Tablet of the Báb for Quddús as reproduced in Nabíl. Translation by Stephen Lambden

...“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 within the very essences ["atoms", or dhurwa "uttermost acme"] of futurity [“afterwards”] (min ba`da ba`da fī dharrat [dhurwa] al-ba`da).

`Alī before the Quadruple Configuration [ḥarf al-rubā’ رباع , rubā` = 1-M 2-H 3-M 3-D = Muḥammad = the Bāb) is the Manifestation of Myself (maẓhar nafsī) while the Eighteenth Letter (of the Living = Quddūs) among the Letters [of the Living] is [even as] Mine Own Self (li- nafsihi). At My Command, as a result of My Command, do all derive existence! I, verily am God, no God is there except I Myself. Whatsoever is other than Me, is My creation.

Say: I Indeed am God! No God is there except I myself and all should direct themselves towards Me! There is no single thing but that it should offer glorification (s-b-ḥ) through my laudation (ḥ-m-d) yet shall these realities at the moment of my theophany [manifestation] (ẓuhūr), by virtue of the manifestation of Myself (maẓhar nafsihi), remain entirely veiled therefrom.

Say: Nothing at all should remain veiled for all should show piety [be God-fearing] before Me since I was thy Lord aforetime as well as in the hereafter. I Indeed, I am God, the Mighty, the Beloved (al-`azīz al-maḥbūb)!

This book (kitāb) [letter, Tablet] contains verses (al-āyāt) from Myself unto the Letter thā’ of Eternaled Pre-Eternity [= thamarah al-azal al-īzūl) [sic.] to the end that all may bear witness that he [Quddus] is My servant (`abdī). I [the Bab] divulged My glory (tajallyyat) unto Him through Mine own Logos-Self/Myself (nafsī) for there is no Deity except I Myself, God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting (al-muhayymīn al-qayyūm). I did cast into his [Quddus'] inmost heart (fū’ād) [such] expository verses (āyāt bayyināt), as, “I [Quddus] indeed am God the Ruler (al-malik) Almighty [sic] (al-qaydūr), I indeed am God, no God is there except I Myself. I created everything through My Command (bi-amrī) for I am indeed the Foreordainer (al-qaddār), the Sanctified (al-qaydūs)!

Say: Nothing can compromize [sic] mine inimitability within the Divine Realm (lāhūt), within the Omnipotent Domain (jabarūt) of everything (kull shay’). I [the Bab], verily, am the Omnipotent Ordainer (al-jabbār), the Supremely Great [sic.](al-`ayẓūm). Yet of a certainty (balā)! Thou [Quddūs] art indeed God, no God is there except Thee, the Supremely Powerful Lord (rabb al-muqtadir), the One of Talismanic Potency (al-badūḥ = 2-4-6-8)! Thou createth whatsoever thou willeth and thou will create whatsoever thou desireth. No God is there except thee. All should be worshipful of thee. There exists nothing but that it should offer glorification through the Praise of thyself. All should be especially mindful of thee. Thou art indeed God! No God is there except Thee. Before thee we are all in a state of certainty!

(Quddús: A Twenty-first Century Bahá’í Looks at the Life of a Nineteenth Century Bábí Hero, Master’s Thesis by Karen Anne Webb)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V-4t9v7haZXCuESbOSImVGxX9sj4C26f

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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 Baha’u’llah’s wisdom, he said, but we obey His teachings out of love for Him and because of His station as a Manifestation of God.

(Bahá’í News, Issue 550, Baha’i Year 133, January 1977)

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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 has founded Spiritual Assemblies in well over a hundred countries and has its headquarters at the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel; its core message emphasizes pacifism and the brotherhood of mankind. The origins of the religion, however, go back to a very specifically Iranian and Shi‘ite background in the movement known as Babism. In 1844, a certain Sayyid ‘Ali-Mohammad Shirâzi announced that he was the “gate” (bâb) to the Twelfth Imam and gathered a group of eighteen disciples to spread his message throughout the Shi‘ite world. Shirâzi and the Babi movement drew strength from the ideas of the Shaykhi school of Shi‘ism and widespread expectations that the return of the Hidden Imam was imminent as well as from the growing social unease in the country as a whole. The radical nature of Babism was underscored by the fact that one of its most prominent missionaries was a remarkable woman, Qorrat-ol-’Ayn, who considered herself an incarnation of Fâtemeh and preached unveiled before male audiences. Moreover, Shirâzi claimed in 1848 that he himself was the Imam and the existing laws of Islam were abolished. The Shi‘ite clergy was alarmed at the spread of what it saw as a dangerous and seditious heresy, and the Qâjâr government felt obliged to suppress the movement. Consequently, Shirâzi was arrested, brought before an inquisition, and executed in 1850. After some of his followers attempted to assassinate the shah in 1852, the movement was ruthlessly suppressed. One branch, the Azalis (named for its leader Sobh-e Azal), continued to operate more or less covertly in an essentially Iranian and Shi‘ite milieu. The Azalis were quite active during the period of the Constitutional Revolution, but their numbers eventually dwindled. The other branch of the movement, the Bahais (named for its leader Bahâollâh), moved outside Iran, transformed the teachings of the movement dramatically, and proselytized internationally as well as in Iran.

