A Baha’i theocracy would suck.

A Baha’i theocracy would suck. The big reason is that Baha’is have a goal and advocate for a one world government where Baha’i institutions slowly replace secular institutions. Baha’i institutions only allow Baha’is in good standing and over the age of 21 to vote and do not allow for campaigning during elections. This means all minorities have no right to vote and that nobody who is a Baha’i can meaningfully advocate for reform peacefully because you can’t run a campaign even if you are a Baha’i in good standing. This means Baha’is have less political mobility than even people in Iran (Iranians of multiple religions can vote and hold office despite it being an Islamic theocracy, and Iranians can hold campaigns and advocate for reform. I hate the Islamic Republic as an Iranian myself, so it takes a lot for me to admit even this shitty society still allows more political mobility than Baha’i politics does)

In this Baha’i society, alcohol and any other drugs would likely be banned, premarital sex (or even just kissing or holding hands) would be a punishable offense (loss of voting rights and fine), and women would be discriminated against in inheritance laws as well as not be eligible for the Universal House of Justice (highest religious court and main leadership arm of the faith). Also since the faith advocates for conversion therapy to this day, it is likely there would be state sponsored gay conversion therapy.

A Baha’i may defend this by saying only Baha’is must uphold Baha’i law, but this just means that the only way to have voting rights would be to uphold these laws and convert to the religion. And even if you have voting rights, you can’t campaign in favor of reform because campaigning is banned. In a Baha’i election, everyone in good standing is on the ballot of Local Spiritual assembly (this is the only election regular Baha’is can participate in, only higher up members can elect higher offices like National positions) and the people with the most votes win. The people with the most cotes tend to be the richest and most popular people on a community. This means even though you have elections, the same people tend to always win anyways, especially since all votes are closed door and you cannot see who votes for what or what the voting margin is. This would be like if the supreme court made a ruling but you don’t get to see the voting margin, who voted for what, or what the dissenting opinion was.

I also wanna clarify that most Baha’is are perfectly lovely people and I condemn infinitely how the Islamic Republic and other parts of the world treat Baha’is. Nobody deserves to have their human rights trampled on. I just wanted to write this rant because when the Baha’i Faith is discussed, it’s usually just the narrative the Baha’i Faith pushes and not the nuances or baggage associated with their narrative. If your answer is still the same, that’s fine, I just don’t want people to think Baha’i Theocracy is sunshine and rainbows. No theocracy is and a Baha’i Theocracy isn’t even uniquely better. Its just softer than conservative/fundamentalist Islamic law.

https://old.reddit.com/r/religion/comments/1mhmjfx/if_you_had_to_live_as_a_religious_minority_in_a/

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They don't mention that Counsellors 'out-rank' the democratically elected Assemblies.

The Faith's promotional materials always hype up that it's a democratic faith, and neglect to mention that Counsellors 'out-rank' the democratically elected Assemblies.

The appointed Counsellors and Auxiliary Board members are responsible for the 'spiritual well-being' of the community and 'advising' Assemblies, and in practice they fulfill all the functions of priests while the Faith also claims to have abolished clergy. The main difference as I see it is that usually clergy have to academically prove themselves knowledgeable about the religion in a formalized way, whereas in the Faith it is as you say an opaque process mostly built on brown-nosing and interpersonal politics in order to work ones way up the appointment lists.

Around the time I resigned a lot of very sincere young active Baha'is were cutting themselves off from the religion as well, not formally resigning since they still believed, but creating space due to immense stress from pressure being put on them by ABM's and Counsellors to try and get numerical results. In my opinion the KPI's of the Faith represent the ABM's and Counsellors 'job application' to get appointed to higher honors so they have a vested interest in crushing the spirit of people under them to try and get good numbers and a promotion like any good (bad?) capitalist enterprise.

The whole religion has become even more bureaucratic and opaque as in my country at least, and I assume most of the Western Baha'i world since Area Teaching Committees have been established. These committees appointed on the advice of a Counsellor. Another new-ish administrative body are Regional Baha'i Councils. Area teaching committees informally "outrank" Assemblies, calling meetings of LSA members in an area to coordinate them on teaching campaigns. The Regional Councils are elected by LSA members in an area (or are just straight up appointed by the NSA) and of course it is no surprise that ATC members are the people elected to the Regional Council. Following on from that of course it is Regional Council members who are elected to the NSA, so what it accomplishes is an ouroboros of administration where appointments control elections and ideological purity can be maintained.

The punchline of the Faith is that despite the complex multi-layered bureaucracy with dozens of institutions and roles constantly expanding and more firmly asserting its centralized control, the community is still shrinking year on year in most western countries and hemorrhaging active Baha'is.

https://old.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/1mc8u8p/uhj/

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All UHJ members since the 80's are members of the International Teaching Centre

All UHJ members since the 80's are members of the International Teaching Centre which is a body appointed... by the UHJ established in 1973. I think the only exceptions have been Douglas Martin, who was appointed by the UHJ as their international public relations officer prior to being elected, and Paul Lample who was appointed by the UHJ to head their social and economic development body.

A year or so before the UHJ term ends they usually have the ITC members tour the world which in my mind is a fairly transparent way to give them face time with NSA members (who form the electoral college who votes for the UHJ). Prior to this is was usually the Secretary of the US NSA that was elected to fill open slots, since pre 1963 the US NSA was responsible for coordinating the NSA's of Europe and Central & South America.

While it isn't formally spelled out it is fairly obvious the UHJ and ITC members each have a portfolio of a part of the world they are responsible for, given the pipeline is Continental Counsellor, then ITC member, then UHJ member, so active community members are usually at least somewhat familiar with the UHJ member that was Counsellor for their Continent prior to getting elevated up the pipeline. The active community is also incredibly tiny, at least in the west, so if you were at all active a decade ago there's a good chance you will have been in at least one meeting where a current ITC has given a talk or participated in a consultation. Twenty or thirty years ago? Make it a current UHJ member.

Baha'is don't display photographs of UHJ members or anything like that, but verbally I'd say UHJ members have historically been pretty deified by the rank and file Baha'is part of this is because a lot of them were pretty talented public speakers, and it used to be that elevation up the appointed ranks was in part based on existing popularity in the community. On the deification it is noteworthy I think that no UHJ member has ever been voted out of office, they have either died in office or announced their retirement.

Ali Nakhjavani, Adib Taherzadeh, and Peter Khan were especially popular figures. It's a bit of a conspiracy theory but Farzam Arbab (the inventor of the Ruhi system) seems to some to have sort of 'taken over' the UHJ in the mid 2000's and Counsellor/ITC picks became more about adherence to the Ruhi philosophy than popularity in the community so the current crop of administrators is a bit less well known in the community at large (but doubtless they are all very familiar to the people that serve in the Institute Process).

https://old.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/1mc8u8p/uhj/

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Baha'i faith growing in the US?

Baha'is with known addresses in the United States
2020 - 77290
2021 - 76965
2023 - 74933
2024 - 75350
2025 - 74773

(Annual Ridvan Reports published by the NSA of the US)

https://old.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/1lukdea/latest_us_bahai_statistics_from_ridvan_report_2025/

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The Office of Membership and Records

The Bahá’í Center Assistance Corporation (BCA) works with offices of the National Assembly to update and maintain data related to all Bahá’í properties requested by the Office for the Development of Administrative Systems at the Bahá’í World Center. BCA also worked with the IT department at the Bahá’í National Center to ensure that all relevant data requested by that office could be included in the properties database. This year, database fields were updated and modified so that the data spreadsheet could be populated by a query of the database. This includes all properties owned or rented by the National Assembly, Regional Bahá’í Councils, Local Spiritual Assemblies, and registered Bahá’í groups. National and regional offices can add to and update this information through UnityWeb, and Local Assemblies and registered groups can add or update properties through eMembership2.

