His banner was planted in Islam’s very heart through the establishment of a Spiritual Assembly in Mecca; ...
(The Priceless Pearl, Rúhíyyih Rabbani)
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Properties purchased by Shoghi Effendi
Before he passed away he had succeeded in creating great protective rings of land around the holiest of all Shrines, Bahá’u’lláh’s Tomb, and around the resting-places of the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His mother, sister and brother. In addition to this he had chosen and directed the purchase of the land on Mt Carmel which would serve as the site of the future Bahá’í Temple to be erected in the Holy Land. If we consider that at the time of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing the area of Bahá’í properties on Mt Carmel probably did not exceed 10,000 square metres, and that Shoghi Effendi had, by 1957, raised this to 230,000 square metres, and that in Bahjí the comparable figures would be 1,000 square metres for 1921 and 257,000 square metres for 1957, we get an idea of his accomplishments in this one field alone. Through the generosity of individual Bahá’ís, through their bequests, through their response to his appeals in times of crisis, through the use of funds he held at the World Centre, Shoghi Effendi succeeded in purchasing land on the scale reflected by these figures and thus metamorphosed the situation of the Faith at its World Centre.
(The Priceless Pearl, Rúhíyyih Rabbani)
(The Priceless Pearl, Rúhíyyih Rabbani)
small wooden box containing the remains of the Bab
It took more than one hundred years for Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi to finally discharge the sacred trust which the Báb’s remains represented for them, a trust which lasted from the day of His martyrdom in 1850 until the final completion of His Shrine in 1953. From the moment when He was apprised of the execution of the Báb until He ascended in 1892 Bahá’u’lláh had watched over that Sacred Dust, supervising its removal from one place of concealment to another. During a visit to Mt Carmel He had pointed out to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with His own hand where the Báb’s body was to rest forever, instructing Him to purchase this piece of land and bring the hidden remains from Persia and inter them there. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Himself a prisoner, succeeded in having the small wooden box containing the remains of the Báb and His martyred companion conveyed, by caravan and boat, from Persia to Akka. When the first group of western pilgrims visited the prison-city in the winter of 1898–9, this precious casket was already concealed in the Master’s home [also under the bed of Bahiyyih Khanum], its presence a carefully guarded secret.
(The Priceless Pearl, Rúhíyyih Rabbani)
buy this land and bring the body of the Báb and inter Him here.
Abdul-Baha, Bab, Baha'u'llah, Israel, Money, Palestine, Ruhiyyih Khanum
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One day Bahá’u’lláh rested on Mt Carmel. He pointed out a spot to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and said buy this land and bring the body of the Báb and inter Him here.
(The Priceless Pearl, Rúhíyyih Rabbani)
Shoghi Effendi's cars, gold gift, trips to Swiss Alps and Cameras
Shoghi and Abdul Baha's Cars
Shoghi Effendi for many years had had a private automobile and chauffeur (like ‘Abdu’l-Bahá before him) ...
I remember the Guardian telling me of how (I believe it must have been in early 1920) one of the old American Bahá’ís had sent a gift to the Master of a Cunningham automobile; notice of its arrival at the quayside in port came just as the weekend commenced and the Master gave Shoghi Effendi instructions to see that it was cleared and delivered to the house.
Shoghi's Swiss trip and his camera
A very happy young Guardian on top of a Swiss Alp with his guide; Shoghi Effendi carried his own camera with him, ...
Gold ring
“I have received the gold ring which you sent me ... and have offered it, after wearing it myself, to the Greatest Holy Leaf ...
Shoghi Effendi's new big lovely Buick car is stolen.