Babis and Azalis might be regarded as marginally acceptable heretics on the fringes of Shi‘ism. Bahaism, however, presents itself as a new world religion which will replace Islam. From the point of view of the Shi‘ite clergy, this is intolerable; Bahaism is a “misguided sect” that has no legitimate claim to be one of the acceptable revealed religions. Non-Muslims who convert to it are not entitled to zemmi status, and Muslim converts are guilty of apostasy—a capital offense in traditional Islamic law. This hostility towards Bahaism on religious grounds has been compounded by the suspicion that its members might be disloyal to Iran and potential spies (since the Bahai headquarters are in Israel) and by the perception that they received privileged treatment during the Pahlavi period. Although Iranian Bahais have often been subjected to harassment and persecution, they could generally practice their religion openly prior to the Islamic Revolution and, when politically feasible, Mohammad-Rezâ Pahlavi did his best to shield their community from harm. The teaching and practice of the faith, however, is forbidden in the Islamic Republic: Bahai buildings have been destroyed or confiscated; individuals cannot declare a Bahai identity on government documents; Bahai marriages are not recognized officially; and known Bahais are barred from government employment, admission to universities, etc.

(Culture and Customs of Iran, Elton L. Daniel, Ali Akbar Mahdi, Greenwood Press)

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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, returned to the city as a follower of Mason Remey. In September, 1961, Artemus Lamb, one of the original founders of the Local Spiritual Assembly in 1945, wrote Betty that a covenant breaker could be coming to Punta Arenas and to take special precautions against association with him. By August of 1962, the covenant breaker’s wife and an inactive Bahá’í joined him as covenant breakers and caused untold anguish in the community. One woman expelled from the Faith by association with the known covenant breaker began demanding that she be reinstated. If not, she threatened to publish purportedly damaging facts about the other Bahá’ís in the community. She also threatened legal action and to have a Bahá’í radio program cancelled.

Hand of the Cause Mr. Faizí came to Punta Arenas in October, 1962, initially for just a few days, to deal with the problem. He ended up staying forty-five days, not just to work with the problem of the covenant breakers, but also to deepen the local believers. He had hoped to bring the errant souls back to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, but was completely unable to do so. Just after Mr. Faizí departed, Auxiliary Board member Khamseh arrived.

(Betty Becker - Valiant Servant Pioneer By Earl Redman)

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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 Colombia, Ruhi educational materials correspond to each of three sequences, all of which are available in multiple languages for use globally. I studied the main sequence in Arabic with Egyptian Bahá’ís, first in Evanston and Chicago and subsequently across Cairo during fieldwork. Comprising fourteen volumes (although only seven have been published), the stated aim of this sequence is “to set the individual … ‘on a path being defined by the accumulating experience of the community in its endeavor to open before humanity the vision of Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order.’” This order is articulated in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Kitab-i-Aqdas written by Bahá’u’lláh.

(Devotion to the Administrative State - Religion and Social order in Egypt by Mona Oraby, Princeton University Press)

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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 swords manufactured by Āqā Muḥammad Hādī Farhādī in Qazvīn. On his arrival at Nayrīz, in opposition to the orders of the local governor, Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn Khān, he made his way to the principal mosque of the city, accompanied by some nine hundred heavily armed supporters, many with swords drawn, and ascended the pulpit in order to preach to a congregation of about one thousand five hundred. There is good reason to believe that very few of Dārābī’s followers knew much of the teachings of the Bāb, and it seems likely that social and political motives dominated the struggle. In Yazd, for example, there had been serious civil disturbance in the town prior to Dārābī’s arrival, and at least one of those who lent him his support was a known agitator, In Nayrīz also, the people had already been rebelling against the governor at the time of Dārābī’s appearance in the town. Like Zanjānī, the latter seems to have been regarded as an independent authority over against the existing civil powers. In one instance, Hājī Sayyid Ismāʿīl, the Shaykh al-Islām of Bavānāt, ordered the arrest of a certain Mullā Bāqir, an ambassador en route from the governor of Nayrīz to Prince Fīrūz Mīrzā in Shīrāz; the unfortunate man was brought before Dārābī by the village chief of Rastāq and put to death.

