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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The first differences which happened after the death of Baha'u'llah

Mirza Jawad continues, “The first differences which happened after the death of His Great Holiness our Master within this community was that Abbas Efendi concealed some part of the book of [Baha’u’llah’s] Testament entitled “the Book of my Testament,” which book was given to him by Baha’u’llah in his own holy writing. The detail of this is that on the ninth day after the Ascension [i.e., the death of Baha’u’llah] Abbas Efendi chose nine persons from amongst the Companions, one of whom was the author (of this book) and disclosed to them this document, concealing, however, a portion of it with a blue leaf [of paper], without any reason or justification, and gave it to them that they might enjoy the blessing of its perusal. One of them...read,...to the place concealed by the blue leaf, whereupon Abbas Efendi said to the persons above mentioned, ’Verily a portion of this book is concealed for a good reason, because the time doth not admit of its full disclosure’.” Later on the same day it was read to a number of other relatives and believers, down to the concealed portion.

”Let it not be hidden,” concludes Mirza Jawad, “...that the injunctions set forth in the above-mentioned book all refer to this community generally; haw then could it be right for Abbas Efendi to disclose what he wished and conceal a portion thereof? For there is no doubt that if what was concealed had not been suitable [for general publication] His Holiness Baha’u’llah would not have written it in his august writing.”

There is no question that Baha’u’llah appointed Abbas Efendi as his successor. But what authority was he to have? The Bab had indicated that his successor Subh-i-Azal had the same rank that he had, and was one with him. But Baha’u’llah made it very clear that anyone who succeeded him could never claim to share his rank as a Great Manifestation. For before his death he had stated in the Kitab-i-Aqdas that anyone who claims “Command,” that is, claims to have the rank of a Manifestation, before a thousand years is a false liar. Hence, Abbas Efendi was not authorized to take his father’s place, and be a continuation of his Manifestation, But very soon it began to appear that this was what he wanted to do. He called himself Abdu’l-Baha (the slave of Baha), and professed perfect submission to his father’s will. But he also assumed the title, “the Center” of the Covenant,” a title which many Baha’is thought belonged only to God. “Abbas Efendi,” writes Mirza Jawad, “after he had attained to supremacy..... claimed such lofty stations and high degrees as belong exclusively to Divine Theophanies.” And he quotes several pages of sayings of the new leader which show how high his aspirations were.

One of Abbas Efendi’s claims was that he alone had the right to interpret the writings of Baha’u’llah. “This servant is the expositor of the Perspicuous Book, and whatever of God’s writings is not confirmed by this servant is not worthy of credence.” In another place he says, “You must ask him [Abdu’l– Baha] regarding the meaning of the texts of the verses. Whatsoever he says is correct. Without his will not a word shall anyone utter.” Though he never called himself a new Manifestation, by claiming to be the sole infallible interpreter of the Ward of God, and by asserting that his writings were equally authoritative with those of his father, he assumed a station of which Baha’u’llah would most probably have warmly disapproved. Modern Baha’is, however, fully agree to these claims. For instance, the volume entitled Bahai Scriptures, to which frequent reference has been made, has two parts. Part I comprises the verses of Baha’u’llah, and Part II (larger than Part I), the writings and addresses of Abdu’l-Baha. Both are considered equally authoritative. “The words of Abdu’l-Baha..... have equal rank and spiritual validity with those of the Manifestation.”

(The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings by William McElwee Miller)

https://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/K-O/M/miller/Bahaism_Miller_1931.pdf

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When Diya'u'llah Effendi died the followers of Abbas Effendi celebrated

When Diyá’u’lláh Effendi died (in approximately 1898), the followers of 'Abbás Effendi "did not even close their shops and offices on that day, as is customary, but on the contrary manifested joy and gladness and quaffed the drinks commonly used on festivals". This behavior astonished all witnesses, whether family, strangers, or kin.

(Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion, by Edward G. Browne)

https://ia601303.us.archive.org/30/items/materialsforstud00browuoft/materialsforstud00browuoft.pdf

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Dr Mirza Muhammad-Mihdi Khan visited Baha'u'llah and his sons and followers at ‘Akka, and Subh-i-Azal at Famagusta in Cyprus

This is how Browne evaluates the work of Dr Mirza Muhammad-Mihdi Khan (the Persian journalist, the Za‘imu’d-Dawlih. He was the author of Miftahu Babi’l Abwab, or the Key to the Gate of Gates, a purported history of the Babi and Baha’i Faiths):

The author, though a determined antagonist of the Babis, writes with some appearance of moderation. Though often inaccurate, he adds fresh materials derived orally from his father Muhammad Taqi, who saw the Bab at Tabriz, and from other eyewitnesses, He also visited Baha'u'llah and his sons and followers at ‘Akka, and Subh-i-Azal at Famagusta in Cyprus, and made a collection of Babi and Baha'i books, from which he quotes lengthy extracts in this work, and which he subsequently deposited in the library of the Mosque and University of al-Azhar in Cairo. (Browne, Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion, p. 191.)

