Shoghi Effendi was Ayatollah. God's presence is available to whoever turns to Him.

He [Shoghi Effendi] was, as the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, the Sign of God (áyatu’lláh), and God's presence is available to whoever turns to Him, including persons so insignificant that in this world they could never get in to see even the pettiest official or the least of company managers.

http://bahairesearch.com/english/Baha%27i/Baha%27i_Studies/Marzieh_Gail/Arches_of_the_Years.aspx

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Why beautification of Baha'i Shrines in Israel?

Since in the Holy Land the Bahá’ís had to teach indirectly, the Guardian said one such way was to beautify the Shrines.

He told us that acquiring the heart of the mountain, which the Bahá’ís owned by 1935, was not easy, because there were many enemies of the Faith in that place, and the Covenant-breaker Muhammad-‘Alí was still active through his son, who was employed in the Land Registry Office, while various other elements were also actively against the Faith.

http://bahairesearch.com/english/Baha%27i/Baha%27i_Studies/Marzieh_Gail/Arches_of_the_Years.aspx

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Claimants to the Office of He-Whom-God-Will-Make-Manifest

Alphabetical list of some of the pretenders who had prior pretensions to be "Him-Whom-God-Will-Make-Manifest" and/or the return of the Imam Husayn is subjoined:

1. Abd-al-Karim-i-Tabrizi
2. Abdullah Gawhar
3. Ali Akbar-i-Shirazi
4. Hashim-i-Kashi-Haji Mulla
5. Husayn-Ali Nuri (Baha'u'llah)
6. Husayn-i-Hindiyani or Hindigani
7. Husayn-i-Milani known as Husayn Jan
8. Ismail-i-Isfahani
9. Mahdi Ardastani
10. Muhammad Karawi
11. Muhammad Nabil Zarandi, author of Nabil's Narrative
12. Musa Sumi, Haji
13. Sayyid Ama
14. Sayyid Ama-i-Hindi Known as Basir
15. Sayyid Uluv

https://bayanic.com/lib/fwd/must/Must2-FWD.html?id=must2

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One of the twelve principles of the Baha'i faith in the early stage.

"the prohibition of destruction of books" was one of the twelve principles of the Baha'i faith in the early stage.

-Todd Lawson

http://wilmetteinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2012-Lawson-Return-of-Joseph-scan.pdf

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Laws of the Babi Sharia.

It [Kitab-i-Aqdas] also does away with several of the more restrictive measures of the Babi shari'a, including the mass slaughter of non-believers, the destruction of books and shrines, compulsory marriage at the age of 11, the confiscation of the property of unbelievers, and the prohibition on travel except for purposes of trade.

The apparent tolerance shown in the many positive statements made in the Bayan is quite contradicted by a string of very harsh regulations governing relations with non-believers. The latter are forbidden to live in the five central provinces of Iran; the shrines and holy places of previous religions (including the Shi'i shrines in Kufa and elsewhere, together with the Ka'ba) are to be demolished; all non-Babi books are to be destroyed; believers are not to sit in the company of non-believers, nor marry them; the property of unbelievers can legitimately be taken from them by believers.

-Denis MacEoin

https://bahai-library.com/maceoin_deconstructing_sharia

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The Bab and Quddus were both the Qa'im!!

...at Bidasht, Mullā Muḥammad ʿAlī Bārfurūshī Quddūs, claimed to be the return of the prophet Muḥammad, adducing in evidence of this his ability to produce verses, prayers, and homilies; later, at the shrine of Shaykh Ṭabarsi, Quddūs is said to have referred to Bushrūʾī (originally understood to be the return of Muḥammad) as the Imām Ḥusayn. More controversially, the Nuqtạt al-kāf maintains that when, in the year 5, the Bāb laid claim to the rank of Qāʾim, “the Point of Qāʾimiyya manifested itself in the temple of his holiness the Remembrance [i.e., the Bāb], who became the heaven of the (Primal) Will (samāʾ-i mashiyyatī), while the earth of illumination and volition (arḍ-i ishrāq wa irāda) was his holiness Azal (i.e., Mīrzā Yaḥyā Nūrī, Ṣubḥ-i Azal).” In apparent—but not, as will be shown, necessarily real—contradiction to this, the same source elsewhere maintains that Quddūs was himself the Qāʾim and ʿAlī Muḥammad his bāb, the former having advanced his claims in the fourth year after the period during which the latter had summoned men to God. Quddūs, it is said, made his claims independently and became the heaven of will, with the Bāb the earth of volition. Similarly, Quddūs is described as “the origin of the point” (asl-i nuqta), ʿAlī Muḥammad again being his bāb. And, more confusingly, it is stated that the Bāb and Quddūs were both the Qāʾim, in the same way that the Shiʿi Imāms may all be referred to by this title.

(Denis MacEoin, The Messiah of Shiraz)

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Tahiri's "unveiling herself" caused some Babis to recant their new faith or slit their throats!!!

The unveiling caused shock and consternation amongst the men present. Prior to this, many had regarded Táhirih as the epitome of purity... Many screamed in horror at the sight, and one man was so horrified that he cut his own throat and, with blood pouring from his neck, fled the scene. Táhirih then arose and began a speech on the break from Islam.

-Wikipedia

Here is what one ex-Baha'i claimed regarding this incident.

