The Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights » History

The Baha’is: A Tiny Weird Group in Your Backyard

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:23:00 +0000

The following exceptional article by Steven was posted on MideastYouth and we thought the readers of BahaiRights would be interested in it.

The Baha’is: A Tiny Weird Group in Your Backyard

The Bahá’ís have been in the news out of Iran and neighboring regions.

I could go on about the governmental angle but my real focus is the experience and attitudes of people. This isn’t just about government oppressions and fanatical theologies to hold onto power. This is really about bias and oppression of a minority that becomes increasingly visible – something you heard about as children and youth and something you had a chance to see for yourselves. In Debating Muslims[1], one of the authors reviews his youthful pranks and how he grew up and did more serious things. This isn’t about government policies – this is about children and youth and what’s ok to make fun of.

Well maybe it’s about government a little bit. We still see government policies subverting their own rules to systematically denigrate and attempting to dismantle the Bahá’í community. We see allegations of Bahá’í involvement with other powers still being promulgated even as we did a century ago. And in all the world we see this mostly from Iran. In Iran we see testimony like Eliz Sanasarian who says [2] “Of all non-Muslim religious minorities the persecution of the Bahais has been the most widespread, systematic, and uninterrupted.… In contrast to other non-Muslim minorities, the Bahais have been spread throughout the country in villages, small towns, and various cities, fueling the paranoia of the prejudiced.” Just to the north in Turkmenistan we see that though Perestroika took hold across the Soviet block, and the Bahá’í community of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan was the first to reform its institutions, had doubled its numbers from 1989 to 1991, and had successfully registered with the city government of Ashgabat but still the national government of Turkmenistan revised it’s religious registration laws such that by 1997 it forced the de-registration of the Bahá’ís along with several other religious communities and more than just being unable to form administrative institutions, own properties like temples, and publish literature, perform scholarly work and community service projects - their membership in a religion is simply unrecognized, the religion is considered banned, and homes are raided for Bahá’í literature.[3] Moving further northwest we have the situation in Uzebekistan – news reports mention how a government official thinks Bahá’ís “can drink tea – that’s not forbidden” but banishes others and a government policy apparently forced cable television operators to air what they knew was propaganda. But at least Bahá’ís are able to be registered and operate their eight local communities. And then we see in Kazakhstan, another step further north west, a somewhat hostile atmosphere demanding national and local registration but there are at least 25 communities so registered and no talk of banishment and propaganda.[4]

I think it is fair to say that when the great well known religions were young they all went through some stages before they were able to establish themselves in a civilization, a way of life among the people. The Founders of the religion were dealt with painfully and their followers were killed in number. But a student of these histories may know of different times when things were done less viciously. These events in modern day Iran do not compare with the burning of Christians to provide light as was done in early Rome.[5] The comparable period of the Bahá’í Faith is past. This isn’t the somewhat disinterested concern over weirdness in a community as in the case of Emperor Trajan [6] against the Christians. That seems more like what Stalin did – it didn’t matter what we believed, we were just different but left alone if we were unobtrusive. Perhaps this is more like “Diocletian’s preference for activist government, combined with his self-image as a restorer of past Roman glory, presaged the most pervasive persecution (of Christianity) in Roman history.”[7]

But let’s broaden the view here. Bahá’ís are interested in fairness – not regime change. We’ve lived and died under harsher abuse when we were blown from cannons and danced with lit candles carved in our skins, or when the Stalinist Soviets broke up small cities of Bahá’ís. We didn’t foment rebellion. But most Bahá’ís are not Persian or in Iran and haven’t been for a long time. One can quote statistics – that according to the Britannica Book of the Year (1992–present) the religion is the second most widespread of the world’s independent religions in terms of the number of countries represented. Or that for at least 35 years Christian evangelist sources known to favor counting Christians above other groups still noted the religion as among the fastest growing religions in the world – it certainly hasn’t been growing in Iran! But I believe statistics don’t matter much to most people. They just take up alittle air time to say but don’t impress upon people a grasp of what’s really going on. Children would still pick on children who are different. Youth would roll by in small gangs still pushing around kids who are different. But these children and youth grow up alittle more and encounter things not just in their backyard. So I urge people to examine their belief by exploring the depth and breadth of the community represented in these and other statistics. Pick a country – any country – and see if you can find the Bahá’ís there, something of their history there, the experience of the local people who’s heritage is in that spot. Some of this can be seen on Wikipedia but there are depths far beyond what can be reviewed in a dry semi-acadmic summary of what others say. There are parents, young love, and children, there is art and acts of service, there may be a change in outlook and behavior here and there. Is this the spreading of corruption or the bending of knee and grasping of hands to work together? Christians were judged weird and dedicated by ancient thinkers.[8] Perhaps we honor that heritage? Though barely established Bahá’ís helped in the 2010 Haiti earthquake just as we did in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake just as we do in India, Bolivia, Zambia, Czech….