(Edward Granville Browne and the Baha'i Faith, by H. M. Balyuzi)

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Mirza Badi‘u’llah was a very learned man - Edward Browne

In the year 1890, ... Mr Browne arrived in ‘Akka. Ghusn-i Akbar (the Great Branch, Mirza Muhammad-‘Ali) had gone to India for publication of some holy texts. Ghusn-i A‘zam (the Most Great Branch, ‘Abdu’l-Baha) was residing in ‘Akka. This writer [Mirza Badi‘u’llah] ... was hosting this dear guest [Browne] ... He was a very learned man. He spoke eloquently well in the sweet Persian language ...

(Baha’u’llah’s Bishárát (Glad-Tidings): A Proclamation to Scholars and Statesmen, Presented By Christopher Buck & Nahzy Abadi Buck at Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference, Dec. 24, 2012.)

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/b/buck_tablet_glad-tidings_grand-canyon.pdf

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Abbas Effendi was a book burner. His father was too

Fadil Mazandarani quotes a litany of other letters from Abbas Effendi in his 4 volumes of Asrar al-Athar where Abbas Effendi said exactly the same thing about other books, not just those by Khayrullah. One, for example, is about Browne's edition of nuqtat'ul-kaf where he not only encouraged that it not be read but that the bahais acquire all existing copies so to it would go out of circulation. The only physical copy of it I found in Europe was at an obscure German university library and all the pictures in that copy had either been defaced or taken out altogether with a few pages ripped up. Throughout the European university library system, only two other libraries held a copy of it, and this is was an edition published by the Dutch E.J. Brill as part of their Gibb memorial series: the premier European academic publisher in Europe for the past nearly 200 years! Browne himself outright says that the bahais had destroyed as many copies of the manuscripts they could get their hands on, including the two at the Bibliotheque nationale in Paris that both Browne and Nicolas worked with.

Why do you people lie so much in the face of the undeniably obvious? Abbas Effendi was a book burner. His father was too despite what he is made to say in this quote.

(Wahid Azal)

https://old.reddit.com/r/FreeSpeechBahai/comments/1b4x6m9/bahaullah_says_unlike_previous_religions_his/ktdjzhi/

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“Go to Acre and see God.”

Browne spent more time in Kirman than any other place in the country, and met a wide range of people of all backgrounds, as he himself observed: “In no town which I visited in Persia did I make so many friends and acquaintances of every grade of society, and every shade of piety and impiety, as at Kirman.” During his stay in Kirman, Browne lodged in a garden house outside the Nasiri gate. He also spent much time with people he referred to as “dervishes and qalandars,” but who were in reality largely Baha’i converts. What Browne experienced in Kirman bears some similarity to the account of another individual who also visited the town and wrote about his impressions: Haji Mirza Haydar ‘Ali Isfahani. Isfahani, who had visited many Iranian cities to teach the Baha’i religion, describes the socio-religious landscape that he saw in Kirman in a rather negative light. He states that the people who became believers later reverted back to their original religious identity. He ascribes this to the deep-rooted indeterminate religious identities of the people belonging to different groups such as Shaykhis, Sufis, and dervishes mixing freely.

In Kirman, Browne attended many gatherings where believers shared their religious understandings with him. On some of these occasions, he saw and obtained Babi/Baha’i books, and in others, he attended gatherings where people were reading such books. A summary of the books that Browne saw in Kirman can be found at the end of this chapter. It is important to note that these gatherings were not formal meetings where theological matters were debated. Rather, Browne describes them as uninhibited, freewheeling discussions in which he, a 26-year-old young adult, was trying to understand the beliefs of his new friends. One of the main themes in many of his conversations was again the question of divinity in relation to human beings. For example, early on while in Kirman, Browne attended a meeting at the home of Mirza ‘Ali Riza Khan, who was Ali Riza Khan Mahallati, later I‘tizad al-Vuzara, a Baha’i. Two guests at that gathering were individuals with whom he would spend a great deal of time in subsequent weeks: a Baha’i named Usta ‘Askar Nukhud-biriz, son of ‘Ali Zhu’l Fiqar, who as his name indicates, was a pea parcher by profession. He also met a certain Shaykh “Ibrahim,” who was really Shaykh Sulayman Sultanabadi, a Baha’i living in the home of Mirza Rahim Khan Burujirdi, the Farrash Bashi. Also present was Mirza Muhammad Khan, a Ni‘matullahi dervish. This gathering (and subsequent gatherings) in Kirman was more religiously diverse than in other cities—it notably included a Ni‘matullahi dervish—yet the believers seemed to speak openly in front of him, unlike their more circumspect co-religionists in other cities. After lunch, Browne spoke with Usta ‘Askar, the pea parcher. During this conversation, Usta ‘Askar started talking to him in what Browne characterized as “a very wild strain,” one with which he subsequently said “became only too familiar.” The kinds of comments that Browne labeled as “wild”—not just at this meeting but also later gatherings—all had to do with the notion that divinity could be found in ordinary people. For example, Browne explains how Usta ‘Askar said to him, “If you would see Adam, I am Adam; if Noah, I am Noah; if Abraham, I am Abraham,” and so forth. When Browne asked him, “Why do you not say at once ‘I am God’,” Usta ‘Askar’s answer was “yes, there is naught but He.”