(Ridvan Annual Report 2024)

The Office of Membership and Records plays a crucial role in maintaining the official records of all Bahá’ís, Local Spiritual Assemblies, and registered groups within the US Bahá’í community. In fulfilling this mandate, the Office is responsible for a range of essential functions:

• processing enrollments, child registrations, and international transfers to and from the United States

• facilitating UnityWeb access for Auxiliary Board members and individuals designated by Regional Bahá’í Councils

• providing UnityWeb and national website access (bahai.us/community) for approved foreign Bahá’ís

• updating the membership database to reflect changes in locality boundaries

• entering results for Ridván elections, Spiritual Assembly officer elections, and by-elections

• maintaining accurate records of contact information, postal addresses, marriages, and deaths

• issuing marriage and birth certificates

• distributing digital welcome letters and instructions for accessing virtual Bahá’í identification cards via bahai.us/community to new enrollees and new arrivals to the US Bahá’í community

• sending hard copy welcome packages to newly registered Bahá’í youth turning 15, including a welcome letter, Bahá’í ID card, a booklet of prayers titled Strive, and guidance on creating a Bahá’í Online Services Account (BOSA)

• cataloging correspondence exchanged between individuals, institutions, and the National Spiritual Assembly and its agencies

(Ridvan Annual Report 2025)

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the parents may refuse consent for marriage on any ground

...the parents “may refuse consent on any ground and that they are responsible to God alone.” Baha’is who marry without providing verified parental consent are subject to deprivation of their Baha’i administrative rights and privileges.

-The Universal House of Justice

https://file.bahai.media/e/e7/The_American_Bahá’í_Vol5_No1.pdf

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And friends if we did not have this Administrative Order of Bahá’u’lláh,

And friends if we did not have this Administrative Order of Bahá’u’lláh, do you know what would have happened today? None of us would be sitting in this room. None of us, the Baháʼí community would have completely defused itself in such a way that it would have completely evaporated. We owe this Faith of Bahá’u’lláh to Shoghi Effendi, who built for us this marvelous system of the administrative order of Bahá’u’lláh.

-Adib Taherzadeh in his lecture "Speaking about the development of Bahá’í administration, tests, and George Townshend"

https://bahai.works/Transcript:Adib_Taherzadeh/Speaking_about_administration,_tests,_Townshend

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mystical intercourse between Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha

This Will and Testament as Shoghi Effendi have said, is the child of the Covenant. He gives the analogy in his writings. He says that he here portrays Bahá’u’lláh as if Bahá’u’lláh... He says, as a mystical intercourse between the person of Bahá’u’lláh - I'm paraphrasing it for you - and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the mother and Bahá’u’lláh here acting as the father. As a result of this mystical intercourse between the person of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, a child was born and that is the Will and Testament.

-Adib Taherzadeh in his lecture "Speaking about the development of Bahá’í administration, tests, and George Townshend"

https://bahai.works/Transcript:Adib_Taherzadeh/Speaking_about_administration,_tests,_Townshend

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Everyone wears robes of mourning on that day, ... Tahirih publicly bedecked herself in festive clothes.

There was much interest in the new religion and the new teachings, and it did not please the divines. They became worried, and above all afraid that they would lose their influence over the people of Karbila. That must definitely not happen. Angry, the mullas complained to the authorities. But Tahirih did not let it stop her. Not even during Ashura, the day on which Shia Muslims commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husayn every year. Everyone wears robes of mourning on that day, and mourns the death of Imam Husayn. However, according to the Muslim calendar, the Birth of the Bab falls on the same day. While everyone was wearing robes of mourning, Tahirih publicly bedecked herself in festive clothes. How incredibly brave would you have to be to dare to do that! You can be very sure that you will then find yourself in trouble. And, predictably, that happened. The local authorities ordered her to be arrested.

(The Herald and His Heroes: Stories about the Báb by Hitjo Garst)

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his attitude toward the Jews was always excellent

He ('Abdu'l Baha) especially excelled in his tolerance for all religions, and his attitude toward the Jews was always excellent.

(Yeshayahu Karniel, Dar Hayom, 1921)

https://benyehuda.org/read/22503

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since the Promised One had now come, these days of mourning should be changed to days of joy.

He started by converting his wife, Mulla Fatimih, a learned woman who used to teach, translate and comment on the Qur’an for the women of the area. He then stopped attending his mosque and propagated his faith privately. On 26 November 1849 (the day of ‘Ashura, when the martyrdom of Imam Husayn occurred), a group of villagers came to his house and insisted that he come and preach to them. Since they would not relent, he reluctantly went to the Husayniyyih (building for the recital of the sufferings of Imam Husayn), which was the largest gathering place in the area and ascended the pulpit. He told them that since the Promised One had now come, these days of mourning should be changed to days of joy. As a result of this pronouncement, he was shunned by his former congregation and even attacked.

(Baha'i Communities of Iran 1851 to 1912, Vol. 1: The North of Iran by Moojan Momen)

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a state comprising a Baha’i majority

We can see that the basic positive spirit of the doctrine of toleration advocated by John Locke is far more strongly affirmed by Baha’u’llah and His successors. Not only must the state abstain from using coercion to force citizens to adopt a particular religion, but a state comprising a Baha’i majority would have an obligation to safeguard minority rights. We can see that this idea is one of the basic implications of the removal of the sword. However, Baha’u’llah’s message also cannot be equated with the liberal Western conception of civil society, religion, and state. If Baha’u’llah prohibits the use of coercion to enforce His religion, this does not mean that He therefore also accepts the Western—especially the American—idea of complete separation of religion from public life.

(Logos and Civilization: Spirit, History, and Order in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. By Nader Saiedi)

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The Bahai Faith has hijacked the word "unity" to mean something else.

The Bahai Faith has hijacked the word "unity" to mean something else. For example religious "unity" actually means "we know more about your religion than you do and you're wrong about topic x,y,z" and "unity of the world" actually means a Baha'i hegemony where everyone has adopted their beliefs and are subjected to censorship and excommunication for stepping out of line. And "unity" in a Baha'i community is more about remaining silent, falling in line, and avoiding conflict. This is a horrible, Orwelian dystopia and not at all what normal people think of when they use the word "unity".

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Baha'i electoral system

Baha'is can't even vote for the UHJ. They elect delegates (each NSA determines what geographic areas get delegates and how many) and the delegates elect the National Spiritual Assembly, and the National Spiritual Assembly members are the only ones who actually get to vote for the UHJ (and in practice they only vote for members of the International Teaching Centre... who are appointed by the UHJ). Baha'i democracy is basically a sham anyway, especially nowadays. It's an entirely top down system with 'campaigns' being forbidden so nobody elected has any accountability and nobody has any idea what people serving actually do. Appointed officers of the Faith like ABM's and Counsellors excercise most of the control over what Bahai's actually do nowadays, with LSA's being limited to organizing pot-luck dinners for the most part in practice.

The Faith's ultimate goal is unity through establishing an unchallengable global theocracy ruled by the UHJ, however a lot of Baha'is aren't really aware of this despite the UHJ very firmly stating this in this letter: https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/19950427_001/1#985937741. Sen McGlinn wrote a book arguing that the Faith allowed for separation of Church and State and in response the UHJ released communications denouncing him and expelled him from the Baha'i community which is a nice preview of what Baha'i unity would be if they could get more than 0.000000001% of the population to convert. Despite this a lot of Baha'is, especially on reddit, seem to think the Faith believes in a seperation of Church and State, probably because the Ruhi books don't go into this and the Faith generally lets people believe whatever keeps them donating to the fund.

As to your question of how non-Baha'is not having a vote in their government in a hypothetical Baha'i state, as mentioned above the vast majority of Baha'is would also have no say in their government. While the Faith incorporates elections it believes in an unlimited totalitarian authoriatarian approach to governing society where the only protections from corruption and institutional abuse are the benevelonce of the institution itself and faith in divine intervention.

Quotes:

"That which beseemeth man is submission unto such restraints as will protect him from his own ignorance, and guard him against the harm of the mischief-maker. Liberty causeth man to overstep the bounds of propriety, and to infringe on the dignity of his station. It debaseth him to the level of extreme depravity and wickedness."

"True liberty consisteth in man's submission unto My commandments, little as ye know it." - https://bahaiquotes.com/subject/submission

"The Guardian believes that a great deal of the difficulties from which the believers... feel themselves to be suffering are caused by their neither correctly understanding or putting into practice and administration. They seem -- many of them -- to be prone to continually challenging and criticizing the decisions of their Assemblies. If the Bahá’ís undermine the very leaders which are, however immaturely, seeking to coordinate Bahá’í activities and administer Bahá’í affairs, if they continually criticize their acts and challenge or belittle their decisions, they not only prevent any real rapid progress in the Faith's development from taking place, but they repel outsiders who quite rightly may ask however expect to unite the whole world when we are so disunited among ourselves!"