References

1. Debating Muslims, pages 48–54, 222–250.

2. Religious minorities in Iran, page = 53, 80

3. The letters of the younger Pliny, page 295.

4. Bahá’í Faith in Turkmenistan

5. Bahá’í Faith in Kazakhstan

6. The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#44

7. Lane Fox, Robin. Pagans and Christians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986. ISBN 0-394-55495-7, page 595.

8. Backgrounds of early Christianity, page 601

Anniversary of Ihsanullah Kathiri’s execution in 1983

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:35:47 +0000

Ihsanullah Kathiri, a Baha’i from Tehran, was executed exactly 26 years ago (27th of June, 1983.)

His crime:

Being a member of the Baha’i Faith.

Please remember and pray for the Baha’is in Iran who remain under this severe threat of torture and execution, and please keep all of the victims who sacrificed their lives in your memory and heart. Remember that they died for a noble cause, and one that will be achieved one day, if we all unite towards it regardless of our religious differences.

May Ihsanullah Kathiri remain rested in peace.

June 23, 1981: 3 members of the Tehran Local Spiritual Assembly were executed

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:02:27 +0000

On this day, 28 years ago, 3 innocent Baha’is were executed for their faith. Hashin Farnush, Farhang Maveddat, and Buzurg Alaviyan.

Funeral of one of the victims, Hashin Farnush, who was imprisoned and tortured for more than 6 months before his execution.

Dozens of innocent Baha’is remain in Iran’s prisons, several kidnapped with their whereabouts unknown. Harassment and severe discrimination of Baha’is in Iran remains consistent. Let us keep them all in our hearts and in our efforts.

Anniversary of 1983 Executions in Shiraz

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:43:31 +0000

During the month of June of 1983, approximately 20 Baha’is were killed in Shiraz. On June 18, 10 of the victims were women, some as young as 16 such as Mona Mahmudnizhad. They were executed by hanging for no other reason but their beliefs; being members of the Baha’i faith, whose members are still severely persecuted to this day with dozens of people still arrested or murdered.

We dedicate this day, June 18, to honor these innocent victims whose lives were brutally taken away from them. Let them represent the urgent need for religious freedom in Iran and beyond. Stay aware of current Baha’i persecutions and let’s all work hard together to make sure that crimes like these do nor occur again.

The Persecution of Baha’is: an Interactive Timeline

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:30:03 +0000

For the past 30 years, followers of the Baha’i Faith in Iran have been lynched, falsely imprisoned, vilified and driven out of their homes. Baha’i children have been deprived of their right to an education, adults have been prevented from earning a livelihood and thousands of families had their properties illegally confiscated by the government.

But the Iranian regime would have us believe that it’s the innocent party in these circumstances. It continues to deny that it harbours any intentions to eradicate the Baha’i community, while employing all possible means to slander and denigrate the memories of its victims. And unfortunately, there are many who believe the Iranian government’s narrative and feel the persecution is justified. And just as alarming, there are many who fail to fully grasp the intensity of the injustices wrought against Baha’is.

In order to confront that, we felt that the best strategy would be to allow the actions of the Iranian government to speak for themselves. We made a resolve that the stories of those who have lost their lives and suffered will not be forgotten.