(Denis MacEoin, The Messiah of Shiraz, p. 492)

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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 in our house, under my supervision, and sent to Subh-i Azal’s house. The reason for this was that his wives were not properly attentive to their household affairs and prepared his food so badly that it was not suitable for him to eat. We saw this, and, in order to enable him to live comfortably, offered to cook his food and send it to him.

“There was a bath in our house, but none in Subh-i Azal’s, and he was accustomed to use our bath. The same servant prepared the bath and acted as bath attendant for both my father and Subh-i Azal.

“Up to this time the declaration which the Blessed Perfection had made to five of his disciples in Baghdad had not been formally communicated to Subh-i Azal, or, indeed, to any one else, and we do not know that he was aware of it: though his conduct suggests that he suspected it, and that this suspicion furnished the incentive which prompted him in doing what I am about to relate. As you no doubt know, Subh-i Azal claimed to have been appointed by the Bab as his successor, and therefore to be, after the Bab’s death, the head of the Babi Church.

“The events which I am about to relate occurred about one year after he had moved into the city from the quarters which he had at first occupied in Adrianople. One day while in the bath Subh-i Azal remarked to the servant (who was a believer) that the Blessed Perfection had enemies and that in the bath he was much exposed, and asked whether it would not be easy for an attendant who was not faithful to the Blessed Perfection to make away with him while shaving him. The servant replied that this was certainly the case. Subh-i Azal then asked him whether, if God should lay upon him the command to do this, he would obey it. The servant understood this question, coming from Subh-i Azal, to be a suggestion of such a command, and was so terrified by it that he rushed screaming from the room. He first met ‘Abbas Effendi and repeated to him Subh-i Azal’s words. My brother endeavored to quiet him, and commanded his silence. This the servant refused unless he was taken at once to the Blessed Perfection. ‘Abbas Effendi accordingly accompanied him to my father, who listened to his story and then enjoined absolute silence upon him.

“This occurrence was ignored by my father and brother, and our relations with Subh-i Azal continued to be cordial. The Blessed Perfection was indeed several times warned to beware of Subh-i Azal, by persons who claimed to have overheard conversations between him and his intimates, but no attention was paid to these warnings.

“Some time afterwards, to celebrate a family festival day, Subh-i Azal invited us all to his house. At this time, also, my father was warned not to take food there, but replied that he must treat Subh-i Azal with kindness and could not refuse it.

“This entertainment was looked upon as cementing the family reconciliation, and it is usual on such occasions among Persians for the heads of the two family factions which have been alienated to eat from the same plate. So, now, rice for both my father and Subh-i Azal was served to them on one plate. This rice, as well as all the other food used for the meal, had been prepared in Subh-i Azal’s house, contrary to the usual custom. Now my father and Subh-i Azal had these well-known peculiarities of taste—that the former was very fond of onions, while the latter could not endure them. The portion of rice intended for my father was accordingly flavored with onions, while that intended for Subh-i Azal was differently prepared. The servant bringing in the plate placed it, at the direction of Subh-i Azal, with the side upon which was the rice flavored with onions toward the Blessed Perfection. While he did so Subh-i Azal smilingly remarked, ‘Here is rice cooked as you like it!’ My father ate some of the rice prepared for him, but fortunately not very much, as for some reason it did not please him. He preferred the rice prepared for Subh-i Azal, and ate of it, and also of the dishes which the others at the table were eating.”

“Soon after eating the rice my father became ill and went home. About midnight he was seized with severe vomiting and passing of blood from the bowels. A physician was summoned, and declared that he had been poisoned.

“My father was desperately ill for twenty-two days; during all this time he took no food. On the eighteenth day the physician said that he could not live. The death sentence terribly moved ‘Abbas Effendi. He placed his head on the pillow beside his father’s in the utmost agony of grief. He implored him to live for the sake of the world, for his family, and for him. My father was too feeble to speak, and could only place his hand on my brother’s head. The physician was deeply moved by the sight. He had learned to love ‘Abbas Effendi,—as did every one who came in contact with him,—and declared he would give his life to save the father for the boy. Thrice he repeated, ‘I will give my life—I will give my life—I will give my life,’ walking as he spoke several times around the bed. At length, utterly despairing of the case, he left. The next morning he sent word that he was ill, and advised that another physician be summoned. Nine days later he died. We then recalled his singular words.