[4-5-48] “Today the car was stolen! [A gift to Shoghi Effendi from Roy Wilhelm. The Guardian had had no car for years as the old one was sold during the war owing to no spare parts.] ... I phoned Dr. Weinshall, who advised us to go to the Hadar Hacarmel Police Station. Shoghi Effendi was calmer than anyone else, and only said ‘How it will rejoice my enemies!’ I guess none of us hoped to really see the car again—but how sad it was to have our big lovely Buick, just received after so long a time, gone! ... Then our nice taxi driver took us to another Haganah place and we again reported. Then a strange thing happened! We were walking home tired and dispirited, and in the window of a cosmetic shop on Herzl Street she saw a hand lotion I had tried several times to get. I thought I would not bother, but then I decided to get it and went in. The proprietor has known Dad and me for years so he asked about Daddy and I enquired about his old father, etc. I was not going to say anything about the car as I felt humiliated about it but after paying for my things I started out without them. That looked so foolish that I apologized and said ‘I am very upset because our car has just been stolen!’ The man said ‘But I saw your car today at about 2:15 in the new Business Center! And I was surprised because I wondered how you could sell such a beautiful new car!’ It seems he had seen Gladys and me driving by the day before and remembered the car vividly and the U.S. license plates! He said Jews had been in it and a Jew driving it and it was just around the corner from the Savoy Hotel. He also said please not to give his name as a witness, but I said then it won’t help us, so he weakened and said we could. ... Of course we rushed back to the police station and reported what he had said and when I got home I found Mr. Friedman had left his number for me so I called him and told him and he said ‘That’s all I need to know. Now I know they brought it into our part of town I can get them!’ Some time later the Hadar Police Station called and said ‘Your car has been located and you will get it back tomorrow so don’t worry.’
(The Priceless Pearl, Rúhíyyih Rabbani)
Driving the big car, though, was a challenge in Haifa's narrow streets. Ben noted that the car needed 'a hinge in the middle'. But Ben was really happy to drive because Shoghi Effendi had great enjoyment from it.(Shoghi Effendi Through the Pilgrim's Eye, Volume 1, Building the Administrative Order, 1922-1952 by Earl Redman)
Arms are sold openly in Arab quarters. The Bahá’ís here, in Akka, from Tiberius, etc., all testify to this
“Arms are sold openly in Arab quarters. The Bahá’ís here, in Akka, from Tiberius, etc., all testify to this ... Hassan said he and his cousin Muhammad were sitting in a cafe in Tiberius; they heard a boy hawking, he was crying ‘Grenade, grenade!’ Hassan could not believe his ears so he called him over and asked him what he was selling? He said bombs. He had a sack on his back. This he obligingly dumped on the ground and unloaded a pile of hand grenades! (Mills bombs) ‘How much are they each?’ asked Hassan. ‘Seventy-five piastres’ said the peddler! Needless to say he did not buy ... I saw a man from my own bedroom window a few days ago with a revolver in his hand and a crowd of Arabs around him. He wanted to make sure it was working so he came over to our garden wall, fired two shots at it, and headed off for the town, probably to do his bit of murder.”
(Ruhiyyih Rabbani, The Priceless Pearl)
Monday, March 27, 2023
How the soul of universalism banished from the teachings of Baha'u'llah?
The guardian, hierarchies, assemblies, rituals, taboos, rules for membership, approved forms of behavior, committees on publications, boards of censors, causes for excommunication—all the elaborate ramifications of the institutional pattern conspired to banish the soul of universalism from the Bahai teachings.
(Haridas T. Mazumdar in Broken Silence, p 22)
(Haridas T. Mazumdar in Broken Silence, p 22)
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Here are some of the cult-like tendencies in the Baha'i Faith that are not found in other major religions
Here are some of the cult-like tendencies in the Baha'i Faith that are not found in other major religions:
1. Each Baha'i has a 'membership card' with a membership number
2. Strict censorship and approval process for new books
3. Punishments against individuals for perceived infractions include deprivation of voting rights and potential ostracism and shunning
4. Ban on Baha'i Studies courses to prevent hierarchy formation perceived as a threat to the administrative structure
5. Suppression of Baha'i academics who don't follow the party line and agenda
6. Misuse of the notion of "unity" to silence and penalise divergent views
7. Discouragement from reporting misconduct of individual members in the interests of "unity" and public image
8. Selective translation of literature to control information and maintain a marketable narrative despite internal contradictions
9. Revisionist edits in new editions of books (e.g. removal of failed prophecies and intolerant language)
10. Frequent fundraising for projects to enhance global image
2. Strict censorship and approval process for new books
3. Punishments against individuals for perceived infractions include deprivation of voting rights and potential ostracism and shunning
4. Ban on Baha'i Studies courses to prevent hierarchy formation perceived as a threat to the administrative structure
5. Suppression of Baha'i academics who don't follow the party line and agenda
6. Misuse of the notion of "unity" to silence and penalise divergent views
7. Discouragement from reporting misconduct of individual members in the interests of "unity" and public image
8. Selective translation of literature to control information and maintain a marketable narrative despite internal contradictions
9. Revisionist edits in new editions of books (e.g. removal of failed prophecies and intolerant language)
10. Frequent fundraising for projects to enhance global image
Friday, March 24, 2023
He was responsible for converting 200 Chinese people in a small village.