This idea was expressed again at a later date when Browne was a guest at home of Usta ‘Askar himself. Others present at this gathering were Aqa Fathullah, whom Browne describes as a young Azali minstrel and poet, who was singing verses in praise of the Bab; Shaykh Sulayman; ‘Abdullah, a servant of the Farrash-bashi and a friend of Shaykh Sulayman; a post official whom Browne says he will call Haydar Allah; and Usta ‘Askar’s brother. According to Browne, the talk again became very “wild,” as the guests were “declaring themselves to be one with the Divine Essence, and calling upon me by such titles as ‘Jenáb-i-Ṣáḥib’ and ‘Ḥaẓrat-i-Firangí’ to acknowledge that there was ‘no one but the Lord Jesus’ present.”

On 24 June 1888, three days after this get-together, Browne hosted a gathering at his own residence in Kirman. The people who attended were Usta ‘Askar the pea parcher, Shaykh Sulayman, a certain Aqa Muhammad Hasan of Yazd, whose real identity was Aqa Muhammad ‘Ali Yazdi, Fathullah the Azali minstrel, and ‘Abdullah. On this day, Browne took opium for the first time, and gradually became addicted to the drug. Browne explains the circumstances under which this happened, describing how he was suffering from ophthalmia, a painful eye condition, that was not getting any better. After insisting that he try an ultimately ineffective remedy of egg whites and hollyhock leaves, Usta ‘Askar then suggested that Browne smoke a pipe of opium to help relieve the pain, which he did. At that gathering, they also talked about religion. The conversation began with the topic of progressive revelation, but then the Azali minstrel sang an ode of Qurrat al-‘Ayn, and eventually Browne was told to “go to Acre and see God.” Browne again expressed his horror at what he called “anthropomorphism.” The Azali minstrel made things worse by telling him “You are to-day the Manifestation of Jesus, you are the Incarnation of the Holy Spirit, nay, did you but realize it, you are God!” Shaykh Sulayman agreed with the minstrel, and told Browne that Baha’u’llah had said to him, “Verily I am a man like unto you,” which he understood to mean that whatever station Baha’u’llah attained, everyone else could also attain.

When the Azali minstrel asked Browne why he was so offended, he said that he objected to the believers kissing the Aqdas on one hand and then violating all of its laws on the other (Shaykh Suleyman had become extremely drunk on this and indeed most occasions). The shari‘ah-minded Browne was reminded, in relation to Shaykh Sulayman, that “old habits will force themselves to the surface at times…” Earlier, Browne had learned about Shaykh Sulayman’s horrific experiences during his imprisonment, when he was nearly killed for his faith, and of his visit to Acre to see Baha’u’llah, who he said told him to stop preaching “the doctrine” because he had “already suffered enough in God’s way.”

Shaykh Sulayman’s statements about the Quranic “meeting with God” (liqa’ Allah) reflect what the Bab and Baha’u’llah have said in their own writings about this notion, which they interpreted as meeting the Manifestation of God in person. For example, in the scriptural tablet Effulgences (Tajalliyat), Baha’u’llah says that “Attainment unto the Divine Presence (liqa’ Allah) can be realized solely by attaining His [Baha’u’llah’s] presence.” This passage certainly aligns with Shaykh Sulayman’s encouraging Browne to “Go to Acre and see God.”

(The Bab and the Babi Community of Iran, Edited by Fereydun Vahman)

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The "manifestation" (mazhar), or re-incarnation, of Kurratu'l-'Ayn.

Thursday, 18th July, 9th Dhi'l-ka'da.--Towards evening I went into the town and called at the post-office, where the postmaster lent me a poem in praise of Beha, composed by one Na'im of Abade, a poor man of no education, whose power of verse-writing is regarded by his co-religionists as a divine gift, and little short of miraculous. His verses are partly in Persian, partly in Arabic, and of the latter, at any rate, it may truly be said that they are of the most miraculous character. Usta Akbar, the pea- parcher, was also there. He was, after his wont, very mysterious, and informed me that a relation of the postmaster's, who was a "Mulla," and who possessed some of Kurratu'l-'Ayn's poems, was anxious to see me, but that I must not mention this to the postmaster, as he might be displeased. I was somewhat surprised at what appeared to me so unnecessary a stipulation, but attributed it to Usta Akbar's love of mystery. It was only afterwards (for the pronouns in Persian do not distinguish gender) that I discovered that the "Mulla" in question was a lady, who regarded herself as a "manifestation" (mazhar), or re-incarnation, of Kurratu'l-'Ayn. It was accordingly arranged that I should meet this "Mulla" on the next day but one, at the house of one of the officials of the post-office. As I did not know where he lived, I enquired as to how I should find my way thither. Usta Akbar naturally selected the most cumbrous and mysterious method he could think of. I was to walk slowly past his shop at a certain hour on the Saturday in question, and he would tell his apprentice to be on the look-out for me, and, as soon as he saw me, to run out, pass me, and precede me at a distance of twenty or thirty yards to the rendezvous.

