This site hasn’t been updated not due to lack of interest or awareness on recent Baha’i cases but rather because we are working on a big and time-consuming project relevant to this website and hope to be announcing it here soon. Please stay tuned!

An Iraqi graphics designer contributed to this site by adding a new banner, integrating Arabic calligraphy with Islamic and Baha’i symbols, and a photo of Muslim women praying. We hope you like it.

Dear friends,

This month has been up for half a year. In this time period we have covered a great deal of human rights violations against our Baha’i brethren, especially those taking place in Egypt and Iran. It has been, for the most part, controversial yet imperative. We are extremely determined to make this work, however for this network to be more effective, with more multimedia incorporated, we need helping hands!

If you’re interested in helping us, please send us an e-mail, with the following questions in mind:

- Are you a Muslim?

- Do you believe in interfaith, coexistence, and tolerance, which our faith openly promotes?

- Are you willing to fight against the grave injustice of denying Baha’is their basic human rights simply because of their faith?

- Baha’is consistently defend Islam, as well as praise our revered prophet Mohammed (May Peace Be Upon Him), hatred against Baha’is is therefore unjustified and is mostly due to the way they have been misportrayed throughout the mainstream media. Since many of these injustices take place in our societies, in our NAME, do we not have a duty to support our Baha’is brothers and sisters who did absolutely nothing to ever wrong us? Is human rights abuses, persecution, and intellectual isolation something that Islam wishes upon other average civilians who are very welcoming of our faith and religious values?

We are looking for Muslims who believe in these values. Please join us, make others aware of Baha’i human rights abuses, join our collective voice in condemning such abuse especially if they are taking place in the name of our religion, and help us create a safer, peaceful, and more tolerant Middle East (and the rest of the world!)

CONTACT US.

Below you will find a copy of our second newsletter in Farsi (You may find all past articles in Farsi here.)

Our first newsletter which we sent this past Sunday to our subscribers is translated into Farsi and may be found here. Please pass it along to those who may be interested. Below is a copy of the newsletter itself:

Baha’i Rights - Our first newsletter

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for visiting our website and for being interested enough to subscribe to our mailing list. We are extremely happy about how well this network has been received, we truly did not expect to get this many encouraging reactions!

Here in the Arab and Muslim world, not many people know about the Baha’i faith, and those who do have a very wrong image of it. When we shared our letters of support with friends and colleagues, they were extremely surprised to see how well Baha’is speak of our dear Prophet and of Islam in general. Many of us really admire the fact that despite extreme persecutions, Baha’is continue to support Muslims… and even after various painful experiences, they are nothing but forgiving.

This, dear friends, is what inspired this network. We decided to launch it in order to show the Arab and Muslim world the true face of the Baha’i faith, the innocence of the Baha’i communities, and the great positive spirit of this religion which must be practiced freely within all countries as it’s a basic human right to do so. It’s very alarming to see certain regimes violently harass and persecute Baha’is, but what’s even more alarming is the number of Muslims that continue to justify it. Our network’s mission is to change that, and we believe that we will one day have the power and influence to do so.

We plan to launch our network in both Arabic and Farsi in order to reach the right audience. Due to the evident lack of participation at this time, mostly because people either fear involvement or lack the interest, we cannot achieve this immediately. But I assure you that we will. If there are any people receiving this newsletter who would like to help us make this possible, we’d greatly appreciate it. Please forward this letter to those who might be interested in order for us to generate more action.

And on that note, we wish you a very good day, and thanks again for signing up to receive our newsletters.

To all our Baha’i friends reading this, we support you with pride. You are family to us. God bless you all.

To all our fellow Muslim friends reading this, we are doing the right thing by fighting for Baha’i human rights. Please continue.

The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights

If you wish to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, you may do so by clicking here and filling in the required fields.

If you wish to volunteer with translations, please contact us. We’d greatly appreciate the help.

Our intiative has made its first media appearance on BBC Persian (Farsi)

Translation: Formation of a Muslim Group in Defense of the Rights of Baha’is

Na’im Sobhani
BBC-Persian, Washington

For the first time on the internet, a group of Muslim youth has established a site called “the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights.” This site closely monitors the conditions of Baha’is in Egypt and Iran.

That a group of Muslims—made up social activists and liberal students from Arab countries—has exposed the plight of Baha’is is seen as a significant development by human rights advocates.

“The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights” is not based in any specific country, nor does it have an office or staff.

This internet group has made known its goal of attaining civil rights and basic freedoms for Baha’is in the Islamic and Arab worlds.

On their website, they closely follow and discuss all the latest news on the Baha’is in the Islamic world.

The founder of this internet project is Esra’a Shafei, young woman from Bahrain.

Esra’a states that she is a believing Muslim and has no connection with Baha’is. However, as a Muslim, she believes it is necessary to respect the rights of this religious minority.

This Bahraini student added that she has purposefully named the group “Islamic” to attract the attention of Muslims.

However, this step has stirred a great deal of debate. According to Esra’a, “They ask me why I am doing this? Why are you working against your own religious identity? They even accuse me of being a traitor and a Zionist. 70 percent of the reactions I have thus far received have been of this nature.”
Esra’a, who is only 20 years old, adds that such reactions will not dissuade her. She states that she closely follows the condition of Baha’is in Iran and Egypt.

It is believed that there are some 500 Baha’is in Egypt.

In the 1960s, their religion was declared illegal by order of Jamal Abdul-Nasser, the former president of Egypt. Until this day, Baha’is are considered “apostates” in Egypt.

The Iranian constitution also refuses to officially recognize the Baha’i religion—one of the largest non-Muslim minorities in this country. The Baha’is of this country face extensive limits on work and education.

The founder of “the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights” believes that most people in the Arab world know very little about the Baha’is: “When I talk to my friends about the Baha’i faith, they tell me that it is a satanic religion. I ask them to provide me with one of the principles of this religion, but they have no answer. Some think that the Baha’is are a sect of Shi’i Islam which is also a mistake. They don’t know anything about it, but they are nonetheless suspicious of its followers.”

This Bahraini youth is convinced that the most successful societies in the world today are those which—notwithstanding the diversity of religions and ethnic groups within them—are able to preserve their unity and respect the rights of their minorities.

John Wall, a professor of Islamic history at Georgetown University in Washington DC, agrees with this view. But he believes that in an age of globalization, one can’t affix the label of religious minority to any one religion: “In this day and age, everyone is considered a minority. Even Christians, who constitute the largest religion in the world, are a minority in certain countries. Muslims are the majority in the Middle East, but are considered a religious minority in Europe. Sunni Muslims, for instance, face difficulties in attaining permission to establish mosques.”

Mr. Wall provided a positive assessment of the fact that a Muslim group has for the first time taken up the problem of Baha’i rights. According to him, the efforts of individuals such as Esra’a, a Bahraini student, can help in promoting human rights and inter-faith dialogue in the Middle East.

Many of you are probably wondering why a Muslim network in defense of Baha’i rights exist. The answer is very simple - the best way to promote tolerance, human rights, religious freedom and respect is to rally for a cause that doesn’t necessarily affect you. When you strongly believe in a value, you should apply it to all people equally regardless of their faith, cultural differences, political stance or nationality. If within your country this doesn’t happen, as a loyal citizen you should actively enforce that such rights be met for the sake of a better and more productive society.

In this network, there are a few things that one should keep in mind: