"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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