This plan was duly carried out, and on the afternoon of the appointed day I found myself in a room in the house of Haydaru'llah Beg, the postman, where, besides my host, were seated the "Manifestation of Kurratu'l-'Ayn" and a Babi dervish, the former engaged in smoking a kalyan, the latter an opium-pipe. I was filled with astonishment at seeing a lady in the room, and my astonishment was increased when I heard the others address her as "Mulla," and ascertained that she was the learned Babi who had expressed a wish to make my acquaintance. She greeted me very politely, bowing repeatedly as she exclaimed, "Musharraf! Muzayyan! Chasm-i-ma rawshan!" ("[You have made the house] honoured [and] adorned! Our eyes are brightened!") and then asking me how long it was since I had believed. I was somewhat embarrassed by this question, and tried to explain that I was an enquirer only, whereupon she began to give a long and rather garbled version of Christ's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, which she concluded by bidding me not be like that disciple who denied his Master.

By this time eight or nine other persons had joined us, including Sheykh Ibrahim and his friend 'Abdu'llah, in consequence of which the recitation of Kurratu'l-'Ayn's poems, which I had been so eager to hear, was postponed. Several Babi books, however, were shown to me, induding one containing the Kalimat-i-Maknuna, or "Hidden Words of Fatima,"[See vol.ii of my Traveller's Narrative, pp. 123-6 and n.2 at foot of p.123; and Catalogue and Description of 27 Babi MSS. (J.R.A.S. for 1892), pp. 671-4.] of which the surpassing eloquence was greatly praised by all present.

"Will you not smoke a kalyan?" enquired Sheykh Ibrahim, turning suddenly to me. I signified assent, and he called for one to be brought. "A good one, mind, for the Sahib," he cried, as the servant left the room.

In a minute or two the kalyan was brought, and as I took it, and, according to the customary etiquette, offered it in turn to all present before putting my lips to it, I fancied that I was watched with a certain attention and subdued amusement for which I could not account. The first whiff of smoke, however, explained the cause of this. My experience with Cannabis Indica while I was a student at St Bartholomew's Hospital had not been altogether fruitless, since it had indelibly impressed on my memory the taste of this hateful drug, which now again, for the third time in my life, struck on my palate. "Oh," thought I to myself, "so this is the trick you thought to play on me, is it?" But I continued to smoke on slowly and deliberately till the Sheykh, unable any longer to control his curiosity, asked me how I found the kalyan.

"Nice enough," I answered, "but I fear it somewhat, for unless I am much mistaken, you have put 'Master Seyyid' [Hashish is thought so badly of in Persia that it is usually spoken of, even by those who use it, by some nickname, such as Aka-yi- Seyyid ("Master Seyyid"), Tuti-i-asrar ("The Parrot of mysteries"), or simply Asrar ("Mysteries"), the first two alluding to its green colour. One of the odes of Hafiz, beginning "Alaya tuti-yi guya-yi asrar, Mabada khaliyat shakkar zi minkar" ("O Parrot, who discoursest of mysteries, may thy beak never want sugar!"), is addressed to the drug.] into it."

I do not think that during the whole time I was in Persia I ever scored so great a success as by this simple remark. That I --a mere European--should be able to recognise the taste of hashish was much, but that I should know it, so to speak, by its pet name, was indeed to prove myself well matured (pukhte) by travel and the society of persons of experience.

"How ever did you know that?" enquired the Sheykh amidst the laughter and applause of the others.

"Because I am a Firangi must I needs be an ass?" I demanded with a show of indignation.

Sheykh Ibrahim was delighted, and proceeded to unfold to me many mysteries connected with the use of narcotics in Persia. He told me of an oil called Rawghan-i-Hashish ("Oil of Indian Hemp'), prepared from a plant named Tature (? Datura), of which half a nokhud would render a man insensible for twenty- four or thirty-six hours. This, he said, was often employed by Persian adventurers in Turkey and Arabia (especially at Mosul and Mecca) to stupefy persons whom they wished to rob. Mixed with the food intended for the victim's consumption its flavour is imperceptible, and the protracted insensibility to which it gives rise allows the thief ample time to decamp. These revelations were, however, interrupted by the arrival of a murshid, or spiritual director, of the Shah-Ni'matu'llah order of dervishes, who asked me point-blank what my religion was, and was much annoyed when I answered him with the well-known tradition, "Ustur dhahabaka, wa dhahabaka, wa madhhabak" ("Conceal thy gold, thy destination, and thy creed").

