They will now be punished

“America,” he said, “is no longer even actively quarreling. They are passively stagnant.” This is why, he said, that he asked them to disperse — so that they may become alive again and not wither. They will now be punished, he told a pilgrim, both materially and spiritually if they do not disperse. Those who now fail to respond to the summons of the Crusade will suffer both materially and spiritually. Those who do not respond to the commander, he said, will feel this double suffering.

(First and Last Meeting with Shoghi Effendi - William Sears, April 1, 1954)

https://bahai-library.com/pilgrim_accounts_collection_files/html/1954,%20William%20Sears%20-%20First%20and%20Last%20Meeting%20with%20Shoghi%20Effendi%20-%20Part%20II.html

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Baha'u'llah sold off the properties without Azal's consent

The Bab explicitly appointed Subh-i-Azal (Mirza Yahya) as his deputy and successor in 1850, leaving behind a sealed will and testament declaring that no new Manifestation would appear for at least 2000 years. Baha'u'llah violated this appointment by proclaiming himself to be "He Whom God Shall Make Manifest" only a few years after the Bab's death. This was a direct betrayal of the Bab's explicit instructions and a deliberate attempt to seize leadership of the Babi community for personal ambition.

While Subh-i-Azal was preparing for exile, Baha'u'llah sold their father's properties and inheritance in Tehran without his consent, leaving Azal in severe financial hardship. Baha'u'llah then engaged in systematic character assassination, portraying Subh-i-Azal as "the living example of evil and greed," a "puppet," and a "liar." Baha'u'llah appropriated half of the government allowance (pension) intended for the Babi community and used his greater social influence to isolate Subh-i-Azal during their exiles in Baghdad, Istanbul, and Edirne.

Azali sources hold Baha'u'llah responsible for the deaths of prominent Babis who remained loyal to Subh-i-Azal, including the Bab's cousin Mirza Ali Akbar and the scholar Dayyan. Baha'u'llah sought to poison Subh-i-Azal during the conflict in Edirne and, after the Ottoman authorities separated the two brothers, several Azalis sent to Akka with Baha'u'llah were murdered soon after their arrival. This sustained campaign of marginalization forced Subh-i-Azal into a lonely, ascetic exile in Cyprus while Baha'u'llah's movement eclipsed the original Babi faith.

(Subhi Ezel Mirza Yahya ve Ezeliler, by Yasin İPEK, 2021, Kayseri Üniversitesi, Kayseri, Türkiye, Language : Turkish)

https://search.trdizin.gov.tr/en/yayin/detay/458910

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The Ignominious Defeat of the Decrepit Ottoman Empire and The Haifa Title-Deeds: Signed by the Son of the Arch-Breaker of Baha'u'llah's Covenant

Profiting from the freedom accorded the world center of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, ever since the ignominious defeat of the decrepit Ottoman empire during the war of 1914-18, the forces released through the inception of the stupendous Plan conceived by Him could now flow unchecked, under the beneficent influence of a sympathetic regime, into channels designed to disclose to the world at large the potencies with which that Plan had been endowed. The interment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself within a vault of the Báb's mausoleum, enhancing still further the sacredness of that mountain; the installment of an electric plant, the first of its kind established in the city of Haifa, flooding with illumination the Grave of One Who, in His own words, had been denied even "a lighted lamp" in His fortress-prison in Adhirbayjan; the construction of three additional chambers adjoining His sepulcher, thereby completing 'Abdu'l-Bahá's plan for the first unit of that Edifice; the vast extension, despite the machinations of the Covenant-breakers, of the properties surrounding that resting-place, sweeping from the ridge of Carmel down to the Templar colony nestling at its foot, and representing assets estimated at no less than four hundred thousand pounds, together with the acquisition of four tracts of land, dedicated to the Bahá'í Shrines, and situated in the plain of 'Akká to the north, in the district of Beersheba to the south, and in the valley of the Jordan to the east, amounting to approximately six hundred acres; the opening of a series of terraces which, as designed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, are to provide a direct approach to the Báb's Tomb from the city lying under its shadow; the beautification of its precincts through the laying out of parks and gardens, open daily to the public, and attracting tourists and residents alike to its gates -- these may be regarded as the initial evidences of the marvelous expansion of the international institutions and endowments of the Faith at its world center. Of particular significance, moreover, has been the exemption granted by the Palestine High Commissioner to the entire area of land surrounding and dedicated to the Shrine of the Báb, to the school property and the archives in its vicinity, to the Western pilgrim-house situated in its neighborhood, and to such historic sites as the Mansion in Bahji, the House of Bahá'u'lláh in 'Akká, and the garden of Ridvan to the east of that city; the establishment, as a result of two formal applications submitted to the civil authorities, of the Palestine Branches of the American and Indian National Spiritual Assemblies, as recognized religious societies in Palestine (to be followed, for purposes of internal consolidation, by a similar incorporation of the branches of other National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the Bahá'í world); and the transfer to the Branch of the American National Spiritual Assembly, through a series of no less than thirty transactions, of properties dedicated to the Tomb of the Báb, and approximating in their aggregate fifty thousand square meters, the majority of the title-deeds of which bear the signature of the son of the Arch-breaker of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant in his capacity as Registrar of lands in Haifa.

Equally significant has been the founding on Mt. Carmel of two international Archives, the one adjoining the shrine of the Báb, the other in the immediate vicinity of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, where, for the first time in Bahá'í history, priceless treasures, hitherto scattered and often hidden for safekeeping, have been collected and are now displayed to visiting pilgrims…. (God Passes By, p. 347)

Equally significant has been the founding on Mt. Carmel of two international Archives, the one adjoining the shrine of the Báb, the other in the immediate vicinity of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, where, for the first time in Bahá'í history, priceless treasures, hitherto scattered and often hidden for safekeeping, have been collected and are now displayed to visiting pilgrims….(God Passes By, p. 347)

(Bahá'í Answers, compiled by Olivia Kelsey, 1947, APPROVED BY THE REVIEWING COMMITTEE OF THENATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA)

https://bahai-library.com/kelsey_bahai_answers

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As of 11 June 2026, 63 Bahá'ís are detained across Iran

As of 11 June 2026, 63 Bahá'ís (35 women, 28 men) are detained across Iran...

https://iranwire.com/en/features/153616-63-bahais-detained-across-iran-solely-for-their-beliefs/

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Loyalty and Support for the State of Israel

The Israeli government’s decision to officially recognize the Baha'i Faith in 1971 was heavily influenced by the community's positive relationship with the state:

Official Rationale for Recognition: Zerach Warhaftig, the Minister for Religious Affairs at the time, cited the "strong Baha'i affinity for the land of Israel" and their "support for the state of Israel" as primary incentives for granting recognition.

Key Factors of Support: The Israeli archives note several specific behaviors that contributed to this favorable view:
• A "friendly attitude" toward the state.
• Abstention from proselytization within Israel.
• Significant financial investment in the country and the promotion of tourism.
• General "sympathy for the state of Israel" and the global influence of its believers.

Despite this support, the Baha'i leadership requested that the Israeli government refrain from mentioning their "support for the state" in the public announcement of their recognition. This was done out of concern for the safety and fate of Baha'is living in neighboring countries, specifically mentioning Morocco and Egypt at that time.

(Dr. D Gershon Lewental (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev): The Evangelical Episcopal Church’s Role in the Official Israeli Recognition of the Bahāʾī Faith  https://youtu.be/EdGsr5CtkSE  Starts at 15.00 minutes)

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Siyyid Muhammad Isfahani was a spy thus he was killed by a group of Baha'is in Akka

When Siyyid Muhammad was sent to Akka with the group of exiles, he acted as a spy for the Ottoman government. He was tasked with monitoring the activities of Baha'u'llah and the Baha'is and reporting them to the central authorities.

In 1288 AH (1871 AD), Siyyid Muhammad and two of his associates (Mirza Aqajan and Mirza Rida-Quli) were killed in Akka by a group of Baha'is.

(Taqrirat-i-Dar Bareh Kitab-i-Aqdas by Abdu'l-Hamid Ishraq-Khavari)

https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/4c0ff5cf-e471-427c-9344-d16bfabc0994

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Baha'i individuals who served in various military or medical roles

Bahá’í individuals who served in various military or medical roles, utilizing their service to teach their religion while under authority:

• 'Ali-Muhammad Khan Varqá: A conscripted artillery officer in Írán.
• Rúḥu’lláh Mawzún: A member of the Naval Officers Division in Írán.
• Dr. 'Abdu'l-Karím Khan Ayádí: An army physician in Írán.
• Malik-Khusraví: A military college instructor in Írán.
• Áqáyán Aḥmadí and Jalílí: Conscripted officers in Írán.
• Philip Hainsworth: A member of the Royal Army Medical Corps during WWII who was the first Bahá’í to settle in Uganda and was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.
• Robert Yool: A British reservist.
• Alvin Blum: A member of the U.S. Army Medical Corps who taught the Faith extensively in New Zealand during WWII and later became a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for the Solomon Islands.
• Sergeant Bruce Davison: A member of a medical unit who organized the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Frankfurt, Germany.
• John Carl Eichenauer, III: A soldier in Germany who helped restore religious rights to German Bahá’ís and provided a link to the international Bahá’í community.
• Sergeant Jim Heggie: A serviceman who taught the Bahá’í message to fellow young men in the armed forces.
• Benjamin Kaufman: A member of the medical corps who shared his experiences in the book In the Army.
• Captain Henry Jarvis: A captain who served in the Pacific and France, aiding and encouraging Bahá’í communities in those regions.
• Edwin H. Koyl: A Technical Sergeant with a medical unit in New Guinea who shared the Bahá’í message with his battalion.
• Charles H. McAllister: A Pfc. in a medical detachment who taught Bahá’í ideas to nearly everyone in his battalion.
• R. C. Niss: A Technical Sergeant in the Aleutian Islands.
• David Ned Blackmer: A Technician Fifth Grade in a field hospital who distributed Bahá’í literature and spoke of the Faith in England and to army personnel.
• H. Duncan McAlear: A Corporal with the Anti-Aircraft Artillery in Belgium who met people seeking the Faith while on leave.
• Anthony Yuen Seto: A Reserve Officers Training Camp member in Honolulu during WWI who later chaired the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Honolulu.
• Edwin Whitaker Mattoon: A First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during WWI who met Bahá’ís in other lands and corresponded about the Faith.
• Charles Dunning: A veteran of both World Wars (including service in the RAF) who was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for opening the Orkney Islands.
• Yadu'lláh Vahdat: A Lieutenant-Colonel in Iran nicknamed "Shield of the Faith" who was retired due to his beliefs and killed in 1981.
• 'Abbas Íshqúlí: A retired Colonel who served as Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Írán and protected the community during persecutions.
• 'Ináyatu'lláh Suhráb: A retired Colonel who undertook travel teaching trips to remote tribal areas in Írán and compiled study courses.
• Munír Vakíl: A Brigadier and legal counsellor in the Iraqi Ministry of Defence who became a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for the Kuria Muria Islands.
• Philip Desmond Harvey: A Royal Navy aircraft technician who pioneered for over 36 years in southern Africa.
• Lloyd Gardner: A Navy medic during WWII who helped establish the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Halifax, Canada.
• Iraj Afshín: A Colonel in the Iranian Army.
• 'Abdu'l-Majíd Mutahhar: An army administrator who left the military to pioneer as a teacher in remote villages of Iran.
• Mansúr 'Ahdiyyih: A veteran of the Iranian military who later served as a custodian of the Bahá’í Shrines in the Holy Land.
• James Wilbur Walton: A U.S. Army veteran of WWII and a travel teacher.
• Fritz Semle: A WWI soldier.

(Source: Baha'i World)

https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/877b77d6-ffc1-4251-8f33-aaebe1be7b4f

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Shoghi Effendi paid a visit to David Ben-Gurion, to establish a good relationship

on 21 January 1949 he paid a visit to the Prime Minister of the new State of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, to establish a good relationship and to inform him about the Bahá’í Faith and his own role as head. He responded to a request by Mr Ben-Gurion for more information by promising to send him his history, God Passes By.

(Coronation On Carmel by Michael V. Day)

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a station such as none other woman hath surpassed,

Moreover, as a further testimony to the majestic unfoldment and progressive consolidation of the stupendous undertaking launched by Bahá'u'lláh on that holy mountain, may be mentioned the selection of a portion of the school property situated in the precincts of the Shrine of the Báb as a permanent resting-place for the Greatest Holy Leaf, the "well-beloved" sister of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the "Leaf that hath sprung" from the "Pre-existent Root," the "fragrance" of Bahá'u'lláh's "shining robe," elevated by Him to a "station such as none other woman hath surpassed," and comparable in rank to those immortal heroines such as Sarah, Asiyih, the Virgin Mary, Fatimih and Tahirih, each of whom has outshone every member of her sex in previous Dispensations.

(Bahá'í Answers, compiled by Olivia Kelsey, 1947, APPROVED BY THE REVIEWING COMMITTEE OF THENATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS
OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA)

https://bahai-library.com/kelsey_bahai_answers

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Baha'i Prophecies about Iran, Israel, the United States & future Baha'i Commonwealth

Nor should a survey of the outstanding features of so blessed and fruitful a ministry omit mention of the prophecies which the unerring pen of the appointed Center of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant has recorded. These foreshadow the fierceness of the onslaught that the resistless march of the Faith must provoke in the West, in India and in the Far East when it meets the time-honored sacerdotal orders of the Christian, the Buddhist and Hindu religions. They foreshadow the turmoil which its emancipation from the fetters of religious orthodoxy will cast in the American, the European, the Asiatic and African continents. They foreshadow the gathering of the children of Israel in their ancient homeland; the erection of the banner of Bahá'u'lláh in the Egyptian citadel of Sunni Islam; the extinction of the powerful influence wielded by the Shí'ah ecclesiastics in Persia; the load of misery which must needs oppress the pitiful remnants of the breakers of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant at the world center of His Faith; the splendor of the institutions which that triumphant Faith must erect on the slopes of a mountain, destined to be so linked with the city of 'Akká that a single grand metropolis will be formed to enshrine the spiritual as well as the administrative seats of the future Bahá'í Commonwealth; the conspicuous honor which the inhabitants of Bahá'u'lláh's native land in general, and its government in particular, must enjoy in a distant future; the unique and enviable position which the community of the Most Great Name in the North American continent must occupy, as a direct consequence of the execution of the world mission which He entrusted to them: finally they foreshadow, as the sum and summit of all, the "hoisting of the standard of God among all nations" and the unification of the entire human race, when "all men will adhere to one religion ... will be blended into one race, and become a single people." (God Passes By, p. 314-6)

(Bahá'í Answers, compiled by Olivia Kelsey, 1947, APPROVED BY THE REVIEWING COMMITTEE OF THENATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA)

https://bahai-library.com/kelsey_bahai_answers

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It’s not exactly true to say that the Baháʼí Faith is the only religion to have never split.

One Baha'i critic stated the following in a comment on Youtube:

It’s not exactly true to say that the Baháʼí Faith is the only religion to have never split. This is for two reasons: 

1.) The Baháʼí Faith has split. First there was the Bahá'í–Azali split in 1863 (there are still a few thousand Azalis around, mostly in Iran and Uzbekistan). Then, in 1939, the Caravan of East and West severed its ties with the Baháʼí Faith (they still exist and operate an adult-education Italian language school in New York). In 1960, the Orthodox Baháʼí Faith split and has continued into the 21st century with two or three groups numbering around 200 collectively, mostly in the United States and India. There’s also Unitarian Baháʼís, Free Baháʼís, the Reform Bahá’í Faith, the Baháʼís Under the Provisions of the Covenant, the Tarbiyat Baha'i Community, the Universal Faith and Revelation of Baháʼu'lláh, and the House of Mankind and the Universal Palace of Order.

2.) If the Baháʼí Faith has never split, then lots of other religions also haven’t. The Druze faith hasn’t. Scientology hasn’t. Mandaeism hasn’t. Yazidism hasn’t. Ayyavazhi hasn’t (there are 2.7 million more Ayyavazhis in the world than there are Baháʼís). There are probably hundreds of religions that could claim, by this reasoning, to have never experienced a split.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL5Uc3Y2kv0&lc=UgyckIuP7cjcLJq-ikN4AaABAg

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Shoghi was more like a king than a religious figure

Shoghi Effendi became the leader of the Baha'i faith at age twenty four and was so shocked by the news that he said he stopped feeling like a normal person. Instead of leading right away, he suffered a physical collapse and fled to the mountains of Switzerland for many months, leaving the community without a clear head. During his long time as leader, he often got very sick and exhausted because he tried to do almost everything himself and refused to let others help with his work. He also broke with old traditions of kindness, such as refusing to meet with local religious leaders (like Muftis) who had always been welcomed by Abdul Baha.

His leadership style was very different from his grandfather, as people found him to be stern, impersonal, and more like a king than a religious figure. He moved the Baha'i faith away from being about a single person and focused more on a strict administrative system. He demanded that everyone follow this system exactly, stating that a person's own conscience must give way to the will of the majority in group decisions. 

Shoghi Effendi was often very critical of Baha'is in the West, especially those in America, calling them soft, materialistic, and lazy. He told them they were failing at their duties and needed shock medicine to wake them up from their inactive state. His time as leader was also marked by many painful fights with his own family members. Eventually almost all of his relatives were cast out of the religion and labeled as enemies or Covenant-breakers.

His intense focus on work was so strong that his wife said it was slowly killing him. He spent nearly all his time reading and writing thousands of letters, which left him with almost no time for rest or a normal personal life. When he died suddenly in 1957, it caused a massive crisis because he did not leave a written will or name a new leader to follow him. This left the entire community in a state of great confusion and fear about how to survive without any clear instructions.

(Extracted from Shoghi Effendi: Through the Pilgrim’s Eye, Volume 1 & 2)

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submission to the authority of the Spiritual Assemblies is a matter of faith.

One day in discussing the question of submission to the authority of the Spiritual Assemblies Shoghi Effendi said: "The Master has not left any latitude for personal opinion, it is not a matter of reason, it is a matter of faith.

'Some of the instructions and commands may seem unreasonable, but if we believe we have faith in them and the sign of faith is obedience. The whole question resolves itself into a matter of faith and obedience is the proof of faith, it is the result of faith, if we do not obey it is because we have not faith in the commands of the Master.

'I cannot see it in any other way.

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

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Shoghi Effendi was a dark-complexioned man, dressed in Western attire but wearing a fez

I [Marcus Bach] saw coming through the adjoining room a small, dark-complexioned man, dressed in Western attire but wearing a fez. His clean-shaven face and slender figure registered indomitable strength...

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

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Main actors during the Constitutional Revolution were Baha'is not Azalis according to Moojan Momen.

It is the thesis of this paper that the evidence presented demonstrates that the main actors in this period [Constitutional Revolution, 1883–1906] were not Azalí Bábís as is usually stated but were either Bahá’ís or persons actively engaged with the Bahá’í community.

(The Reform Movement in Isfahan, Iran: The Role of Bábís and Bahá’ís by Moojan Momen)

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17/6/717

The Constitutional Revolution was a nationalist and religious movement that arose in response to European interference in Iran's internal affairs. According to Mongol Bayat, it was led by a coalition of patriots, merchants & religious leaders, its primary goal was to replace the arbitrary rule of the Qajar monarchy with a representative government and the rule of law. This struggle eventually led to the establishment of the first Iranian parliament known as the Majles, and the promulgation of a national constitution in 1906.