"There can be no protection for the Faith unless the friends are willing to submit to their administrative bodies, especially when these are acting in good faith; the individual believers are not in a position to judge their national Body. If any wrong has been done we must leave it in the hands of god, knowing, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, that he will right it, and in the meantime not disrupt the Cause of God by constantly harping on these matters." - https://www.bahaiquotes.com/subject/assemblies-obedience

"Once a decision has been reached, all members of the consultative body, having had the opportunity fully to state their views, agree wholeheartedly to support the outcome. What if the minority view is right? “If they agree upon a subject,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has explained, “even though it be wrong, it is better than to disagree and be in the right, for this difference will produce the demolition of the divine foundation. Though one of the parties may be in the right and they disagree, that will be the cause of a thousand wrongs, but if they agree and both parties are in the wrong, as it is in unity, the truth will be revealed and the wrong made right.” Implicit in this approach to the social utility of thought is the profundity of the change in the standard of public discussion intended by Bahá’u’lláh for a mature society." - https://www.bahai.org/documents/the-universal-house-of-justice/individual-rights-freedoms

"One delegate then asked about the income of NSA members and other employees of the Faith, inquiring as to whether some families earned large incomes from the Fund, and asking whether or not the Universal House of Justice could be consulted about what the delegate perceived as a widespread national concern over executive compensation. William Davis then replied, saying that the NSA reviews the financial needs of full-time executive employees annually, and that the UHJ is then apprised of the arrangements. Davis then expounded on the differences between the checks and balances in the "old world" US system, saying that lack of trust is endemic to it. He then questioned the faith in the Covenant of those who would mistrust the NSA, while saying that the question itself was a legitimate one." - https://bahai-library.com/langness_report_1995_convention

https://old.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/1lkmu1y/unity/

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19 reasons to hate Baha'u'llah

1. He hijacked the Báb’s movement.
   He dumped the rightful successor of the Báb and hijacked the whole movement for himself like a power-hungry opportunist.
2. He was abusive, foul-mouthed, and dangerous.
   This guy was a narcissist and a compulsive liar with a God complex. He cursed people out, abused Muslims, and even ordered hits on those who challenged him like the Azalis.
3. He lived like royalty but cried “prisoner.”
   While whining about being a “prisoner,” he lived in giant mansions with private gardens—one had around 30 rooms! Pure hypocrisy.
4. He claimed to be God.
   He didn’t just claim divine inspiration—he straight-up said there is no God but him. Full-blown delusion.
5. Failed family man with multiple wives.
   He married at least three times and completely failed at raising his kids. After he died, they went to war with each other—cursing and slandering like enemies.
6. His family was a disaster.
   The so-called “holy family” was the most fractured, toxic, and disunited mess imaginable.
7. Pretended to be Muslim his whole life.
   He kept up the act till the end—posing as a Muslim, performing Saum and Salah, and even getting buried the Muslim way. Fake to the core.
8. Faked divine knowledge.
   He studied Arabic, trained with Sufis, and had a big personal library—but had the nerve to claim his knowledge was “innate” and “divine.” Give me a break.
9. Ran away and left his family behind.
   When things got rough, he bailed. Fled to the mountains and left the women in his family to fend for themselves.
10. His cult contributed nothing to the world.
    His entire so-called religion gave zero value to humanity. Just empty words and cultish nonsense.
11. Started his movement after an erotic hallucination.
    He kicked off his “divine mission” after what sounds like a spiritualized wet dream about a “maiden of heaven.” Total creep vibes.
12. Let people worship him.
    His followers bowed to him, walked around him like he was the Kaaba, and he just soaked it up like a wannabe god.
13. Pimped out “believing women” to his brother.
    Yeah, he gave women from his cult to his brother. That’s not just twisted—it’s predatory.
14. Wrote long-winded trash.
    His writings are bloated with over-the-top hype and barely any real meaning. All noise, no depth.
15. Polluted a river with his garbage writings.
    He dumped thousands of his own writings into the Tigris River. People say the water actually changed color from the mess.
16. Let people kiss his hands and feet.
    He acted like a king, letting followers kiss his hands and feet—then called them “servants of God.” What a joke.
17. Claimed to be God but begged colonial powers for help.
    He preached he was divine, yet ran to imperialists and even The Times newspaper, begging for backup. So much for being all-powerful.
18. Wrote a law book full of holes.
    His so-called “book of laws” is a contradictory mess—flawed, inconsistent, and practically unusable.
19. Talked about religious unity while cursing everyone else.
    He preached unity, but anyone who didn’t worship him was called an infidel, a polytheist, or worse. Classic cult hypocrisy.

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teach 1000 people, train 100 youth and 100 children

The first time you visit an area, teach. The second time you visit, teach again. This teaching is, in itself, deepening.

It is good to ask one of the visitors to preside at public meetings.

When youth accept the Faith, it is good if their parents are visited so that the Faith can be explained to them. If they are angry, do not worry. Once they learn about the Faith they will not mind their children being Baha’is.

Everywhere that there are new Baha’is, organize children’s classes, prepare a programme of Baha’i education, help the Baha’is learn how to conduct an Assembly meeting, assist them to build a centre and visit their homes to say prayers.

When you visit the homes of new believers, avoid giving speeches. Talk to them and listen to them.

(Dr. Muhájir, Hand of the Cause of God, Knight of Baha'u'llah, by Írán Furútan Muhájir, BPT London, p. 104)

…concentrate in one area, teach 1000 people, train 100 youth and 100 children and the next year add to the number of pioneers and literature and expand the teaching to 2000 people.

(Dr. Muhájir, Hand of the Cause of God, Knight of Baha'u'llah, by Írán Furútan Muhájir, BPT London, p. 120)

Dr Muhajir loved village Baha’is and they loved him in return. A rapport was always immediately established. He would say: ‘Friends, I was born in a mud hut like you. My grandfather was poor but wanted to give a university education to his children. He wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Baha and asked what to do. ‘Abdu’l-Baha replied, ‘Contribute to the Fund.’ He obeyed and all of us got a university education.’ Of course the friends loved it.

(Dr. Muhájir, Hand of the Cause of God, Knight of Baha'u'llah, by Írán Furútan Muhájir, BPT London, p. 108)

The June issue of Nairobi Baha’i News reports that when he visited the community he ‘shared his ideas of a progressive teaching plan which aims at teaching families, house by house, and thus building a unit of community. This ensures that consolidation and expansion go together.’ He also urged the Baha’is to teach the children, as one way to get their parents interested. He explained that these methods had been tried in West Africa with great success.

He encouraged those friends who had used such methods in other countries to travel and pioneer to Africa. He also encouraged the Iranian Baha’is to pioneer there.

(Dr. Muhájir, Hand of the Cause of God, Knight of Baha'u'llah, by Írán Furútan Muhájir, BPT London, p. 140)

Encourage them to read Nabil’s Narrative and The New Garden. Then encourage them to share what they have learned so as to show their understanding. Children must be taught the Faith the same way that others are taught, and when going out teaching, children should be taken along. This is how they learn to be teachers themselves ... Teach whole villages and families, teach everyone, so that all people are represented within the Baha’i community and we can build a solid foundation for the unity of mankind.

(Dr. Muhájir, Hand of the Cause of God, Knight of Baha'u'llah, by Írán Furútan Muhájir, BPT London, p. 147)

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Abdul Baha's love for abgusht

...at dinner time in the pilgrim house he (Abdul Baha) had himself a full serving of abgusht (a common Persian dish made of lamb, yellow split peas, beans, potatoes and tomatoes, with dried lemon) which he ate with great relish, and the next morning he felt no shame in putting away a good size breakfast either, after which he hastened to the darb-khanih.

(Memories of Nine Years in Akka by Youness Khan Afroukhteh)

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a stew of vegetables and lamb

Khan was often present at meals, at the luncheons or dinners in ‘Akká or Haifa. Various dishes would be served the guests, but ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself would have a bowl of ábgúsht, a stew of vegetables and lamb, very simple, and this plain stew was often the diet reserved for Him alone.

(Summon Up Remembrance, Marzieh Gail, p. 136)

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What is expansion?

Expansion means growth of the community: more individuals, more localities, more Assemblies. The major targets of this expansion are all strata of society; however, we must reach more people of capacity, specific minorities and the masses (middle-class America).

(National Bahá’í Review, Issue 110)

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Why Baha’is should know more about Christianity and other world religions?

‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the beloved Guardian state the followings on this matter:

"The Holy Books of all religions—the Bible, the Qur’án, and others—are the foundation of divine education. Whosoever desireth to be a teacher of the Cause must be familiar with these Books, so that he may speak in accordance with their contents and prove the truth of this Cause from the texts of the past. For instance, if he be among Christians, he should prove the truth of Bahá’u’lláh from the Bible; if he be among Muslims, from the Qur’án; and so forth. Thus he may become an effective teacher and a promoter of the Cause of God."

(From a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, translated and cited in Star of the West, Vol. 7, No. 10, September 8, 1916, p. 90 )

"You must be familiar with the Scriptures of other religions, for example, the Bible and the Qur’án, so that with wisdom and eloquence you may connect the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh with the words of the past prophets, and thus guide the people to the ocean of divine knowledge."

(From a talk given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Paris, October 1911, recorded in Paris Talks, p. 143)

"The Bahá’ís should be well acquainted with the Scriptures of both Christianity and Islám, as these two great systems have influenced and still influence the majority of the world’s population. A thorough knowledge of the Bible and the Qur’án will enable the Bahá’í teacher to meet the inquirer on his own ground and to present the Bahá’í Faith as the fulfillment of the hopes and promises enshrined in these Holy Books."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, dated March 13, 1939, published in The Light of Divine Guidance, Vol. 2, p. 79)

"He feels that the mastery of such subjects as the Bible and the Qur’án will immensely enhance the scope and effectiveness of your teaching work, as these Books contain innumerable points of contact with the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, and a proper knowledge of them will enable you to present the Cause in a more convincing and appealing manner to the Christian and Muslim elements."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, dated May 10, 1936, cited in The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. 2, p. 295)

https://www.facebook.com/ShahramMoosavii/posts/pfbid0vGfFb3trmQpKVjzjLKzcjQ8ytdcPGBYwypWRHYQ7Aqf2TRvvDS461hhqQmJXJFg1l

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Baha'i growth!!!

The increased intensity with which programmes of growth around the world are being pursued tells an impressive story of its own. In this five-year span, we had called for growth to be accelerated in every one of the 5,000 clusters where it had begun. This imperative became the impetus for earnest endeavour throughout the world. As a result, the number of intensive programmes of growth more than doubled and now stands at approximately 4,000. Difficulties involved in opening up new villages and neighbourhoods to the Faith in the midst of a global health crisis, or expanding activities that were at an early stage when the pandemic began, prevented an even higher total from being reached during the Plan’s final year. However, there is more to tell than this. At the outset of the Plan, we had expressed the hope that the number of clusters where the friends had passed the third milestone along a continuum of growth, as a consequence of learning how to welcome large numbers into the embrace of their activities, would grow by hundreds more. That total then stood at around 200, spread across some 40 countries. Five years on, this number has risen to an astonishing 1,000 in nearly 100 countries—a quarter of all the intensive programmes of growth in the world and an achievement far surpassing our expectations. And yet even these figures do not reveal the loftiest heights to which the community has soared. There are over 30 clusters where the number of core activities being sustained exceeds 1,000; in places, the total is several thousand, involving the participation of more than 20,000 people in a single cluster. A growing number of Local Spiritual Assemblies now oversee the unfoldment of educational programmes that cater to practically all the children and junior youth in a village; the same reality is beginning to emerge within a few urban neighbourhoods. Engagement with the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh has, in notable instances, transcended individuals, families and extended kinships—what is being witnessed is the movement of populations towards a common centre. At times, age-old hostilities between opposing groups are being left behind, and certain social structures and dynamics are being transformed in the light of the divine teachings.

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/uhj/uhj_nine-year_plan_2022.pdf

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The first Bahá'í funeral

Lorol Schopflocher arrived back in Haifa from another trip to India and Persia on 8 May 1927 and told many stories of her adventures. She stayed until 28 May when she departed for Cairo, Alexandria and Paris. Another pilgrim asked the Guardian when he would come to America. His frank and very clear answer was, 'When you have learned to obey the National Spiritual Assembly." At about the same time, Mírzá Mohsen Afnán, a resident believer, passed away and his funeral was the first entirely Bahá'í funeral held in Palestine, showing the independence of the Faith.

(Shoghi Effendi Through the Pilgrim's Eye, Volume 1 - Building the Administrative Order, 1922-1952 Earl Redman)

First Bahá’i Funeral Service in the East

From Miss Effie Baker, at the American Pilgrim House, Haifa, we learn the significant fact that the services held to observe the passing of Mirza Mohsen Afnan were entirely Bahá’i without admixture of Moslem elements—the first entirely Bahá’i funeral service to be held in a Moslem environment. Thus slowly but surely the Cause asserts itself as an independent Religion founded upon new laws and teachings and giving rise to new customs and observances not reflecting superstition and man-made tradition.

(Baha’i News Letter, The Bulletin of The National Spiritual Assembly of The Baha’is of The United States and Canada, August, 1927)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_19/Text#First_Bahá’i_Funeral_Service_in_the_East

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I drank seven drops of the blood of Imām Ḥusayn

The Bab describes his dream in his Ṣaḥīfa-yi ʿAdliyya as follows:

Know that the appearance of these verses, prayers, and divine sciences is the result of a dream in which I saw the blessed head of the prince of martyrs [Imām Ḥusayn] severed from his sacred body, alongside the heads of his kindred. I drank seven drops of the blood of that martyred one, out of pure and consummate love. From the grace vouchsafed by the blood of the Imām, my breast was filled with convincing verses and mighty prayers. Praise be unto God for having given me to drink of the blood of him who is His Proof, and made thereof the reality of my heart.

(The Messiah of Shiraz, Dennis MacEoin, Page 162)

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Quddus’s own claims to divine status for himself are reinforced by many of the Bab’s statements about him.

As in the case of claims of Qāʾimiyya, it seem to have been Muḥammad ʿAlī Bārfurūshī, Quddūs, who was the Bāb’s chief rival in respect of claims to some form of divinity. Abbas Effendi ʿAbd al-Bahāʾ, maintains that Quddūs’s commentary on the letter sād ̣ of the word al-samad ̣ (Qurʾān 112:2) which he “revealed” (nāzil farmūdand) at Shaykh Tabarsī, was ̣ “from beginning to end . . . (filled with the words) “Verily, I am God.” There certainly appears to be confirmatory evidence that, in the course of the Shaykh Tabarsī siege, Quddūs did, in fact, make claims of this ̣ kind. Zawāraʾī refers to him as a “place of God’s manifestation” (mazhar-i ̣ khudā) while a Bābī apostate who encountered him in Bārfurūsh after the end of the siege is said to have rebuked him with the words: “You claimed . . . that your voice was the voice of God.” Quddūs’s own claims to divine status for himself are reinforced by many of the Bāb’s statements about him. In a Tablet of visitation (ziyārat) written at some point after Quddūs’s death in 1849, the Bāb writes:

from all eternity you have existed in the exaltation of holiness and majesty, and unto all eternity you shall exist in the exaltation of holiness and majesty. You are the one who is manifested through the manifestation of your Lord (anta ’l-zāhir bi-z ̣ uhūri rabbika ̣ ) and the one who is concealed through the concealment of your Lord. In the beginning when there was no beginning but you, and in the end when there will be no end save you; you ascended through all creation to a horizon unto which none preceded you.” In a section of the Kitāb-i Panj shaʾn written for Mullā Shaykh ʿAlī Turshīzī, the Bāb explicitly declares that “the last name of God has shone forth and flashed and gleamed and become manifest; well is it with him who sees in him nothing but God.

Within the context of such statements, it may be possible to suggest a fresh dimension to our understanding of the events which occurred at the Bābī assembly at Bidasht in 1848, which is generally associated with the abrogation of the Islamic laws (sharīʿa), the proclamation of the inauguration of a new age of inner truth (though not, I am inclined to think, at this stage the implementation of a Bābī sharīʿa), and the announcement of the imminent appearance of the Qāʾim. (A secondary objective of the meeting was to draw up plans for the release of the Bāb from prison in Azerbaijan.) In what is in some respects a curious letter, ʿAbd al-Bahāʾ states that “many have manifested divinity (ulūhiyyat) and lordship (rubūbiyyat). . . . At Bidasht, her excellency Tahirih [Qurrat ̣ al-ʿAyn] to the highest heaven the cry of “Verily, I am God,” as did many of the friends at Bidasht.” Brief as it is and lacking in direct evidence, this theologically uncharacteristic statement is nonetheless extremely suggestive and may prove an important starting point for fresh inquiries into the significance of the Bidasht gathering. It may well be the case, for example, that the recorded divisions between the participants in the meeting, in particular that between Qurrat al-ʿAyn and Quddūs, relate in some way to the advancement of competing claims of this kind.

Certainly a number of Bābī texts of the post-Bidasht period contain what would only a few years previously have been regarded as pure blasphemy. Some of the Bāb’s later writings, including numerous sections of the Kitāb-i Panj shaʾn, contain exordia such as “this is a letter from God, the Protector, the Self-subsisting, to God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting,” or ‘this is a letter from God to him whom God shall manifest.” Even more direct is the following passage from a letter of the Bāb to Mullā Ibrāhim Qazvīnī, Raḥīm: “ ʿAlī before Nabīl [i.e., ʿAlī Muḥammad, the Bāb] is the Self of God (nafs Allāh). . . and the name of al-Azal, al-Waḥīd [i.e., Mīrzā Yahyā Nūrī, Subh ̣ ̣-i Azal] is the Essence of God (dhāt Allāh).” In a letter also written to Qazvīnī after the Bāb’s death, the latter’s former amanuensis, Sayyid Ḥusayn Yazdī, declares “were it not for the existence of God in my beloved, the Eternal, the Ancient (al-azal al-aqdam)[i.e., Qazvīnī], I should not have addressed these words to you, my beloved,” and goes on to refer to the Bāb’s death as “the disappearance of God” ( ghaybat Allāh) and “the ascension of God” (suʿūd Allāh).”

(The Messiah of Shiraz, Dennis MacEoin, Page 333-335)

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Tahirih was definitely somewhat of a cult leader

MacEoin's Messiah of Shiraz has details, my recollection of it is that since the Bab was almost immediately arrested the Babi community for the most part had no access to anything written by him. Because of this his disciples basically just invented their own religions, so Tahirih's Babi Faith was entirely different to Quddus's Babi Faith and arguably neither really had much to do with the Bab beyond using his claim to be the Qa'im to justify breaking from established Islamic theology (unless one subscribes to the idea of the Bab communicating through telepathic dreams as Dawn-Breakers suggests). The Conference of Badasht was called to try and unify the Babi religion under a single theology since it had become a loose collection of almost unrelated revolutionary movements aiming to reform Islam.

Quddus and Tahirih were the most prolific writers out of the Letters of the Living so had the most vested interest in the Conference of Badasht endorsing their opinions on the reformation of Islam. Tahirih remained highly controversial even after the conference (perhaps simply due to being a woman) so it is conceivable to me the henna story (wiping men's faces with henna-covered breasts) is polemical propaganda that was used to damage her reputation, or it could be true. MacEoin's book does note surviving writings of Tahirih do state she had Babi's present food to her to be blessed before eating and other odd things so she was definitely somewhat of a cult leader regardless of if the henna story is true or not.

https://old.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/1jzew2x/reincarnation_of_fatimah_etc/

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"For amid this turmoil opportunities will abound that must be exploited" and "winning of fresh recruits"

As humanity is tossed and tormented by the ravages inflicted upon it by a civilization gone out of control, let us keep our heads and hearts focused on the divine tasks set before us. For amid this turmoil opportunities will abound that must be exploited "for the purpose of spreading far and wide the knowledge of the redemptive power of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and for enlisting fresh recruits in the ever-swelling army of His followers."

(Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 1996)

In a passage written on 18 July 1953, in the early months of the Ten Year Crusade, Shoghi Effendi, referring to the vital need to ensure through the teaching work a "steady flow" of "fresh recruits to the slowly yet steadily advancing army of the Lord of Hosts," stated that this flow would "presage and hasten the advent of the day which, as prophesied by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, will witness the entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the world."

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1986-2001)

In his last Riḍván Message the beloved Guardian called upon the friends in all continents to exert strenuous efforts to assure the “early attainment of the goal of five thousand Bahá’í centers in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.” By Riḍván two years later, less than eighteen months after his passing, this goal was not only attained but exceeded, when the number of localities where Bahá’ís reside reached a total of over five thousand two hundred. This Riḍván, as a result of the continuing dispersion of pioneers and the winning of fresh recruits to the ranks of the Faith, the total has risen to the truly impressive level of nearly six thousand five hundred, a gain of no less than four thousand centers since the inception of the World Crusade in 1953.

(Baha'i New, Year 118, June 1961)

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the Seat of Guardianship

The Bahai World Administrative Center. The passage “Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee” in Bahāʾ-Allāh’s Tablet of Carmel (Lawḥ-e Kārmel) (Bahāʾ Allāh, tr. Taherzadeh et al., p. 5) was later interpreted by Sho-ghi Effendi as an allusion to the future establishment of The Universal House of Justice on Mount Carmel. Sho-ghi Effendi designated the world administrative buildings around the Arc Garden to be the Bahai International Archives, the Seat of the Hands of the Cause of God (Ayādi-e amr-Allāh, q.v.), the Seat of Guardianship, and the Seat of the Universal House of Justice (Shoghi Effendi, 1958, p. 74). Afterwards, the Seat of the Guardianship became the Center for the Study of the Texts building, and the Seat of the Hands of the Cause of God became the International Teaching Center building; the Bahai International Library, the last building of the complex referred to as the Arc buildings, has not yet been built. The Bahai World Administrative Center, according to Shoghi Effendi, symbolizes the “seat of spiritual and temporal power” and will serve as “the seat of the future Bahai commonwealth” (1958, pp. 73-75).

(Encyclopedia Iranica)

www.iranicaonline.org/articles/haifa/

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Most of the village of al-Nuqayb was purchased by Bahá’u’lláh and sold by Shoghi Effendi to the Jewish National Fund.

In his book All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, the historian Walid Khalidi details the history of many of these Palestinian villages and how they were depopulated. For example, he notes that in the 1880s most of the village land of al-Nuqayb was purchased by Bahá’u’lláh, with the villagers continuing to farm as tenant farmers. In the 1920s, this land was sold by Shoghi Effendi to the Jewish National Fund.

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Superlative character of Baha'u'llah's Revelation

Stressing the superlative character of His Revelation as compared with the Dispensation preceding it, Bahá’u’lláh makes the following affirmation: “If all the peoples of the world be invested with the powers and attributes destined for the Letters of the Living, the Báb’s chosen disciples, whose station is ten thousand times more glorious than any which the apostles of old have attained, and if they, one and all, should, swift as the twinkling of an eye, hesitate to recognize the light of My Revelation, their faith shall be of no avail and they shall be accounted among the infidels.”

(Page 108 of “The World Order of Baha’u’llah”)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_World/Volume_14/Selections_from_the_Writings_of_Shoghi_Effendi_about_Bahá’u’lláh

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one of the first acts of the Guardian

He beheld a widely diversified, loosely organized community, scattered in various parts of the globe, and with members in about twenty countries. These people, loyal, devoted and sincere though they were, were still, to a great extent, living in their parent religion’s house, so to speak; there were Christian Bahá’ís, Jewish Bahá’ís, Muhammadan Bahá’ís and so on. They believed in the Bahá’í Faith but were intimately connected with their former churches. Like fruit on a tree, they were a new crop but still stuck to the old branch. This was true East and West alike. That was the point to which the Faith had evolved at the time of the Master’s ascension.

We, on our part, beheld a young man of only twenty-four standing at the helm of the Cause and some of the friends felt impelled to advise him about what it would be wise for him to do next. It was then that we began to know not only the nature of our first Guardian but the nature of the entire Institution of Guardianship, for we quickly discovered that Shoghi Effendi was “unreachable.” Neither relatives, old Bahá’ís or new Bahá’ís, well—wishers or ill-wishers could sway his judgment or influence his decisions. We quickly came to realize that he was not only divinely guided but...

[...]

...one of the first acts of the Guardian: Shoghi Effendi never set foot in the Mosque, whereas ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had attended it until the last Friday of His life. ...it would have been almost impossible for the Master to do, namely, to sever the intimate bonds Which had bound him for so long to the Arab community, particularly the Muhammadan community, of Palestine during many years when it was forbidden to even mention the name Bahá’í, the Guardian now did overnight and began to encourage the Bahá’ís to likewise do in different parts of the world.