(A Year Amongst the Persians by E. G. Browne - 1893/1927)

https://bahai-library.com/books/ayatp/ayatp.17.html

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Subh-i-Azal was designated by the Báb as his successor when he was 16 or 17 years old.

A Turkish dervish who, impelled by curiosity to see so celebrated a heresiarch, visited him soon after his arrival in Cyprus, remarked with surprise "He is still but a child!" Gobineau (p. 277) makes his age only 16 at the time of the Báb's death (A.D. 1850), but it is more probable that this was his age when he was designated by the Báb as his successor, in which case he would be about 19 when he actually succeeded. Bearing in mind the extraordinary virtue attributed by the Bábís to this mystical number, we may well believe that such a coincidence would strongly influence the choice of the faithful in his favour.

(A Traveller's Narrative, p. 374)

https://books.google.com/books?id=bO00c3cAYWsC&pg=PA374&lpg=PA374&

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Introduction of the Baha'i faith by historian Arnold J. Toynbee

The Baha'i Sect is a derivative of the Babi Sect, whose founder Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad of Shiraz declared himself to be 'the Bab' (i.e 'the Gate' of the Twelfth Imam Mahdi of the Imami Shi'ah) in A.D. 1844, and eventually claimed to be the inaugurator of a new dispensation, and a manifestation or incarnation of God. The Babi movement was promptly denounced by the Imami Mujtahids and persecuted by the Persian Government; and the Bab himself, after being thrown into prison at Maku, was put to death at Tabriz in 1850. After the persecution had become intensified as a result of an attempt to assassinate Nasir-ad-Din Shah which was made by Babi fanatics in 1852, a band of Babis was led into exile by the Bab's at that time generally acknowledged successor, the Subh-i-Azal - Mirza Yahya. Their first asylum was Baghdad, and here the party was joined by Mirza Yahya's elder half-brother, Mirza Husayn 'Ali. In 1864 the exiles were transferred from Baghdad to Constantinople, and thence to Adrianople, by the Ottoman authorities. At Adrianople, in 1866-7, Mirza Husayn 'Ali, who had long since been the leader of the exiles de facto, declared himself to be 'Him whom God shall make Manifest': the greater prophet of whom the Bab had professed himself - at least in one phase of his teaching - to be the forerunner. This declaration may be taken as the genesis of the Baha'i Sect; since Mirza Husayn 'Ali, under the title of Baha'u'llah ('the Manifestation of the Beauty of God'), captured from his brother the allegiance of all but an insignificant minority of the Babis, in Persia as well as abroad, and was thenceforth regarded by his followers as the founder of their religion, while the figure of the Bab tended to diminish in stature and to recede into the background (compare the progressive eclipse of Marx by Lenin in the Communist Church of the Soviet Union). In 1868 the Ottoman Government banished Subh-i-Azal to Famagusta in Cyprus and Baha'u'llah to 'Akka on the Syrian coast, where Baha'u'llah continued to reside until his death in 1892. The rigorous internment to which the head of the Baha'i community was at first subjected at 'Akka was gradually relaxed, but it was re-imposed upon Baha'u'llah's son and successor 'Abdul-Baha from 1901 until the Ottoman Revolution of 1908. These physical restrictions, however, did not prevent the propagation of the new religion into Europe and America; and after his liberation in 1908 'Abdul-Baha went in person on a missionary journey which lasted from 1911 to 1913 and carried him as far afield as the Pacific coast of the United States. (For the history and doctrines of Babism see Browne, E. G.: 'The Babis of Persia' in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xxi [new series] (London 1889), pp. 485-526 and 881-1009; eundem: A Traveller's Narrative written to illustrate the Episode of the Bab, edited and translated (Cambridge 1891, University Press, 2 vols.); eundem: Mirza Huseyn's New History of the Bab translated (Cambridge 1893, University Press); eundem: 'Personal Reminiscences of the Babi Insurrection at Zanjan in 1850, translated from the Persian' in J.R A.S. vol. xxix [new series), (London 1897); eundem: Kitab-i-Nuqtatu'l-Kaf, being the earliest history of the Babis, compiled by Haji Mirza Jani of Kashan - E J W. Gibb Memorial Series, vol. xv (London 1910, Luzac), eundem: Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion (Cambridge 1918, University Press), eundem: A Literary History of Persia, vol iv (Cambridge 1928, University Press). For an account of Bahaism from the Baha'i standpoint see Esslemont, J. E.: Baha'u'llah and the New Era (London 1923, Allen and Unwin).

-Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History: Volume V (Royal Institute of International Affairs) Oxford University Press.

