Bahaism

The published version of the article as it appeared within minutes of publication on Wednesday, 25 May 2016: http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/05/25/behind-the-politics-of-a-current-brouhaha-in-iran-an-ex-president-ayatollahs-daughter-and-the-bahais/

Preface
Of all the historical, religious and cultural events in the history of the United States, the arrival of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1912 was, for his devotees, the most important event of all. Many people—from all parts of society—had the honor of meeting him, hearing his talks, receiving his wisdom and witnessing his benevolence and humility. For many of these individuals, their encounter with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was life-altering: he touched the depths of their souls and
awakened them spiritually. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was, according to his devotees, the ‘Mystery of God’, the expounder and the Center of the Covenant of a new Faith, the Bahá’í Faith, inaugurated by Father, Bahá’u’lláh, who announced that the dawn of a unique chapter in the religious history of the world had
broken. “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch”, announced Bahá’u’lláh to the whole mankind. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came to America to expound on the precepts of the new Faith inaugurated by his Father. He came here to show us by the force of example, the true meaning of being a Bahá’í: humility, steadfastness, equity and kindness
toward everybody regardless of his race, creed or place of birth. He showed people how to be a true follower of Bahá’u’lláh.
This book tells of his days in the city of New York. The authors
hope that this account will help the reader to:
1.
Gain a deeper understanding of the spiritual concepts and
social principles of the Bahá’í Faith as explained by ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá,
2.
Understand the social context of the people of New York
whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá met and their beliefs and concerns,
3.
Learn about the lives of early Bahá’ís, their personal stories,
beliefs and aspirations, the struggles and successes they had
in building communities, and the development of their
understanding of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
The authors hope that this re-telling of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s days in New
York City will be both inspiring and illuminating and bring the reader
closer to this unique figure in spiritual history whose life will serve as a
model of the true spiritual and ethical life for centuries to come.

Babism is a religious-looking modern theological sect founded by Mirza Ali Muhammed Şirazi (d. 1266/1850) in Iran in the 19th century, shaped by many concepts such as walayah, mujaddid and mahdi, which are the basic principles of Shiism, and then continuing under the name of Bahaism. This sect emerged at a time when the expected mahdi discourse was being voiced loudly and developed in line with the Shiite understanding of Islam. Although the foundation of this movement is based on Islam, it was also influenced by Judaism and Christianity. Babism was first seen as a reformed form of Shiism, and after it gained a certain power, it was changed with additions. Ihsan Mahvi (d. 1355/1936) who has studies on Babism and Bahaism, is one of the best whirling dervishes of the last period, who fought for the sake of the homeland and nation, had troubled times in the Independence Courts, and grew up in Yenikapı Mawlawi Lodge. Ihsan Mahvi has articles and poems in the journals Mahfil, Beyânu'l-Hak, Mektebli and Muhibbân. His works are mostly published in the journal Mahfil, which has a religious, scientific and literary character. Ihsan Mahvi's studies on Babism in the aforementioned journal are remarkable. These studies were published in seven different issues in the journal Mahfil under the title of “Bâbîlik”. It is significant in terms of the fact that Ihsan Mahvi went to learn Persian literature during his stay in the province of Hamadan in Iran, and participated in a ritual held in the house of a Babi and gave information about Babism by making observations there. Therefore, in this study, Ihsan Mahvi's life, works, views on Shiism and Sunnism are included, and his researches called “Bâbîlik” in the journal of Mahfil published between July 1920 and March 1926 are discussed. Ihsan Mahvi, who conveyed information about Shiism and Sunnism in his works, compared these two sects and drew attention to the damage that Shia caused to the Islamic world. In particular, he gave important information about Iran, where Shia was born and spread. According to his researches, new rules were introduced from the mixture of three holy books such as the Qur'an, the Bible and the Torah and Sufism through Babism and Bahaism, and it was tried to create a new religion that covers many important issues together with the legal equality of men and women. In a short time, Mirza Ali Muhammad and his followers spread their sects in the form of a new religion in Iran and Iraq, with great difficulties, and established the Babiyya creed, which was respected in Europe and America. They found many supporters, especially among Jews and Christians. They spread in many countries, especially in America, had a strong economic capital, opened places of worship and universities. The holy book of Baha'ís is Kitab al-Bayân, which is claimed to have been written by Bab Ali Muhammad. However, this book, whose content consists entirely of Arabic words, was written and classified in the name of Bâb by the brothers Sayyid Hasan and Sayyid Hussain, was an apostate of Babism and repented not by the Bab who did not have sufficient knowledge of Arabic according to Ihsan Mahvi. Again, for him the Babis secretly organized and founded schools, libraries, scientific associations and private teaching institutions in the metropolitans, and even spread them to the villages. They sent their children to these schools, teachers who grew up in Europe managed these schools. At that time, they received lots of help from American schools in Iran. While the schools in Iran were primitive under the rule of the mullahs, the village schools of the Babis had modern structures and regular curriculum in which French and English were taught. The Babis do not drink intoxicants, do not smoke, and do not tolerate waste. Based on the information he conveyed about the history, formation, social and religious structure of the Babism, it is understood that Ihsan Mahvi went to the regions where they lived attended their rituals met the followers, made researches about them, made observations and tried to present the data he obtained in an objective way. On the other hand, it is seen that Ihsan Mahvi made an in-depth research on Babism and had a remarkable knowledge on this subject. At the same time, we can say that he followed a method such as establishing relations with them for the purpose of meeting, agreeing, living together and forming intellectual ties while studying Babism and Bahaism. From this point of view, it is possible to say that Ihsan Mahvi's studies on Babism and Bahaism will contribute to the field of the History of Sects.

History of Sects, Shia, Babism, Bahaism, Sheikhism