¶3. Afterlife

Scriptural discussions include Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 453-56 (Gleanings, LXXIX-LXXXI) and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 183-201; Some Answered Questions, 223-43. A compilation of the Bahá'í writings on life after death has been assembled by Hushidar Motlagh and is titled Unto Him Shall We Return. Lights of Guidance discusses reincarnation, 536-8.

Esslemont, 188-95                         Hatcher and Martin, 100, 104-06           
Faizi, 59-62                              Huddleston, 57-8                          
Ferraby, 145-51                           Momen, 110-14                             

An excellent discussion of the Bahá'í concept of the afterlife may be found in John Hatcher, The Purpose of Physical Reality, chapter 4, "The Eternal Consequences of the Physical Experience." Many popular books and collections of scripture have been produced, including Alan Bryson's Light After Death, subtitled A comparison of the Near-Death-Experience and the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith on life after death, which presents many quotations from primary Bahá'í sources, and Farnaz Ma'súmián's Life After Death: Religious Views and Near-Death Experience a more comprehensive compilation of texts from all the world's major religions in the topic of the next world and of this-world encounters with it. Hushidar Motlagh compiled some relevant Bahá'í texts in The Glorious Journey to God: Selections from Sacred Scriptures on the Afterlife. Statements on reincarnation are included in Lights of Guidance, 536-8.

¶4. Agriculture

In the "Tablet of the World," Bahá'u'lláh lists the things "conducive to the advancement of mankind." He writes that "special regard must be paid to agriculture," which "preceedeth" in importance elements such as the Lesser Peace, world fellowship, education, and a univeral language. (Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, 90) Bahá'ís believe that agriculture is far more than simple farming, for it includes a whole spectrum of environmental, economic, and spiritual concerns relating to food and the ecological sustainable development of the planet.

Lights of Guidance, 547, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, 90

Ferraby, 102                              Momen, 45, 64                             
Huddleston, 84                                                                      

Iraj Poostchi's Agriculture Beyond 2000: A Bahá'í Perspective is the longest study of agriculture yet released. Paul Hanley argues for the often under-estimated importance of agriculture in "Agriculture: A Fundamental Principle," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.1 (1990-1991).

¶5. Art, Literature, Music, Architecture

A short compilation of scriptural texts on the arts, simply titled The Arts, is in Compilation of Compilations, volume I.

Esslemont, 153                            Huddleston, 83, 172                       
Hatcher and Martin, 179, 181-84                                                     

One of the only compilations of original Bahá'í literature and artwork is Crystallizations: 20 Works by Bahá'í Artists, edited by Ross Woodman. This includes Juliet Thompson's dramatical play I, Mary Magdalene, essays, fiction, some visual art, and much poetry. Another source for Bahá'í visual and poetic arts is World Order magazine, which includes selections of original work in every issue. Most issues of the Bahá'í World up through volume XVIII include a final section of music, hymns, and poetry. Books about specific topics, such as on the painter Mark Tobey or the potter Bernard Leach, also contain samples of artwork.

GENERAL

A good overview of Bahá'í practice of, varieties of, and teachings on art is Ann Boyles' "The Language of the Heart: Arts in the Bahá'í World Community," in The Bahá'í World: An International Record, 1994-95.<* Inder Manocha published some introductory ruminations on the nature of Bahá'í art as "Bahá'í Art: Fact or Fiction?" in Bahá'í Studies Review, 3.1 (1993). The most extensive sourcebook on Bahá'í art is Michael Fitzgerald, ed., The Creative Circle: Art, Literature, and Music in Bahá'í Perspective, a collection of essays on art by Bahá'ís. Glen A. Eyford's "Aesthetics and Spiritual Education," in World Order, 14.1 (Fall, 1979) explores the importance of aesthetic experience, symbol, and myth to the communication of spiritual ideas. Ludwig Tuman's "Toward Critical Foundations of a World Culture of the Arts," in World Order, 9.4 (Summer 1975), later expanded into the book Mirror of the Divine: Art in the Bahá'í World Community, both explore the role of the arts and the artist in society, their relationship to society's worldview, and their potential in advancing the world community's future spiritual attainments. Anne Gordon Atkinson briefly examines the history of the presentation of and participation by women in art in "Women in Art," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 4.2 (June-Sept. 1991).

LITERARY ART

Eno Marconi's "Bahá'í Theatre?" in World Order, 8.4 (Summer 1974) discusses the Bahá'í teachings relevant to theatrical productions. Elham Afnan examines Bahá'í attitudes towards war and visions of peace as they relate to the modern novel in "The Good of the World and the Happiness of the Nations: A Study of Modern Utopian and Dystopian Literature," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 1.4 (1988-1989). Her "'Abdu'l-Bahá and Ezra Pound's Circle," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 6.2 (June-Sept. 1994), is a brief discussion of the Bahá'í Faith and some primary literary figures of the early twentieth century. One of the only examinations of Bahá'í literary expression and aesthetics is Suheil Bushrui's The Style of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. John Hatcher's The Ocean of His Words: A Reader's Guide to the Art of Bahá'u'lláh presents the writings of Bahá'u'lláh as literature and analyzes his use of metaphor and the structure, and style of his writings.

POETRY

Poetry is one of the most practiced art forms in the Bahá'í world, a fact that Shirin Sabri discusses in "The Purpose of Poetry," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 1.1 (1988-1989). David L. Erickson and Jack McLean have each published comments on this article in the Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.1 (1989-1990). There is a biography of Robert Hayden (poet of the United States Library of Congress, and a Bahá'í) by John Hatcher titled From the Auroral Darkness, aspects of which he has summarized in "Racial Identity and the Patterns of Consolidation in the Poetry of Robert Hayden," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.2 (1990-1991). The Fall 1981 issue of World Order (16.1) was devoted to a series of retrospective essays on Robert Hayden; the Summer 1983 issue (17.4) was devoted to articles about Robert Hayden and contains a selection of poems. Several anthologies of poetry have been published by the Association for Bahá'í Studies: "Response to Revelation: Poetry by Bahá'ís" (Bahá'í Studies, 7); "Abiding Silence: An Anthology of Poems in Honour of the Bahá'ís of Iran" (Bahá'í Studies, 15) edited by Shirin Sabri; and Bahá'í Studies, volume 10, which consists of a collection of four essays by Bahá'ís about the artist and artistic expression. There are numerous volumes of poetry published by Roger White, such as Another Song, Another Season: Poems and Portrayals; Occasions of Grace: More Poems and Portrayals; and The Witness of Pebbles. One of the Bahá'í Faith's more famous artists was the preeminent British potter Bernard Leach, who was also a very good poet and visual artist; the most recent of his many collections of poetry and drawings is Drawings, Verse, and Belief.

VISUAL ART

Little work has been done on the visual arts. One article is Ross Woodman's "Bahá'u'lláh's Influence on the New York School of Painting: The 'Unapprehended Inspiration' of Newman and Rothko," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 4.1 (Mar.-June 1991), in which Woodman argues for indirect Bahá'í influences on the work of these two painters and even mentions that Mark Tobey, the renowned abstract painter and a Bahá'í, should be seen as the founder of the New York School. Books of Mark Tobey's art that contain discussions of his participation in the Bahá'í Faith include Arthur Dahl's Mark Tobey: Art and Belief, Eliza E. Rathbone's Mark Tobey: City Paintings, the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States' Mark Tobey: paintings from the collection of Joyce and Arthur Dahl, an article on one series of his paintings, Julie Badiee's "Mark Tobey's City Paintings: Meditations on an Age of Transition," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 1.4 (1988-1989), and Graham Hassall's essay "The Influences on Mark Tobey," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 4.1 (Mar. 1986). Further, the Spring 1977 issue of World Order (11.3) was devoted to a series of retrospective essays about Tobey and his art. Much of the focus of visual arts in Islam was on calligraphy; one of Bahá'u'lláh's followers, Mishkín-Qalam, excelled in the art. An article by Julie Oeming Badiee and Heshmatollah Badiee, "The Calligraphy of Mishkín-Qalam," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.4 (Dec. 1990-Mar. 1991), discusses his life and use of symbolism and includes some beautiful examples of his art. Jalalíyyíh Quinn's notes explaining her series of paintings currently on display at the office of the Association of Bahá'í Studies in Ottawa, "Notes to the Paintings in Honor of the Vision of Shoghi Effendi," in The Vision of Shoghi Effendi," includes color prints of five of these paintings.

MUSIC

Music is regarded with great esteem in the Bahá'í writings, and Bahá'í musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and the songwriting team Seals and Crofts have done much to popularize and promote the Faith.

See Kitáb-i-Aqdas paragraph 51 and Note 79. The most complete collection of quotations on music, simply titled Music, is found in Compilation of Compilations, volume II. See also Lights of Guidance, 410-13.

ARCHITECTURE

Besides Music, Devotions, and Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, other articles that discuss architecture and the Faith are Leo R. Zrudlo's "The Missing Dimension in the Built Environment: A Challenge for the 21st Century," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.1 (1990-1991), which asserts the lack of a spiritual dimension in much of modern architecture. Duane L. Herrman's "Houses as Perfect as Possible," in World Order, 26.1 (Fall 1994), and Tom Kubala's "Architectural Implications of the Bahá'í Community," in World Order, 9.1 (Fall 1974), describe the aesthetic styles of the Bahá'í houses of worship. Ugo Giachery's biography of Shoghi Effendi, Shoghi Effendi: Recollections, includes a lengthy section on the Bahá'í World Center and its design considerations and describes at length the actual construction of some of its buildings and gardens. A discussion of the spiritual significances of art, complete with numerous photographs of Bahá'í architecture, has been published by Faríburz Sahbá, an architect and Project Manager for the Mount Carmel Bahá'í Projects, as "Art and Architecture: A Bahá'í Perspective," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 7:3 (March-June 1997).

* Subtitles of The Bahá'í World are inconsistent; they go by The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, The Bahá'í World: An International Record, or just The Bahá'í World.

¶6. The Báb and the Bábí Movement, 1844-62

Bahá'í sources treat the Báb and his movement in great depth. Chief among these is Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Íqán (Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 63-155), which he wrote before his own declaration, ostensibly for the purpose of defending the truth of the Báb's claims. The major events of the movement are vividly described in Nabíl-i-Zarandí's Dawn-Breakers and Shoghi Effendi's God Passes By. Bahá'ís view the former of these very highly, for it was commissioned and partially read by Bahá'u'lláh himself. Finally, 'Abdu'l-Bahá himself wrote a short history of the Bábí movement entitled A Traveler's Narrative Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Báb. Shoghi Effendi summarized and elucidated the Bahá'í understanding of the Báb's station in The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, reprinted in The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. See notes in Lights of Guidance, 469-71.

Esslemont, 11-22                          Huddleston, 183-88                        
Ferraby, 193-97                           Momen, 115-18                             
Hatcher and Martin, 10-27                 Smith 1987, 56                            

    ¶6.1. The Báb: Early Life and Prophetic Career*

Much primary-source information on the Báb is presented in Nabíl-i-Zarandí's The Dawn-Breakers, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's A Traveller's Narrative, and Shoghi Effendi's God Passes By.

Esslemont, 11-18                          Momen, 116-17                             
Ferraby, 186-99, 201-02                   Smith 1987, 13-30                         
Hatcher and Martin, 6-9, 18-19            Smith 1996, 19-25, 27-31                  
Huddleston, 177-90                                                                  

BIOGRAPHY

The only systematic biography of the Báb written according to the standards of modern scholarship is Abbas Amanat's Resurrection and Renewal, particularly chapters 3, 4, 5, and 9. A useful biography is Balyuzi's The Báb. Also useful is Stephen Lambden's "An Episode in the Childhood of the Báb," in Peter Smith, In Iran, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 3 (reprinted from Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 1.4 (March 1983)). Kalimát Press' The Martyrdom of the Báb: A Compilation, brings together the Bahá'í scriptural accounts and a few eyewitness accounts of the Báb's execution. Descriptions of his execution can also be found in a collection of original accounts collected and edited by Firuz Kazemzadeh titled "The Báb: Accounts of His Martyrdom," in World Order, 8.1 (Fall 1973). Moojan Momen examines the significances of the principal confrontations between the Bábís and their opponents in "The Bábí Upheavals 1848-1853," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 4.2 (Jan. 1990). He further examines the demographics of the early Bábí community in "The Social Basis of the Bábí Upheavals," in International Journal of Middle East Studies 14 (1983) and "The Social Location of the Bábí Movement: A Preliminary Note," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 3.3 (September 1985). Peter Smith provides estimates of Bábí and Bahá'í populations in Iran from the late 1840s-1979 in his dissertation A Sociological Study of the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions; the relevant section is amended and reprinted as "A Note on Bábí and Bahá'í Numbers in Iran," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 1.4 (1983), and also in Iranian Studies 17.2-3 (1984)

Contemporary Western descriptions of the Báb have been published in Momen, The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, 1844-1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts. Seena Fazel briefly discusses and reprints "The First Western Language Encyclopedia Article on the Bábí Religion" in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 5.3-6.1 (June 1991). The Encyclopedia Iranica and the Encyclopedia of Islam both have excellent articles on the Báb.