“Meanwhile we did not summon another physician for my father, feeling that the case was hopeless; but to our surprise his condition soon showed marked improvement, and on the third day he asked for food, which gave us much hope. From this time he grew stronger continuously, but very slowly, and at length recovered.

“After the recovery of my father from this illness, ‘Abbas Effendi strongly urged him to declare himself to Subh-i Azal. My father, however, persisted in replying that so long as Subh-i Azal did not effect other harm than he was able to do to him personally, that is, so long as he did not injure the Cause, he would not assert himself against him.

“Subh-i Azal made no further attempts upon the life of the Blessed Perfection, but he began to endeavor to arouse dissensions among the believers, making various false accusations against the Blessed Perfection. At this time, of course, the Babis in general did not know that my father had said that he was the Divine Manifestation, but he was regarded by most of them as their leader, and very much beloved. Subh-i Azal was looked upon as a leader, however, by some of the Babis.

“Thus matters went, becoming worse and worse, until it was plainly evident that the Cause was suffering. Then the Blessed Perfection summoned ‘Abbas Effendi and said to him that the time had come for a public declaration. ‘Not for myself would I do it,’ he said, “but because the welfare of the Cause demands it.’ He then wrote a tablet, longer than any he had before written and of great power,—it has been said that men trembled as they read it, —addressed to the Babis generally, and setting forth his declaration.

“This tablet he directed to be read to every Babi, but first of all to Subh-i Azal. He assigned to one of his followers the duty of taking it to Subh-i Azal, reading it to him, and returning with Subh-i Azal’s reply. When Subh-i Azal had heard the tablet, he did not attempt to refute it; on the contrary he accepted it, and said that it was true. But he went on to maintain that he himself was co-equal with the Blessed Perfection, affirming that he had had a vision on the previous night in which he had received this assurance.

“When this statement of Subh-i Azal was reported to the Blessed Perfection, the latter directed that every Babi should be informed of it at the time when he heard his own tablet read. This was done, and much uncertainty resulted among the believers. They generally applied to the Blessed Perfection for advice, which, however, he declined to give. At length he told them that he would seclude himself from them for four months, and that during this time they must decide the question for themselves.

“This he did. None of the believers other than his own family had access to him, or communication with him, for four months. At the end of that period all the Babis in Adrianople, with the exception of Subh-i Azal and five or six others, came to the Blessed Perfection and declared that they accepted him as the Divine Manifestation, whose coming the Bab had foretold. The Babis of Persia, Syria, Egypt, and other countries, also, in due time accepted the Blessed Perfection with substantial unanimity.

(The Master in Akka by Myron H. Phelps)

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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, state that the remains were at one point removed from the Emāmzāda on the instructions of Mīrzā Ḥosayn-ʿAlī Bahāʾ-Allāh (q.v.) and transferred from hiding-place to hiding-place for almost fifty years before being brought to Haifa in 1899.

(Denis MacEoin, The Messiah of Shiraz, p. 565)

Following is the official Baha'i narrative:

Just as Baha’u’llah was leaving Tihran, the sealed casket - containing the mortal remains of the Bab and Anis finally reached the capital. The hazardous journey from Tabriz had taken about ten months. It was solely due to Baha’u’llah’s initiative, and in strict obedience to His instructions, that the precious remains reached Tihran safely. As He left the city, Baha’u’llah gave instructions to Mirza Musa and one other believer to hide the casket in the shrine of the Imam Zadih-Hasan near Tihran. In the rising heat of summer, Baha’u’llah and two companions headed west towards ‘Iraq.

(Day of Glory, The Life of Baha’u’llah, by Mary Perkins, George Ronald, p 32)

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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 the converted, who will no doubt find in it occasional gems of wisdom and regular confirmation of existing beliefs. Even they, however, may discover little new: Gulpaygani seems to have been reluctant to say anything very original, preferring to base his ideas almost entirely on existing scriptural opinion, in particular that of Baha' Allah as found in the Kitab-i iqan. I myself found these essays for the most part jejune and verbose, even tiresome. The discussions of religious doctrine are tedious, and the historical sections (notably in the "Treatise for Alexander Tumansky") naive and distorted.

What is, perhaps, most interesting about the present collection is its rather conservative quality. Gulpaygani is radical enough in religious matters (although his discussions of most topics are derivative from Sufi and esoteric Shi'i traditions); but in other areas, such as the meaning of civilization or obedience to the state, his arguments are weak and of little relevance to reformism of that period. The non-Baha'i reader will, I think, find it hard to agree with the publishers' claim that "the startling modernity of Abu'l-Fadl's thought is as challenging today as it was when first written."