Several months ago, we began creating a timeline that documents violations that have been perpetrated against Baha’is in the past 30 years, from executions, to arrests, expulsions and desecration. Our aim is for the timeline to function as a living record of the atrocities that have been committed, and a reminder of the heavy toll of silence in the face of grave human rights abuses


Persecution of Baha'is in Iran on Dipity.

To browse through the timeline more conveniently, we encourage you to view it in full screen mode. You can also view the timeline in the form of a list, a flipbook or a map.

Get Involved

Although we strove to be as thorough as possible, we are aware that our timeline is not comprehensive. Many incidents are not reported, or are insufficiently documented, and so we ask you to collaborate with us in completing the timeline. Whether you have a personal story that you wish to add, or wish to provide further details on a recorded incident, submit your account to us and we will be sure to update the timeline accordingly.

We were very meticulous in our research, and worked diligently to verify all accounts on the timeline. The following sources were used in our research:

Reports by Human Rights Activists in Iran
Omid: a memorial in defence of human rights
The International Religious Freedom report
Annual reprts by the Baha’i International Community
Iran Press Watch

Persepolis 2: Safeguard the Innocent

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:18:23 +0000

2,500 years ago, Cyrus the Great penned down what is regarded as the first declaration for human rights, affirming the right to freedom of worship. But centuries later, what is the situation of Iran’s largest religious minority?

Note: images for this clip were lovingly borrowed from the feature film, “Persepolis.” Marjane Satrapi’s admirable production. She continues to serve as an inspiration for us all.If you cannot access YouTube, this video is also available here in (English) and (Farsi.)
Much has been said and written on the persecution of the Baha’i minority in Iran, but in these dark days, and as troubling news continues to emerge, it is time to rise up and proclaim, enough! Whether it is justified by religion, or hidden under the guise of nationalism, or instigated by prejudice, religious intolerance is a plague that threatens the fabric of our societies. It is our moral obligation to not sit by silently as our fellow brothers and sisters are murdered, imprisoned and denied their rights as citizens due to their personal beliefs.Spread the word:

Promote this clip by sharing it with your friends, colleagues, and on social networks.
Stay aware of human rights abuses against this innocent minority.

Contact Iranian Embassies

Contact your nearest Iranian embassy, expressing your concern over the treatment of Baha’is. We’ve provided a template letter, as well as contact details of embassies worldwide.

For those in Iran:

Learn more about the faith, and be aware that the IRI and officials of other countries like Egypt have launched massive propaganda campaign s against them.
Reach out to Baha’is, and keep an open mind.

Remember, you don’t have to believe in the Baha’i faith in order to tolerate and respect its members. We all deserve equal human rights, and an equal status in citizenship, regardless of our faiths.

[Update: a Farsi version of the template letter is now available. I'd like to take this opportunity to send out a special thank you to all the Iranian youth (who wish to remain unnamed) for their help. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.]

[If you would rather watch a higher resolution version, visit our video sharing site]

Sacrificing the innocent

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:56:37 +0000

Below is a necessary and informative article that was published on Iranian.com recently. Please read it if you wish to understand what Baha’is are going through within Iran:

Suppression of Baha’is of Iran in 1955
by Dr. Bahram Choubine

Translator’s Introduction

In introducing Ali Dashti’s seminal work, 23 Sal, Dr. Choubine has penned a learned essay that places the events of twentieth century Iran in their fuller perspective. This essay has been widely available on the internet. The erudite author has considerably expanded this essay, including more analysis and documentation, and offered it as a preface to Dasthi’s 23 Sal, distributed by Alburz Publishing, in Frankfurt, Germany. A section of this expanded essay (pages 34-42), appearing under the heading, “Sarkub-e Baha’iyan,” is provided below in translation with the kind permission of the author. All footnotes are by the author, unless otherwise noted, as are all comments in parentheses. Clarifying comments in square brackets [ ] are by the translator. Subheadings have been added in the translation to assist with the flow. The Persian original of this section is also available on-line.
– Ahang Rabbani

Read the full text by clicking here.