THOUGHT

MacEoin's "Hierarchy, Authority, and Eschatology in Early Bábí Thought," in Peter Smith, In Iran, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 3, offers a variety of insights into the Báb's theology and discusses the gradually-increasing stages of the Báb's religious claims and the eschatological significances of them. Todd Lawson discusses similar topics, though with a more theological focus, in "The Terms "Remembrance" (dhikr) and "Gate" (báb) in the Báb's Commentary on the Sura of Joseph," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M. Balyuzi: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 5. Another short but valuable study of the Báb's theology is Lawson's "The Structure of Existence in the Báb's Tafsír and the Perfect Man Motif," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 6.2-3 (February 1992). MacEoin's Rituals in Babism and Baha'ism provides a comprehensive discussion of Bábí praxis, though its textual focus void of anthropological considerations lends it a somewhat suspect relevance. (Christopher Buck has offered a Bahá'í response to the latter in his "Review of Denis MacEoin's Rituals in Babism and Baha'ism" in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, 28.3 [1996].)

* The scholar who has published the most work on the Bábí movement thus far is Denis MacEoin. This requires a brief note. MacEoin's work as a whole tends to be academic and penetrating, and is a very valuable resource. However, he has an open bias against aspects of the Bahá'í Faith which can occasionally color his scholarship. A number of exchanges between Bahá'í academics and MacEoin on this and related issues have been published in a variety of journals. MacEoin has honestly admitted that his work could be affected by his bias, and even that he sometimes writes in "a deliberate attempt to stimulate controversy" ("A Critique of Moojan Momen's Response to my `Problems of Scholarship in a Bahá'í Context,'" in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 1.4 [June, 1983] 69). MacEoin's explanation, as given here and elsewhere, is that he is simply more honest about a facet of any and every scholar's work, namely his or her (usually unconscious) preconceptions.

    ¶6.2. The Báb's Teachings: Sources and Historical Context

The only book of writings of the Báb available in English is Selections from the Writings of the Báb. The Arabic and Persian Bayáns and The Book of Seven Proofs are available in French translation by A.L.M. Nicolas. See part two of the bibliography "Writings of the Báb," below.

Esslemont, 19-22                          Huddleston, 175-8                         
Faizi, 3-7                                Smith 1987, 31-47                         
Ferraby, 199-201                          Smith 1996, 27-9, 35-8                    

GENERAL

E. G. Browne was the first English-speaking scholar to study seriously about the Bábí movement and translate a significant portion of the Báb's writings. Most of his work, though now quite dated, is still a valuable resource. Of especial note is his translation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's A Traveller's Narrative. Following the heavily-footnoted translation, Browne includes over 250 pages of detailed notes about notable figures, events, and texts relevant to Bábí history. These are only included in the original 1891 edition and its 1930 reprint; the 1980 edition by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust contains none of Browne's copious notes and footnotes. Moojan Momen has compiled many of Browne's writings in his Selections from the Writings of E. G. Browne on the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions. The largest effort to set the Báb's teachings in historical context is Amanat's Resurrection and Renewal, particularly chapter 3. Denis MacEoin has published extensively on Babism, including The Sources for Early Bábí Doctrine and History, a hundred-page summary of the writings of the Báb in the approximate order they were composed. The book also has an excellent bibliography, including a listing of all the known Bábí manuscripts and the archives that contains them. Momen's "Early Relations Between Christian Missionaries and the Bábí and Bahá'í Communities," in Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 1, addresses the reaction of Christian contemporaries to and their acceptance of the Bab.

SHAYHKISM

The fullest studies of the relation between the Báb's thought and his Shaykhí background are the doctoral dissertations of Denis MacEoin, From Shaykhism to Babism: A Study in Charismatic Renewal in Shí'i Islam, and Vahid Rafati, The Development of Shaykhi Thought in Shi'i Islam, especially chapters 6 and 7. A shortened version of the latter has been published under the same title in Heshmat Moayyad, ed., The Bahá'í Faith and Islam. MacEoin's "Early Shaykhí Reactions to the Báb and His Claims," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 1, discusses the degree to which the Báb's Shaykhí contemporaries did and did not accept his claims. Todd Lawson's "Interpretation as Revelation: the Qur'án Commentary of the Báb" in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.4 (1989-1990), an abridgment of portions of his doctoral dissertation, The Qur'án Commentary of Sayyid 'Alí Muhammad Shírází, the Báb, discusses the early thought of the Báb and also serves to locate it somewhat in its Shaykhí background.

For a listing of original and secondary works about the Báb, his writings, and his community, in English, Persian, Arabic, French, Russian, and other languages, Moojan Momen's The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions: Some Contemporary Western Accounts has an excellent bibliography.

    ¶6.3. The Bábí Community

The best effort to examine the Bábí movement from the point of view of sociology, anthropology, and critical historical study, is Amanat's Resurrection and Renewal, particularly chapters 6, 7, and 8. A sociological study of the resources available to the Bábí movement is presented in Peter Smith's "The Bábí Movement: A Resource Mobilization Perspective," in Peter Smith, In Iran, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 3. The doctoral dissertations of Denis MacEoin, From Shaykhism to Babism: A Study in Charismatic Renewal in Shí'i Islam, and Vahid Rafati, The Development of Shaykhi Thought in Shi'i Islam, are fairly useful for understanding the forces that helped shape Babism. Moojan Momen's "Early Relations Between Christian Missionaries and the Bábí and Bahá'í Communities," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 1, provides some information on the Western reactions to the Bábí movement. This work has been expanded in Moojan Momen, The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, 1844-1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts. The latter has an extensive and excellent bibliography of recent as well as classic studies on Babism. MacEoin's The Sources for Early Bábí Doctrine and History contains a detailed section describing all known manuscripts by the Báb's followers and their contents; another section gives all histories of the Bábí movement. His "Divisions and Authority Claims in Babism (1850-1866)," in Studia Iranica 18:1 (1989) explores some of the political dynamics of the early community.

¶7. Background of the Bahá'í Faith: Islam, Shaykhism, and Iran

James Heggie's Bahá'í References to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is a comprehensive resource of primary source references to Islam. Lights of Guidance, 494-8, has a variety of notes on Muhammad and Islam.

Ferraby, 21, 46-47                        Huddleston, 23-4, 173-8                   
Hatcher and Martin, 1-5                                                             

Many areas of Bahá'í scholarship--such as, for example, applied social change--would not necessarily require an examination of Islam. However, most scholars feel that in order to understand the rise of the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths, it is extremely important to be familiar with Islamic thought and especially the social, religious, political, and cultural context of nineteenth-century Iran. Perhaps with this consideration in mind, Bahá'í academics have done more scholarship on Islam than on any other religion save the Bábí movement. (Apologetic "teaching" material in North America and Europe, however, addresses Christian themes more than Islamic ones.)

    ¶7.1. Background: Islam and Shí'ism

Shí'ism split off from mainstream (later "Sunní") Islam over the issue of successorship to Muhammad, the Shí''is believing that Muhammad had during his lifetime appointed his son-in-law 'Alí to lead the community following his death, and the Sunnís holding that leadership fell to the community as a whole and its elected leaders. Shí'ism, as a separate branch of Islam, developed some distinguishing characteristics such as political quietism, esoteric spirituality, authoritative spiritual guidance and hierarchy, a highly-developed eschatology, and, with the advent of the Persian Safavid dynasty in the sixteenth-century, a strongly Iranian flavor. These and other unique qualities are reflected to a high degree in the Bábí and Bahá'í religions, such that a study of Shí'ism can be considered just as crucial for an understanding of the Bahá'í Faith as Islam as a whole.

Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Íqán (Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 63-155) is an extended commentary of Shí'í and, to a lesser extent, Christian theology, a reading of which can provide much insight of Bahá'u'lláh's interpretations of Qur'ánic symbolism.

Hatcher and Martin, 1-6, 20-4             Smith 1987, 5-8                           
Huddleston, 23-4                          Smith 1996, 13-17                         
Momen, 115                                                                          

SHI'ISM

Surprisingly little has yet been written on the Bahá'í Faith's Shi'i background. Moojan Momen's An Introduction to Shi'i Islam, one of the best and by far the most detailed introductions to Shi'ism, includes a few passing references to the state of the Faith in twentieth-century Iran. Denis MacEoin's "Changes in Authority in Qajar Shi'ism," in Qajar Iran, edited by Edmund Bosworth and Carole Hillenbrand, details the authority structures in the environment into which Babism was born and the interactions and tensions between them, and his "Divisions and Authority Claims in Babism (1850-1866)," in Studia Iranica 18:1 (1989), carries the discussion further into Babism. Jonah Winter's master's thesis Dying For God: Conceptions of Martyrdom in the Shi'i, Babi, and Bahai Religions includes discussion of some Shi'i theological symbolism and its transformation in the Bábí and Bahá'í traditions.

ISLAM

Many introductory works and encyclopedia articles on Islam provide a useful introduction to the parent religion of the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths. The fullest account of Islam written by a Bahá'í is H. M. Balyuzi's Muhammad and the Course of Islam, though Balyuzi makes no mention of the Bahá'í religion in the book. The relationship between the Bahá'í Faith and Islam has been examined in many works, the longest of which is the collection of eight articles in Heshmat Moayyad, ed., The Bahá'í Faith and Islam: Proceedings of Symposium, McGill University, March 1984. Juan Cole's "A Dialogue on the Bahá'í Faith," in World Order, 15.3/4 (Spring/Summer 1981) considers the impact of Bahá'í teachings on late nineteenth-century Islamic reformers. William Collins' "Islam's Tahríf: Implications for the Bahá'í Faith," in World Order, 11.1 (Fall 1976) considers the Muslim understanding of the quranic term tahríf ("corruption" of the text) and Bahá'u'lláh's reinterpretation of the term. Denis MacEoin's "The Concept of the Nation in Islam," in World Order, 10.4 (Summer 1976) considers the Bahá'í interpretation of the concept of nation, especially as it was understood in Islam. Christopher Buck's Symbol and Secret: Qur'án Commentary in Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Íqán: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 7, discusses in depth Bahá'u'lláh's interpretations of much of Islamic symbolism. Moojan Momen addresses another aspect of dialogue, that of mutual influence, in his "The Bahá'í Influence on the Reform Movements of the Islamic World in the 1860's and 1870's," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 2.2 (Sept. 1983).

    ¶7.2. Background: Nineteenth-Century Iran and Shaykhism

The narrative of Nabíl-i-Zarandí, the Dawn-Breakers, discusses the Shaykhí background of the Bábí movement in depth.

Ferraby, 185-86                           Smith 1987, 8-13, 17-8, 35, 42, 45        
Hatcher and Martin, 6                     Smith 1996, 17-8, 22-6, 32, 40            
Huddleston, 173-77                                                                  

IRAN

No extended academic work has yet been devoted to placing the Bábí and Bahá'í religions in their Iranian context, but some short studies are very useful. Two articles published in The International Journal of Middle East Studies, Juan Cole's "Iranian millenarianism and democratic thought in the 19th century" in 24 (Feb. 1992) and Moojan Momen's "Social basis of the Babi upheavals in Iran (1848-53): a preliminary analysis" in 15 (May 1983) each offer a fairly in-depth examination of the sociological influences of the Bábí movement. The longest survey of the period is Mangol Bayat's Mysticism and Dissent: socioreligious thought in Qajar Iran, which offers two full chapters on Shaykhism and one on Babism. Juan R. Cole's "Iranian Millenarianism and Democratic Thought in the 19th Century," published in The International Journal of Middle East Studies, 24 (1992): 1-26, provides excellent context for the thought and writings of Bahá'u'lláh.

SHAYKHISM

Denis MacEoin's "Orthodoxy and heterodoxy in nineteenth-century Shí'ism: the cases of Shaykhism and Babism," in Journal of the American Oriental Society, 110 (April/June 1990) discusses the influences of the Bábí movement from a theological perspective. The single best work designed to provide Iranian and Shaykhí context is Abbas Amanat's Resurrection and Renewal: The Making of the Bábí Movement in Iran, 1844-1850, especially part one, "Historical Background," 33-105. Peter Smith, Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, 5-13, provides an excellent summary of the context. A useful article on a related subject is Denis MacEoin's "Early Shaykhí Reactions to the Báb and his Claims," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 1, a partial abridgment of his doctoral dissertation From Shaykhism to Babism: A Study in Charismatic Renewal in Shí'i Islam. Vahid Rafati's doctoral dissertation examines Shaykhí thought, especially as it relates to Babism, and thus is a valuable source of background. Rafati summarizes aspects of his dissertation an article of the same title, "The Development of Shaykhí Thought in Shí'í Islam," in The Bahá'í Faith and Islam. Momen briefly discusses the Shaykhí school in An Introduction to Shí'í Islam, pages 225-31.

¶8. Bahá'í Communities of the World

The Bahá'í Faith has spread to every country of the world. While much could be written on the development of the Faith in these different areas and especially on the unique characteristics of the communities in diverse cultures, most attention has been focused solely on growth. In North America the rate of conversion to the Faith reached a peak in the nineteen-sixties and -seventies and since has stabilized at a slow but steady rate of expansion. In many of the Eastern European countries and those of the former Soviet Union the dissolution of prohibitions on religion has allowed the Bahá'í Faith only recently to begin its teaching and conversion programs, and the Bahá'í communities there have increased rapidly. Some countries still have no significant Bahá'í communities, such as most Islamic countries where the Faith has been sporadically persecuted. The most significant growth has been in Third World countries, some of which, like India, boast quite sizeable Bahá'í communities.

    ¶8.1. The Bahá'í Faith in Africa, Latin America, and Oceania

Compilations from the Bahá'í writings on the Pacific include "The Islands of the North Sea" and "The Islands of the Pacific," both in Bahá'í Studies Review, 6 (1996).

Hatcher and Martin, Africa: 193, 203;     Smith 1987, Africa: 167, 169, 171,        
Latin America: 68-9, 71; Oceania: 175,    190-1; Latin America: 158, 167-9, 171,    
193                                       190-2; Oceania: 67, 169, 171, 190-5       
Momen, 133                                Smith 1996, Africa: 104, 133, 146-8;      
                                          Latin America: 110-1, 124-5, 132-3,       
                                          139, 143, 148-50; Oceania: 142, 150       

The Bahá'ís of Africa, Latin America, and the ocean islands have been less studied that those of any region, and yet their history is potentially very significant, because the indigenization of the Bahá'í religion in cultures that are neither Islamic nor Western offers a unique opportunity to explore its flexibility and capacity to innovate. Gregory C. Dahl wrote a very descriptive essay titled "Indian Bahá'ís of Bolivia" in World Order, 4.1 (Fall 1969). The only known scholarly study of the African Bahá'ís is Loni Bramson-Lerche's "The Bahá'í Faith in Nigeria," in Dialogue and Alliance. Graham Hassall has written three excellent studies on the spread of the Bahá'í Faith in the South Pacific: "The Bahá'í Faith in Australia, 1920-34: Some Notes on John and Clara Hyde-Dunn," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 2.1 (June 1983), "Pacific Bahá'í Communities, 1950-1964," in Donald H. Rubinstein, ed., Pacific History: Papers from the 8th Pacific History Association Conference, and "The Bahá'í Faith in the Asia Pacific: issues and prospects," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 6 (1996).

    ¶8.2. The Bahá'í Faith in Europe

'Abdu'l-Bahá's talks in Europe have been published in various collections, such as Paris Talks and 'Abdu'l-Bahá in London. A memoir by Mahmúd-i-Zarghání, who accompanied 'Abdu'l-Bahá on his European travels, is published in Persian, and an English translation is forthcoming. The Universal House of Justice has compiled references on Europe in A Compilation of Bahá'í Writings on Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland, in Bahá'í Studies Review, 4.1 (1994); "Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union: A Compilation of Bahá'í Writings," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 3.1 (1993); and "Europe: A Compilation from the Bahá'í Writings," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 1.1 (1991).

Hatcher and Martin, 69, 71, 193           Smith 1987, 100, 106-7, 166, 168, 171,    
                                          180-90                                    
Momen, 133                                Smith 1996, 88, 97, 120, 140-1            

One of the few articles on the Bahá'í Faith in Europe is Phillip R. Smith, "What Was a Bahá'í? Concerns of British Bahá'ís, 1900-1920," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M. Balyuzi: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 5. Short but very analytical histories of the Danish Bahá'í community have been published by Margit Warburg, including "The Circle, the Brotherhood, and the Ecclesiastical Body: Bahá'í [sic] in Denmark, 1925-1987," her demographic study "Growth Patterns of New Religions: The Case of Bahá'í," in Robert Towler, ed, New Religions and the New Europe, and various other unpublished papers on the Danish and northern European Bahá'í communities. Some biographical work has been done such as Wendy Heller's Lidia: The Life of Lidia Zamenhof, Daughter of Esperanto; John Paul Vader's For the Good of Mankind: August Forel and the Bahá'í Faith; and Luigi Stendardo's Leo Tolstoy and the Bahá'í Faith. Work is needed on the traveling teaching work of Louise Gregory; the pioneering work of Marion Jack in Bulgaria; the interest in the Bahá'í religion shown by Queen Marie of Romania; the role of the International Bahá'í Bureau in Geneva; and many national and local Bahá'í community histories. A new priority is study of the extremely rapid growth of the Bahá'í community in the formerly communist countries of central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Robert Stockman's "The Bahá'í Faith in England and Germany, 1900-1913," in World Order 27.3 (Spring 1996) covers the introduction of the Bahá'í Faith and early growth in these countries.

    ¶8.3. The Bahá'í Faith in Iran

Ferraby, 62                               Smith 1987, 86-99, 172-80                 
Hatcher and Martin, 195-8                 Smith 1996, 88-92, 132-6                  
Huddleston, 225-30                                                                  

A monograph treating the history of the Bahá'í Faith in Iran is badly needed and overdue. Moreover, because tens of thousands of Iranian Bahá'ís have fled Iran there are now persons in the West who speak Persian and Arabic and who can acquire the training to produce scholarly histories. A surprisingly large amount of archival material is available as well. A very good article giving a summary of Iranian Bahá'í history, by Vahid Rafati, may be found in the Encyclopedia Iranica. Peter Smith's collection of historical essays, titled In Iran, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 3, is the most useful source of any length. Susan Stiles' "Early Zoroastrian Conversions to the Bahá'í Faith in Yazd, Iran," in Juan R. Cole and Moojan Momen, From Iran East and West, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 2, is also significant, for it studies the impact of Westernization and modernization on conversion. Moojan Momen's "Early Relations Between Christian Missionaries and the Bábí and Bahá'í Communities," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 1, provides some information on the Western reactions to the growing Bábí-Bahá'í movement. This work has been expanded in Moojan Momen, The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, 1844-1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts. The development of Iranian Bahá'í women and the impact of Western women on their consciousness of their status has been explored in Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani's "The Interdependence of Bahá'í Communities: Services of North American Bahá'í Women to Iran," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 4.1 (Mar.-June 1991): 19-46.

A considerable quantity of original source material on the Iranian Bahá'í community also is available, often in English translation. Edward Granville Browne visited Iran, met Bahá'ís, and obtained manuscripts from them that he subsequently translated; published in various works, these have been compiled by Moojan Momen into one collection titled Selections from the Writings of E. G. Browne on the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions. Some information not included in this volume may be found in Browne's Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion and the original editions of A Traveller's Narrative. Roy Mottahedeh's The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran, a historical portrayal of life in twentieth-century Iran written as an autobiography of a semi-fictional character, depicts and brings to life many of Iran's political, social, and religious tensions. Though this book is not about the Faith and only contains a few references to it (though Mottahedeh is a Bahá'í), the book allows the reader to gain a good understanding of the Faith's cultural background.

    ¶8.4. The Bahá'í Faith in North America

'Abdu'l-Bahá gave many talks when he visited the United States and Canada; these were collected and published as The Promulgation of Universal Peace. His visit is the subject of Allan L. Ward's Two Hundred Thirty-Nine Days: 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Journey in America. A memoir of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's visit by Mahmúd-i-Zarghání, who accompanied him on his North American tour, has been published in Persian and soon will be published in English. The definitive theological statement about the community's destiny is Shoghi Effendi's "America and the Most Great Peace," published in World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 71-94.

Esslemont, 59-60                          Smith 1987, 100-14, 180-90                
Ferraby, 231-32                           Smith 1996, 95-7, 110-1, 138-9            
Hatcher and Martin, 53-60, 66-9, 193                                                

GENERAL

Aside from Arthur Hampson's valuable dissertation The Growth and Spread of the Bahá'í Faith, which devotes over 200 pages to examining growth and diffusion patterns of the Faith across North America from 1893 to 1973, no general history of the American Bahá'í community has yet been written; one must still piece together American Bahá'í history by reading various books that cover the different periods of its history. Much work has been done on the establishment and early spread of the Bahá'í Faith in America. The Bahá'í Faith spread to North America in the full light of history, and there were non-Bahá'í observers who wrote about the process. Most useful is Edward G. Browne, who collected a considerable amount of letters and newspaper clippings and published them in his Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion. Robert Stockman's "The Bahá'í Faith in America: One Hundred Years," in World Order, 25.3 (Spring 1994), is a useful overview of the religion's history in North America, and his "The American Bahá'í Community in the Nineties," in America's Alternative Religons, ed. Timothy Miller, discusses the issues and concerns currently facing the community.

The existing literature contains two approaches to early American Bahá'í history. Peter Smith argues that the American Bahá'ís were heavily influenced by the cultic or metaphysical milieu in the United States; Robert Stockman favors an interpretation emphasizing evangelical Protestantism instead. Peter Smith's "The American Bahá'í Community, 1894-1917: A Preliminary Survey," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 1, represents the first survey of early American Bahá'í history attempted; it relies heavily and usefully on sociological theory. Robert H. Stockman's series The Bahá'í Faith in America, Origins, 1892-1900, volume 1, and Early Expansion, 1900-1912, volume 2, is the most comprehensive history of the origins of the American Bahá'í community, though it is gradually becoming out of date. Stockman has also written an unpublished biography of Thornton Chase, one of the first American Bahá'ís.

HETERODOXY

Richard Hollinger's "Ibrahim George Kheiralla and the Bahá'í Faith in America," in Juan Cole and Moojan Momen, From Iran East and West: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 2, and "Some New Notes on Ibrahim Kheiralla," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 2.3 (Dec. 1983), describe the life of the man who brought the Bahá'í Faith to the Occident from the Middle East and later, seeking to establish his own authority in the West, rebelled against 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Peter Smith, "Reality Magazine: Editorship and Ownership of an American Bahá'í Periodical," in Juan Cole and Moojan Momen, From Iran East and West: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 2 explores the development of heterodoxy and orthodoxy in the American Bahá'í community from the late teens through the early 1930s.

VARIOUS HISTORIES

William Collins' "Kenosha, 1893-1912: History of an Early American Bahá'í Community in the United States," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 1 describes the third-oldest Bahá'í community in the United States, one which grew until its membership reached several percent of the town's population, at which point it experienced attempts to repress it. Bruce Whitmore's The Dawning Place: The Building of a Temple, the Forging of the North American Bahá'í Community tells the story of the construction of the Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, the center of the American Bahá'í community today, and its influence on Bahá'í organizational growth all over the continent. Since much of the development of a national governing structure is tied to the construction of the House of Worship, this work is a useful longitudinal study of the American Bahá'í community. R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram's Music, Devotions, and Mashriqu'l-Adhkár: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 4 tells the story of the development of hymn writing and singing among the American Bahá'ís and offers more details about the construction of the House of Worship. Robert Stockman offers differing perspectives of many topics in this book in his "Review of Music, Devotions, and Mashriqu'l-Adhkár," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 1.2 (1988-1989). O. Z. Whitehead has produced three collections of biographical essays on important early Bahá'ís called Portraits of Some Bahá'í Women, Some Bahá'ís to Remember, and Some Early Bahá'ís of the West. Richard Hollinger's Community Histories: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 6 provides histories of six North American Bahá'í communities, and a very useful introduction that offers analysis of the common trends in local Bahá'í community development.

CANADA

Will van den Hoonaard has published two studies on the Canadian Bahá'í Community: "Canada's Earliest Bahá'í History," in World Order, 22.1/2 (Fall 1987 Winter 1987-88), 39-49, followed by his exhaustively-researched The Origins of the Bahá'í Faith in Canada, 1898-1948. Part of the latter has been distilled as "The Bahá'í Community of Canada: A Case Study in the Transplantation of Non-Western Religious Movements to Western Societies," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 7:3 (March-June 1997). The little volume Abdu'l-Bahá in Canada includes primary source material such as newspaper reports and photographs as well as transcriptions of his talks in Montreal.

    ¶8.5. The Bahá'í Faith in the Former Soviet Union.

The Research Department of the Universal House of Justice has collected relevant texts in "Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union: A Compilation from the Bahá'í Writings," in The Bahá'í Studies Review, 3.1 (1993).