(Ruhiyyih Khanum, Twenty-Five Years of The Guardianship, Baha'i Publishing Committee, Wilmette, Illinois - 1948)

https://bahai.works/Twenty-Five_Years_of_the_Guardianship/Text

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Shoghi Effendi on Palestine

We are assured that the Jews will get all of Palestine; Abdu'l-Bahá mentioned this in "Some answered Questions"; also, the British Secretary Balfour in his declaration mentioned it. The Jews are establishing their home in Palestine. The word "Israel" means "Hastening to God." "Isra" means "hastening" and "el" means "God." The Jews suffered for 2,000 years for persecuting Christ, "The Son of God," for 3 years; the Moslems and the Arabs persecuted Bahá'u'lláh, "the Father," for 50 years, so they will suffer more and endure greater sufferings. The time of banishment is now over for the Jews. They will return to Palestine and Palestine will be their home forever. The Moslems and Arabs will be scattered. The Arabs suffered severe defeat because they did not respond to the call of Bahá'u'lláh. One million Jews came into Israel and one million Arabs went out of Israel in 1948 and 1949. The Jews will get all of Palestine because the Arabs will make trouble with the Jews and the Jews will drive them out. The standard of Israel must be raised...

(Haifa Notes by Ramona Brown - May 2, 1954)

https://bahai-library.com/brown_haifa_notes

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Building of the new World Order... there is nothing in the old world to compare with the work which we are doing.

In reference to the building of the new World Order, Mr. Taherzadeh said there is nothing in the old world to compare with the work which we are doing. Do we build our Assemblies according to our own ideas? No! For then they would be dry and old, and with no spirit, like the old world that we came from. We get our building materials from the Creative Word of Bahá’u’lláh; from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant which Bahá’u’lláh established with us; from Shoghi Effendi, the appointed Guardian of His Cause; and from The Universal House of Justice, the Supreme Body called into being by the Creative Pen of Bahá’u’lláh.

(The American Bahá’í, September, 1971)

https://bahai.works/The_American_Bahá’í/Volume_2/Issue_9/Text

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What is the key to success?

Adib Taherzadeh said that the key to success is to acquire unshakeable faith in Bahá’u’lláh and then turn to The Universal House of Justice for guidance.

(Bahá’í News, August 1976)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_545/Text

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Encouraging Baha'is to...

Huququllah is the equivalent of tithing. It is less demanding than a lot of religions as it is a requirement to donate 19% of ones excess wealth to the UHJ (excess wealth is defined in a somewhat complicated way from memory, there's manuals on how to calculate it iirc but essentially it's meant to not touch any finances required for day to day living), so Baha'is aren't supposed to donate anything they can't afford.

Baha'is are also encouraged to donate to the fund, which is entirely voluntary and there isn't any 'required' level of donation. Off the top of my head I don't recall official authoritative guidance being too demanding, but there is a lot of Baha'i 'folklore' which is sometimes cited by lower level officials and rank and file Baha'is which encourages people to be irresponsible financially to support the fund. Depends heavily on the community though and I wouldn't say it's been a huge issue in any community I've been apart of.

Mentoring isn't really well defined, it's language which has sort of popped up as part of the institute process. The Faith has no 'clergy'. In practice all the administrative functions of clergy are present in the Faith, but not the spiritual ones, so in my experience mentoring is, in theory, a way of fulfilling the spiritual functions of clergymen in other religions (i.e., studying scripture, teaching the theology, etc.), but instead of being an official appointed position it's an informal procedure. In practice it's more about getting rank and file Baha'is to encourage people to participate in the institute process, which is the formalized way the Faith evangelizes. The Faith's institutions are meant to be pretty hands off unless someone breaks a rule, so its official institutions can't really order people to evangelize, so in my mind the House is out-sourcing the task of getting people to support its teaching plan to peer pressure.

https://old.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/1jgijcf/new_uhj_message_on_the_importance_of_families/

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Baha'u'llah's last will and testament includes a passage about Mirza Aqa Jan which 'Abdu'l-Baha removed

Baha'u'llah's last will and testament includes a passage about Mirza Aqa Jan which 'Abdu'l-Baha removed and it has never been released in full. The UHJ has admitted this in a letter to a Baha'i academic and stated it will never release the full Will and Testament.

Quoted in this article https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316833019_The_1893_Russian_Publication_of_Baha'u'llah's_Last_Will_and_Testament_An_Academic_Attestation_of_'Abdu'l-Baha's_Successorship

https://old.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/1jhy3kj/whats_the_most_shocking_fact_about_the_history_of/

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Severe punishment for those who fail to turn towards Baha'u'llah

Baha'u'llah said:

“We have a fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail, at the appointed hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction. How severe, indeed, is the chastisement with which your Lord will then chastise you!”

(The World Order of Bahá’ú’lláh)

https://www.bahai.org/shoghi-effendi/articles-resources/from-world-order-bahaullah

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Rainn Wilson teaches the Baha'i faith through podcasts!

 https://youtu.be/QvQshqltJ4M

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Shoghi’s critics must have thought he had betrayed his grandfather’s legacy.

As time went on, the pressures from the Covenant-breakers increased. At the same time, there were some whom Abdu’l-Bahá had befriended, but who did not take Shoghi Effendi’s leadership seriously because they thought he could never manage to govern the affairs of the Faith after Abdu’l-Bahá. These people created an uneasy situation within the Family by their negative attitude. For instance, when they noticed that Shoghi Effendi was not following the practice of Abdu’l-Bahá in attending the mosque every Friday, and that he wore European clothes, they gradually distanced themselves from the Bahá’í community.

(THE COVENANT OF BAHA'U'LLAH By Adib Taherzadeh)

https://holy-writings.com/?a=SHOWTEXT&d=%2F%2Fen%2FBahai+Faith%2F2+-+Bahai+Studies%2FAdib+Taherzadeh%2FThe+Covenant+of+Baha%27u%27llah.txt

Reason: Abdu’l-Baha presented the Baha’i Faith as a form of Islam to the people in Palestine, which is why he attended the mosque. It was Shoghi Effendi who openly declared it an independent religion. Shoghi’s critics must have thought he had betrayed his grandfather’s legacy.

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Bahá’u’lláh expelled Mírzá Áqá Ján from His presence

Shortly before His ascension Bahá’u’lláh expelled Mírzá Áqá Ján from His presence due to his exorbitant financial demands, and reluctance to explain to the believers that Tablets revealed in his handwriting were dictated to him by Bahá’u’lláh, and that he played no role in the composition of Tablets. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reportedly interceded on his behalf and three times asked for him to be forgiven.

https://bahaipedia.org/Mírzá_Áqá_Ján

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Abdul Baha telling women to tolerate their husband’s cruel actions and ill treatment.

“Hold thy husband dear and always show forth an amiable temper towards him, no matter how ill tempered he may be. Even if thy kindness maketh him more bitter, manifest thou more kindliness, more tenderness, be more loving and tolerate his cruel actions and ill-treatment”.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Lights of Guidance, p. 226

Also this.

Now that you realize that your husband is ill, you should be able to reconcile yourself to the difficulties you have faced with him emotionally, and not take an unforgiving attitude, however much you may suffer.

Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance, p. 227

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Justin Baldoni

One ex-Baha'i says:

I was raised as a Baha’i and let me tell ya they are all about converting people. They have books and a whole program dedicated to it but they call it “teaching.” Also, just fyi Baldoni presents himself as super progressive but Bahais believe being gay is a spiritual illness that can be cured and will kick you out if you have a gay marriage. They also believe that woman aren’t allowed to serve on their highest governing body (very feminist of him right?). As a former Baha’i I know Baldoni is full of it.

https://old.reddit.com/r/DeppDelusion/comments/1htld5m/bahai_billionaire_steve_sarowitzs_involvement_in/m68440g/

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Shoghi Effendi did not translate that part in the Gleanings

Bahá'u'lláh writes in a tablet called Lawh-i-‘Abdu’r-Razzáq [1]:

O people of Bahá, drink this wine of everlasting life openly in the name of the Beloved, the Most Glorious, despite the enmity of the adversaries. Leave these artificial, dung-beetle-like forms to occupy themselves with the impurities of their own loathsome, foul insinuations. By My life, the True One! The nostrils of the cow cannot partake of this most pure fragrance, and this peerless, incomparable stream of the All-Glorious is not, nor will ever be, the portion of the people of error.

Original Persian:

ای اهل بها اين خمر بقا را بر ملا باسم محبوب ابهی بياشاميد رَغْمًا لِأَنْف الأعدآء بگذاريد اين هياکل جَعْليّه جُعَليّه را در خبائث اشارات کثيفهء منتنه خود مشغول شوند * فو نفسی الحق مشام بقر را از اين عطر اطهر نصيبی نه و اين زلال بيمثال سلسال ذوالجلال قسمت اهل ضلال نبوده و نخواهد بود

Shoghi Effendi did not translate that part in the Gleanings, I wonder why!