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Abdul Baha censored the book

In the immediate aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution, Baha’is increasingly confronted secular modes of thought. As was the case in India, publishing and public debates often went hand-in-hand. In 1919 to 1920, Sayyid Mahdi entered into a public debate with communists on a range of economic and religious issues resulting in the publication of a treatise on socialism and the Baha’i Faith. Sayyid Mahdi’s engagement with secular modes of thinking included Kashf al-Ghita, a posthumous expanded version of his uncle’s refutation of the British scholar E. G. Browne’s works on the Baha’i Faith. ‘Abdu’l-Baha censored the book for its overly polemical tone, once again demonstrating his active monitoring of printed Baha’i books.

(Farzin Vejdani, Transnational Baha’i Print Culture: Community Formation and Religious Authority, 1890–1921, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 4, December 2012)

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Bab's "tawba-namih" (recantation text)

Edward Granville Browne published the official transcript of the meeting in Tabriz in the "Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion" (pp. 248-55), along with the Báb's "tawba-namih" [recantation text] (Ibid., pp. 256-258).

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Baha'u'llah's Education

On the strength of the Persian Bayan, Unity (Wahid) II, chapter (BAB) 1; II. 17; vi.1; vi.8, “verses revealed through the power of the true Faith (Fitra) are the chiefest proof and greatest argument” of a divine mission. The power of the true Faith is identical with the illiteracy (Ummiyya) of the prophet Muhammad.

The same criterion or standard is made applicable by the BAB, ibid, vi.8. to the next manifestation of god, whom he names Man-Yuzhiruhullah (He- Whom-God-Will-Make-Manifest). He will “reveal verses through the power of the true Faith”. He will be uninstructed in the learning of the world. His knowledge would be immanent.

According to the Tanbih-un-Naimin, P.4 Baha received “private tuition” at home in accordance with the norms then obtaining in Iran as regards persons whose parents were in affluent circumstances. He practiced calligraphy and learned the “rudiments of Arabic and literature”. He displayed an aptitude for the “science of philosophy” and for matters connected with “spiritual knowledge (Irfan). He frequented the company of philosophers, knowers of spiritual knowledge and Dervishes”.

In Suleymaniyya, following his flight from Baghdad, ibid, P. 13, Baha studied the “occult sciences”. According to Risala-i-Raddiyya of A.H. 1284 (1867) by the BAB’s brother-in-law Aqa Ali Muhammad of Isfahan, murdered by Baha’s men at Baghdad, the author associated with Baha daily during the whole period of the BABi exiles’ sojourn in Baghdad and was closely acquainted with him. “Most of the time”, the author writes, PP. 59, 60, I saw and heard Baha murmurs something like verses and supplications, as he placed up and down “in the room in his House. “In private he studied the BAB’s and Subh-i-Azal’s works and then practiced writings to acquire rapidity of composition and utterances”.

“When a considerable number of these exercises-books are exhausted,” Baha told me, “either I have them destroyed in the Shat-al-Arab through Mirza Aqa Jan of Kashan [who later became Baha’s amanuensis], or I call for a basin in which I wash them out [i.e. obliterate them].”

Aqa Ali Muhammad of Isfahan’s account is confirmed by Haji Mirza Ahmad of Kerman in his Risala-i-Raddiyya incorporated in the Tanbihun- Naimin, P. 137. Haji Mirza Ahmad adds that Baha studied the “science of Grammar and Syntax” at the hands of one of the believers, “Shaykh Abu Turab of Ishtahard.” According to Subhi’s Payam-i-Padar, P.129, Baha joined the Takya (Convent) of Dervishes in Suleymaniyya and identified himself with them under the name of Dervish Muhammad.

According to Awara, the Kashf-al-Hiyal, Vol. I, 6th impression, P.116, Baha “was taught by Mirza Ali, the Philosopher, as well as by other scholars”. Baha “completed his studies in Suleymaniyya (ibid, p.18)”. In Suleymaniyya, Baha studied the works of the Nakshbandi Order (ibid, P.47)”.

The emphasis by all these authors on Baha’s knowledge acquired by study.

Now Baha was fifty years old, stanza 10, Nabil’s chronological poem [see section 9.1.1], when he set up his pretensions to the office of Him-Whom-God-Will-Make-Manifest. His liabilities, an open street were his knowledge acquired by study; and by his scribbling-notes during the Baghdad period to acquire rapidity of writing and utterance.

To camouflage his knowledge acquired by study, in his epistle addressed to the Shah of Iran from Acre, the Traveller’s Narrative, PP. 57-58, footnote 2 by Prof. Browne, Baha says:

“I have not studied the science which men have, neither I have entered the colleges: Ask the city wherein I was that thou mayest be sure that I am not of those who lies”.

In the epistle to the son of the wolf, Shoghi Effendi’s translation, the passage in question is rendered as follows: (P. 39) “The learning current among men I studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speaks falsely.”

This belated statement seeks to represent Baha to have been an illiterate person, and to demonstrate that his verses were sent down through the power of the true faith. Baha’s followers have taken this statement for gospel.