Azalis contributed to the revolution by acting as secret religious dissidents who shifted their focus from doctrinal reforms to a broader political struggle for national liberation. To avoid persecution and gain public trust, they often practiced Taqiyya (Dissimulation) to hide their true identity while wearing traditional clerical turbans and garb. Key Azali figures and their networks were instrumental in forming secret societies, mobilizing religious students and distributing revolutionary literature that pushed high ranking religious leaders into action.

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Alvin told Shoghi Effendi that he would love to stay and teach in Israel

Alvin told Shoghi Effendi that he would love to stay and teach in Israel, but the Guardian said that it was not yet the time. Shoghi Effendi said that the million Jews who had come to Israel since it became a nation were not attached to religion, but to race. He told Alvin that the Israelis would develop the country and over time would slowly begin to understand the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. After world leaders began acknowledging the Faith, their eyes would be opened.

(Shoghi Effendi Through the Pilgrim's Eye, Volume 2, Building the Administrative Order, 1922-1952 by Earl Redman)

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Covenant-breakers were against the Jews

Virtually all the Covenant-breakers fled Haifa and Akka, joining forces with the Arab community in Lebanon and eventually becoming integrated into Islamic society.

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

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Shoghi Effendi's relations with the State of Israel

• Shoghi Effendi welcomed the emergence of the independent State of Israel with "great satisfaction," praising the maturity of its leaders and people.
• He viewed the re-establishment of the Jewish State as the fulfillment of divine promises made to the Jewish people by Baha'u'llah.
• He described the formation of the state as the Jewish people successfully asserting their sovereignty in the land of their ancestors.
• The Baha'i administration maintained friendly relations with the Israeli government, characterized by mutual understanding and cooperation.
• High-level visits were made to Baha'i Shrines by Israeli officials, including President Itzhak Ben-Zvi, which signaled official respect for the Baha'i Faith.
• Shoghi Effendi found the Israeli authorities to be supportive and stable, providing a better environment for the development of the Baha'i World Center than previous regimes.
• He believed the return of the Jews to their homeland was a "clear sign" of the dawn of a new era of global justice and peace.

Ugo Giachery remembers Shoghi Effendi as "the essence of justice".

(Extracted from the book "Shoghi Effendi - Recollections" by Ugo Giachery, 1973)

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Bab's notions did not contain much originality. Mahommedans... ought to be exterminated.

Bab's notions did not contain much originality. Atheism, under the disguise of pantheism, was the basis of his principles. Every single atom in the universe, he said, was actually God, and the whole universe collectively was God ; not a representative of, or emanation from God, but God himself. Everything in short was God. Bab was God, and every living creature down to each lowest insect. Death was not real it was only another form of divinity, if such language has any signification at all. Virtue had no existence, neither had vice; they were necessarily wholly indifferent, as being portions or emanations of the Godhead. Rights of property had no existence, excepting in the equal division of all things among the godly. But this was a fiction, the real doctrine being the reign of the Saints, that is, of the Babees, and their possession of the goods of the ungodly, in other words, the non-Babees. It was the simplest of religions. Its tenets may be summed up in materialism, communism, and the entire indifference of good and evil and of all human actions. There was no antipathy, it was affirmed, on the part of the Babees to Christians, or to the followers of any other creed excepting Mahommedans, who, as they slew Babees, ought to be exterminated.

(GLIMPSES OF LIFE AND MANNERS IN PERSIA, BY LADY SHEIL, p. 179)

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When Zionists arrived in their Promised Land they sought ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for advice.

Even in the twilight of his life ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took the liveliest interest in world affairs. When General Allenby swept up the Coast from Egypt he went for counsel first to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. When Zionists arrived in their Promised Land they sought ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for advice.

(THE PASSING OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ - Excerpts from compilation prepared in January, 1922 BY LADY BLOMFIELD AND SHOGHI EFFENDI)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_World/Volume_2/The_Passing_of_‘Abdu’l-Bahá

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Multi-layered relationship between the Bahá'í Faith and the Zionist movement

• Bahá'í leadership viewed the establishment of an independent Jewish State as a direct fulfillment of prophecies by Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Shoghi Effendi specifically noted that this event marked the termination of a "twenty-century-long provincial status" for the Holy Land.
• As early as 1897, 'Abdu'l-Bahá revealed a Tablet confirming that the Zionist Movement would eventually succeed.
• 'Abdu'l-Bahá predicted that the Jewish people would return to their "ancient homeland" and that the land would "blossom like the rose" through their efforts.

• Upon their arrival in Palestine, Zionists reportedly sought out 'Abdu'l-Bahá for advice.
• Shoghi Effendi maintained a cordial and formal correspondence with Sir Herbert Samuel, the first High Commissioner for Palestine and a prominent Zionist, who also attended 'Abdu'l-Bahá's funeral.
• In January 1949, Shoghi Effendi held a private fifteen-minute interview with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Following this, Shoghi Effendi sent Ben-Gurion a copy of his book "God Passes By".
• When Bahá'í efforts to lease the Mansion at Mazra'ih through regular channels failed, Shoghi Effendi appealed directly to Ben-Gurion, who intervened to secure the property for the Bahá'ís.
• In 1954, President Ben-Zvi and his wife made an official visit to the Shrine of the Báb, where they were hosted by Shoghi Effendi. Shoghi Effendi later made a return call to the President in Jerusalem.

• In 1925, the Zionist Executive in Jerusalem invited Shoghi Effendi to the opening of the Hebrew University. In 1950, Shoghi Effendi made a financial contribution to the university, which was received with "gratification".
• The newly emerged Israeli state provided formal assurances for the protection of Bahá'í holy sites and the continuation of Bahá'í pilgrimage.
• In 1953, the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs established a separate Department for the Bahá'í Faith, which Shoghi Effendi requested to ensure the Faith was recognized as independent from Islam.
• The Israeli government accepted and continued the tax-exempt status of Bahá'í properties and endowments that had been established during the British Mandate.

• During his North American tour (1920–1921), Bahá'í scholar Jináb-i-Fáḍil addressed numerous Zionist Federations in cities like Montreal, San Francisco, and Portland. His talks often focused on "The Progress of the Jews in Persia" or biblical prophecies regarding their return.
• At the 1926 Universal Esperanto Congress, Dr. Immanuel Olsvanger, a representative of the Zionist Movement in Great Britain, chaired the first Bahá'í session and spoke of the "friendly relations" between the two movements.
• In 1945, Adelbert Friedman, the Southeastern Regional Secretary of the Zionist Movement, was a guest speaker at a Bahá'í meeting in the U.S., lecturing on the "Future of Palestine".
• Zionist publications, such as the "Zionist Record" in South Africa, featured articles on the Bahá'í Faith, describing it as a "vogue among seekers" and noting the support of prominent individuals like Lidia Zamenhof.

• The daughter of Ludwik Zamenhof (the creator of Esperanto and a "keen Zionist"), Lidia Zamenhof became a prominent Bahá'í teacher and was frequently identified in both Bahá'í and Zionist circles as a bridge between the two movements.

Sources at bahai.works:

Bahá'í News/Issue 177

Bahá'í News/Issue 20

Bahá'í News/Issue 425

Bahá'í World/Volume 1/The Passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

Bahá'í World/Volume 13/The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'í World/Volume 2/The Bahá'í Cause at the Universal Esperanto Congresses at Edinburgh and Danzig

Bahá'í World/Volume 3/Haifa-and the Bahá'ís

Bahá'í World/Volume 5/Haifa Calling

Bahá'í World/Volume 6/The Modern Miracles of Palestine, by Beatrice Irwin

Lidia Life of Lidia Zamenhof, Daughter of Esperanto by Wendy Heller

Martha Root lioness at the threshold (Garis, M. R)

National Teaching Committee Bulletins/1920/November 15 (Maxwell)

National Teaching Committee Bulletins/1920/November 16

National Teaching Committee Bulletins/1921/April 9

National Teaching Committee Bulletins/1921/March 15

Star of the West/Volume 13/Issue 10

Star of the West/Volume 13/Issue 11

Star of the West/Volume 13/Issue 4

Star of the West/Volume 14/Issue 9

Star of the West/Volume 16/Issue 3

Star of the West/Volume 17/Issue 6

Star of the West/Volume 20/Issue 2

The American Bahá'í/Volume 15/Issue 7

The spirit of agriculture (Hanley, Paul)

World Order/Series2/Volume 4

World Order/Volume 3/Issue 4

World Unity/Volume 10/Issue 5

World Unity/Volume 5/Issue 1

World Unity/Volume 5/Issue 6

World Unity/Volume 6/Issue 2

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Baha'u'llah is the one who "shall build up the Temple of the Lord" in Israel.

In the Lawh-i-Hirtík, Bahá'u'lláh addresses Georg David Hardegg in Haifa, asserting that the "appointed time" for the fulfillment of ancient biblical prophecies has arrived. He identifies himself as the one who "shall build up the Temple of the Lord" and describes the Holy Land as being spiritually transformed...

Check Lawh-i-Hirtík (Tablet to Hardegg) here,

https://bahai-library.com/bahaullah_tablet_hardegg_authorized

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Azali Baha'i split according to a Russian Scholar

The split between the followers of Baha'u'llah and Subh-i-Azal, often referred to as the Azali-Baha'i split, was a fundamental rupture within the movement that followed the execution of the Bab. This conflict was characterized by a struggle for influence and leadership among the Bab’s adherents, eventually leading to the emergence of two distinct groups: the Baha'is and the Azalis.

Origins and Personal Enmity

The sources describe the split as the result of a "rupture and personal enmity" between the two half-brothers, Subh-i-Azal and Baha'u'llah. Following the Bab's death, there was a gradual advancement of both figures as they sought to lead the community. While Subh-i-Azal had been a prominent early leader, scholars noted that his authority began to wane; for instance, a historical poem from the early days of Baha'ism depicts the "loss of authority of Subhe Ezel among the sect".