One of our Vietnamese Bahá’ís named Minh lived on the outskirts of Saigon among many Chinese. Before he became a Bahá’í he was teaching the Faith. He was responsible for bringing in 200 Chinese believers in a small village which I visited several times. Minh was quite a person. He kept a boa constrictor under the bed where he slept at night. It was in a large cage that could be opened quickly. I didn’t realize he might have had it for his protection. When I was in combat in Italy I carried a ‘45 in a shoulder holster all the time and slept with it at night in case the enemy came to our area. I felt I would at least have something to slow them up and keep them from destroying us.
(Servants of the Glory: A Chronicle of Forty Years of Pioneering, Morgan, Adrienne and Dempsey)
(Servants of the Glory: A Chronicle of Forty Years of Pioneering, Morgan, Adrienne and Dempsey)
https://afnanlibrary.org/servants-of-the-glory-40-years-of-pioneering/
Story of Jamshed Maani
He [Dr. Muhájir] had an assistant, Jamshed Maani, who also did wonderful work there, in Sarawak and in Borneo where he was sent in 1963 by the National Spiritual Assembly for the region. Jamshed brought in 6,000 Bahá’ís among the Dyak tribe, who lived in long houses. Each long house had an Assembly. The Dyaks told Jamshed they had been waiting for him because according to their tradition a white man would come and bring a new religion. So they accepted the Faith quickly.
The National Spiritual Assembly of Southeast Asia sent Yankee Leong, a Chinese Bahá’í from Malaysia, to assist Jamshed in Sarawak. Yankee Leong said one of the native Bahá’ís carne to hug him, and the man was filthy as the natives never take baths. Yankee Leong told the man to go home and take a bath and he would hug him. The man said if he took a bath it could kill him. Yankee Leong suggested he do it gradually, by putting only his foot into the water the first day. The next day he could put his leg into the water and proceed like that each day until his entire body had been bathed. A few days later the man returned, having taken a full bath, and Yankee Leong said "after that he was quite huggable."
Jamshed Maani reminded one of Jesus Christ in appearance, detached, very spiritual. I wanted him to come to Saigon and help us conquer the entire country of Vietnam. However, it seems he went to bed one night and dreamed that Bahá’u’lláh came and told him he was the next prophet. The following morning he notified the Iranian Bahá’ís in Indonesia, who called the National Spiritual Assembly to ask them to send someone to Indonesia to examine Jamshed Maani. They feared he had become a Covenant breaker. He was summoned to Djakarta to meet with Jim Fozdar and me from Vietnam, and Dr. Muhájir from Singapore. According to Dr. Muhájir, Jamshed had been pioneering alone for five or ten years and he had no wife, so this might have been part of the problem. No action was taken concerning Jamshed. We all went to Haifa together for the election of the first Universal House of Justice. When Jamshed returned to Indonesia, the Bahá’í religion was banned by the Muslim government. Some Bahá’ís were arrested and imprisoned, one of them because he was praying. Jamshed returned to Iran where members of his family became his followers which caused him and them to be declared Covenant breakers. Incidentally, the language spoken in Mentawai Island was the same as that spoken in Borneo, although they are 1500 miles apart. This was helpful to Jamshed as, having pioneered in Mentawai Island, it enabled him to translate some of the books for the Dyaks in Kuching, Sarawak when he went there.
The National Spiritual Assembly of Southeast Asia sent Yankee Leong, a Chinese Bahá’í from Malaysia, to assist Jamshed in Sarawak. Yankee Leong said one of the native Bahá’ís carne to hug him, and the man was filthy as the natives never take baths. Yankee Leong told the man to go home and take a bath and he would hug him. The man said if he took a bath it could kill him. Yankee Leong suggested he do it gradually, by putting only his foot into the water the first day. The next day he could put his leg into the water and proceed like that each day until his entire body had been bathed. A few days later the man returned, having taken a full bath, and Yankee Leong said "after that he was quite huggable."