(Letters and Essays 1886-1913 by Mírzá Abú'l Faḍl Gulpaygání; Juan R. I. Cole Review by: Denis MacEoin)

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4327672

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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 or censure the decisions of the Spiritual Assembly in word or attitude. A member of the Spiritual Assembly who does not wholeheartedly accept the majority decision of the Assembly is indeed breaking a spiritual commandment of the Cause of God. At the same time, the individual is not deprived of the right to air personal views through proper channels and, if dissatisfied, to appeal against a decision of the Assembly. The believer is given ample opportunity to raise any matters with the Spiritual Assembly, either personally or in consultation with the community at the Nineteen Day Feast, and has the right of appeal to the National Spiritual Assembly against a decision of the Local Assembly, or to the Universal House of Justice against that of the National Spiritual Assembly. But, in the meantime, the individual will continue to accept the decision of the Assembly until the result of the appeal is made known. To challenge the authority of the Assembly at any time or for any reason is to break yet another spiritual principle firmly established in the Cause of God.

[...]

...the voice of the majority, which we are told by our Master to be the voice of truth, never to be challenged, and always to be wholeheartedly enforced. To this voice the Friends must heartily respond, and regard it as the only means that can ensure the protection and advancement of the Cause.

(Trustees of the Merciful - An Introduction to Bahá’í Administration by Adib Taherzadeh)

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Baha'is must seek UHJ's permission before visiting the Holy Land for any purpose

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. To have believers visiting the country without the proper guidance pertaining to their specific circumstances may give rise to problems that could hamper the work carried out here, and this would have an adverse effect on the progress of the Faith throughout the world.

... Bahá’ís must seek its permission before visiting the Holy Land—which also includes the West Bank and Gaza—for any purpose, whether it be for a brief visit to the Bahá’í World Centre, pilgrimage, studying in the country, visiting family or relatives, business purposes, employment, or any other reason.

(The Universal House of Justice, Department of the Secretariat, 1 February 2024)

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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. Thousands of Tablets of varying length, ranging from a few lines to numerous pages which were addressed to individual believers in Persia and other neighbouring countries.

2. The vast amount of His original Writings which have been lost to posterity either through ill-preservation, or because they fell into wrong hands, or were destroyed by enemies, or obliterated by Bahá'u'lláh's own instruction. Concerning the fate of the last portion, Shoghi Effendi quotes Nabíl's testimony as follows:

"No less an authority than Mírzá Áqá Ján, Bahá'u'lláh's amanuensis, affirms, as reported by Nabíl, that by the express order of Bahá'u'lláh, hundreds of thousands of verses, mostly written by His own hand, were obliterated and cast into the river. `Finding me reluctant to execute His orders,' Mírzá Áqá Ján has related to Nabíl, `Bahá'u'lláh would reassure me saying: "None is to be found at this time worthy to hear these melodies...." Not once, or twice, but innumerable times, was I commanded to repeat this act.'"

3. Bahá'u'lláh's unrecorded utterances which rained down so profusely that the secretaries could not cope with their recording. Again the Guardian invokes Nabíl:

"So prolific was this period, that during the first two years after His return from His retirement, according to the testimony of Nabíl, who was at that time living in Baghdád, the unrecorded verses that streamed from His lips averaged, in a single day and night, the equivalent of the Qur'án!"

(The Writings of Baha'u'llah by Abdu'l-Hamid Ishraq-Khavari translated by Habib Taherzadeh published in Bahá'í World, Vol. 14 (1963-1968), pages 620-632, 1974)

https://bahai-library.com/khavari_writings_bahaullah

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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_departed/

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"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 divide gender into multiple types."

(Extracts from three letters from 2017 and 2018, with updated or "additional" guidance on gender and sex-change operations. Compilation attached to a letter from the House dated 2021 February 4.)

https://bahai-library.com/compilation_uhj_transsexuality

also check

https://www.reddit.com/r/OnThisDateInBahai/comments/1ajhew1/february_6_on_this_date_in_1973_the_uhj_wrote_but/

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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 buddies, shoved his Ruhi idol down the throats of Baha'is worldwide, and ended up basically killing the Baha'i Faith, sending an entire generation of Baha'i youth down the toilet. Why wasn't Dr Arbab shunned before he could do all this shit?