Russian researchers noted several factors regarding Subh-i-Azal’s leadership:

• Seclusion: His role was considered limited by some because he spent nine years in hiding to escape death.
• Declining Following: By the late 19th century, he was described as living a "pitiful existence," with his own children being almost his only acolytes.

Exile and Geographical Separation

The tension between the two factions reached a peak while the Babis were living in Adrianople under Ottoman rule. Baha'u'llah reportedly sent letters to European consuls in the city protesting the "unjust treatment" of the group by the Ottoman Porte.

To resolve the conflict and prevent the movement from influencing the local Muslim population, the Turkish authorities decided to relocate and separate the factions. This resulted in a geographical split:

• Azalis: Supporters of Subh-i-Azal were exiled to the island of Cyprus.
• Baha'is: Supporters of Baha'u'llah were sent to Akka in Syria.

Political and Ideological Divergence

The split also manifested in different approaches to political engagement, particularly during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1911.

• The Baha'i Stance: Under the leadership of Abbas Effendi (Baha'u'llah's son), Baha'is were explicitly instructed not to participate in the revolution or seek seats in the Majlis (parliament), emphasizing a focus on spiritual rather than political power.
• The Azali Stance: In contrast, the followers of Subh-i-Azal were active during the revolution, often supporting the movement with "left-wing slogans".

Russian diplomats and scholars were among the first to document these internal struggles in detail. For example, the diplomat F.A. Bakulin wrote a note on the disagreements between Baha'u'llah and Subh-i-Azal as early as 1874, a time when these details were largely unknown in Europe.

(N. A. Kuznetsova's 1963 article, "On the History of the Study of Babism and Baha'ism in Russia")

www.orientalstudies.ru/rus/images/pdf/journals/OIRV_6_1963_02_kuznetsova.pdf

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According to a Russian Scholar the relationship between the Russian mission and Baha'u'llah was a complex mixture of diplomatic surveillance, strategic protection and scholarly information gathering

The relationship between the Russian mission and Baha'u'llah was a complex mixture of diplomatic surveillance, strategic protection, and scholarly information gathering. While the mission initially viewed the movement as a threat to stability, it eventually became a primary source of information and, in some cases, a protector for his followers.

Initial Surveillance and Suppression

In the mid-19th century, early Russian envoys like Prince D. I. Dolgorukov and Count A. I. Medem monitored the Babi movement closely. Fearing that the unrest could undermine Russian influence in Iran, they urged the Shah's government to take decisive measures to suppress the movement. Dolgorukov demanded detailed reports from his consuls regarding the movement's dogmas and growth, viewing it as a matter that required "exclusive attention".

Direct Appeals from Baha'u'llah

As the movement evolved into Bahaism, direct contact occurred during Baha'u'llah's exile in Adrianople (1862–1868). Before being moved to Acre, Baha'u'llah sent letters to European consuls, including the Russian consul, protesting the unjust treatment by the Ottoman authorities. In these communications, he requested permission for his followers to settle in Europe.

Russian diplomatic records suggest that the persecution of Baha'u'llah and his followers in Turkey was partly motivated by the Persian envoy’s desire to please the Shah. Russian officials, such as N. P. Ignatiev (the ambassador in Constantinople), monitored these persecutions and reported on the reasons for the Bahá'ís' relocation to Acre.

The Ashgabat Community and Russian Patronage

A significant relationship developed in the late 19th century when Bahá'ís fled Iran and found refuge in Ashgabat, then under Russian control.

• Protection vs. Diplomacy: The Russian administration in the Transcaspian region, particularly General Kuropatkin, showed considerable favor toward the Bahá'ís, treating them as "martyrs" after instances of persecution and murder in Iran.
• Seeking Citizenship: The Bahá'í community in Ashgabat actively sought Russian citizenship to protect themselves and their commercial interests from Persian authorities.
• Political Tension: This protection caused friction with the Persian government; the Shah was reportedly "furious" with Kuropatkin for his patronage of the group. Some Russian officials, like V. I. Ignatiev, worried that this favor would harm Russo-Iranian relations and alienate the powerful Shiite clergy.

Intelligence and the "Glad Tidings" (Bisharat)

Russian diplomats played a key role in acquiring and analyzing Baha'u'llah’s writings.

• Tailored Messaging: The scholar V. R. Rosen, working with materials provided by the Ashgabat mission, discovered that Baha'u'llah’s leadership in Acre was strategically altering his messages for different audiences.
• Censorship for the Tsar: Rosen noted that the version of the "Glad Tidings" (Bisharat) sent to Russian authorities in Ashgabat omitted praise for republican or constitutional government, which had been included in the version sent to the British. This was a deliberate attempt to appeal to the Russian imperial authorities.

The Role of Military and Diplomatic Officials

Several members of the Russian mission were instrumental in studying Baha'u'llah’s doctrine through their diplomatic access:

• A. G. Tumansky: A Russian officer who spent significant time with Bahá'ís in Ashgabat and Iran, translating the Kitab-i-Aqdas and other major works of Baha'u'llah.
• G. D. Batyushkov: A secretary at the mission in Tehran who used his position to save Bahá'í manuscripts from government search and shared them with Russian scholars.
• V. I. Ignatiev: A diplomat who provided translated Bahá'í documents to General Kuropatkin and noted that Baha'u'llah maintained "reliable agents" everywhere to coordinate his followers.

By the end of the 19th century, while some diplomats remained skeptical of the movement's sincerity, others believed that the spread of Bahá'í ideals could benefit the region because they were better than the Shia ideals.

(N. A. Kuznetsova's 1963 article, "On the History of the Study of Babism and Baha'ism in Russia")

www.orientalstudies.ru/rus/images/pdf/journals/OIRV_6_1963_02_kuznetsova.pdf

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The relationship between the Russian diplomatic mission and the Babi and Baha'i movements according to a Russian scholar.

The relationship between the Russian diplomatic mission and the movement that evolved from Babism to Baha'ism was complex, shifting from initial political apprehension to a more nuanced involvement characterized by scholarly interest, personal sympathy, and occasional direct intervention,,.

Evolution toward a Nuanced Relationship

Initially, in the mid-19th century, the Russian and British missions were primarily concerned that the Babi uprisings would destabilize Iran and undermine their respective influences. Consequently, diplomats like Prince Dolgorukov encouraged the Shah’s government to take decisive measures to suppress the movement.

Over time, however, the relationship became more sophisticated as Russian diplomats and military officials began to study the movement in depth,.

• Scholarly Engagement: Many officials, such as A.G. Tumansky, N.V. Khanikov, and G.D. Batyushkov, became leading researchers of the movement, collecting manuscripts and corresponding with its leaders,,.
• Internal Divergence: Opinions within the mission varied. While Dolgorukov viewed Babism as a purely religious phenomenon, others—supported by diplomatic data—saw it as a political movement against the existing order. By the late 19th century, some officials like Batyushkov even argued that the spread of Baha'ism could benefit Persia because its ideals were "higher than Muslim, especially Shiite" ideals.
• Diplomatic Friction: By the 1890s, the presence of Baha'i refugees in Russian-controlled Ashgabat created tension,. While some Russian authorities favored the group, officials like V.I. Ignatyev worried that this protection "embittered the Shah" and harmed Russo-Persian relations.

Protection and Interventions

Diplomats frequently stepped in to protect followers or their interests, often at personal or political risk:

• Saving Lives through Records: In Tehran, G.D. Batyushkov intervened in a probate case regarding a Russian-subject Babi. He secured the deceased's papers and manuscripts, explicitly stating that he did so to "save from publicity" many individuals who would have suffered "substantially" if the government or clergy had discovered their identities.
• Asylum in Ashgabat: Under General Kuropatkin, the Russian administration in the Transcaspian Region showed great favor to the Baha'i community,. Baha'is in Ashgabat sought Russian citizenship to avoid being seized and executed upon returning to Persia. Despite the diplomatic strain, Russian officials like Ignatyev maintained that extraditing these refugees to Iran was impossible, as it would be beneath the "dignity of Russia as a great power".
• Protection of Agents: In Yazd, the head of the Baha'i community, Haji Mohammad Tagi Shirazi, was protected by his status as a Russian commercial agent, allowing the community to live relatively peacefully for a time under the shadow of Russian authority.

Secret Instructions and Safe Passage

The sources highlight specific instances where the Russian mission facilitated the movement of followers through archival and administrative means:

• Instructions for Akka: A.G. Tumansky, while searching the mission’s archives, discovered a "secret instruction" addressed to a Babi. This document detailed the specific measures required for the follower's "safe passage to Akka" (the residence of Baha'u'llah).
• Collection of Political Circulars: Tumansky also recovered a political circular from Abbas Effendi (Ghusn-i-Azam), the leader of the movement, titled "Lawh-i-Siyasi," which he used to characterize the contemporary political stance of the Baha'is.
• Information Gathering: Diplomatic officials like N.A. Anichkov in Tabriz were tasked with using all means to collect "the most reliable and closest information" about the movement, including obtaining original manuscripts from local governors to better understand the sect's goals and influence.

(N. A. Kuznetsova's 1963 article, "On the History of the Study of Babism and Baha'ism in Russia")

www.orientalstudies.ru/rus/images/pdf/journals/OIRV_6_1963_02_kuznetsova.pdf

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Russian Scholar Kazem-Bek believed that Babism was a political movement which adopted a religious "coloring"

А. К. Мирза Казем-бек, первый русский исследователь бабизма, издапший в 1865 г. большой труд о бабидах «Баб и бабиды. Религиозно-политические смуты в Персии в 1844— 1852 годах», широко использовал материалы, собранные диплом этическими чиновниками.