Hatcher and Martin, 199-200               Smith 1996, 62, 88, 93-4, 120, 138, 141   
Smith 1987, 90-1, 121, 161, 165-71, 173                                              

Anthony Lee's "The Rise of the Bahá'í Community of 'Ishqábád," in The Bahá'í Faith in Russia: Two Early Instances (Bahá'í Studies, vol. 5) describes the history of the largest Bahá'í community ever to have existed in the former Soviet Union, and the construction of its Bahá'í House of Worship, the first in the world. The other paper published in the same monograph is A. M. Ghadirian's "Count Leo Tolstoy and his Appreciation of the Bahá'í Faith." A more thorough treatment of Tolstoy's views about the Bahá'í Faith, and how those views have been variously interpreted, may be found in William Collins and Jan Jasion, "Lev Tolstoy and the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions: A Bibliography." "Persecutions under the Soviet Régime," in The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, vol. 3, 1928-1930, 34-43, covers the destruction of the Soviet Bahá'í community under Stalin. Graham Hassall has collected a good variety of material in "Notes on the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions in Russia and its Territories," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 5.3 (Sept.-Dec. 1993).

    ¶8.6. The Bahá'í Faith in South and East Asia

Esslemont, 252-53                         Smith 1987, 86-99, 190-95                 
Hatcher and Martin, 193-203               Smith 1996, 111, 133, 145-6               
Momen, 131, 133-4                                                                   

Virtually nothing has been written about the spread of the Bahá'í Faith to India and then to Burma in the 1870s and 1880s, and the Faith's subsequent indigenization in both countries. This is particularly unfortunate, since India and Burma represent the first two countries of what later came to be called the Third World to have Bahá'í communities. Two works by early American travelers to these countries exist and are illuminating, however. The longest has recently been reprinted: Sidney Sprague's A Year With the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.

The Indian Bahá'í community--currently the largest in the world--has been the most studied. William Garlington's "Bahá'í Conversions in Malwa, Central India," in Moojan Momen, From Iran East and West: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 2, is an abridgement of the author's doctoral dissertation The Bahá'í Faith in Malwa: A Study of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Garlington has also written a piece about Bahá'í hymns to Bahá'u'lláh composed in the traditional genre of hymns to the Lord Krishna, called "Bahá'í Bhajans" in World Order, 16.2 (Winter 1982). Margit Warburg has examined some of the sociological factors for conversion to the Bahá'í Faith in "Conversion: Considerations before a Field-Work in a Bahá'í Village in Kerala." For discussion of some of the issues of conversions of Hindus to the Bahá'í Faith, see Moojan Momen's little book, The Bahá'í Faith and Hinduism.

A bit more has been written recently on the development of Bahá'í communities in East Asia. Barbara R. Sims' book, Traces that Remain, chronicles major events in the growth of the Bahá'í Faith in Japan, and provides numerous photographs of that community. Her The Taiwan Bahá'í Chronicle: A Historical Record of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan, also complete with photographs, briefly covers the period 1954 to 1973. Jimmy Ewe Huat Seow has written The Pure in Heart, a history of the spread of the Bahá'í Faith among Chinese people in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Burma, and other East Asian countries.

¶9. Bahá'í Faith, Introduction to

Esslemont, 1-10                           Smith 1987, 1-2                           
Ferraby, 15-30                            Smith 1996, 151-8                         
Hatcher and Martin, viii xvii, 187-88                                               

The articles on the Bahá'í Faith in the Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Iranica, Encyclopedia of Islam, and in Eliade's Encyclopedia of Religion are all useful, accurate, and complete sources of basic information. Shoghi Effendi, one of the heads of the Bahá'í Faith, has summarized the Faith; his précis may be found in Call to the Nations, xi-xviii. An excellent summary of the Bahá'í religion by a non-Bahá'í is Jacques Chouleur's "The Bahá'í Faith: World Religion of the Future?" in World Order, 12.1 (Fall 1977). Book-length introductions to the Faith are described in "books to start with," in the section "The Bahá'í Faith: A Short Introduction," above.

World religion textbooks do not yet provide coverage of the Bahá'í Faith that is adequate, either in length or accuracy. Solomon Nigosian's World Faiths, 2d ed., is the only introductory religions textbook with a decent, though still short, treatment of the Faith. For a discussion of their treatment of the Bahá'í religion, see Paul D. Numrich, "The Bahá'í Faith in World Religions Textbooks," World Order, 25.2. See "The Bahá'í Faith in Religion Textbooks and Encyclopedias," below, for further information.

¶10. Bahá'í History

    ¶10.1. Bahá'í History, 1863-92

Ferraby, 213-20                           Momen, 120-7                              
Hatcher and Martin, 37-49                 Smith 1987, 86-99                         
Huddleston, 196-204                       Smith 1996, 51-60                         

Considerable quantities of historical data and contemporary first-hand histories are available. 'Abdu'l-Bahá himself wrote a history from the declaration of the Báb through the life of Bahá'u'lláh titled A Traveller's Narrative Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Báb. Edward G. Browne's original publication of his translation of A Traveller's Narrative includes hundreds of pages of useful addenda in the form of biographies, notes, translations, and observations, all of which were removed in the later printing by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust. A contemporary description of the Iranian Bahá'í community may also be found in Browne's introduction to A Traveller's Narrative (where his famous pen-portrait of Bahá'u'lláh was first published), and more are scattered throughout the pages of his A Year Amongst the Persians. Browne's comments on the Bahá'ís have been collected and published by Moojan Momen in Selections from the Writings of E. G. Browne on the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions. A critique of the European scholarship done on the early Iranian Bahá'í community may be found in Denis MacEoin's "Oriental Scholarship and the Bahá'í Faith," in World Order, 8.4 (Summer 1974).

Very little research has been done on the early Middle Eastern and South Asian Bahá'í communities. Of particular use is Peter Smith's collection of essays by various Bahá'í historians titled In Iran: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 3. Susan Stiles' essay, "Early Zoroastrian Conversions to the Bahá'í Faith in Yazd, Iran," published in Juan Cole and Moojan Momen, From Iran East and West: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 2, is of great importance, as it examines the connection between conversion to the Bahá'í Faith, indigenization of the Bahá'í Faith in Iranian culture, and the affect of Westernization on Zoroastrianism. The conclusions have been further developed in Susan Stiles Maneck, "The Conversion of Religious Minorities to the Bahá'í Faith in Iran: Some Preliminary Observations," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.3 (1990-1991): 35-48. Some additional information on Iranian Bahá'í contact with Zoroastrianism is contained in Gol Aidun, "Manekji Limji Hataria and the Bahá'í Faith," published in Bahá'í Studies Notebook, 1.1 (December 1980). Manekji was the agent sent to Iran by India's Parsees to emancipate their coreligionists from persecution. Moojan Momen's "Early Relations Between Christian Missionaries and the Bábí and Bahá'í Communities," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 1, provides some information on the Western reactions to the growing Bábí-Bahá'í movement. This work has been expanded in Moojan Momen, The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, 1844-1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts. Biographies of individual Bahá'ís, prominent and less prominent, are scattered throughout Adib Taherzadeh's four-volume work, The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. Hasan Balyuzi's Eminent Bahá'ís In the Time of Bahá'u'lláh also is a source of biographies and local community histories; other brief biographies are found in Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh: The King of Glory. Two studies examine the Cyprus exiles: Bahíyyih Nakhjavání's Four on an Island is a rather poetic biography of the four Bahá'í exiles to Cyprus, and Moojan Momen's "The Cyprus Exiles," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 5.3-6.1 (1991) provides significant and extensive biographic data on Mírzá Yahyá and the other Cyprus covenant-breakers.

¶10.2. Bahá'í History, 1921-1953: Growth, Persecution, and The First and Second Seven-Year Plans

A major source of original documents from the era of the Guardianship are the collections of letters by Shoghi Effendi, such as Bahá'í Administration; Citadel of Faith; Dawn of a New Day; High Endeavors: Messages to Alaska; Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New Zealand, 1923-1957; The Light of Divine Guidance: The Messages from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria; Messages to America; Messages to the Bahá'í World; Unfolding Destiny: Messages from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'í Community of the British Isles; and World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. A compilation detailing the period, Significance of the Formative Age, can be found in Compilation of Compilations, volume II.

Ferraby, 224-38                           Momen, 127-8                              
Hatcher and Martin, 64-69                 Smith 1987, 115-26, 157-61                
Huddleston, 215-20                        Smith 1996, 101-12                        

One of the few analyses of the beginning of the institution of the Guardianship is Loni Bramson-Lerche's "Some Aspects of the Establishment of the Guardianship," in Moojan Momen, ed., Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M. Balyuzi: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 5, 253-93. Her "Some Aspects of the Development of the Bahá'í Administrative Order in America, 1922-1936," in Moojan Momen, Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 1, also offers useful information. Eunice Braun summarizes the salient events of the period in From Strength to Strength, 5-43.

    ¶10.3. Bahá'í History, 1953-1963: The Ten Year Crusade and the Death of the Guardian

Shoghi Effendi's passing is described in The Bahá'í World, Volume XIII, 207-25. The Hands' principal messages to the Bahá'í world are published in The Bahá'í World, Volume XIII, 339-78. Over 400 pages of official and private communications of the Hands have been published in The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957-1963; this work is essential to any understanding of the period. The decision that no additional Guardians can be appointed is given by the Universal House of Justice in Wellspring of Guidance, 11, 81-91.

Esslemont, 283-84                         Momen, 128                                
Hatcher and Martin, 69-71                 Smith 1987, 126-28                        
Huddleston, 220-22                        Smith 1996, 112-15                        

Eunice Braun discusses the period in From Strength to Strength, 43-52. One of the only analyses is Graham Hassell's "Bahá'í History in the Formative Age: The World Crusade, 1953-1963," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 6.4 (Dec. 1994-Mar. 1995).

    ¶10.4. Bahá'í History, 1963-79: Rapid Expansion and Diversification

The period from 1963 to 1979 saw some remarkable developments in the Bahá'í world community. Membership greatly increased everywhere, and Third-World Bahá'í communities began to come of age. The Universal House of Justice came into existence in 1963, established a nine-year plan and then a five-year plan for spreading the Bahá'í Faith, organized new compilations and translations of Bahá'í scripture, and wrote several significant messages that answered questions and resolved issues raised by the death of Shoghi Effendi. Bahá'í scholarship underwent an important acceleration.

The selections of letters by the Universal House of Justice for this period are Wellspring of Guidance: Messages 1963-1968, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1968-1973, and Third Epoch of the Formative Age: Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-86. Also of importance is The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice, which the House of Justice drew up and ratified in 1972.

Esslemont, 285-86                         Momen, 130-4                              
Hatcher and Martin, 72-3, 171             Smith 1987, 132-35, 157-72, 90-95         
Huddleston, 222-25, 242-99                Smith 1996, 116-28                        

Eunice Braun's From Strength to Strength, 53-64, covers the events of this time. A more complete summary can be found in Peter Smith and Moojan Momen's "The Bahá'í Faith 1957-1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments," in Religion, 19 (Jan. 1989).

    ¶10.5. Bahá'í History, 1979-Present: Iranian Persecution, Globalization

A compilation of letters of the Universal House of Justice has been published under the title A Wider Horizon: Selected Messages of the Universal House of Justice, 1983-1992. The collection includes all Ridván messages, messages regarding Bahá'í teaching plans and the Holy Year, and other significant messages.

Hatcher and Martin, 168-69, 171, 187-206      Smith 1987, 136-95 Smith 1996, 135-7  
Huddleston, 225-33                                                                  

Peter Smith and Moojan Momen's "The Bahá'í Faith 1957-1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments," in Religion, 19 (Jan. 1989), provides an overview of the period up to 1988, as well as a discussion of prospects.

¶11. Bahá'u'lláh

    ¶11.1. Bahá'u'lláh's Life and Mission

Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh, 1817-1892, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, has revealed the religion for the next stage of humanity's continuing spiritual evolution. His mission differs from that of previous Manifestations, however, in that with his revelation the preceding cycle of prophethood, the Adamic Cycle, came to an end and a new cycle, the Bahá'í Era, was inaugurated. Bahá'u'lláh marks the end of the "Prophetic Era" and the beginning of the "Era of Fulfillment."

Bahá'u'lláh writes of his own life in Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 303-85 (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, in toto); 426 (Gleanings, XLI-XLII); 429-434 (Gleanings, XLV-LIV); 437-44 (Gleanings, LIX-LXVII); 446-48 (Gleanings, LXXXI-LXXXII). Geoffrey W. Marks compiled autobiographical statements of Bahá'u'lláh, with occasional notes, in one source, Call to Remembrance. 'Abdu'l-Bahá describes Bahá'u'lláh's sufferings and their significance in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 259-64.