Shunning doesn't work because you are no one is God. No one knows who is going to end up damaging the Baha'i Faith. Dr Arbab seemed like a nice well-intentioned guy to lots of people. In reality he was a psychopathic, manipulative bastard who sacrificed the Baha'i Faith for the benefit of his own scam NGOs FUNDAEC and ISGP. Dr Arbab is the one who ought to have been shunned early on, so that he couldn't go on to do all this damage to the Baha'i Faith, but it is just too hard to tell who is going to be the one that does the damage before they actually do the damage.

https://old.reddit.com/r/FreeSpeechBahai/comments/1ahmsh0/haifan_bahai_gives_an_argument_for_shunning/

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Covenant Breakers or Covenant Keepers?

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 at Its seeming differences. This is the Testament of God that the Branches, Twigs, and Relations must each and every one look to the Greatest Branch. Reflect upon that which is revealed in My Book, the Aqdas: "When the Ocean of My Presence hath disappeared and the Book of Origin is achieved to the end, turn your faces towards Him whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Pre-Existent Root." The aim of this blessed verse hath been the Greatest Branch. We have likewise elucidated the Command as a favor from before Us; and I am the Generous, the All-Giving!

Verily, God hath ordained the station of the Greater Branch after the station of the former. Verily, He is the Ordainer, the Wise. We have surely chosen the Greater after the Greatest as a Command from the All-Knowing, the Omniscient!"

-Baha'u'llah, Kitab i Ahd, translated by Horace Holley

If this excerpt from Baha'u'llah's Book of my Covenant were to be followed then the line of succession would be Baha'u'llah->Abdul Baha->Mirza Muhammad Ali and people who follow this succession would be Covenant Keepers.

Do you think that if this line of succession makes sense to someone, this makes him a wicked soul who suffer from a "spiritual disease"? This is what Haifan Bahais believe. They can't justify their position with logic or scripture, so they resort to scare tactics and attacks that appeal to emotion rather than logic.

I have read Mirza Muhammad Ali's side of the story. He was not a bad person. His life's mission was to promote the idea that Baha'u'llah's successors were not partners of Baha'u'llah. Indeed Baha'u'llah says:

"He Who is the Dawning-place of God’s Cause hath no partner in the Most Great Infallibility."

-Baha'u'llah, Kitab i Aqdas, paragraph 47

https://old.reddit.com/r/FreeSpeechBahai/comments/1ah06fz/covenantbreakers/komm4an/

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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 113)

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Mohammed Ali Bahai’s claim about hidden portion of the will

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 with additional verses has ever been published or circulated, and the original handwritten will (if extant) has not been made available for forensic analysis.) included two points: special recognition of the service of Baha’u’llah’s chief secretary, Mirza Aqa Jan Kashani (Khadim), and an enjoinder to Abbas Effendi and Khadim to continued faithfulness. The latter point is very significant, since it would imply that Baha’u’llah did not intend for the Baha’is to regard his successor as perfect or infallible, as Baha’is today believe about ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Instead, calling for him to be faithful—together with such a call to another important figure in the cause—presupposes the possibility that, in Baha’u’llah’s view, ‘Abdu’l-Baha could err in his practice of Baha’i faith, like anyone else.

(A Lost History of the Baha’i Faith, p. 208)

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-History-Bahai-Faith-Progressive/dp/0692331352

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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 Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (b. 1939) and President Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1934–2017).

The major summary of the memorandum is as follows:

1. General status of the Baha’is within the country’s system:

a. They will not be expelled from the country without reason.

b. They will not be arrested, imprisoned, or penalized without reason.

c. The government’s dealings with them must be in such a way that their progress and development are blocked.

2. Educational and cultural status:

a. They can be enrolled in schools provided they have not identified themselves as Baha’is.

b. Preferably, they should be enrolled in schools which have a strong and imposing religious ideology.

c. They must be expelled from universities, either in the admission process or during the course of their studies, once it becomes known that they are Baha’is.

d. Their political (espionage) activities must be dealt with according to appropriate government laws and policies, and their religious and propaganda activities should be answered by giving them religious and cultural responses, as well as propaganda.

e. Propaganda institutions (such as the Islamic Propaganda Organization) must establish an independent section to counter the propaganda and religious activities of the Baha’is.

f. A plan must be devised to confront and destroy their cultural roots outside the country.

3. Legal and social status:

a. Permit them a modest livelihood as is available to the general population.

b. To the extent that it does not encourage them to be Baha’is, it is permissible to provide them the means for ordinary living in accordance with the general rights given to every Iranian citizen, such as ration booklets, passports, burial certificates, work permits, and so on.

c. Deny them employment if they identify themselves as Baha’is.

d. Deny them any position of influence, such as in the educational sector, and so on (BIC, 2008, p. 22).