[1] https://oceanoflights.org/bahaullah-st-021-fa/

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Splits, divisions among the Babis and nominating Azal as a head, and receiving contributions in Azal’s name from believers.

The millenarian Bābī movement roiled Iran (1844–1850) under the leadership of Sayyid ‘Alī Muhammad Shīrāzī, the “Bāb” or supernatural gateway to God (Amanat 1989). After the Bāb was executed in 1850, the leadership of the movement became extremely fragmented, with many claimants to Bābī leadership and to divinity putting themselves forward (MacEoin 1989). Sometimes in the 1850s a single city would be split into three distinct Bābī communities, each with a different “divine” leader. Mīrzā Sa‘īd “Basīr” Hindi, a claimant to leadership with great charisma, was executed by a government official in the early 1850s, and many Bābī leaders died in regional conflicts and then the pogrom of 1852 after the Bābī attempt on the life of the shah.

The Nūrī household of four brothers from a great-landlord background was another focus of leadership. They seem to have made a self-conscious decision to put forward the youngest brother, Mīrzā Yahyā Subh-i Azal, as a sort of first among equals, and to attempt to convince the generality of the Bābīs to look to them, and to Azal in particular, for leadership. They were bolstered in this endeavor by a letter of the Bāb written before his execution that appeared to appoint Mīrzā Yahyā to a leadership role (Bāb 2001). The household consisted of Mīrzā Yahyā “Azal” Nūrī, of Mīrzā Husayn ‘Alī “Bahā’u’llāh” Nūrī, of Mīrzā Mūsā “Kalīm” Nūrī, and of Mīrzā Muhammad Qulī Nūrī. These were sons, all but two of them from different mothers, of the Iranian nobleman Mīrzā ‘Abbās “Buzurg” Nūrī, who had served in high governmental positions under Fath-‘Alī Shāh (r. 1797–1834). They were forced into exile in Ottoman Baghdad in the wake of the failed Bābī assassination attempt on Nāsiru’d-Dīn Shāh of 1852. Bahā’u’llāh was the treasurer for the household and for contributions received in Azal’s name from believers. He also screened Azal’s appointments and met with pilgrims, given that Azal’s position of leader put him in great danger from the shah’s assassins. Bahā’u’llāh himself in the 1850s was careful to deny that he had a high station or could work miracles (Cole 1997). Despite Azal’s reclusive style of leadership, and despite continual behind-the-scenes conflicts between Azal and Bahā’u’llāh, they succeeded in presenting a relatively united front from their place of exile in Baghdad (1853–1863). They continued in this vein when the Ottomans first exiled Bahā’u’llāh to Edirne in Ottoman Europe near Istanbul. He and his brothers and some Bābīs lived there November 1863 through summer, 1868, and it was midway through this period that open conflict between Azalīs and Bahā’īs broke out (Cole 1998a: 27–29).

(THE AZĀLĪ-BAHĀ’Ī CRISIS OF SEPTEMBER, 1867 by Juan R. I. Cole)

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Azal was an idolater but Baha'u'llah helped build Azal up for a “secret reason” (hikmat).

...he does insist that the bonds with any loved ones (such as a brother) who rejected Bahā’u’llāh’s cause in favor of Azal had from that moment been severed. He defines Azal as having previously been the embodiment of only one of God’s names, and to prefer one of the divine names over God himself would be a form of idolatry. He redefines religious authority (prophets, messengers, imams and vicars) as being legitimate only if it upholds Bahā’u’llāh’s Cause. (This assertion undermines Azal’s authority as the supposed vicar of the Bāb.) Finally, Bahā’u’llāh complains that Azal had once been just one of the Bābīs, like any other man, but that his passions and selfishness had led him to begin having grandiose ideas about himself. Bahā’u’llāh explains that he had himself helped build Azal up, to his current regret, for a “secret reason” (hikmat). (The traditional Bahā’ī explanation is that Azal was put forward as the exoteric leader in order to protect the real leader, Bahā’u’llāh, though this story no doubt presents an overly rationalized picture of the complex relationship between Bahā’u’llāh and Azal, 1850–1865)

(THE AZĀLĪ-BAHĀ’Ī CRISIS OF SEPTEMBER, 1867 by Juan R. I. Cole)

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Use of dark psychology and manipulations by Baha'i leaders.

It's all documented in books and online by Bahá'u'lláh's family:
• "The Religion Of The Bayan And The Claims Of The Baha'is" is an analysis of the manipulations of Bahá'u'lláh and some of his sons, by Jalal Azal, grandson of Bahá'u'lláh's brother Subh-i-Azal and husband of Bahá'u'lláh's granddaughter Ismat.
• "A Lost History of the Bahá'í Faith" is about the manipulations of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, based on the work on Bahá'u'lláh's grandson Shua'u'llah.
• 'Abdu'l-Bahá's family is a website documenting the madness of Shoghi Effendi.

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Apocalyptic concerns and the Baha'i faith

‘Abdu’l-Bahá had predicted World War I and called it “Armageddon,”…a number of Baha’is in the 1950s evidently had apocalyptic concerns (Piff 2000, 122–30;Piff and Warburg 2003), the extent of these beliefs is unknown, and there is no evidence that such concerns dominated the community as a whole (Collins 2002b, 10–11). By contrast, the small (mostly American) sectarian Remeyite Baha’i splinter groups that developed after Shoghi Effendi's death in 1957 often held strong apocalyptic millennialist beliefs. [These groups originated with the claims of a senior Baha’i leader, Charles Mason Remey (1874–1974) to be Shoghi Effendi's successor (hence the rubric “Remeyite”). …Remey began to stress the immediacy of a final “great global catastrophe” (Johnson 1974, 362–64). His followers soon split into several contending sects, the most studied of which were the Baha’is Under the Provisions of the Covenant headed by Leland Jensen (d. 1996) from Missoula, Montana… (Balch, Farnsworth, and Wilkins 1983; Balch et al. 1997)] A third episode of apocalyptic expectation developed in the final years of the twentieth century in association with the widespread belief that the Lesser Peace would be established by the year 2000, and the anticipation by some Baha’is that this would be preceded by catastrophic events. While it is not possible to assess the number of Baha’is who held such views, it is of note that the Universal House of Justice felt it necessary to discourage Baha’is from speculating on the subject (Collins2002b, 12–13,17–18).

(Babi and Baha’i Millennialism by Peter Smith, William P. Collins)

https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34365/chapter-abstract/327336096?redirectedFrom=fulltext

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Abdul Baha's association with corrupt officers and keeping notorious prostitute girl in his own house

In his memoir, Baha'u'llah's youngest son, Badiullah states:

This officer was a staff Colonel and associated with military & civil functionaries. He had a beautiful step daughter, the child of his wife by former marriage, who gathered young men around her.

Colonel Badri Beg hired a house at Haifa to spend the summer season there. He attended evening parties of the French Consul and leading members of the [Arab] Christian community. They engaged themselves in gambling.

The Most Great Branch [Sir Abbas Effendi] met all the [gambling] losses of the Beg, and provided for the upkeep of the [Beg's] house, and for the expenses of the [Beg's] step daughter. Thus the step daughter came to have plenty opportunity. She became familiar with a good looking Italian man. At night they met together and indulged themselves in love affair.

Some people became aware of the affair and advised the Beg to send the family to Acre. As the Beg himself had connection with the girl, and could not send her away from him. He disregarded the advice.

Eventually the Beg came to know about the affair and this roused his jealousy. One evening the Beg detailed two soldiers to go and deliver a message to the Italian young man on behest of the girl to come & see her at night. The house was unattended. The occupant had gone to Acre. As soon as the Italian young man came into the house & seated himself in the drawing room, the two soldiers appeared at the scene, caught hold of him, strangled him to death, stuffed up his throat with a long piece of rag, took him away and cast him into the sea.

In their hurry & bustle, they did not tie a stone to his foot to keep the corpse at the bottom of the sea.
In the morning his mother and relatives begun to search for the young man. Finally the young man's body was discovered near the sea shore, strangled to death.

The incident set people's tongue wagging. His mother and relatives raised a tumult in Haifa. They held Badri Beg responsible for the incident and brought an action against him and also against [Sir] Abbas Effendi because he came to Haifa after and frequented the Beg's house."