Esslemont, 23-48; 234-43                  Huddleston, 190-204                       
Faizi, 8-17                               Momen, 119-25                             
Ferraby, 50-67, 203-23                    Smith 1987, 57-70                         
Hatcher and Martin, 28-49                 Smith 1996, 51-63                         

MISSION

No biography of Bahá'u'lláh, utilizing the methods or addressing the concerns of modern scholarship, has been written. Only one scholarly effort has been made to set Bahá'u'lláh in the social and historical context of his times: Juan R. Cole's "Iranian Millenarianism and Democratic Thought in the 19th Century," published in The International Journal of Middle East Studies, 24 (1992): 1-26. A very useful biography, however, has been written by Hasan Balyuzi titled Bahá'u'lláh: The King of Glory. Taherzadeh's four-volume Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh is also very useful, though the quantity of other details is so great that it is difficult to follow Bahá'u'lláh's life. A compilation of Bahá'í scripture on the life of Bahá'u'lláh has been published titled Call to Remembrance. David S. Ruhe examines Bahá'u'lláh's early years in Robe of Light: The Persian Years of the Supreme Prophet Bahá'u'lláh. Descriptions of encounters between Bahá'u'lláh and Westerners have been published in Moojan Momen, The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, 1844-1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts.

LIFE

Stephen Lambden and Christopher Buck have each examined the evolving nature of Bahá'u'lláh's claims; Buck examines Bahá'u'lláh's claims regarding his station in the Baghdad period in Symbol and Secret: Qur'an Commentary in Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Íqán: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 7, 54-74, and Lambden the claims of the subsequent period in "Some Notes on Bahá'u'lláh's Gradually Evolving Claims of the Adrianople/Edirne Period," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 5.3-6.1 (June 1991): 75-83. Buck also attempts a broad-scope analysis of the development of Bahá'u'lláh's mission in "Bahá'u'lláh as 'World-Reformer,'" in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.4 (Dec. 1990-Mar. 1991). Kent Beveridge has examined one specific period of Bahá'u'lláh's life, the 1868 trip from Adrianople to 'Akká, in his "From Adrianople to 'Akká: The Australian Lloyd," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 4.1 (Mar. 1986).

    ¶11.2. Bahá'u'lláh's Writings

Much of Bahá'u'lláh's writings in English translation--save parts of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, The Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, and Bahá'í Prayers--have been assembled into a single collection titled Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh's most important book, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, was first published in early 1993. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 138-41, 171-76, 205-20, summarizes Bahá'u'lláh's major works very succinctly and skillfully. The "Leiden List" of Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, below, is a nascent annotated bibliography of his major writings.

Esslemont, 48-49                          Huddleston, 196, 200-204                  
Ferraby, 50-67, 221                       Smith 1987, 72-85                         
Hatcher and Martin, 37, 43-47, 84-85      Smith 1996, 64-73                         

Commentaries on Bahá'u'lláh's writings are still rarely done by Bahá'ís, though the number appearing in recent years has increased, and the trend is toward higher quality. Robert McLaughlin's These Perspicuous Verses is a short commentary on three pages of Bahá'u'lláh's work titled the Tablet of Ishráqát. Michael Sours recently published A Study of Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet to the Christians. Ross Woodman has assembled two excellent commentaries, A Bahá'í Academy Course on the Gleanings and A Bahá'í Academy Course on the Kitáb-i-Íqán. Christopher Buck's Symbol and Secret: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 7, a study of Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Íqán, is the fullest examination of a single Bahá'í text yet published. Suheil Bushrui's The Style of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas is a shorter examination on the literary aesthetics of Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

¶12. Community

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 160 (Synopsis and Codification extract 5 / Aqdas paragraph 30); 162 (Synopsis and Codification extract 9 / Aqdas paragraph 52); 169 (Synopsis and Codification extract 169 / Aqdas paragraph 173); 182 (fifth Glad-Tidings, in Tablets 22-23); 184 (thirteenth Glad-Tidings, in Tablets 26-27); 185 (fifteenth Glad-Tidings, in Tablets p. 28); 203-4 (eighth and ninth leaves of Paradise, in Tablets 68-71); 234-35 (sixth, seventh, and eighth Ishráq, in Tablets 127-129); prayer for the Hands of the Cause, in the Malaysian Prayer Book, page 37. Relevant quotations from 'Abdu'l-Bahá can be found in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 89-94. Lights of Guidance, 2-14, 43-62, 77-87, 239-48, has notes on a variety of topics of community.

Ferraby, 263-67                           Huddleston, 125-27, 132-34                
Hatcher and Martin, 151-52, 166-86        Momen, 47-8, 55, 64, 67-82                

Robert Stockman examines the composition of the early American Bahá'í community by distinguishing and describing a few believer-types in "The American Bahá'í Identity, 1894-1921," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 6.4-7.2 (Oct. [Dec.] 1992). One of the most useful non-academic presentations of Bahá'í community life is Colette Gouvion and Philippe Jouvion's The Gardeners of God: An Encounter with Five Million Bahá'ís. Written in a journalistic style and from a non-Bahá'í viewpoint, it presents a fair and complete description of the Bahá'í world community and its attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

¶13. Consultation

Writings from Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice are contained in Consultation: A Compilation, which is reprinted in Compilation of Compilations, volume I. See also Lights of Guidance, 176-80.

Esslemont, 266-69                         Hatcher and Martin, 161-63                
Faizi, 100-3                              Huddleston, 121-24                        
Ferraby, 267-68                           Momen, 47, 78-80                          

One basic work on the Bahá'í approach is John Kolstoe's Consultation: A Universal Lamp of Guidance. An attempt to bring consultation to the business world is exhibited in Robert B. Rosenfeld and Michael H. Winger-Bearskin, "Principles of Consultation Applied to the Process of Innovation in a Corporate Environment," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.1 (1990-1991): 31-48.

¶14. Conversion

Lights of Guidance discusses topics of conversion, especially teaching, in 565-600.

Esslemont, 79-80                          Momen, 103-30                             
Ferraby, 290-96                           Smith 1987, 79, 87-8, 93-4, 146, 157-9    
Hatcher and Martin, 172-76                Smith 1996, 88, 122                       
Huddleston, 130-32, 234-35                                                          

ANALYTICAL

The most complete study of Bahá'í conversion practices and patterns is Arthus Hampson's doctoral dissertation The Growth and Spread of the Bahá'í Faith, a lengthy sociological study of the history and pattern of the Faith's diffusion around the world. A fair number of short academic studies of Bahá'í conversion are also available, usually done by non-Bahá'ís. These include Chana Ullman's The Transformed Self: The Psychology of Religious Conversion, which analyzes two personal accounts of conversion to the Bahá'í Faith in pages 95-103; Peter Smith's and Moojan Momen's "The Bahá'í Faith 1957-1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments," in Religion 19 (Jan. 1989); James J. Keene's highly statistical anthropological study of conversion patterns "Baha'i World Faith: Redefinition of Religion," in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 6:2 (1967), and a brief critical response to this piece by Agehananda Bharati, "Baha'i Statistics and Self-Defining Design," in ibid., 7 (1968).

HISTORICAL

Susan Stiles' "Early Zoroastrian Conversions in Iran" and Peter Smith's "The Bábí Movement: A Resource Mobilization Perspective" describe conversions in nineteenth-century Iran; Robert Stockman's The Bahá'í Faith in America, volume 1 and Peter Smith's "The American Bahá'í Community 1894-1917: a Preliminary Survey," describe the process of conversion in the early twentieth-century United States. Peter Berger's doctoral dissertation, From Sect to Church: a Sociological Interpretation of the Bahá'í Movement has an excellent description of the types of people who became Bahá'ís in the United States in the 1950s. Peter Smith offers a variety of comments on Berger's work in "Motif Research: Peter Berger and the Bahá'í Faith," in Religion, 8 (Autumn 1978). William Garlington's dissertation The Bahá'í Faith in Malwa: A Study of a Contemporary Religious Movement, abridged as "Bahá'í Conversions in Malwa, Central India," in Moojan Momen, From Iran East and West: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 2, examines the doctrines and institutions of the Faith "as implemented in a specific cultural environment."

INSTRUCTIVE

Many popular works address the approach Bahá'ís use in teaching their religion. Two compilations of passages from the Bahá'í writings are particularly useful: The Individual and Teaching: Raising the Divine Call and A Special Measure of Love: The Importance and Nature of the Teaching Work among the Masses. Nathan Rutstein's Spirit in Action: Teaching the Bahá'í Faith is an attempt to produce a manual to assist Bahá'ís to teach their religion more effectively. Learning About Growth: The Story of the Ruhi Institute and Large-Scale Expansion of the Bahá'í Faith in Columbia describes the efforts that caused large-scale enrollments to the Bahá'í Faith in Colombia, for the purpose of assisting Bahá'ís to apply the techniques elsewhere.

¶15. Covenant

The Bahá'í Faith recognizes two covenants: the Greater Covenant, a promise God has made to humanity to send Manifestations (see progressive revelation); and the Lesser Covenant, that the Bahá'í religion will never suffer schism and sect formation. The Lesser Covenant is embodied in 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Bahá'í Administrative Order, a chain of individuals and institutions whom the Bahá'í world obeys. Its import can partly be gleaned from the number of compilations on it (below).

Relevant passages can be found in Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 278-80 (Book of the Covenant, also in Tablets 219-223); 539 (Gleanings, CLXVI) and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 209-64. A compilation of Bahá'í scriptures on the Covenant has been published under the title The Covenant, which is included in Compilation of Compilations, volume I. Many of the passages in the Bahá'í scriptures on the Covenant have been compiled into a single slim work titled The Power of the Covenant. There is an excellent series in three small volumes also called The Power of the Covenant that describes the Bahá'í concept of the covenant as it relates to the Bahá'í administrative order, the problem of covenant-breaking, and opposition to the Bahá'í Faith. See also Lights of Guidance, 181-91.

Esslemont, 128-31                         Momen, 77-8                               
Ferraby, 241-55                           Smith 1987, 73-4, 111, 113-14             
Hatcher and Martin, 127-33                Smith 1996, 154-5                         
Huddleston, 140-41                                                                  

The only history and overview of the Covenant yet written is Adib Taherzadeh's The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh; it is significant because it describes in considerable detail, never published previously, the various efforts to break the Covenant and the strategies pursued by the successive Heads of the Faith to maintain Bahá'í unity.

¶16. Creation: Its Origin and Purpose

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 452-53 (Gleanings, LXXVIII-LXIX); 459 (Gleanings, LXXXIV); 464 (Gleanings, XC).

Esslemont, 204-7                          Hatcher and Martin, 74, 99-100            
Ferraby, 157-61                           Huddleston, 29-35, 54-5                   

Keven Brown's insightful "A Bahá'í Perspective on the Origin of Matter," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.3 (1989-1990) is the only study published thus far devoted to the topic of divine creation. A brief description of the relationship between the Bahá'í concept of God and the Bahá'í concept of physical creation may be found in Juan Cole's "The Concept of the Manifestation in the Bahá'í Writings," Bahá'í Studies, no. 9, 6-10. A thorough discussion of the subject may be found in John Hatcher, "The Metaphorical Nature of Physical Reality," Bahá'í Studies, no. 3, and in John Hatcher, The Purpose of Physical Reality, chapter 2, "The Bahá'í Paradigm of Physical Reality" and chapter 3 "A Guide to the Physical Classroom." Julio Savi's The Eternal Quest for God has an excellent chapter summarizing the Bahá'í concept of physical creation.

In addition to discussing physical creation, the Bahá'í writings describe all of existence as having various levels, which are arranged in a spiritual hierarchy: first God; then the Holy Spirit; then the Manifestations; then the individual imbued with the spirit of faith; then the human kingdom; then the animal kingdom; then the vegetable (plant) kingdom; and finally the mineral kingdom. The best description of this hierarchy is in 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 46-51, 61-62; and in Some Answered Questions, 208-9.

¶17. Economics

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 237-38 (end of the Ishráqát, in Tablets 133-134). 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, 273-78. Lights of Guidance lists topics of social and economic development, 544-54. Badi Shams has compiled numerous Bahá'í texts on economics, arranged by topic, in A Bahá'í Perspective on Economics of the Future. The most complete compilation, arranged neatly by topic and subtopic, is The True Foundation of all Economics, compiled by Hooshmand Badi'i.

Esslemont, 140-6                          Momen, 48-53, 63-6                        
Ferraby, 99-104                           Smith 1987, 149                           
Hatcher and Martin, 90-93                 Smith 1996, 87, 124                       
Huddleston, 161-63, 169-72                                                          

Probably the best short summary of the Bahá'í approach to economics is Gregory C. Dahl's "Economics and the Bahá'í Teachings: An Overview," in World Order, 10.1 (Fall 1975). Dahl has presented some of the same ideas in "Evolving toward a Bahá'í Economic System," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 4.3 (Sept.-Dec. 1991), which is a revision of his earlier article in Bahá'í Studies Notebook 3.3/4 (1984) called "Towards an Ever-Advancing Civilization." A shorter, but also excellent, summary may be found in John Huddleston's "The Economy of a World Commonwealth," in World Order, 9.4 (Summer 1975). John Huddleston has also published a history of world economics from a Bahá'í perspective called "Towards a World Economy," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.3 (1990-1991): 21-34. William S. Hatcher's essay "Economics and Moral Values" explores the connection between economics and morality; it was published in World Order, 9.2 (Winter 1974-75): 14-27. Giuseppe Robiati's "Faith and World Economy": A Joint Venture Bahá'í Perspective is the longest and one of the best examinations of economics and the Bahá'í teachings. Toward the Most Great Justice: Elements of Justice in the New World Order, ed. Charles O. Lerche, contains two pieces on economic justice, and some articles contained in the Association for Bahá'í Studies' The Bahá'í Faith and Marxism: Proceedings of a Conference, January 1986 also relate to the topic.

