...“Verily He, no God is there except I myself" for all should be aware of Myself. And I verily, I am God! (innani anā Allāh) no God is there except I myself. This before any before relative to the very essences ["atoms", or dhurwa "uttermost acme"] of antecedence [“beforeness”] (min qabl qabl fī dharrat [dhurwa] al-qabl) as well as after the after...
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Friday, February 23, 2024
absolute requirement for non-involvement in politics.
Mr. Mahmoudi spoke on the absolute requirement for non-involvement in politics. He said Baha’is have their own world plan and are interested in solving problems on a universal scale rather than piecemeal or nationally. Baha’is’ participation in politics in one country might work against Baha’is in another country, he said. Sometimes we do not understand...
Thursday, February 22, 2024
Bahaism in Iran
Before the revolution, as many as half a million Iranians were members of this faith; today, officially, the religion does not exist in Iran even though the actual membership totals around 300,000. The reasons for this anomaly are complex and need some historical background to understand. Contemporary Bahaism is a successful missionary religion that...
A Bahá’í, absent for a time, returned to the city as a follower of Mason Remey.
On November 27, 1960, Betty wrote the National Spiritual Assembly that a grave trial had come to afflict the Punta Arenas community. Mason Remey, a Hand of the Cause of God, had broken with the Bahá’í world following the death of the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, saying that he was the new Guardian of the Faith. A Punta Arenas Bahá’í, absent for a time,...
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Bahá’ís use a sequence of courses designed by the Ruhi Institute
Bahá’ís use a sequence of courses designed by the Ruhi Institute to organize their teaching… work. Ruhi Institute materials foster a Bahá’í conception of social change through “two parallel processes,” nurturing individual transformation and creating structures to transform society. Published under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of...
Vahid's holy war (Babi Jihad) on Muslims with some nine hundred heavily armed supporters
The Yazd and Nayrīz upheavals of 1850, led by Sayyid Yaḥyā Dārābī Vaḥīd, although on a much smaller scale than that of Zanjān, exhibit many features similar to it. Dārābī was a highly popular religious leader who had the allegiance of large numbers in both towns. He himself seems to have been preparing for a holy war and is known to have tested the...
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Abdul Baha narrates history of his father and Subh-i-Azal
“Subh-i Azal continued to be one of our company after we came to Baghdad in 1853. With his family he now occupied in Adrianople a house separate from ours though near it. The relations between the two families, which for a time while we were in Baghdad had been strained, had become again harmonious. The food of Subh-i Azal’s family was usually prepared...
Remains of the Bab, Babi and Baha'i accounts
Bābī sources maintain, however, that the bodies were removed from the ditch through the efforts of a certain Ḥājī Solaymān Khān Mīlānī and eventually brought to Tehran, where they were buried in secret at the Emāmzāda Ḥasan, in which location some modern Bābīs believe them to remain (Nicolas, Sayyed Ali Mohammed, pp. 379–85). Bahaʾi accounts, however,...
Monday, February 19, 2024
Denis MacEoin about Mirza Abu'l Fadl Gulpaygani
Gulpaygani (1844-1914) has long been regarded in the movement as the doyen of scholars, but until recently English versions of his works were nonexistent or out of print. The present collection presents his thoughts on a variety of religious topics, from Babi and Baha'i history to prophecy or the meaning of angels. This is, by and large, a work for...
Sunday, February 18, 2024
The authority of the Local and National Assemblies
The authority with which Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi have invested both Local and National Assemblies is clear and unquestionable. It is enjoined upon the believers to obey the decisions of their Assembly. To disobey them on the grounds that a decision might be wrong is not permitted. [...] A true Bahá’í, therefore, will not criticize...
Saturday, February 17, 2024
Baha'is must seek UHJ's permission before visiting the Holy Land for any purpose
House of Justice (UHJ), Israel, Palestine, Politics
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It has been a long-standing requirement that no Bahá’í may come to the Holy Land for any purpose without the permission of the Head of the Faith. This provision dates back to the time of Bahá’u’lláh Himself. The principal task of the Faith in the Holy Land is building its World Centre and administering the work of the Cause at the international level....
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Baha'u'llah's writings
In The Bahá'í World volumes there is a list of some one hundred and fifty of the best-known works of Bahá'u'lláh which were revealed in the form of books, epistles and Tablets. But this list is by no means exhaustive; it barely covers a portion of His Writings. In order to get a fair idea of their scope and vastness we ought also to take into account:1....
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
the Báb departed Medina, having completed his Hajj pilgrimage.
February 6. On this date in 1845, the Báb departed Medina, having completed his Hajj pilgrimage. The Báb performed the Hajj after the eighteen Letters of the Living had accepted him as the Báb.https://www.reddit.com/r/OnThisDateInBahai/comments/1ajh7q4/february_6_on_this_date_in_1845_the_báb_depart...