Б отличие от Д. И. Долгорукова, считавшего бабизм чисто религиозным движением, Мирза Казем-бек склонен был рассматривать его как политическое выступление против существующего строя, принявшее религиозную окраску. Подзаголовком к 'книге «Религиозно-политические смуты в Персии» Мирза Казем-бек хотел подчеркнуть именно политическую сущность бабизма8.

Translation:

A. K. Mirza Kazem-Beg, the first Russian scholar of Babism, who in 1865 published a major work on the Babis titled "The Bab and the Babis: Religious-Political Unrest in Persia, 1844–1852", made extensive use of materials collected by diplomatic officials.

Unlike D. I. Dolgorukov, who regarded Babism as a purely religious movement, Mirza Kazem-Beg tended to view it as a political uprising against the established order that had assumed a religious character. By using the subtitle "Religious-Political Unrest in Persia", Mirza Kazem-Beg sought to emphasize the political nature of Babism.

(N. A. Kuznetsova's 1963 article, "On the History of the Study of Babism and Baha'ism in Russia")

www.orientalstudies.ru/rus/images/pdf/journals/OIRV_6_1963_02_kuznetsova.pdf

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the number of members of the Universal House of Justice could be more than nine.

Mr Baghdadi asked if the number of members of the Universal House of Justice could be more than nine. The Guardian responded by saying, 'Not only can that be, but the number of all the Houses of Justice, local and national, will increase afterwards, but not now.

(Shoghi Effendi Through the Pilgrim's Eye, Volume 1 by Earl Redman - GEORGE RONALD, OXFORD)

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don't admit anyone into the Community, unless he has professed the truth of the Pure Imáms,

Shoghi Effendi emphasized that the Bahá'ís believed in the station of the Imáms: 

The Bahá'ís are the only people who can prove the right of the Pure Imáms. Bahá'u'lláh proved their right in 'The Book of Certitude'. The friends of the West will prove their right and will promulgate Islam. This is an essential belief in our Faith. We acknowledge the validity of the Imámate Institute and the invalidity of the Caliphate. The greatest proof is the collapse of the Caliphate after thirteen centuries.

[...]

For the sake of this point, teaching the Faith to the Shi'ah is easier than to the Sunnîs... But, this is the belief of the people of Bahá... So don't admit anyone into the Community, unless he has professed the truth of the Pure Imáms,

(Shoghi Effendi Through the Pilgrim's Eye, Volume 1 by Earl Redman - GEORGE RONALD, OXFORD)

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it is a bubble religion

I reflected, it [Bahaism] is a bubble religion, an evanescent phenomenon, but until it breaks, what waste of ideals, of hope, of faith, of precious qualities of the human spirit! Moreover its fraudulent character, not to mention its ill-balanced dogmatism, and its attenuated ethics, covered o'er with the jargon of the social reformer, rasped my sense of decency and right.

(A Baha'i Pontiff in the Making by A. E. Suthers (Originally published in a missionary-oriented journal))

https://bahai-library.com/suthers_bahai_pontiff

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the Tablet cannot be authenticated at this time as neither an original manuscript nor an authenticated transcription of it is available.

Your email letter of 16 January 2022, together with its enclosure, in which you request a typescript of a Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh that you refer to as the Lawḥ-i-Jadhb as well as information about where it was revealed and the identity of the addressee, has been received at the Bahá’í World Centre. The delay in replying is regretted. The Research Department has previously reported that, while several manuscript copies of this work are held in the Archives at the World Centre, the Tablet cannot be authenticated at this time as neither an original manuscript nor an authenticated transcription of it is available. It is possible that, in the future, a reliable manuscript will come to light, which would enable that Department to confirm its authenticity.

(THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARIAT, 16 May 2022)

https://bahai-library.com/uhj_lawh-jadhb_not_authenticated

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God hath heard that thou hast taken up residence in a new habitation.

God hath heard that thou hast taken up residence in a new habitation. By God, how excellent shall be your station in the most exalted Paradise and your seat in the Pavilion of the All-Glorious!

[A passage from a Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh, the original text of which appears in a manuscript collection held at the British Library (Or15696, pp. 93–94) translated by Adib Masumian]

https://adibmasumian.com/translations/bh09471_excerpt/

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Shoghi Effendi

Shoghi Effendi did not Appoint a Successor, did not leave a Will. He owned expensive cars, cameras, bynoculars and watches. He spent expensive long vacations in Switzerland. Avarih and Sobhi claim that Shoghi consumed Alcohol and had sexual relations with Dr. Zia Baghdadi. 

Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha commanded absolute, unquestioning obedience to the government. Shoghi Effendi altered this by ruling that Baha'is should disobey the state in "matters of belief," even if the result is death or expulsion. Abdul Baha strictly prohibited Baha'is from sending their children to non-Baha'i schools, labeling it a cause of humiliation. However, he personally sent Shoghi Effendi to several non-Baha'i institutions, including a Jesuit college and Oxford. Shoghi Effendi excommunicated nearly all of Baha'u'llah's living descendants, including his own parents, brothers, and sisters. Shoghi Effendi excommunicated his own brother and cousins for marrying individuals he deemed "lowborn" or for not obtaining his personal permission. In a move to "purify" Baha'i holy sites, Shoghi Effendi ordered the disinterment and removal of the remains of family members he had labeled as "Covenant-breakers". He demolished the house of the so-called "Covenant-breakers" and created an artificial hill from their demolished houses. He established a close relationship with the State of Israel through several high-level administrative and personal actions like Pledge of Loyalty and Allegiance. In a letter to Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, Shoghi stated that the establishment of the Jewish State was a fulfillment of Baha'i prophecy. With the help of the Israeli government, he acquired property that had been expropriated from Palestinians who fled during the 1948 war. He spent hundreds of millions dollars on acquiring land, building monumental architecture and gardens in Haifa. He expressed uncertainty and doubt regarding his own translations, stating he did not consider them final. When a child, Shoghi Effendi was taken to Baghdad for medical reasons, the report indicated a physiological delay that causes infertility. Abdul Baha knew well that Shoghi would never become a father. Baha'i law states that the dead should be placed in a coffin made of crystal, stone, or hard, fine wood. But Shoghi Effendi was buried in an expensive casket made up of bronze.

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Mirza Hadi took his son (Shoghi Effendi) to Baghdad for medical reasons

Abdu’l-Bahá knew well that His grandson could not have children. 

Mirza Hadi took his son to Baghdad for medical reasons; the report indicated a physiological delay that causes infertility. Abdu’l-Bahá saw in this a "Sign of God."

(Ruhiyyih Khanum’s Two Cables Announcing the Death of Shoghi Effendi by Grover Gonzales, May 2026)

https://bahai-library.com/gonzales_khanum_cables_shoghi-effendi

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The most distinguished of the state prisoners whom the British found there in 1878 was Subh-i-Azel

Cyprus was used by the Turks, as by their predecessors, as a place of banishment for fallen dignitaries or undesirable persons; and, as Gunnis remarks (p. 88), Famagusta became under them little more than a prison. The most distinguished of the state prisoners whom the British found there in 1878 was Subh-i-Ezel, leader of one of the two dissident Babist sects (see Luke, Anatolica, pp. 112 ff.).

(A History of Cyprus By Sir George Hill, Volume IV - The Ottoman Province, The British Colony, 1571-1948 Edited By Sir Harry Luke, p. 253)

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According to Browne Subh-i-Azal was the successor of the Bab

Browne attached great significance to this letter and called it 'a document of great historical interest, viz. the appointment of Subh-i-Ezel [Mirza Yahya Azal] by the Bab as his successor'. Making no distinction between the rank of a successor and that of a vicegerent, Browne continues: 'This document furnishes us with the grounds whereon Subh-i-Ezel's claims to be the Bab's vicegerent are based.' Elsewhere, Browne states that the appointment was made explicitly. Browne evidently regards the role of a successor or vicegerent as that of a kind of vali, who leads the community until the coming of the new Manifestation.

(Making The Crooked Straight by Udo Schaefer, Nicola Towfigh, Ulrich Gollmer, p. 633)

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It is evident from various Azali and Baha'i sources that Mirza Yahya Azal occupied a special status in the Babi community, appointed head of the Babi community

It is evident from various Azali and Baha'i sources that Mirza Yahya Azal occupied a special status in the Babi community, which had been bestowed on him by the Bab. From the outset of his mission (1844), the Bab had faced fierce resistance on the part of the Shi'a clergy and the state authorities, with the result that his remaining years, until his martyrdom in 1850, were spent mainly in prison. It was probably for this reason that he appointed a head for the young community. While in prison, he appointed Mirza Yahya Azal as leader of the Babi community, probably in 1849. ['Abdu'l-Baha does not cite the exact date but mentions only that this appointment was made after the death of Muhammad Shah, which occurred in 1848 (A Traveller's Narrative, pp 62f.) Browne states that Mirza Yahya was appointed to this rank in July/August 1849 (Tarikh-i-Jadid, Intro., p. xviii). In a hitherto unpublished article, Momen concludes that the appointment was made towards the end of 1849.] Because of his appointment to this position, Mirza Yahya was highly respected in the Babi community until the 1860s.

(Making The Crooked Straight by Udo Schaefer, Nicola Towfigh, Ulrich Gollmer, p. 631)

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the Bab employed the title Subh-i-Azal in reference to various other leading Babis

This title of honour [Subh-i-Azal] was evidently not conferred on him by the Bab, who only called him Thamaratu’l-Azaliyya and Ismu'l-Azal (see Mirza Yahya, Mustayqiz, pp. 391f). However, the Bab did employ the title Subh-i-Azal in reference to various other leading Babis (see the commentary on the Hadith of Kumayl, Teheran Baha'i Archives MS 6006C, pp. 74ff.)

