Unity among the Babis / Baha'is?

Historically such disloyalty, synchronizing with the expansion of the Faith, had its appearance when some who were professedly loyal to the Báb, disobeyed His Covenant by refusing to accept Bahá’u’lláh as the expected One of the Bayan. They were urged on by a sordid ambition which brought them ignominy, oblivion and loss. Later the same condition became apparent after the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh when a few corrupt people violated His solemn Covenant by refusing to accept its Center, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Again, a diminishing few, urged on by vaulting ambition and an obvious desire to organize within the Cause, a group that would circle around themselves, have refused to acknowledge the station of our beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, and the New World Order of administration called into being by the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

(Baha'i News, No. 133, February, 1940)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_133/Text

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Who are true Baha'is?

Our community health and vigor consists of an abounding faith—a deep, immovable conviction as to the fundamental truths which constitute the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. These fundamental truths are precisely those which the Guardian set forth as the qualifications of Bahá’ís:

“Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner, the Author, and the True Exemplar of the Bahá’í Cause, as set forth in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our Beloved’s sacred Will; and close association with the spirit as well as the form of the present day Bahá’í administration throughout the world ...”

Bahá’ís who have accepted these qualifications and not wavered in their devotion to them; Bahá’ís who realize that each individual believer should study and pray in order to remain in the spirit of the Faith, and whole-heartedly uphold the general activities of the Cause—these believers have health of spirit because they remain within the area of nearness where the Holy Spirit sends its beneficent rays.

(Baha'i News, No. 133, February, 1940)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_133/Text

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Defection of some of the great teachers of the Faith

The reaction of the believers in that country to the news of the defection of some of the great teachers of the Faith was to shun them almost immediately.

(The Child of the Covenant: A Study Guide to the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha by Adib Taherzadeh)

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Experience of a guy who was briefly involved with the Baha'i faith.

I was approached by the Bahai people and I joined their group because they preached to me the unity of all religions and it didn't matter what faith I had that we come together to work together for the betterment of the community and overall humanity but they also preached to me their religion and asked me to convert, I said why did I need to if it's about uniting all religions and faiths and then tell me I need to believe in their prophet and God, they tried to use me, waste my time and scam me for money, they are just like Jehovah witness, I never want anything to do with Bahai people ever again, they are all 2 faced liars.

Source : www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmgmocliRec

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By so doing, the Hands will be setting up a new category of Covenant-breakers, for which they have no authority, as far as I can see it.

MAY 12, 1960

STRONGLY DISAPPROVE BEG NO ACTION UNTIL RECEIVE MY LETTER.

Mason's claim is laughable, preposterous, abominable. It shows that his mind has deteriorated.... The action of those who uphold this ridiculous claim is indeed abominable. But I cannot bring myself to accept the thesis that the Hands have the authority to expel anyone for this reason. Where do the Hands obtain their authority to expel anyone from the Community? From the Will and the Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá These are the exact words of the Master, which I have read and read, and which I quote: "My object is to show that the Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and protest against the Guardian of the Cause of God, cast him out from the congregation of the people of Baha) and in no wise accept any excuse from him. How often hath grievous error been disguised in the garb of truth, that it might sow the seeds of doubt in the hearts of men!" Perhaps I'm mistaken, but nowhere else have I found the express authority given to the Hands of the Cause to expel people for any reason other than opposition to the Guardian. The Hands can and must expel anyone who associates with Covenant-breakers, old and new. They can and must expel anyone who disregards a definite injunction of the beloved Guardian. Such acts constitute opposition to Shoghi Effendi But I'm convinced (and perfectly ready and willing at the same time to believe otherwise, if conclusive proofs are shown to me) that the Hands have no authority to expel anyone for any other reason, albeit they are exercising their indubitable right to protect the Faith. By so doing, the Hands will be setting up a new category of Covenant-breakers, for which they have no authority, as far as I can see it. Now if the majority of the Hands agree in a Conclave that they are knowingly taking upon themselves powers, not given them by the Sacred Text, because it is forced upon them through circumstances beyond their control, I will have to submit to the majority decision, although under protest, and then I shall know where I stand. But at the present time unless you convince me to the contrary, I cannot accept this thesis as resting upon the sanction of the Sacred Text.

Hasan M. Balyuzi

(Ministry of the Custodians: An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause 1957-1963)

https://bahai-library.com/uhj_ministry_custodians&chapter=4

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Official Baha'i history of the Babi Movement and the Baha'i Religion by Moojan Momen

The approach of the Muslim year 1260 (1844) was accompanied by a general rise in expectancy of the return of the Hidden Imam. This was because that year marked the one thousandth anniversary of the disappearance of the Twelfth Imam and the beginning of the period of Occultation. There were several indications in the Qur'an and the Traditions that the dispensation of Muhammad would be one thousand years long and thus the year 1260 was greatly anticipated throughout the Shi'i world. (according to the Baha'i sources viz. Amanat and Cole)

Sayyid 'Ali Muḥammad Shīrāzī (1819-50), who took the title the Bāb (the Gate), was, until the death of Sayyid Kazim Rashtī in 1843, closely associated with the Shaykhi School. Then, in 1844, he put forward a claim and gained many adherents, initially mostly from among the Shaykhi School. At first the Bab only appeared to be claiming to be the Gate to the Hidden Imam and his followers kept to the Islamic Shari'a. But in 1848 he advanced the claim of being the returned Twelfth Imam himself who had come to abrogate the Islamic dispensation and inaugurate a new prophetic cycle.

Developing the argument of the Shaykhi School, from the Babī viewpoint, just as the Hidden Imam existed in the world of Hūrqalya, the realm of archetypal images, so the return of the Twelfth Imam was not the return of the self-same physical body of the Imam but rather the advent of a man who in the realm of Hūrqalya is the archetypal figure of the Imam. Thus it was that the Shaykhi teachings paved the way for the Bab and it is doubtful if the Bāb would have attracted so many adherents if it had not been for the Shaykhi doctrines.

The Bāb was put to death by a firing squad in Tabriz in 1850. He had appointed as his successor Mirza Yahyā, Subh-i Azal, and had prophesied the advent of another messianic figure whom he called 'Him whom God shall make manifest'. Privately in 1863 and publicly in 1866, Mirza Husayn 'Ali (1817-1892), who took the title Baha'u'llāh (Glory of God), claimed to be this messianic figure foretold by the Bāb. The majority of Babīs became Baha'is. Bahā'u'llāh considerably expanded the scope of his appeal beyond the confines of Shi'i Iran by claiming to be the fulfilment of the messianic expectations of other religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism

Baha'u'llāh was succeeded by his son 'Abbas Effendi (1844-1921), who took the title 'Abdu'l-Bahā (Servant of the Glory). He was given the position of authorised interpreter of Baha'u'llāh's teachings. He appointed his grandson, Shoghi Effendi (d. 1957), as Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. Since 1963 the religion has been administered by an elected body, the Universal House of Justice.

(An introduction to Shi'i Islam - The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism by Moojan Momen)

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Bahá’u’lláh is the Collective Center of unity

Today His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is the Collective Center of unity for all mankind, and the splendor of His Light has likewise dawned from the East. He founded the oneness of humanity in Persia. He established harmony and agreement among the various peoples of religious beliefs, denominations, sects and cults by freeing them from the fetters of past imitations and superstitions; leading them to the very foundation of the divine religions.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá 

(Star of the West, Volume 23 - Issue 12, Page 282)

https://bahai.works/Star_of_the_West/Volume_23/Issue_12/Text

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