This memorandum came to the attention of the international community in 1993 when it was disclosed by the United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR). However, the Iranian government claimed that this document was a forgery.

(Baha’is in Post-revolution Iran: Perspectives of the Ulema by Ankita Sanya)

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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, 1973)

https://bahai-library.com/giachery_shoghi_effendi_recollections

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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 to 33,750 square meters.

A plot situated in Beersheba, southern Palestine, consisting of approximately 15,000 square pics, donated by Mr. Ratib Halabi, was in course of transfer in April, 1938.

(The Bahá’í World, Volume 7)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_World/Volume_7/Survey_of_Current_Bahá’í_Activities_in_the_East_and_West

DONATION OF LAND IN SOUTHERN PALESTINE

A DONATION of property made by Natib Halabi has been transferred to the Palestine Branch of the American National Spiritual Assembly. Mr. Halabi, at the time Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Damascus, wished to present a tract of approximately 10,000 sq. metres to the Cause, and at the Guardian’s request had the property recorded for ownership by the Palestine Branch.

In previous volumes of this biennial record the origin and development of the Palestine Branch of the American Assembly has been described. It holds title to a number of tracts in the vicinity of the Shrines on Mount Carmel purchased by individual American believers for the protection of the Faith and transferred to this Bahá’í religious society administered by the Guardian as its recorded agent and representative.

(The Bahá’í World, Volume 8)

https://bahai.works/Bah%C3%A1%E2%80%99%C3%AD_World/Volume_8/Survey_of_Current_Bah%C3%A1%E2%80%99%C3%AD_Activities#pg125

In his message addressed to the Intercontinental Conference of New Delhi, in 1953, Shoghi Effendi announced preliminary steps taken to acquire the land, made possible by the munificent donation of one hundred thousand dollars by the Hand of the Cause Mrs. Amelia Collins.

(Shoghi Effendi: Recollections by Ugo Giachery, Oxford: George Ronald, 1973)

https://bahai-library.com/giachery_shoghi_effendi_recollections

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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 was around 1271 AH [1854] that one of the Rasht’s Bábís, a certain Karbalá’í Ibráhím Samsár [“dealer of second-hand goods”] Rashtí twice went to Adharbayjan and met Mírzá Asadu’lláh Dayyán, and became a staunch follower of him, a sentiment which he shared with other Bábís of the region as well. At the present, not much is known of these Dayyánís and they presumably disappeared as a group.

Around 1270 AH [1853], several Bábís migrated from Qazvin to the nearby Lahijan, which was the major town of Gilan at that time. One of them, Siyyid Javád, had been a Shaykhí in Qazvin – which had a robust Shaykhí-Bábí community – and succeeded in converting a number of residents to the Báb’s Faith. Siyyid Javád however threw his lot with Mírzá Yahyá Azal and tried to keep his group of Bábís isolated from the other Bábís of Lahijan who had become followers of Bahá’u’lláh. On an occasion when Siyyid Javád was away in Qazvín, one of his associates, Mírzá ‘Alí Ashraf (known later as the poet ‘Andalíb), searched out the Bahá’ís and became convinced that Baha’u’llah was the new Manifestation. Soon Mírzá ‘Alí Ashraf succeeded in converting Siyyid Javád as well as the others Azalís.

(Memoirs of a Bahá'í in Rasht 1889-1903: Autobiography of Mírzá Yahyá `Amídu'l-Atibbá Hamadání translated and edited by Ahang Rabbani)

https://bahai-library.com/rabbani_memoirs_bahai_rasht

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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, 1982)

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In an effort to increase my monthly contribution to the National Fund, I took an extra part-time job!

Even ‘all’ is not enough

To 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 January.

While feeling frustrated by the late starting date, I learned that I had received a merit award of $2,000.

I first decided to send half of it toward early completion of the $1.5 million goal, but as I was writing the check I remembered two stories told by the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears.

The first was the story of Ella Bailey and how she had sent half her life savings to the Fund, then later sent the rest of it anyway.

The second was the story of Eduardo Durante Viera, the first African martyr. After recounting that story, Mr. Sears spoke of the martyrs in Iran who did not ask, “How much of my blood shall I give today? Ten per cent? Twenty per cent?’ They gave it all—all they had.

After remembering these stories and knowing that the same martyrdom is continuing today, 50 per cent—even 100 per cent—seems too small!

Name withheld by request New York

(The American Bahá’í, Volume 18, Issue 2)

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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 refreshments (cookies 10 cents, lemonade 25 cents, popcorn, fruit, etc.).