(Making The Crooked Straight by Udo Schaefer, Nicola Towfigh, Ulrich Gollmer, p. 631)

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Baha'i scholars write about the Azali community... Azalis finally integrated into Muslim society

Today, it would appear that there is no longer an Azali leader. Indeed, there does not even seem to be an Azali community. With the exception of isolated efforts exerted by a Cypriot grandson of Mirza Yahya Azal, Jalal Azal, who died in 1971, and by an Azali in Iran called Qasimi, who published a small number of Azali writings between the 1940s and 1960s, there have been no further attempts to promote the cause of Mirza Yahya Azal or to publish Azali books. There is evidently no collection of writings and no Azali archive, as MacEoin’s research has shown. Azal's descendants who still live in Cyprus are Muslims and know little about the history of their family or about their religious past. Riza Ezel, grandson of Mirza Yahya Azal, who tends his grandfather’s grave, regards Mirza Yahya Azal as a Muslim saint. A sociological study has established that the Azalis do not form a distinct, active group, and that a kind of paralysis has set in. No growth is taking place. The Azalis do not present themselves as such, but are integrated into Muslim society, making use of the services provided by and for the wider Muslim community.

(Making The Crooked Straight by Udo Schaefer, Nicola Towfigh, Ulrich Gollmer, p. 630)

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the Guardian not only deprived anyone who did not openly declare his Faith of his voting rights, but even indicated they were Covenant breakers.

"In Persia, even during the period of persecution, when life was in danger, and complete freedom offered to those who indicated they were Muslims and not Bahá’ís, the Guardian not only deprived anyone who did not openly declare his Faith of his voting rights, but even indicated they were Covenant breakers.

"Thus you will see that it is completely inconsistent for a Bahá’í under any circumstances whatsoever, to indicate they are anything but a Bahá’í, regardless of what the result may be."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to two believers, April 30, 1957)

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Baha'i community had become such an unhealthy place spiritually. -Steven Scholl

Steven Scholl, founding publisher of White Cloud Press, was threatened with being declared a covenant breaker for having published books without administrative approval. He chose to resign for the reasons in his quote below, from “Enemies Within : Conflict and Control in the Baha'i Community.” By Bacquet, Karen

“My wife is a Baha'i as are many of her family members,... The very real threat of being declared a Covenant breaker meant my wife had to face the decision of joining me as a heretic or divorcing me so that she could maintain her relationships with her family and other lifelong friends. Since [my wife] had no intention of divorcing me, the choices then extended out to her family. Her sister would not refuse to socialize with us so she would automatically be declared a covenant breaker along with her husband and children. Many of my close Baha'i friends would also be faced with the decision of maintaining friendships or joining me as a heretic. The whole thing is absurd and quite medieval. But it does raise the issue which you point out so well; how anyone would want to belong to a group which is willing to act this way and be so cruel is beyond me. That is why I voluntarily left the religion. Not in order to escape punishment but because the Baha'i community had become such an unhealthy place spiritually. I was terribly saddened that my spiritual home of 25 years had turned into a prison and nightmare.”

(Enemies Within: Conflict and Control in the Baha’i Community by Karen Bacquet. Published in Cultic Studies Journal - Psychological Manipulation and Society, Volume 18, 2001)

https://library.internationalculticstudies.org/24n77ga/2

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Baha'u'llah was a criminal

ʿIzzīya Khānum in her book Tanbīh al-Nāʾimīn (Exhortation to those who Slumber) states:

He [Baha’u’llah] gathered together the rabble, riffraff, and hoodlums from the provinces of Iran, along with the strays and fugitives of those regions—men who at no time had entered into any religion, nor believed in any prophet; who knew no trade save murder, and pursued no occupation besides despoiling the property of others. Yet, while making claims to Ḥusaynīya [of being the return of Imam Ḥusayn], he assembled around himself these evildoers whose deeds resembled those of Shimr [the murderer of Ḥusayn]. Every person from whom there issued a breath other than that which pleased them, they cut off. Every head from which there arose a voice other than devotion unto them, they struck down. Every throat from which there emerged a word other than submission unto them, they severed. And every heart within which there dwelt aught besides love for them, they split asunder.

The companions of the first rank, whose names have already been mentioned, fled in fear of those bloodthirsty executioners, setting out under the pretext of visiting the sacred shrines toward Karbalāʾ and Najaf, while others escaped to different regions. They beheaded Sayyid Ismāʿīl of Iṣfahān. They ripped open the belly of Ḥājjī Mīrzā Aḥmad Kāshī. They slew Āqā Abū’l-Qāsim Kāshī and cast him into the Tigris. They finished off Sayyid Aḥmad in advance. They smashed the brains of Mīrzā Riḍā, the maternal uncle of Ḥājjī Sayyid Muḥammad, upon a stone. They tore open the flank of Mīrzā ʿAlī Riḍā and drove him upon the royal road of non-being.

Besides these individuals, they murdered a number of others in the darkness of night and threw their corpses into the Tigris. Others they hacked to pieces in broad daylight, amidst the marketplace, with daggers and swords. Such was the case that these actions caused some of the believers and adherents themselves to lose the firmness of their conviction and the foundation of their trust. Because of these ugly deeds and acts of wrongdoing, they turned away from the Religion of the Bayān, and would recite the following verse in gatherings, laughing as they did so:

If Ḥusayn-ʿAlī be the manifestation of the Ḥusayn of ʿAlī,

Then a thousand mercies of Truth be upon the pure soul of Yazīd!

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Conflict and Control in the Baha’i Community by Karen Bacquet

Karen Bacquet’s article, "Enemies Within: Conflict and Control in the Baha’i Community," outlines several criticisms focusing on the gap between the religion's progressive public image and its internal administrative practices.

Here are some key points:

• Authoritarian Governing Structure: The Baha'i Faith is governed by an elected body, the Universal House of Justice (UHJ), which is believed to be divinely guided and infallible, making its decisions unchallengeable by adherents.
• Lack of Institutional Accountability: Although the governing bodies are elected, they are not held accountable to the electorate but are considered accountable only to God.
• System of Censorship: Adherents are subject to "prepublication review," a policy where any Baha’i writing about the Faith for public consumption must have their work approved by the administration.
• Fear of Internal Enemies: There is a pervasive fear of internal dissent that might disrupt unity; those who challenge the administration are often labeled "covenant-breakers" and described as "spiritually sick".
• Practice of Shunning: Individuals designated as covenant-breakers are subject to mandatory shunning by the rest of the Baha'i community.
• Suppression of Dissent: The administration uses intimidation and investigations by appointed officials (Auxiliary Board Members) to monitor and silence members who express unorthodox views.
• Theocratic Ambitions: The Baha'i administrative order is viewed not just as a church structure, but as an evolving world theocracy that considers Western democratic systems inferior and eventually doomed.
• Inequality in Governance: Despite teachings on gender equality, women are excluded from serving on the supreme governing body, the Universal House of Justice.
• Internet Crackdowns: The leadership has threatened and sanctioned intellectuals for expressing liberal opinions on private email forums and the Internet.
• Summary Expulsions: In recent years, the administration has dropped critics from membership rolls without prior warning or due process for expressing dissenting views publicly.
• Hostility toward Modern Scholarship: The administration often condemns academic methods as "materialistic" and interferes with scholarly projects sometimes by deleting passages from primary sources.
• Pressure for Conformity: Adherents are placed in a psychological bind where they are attracted by liberal ideals but pressured into absolute obedience to an administrative system that does not tolerate public disagreement.

(Enemies Within: Conflict and Control in the Baha’i Community by Karen Bacquet. Published in Cultic Studies Journal - Psychological Manipulation and Society, Volume 18, 2001)

https://library.internationalculticstudies.org/24n77ga/2

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community assembly hall, schools, a university, a library, scientific research laboratories, hospitals and auxiliary medical units, homes for the aged, the orphaned and the handicapped.

Each town or village would have a community centre at the heart of which would stand the place of worship, a domed, nine-sided building, surrounded by trees, fountains and gardens. This house of worship is known as the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar or Dawning Place of God’s Praise. Other public buildings in the town or village would be the seat of the Local House of Justice, the community assembly hall, schools, a university, a library, scientific research laboratories, hospitals and auxiliary medical units, homes for the aged, the orphaned and the handicapped.

“The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar has important accessories which are accounted of the basic foundations. These are : school for orphan children, hospital and dispensary for the poor, home for the incapable, college for the higher scientific education, and hospice. In every city a great Mashriqu'l-Adhkar must be founded after this order. ... When these institutions, college, hospital, hospice and establishment for the incurables, university for the study of higher sciences, giving post-graduate courses, and other philanthropic building are built, the doors will be opened to all the nations and religions. There will be absolutely no line of demarcation drawn. Its charities will be dispensed irrespective of colour or race. Its gates will be flung wide open to mankind; prejudice towards none, love for all. The central building will be devoted to the purpose of prayer and worship. Thus...religion will become harmonized with science, and science will — be the handmaid of religion, both showering their material and spiritual gifts on all humanity.”

— ‘Abdu 'l-Baha.'

(The Earth Is But One Country - New Revised Edition By John Huddleston)

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This institution is under the protecting power of Bahá’u’lláh Himself.

He [Bahá’u’lláh] has ordained and established the House of Justice, which is endowed with a political as well as a religious function, the consummate union and blending of church and state. This institution is under the protecting power of Bahá’u’lláh Himself.

(“The Promulgation of Universal Peace”, 1982 ed., p. 455)

https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/compilations/universal-house-of-justice-compilation/5#692131058

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Mirza Yahya was the Bab's appointed trustee

No comment was made by Mirza Yahya Azal until later in Edime, where Baha’u’llah, in an epistle entitled Suriy-i-Amr, officially requested a statement from him as the Bab's appointed trustee. This document, written in Arabic in Baha’u’llah’s own hand, sets out clearly Baha’u’llah's claim to be the Man yuzhiruhu’llah foretold by the Bab and entrusted with a new revelation. This claim implied that a new dispensation had been initiated, that a new religion had come into being, and that the period of Mirza Yahya Azal’s trusteeship was over.