Jamshed Maani reminded one of Jesus Christ in appearance, detached, very spiritual. I wanted him to come to Saigon and help us conquer the entire country of Vietnam. However, it seems he went to bed one night and dreamed that Bahá’u’lláh came and told him he was the next prophet. The following morning he notified the Iranian Bahá’ís in Indonesia, who called the National Spiritual Assembly to ask them to send someone to Indonesia to examine Jamshed Maani. They feared he had become a Covenant breaker. He was summoned to Djakarta to meet with Jim Fozdar and me from Vietnam, and Dr. Muhájir from Singapore. According to Dr. Muhájir, Jamshed had been pioneering alone for five or ten years and he had no wife, so this might have been part of the problem. No action was taken concerning Jamshed. We all went to Haifa together for the election of the first Universal House of Justice. When Jamshed returned to Indonesia, the Bahá’í religion was banned by the Muslim government. Some Bahá’ís were arrested and imprisoned, one of them because he was praying. Jamshed returned to Iran where members of his family became his followers which caused him and them to be declared Covenant breakers. Incidentally, the language spoken in Mentawai Island was the same as that spoken in Borneo, although they are 1500 miles apart. This was helpful to Jamshed as, having pioneered in Mentawai Island, it enabled him to translate some of the books for the Dyaks in Kuching, Sarawak when he went there.
(Servants of the Glory: A Chronicle of Forty Years of Pioneering, Morgan, Adrienne and Dempsey)
https://afnanlibrary.org/servants-of-the-glory-40-years-of-pioneering/
https://afnanlibrary.org/servants-of-the-glory-40-years-of-pioneering/
Converting primitive people to the Baha'i faith in Indonesia
Dr. Muhájir had pioneered in Mentawai Island, located in the Indian Ocean on the west side of Indonesia. From Djakarta, the capital of Indonesia, it took about a week to get there. The people were very primitive and wore no clothes. The Indonesian government was Muslim and employed Iranian medical doctors to help keep their people healthy. As a doctor Dr. Muhájir was employed and sent to Mentawai Island where he remained for a number of years and was able to enroll thousands of Bahá’ís on the island. I heard him say that as he traveled by canoe among the islands he could hear people in another canoe on the other side of the river chanting, "Who is The Bab?" Someone would reply, "The Bab is the Forerunner." Another would ask, "Who is Bahá’u’lláh?" and the reply would be: "He is the Prophet for today." Of course this made Dr. Muhájir very happy.
(Servants of the Glory: A Chronicle of Forty Years of Pioneering, Morgan, Adrienne and Dempsey)
https://afnanlibrary.org/servants-of-the-glory-40-years-of-pioneering/
https://afnanlibrary.org/servants-of-the-glory-40-years-of-pioneering/
Covenant-breakers are like the cow of Imam Hasan
This claim of vain glory reminded me of the story that beloved Mr. Bakhtavar told us regarding the misconceptions of the Covenant Breakers about their station: In the early period of Islamic Era, when the grandson of Muhammad and the second Imam of Shi’at, Imam Hassan was reigning the Shi’at Community, he lived a simple life and did not have many worldly possessions. The believers presented a cow to the Imam as a gift. The cow of Imam Hassan developed the habit of roaming in the neighborhood yards and gorging on what it could find. The Moslems tolerated the cow's transgressions because of their love and respect for their Imam.
Hard times fell on the Shei'at community, and Imam Hassan decided to sell his cow. The next day the cow, ignorant of changes in its fate, set off in its usual round, but anywhere it went, was faced with hostile owners, who mercilessly shooed it off. The cow did not comprehend that the bestowal of love and privileges that it had received was because of its connection to Imam Hassan. When that relationship ceased to exist, so did the status of that cow. Mr. Bakhtovar’s humorous metaphor was an analogy of the station of the believers who broke the Covenant.
(Footprints in the Sands of Time, Memoire of a Maidservant, Shahla Behroozi Gillbanks, 2019)
https://afnanlibrary.org/d/footprints-in-the-sands-of-time-revised-sept-2020-ed/?page=1
What is the problem with the Baha'i faith?