Birth of Baha’u'llah – November 12

The Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:29:37 +0000

Baha’u'llah was born in Tehran, Iran, on November 12, 1817. His given name was Husayn-‘Ali. His father was Mirza Abbas of the province of Nur, and often referred to as Mirza Buzurg. He was a prominent and wealthy man who had been a minister at the court of Fath-’Alí Shah and subsequently the governor of Burujird and Luristan. When Fath-’Alí Shah died in 1834, his son Muhammad Shah carried out a purge of government in which Mirza Buzurg was stripped of his title and his government salary but retained the family estates in Nur.

Baha’u'llah’s early life reflected his well-to-do circumstances. He received the education typical of a child of the minor nobility: riding, calligraphy, study of famous Persian literary works, and learning Arabic based on reading the Qur’an. Yet unlike many privileged children, he developed no attachment to wealth and ease.

There are a number of stories regarding Baha’u'llah’s childhood, which indicate he was not an ordinary child. One tells of a dream that Baha’u'llah related to his father. In this dream, he was in a garden while large birds attacked him from every side, though unable to harm him. He had other ones involving the fish in the sea following him by his hair. On hearing these, his father summoned a famous seer to interpret the dream, and was told that his son would become the founder of a great cause and would be attacked by the leaders and learned men of the world. However, they would be unable to harm him, and he would be victorious over them all.

Baha’u'llah developed a keen sense of justice and fairness at a very young age. Throughout His life, he would display these qualities, but perhaps one of the most remarkable demonstrations of this came while He was still a teenager. He witnessed three confrontations between his father and a tax collector who was “in a cruel and unjust manner” demanding payment. Incensed, Baha’u'llah rode to Tehran, a journey of two days, and sought the dismissal of the tyrannical tax collector. Incredibly, he was successful in his quest.

The youthful Baha’u'llah’s wisdom and insight were also often remarked. It was said that he could resolve problems nobody else could, and his deep knowledge of the Qur’án and traditions astounded many learned men. The well-known scholar Shaykh Muhammad-Taqi, once asked a large gathering of students to explain a particular tradition (hadith). None were able to reply until Baha’u'llah, who had received no seminary training, gave an explanation that left the great man silent. The next day he berated his students, who had had many years of instruction, for failing to explain what Baha’u'llah had elucidated so well.

His generosity was also noted. Indeed, as a young man he became known as “the Father of the Poor” for His extraordinary generosity and regard for the impoverished. It seemed that the trappings of wealth held little importance for him, even though he had grown up surrounded by them. The things of the spirit were always his focus in life.

That life, as it turned out, would be very much like his childhood dream. He embraced the Bab’s new religion immediately upon reading a few pages of the Bab, relayed by a trusted courier, Mulla Husayn. He became one of the Bab’s most active followers and suffered a brief imprisonment and torture as a result. Some months after the Bab’s execution in 1850, a group of the Babis decided on assassination of the Shah and revenging the death of their Master. This ill-conceived plan went badly and many Babis suffered death. Baha’u'llah himself was imprisoned, his property confiscated and his residence sacked by a mob.

In early 1853, after four months of captivity, he was released from prison only to be exiled to Baghdad in Iraq. His revelation, born in the prison in Tehran, would be shared with a close circles of followers ten years later and publicly in 1867-68. The exile to Baghdad was followed by a brief transfer to Istanbul, and forced banishment to Edirne and eventually to the penal colony of Akka.

Throughout these forty years of imprisonment and exile, Baha’u'llah would be beset by enemies in governments of Iran and the Ottoman, the clergy and even by his half-brother. Several attempts on his life would leave their marks upon him. Yet through it all, he remained as he had been in his childhood: a person of deep spiritual insight and wisdom, dedicated to justice and integrity, full of goodness and generosity. In short, he was one through whom the light of God illuminated the world.

For Bahá’ís, the birth of Bahá’u'lláh is a Holy Day celebrating the rebirth of the world through the love of God, just as Christmas is for Christians.

We wish our Baha’i friends throughout the world a most joyful celebration of the birth of the Baha’u’llah – a man who brought hope to the world.

What is Baha’i?

Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:45:34 +0000

There still seems to be many misconceptions as to what a Baha’i really is and what Baha’i teachings revolve around, below we share a video about the Baha’i faith that may make things clear for our non-Baha’i readers:

Why Baha’is Send Money to Israel

The Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:22:33 +0000

Kayhan Newspaper, Tehran’s major daily news organ, often publishes articles that are sad examples of yellow journalism and in fact on rare occasions that somebody buys this paper, it must be for its entertainment (read, fictional!) value. In line with its “journalistic policies”, Kayhan is driven by sensationalism, and in order to cause hysteria, what subject is better than vilifying the Baha’is. Well, actually better than Baha’is is a story on Baha’is and Israel combined – that combination should sell a few copies! So on a regular basis Kayhan publishes articles attacking and defaming Baha’is, and when it can, it also throws in Israel for good measure.

One such article was published in its recent 10 Mehr 1386 [2 October 2007] issue (http://www.kayhannews.ir/860710/8.htm#other801). In this article, while engaged in usual misrepresentations about Baha’is, Kayhan raised the issue of Baha’is sending money to the Baha’i institutions in Israel and presented this as evidence of Baha’is’ collaboration with the State of Israel, and as such accused the Baha’is of espionage and charged them to be agents of Israel.

If we were to accept this conclusion in the manner argued by Kayhan, then it seems logical to accuse the Shi’ah population of Iran as being collaborators of Saddam Hussein since during his entire regime, Iranians sent money to Najaf and Karbala for maintenance of the Shi’ah Shrines in Iraq.

But of course we all know that many Iranian Shi’ahs who contributed to the upkeep of their Sacred Shrines in Iraq had nothing to do with Saddam’s regime and the thought of spying for Saddam never crossed their mind.

In like manner, the Baha’is also have certain properties that they consider sacred in Israel. Therefore, it is to be expected that Baha’is of Iran, and indeed the Baha’is of the entire world, would send funds for repair and upkeep of these properties and in so doing they have nothing to do with Israel or her political policies (the same way that Shi’ahs had nothing to do with Saddam’s policies when they contributed to Najaf and Karbala).

Of course Kayhan is not concerned with facts or historical accuracy, as its purpose is to mislead and misinform and to provoke a negative opinion against Baha’is. But if Kayhan actually had been interested in truth, then it would have recognized that the reason that Baha’i World Centre and Baha’i properties are in Israel has nothing to do with Israel as it was established there decades before the State of Israel came into existence.

It was the combined will of two tyrannical Muslim rulers, Iran’s Nasiri’d-Din Shah and Ottoman’s Sultan Abu’l-Aziz, that resulted in Baha’u’llah being exiled to the fringes of the Ottoman Empire in the summer of 1868, to the desolate and inhospitable town of Acre (today known as Akka). By mid nineteenth century, Acre had sunk under the Ottomans to the level of a penal colony to which murderers, highway robbers and political agitators were consigned from all parts of the Empire. So putrid was its air that, according to a proverb, a bird when flying over it would drop dead. The Shah and Sultan had hoped that by sending Baha’u’llah there he would perish.

Baha’u’llah did indeed pass away 24 years later in Akka and it was there that he was buried, in accordance with the instruction of the Ottoman monarch. His family continued their exile and periodic imprisonments in that town, and Baha’u’llah’s successor, Abdu’l-Baha, spent his entire life there and it was to the nearby village of Haifa that he moved during the final years of his life and it was there that he too passed away in 1921.

A few years prior to his passing, Abdu’l-Baha had organized the transfer of the Bab’s remains to Haifa also and he was buried there in 1909. So all the holy figures of Baha’is are buried in Akka and Haifa, two towns that are within a few minutes of each other.

All of this took place long before Israel came into being in 1948, some 80 years after Baha’u’llah was exiled there. The Baha’i figures (Baha’u’llah and Abdu’l-Baha and their families) had absolutely no choice or voice in the decision regarding the location of their exile or burial. This was all dictated by Muslim monarchs.

Should it then surprise anyone that Baha’is would be concerned with the upkeep of burial places of the holy figures of their faith? Are the Shi’ahs not concerned with their holy places associated with the Holy Imams in Najaf and Karbala?

So what is the cause of all this uproar by Kayhan in its constant effort to defame Baha’is by accusing them of espionage for Israel merely when they have sent funds for maintenance of their holy sites? This is utterly bewildering!