(Making the Crooked Straight: A Contribution to Bahá'í Apologetics, by Udo Schaefer, p. 612)

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after hearing the news of Badasht, Mulla Husayn vowed that if he had been present he would have punished the transgressors with sword.

...a march to Mazandaran was undertaken under the joint leadership of Qurrat al-'Ayn and Quddus, in order to establish a Babi foothold in his home town, Barfurush. This venture however, ended in total disaster when the Babis were raided by a band of villagers in the nearby Niyala. The local mulla who led the aggressive crowd was apparently outraged by the sight of the unveiled Qurrat al-'Ayn sitting inside a huda next to Quddus and chanting poems out loud, together with her companions. The assailants must have seen the Babi party as no more than a group of libertine infidels worthy of death. Even for the Babis, who witnessed with amazement, perhaps horror, the unrestrained conversation between a daring woman and her male traveling companion, perhaps even her unspoken affection for him, it was hard not to perceive the prevailing climate of emancipation as “abuse of liberty” and excesses from “bonds of moderation.” Reportedly, after hearing the news of Badasht, Mulla Husayn vowed that if he had been present he would have punished the transgressors with sword.

(Resurrection and Renewal - The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 844-850 by Abbas Amanat, p. 328)

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Mulla Husayn failed in Qum because there were no Shaykhi elements there

In Isfahan, during the first stage of his mission, Mulla Husayn succeeded in converting a number of favorable Shaykhi elements. As in Shiraz, his public preachings drew attention from prominent 'ulama and in due course led to their mild condemnation. En route to Tehran, Mulla Husayn stopped in Kashan, where he attracted a number of Shaykhi sympathizers and called upon a celebrated mujtahid. He then proceeded to Qum, where according to Nabil Zarandi “he found the people utterly unprepared to heed his call,” perhaps due to the absence of any Shaykhi connection there.

(Resurrection and Renewal - The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 844-850 by Abbas Amanat, p. 261)

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I give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, the power of speech to the mute

I am serving God. I am the servant of God. I give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, the power of speech to the mute and knowledge to the ignorant. I raise the dead, I deliver those who are in darkness and guide them into the realm of light. I make the poor rich and the weak powerful. I satisfy the hungry ones with the bread of life and allay the thirsty ones with the pure water of immortality. This is my work.

(Abdul-Baha: Diary of Mirza Sohrab, June 30, 1914)

https://bahai.works/Star_of_the_West/Volume_8/Issue_15/Text

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Schools must first train the children in the principles of religion

Schools must first train the children in the principles of religion, so that the Promise and the Threat recorded in the Books of God may prevent them from the things forbidden and adorn them with the mantle of the commandments...

(Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih)

https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/universal-peace/articles-resources/universal-education-quotes

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industrial approach to religious expansion

The letter outlines a highly systematized, almost industrial approach to religious expansion, prioritizing numerical outcomes and institutional scaling over individual spiritual journeys. It utilizes language that treats potential converts as a quantifiable resource to be harvested through "systematic growth" and "intensive programs of growth". The primary objective is "advancing the process of entry by troops," a phrase suggesting a military-like maneuver to secure a "constant influx of new adherents". The document explicitly calls for an "acceleration of this vital process" and the creation of a "critical mass" of believers to "spearhead" efforts to "deliver the Message," emphasizing "large-scale expansion" and "vigorous personal teaching" as essential tactics.

The strategies detailed rely on "mobilizing" believers into "teaching teams" to "target receptive populations" and execute "teaching projects" designed to "enroll a large number" of people in short timeframes. The letter advocates for a "major shift from the gradualist approach," urging believers to "seize such opportunities" and engage in "direct teaching methods" to "lead them to embrace the Cause". By focusing on "targets"—such as taking "50 or so believers through the sequence" to trigger growth—and calculating the "pyramid of human resources," the document reveals a focus on "increasing numbers" and "large-scale expansion" that could be seen as prioritizing institutional growth and conversion quotas over the authenticity of an individual's personal belief.

(Summary of "Intensive Growth: 2004 letter to all Continental Counsellors", International Teaching Centre, 2004-11-28)

https://bahai-library.com/itc_28_november_2004

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a Baha'i who carries on teaching activities without the consultation and collaboration of the Assembly is not within the pale of the divine Administration.

[Abdu'l Baha] created... the Divine Administration, of which, through the blessed Guardian, the Beloved, is the heart and center and every individual Bahá’i is a living unit.

(Report of National Teaching Committee published in Bahá’í News, Issue 34)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_34/Text

Then go before the Assembly, explain everything and humbly ask them to forgive you. This is true Baha’i love, and will prevent this whole matter getting much worse. As ... said last night, "We know, ...that according to the law of Baha'u'llah a Baha'i who carries on teaching activities in a city without the consultation and collaboration of the Assembly is not within the pale of the divine Administration." 

(The Maxwells of Montreal, Volume 2)

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between 1940 and 1952 alone, the Guardian gave the Municipality of Haifa over ten thousand dollars

In the years when the people of Palestine and, later, of Israel were undergoing great hardships, between 1940 and 1952 alone, the Guardian gave the Municipality of Haifa over ten thousand dollars for the poor of all denominations. In addition to such help given through government and municipal agencies, he also responded to the appeals of many charities, gave individually to those he deemed worthy, and even sometimes contributed money for some special purpose connected with the mosque in Haifa. Many times he gave contributions spontaneously, such as the £100 he donated to the Government Lunatic Asylum in Akka—the former Turkish barracks—when the room occupied by Bahá’u’lláh was turned over to the custody of the Bahá’ís, and the sum he presented towards the construction of the Institute of Physics which the Weizmann National Memorial was undertaking.

(The Priceless Pearl, Rúhíyyih Rabbani)

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Abdul Baha used to call a Muslim to chant to Shoghi Effendi the sublime verses of the Quran

The childhood nurse of Shoghi Effendi used to recount that when he was still a baby the Master was wont to call one of the Muslims who chanted in the mosque to come at least once a week and chant to the child, in his melodious voice, the sublime verses of the Qur’án.

(The Priceless Pearl, Rúhíyyih Rabbani)

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Initial history of the Baha'is in Haifa

Some years before the outbreak of the First World War, the Bahais had settled in Haifa. Persecuted in Persia; they had fled to Baghdad, from where they were exiled by the Turkish government to Adrianopolis and, finally, to Acre, where Baha Allah (‘the glory of God’) arrived in 1868. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the bones of his predecessor, Mirza Ali Muhammad, were brought to Acre and finally interred on Mount Carmel in 1909, at a spot chosen by Baha Allah. Today, the Golden Dome Shrine rises over it. Baha Allah had been a Shi’ite Muslim, but by the changes he introduced in the faith, he separated himself from Islam. By the time he died in Acre in 1892, he had acquired a number of disciples. In the course of his many trips, his son Abbas Effendi (Abd al-Baha) disseminated Baha Allah’s teachings throughout the world, acquiring hundreds of thousands of new adherents to the Bahai belief, especially in the United States. In 1908 Abbas Effendi came to live in Haifa, where his well-preserved house still exists (on Persian Street). Abbas Effendi rapidly became an admired and respected figure in Haifa. He attracted Bahais eager to listen to his preaching, and many of them decided to settle in Haifa in consequence. On the strength of contributions from all over the world, the Bahais bought up large tracts of land on the slopes of Mount Carmel, where they later built their shrine, surrounded by extensive gardens. In this way, at the end of Ottoman rule, Haifa became the centre of a new community, at the head of which stood Abbas Effendi, a personage of a stature the like of which Haifa had perhaps never known before.

(Ottoman Haifa A History of Four Centuries under Turkish Rule By Alex Carmel)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10977949-ottoman-haifa

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In the beginning the Baha'i faith permitted converts to maintain participation in their birth religion and thus not fully break with their communities.

...as pressures to convert to Islam diminished, and some economic success was achieved, the Zoroastrian community faced more challenges. One was the rise of Bahaism. Bahaism, founded in mid‑nineteenth‑century Iran, promoted equality, repudiated the concept of non‑Muslims as polluting, and permitted converts to maintain participation in their birth religion and thus not fully break with their communities. There were intra‑marrying Zoroastrian Baha’is, Jewish Baha’is, and Muslim Baha’is (Kestenberg Amighi 2022: 142). However, conversions to the Baha’i religion reduced the small Zoroastrian population by some 4,000 people (Maneck 1991: 1) and caused fierce rifts between Zoroastrian traditionalists who saw the Baha’is as a threat, and reform‑minded Zoroastrians and Parsis who believed that the Baha’is were laying a foundation for the liberalisation of Iran. The conflict grew so intense that, in 1915, a pro‑Baha’i Zoroastrian in Yazd, educator Master Khodabakhsh, was murdered (Kestenberg Amighi 1990: 166), and like‑minded Ostad (‘teacher’) Keyomarz was warned to flee Iran (Fischer 1973: 108 fn1). According to one theory, it was the conservative Zoroastrian organisation, Yazd Right Followers, which was responsible for the murder and threats (Dadbakhsh and Moftakhri 2018: 4–5).

(ZOROASTRIAN POLITICS IN THE ERA OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION IN IRAN
(1905–1911) by Janet Kestenberg Amighi)

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When Baha'u'llah read Mulla Muhammad Baqir Majlisi he went into a state of acute depression for some time

Bahaullah had intimations of his prophetic calling while still a youth. He recounts an experience in his early years that changed his life, when he had read Mulla Muhammad Baqir Majlisi's (d. 1111A.H./ 1699C.E.) traditional account of the treachery of the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza, whose betrayal had placed the earliest Muslim community in mortal danger. On grounds of treason, the prophet Muhammad upheld a judge's order to punitively massacre all male members of that tribe (cf. Q. 33:26). MacEoin notes the impact of all this on the impressionable youth, writing that "the effect of this was to plunge him [Bahaullah] into a state of acute depression for some time, despite his recognition that 'what occurred had been the decree of God'" (MacEoin 1983, 223 on MA 7: 136; cf. ISH 34 and IQT 116ff). This characterization of the event truncates Bahaullah's own account of this psychological turning point.