1. Women equality (UHJ) issue.
2. Push for Ruhi Indoctrination.
3. Endless meetings on recruiting others into the faith and forming clusters, etc. instead of focusing on the local community and it’s needs.
4. Heavy-handedness & Intimidation by Institutions and their administrative officers (ABM, etc.)
5. Lack of fun and social activities.
6. Shunning or removal of voting rights of others who don’t agree with mainstream faith beliefs or who are calling for change.
7. Lack of Freedom of Speech or Independent thought.
8. Not allowing political activism for social justice.
9. Clamping down on independent scholars and researchers within the Baha’i faith.
10. Elitism (Persians vs. others)
11. Lack of charity (helping the less fortunate, poor or homeless).
12. Lots of gimmicks.
13. Execrating and creating fear of the co-called covenant-breakers.
2. Push for Ruhi Indoctrination.
3. Endless meetings on recruiting others into the faith and forming clusters, etc. instead of focusing on the local community and it’s needs.
4. Heavy-handedness & Intimidation by Institutions and their administrative officers (ABM, etc.)
5. Lack of fun and social activities.
6. Shunning or removal of voting rights of others who don’t agree with mainstream faith beliefs or who are calling for change.
7. Lack of Freedom of Speech or Independent thought.
8. Not allowing political activism for social justice.
9. Clamping down on independent scholars and researchers within the Baha’i faith.
10. Elitism (Persians vs. others)
11. Lack of charity (helping the less fortunate, poor or homeless).
12. Lots of gimmicks.
13. Execrating and creating fear of the co-called covenant-breakers.
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha advocated Taqiya but Shoghi Effendi made a law prohibiting it.
ʿAbd-al-Bahāʾ himself urged his followers on different occasions to practice ḥekmat and abide by taqiya: ʿalaykom be’t-taqiyya (ʿAbd-al-Bahāʾ, pp. 325-27).
But Shoghi Effendi made a law prohibiting dissimulation:
The first notion of a prohibition in regard to dissimulation seems to be contained in a letter of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais in Iran, dated 9 November 1927.
https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/taqiya-ii-among-babis-and-bahais
But Shoghi Effendi made a law prohibiting dissimulation:
The first notion of a prohibition in regard to dissimulation seems to be contained in a letter of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais in Iran, dated 9 November 1927.
https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/taqiya-ii-among-babis-and-bahais
Baha'u'llah admits to have supplied women to Subh-i-Azal
Once We [Baha'u'llah] had entered Iraq and a number of days passed, We were joined by My brother [Subh-i-Azal], and he remained with Us for a period of months that hath been mentioned in Tablets. He sought from Us a wife; We procured for him what quelled his carnal desire, and he dwelled comfortably in the land.
Though We sent for believing women to be dispatched from other lands to appear before thee, whereafter thou didst enjoy intimacy with them and abide in conspicuous comfort, ...
Although, moreover, thou didst seek from Me what would gratify thy passion, till eventually thou didst gather around thyself a number of maidens and sustain thyself with them, ...
O My brother! How many a night didst thou repose on thy bed with thy wives while I personally protected thee, ...
(Baha'u'llah, Lawh-i-Mirza Rida-Quli)
Though We sent for believing women to be dispatched from other lands to appear before thee, whereafter thou didst enjoy intimacy with them and abide in conspicuous comfort, ...
Although, moreover, thou didst seek from Me what would gratify thy passion, till eventually thou didst gather around thyself a number of maidens and sustain thyself with them, ...
O My brother! How many a night didst thou repose on thy bed with thy wives while I personally protected thee, ...
(Baha'u'llah, Lawh-i-Mirza Rida-Quli)
And Moojan Momen (Scholar loyal to the Baha'i UHJ) states:
Mírzá Yahyá is reputed to have been an uxorious man. His own son Ridvan-`Ali reports him to have had eleven or twelve wives while another source gives fourteen wives.
(The Cyprus Exiles)
Mírzá Yahyá is reputed to have been an uxorious man. His own son Ridvan-`Ali reports him to have had eleven or twelve wives while another source gives fourteen wives.
(The Cyprus Exiles)