“Of course, if non-Baha’is attend, there is no charge for them (unless their Baha'i friend wishes to pay for them), and there is no charge for anyone who cannot afford to pay.

“In this way we have been able to raise more than $100. It’s a social activity, and when non-Baha’is attend it usually becomes a fireside too.”

(The American Bahá’í, June, 1980)

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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 we are, after all, all one, whether we are National Spiritual Assembly members, or Local Assembly members, or nothing official, we are all Baha’is together and it is our joint religion, we all love it — therefore, why shouldn’t I say to you what I said to your National Assembly ? I said I would not be a bit surprised if the National spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India did not feel sometimes as if it had got hold of a crocodile by the tail, a big one, and did not quite know what to do with it. Now, this mass conversion or mass teaching that you have — and I don’t like personally any of these terms, I like the term of ‘entering the cause in troops’ which is a term of the Master and is a wonderful, wonderful term — but this entering the Cause of Baha’u’llah in troops, which is now taking place in India, of course poses tremendous problems — any one can understand that. You have people coming in by the thousands who are not in a position, at the present time, with a few exceptions, to do anything directly for the Faith. You see what I mean: they do not support the Fund yet, because they either haven’t learnt to or they haven’t got enough money to give any thing. They don’t go out and circulate because they are villagers, they are living, in their own small communities. It is all very new to them. They want to hear more and understand more and learn more and that means somebody has to go and teach them and they have yet not reached a point where they are beginning to give back great returns to your community. Many of the people in this room, I suppose, are businessmen with experience, merchants perhaps, or some kind of businessmen or may be students of Economics. Now you all know that when you invest something, I am not talking about something that is already a going concern, but when you want to develop something that is entirely new, like a gold mine, a diamond mine or an oil well, the capital expenditure is tremendous. You have to put in a great deal of capital before you get any dividends back before you get any return on your investment, because you have to set up machinery, you have to send out people to exploit the situation, you have to get the thing out of the ground, you have to refine it and then you start to market it, then you get very heavy returns on your investment.

‘The speed with which the Cause is spreading here shows that the capacity of the villagers in India is your oil field. The people that are exploiting it at the present time, let us say, are the Indian Baha’is. All this honour goes to you. In time the immense riches from this spiritual investment will flow back into your community.

“The destiny of the human race is to accept Baha’u’llah, we know that as Baha’is. Now, it has to start sometime and it is a little late in starting, because this Cause is over 120 years old and we are only beginning to get the entrance of people by troops into the Faith. We must not say that this is too soon, we must say this is too late. We are in a hurry. We have lost a hundred years of the Baha’i cycle. We want it to go faster every day, no matter what kind of problems arise from its going faster. Everything in the world goes by its own time. This evidently is the time for a spiritual harvest in India. No one of you, no one in Haifa, no one on this planet can tell you how long this time is going to last. You see what I mean? It may last long enough for India’s 450 million Indians to become Baha’is, it may stop tomorrow like that. (Ruhiyyih Khanum snapped her fingers). You don’t know. You don’t know whether we are going to find that the political development of India goes forward so fast that the people in villages become politically minded and instead of being interested in the Teachings of Baha’u’llah, which we know are the Solution to the world’s problems, they are going to be interested in whatever the local politician says who comes and sits under a tree and talks to them. For one reason or another you have no way of knowing whether it is going on for one year, ten years, a hundred years or a thousand years. All you now know here in India is that you have this extraordinary opportunity. You and Africa are leading the whole world, so far, in this field of teaching, but you don’t know how long the opportunity will last. I only know one case in the whole Baha’i teachings where it says, you must not teach, and that is when it is forbidden by the Government, because we must be loyal to our Government; but if you can show me one single place in the Teachings where there is any other excuse for not teaching, I would like to know what it is. And Baha'u'llah certainly does not say anywhere that you must stop teaching in order to consolidate. You must do the two together. You cannot say that ‘the crocodile is getting too big and I am not going to do anything more about it.’ I think there is a story —I don’t remember from which country it comes — that the dragon swallowed the world. Perhaps it is a nice dragon that you have by the tail that will go on getting bigger and bigger and bigger and swallow the world with the teachings of Baha’u’llah. How do you know? You don’t have to be afraid of it. All you have to do is to hang on to its tail. Let it pull you ahead, and have confidence in Baha’u’llah. If anything goes wrong with this system, then you say to Baha’u’llah: “Look, You are the One who said to teach, all I did was to obey You.”

(Amatul-Baha Visits India, by Violette Nakhjavani, Baha’i Publishing Trust - India)

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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 letters of the sūra in question.

(The Messiah of Shiraz, 601)

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