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
"While there are many complexities surrounding the biological issues pertaining to sex and the social issues pertaining to gender"
The Universal House of Justice declares that:"While there are many complexities surrounding the biological issues pertaining to sex and the social issues pertaining to gender, the Bahá’í writings affirm the generally held perspective that there are two sexes, male and female. This, of course, is not in conformity with some recent social theories that...
Monday, February 12, 2024
Farzam Arbab destroyed the Baha'i faith
In other words, shun Covenant Breakers when they are small, before they rise through the ranks and do real damage to the faith.But wait, if this works, then why didn't it prevent the one who did the most damage to the faith from gaining power? I am of course talking about Dr. Arbab, who single-handedly took control of the UHJ, stacked it with his own...
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Covenant Breakers or Covenant Keepers?
Covenant, Covenant-Breakers, Muhammed Ali (Ghusn)
No comments
The Covenant as Haifan Bahais understand it is a fabrication. Nothing Baha'u'llah wrote would imply the line of succession that Bahais accept today. Baha'u'llah simply wrote:"O My Branches! In this Existent Being the greatest strength and the most perfect power is hidden and concealed; look towards It and gaze in the direction of Its union and not...
Abdul Baha was addressed by the name of prophet, he answered...
When Abdul Baha was addressed by the name of prophet, he answered, “My name is Abdul Baha, the Servant of God” [literally, the Slave of Glory.](Abdul Baha in London, p 1...
Mohammed Ali Bahai’s claim about hidden portion of the will
Infallibility, Muhammed Ali (Ghusn), Will & Testament
No comments
Mr. Bahai claims that the hidden portion of the will (If Mohammed Ali Bahai’s story is to be believed, this will that was read to the Baha’is, printed and distributed, is an incomplete version of the document originally written by Baha’u’llah. It is known today as the Kitab-i-'Ahd (“Book of the Covenant”). To this editor’s knowledge, no other version...
Friday, February 9, 2024
General status of Baha’is in Iran according to a “confidential” memorandum
In 1991, the Iranian Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council (ISRCC) drew a memorandum on the “Baha’i Question” which referred to the general status of Baha’is in the country, as well as their cultural, educational, legal, and social status. Dated 25 February 1991, this document which was stamped “confidential” was drawn up at the request of the Supreme...
The One Who had sent down the Prophets
After my arrival in Haifa, Shoghi Effendi had often spoken of another task he would entrust to me, a task which he defined as ‘spiritual’. It concerned the erection of the Most Holy Shrine of the Bahá’í world: “The Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, the One Who had sent down the Prophets”.(Shoghi Effendi: Recollections by Ugo Giachery, Oxford: George Ronald,...
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Huge pieces of land and donations of thousands of dollars
The area surrounding, and dedicated to, the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel has been enlarged by the acquisition of further holdings.The new plots have been registered in the name of the American National Spiritual Assembly, Palestine Branch. The total area now held by that Assembly in ‘Akká and Haifa amounts to more than 60,000 square pics, equivalent...
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Dayyanis and sectarianism among the Babis
The genesis of the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths in Rasht dates back to the Bábí period when apparently a number of its inhabitants embraced the Báb’s movement. By early 1850s, in the confused state following the Báb’s martyrdom, the Bábí community fractured and various pockets of the Bábís turned to different Bábí leaders for inspiration and guidance. It...
Monday, February 5, 2024
Contribution from non-Baha'is
A non-Baha’i who owns an airplane equipped with a light board for night-time advertising contacted the Baha'is and offered his services to support the benefit concert. As a result, the name of the Faith was seen in lights above the Dallas-Fort Worth area for three nights prior to the concert.(The American Bahá’í March, 19...
Sunday, February 4, 2024
In an effort to increase my monthly contribution to the National Fund, I took an extra part-time job!
Even ‘all’ is not enoughTo the Editor:I was distressed to learn ... that virtually no funds had been sent by December for early completion of the $1.5 million donation to the Universal House of Justice.In an effort to increase my monthly contribution to the National Fund, I took an extra part-time job. Although it will pay well, it does not start until...
Renting silent movies to raise Baha'i fund!
Fund Fun...The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Wheaton, Illinois, recently wrote: “Our community has found a fun and successful fund-raising activity!“We rent silent movies from our local library for 10 cents. Members of the community provide refreshments and we hold a ‘movie night.’A donation is charged at the door, and there is a charge for...
Saturday, February 3, 2024
Should we carry on mass-teaching or pay attention to consolidation ?
Q.2 “Should we carry on mass-teaching or pay attention to consolidation ?” A. “Now I would like to say what I feel about what you asked me regarding the question of mass conversion and consolidation : the value of stopping teaching to consolidate, or to go on with the teaching work. I do not see any reason why I should not say to the Baha’is — because...
Friday, February 2, 2024
Tafsir Surat Kawthar
Another important work from this period is a tafsīr on the Sūrat al-kawthar, a commentary of over 200 pages written for Sayyed Yaḥyā Dārābī (q.v.) during a visit he made to Shiraz to interview the Bāb, possibly on behalf of Moḥammad Shah. This commentary consists largely of highly abstract and insubstantial speculations on the verses, words, and...