This statement does not prove Baha’s lack of instruction and education, and does not rule out Baha’s private education and study. Baha was not an illiterate person (Ummi).

(The Religion of The Religion of Religion of the Bayān and The Claims The Claims of the Bahā’is By Jalal S. Azal, Page 212)

Calligraphic exercises written by Baha’u’llah in His childhood

https://news.bahai.org/story/1358/slideshow/4/

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Two pillars upon which Shoghi Effendi's Baha'i narratives were constructed.

The late nineteenth-century writings on Persia of British author George Nathaniel Curzon were especially chosen to aid this project. Gesturing to the Aryan-Persianism explored earlier in the century by John Malcolm, Henry Rawlinson, Arthur Gobineau, Ernest Renan, and latterly Edward Granville Browne, Curzon suited Shoghi Effendi’s preference for authors who stressed the self-evident irreversibility of Persia and Islam’s decline. To this he added a component that operated as a binary opposite: the huge assertion of an exclusive agency of redemption in the form of a unitary Babi-Bahai revelation. These were the two pillars upon which Shoghi Effendi’s Bahai narratives were constructed, and vital to them both was the input Western orientalists provided, some of whom had mentioned Bahaism as possibly replacing Islam as Persia’s established religion. Probably because they were considered “modern” these writers also inflated the number of Bahais there (e.g., Curzon 1892, vol. 1, p. 499), perhaps on the assumption that if they took over the country, they would be friendly to Britain. Not potentially rebellious as the Muslims of the Empire were thought to be, as a small quietist group in Palestine, and like other heterodox Muslim sects scattered through the Empire such as the Ismailis and Ahmadiyya, they not only posed no threat, but positively exuded declarations of loyalty.

(What Is Bahai Orientalism? by Geoffrey Nash)

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/10/1/2

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Names of some prominent former-Baha'is from western countries

Names of some former-Baha'is from western countries (most of whom were scholars)

1) Denis MacEoin

2) Juan Cole

3) Frederick Glaysher

4) William Garlington

5) Karen Bacquet

6) Jenifer Tidwell

7) Eric Stetson

8) Dr. Phyllis Bernard

9) Steven Scholl

10) John Ford Coley

11) Francesco Ficicchia

12) Phoebe Hearst

13) Hermann Roemer

14) Dann May

15) K. Paul Johnson

16) Dermod Ryder

17) Dale Husband

18) Inge Barthel

19) Kai Borrman

20) Darrick Evenson

21) August J. Stenstrand

22) Harrison Gray Dyar

24) Alden Penner

25) Brendan Cook (Raised a Baha'i, Brendan was refused formal membership in the Canadian Baha'i community when he applied as an adult.) https://bahaisonline.net/entries-by-category?start=600

About 66 individuals were identified as ex-Bahá'ís and Momen has written about some of them in his article, here - https://bahai-library.com/momen_marginality_apostasy

Prominent Marginalized Baha'is

1) Sen McGlinn

2) Jonah Winters

3) Alison Marshall

4) Steve Marshall

5) Fadil-i Mazandarani

https://public.websites.umich.edu/~jrcole/talisman/t95dec5b.htm

Scholars of the Baha'i faith who never accepted the Baha'i faith

1) Edward G. Browne

2) Margit Warburg

3) Vernon Elvin Johnson

4) Moshe Sharon

Some not so prominent former Baha'is (The list will be updated gradually)

1) Michael Zargarov

2) Jeff Bixby (Converted to Christianity)

https://www.dewittobserver.com/news/local/new-pastor-plants-roots/article_e2ceb6aa-3c18-11ec-985e-3ba1bcc71f59.html

3) Hilmar Zonneveld

https://www.quora.com/profile/Hilmar-Zonneveld

4) Lisa Armstrong

https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2011/jan/06/bahais-plan-interfaith-powwow-20110106/

https://www.quora.com/profile/Lisa-Armstrong-18

5) Dennis James Rogers

6) Heather Carr-Rowe (Larry) Rowe

https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/3693/

7) Emily Armstrong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkxaFpZoAfY

8) Dan Jensen

9) Timothy Mulligan

10) Andrew Turvey

https://www.quora.com/What-caused-you-to-leave-the-The-Bahai-Faith/answer/Andrew-Turvey-4

11) Elliott Hulse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXz5JJzHXD8

12) Anisa George

https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/chasing-cicadas/

13) Zohreh Davoudi (American - Persian)

https://alisonelizabethmarshall.com/book-review-mother-of-all-evil-by-zohreh-davoudi/

14) Michael McKenny

https://public.websites.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai/1999/mckenny.htm

15) Anjali Sivan

https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxyandheterodoxy/2013/07/19/believing-thomas-how-i-left-the-bahai-faith/

16) Michael Tabor

https://web.archive.org/web/20151210012216/http://www.bahai-faith.com/ex-Bahai-3.html