¶18. Education

The Bahá'í writings view education as of paramount importance. Just as a garden will become a jungle if not maintained and an animal remains bestial if not trained, likewise people do not attain their maximum potential without education. Education in Bahá'í thought is not merely a system of learning academic facts: the material, the human, and the spiritual aspects of humanity all require their respective spheres of education. Because of its importance in furthering human civilization, education must be universal and cumpolsory.

Bahá'í Education: A Compilation. Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi, which is reprinted in Compilation of Compilations, volume I, discusses aspects of child rearing. Six sections of Lights of Guidance--pages 141-58, 210-14, 293-4, 358-64, 555-64, and 628-40--are devoted to quotations on raising and educating children and youth. The longest compilation on education, organized by topic, is Foundations for a Spiritual Education. Another compilation of Bahá'í writings on education is Bahá'í Education: A Compilation.

Esslemont, 150-3                          Momen, 29-33, 43                          
Ferraby, 95-98                            Smith 1987, 90, 152-3                     
Hatcher and Martin, 85, 90, 181-3         Smith 1996, 87, 143                       
Huddleston, 105-9                                                                   

H. T. D. Rost's The Brilliant Stars: The Bahá'í Faith and the Education of Children provides a summary of the Bahá'í approach to education; a more personal and practical approach to educational reform may be found in Nathan Rutstein's Education on Trial. There are dozens of articles on aspects of education published in World Order magazine; among them are S. Pattabi Raman's "World Education: In Quest of a Paradigm" (19.3/4, Spring/Summer 1985); Daniel C. Jordan and Raymond Shepard, "The Philosophy of the Anisa Model," in World Order, 7.1 (Fall 1972); Donald T. Streets and Daniel C. Jordan, "Guiding the Process of Becoming: The Anisa Theories of Curriculum and Teaching," in World Order, 7.4 (Summer 1973); Michael F. Kalinowski and Daniel C. Jordan, "Being and Becoming: The Anisa Theory of Development," in World Order, 7.4 (Summer 1973). The entire Fall 1970 issue of World Order (5.1) is devoted to education. Susan Clay Stoddard discusses the need for spiritual and moral educational emphases in "Education and Moral Development in Children" in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 1.1 (1988-1989). Barbara Hacker's "Montessori and the Bahá'í Faith," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 1.2 (1988-1989), offers comparisons between the two educational theories.

The papers given at one conference devoted to the development of Bahá'í education have been included in Hooshang Nikjoo, ed., Trends in Bahá'í Education: Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Bahá'í Education, 1989, which includes articles on education and morality, music, parenting, conflict resolution, revelation, spirituality. Iraj Ayman, ed., A New Framework for Moral Education (Wienacht, Switzerland: Landegg Academy, 1993) consists of a collection of seven talks given at a conference on moral education held in Albania in 1991.

¶19. Environment

The Universal House of Justice has prepared one collection of sacred texts on the environment, Conservation of the Earth's Resources, reprinted in Compilation of Compilations, volume I.

Huddleston, 5                             Smith 1996, 125-7                         
Momen, 40-2, 55                                                                     

The Bahá'í Faith has recently formulated a position on the preservation of the environment, based on statements in the Bahá'í scriptures. The best short discussion of the Bahá'í position on environmental issues is Robert White's "Spiritual Foundations for an Ecologically Sustainable Society," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.1 (1989), reprinted in The Bahá'í World: An International Record, 1992-93. A longer discussion of the environmental crisis from a Bahá'í perspective may be found in Arthur Lyon Dahl's Unless and Until: A Bahá'í Focus on the Environment. Dahl summarizes many of his ideas in "The World Order of Nature," published in Charles Lerche, ed., Emergence, 161-74. There is also a compilation of Bahá'í scripture on the environment; a position paper; and pamphlets published on the Bahá'í approach to the environment. Roxanne Lalonde discusses environmental ethics in "Unity in Diversity: A Conceptual Framework for a Global Ethic of Environmental Sustainability," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 6.3 (Sept.-Dec. 1994), topics John J. Coleman also presents in "Protecting Humanity and Its Environment: A Bahá'í Perspective," in World Order, 26.2 (Winter 1994-95). Craig Loehle comments on spiritual aspects of ecology in On the Shoulders of Giants, 40-67. Cooperative Peace Strategies, a collection of papers related to the subject of world peace edited by John Davidson and Marjorie Tidman for the Association for Bahá'í Studies of Australia, includes articles on agriculture and the environment. Michael Sours finds some of the modern attitudes to the environment reflective of underlying religious conceptions in "Bah'a'í Cosmological Symbolism and the Ecofeminist Critique," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 7:1 (March-June 1995).

¶20. Epistemology: The Bahá'í Theory and Sources of Knowledge

Bahá'u'lláh discusses investigation of truth particularly in two places in his writings; in his "Tablet of Wisdom" (Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 239-47 and Tablets 135-152) and in the "Tablet of the True Seeker," from the Kitáb-i-Íqán 192-194 (also found in Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 131-33, Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 503-5, and Gleanings, CXXV). 'Abdu'l-Bahá discusses the "four methods acquiring of knowledge" in Some Answered Questions, 297-99.

Esslemont, 201-3                          Huddleston, 49-54                         
Faizi, 38-42, 63-4                        Momen, 96                                 
Ferraby, 124-26                           Smith 1987, 84, 155                       
Hatcher and Martin, 86-87                                                           

The best short treatment of Bahá'í epistemology is Nader Saiedi's "Faith, Reason, and Society in Bahá'í Perspective," in World Order, 21.3/4 (Spring/Summer 1987), 9-22. Jack McLean's "The Knowledge of God: An Essay in Bahá'í Epistemology," in World Order, 12.3 (Spring 1978) discusses the various ways of knowing listed in the Bahá'í scriptures, with reference to Auguste Comte and William James. Jalil Mahmoudi's "'Irfán, Gnosis, or Mystical Knowledge," in World Order, 7.4 (Summer 1973), considers the intuitive sources of knowledge. William Hatcher's Logic and Logos explores the relationship between revelation and reason. Moojan Momen's "Relativism: A Basis for Bahá'í Metaphysics," in Moojan Momen, ed., Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M. Balyuzi: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 5, 185-218, explores the role of relativism in reconciling Bahá'í teachings--formed in a Judeo-Christian-Islamic environment--with Hindu and Buddhist ideas. Though not strictly on epistemology, Bahíyyih Nakhjavání's Asking Questions: A Challenge to Fundamentalism discusses many relevant aspects of scholarship and independent investigation of truth.

¶21. Ethics

Bahá'u'lláh taught that, since leading a proper life while on the earth is requisite for one's spiritual development, purely metaphysical pursuits as sometimes practiced by the religious must be abandoned in favor of practical, worldly morality. Mundane ethical qualities such as proper interpersonal conduct thus receive as high an emphasis in the Bahá'í writings as do transcendent spiritual ones.

The Hidden Words (Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 33-59), though containing numerous and varied themes, is often considered to be primarily an "ethical" work.

Ferraby, 110-1                            Smith 1996, 65                            
Smith 1987, 64                                                                      

Udo Schaefer addresses the disintegration of much of modern society and the need for revitalized morality in his "Ethics for a Global Society," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 4.1 (1994). His follow-up article "The New Morality," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 5:1 (1995), outlines some basic categories and types in Bahá'u'lláh's system of ethics. He goes into greater depth in In a Blue Haze: On the Ethics of Smoking, in which he uses the discourgaed but not forbidden activity of smoking as a test case to examine the wider contexts and meanings of Bahá'í ethics. H. T. D. Rost examines the ethic of the "Golden Rule" as it is found in all of the world's major religions, concluding with a Bahá'í summation, in The Golden Rule: A Universal Ethic. Toward the Most Great Justice: Elements of Justice in the New World Order, edited by Charles Lerche, includes a few articles that are either directly or indirectly on subjects of ethics. Arash Abizadeh's short but incisive "Because Bahá'u'lláh Said So: dealing with a non-starter in moral reasoning," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 5:1 (1995), examines and criticizes some of the ways Bahá'ís might tend to justify ethical injunctions.

¶22. Family Life: Marriage, Divorce, and Sexuality

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 162-63 (Synopsis and Codification extracts 8 and 12 / Aqdas paragraphs 48 and 63); 47 (Persian Hidden Words, 80-82); 234-35 (seventh Ishráq, in Tablets 128); 'Abdu'l-Bahá discusses these and related matters in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 117-45. Prayers for marriage, children, and family can be found in Bahá'í Prayers. Six compilations of Bahá'í writings on family life, marriage and divorce are Bahá'í Marriage and Family Life: Selections from the Writings of the Bahá'í Faith; Marriage: A Fortress for Well-Being (complete with useful commentary); A Chaste and Holy Life; Family Life; Extracts from the Bahá'í Teachings Discouraging Divorce, and Preserving Bahá'í Marriages, the latter four of which are reprinted in Compilation of Compilations, volumes I and II. Scriptural passages on family life, marriage, and divorce are included in Lights of Guidance, 218-32, 358-64, and 368-402. Unrestrained as the Wind is a full compilation of passages relating to youth concerns, such as education, sexuality, drug use, social relationships, and spirituality.

Esslemont, 150-53, 175-78                 Huddleston, 90-109                        
Faizi, 65-6                               Momen, 25-9, 88-9                         
Ferraby, 278-80                           Smith 1987, 34-5, 46-7, 92-3, 198         
Hatcher and Martin, 158-60                Smith 1996, 35, 73, 76                    

FAMILY LIFE

Bahá'ís have written many popular works on family life, marriage, and divorce, including Khalil and Susan Khavari's Creating a Successful Family and Together Forever: A Handbook for Creating a Successful Marriage; Madeline Hellaby's Education in the Bahá'í Family, which also includes sections on the differing roles of different family members; a chapter in Rúhíyyih Rabbani's Prescription for Living; and Patricia Wilcox's Bahá'í Families: Perspectives, Principles, Practice, a good and insightful addition to the genre. A work of scholarship relating to family life is Hossain Danesh's "The Violence-Free Society: A Gift for Our Children" (Bahá'í Studies, 6). An entire volume of papers on marriage has been published by the Association for Bahá'í Studies titled The Divine Institution of Marriage in Bahá'í Studies Notebook, 3.1/2 (March 1983). A short summary of the reciprocal relations among family members may be found in Hoda Mahmoudi and Richard Dabell, "Rights and Responsibilities in the Bahá'í Family System" (Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 5.2 (June-Sept. 1992) 1-12); a longer and more specific study is John Hatcher's "The Equality of Women: The Bahá'í Principle of Complementarity," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.3 (1989-1990), reprinted as "Some Thoughts on Gender Distinction in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Bahá'í Principle of Complementarity," in The Law of Love Enshrined: Selected Essays. Linda O'Neil has offered useful comments on this article in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.4 (1989-1990).

SEXUALITY

Publications regarding chastity and sexuality include one of the only studies of family planning issues, Mehri Samandari Jensen's detailed sociological and demographic analysis "Religion and Family Planning in Contemporary Iran," in Peter Smith, In Iran: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 3. Another good article on an insufficiently-studied topic, Sharon Hatcher Kennedy and Andrew Kennedy's "Bahá'í Youth and Sexuality: A Personal/Professional View," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 1.1 (1988-1989), relates current attitudes about sexuality and chastity in the Bahá'í versus the non-Bahá'í world and offers counsel for Bahá'í youth. Agnes Ghaznavi's Sexuality, Relationships, and Spiritual Growth discusses sexuality and chastity as they relate to the spiritual and physical sides of marriage. Susan Lamb's review of this book, in Bahá'í Studies Review, 5:1 (1995), argues that this and most other Bahá'í presentations of and attitudes about sexuality are "downright squeamish" and "depressing." Geoffrey Parrinder's Sexual Morality in the World's Religions includes a few brief discussions of Bahá'í teachings.

¶23. Fasting

Muslims frequently describe prayer and fasting as twin pillars of religion, a description that Bahá'u'lláh apparently endorses (see Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 76 and Kitáb-i-Íqán 39-40). The Bahá'í Fast involves abstinence from all eating, drinking, and smoking from sunrise to sunset from 2 March through 20 March. Exempt from the fast are children; the elderly; the ill; women who are pregnant, menstruating, or nursing; travelers; and those performing heavy work. Its purpose is to reemphasize the import of things spiritual over things material, or, as Shoghi Effendi says, to "refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in the soul" (Lights of Guidance 233).