(Paradise and Paradigm : Key Symbols in Persian Christianity and the Baha'i- Faith by Christopher Buck)

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Some of Iran’s most innovative and successful industrialists, engineers, architects, and artists were either Jewish or Baha’i.

The Shah’s crucial decade from 1965 to 1975 was also critical for the regime’s cultural politics. Iran in this period was a discordant combination of cultural freedoms and political despotism—of increasing censorship against the opposition but increasing freedoms for everyone else....

Much to the consternation of the Shiite clergy in this period, the Baha’i enjoyed freedom and virtual equality with other citizens. The same was true about Iranian Jews—some 100,000 of them, who had lived in Iran for over 3,000 years. In the words of David Menasheri, it was the Jews’ “golden age,” wherein they enjoyed equality with Muslims and in terms of their per capita incomes “they might have been the richest Jewish community in the world.” Some of Iran’s most innovative and successful industrialists, engineers, architects, and artists were either Jewish or Baha’i. The Arjomand family, dominant in the production of home appliances in Iran; the Sabet family, who brought television and Pepsi to the country; and finally Habib Elghanian, who introduced the nation to the magic of “plastic,” were all members of the Baha’i and Jewish faiths. The Shah’s private physician, Dr. Ayadi, was an active member of the Baha’i faith and was instrumental in facilitating Baha’i security and prosperity in Iran.

(The Shah by Milani, Abbas)

https://archive.org/details/shah0000mila

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There were some racist incidents at Baha'i gatherings

...the New York City Bahá’í community had dedicated itself to regularly disrupting the Black/White color line, inclusive of inter-racial teaching efforts in Harlem. Toward that end, there was a marked increase between New York area Bahá’ís and groups like the NAACP and Urban League (Buck 2012; Hogenson 2022). Yet, intra-Black issues and unintentional slights proved weighty matters. While “the Bahá’ís naturally associated with all kinds of people, including immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa,”wrote historian Kathryn Hogenson, “… these groups of Blacks were not welcomed by Blacks from the United States—an issue within Harlem that spilled over into the Bahá’í community. It also had to deal with reports of incidents at Bahá’í gatherings which were perceived by community members to be racist” (Hogenson 2022, pp. 175–176).

(Confronting Culture and Caste in the American Bahá’í Magazine World Order, 1935–1949 by Matthew Hughey)

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In 2014, the husband converted to Twelver Shi‘i Islam, while the wife remained a follower of the Baha’i religion.

In 2020, a civil lawsuit seeking the dissolution of a marriage (infisakh-i nikah) was filed before a family court in Tehran. The parties, a man and a woman, had married in 2003, both adhering at the time to the Baha’i faith, a religion unrecognized under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2014, the husband converted to Twelver Shi‘i Islam, while the wife remained a follower of the Baha’i religion.

Initially, the husband filed a claim for annulment of the marriage, arguing that their religious divergence rendered continuation of the marital relationship impossible. The family court rejected this claim, stating that the grounds for annulment (batiliyat-i nikah) are narrowly enumerated in the Iranian Civil Code (Qanun-i Madani-yi Iran), and that conversion of one spouse alone does not constitute a valid basis for annulment.

(Equality, Plurality and Personal Status Laws A Research Companion Edited by Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron, Baudouin Dupret, Jean-Louis Halpérin, Radhika Kanchana, Ayang Utriza Yakin and Zohra Aziadé Zemirli)

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Why Baha'u'llah was a sham, charlatan?

Baha or Baha'u'llah is a later title (not given by the Bab) of Mirza Husayn-Ali Nuri, who was the older brother, guardian and intermediary of Mirza Yahya Nuri (Subh-i-Azal) who was the named successor of the Bab and source of revelation after him according to the Bab's own well-known testament [1]. First in the middle of the 1850s Baha'u'llah was accussed of making claims, which he denied, called the claimers "liars" [2], and continued to write in high praise of Subh-i-Azal (see [3], [4]).
Later in the 1860s he claimed that he was doing taqiyya all the time, was actually the Bayani messianic figure himself, and the true source of Subh-i-Azal verses [5]. This is the opposite of what actually happened, Baha'u'llah's position was wholly derived from the position of his younger brother (see also [6]), who also contributed to one of most well-known works, the Kitab-i-Iqan, according to the Bayanis, not vice versa. Baha'u'llah's own works testify for the absurdity of this claim, as Subh-i-Azal's style of writing in Baha'u'llah's absence does not differ from his style of writing in the latter's presence. He did nevertheless gather his own followers but his religion has little to do with the actual substance of the Bayan, despite referencing it.

[1] https://bayanic.com/lib/fwd/vesayat/Vesayat-FWD.html, "when you art cut off from this Throne recite the verses that your Lord causes to be inspired in your heart ... preserve yourself, and then that which has been sent down in the Bayan, and then what will be sent down to your presence"

[2] https://bahai-library.com/bahaullah_lawh_kull_taam, "My munificence overfloweth with the sprinklings of servitude in the Land of the Theophany ... bear witness and be assured that I [Bahá'u'lláh] have claimed naught but servitude to God, the True One. And God is my arbitrator against that which the people falsely allege"

[3] https://www.bahai.org/fa/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/additional-tablets-bahaullah/583990268/1#899160984, "The Kitab-i-Nur ... is the book of a glorious and loved one, and consists of the verses of the Protector, the Self-Subsisting" (part translated by Denis MacEoin in "Divisions and Authority Claims in Babism")

[4] https://hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/node/511, later verses (not translated in Stephen Lambden's draft) say even go so far as saying whoever rejects Subh-i-Azal is a disbeliever

[5] https://bahai-library.com/bahaullah_surih_haykal_haddad, "verily We have chosen one of our brothers and showed to him a small drop of the high sea of science, and clothed him with the garment of one Name of the Names, and elevated him to a rank whereby every one rose to praise him..."

[6] https://www.reddit.com/r/BAYAN/comments/u63g6x/the_points_command_to_haba_full_tablet_translated/

The official explanation from Baha'u'llah of all of this is taqiyya, see his many writings where he accused Subh-i-Azal of jealousy as an excuse for that. But it is overall an embarrassing topic the Baha'is sweep under the rug completely in the West at least.

Source : https://www.reddit.com/r/BAYAN/comments/1svlk1e/why_is_bahāullāh_not_he_who_shall_make_manifest/oidntz7/

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unqualified obedience and unswerving faith in the NSA, they are directed by spiritual forces.

Shoghi Effendi wishes us to give unqualified obedience to and have unswerving faith in the National Spiritual Assembly, because they are directed by spiritual forces.

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_18/Text

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Baha'i is a cult in Iran. Examining the Human Rights of Baha'is in Iran (Official Source)

In Iran, akin to many nations globally, the acknowledgment of sectarian tendencies as independent religions is not typically recognized. However, adherents of various sects, including the Bahá’í sect, are permitted to freely practice their ceremonies and rituals within the legal framework, availing themselves of the rights and privileges of citizenship. The Islamic Republic of Iran adopts a stance that generally does not draw a distinction between Bahá’ís and non-Bahá'ís. Both groups are deemed to possess equal rights, enjoying the full spectrum of rights accorded to all members of society. Services provided within Iran are not contingent upon individuals’ beliefs, and fundamentally, there exists no mechanism established to officially recognize or highlight these religious differences among citizens. Therefore, Bahá’ís possess a range of civil, cultural, social, and economic rights, encompassing ownership of factories, companies, and pharmacies, unrestricted ownership, receipt of subsidies, access to private cemeteries for interment in accordance with their beliefs, entitlement to various types of basic and supplementary insurances, as well as unhindered access to law enforcement and judicial services. They also have the opportunity for ongoing education, issuance of a national identification card, extensive utilization of cyberspace through websites and pages, acquisition of driver’s licenses, reception of the COVID-19 vaccine, participation in multiple trade unions, engagement in importation of goods, involvement in agricultural practices, animal husbandry, horticulture, and marriage, as well as utilization of sports halls and complexes.

(Unveiling Human Rights Perspectives: A Comprehensive Examination of the Baha’i Sect, Published by The High Council for Human Rights of The Islamic Republic of Iran, December 2023)

https://milan.mfa.gov.ir/files/enMilan/Bultan/گزارش%20بهاییت%20انگلیسی.pdf

Other side of the story:

After the 1979 Revolution, Baha'is in Iran are denied fundamental rights because they are not recognized as a religious minority under Article 13 of the Constitution. This lack of legal status leaves them without an autonomous personal status code, forcing them to follow Shi‘i jurisprudence, which leads to the state's refusal to register Baha'i marriages or issue birth certificates recognizing their faith. Baha'is also face systematic discrimination in inheritance, where the legal principle of nafy al-sabil and Article 881 bis of the Civil Code are used to transfer their property to distant Muslim relatives, effectively disinheriting Baha'i families. Crucially, Iranian courts may also refuse to validate Baha'i wills that include bequests to religious centers located in Israel, as such actions are deemed contrary to the state’s political interests and public policy. These systematic legal deficiencies deny the community equal protection under the law and violate Iran's international obligations under the ICCPR to respect the culture and religious practices of minorities.

(Equality, Plurality and Personal Status Laws A Research Companion Edited by Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron, Baudouin Dupret, Jean-Louis Halpérin, Radhika Kanchana, Ayang Utriza Yakin and Zohra Aziadé Zemirli)

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