I realized that the allegation against the Most Great Branch [Sir] Abbas Effendi reflected on the whole family. By strong arguments and proof I applied myself to proving that it was impossible for him to have been involved in the matter. I called on members of the bereaved family to offer my condolences. I seized the opportunity to convince them that my brother [Sir] Abbas Effendi had not taken part at all in the matter. The mother of the deceased replied: "If he had not taken part in the matter, and had no connection with the girl, why did he take her to his own home in Acre?" I endeavoured as far as possible to exonerate the Most Great Branch [Sir] Abbas Effendi as the allegation reflected on the family as well as on Baha's name. But I did not expect that he would take her to his own house. I went to Acre to see what had happened. I enquired from the Baha'is and others. I found out that he had put up the notorious prostitute girl in his own house, the 'Abbud-House', which was the dwelling place of the Blessed Beauty [i.e. Baha], exalted be his power, before his ascension [i.e. death].

(Page 76-77, The Memoirs of Badiullah [The Most Luminous Branch] Baha'u'llah's Youngest Son)

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Abdul Baha's allegation of ‘European Prostitutes at the Bahja Mansion’

In his memoir, Baha'u'llah's youngest son, Badiullah states:

I came from Haifa to Acre. I called on the Most Great Branch Sir Abbas Effendi. He inquired after my health and displayed the utmost love towards me. He then said: "The Most Mighty Branch Mirza Muhammad Ali took three European prostitutes to the Bahja mansion and put them there for the night. He then despatched them to Syria. He has disgraced us."

Although I knew that such a thing was not possible to take place, yet it caused some astonishment. I proceeded to the Bahja mansion and enquired from the Most Pure Branch Mirza Diyaullah whether any female guests had stayed for the night in the mansion. He replied: "The Most Great Branch [Sir Abbas Effendi] sent a note in which he said: "three female travellers from Europe will spend the night in the Bahja mansion. Entertain them to the utmost. In the morning they will be travelling to Beirut, accompanied by [their dragoman] Khwaja Baha." Agreeably to his directions [in the note] we entertained them, and in the morning they proceeded to Beirut, accompanied by Khwaja Baha."

Mirza Diyaullah "produced to me the note, which was penned in Sir Abbas Effendi's handwriting." These three women were from Europe. They were not Bahais.

(Page 26, The Memoirs of Badiullah [The Most Luminous Branch] Baha'u'llah's Youngest Son)

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When Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned in Tihran, the Russian Ambassador went about twenty times to the Shah to plead in His behalf.

January 4. On this date in 1908, Helen Mirrell Goodall, later named a Disciples of 'Abdu’l-Bahá, and her daughter Ella Goodall Cooper arrived in Acre to visit 'Abdu’l-Bahá. They would later write a book about this visit, titled Daily Lessons Received at Akka: January 1908, which among other things chronicles Haji Mirza Haydar-Ali's description of Bahá'u'lláh's exile accompanied with "Cossack and Russian horsemen to protect Him from the Persian horsemen" after "the Russian Ambassador went about twenty times to the Shah to plead in His behalf." The book also recounts "The privilege of viewing the pictures of the Holy Bab and Bahá'u'lláh was accorded us just before we left Akka. This remarkable photograph of the Blessed Beauty is the only one in existence. How perfectly that noble Face and Form embody the Words, 'The King has come! The Kingdom and Power, the Glory and Majesty are His! He is the Lord of mankind, the Ruler of the Throne and of the dust!' and at the same time express with such Power the utmost Gentleness and Love."

The book contains many observations of 'Abdu’l-Bahá's household, daily routine and other visitors. The ladies also chronicle some the lessons they received, such as this recounting of the Exile of Bahá'u'lláh by Haji Mirza Haydar-Ali.

When Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned in Tihran, the Russian Ambassador went about twenty times to the Shah to plead in His behalf, saying, "This man has no fault. He is faultless. Why do you imprison Him?" The Shah answered that Bahá'u'lláh must be punished because He had ordered the attack on his life (see history). The Ambassador said, "That is not a reasonable supposition; for, if He had ordered such an attempt, He would have ordered a bullet put in the gun instead of merely powder and small shot." The Shah acknowledged this reasoning but was determined to hold Bahá'u'lláh responsible so as to have a pretext for keeping Him in prison.

Again and again the Russian Ambassador went to talk with the Shah about the matter, and at last the Shah confessed that he was afraid of the influence of Bahá'u'lláh, and that if he should set Him free, it would create a great tumult among the people.

The Ambassador answered, "If, then, you fear Him so much, why keep Him in Tihran? Would it not be better to exile Him to Baghdad?" This was accordingly done, and an escort furnished of Cossack and Russian horsemen to protect Him from the Persian horsemen.

The book also describes in the chapter titled THE PICTURE OF BAHA'U'LLAH their impressions on viewing the photograph of Bahá'u'lláh

THE PICTURE OF BAHA'U'LLAH

The privilege of viewing the pictures of the Holy Bab and Bahá'u'lláh was accorded us just before we left Akka.

This remarkable photograph of the Blessed Beauty is the only one in existence. How perfectly that noble Face and Form embody the Words, "The King has come! The Kingdom and Power, the Glory and Majesty are His! He is the Lord of mankind, the Ruler of the Throne and of the dust!" and at the same time express with such Power the utmost Gentleness and Love.

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One disenchanted Baha'i explains the relationship between Baha'is and Israel

I learned a lot about the history of the Baha'i faith in that region. The Guardian of the Baha'i faith once wrote a letter to the United Nations as a Palestinian. However, today, the only Palestinian Baha'is are labeled as "covenant breakers." It seems that the Baha'i community has taken a side in this conflict. I encourage you to read more about the history of the Baha'i faith in Israel; it can be quite enlightening.

I know some Baha'is who want an end to the violence in the region. However, I have also heard some Baha'is speak about Palestinians in a way that dehumanizes them. This shows that not everyone in the Baha'i community thinks the same way as the Universal House of Justice (UHJ). There is a diversity of opinions among us. Nonetheless, as an organization, a significant decision was made to fully support Israel. Throughout my life, I was told that we needed to ensure the safety of those who are exiled, particularly Persians and those working in Haifa, which justified our alignment with Israel. Yet, seeing many Israelis and American Jews advocate for the rights of Palestinians and call for peace without apartheid makes me realize how naive I was when I accepted everything as an unquestioning Baha'i.

Both Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha wrote extensively about "covenant breakers." They believed that such individuals should be removed from the community, stripped of their land, and their descendants now identify as Palestinian. Reading their writings is both sad and shocking to me.

While Baha'is often share quotes about the need for Zionists to live in peace, they tend to overlook the strong language of hatred directed towards their own family members. I wish I had taken the issue of "covenant breakers" more seriously in the past. It makes me question why it is acceptable to sever ties with family in such a manner and still call it a religion.

The reason the Baha'i faith does not publicly speak out against Israel is clear: their holy sites exist with the permission and cooperation of the Israeli government, so they cannot criticize them. While that might be understandable, I have witnessed many Baha'is in my American community go beyond that and express outright hatred.

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The Huquq was supposed to be a wealth tax to be used to reduce wealth inequality.

One non-denominational Baha'i states:

The Huquq was supposed to be a wealth tax to be used to reduce wealth inequality.

The UHJ has Huquq'u'llah entirely wrong. The first thing is Baha'u'llah ordained Houses of Justice in every city, not a single worldwide version. Secondly, they are to be the ones who receive the Huquq payment. When Baha'u'llah was still alive, He had allowed the collection of Huquq, with receipts, for the purpose it be dispersed to the impoverished. This is in BH00086 from the Partial Inventory. BH00086 is various letters to Shiraz in 1881 and remains untranslated by the Baha'i Faith.

The Bab and Baha'u'llah both declare the dispersion of Huquq must not be withheld. Those who do are not of God.

Huquq'u'llah is only to be paid if you attain 100g of gold or the equivalent in wealth. It isn't based on income, nor 19% of all income. The UHJ changed this to receive more funds.

Finally, while Baha'u'llah enjoined this on all believers, He also said it cannot be compelled and a person who desires to do so, has fulfilled the obligation.

I wanted to point this out because you are right, the way the UHJ interpreted Huquq'u'llah was to increase its own wealth so as to build shrines and widen capacities to do something no one is exactly sure of. If Huquq'u'llah was implemented exactly as the Bab and Baha'u'llah had commanded, I seriously doubt you would mind paying if you were to attain the minimum wealth.


https://old.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/1ht36jz/huqullah/m5auqb6/

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