Duane Herrmann's Fasting: The Sun and its Moons: A Bahá'í Handbook, which includes fasting prayers, is a very useful compilation of Bahá'í scriptures on the fast. Bahá'u'lláh revealed some prayers related to fasting. Though principally intended for devotion, they also provide insight into the place of fasting in Bahá'í theology and its significance to Bahá'ís. These prayers are in Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 576-80 (Prayers and Meditations, 79-86) and Bahá'í Prayers 238-261. Details on fasting are provided in Lights of Guidance 233-235. Most of the laws and directives concerning it are found in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, especially paragraphs 10, 16, and 17; Questions and Answers nos. 22 36, 71, 75-6, and 93; Synopsis and Codification section IV.B; and Notes, pages 170-179 passim.

Esslemont, 182-4                          Huddleston, 61-2                          
Ferraby, 283-4                            Momen, 87-8                               
Hatcher and Martin, 157                                                             

While a few popular items on fasting have been written, the only scholarly presentation of it is John Walbridge's comparison of the Muslim and the Bahá'í fasts in Sacred Acts, Sacred Space, Sacred Time, 67-71.

¶24. Feasts, Calendar, and Holy Days

FEAST

An understanding of the Bahá'í community's meetings is vital in understanding the religion. Once every nineteen days, the first day (or the evening before the first day, since the Bahá'í day begins at sunset) of each Bahá'í month, all of the Bahá'ís of a locality are invited to a feast at the local Bahá'í center or an individual's house. Feasts are divided into three parts: first, prayers and devotional readings from the Bahá'í writings and other religions are chanted or read; second, the Bahá'ís consult, primarily on matters of community business and teaching projects; third, the members of the community socialize. Though the host will usually serve refreshments in the social portion, the feast is so named because devotionals and socializing with the community are food for the spirit.

Bahá'u'lláh inaugurates the institution of the feast in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, paragraph 57, which is further defined in Questions and Answers no. 48 and Note 82. Lights of Guidance 239-246 presents a full selection of excerpts about the feast. There are two compilations of Bahá'í scriptures of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice on the subject: Bahá'í Meetings: The Nineteen Day Feast, and The Nineteen Day Feast, in Compilation of Compilations volume I.

Esslemont, 182-3                          Huddleston, 102-3                         
Ferraby, 282                              Momen, 67-8                               
Hatcher and Martin, 151-2                                                           

CALENDAR

The Bahá'í Faith has its own calendar of nineteen months of nineteen days each. Each month is named after an attribute of God; furthermore, each day of the month is named for an attribute of God, as is each day of the week. Thus all time, in a sense, has been made into sacred time. This calendar, technically termed the Badí' ("unique," "wonderful") calendar, was established by the Báb and approved and slightly modified by Bahá'u'lláh. It is--unlike the Muslim calendar--a solar calendar, timed to begin with the March 21 spring equinox. The Bahá'í names of the various days, months, and years are given in every volume of the Bahá'í World up through Volume XVIII (1979-1983).

Bahá'u'lláh defines the Bahá'í calendar in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, paragraphs 16 and 127, Questions and Answers no. 35, and Notes 26-7, 138-9, and 147-8.

Esslemont, 16, 178-9                      Huddleston, 127-8                         
Faizi, 104-6                              Momen, 73-4                               
Ferraby, 280-82                           Smith 1987, 35                            
Hatcher and Martin, 151                   Smith 1996, 35                            

HOLY DAYS

Nine days of the Bahá'í calendar are singled out as holy days on which work should be suspended and children should not attend school. These include Naw-Rúz (the March 21 New Year), anniversaries of births and deaths of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, and the declarations of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. There are no prescribed rituals or ceremonies for these days, but communities usually hold devotions and, in the case of the days of declaration and Naw-Rúz, celebrations. Another time Bahá'ís celebrate is Ayyám-i-Há, "Days of Há," the four or five intercalary days preceding the month of fast when Bahá'ís host social gatherings and give gifts (so named because the abjad numbering of the Arabic letter há is 5). The festival of Ayyám-i-Há, though not sacred, is a special time for the Bahá'í community.

Bahá'u'lláh discusses some of the Bahá'í holy days in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, paragraphs 16 and 110-1, Questions and Answers nos. 1-2 and 35-6, and Notes 25-6 and 138-9.

Esslemont, 181-86                         Hatcher and Martin, 151                   
Faizi, 117-9                              Huddleston, 128-9                         
Ferraby, 282-283                          Momen, 74                                 

John Walbridge's Sacred Acts, Sacred Space, Sacred Time touches upon all of the above. This collection of articles devotes a chapter each to "The Bahá'í Calendar" and "Bahá'í Festivals," in which he presents historical and philosophical observations on the system and significances of the Bahá'í calendar and history and descriptions of all the festivals and holy days. Kalimát Press is producing a series of books on the holy days which consist of collections of sacred writings and other contemporary accounts in events; thus far they have released The Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, Days of Ridván, The Declaration of the Báb, The Martyrdom of the Báb, Naw-Rúz: New Day, The Passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and Twin Holy Days (the births of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh). Two further books, Ayyám-i-Há and the Fast and Day of the Covenant, are forthcoming.

¶25. Female Imagery / Maid of Heaven

A clue to the importance of female qualities for the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh and his new world order--one which 'Abdu'l-Bahá said would be "more permeated with the feminine ideals" (Lights of Guidance, 615)--is offered by the imagery of the Maid of Heaven. The Báb referred to himself as the Maid of Heaven bringing the new revelation (Selections from the Writings of the Báb, 54). For Bahá'u'lláh, the Maiden was the bringer of the revelation in much the same way as Gabriel brought the Annunciation to Mary and the Qur'án to Muhammad. In places, the Maiden was the personified symbol for the revelation itself. Another feminine religious symbol is the Islamic notion of the "Mother Book," which in Bahá'u'lláh's language is more often the "Mother Word" or the "Mother Tablet."

Bahá'u'lláh writes of the Maid of Heaven in Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 511-12 (Gleanings, 282-4) and 46 (Hidden Words Persian #77, also preserved as Gleanings, 91-2). Shoghi Effendi quotes Bahá'u'lláh's description of the Maiden's revelation to him in God Passes By, 101-2 and 121-122. Most of Bahá'u'lláh's tablets featuring this imagery have not yet been published in authoritative translation.

¶26. Funds and the Huqúqu'lláh

Two principles underlie the Bahá'í attitude about donating money, or zakát, to the administrative order. One is that Bahá'u'lláh clearly emphasized the need for just distribution of wealth, a tenet that 'Abdu'l-Bahá elevated to the status of a fundamental principle. The Bahá'í teachings do not advocate a complete financial egalitarianism, for the possession of wealth, financial or otherwise, is seen as a divine gift--Bahá'u'lláh wrote that God created us rich (Hidden Words, Arabic #13). Rather, the existence of extremes of wealth and poverty must be eliminated; 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that any time poverty is seen to reach a certain level, "it is a sure sign that somewhere we shall find tyranny." (Paris Talks, 153). An individual may seek to rectify economic injustice by giving direct assistance to the poor, but providing charity also one of the functions of the administrative order.

Another principle is that, since wealth is a gift of God, donating that wealth is a privilege. Hence, only Bahá'ís are allowed to contribute money to the administrative order. If one who is not a Bahá'í is aware of this and yet insists upon donating money, his or her money is used for charitable, but not Bahá'í, purposes.

Bahá'u'lláh mentions some of the Bahá'í attitudes towards wealth in the Hidden Words (Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 33-59), including the Arabic 11, 13, 56, and the Persian 11, 49, 51, 53-4, and Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 233 (Ishráqát, in Tablets 132-4). 'Abdu'l-Bahá talked about the chimera of complete financial equality versus the reality of just distribution of wealth in Paris Talks, 151-4, and quotations from the other primary figures and the Universal House of Justice on the topic are presented in Light of Guidance, 120-5 and 548-51. Compilations of writings on the Bahá'í fund are Lights of Guidance, 249-65, Lifeblood of the Cause (Funds), in Compilation of Compilations, volume I, Bahá'í Funds and Contributions, and Bahá'í Funds: Contributions and Administration.

Esslemont, 21, 142-6                      Hatcher and Martin, 152, 177-8            
Ferraby, 271-2                            Huddleston, 141-4                         

THE BAHA'I FUND

Gloria Faizi's Stories about Bahá'í Funds is a collection of inspirational anecdotes about giving. Patrick Barker's Created Rich: How Spiritual Attitudes and Material Means Work Together to Achieve Prosperity is a relatively scholarly and detailed work on the Bahá'í treatment of money and the Bahá'í funds. Margit Warburg's brief research note "Economic Rituals: The Structure and Meaning of Donations in the Baha'i Religion," in Social Compass 40 (1993), is the only purely academic piece on the Bahá'í fund.

HUQÚQU'LLÁH

In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh instituted a tax system by which believers with sufficient means make a contribution to the head of the Faith--which since the death of Shoghi Effendi is the Universal House of Justice--called Huqúqu'lláh, "Right of God." As zakát is based on the preexisting Islamic institution of zakát (see Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Questions and Answers no. 107), so is Huqúqu'lláh similar to the Shí'í khums, in which 1/5 of an individual's wealth is donated. Bahá'u'lláh has reduced the size of the tax to 19%, a Bahá'í holy number, and explicitly outlined its details. Huqúqu'lláh is yet another means to both fund the Faith and to share wealth justly. Only one's discretionary income, i.e. the money left over after all debts and necessities have been deducted, is taxed. This tax is wholly voluntary, for one calculates its amount and pays it only how and when one chooses. Further, the primary payment of Huqúqu'lláh is made only once in one's lifetime, taxes on any further increases in wealth being paid at the individual's discretion.

Bahá'u'lláh instituted Huqúqu'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, paragraph 97. Its details are further clarified in Questions and Answers nos. 8-9, 42, 44-5, 69, 80, 89-90, 95, and 102 and Notes nos. 47 and 125. Compilations of quotations regarding and explaining it are Huqúqu'lláh, reprinted in Compilation of Compilations, volume I, and Lights of Guidance, 304-8.

Ferraby, 271-2, 277                       Momen, 66                                 

Little scholarly work has been done on Huqúqu'lláh. However, Gloria Faizi's Stories about Bahá'í Funds includes a chapter of anecdotes about it. Patrick Barker offers a number of observations of the import and meaning of Huqúqu'lláh in Created Rich: How Spiritual Attitudes and Material Means Work Together to Achieve Prosperity. Adib Taherzadeh also explains it in Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, volume 4, 248-56. The fullest, though still short, academic exploration of Huqúqu'lláh and its historical precedents is chapter 3 in John Walbridge's Sacred Acts, Sacred Space, Sacred Time.

¶27. Gender Issues and Equality

Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá both emphasized the equality of men and women and stated that women had a right to an education and to training in a vocation. The roles of men and women are not seen as the same as much as complementary (see, for example, 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the chimera of complete equality in Paris Talks, 152). Much effort remains to be made in the Bahá'í community to achieve the ideals that the Bahá'í scriptures have defined. Scholarship, though, is quite active on this topic.

Women: Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice provides many statements from the Bahá'í scriptures about women and gender roles. This is reprinted as Women, in Compilation of Compilations, volume II. See also Lights of Guidance, 612-22. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States has released an official statement, "Two Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Men and Women," printed in World Order, 28.3 (Spring 1997).

Esslemont, 146-50                         Momen, 37-40                              
Ferraby, 94-95                            Smith 1987, 46-7, 50-1, 92, 152, 178-9    
Hatcher and Martin, 8-90                  Smith 1996, 87, 127-8, 135, 143           
Huddleston, 87-90                                                                   

GENERAL

A starting point in the study of the Bahá'í perspective of gender is Trevor R. J. Finch's "Unclipping the Wings: A Survey of Secondary Literature in English on Bahá'í Perspectives on Women," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 4.1 (1994). Finch presents a well-annotated bibliography of some of the more important Bahá'í works dealing with gender and women's issues written in the past twenty years. Publications devoted to the study of the roles of women or gender issues include the Fall 1995 issue of World Order, 27.1, which is devoted to the topic of gender equality and complementarity. It includes Marilyn J. Ray's examination from a feminist perspective, "Women and Men: Toward Achieving Complementarity"; Martha Leach Schweitz's "Of Webs and Ladders: Gender Equality in Bahá'í Law"; and Jane J. Russell's "Spiritual Vertigo at the Edge of Gender Equality." The published proceedings of the Association for Bahá'í Studies of Australia's 1989 conference "The Role of Women in an Advancing Civilization," edited by Sitarih 'Ala'i and Colleen Dawes, includes a few useful articles on a variety of topics. Equal Circles: Women and Men in the Bahá'í Community, ed. Peggy Caton, is another collection of articles, including pieces on the myth of male superiority, the year of patience, violence, and racism.