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Tafsir (Exegisis) of Quran by the Bab!

The Báb explains the phrase “By the afternoon” (Va’l-‘asr) by analyzing the meaning of the letter Váv (here meaning “By”) as well as “afternoon” (‘asr) and their mutual connection. Váv is the second letter of the name of God, Huva (He), consisting of the letters Há’ and Váv. Váv (6) is the immediate (succeeding) manifestation of Há’ (5), and they appear successively in the name that refers to the unseen Essence of God. In this way Váv is a reflection of “He.”However,“He” itself, which is equal to 11, is manifested in the name of God, ‘Alí (the Most Exalted), because ‘Alí is equal to 110, which is a reflection of 11, and thus of “He.” “Afternoon,” according to the Báb, refers to the station of Imám ‘Alí because the station of the Prophet Muhammad is that of the sun at its zenith, and the immediate manifestation or successor of the noon is the afternoon; moreover, it was ‘Alí who led the afternoon prayer on behalf of the Prophet.

-Gate of the heart. Nader Saiedi

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"Tablet of Asma alone is about three thousand pages."

I attended the glorious annual (Baha'i sponsored) Persian Arts & Culture conference near Chicago last weekend. Some three to four thousand Baha'is and friends of the Faith attend this glorious conference every year. Among the speakers was our very knowledgeable Dr. Nader Saidi who is one of those rare individuals that I know who has studied carefully all the thousands of pages of Tablets and Writings of the Bab. He stated that the Tablet of Asma alone is about three thousand pages.

-Roger K. Doost (The Largest Baha'i Facebook Group Ever)

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Bigamy in the Baha'i writings

"Beware that ye take not unto yourselves more wives than two. Whoso contenteth himself with a single partner from among the maidservants of God, both he and she shall live in tranquillity."

[Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas]

"Concerning bigamy, this has been promulgated, and no one must abrogate it. ‘Abdu’l Baha has not abrogated this law. These are false accusations and lies (spread by) the friends..."

"You asked about polygamy. According to the text (nass) of the Divine Book, having two wives is permitted ja’iz). This was never (abadan) prohibited, but it is legitimate and allowed (halal wa mubah)..."

[Amr wa Khalq 4: 174f]

According to Sen McGlinn, the Bab allowed this too. (a wife taking a second husband because of the first husband's infertility)

“... it is true that during the ministry of Bahá'u'lláh, and also during that of Abdu'l-Baha, bigamy was practiced to some degree in the Bahá'í communities of the East.”

- written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice

“...[Bahá’u’lláh] outwardly permitted two wives.”

- Universal House of Justice

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Rebelling against an earthly ruler

Asked if it were ever right to rebel against an earthly ruler, Abdul Baha replied: Yes, if he deals unjustly and tyrannically with his people he forfeits the right to govern them.

-Abdul Baha. Notes taken by A. S. D., Acca, Oct. 16, 1907.
https://bahai-library.com/compilation_peace_war_government

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Abuse, hatred and animosity against the Shi'ih Muslims

The Babis and Baha'is show hatred and animosity against the Shiahs of Persia, abuse and revile them, and heap malediction and curses upon them. These evil feelings are shown especially against the rulers and the Mullahs. The Baha'i historians indulge so much in diatribes and maledictions, that Professor Browne wearies of translating them, and omits pages of abuse.

-Samuel Graham Wilson
(BAHAISM : ITS FAILURE IN MORAL CONDUCT)

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Why Baha'i Temples are empty? Why they can never hope to achieve beyond the meagre and often transitory results...?

Divorced from the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific pursuits centering around the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, Bahá’í worship, however exalted in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve beyond the meagre and often transitory results produced by the contemplations of the ascetic or the communion of the passive worshiper. It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshiper himself, much less to humanity in general, unless and until translated and transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of humanity which it is the supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár to facilitate and promote. Nor will the exertions, no matter how disinterested and strenuous, of those who within the precincts of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár will be engaged in administering the affairs of the future Bahá’í Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless they are brought into close and daily communion with those spiritual agencies centering in and radiating from the central Shrine of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.


(Shoghi Effendi)

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/BA/ba-169.html

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The laws of Bahá’u’lláh are not considered binding on the friends in Egypt... there is no objection to a marriage taking place without the permission of either set of parents being obtained.

Should the parents be implacably opposed to the notion of their son or daughter’s marrying another Bahá’í, then, at least in the case of new believers, this need not prove an insurmountable barrier. This is because, as previously mentioned, the laws of Bahá’u’lláh are not considered binding on the friends in Egypt who do not come from Bahá’í families. Therefore, should this person find another soul who also has a pure heart which is already, or can be, attracted to the Cause of God and who, consequently, is not officially registered as belonging to the community, then there would be no objection to a marriage taking place without the permission of either set of parents being obtained.

The UHJ, Letter Dated 31 March 2009
Transmitted by email to the Office of Persian and Arab Affairs

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Bahá'u'lláh Conversed with Moses in the Burning Bush

"...Bahá'u'lláh is the greatest Manifestation to yet appear, the One Who consummates the Revelation of Moses; He was the One Moses conversed with in the Burning Bush. In other words Bahá'u'lláh identifies the glory of the Godhead on that occasion with Himself..."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, October 19, 1947)

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