17) Priscilla Gilman

http://bahaitheway.blogspot.com/2007/07/quite-few-friends-and-acquaintances.html

18) Timothy Casey

https://web.archive.org/web/20150813043133/http://timothycasey.info/why-i-am-no-longer-a-bahai/index.shtml

19) George Fleming

https://web.archive.org/web/20151124080136/http://www.bahai-faith.com/ex-Bahai-7.html

20) Jared Van Driessche

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMiUEfvHhDI

21) Jamal Lyksett

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7DOJmoSGn4

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Edward Browne about the Baha'i teachings

Edward Browne who met Baha’u’llah a couple of times and was granted four successive interviews with him, says about the Baháʼí teachings:

These teachings are in themselves admirable, though inferior, in my opinion, both in beauty and simplicity to the teachings of Christ.

— Edward G. Browne, Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion, Introduction, p. xxi.

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Babi killing of non-Babis and Baha'i killing of Azalis

Babis (predecessors of the Baha'is) have killed many Muslims in Iran. Baha'is have also killed many Azalis.

...the Bab ordered to kill non-Babis, burn all non-Babi books, destroy Muslim shrines, shun all non-Babis, remove all non-Babis from 5 major cities of Iran. The Babis were a cause of at least 3 civil wars in Iran. At least 20 Azalis were killed by the Baha'is.

Source : http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/babism-index

The names of a number of Azalis murdered by the Baha'is are given by Edward Browne in the Persian Introduction to Nuqtatul-Kaf, p. 42, and also in New History, pp. XXIII, XXIV, and J.R.A.S. July 1889, p. 517

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Claims of Quddus

"It is abundantly clear from Haji Mirza Jani's history that Hazrat-i-Quddus advanced the most extravagant claims, and that many of the Babis were disposed to regard him as superior to the Bab. He not only developed himself to be Christ come back to earth, but even went so far as to say, 'Whosoever hath known me is become a polytheist, and whosoever hath not known me is become an infidel, and whosoever asketh 'why' or 'wherefore' or 'how' concerning me is become a reprobate."

(The Tarikh i Jadid or New History of Mirza Ali Muhammad The Bab. Translated by Edward Browne)

https://bahai-library.com/berger_sect_church_bahai

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Do you not remember your sodomies?

Of these times at Adrianople I have heard an interesting narrative from a Persian Mirza, in whose testimony as a witness I have strongest confidence. He was at the time a peesh-Khidmat to the Persian Minister at Constantinople. He was at Samsun when Azal, Baha and their party embarked, and was introduced to them by Haji Rajab Ali Khan. He saw them day by day. Afterwards he went to Adrianople bearing presents to Baha. He found Baha and Azal living in separate rooms of the same house, under guards. The contest for supremacy was active, and the murids (followers) had been won over by Baha. I continue, using the Mirza's language : "I entered one day. I heard words of angry disputation and revilings. Yahya (Azal) said, Oh ! Husain Ali (Baha), you are vile ! Do you not remember your sodomies? You are defiled. Your wife is a bad woman!" Husain Ali answered, "Oh, cursed one! Your son, Nur-i-Kanur (Nur allah), is the son of a certain Sayid - not your own. You are a sodomite, an adulterer." Such and like revilings they hurled at one another. I called Mishkin Kalam, and said to him: "What are these words and doings? If Baha is true, why does he talk so? Why do these brothers revile each other? What a fool I am to have come so many miles to bring presents to and to hear such vile words from a divinity !" I then went to the room of Ishan. My companion said to him, "Why do they revile so?" I said, "I wish to ask you a question." He said, "What is it?" I said, "You say they do not work miracles, but must there not be personal influence and power in their speech?"

This bitter quarreling between Azal and Baha and their followers led to mutual accusations against each other before the Osmani government, and to the transfer of the former to Cyprus and the latter to Acca. It developed into a bitter schism. The two sects in Persia hate each other intensely. Professor Browne found the attitude of the Baha'is towards the Azalis in Persia "unjust and intolerant," and reprimanded them for "their violence and unfairness." They cursed and reviled in the presence of Professor Browne.

-Bahaism, It's failure in Moral Conduct by S.G. Wilson

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ignorant men and smokers of opium.

It is impossible in this brief note to do justice to this remarkable book (Haji Mirza Jani Kashani's Nuqtat-al-Kaf), which contains many particulars not to be found elsewhere. For instance, in discussing (on p. 179) my allusion to the "stationary" Babis called "Kullu-Shay'i," the author describes and names the small group at Yazd of whom they consisted, their leader being Mirza Ja'far the shoe-maker (kaffash), whose chief followers were Sayyid Isma'il the dyer (sabbagh) and Mirza Sulayman the builder (banna). These he had taken the trouble to visit, and found them ignorant men and smokers of opium.

(Edward G. Browne)

https://books.google.com/books?id=SuU8AAAAIAAJ

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