal House of Justice almost invariably serve until retirement or death.

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