HISTORICAL

Ann Boyles surveys the history of Bahá'í activities to realize gender equality in "Towards the Goal of Full Partnership: One Hundred and Fifty Years of the Advancement of Women," in The Bahá'í World: An International Record, 1993-94. Anne Gordon Atkinson briefly examines the history of the presentation of and participation by women in art in "Women in Art," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 4.2 (June-Sept. 1991). Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani's "The Interdependence of Bahá'í Communities: Services of North American Bahá'í Women to Iran," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 4.1 (Mar.-June 1991), is a historical survey of prominent American women and their interactions with the Iranian Bahá'í community. Susan Stiles Maneck has explored the question of Táhirih, a prominent Bábí woman, as a role model in "Táhirih: A Religious Paradigm of Womanhood," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.2 (1989-1990): 39-54.

EQUALITY

A provocative article about the subject of the roles of men and women is Linda and John Walbridge, "Bahá'í Laws on the Status of Men," in World Order, 19.1/2 (Fall 1984/Winter 1984-85). It and Sen McGlinn's "Some Considerations Relating to Inheritance Laws," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 5:1 (1995), each examine the gender differentiation in the inheritance laws as laid out in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Partly in response to the Walbridge's "Bahá'í Laws," dialogue devoted an issue to "A Question of Gender: A Forum on the Status of Men in Bahá'í Laws," in dialogue 2:1 (Summer/Fall 1987). Six authors--Susan Stiles-Maneck, R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram, Julie Pascoe and Jim Bartee, Baharieh Ma'ani, and Anthony Lee--responded with commentary and further discussion. John Hatcher's "The Equality of Women: The Bahá'í Principle of Complementarity," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.3 (1989-1990), reprinted as "Some Thoughts on Gender Distinction in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Bahá'í Principle of Complementarity," in The Law of Love Enshrined: Selected Essays presents many considerations on this issue, as does Linda O'Neil's commentary on his article in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.4 (1989-1990). A well-written presentation of the Bahá'í principle of equality of men and women is Constance Conrader's "Women: Attaining their Birthright," in World Order, 21.1/2 (Fall 1986/Winter 1986-1987). The Spring 1975 issue of World Order (9.3) was devoted to the rights of women. Hoda Mahmoudi's "From Oppression to Equality: The Emergence of the Feminist Perspective," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 1.3 (1989), analyzes Bahá'í teachings on gender equality in contrast with current feminist thought, and her "The Role of Men in Establishing the Equality of Women," in World Order, 26.3 (Spring 1995), examines social attitudes leading to oppression and ways to reform them. Janet Huggins' "Exploring Male Oppression from a Family-Systems Perspective," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.2 (1990-1991), explores sexual inequality from a family-systems perspective. Moojan Momen's "In All the Ways that Matter, Women Don't Count," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 4.1 (1994), advances that the solution to achieving gender equality is not simply to equalize the gender roles but to produce a wholly new, and more feminine, society. Lata Ta'eed discusses the nature of gender as it impacts on and shapes individual personality in "Sex, Gender, and New Age Stereotyping," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 4.1 (1994).

¶28. God, Concept of

Since almost the entirety of Bahá'u'lláh's and 'Abdu'l-Bahá's writings discuss the Bahá'í concept of God, only one succinct definition will be listed here: the opening pages of part two of the Kitáb-i-Íqán, 98-100, reprinted in Gleanings, XIX-XX and Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 406-7. Brief comments are in Lights of Guidance, 477-9.

Esslemont, 201-3                          Huddleston, 29-35                         
Faizi, 27-29                              Momen, 91-103                             
Ferraby, 33-36                            Smith 1996, 37, 64-5                      
Hatcher and Martin, 74-75, 123-26                                                   

An excellent, analytical summary of the Bahá'í concept of God can be found in Juan Cole's "The Concept of the Manifestation in the Bahá'í Writings," Bahá'í Studies, no. 9, 3-10. A detailed and careful discussion of the Bahá'í concept of God is the central theme of Julio Savi's The Eternal Quest for God. William Hatcher has explored scientific and philosophical "proofs" for the existence of God in "From Metaphysics and Logic," in Logic and Logos, and "A Scientific Proof of the Existence of God," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 5.4 (Dec. 1993-Mar. 1994). Craig Loehle discusses a few arguments for the existence of God in On the Shoulders of Giants, 176-90.

THE SACRED AND THE HOLY

The best way to capture the Bahá'í concept of the sacred is by reading Bahá'í prayers about the greatness and mysterious nature of God; doctrinal statements do not convey the feeling appropriate to this subject. The Seven Valleys (Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 3-18) also contains many descriptions of God and of the experience of God, and thus constitutes a kind of description of the sacred.

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 387-88 (Gleanings, I); 412-16 (Gleanings, XXVI, XXVII); 596-601 (Prayers and Meditations, LXXV-LXXX).

¶29. Health, Healing, and Medicine

'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 146-58; Some Answered Questions, 254-59. A compilation of Bahá'í scriptures on health and healing was published by Elias Zohoori under the title The Throne of the Inner Temple; a compilation by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, Selections from the Bahá'í Writings on Some Aspects of Health, Healing, Nutrition, and Related Matters is in both Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 3.1 (June 1984) and Compilation of Compilations, volume I. Lights of Guidance has a section on health, 275-98.

Esslemont, 101-15                         Huddleston, 60-68                         
Ferraby, 153-55                           Momen, 23-4                               

Stephen Lambden and Khazeh Fananapazir have translated Bahá'u'lláh's compendium of medical advice "Tablet to the Physician," including detailed notes and possible influences, in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 6:4-7:2 (October 1992). Useful collections of essays on health appeared in the Special Issue on Health of Bahá'í Studies Notebook, 2.1 (April 1981) and Selected Proceedings from Bahá'í International Health Agency Conferences, in Bahá'í Studies Notebook, 4.1 (August 1985). An excellent summary of the Bahá'í approach to health is Hossain Danesh's "Health and Healing," in World Order, 13.3 (Spring 1979).

¶30. Hermeneutics and Interpretation

Bahá'u'lláh devotes a considerable amount of the Kitáb-I-Íqán to explicating the nature of religious symbolism and ways to interpret metaphors. 'Abdu'l-Bahá discusses interpretations of Christian symbolism in many places in Some Answered Questions, especially pages 122-126.

¶31. History and Historiography

The issue of historiography has as of yet been little studied. Moojan Momen's "Learning from History," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2.2 (1989-1990), offers some preliminary thoughts about the lessons of Bahá'í history. Sen McGlinn briefly addresses Bahá'í versus Marxist and Liberation theology interpretations of Western history in "Towards the Enlightened Society," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 4.1 (1994). Geoffrey Nash discusses a variety of historiographical topics in The Phoenix and the Ashes: The Bahá'í Faith and the Modern Apocalypse, esp. pages 66-103.

¶32. Holy Places, Bahá'í (World Centre and the Arc)

In addition to these sites, Bahá'ís recognize as holy the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, (which is currently closed to the Bahá'ís by the government authorities); the House of the Báb in Shíráz, which was demolished shortly after the Iranian revolution; and various other houses of Bahá'u'lláh in Iran and Turkey.

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 173-74 (Tablet of Carmel, in Tablets pp. 3-5); 435-37 (Gleanings, LVII-LVIII); 679-81 (Tablet of Visitation, in Prayers and Meditations 310-313).

Esslemont, 250-1                          Momen, 72-3, 127                          
Ferraby, 228-31, 272-3                    Smith 1987, 162, 198-9                    
Hatcher and Martin, 64, 180               Smith 1996, 112, 119-20, 124, 137         

The best summaries of the sites at the Bahá'í World Centre are Eunice Braun and Hugh Chance, A Crown of Beauty: The Bahá'í Faith and the Holy Land and David S. Ruhe, Door of Hope: A Century of the Bahá'í Faith in the Holy Land. Both were written to assist Bahá'í pilgrims: both have extensive quotations from the Bahá'í writings are amply illustrated with color pictures. One of the most extensive descriptions of the building of the Bahá'í World Center can be found in Ugo Giachery's Shoghi Effendi: Recollections, where Giachery describes much of the history of the designing and the building of the center's buildings and gardens. The non-Bahá'í French journalists Colette Gouvion and Philippe Jouvion wrote a short but interesting account of their impressions of the Bahá'í World Center in the opening of The Gardeners of God: An Encounter with Five Million Bahá'ís.

¶33. Houses of Worship (Mashriqu'l-Adhkár)

'Abdu'l-Bahá discusses the institution of the house of worship in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 94-100. Shoghi Effendi lists the various dependencies of the house of worship, as well as those of the Hazíratu'l-Quds, or Bahá'í administrative building, in God Passes By, 339. See also Lights of Guidance. 605-11.

Esslemont, 186-88                         Momen, 74-5                               
Ferraby, 269                              Smith 1987, 91, 161-2                     
Hatcher and Martin, 169-71                Smith 1996, 73, 111-4, 120-2, 150         
Huddleston, 164-66                                                                  

A few articles have been written describing the institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár; a history of the construction of the American house of worship, Bruce Whitmore's The Dawning Place, is available; and R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram includes a large section on this house of worship in his book Music, Devotions, and Mashriqu'l-Adhkár: Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, volume 4. The architectural dimensions of the house of worship are explored in Tom Kubala's "Architectural Implications of the Bahá'í Community," in World Order, 9.1 (Fall 1974). Other relevant citations are in section ¶5. Art, Literature, Music, Architecture.

¶34. Humanity: Its Nature and Purpose

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 456-59 (Gleanings, LXXXII-LXXXIII); 481 (Gleanings, CIX); 532-34 (Gleanings, CLV); 501 (Gleanings, CXXII). 'Abdu'l-Bahá deals with many aspects of human nature in Some Answered Questions, part four (177-259). A compilation of Bahá'í writings that contains many illuminating quotations about the nature of human beings is Bahá'í Education: A Compilation. Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi.

Esslemont, 118-9, 153-5                   Huddleston, 35-37, 54-60                  
Ferraby, 142-44, 155-60                   Momen, 12-3                               
Hatcher and Martin, 99-114                                                          

One article describing the Bahá'í teachings about the nature of human beings is Raymond Jeffords' "The Human Soul: A Bahá'í Perspective," in World Order, 17.1 (Fall 1982). An excellent work that sets the Bahá'í concept of the nature of humanity in the context of the Bahá'í concepts of God, Manifestation, and physical creation, is Julio Savi's The Eternal Quest for God.

¶35. Justice / Divine Justice

Justice is the fundamental virtue in the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. By justice, however, the Bahá'í teachings mean something far greater than simply the treatment of criminals or even the broader scope of fair interpersonal relations. Bahá'u'lláh opens the Arabic Hidden Words by telling the reader that by the aid of justice "thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor." (Hidden Words, Arabic No. 2) Bahá'u'lláh writes about two aspects of justice: the importance of human effort to establish justice in this world, and the sometimes inscrutable nature of God's justice. The former is required for a world community to act in unity, and the latter is a critical aspect of the Greater Covenant, God's promise never to leave humanity without prophetic guidance and humanity's agreement to heed the teachings of God's Manifestations.

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 51 (Arabic Hidden Words, 2); 424 (Gleanings, XXXVII); 576 (Prayers and Meditations, LV); 580 (Prayers and Meditations, LVII); 584 (Prayers and Meditations, LX).

Esslemont, 134-5                          Momen, 14, 46-7, 50-1, 65                 
Ferraby, 114-7                                                                      

John Hatcher's The Purpose of Physical Reality, chapter 1, "The Search for Divine Justice in the Physical World," is a good work on the operation of God's justice. The most complete academic work on Bahá'í notions of justice is a collection of essays on morality, ethics, gender equality, and social and economic justice edited by Charles O. Lerche, Toward the Most Great Justice: Elements of Justice in the New World Order.

¶36. Law and Personal Conduct

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 159-60 (Synopsis and Codification extracts 1 and 2 / Aqdas paragraphs 1 and 7). The rest of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, published separately, is also relevant, since it contains not only many of the laws but also "Questions and Answers," questions believers put to Bahá'u'lláh concerning the laws of the Aqdas and his responses; Shoghi Effendi's "A Synopsis and Codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas"; and numerous endnotes commenting on all the above. Lights of Guidance has notes on Bahá'í community law, 57-64.

Esslemont, 71-87, 102-5, 175-8            Momen, 83-90                              
Ferraby, 276-86                           Smith 1987, 33-5, 80-82, 139-40           
Hatcher and Martin, 152-55                Smith 1996, 35-6, 71-3, 156               

Martha L. Schweitz examines some issues of Bahá'í law and social principles in "The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: Bahá'í Law, Legitimacy, and World Order," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 6.1 (Mar.-June 1994). A few studies have examined the nature of Bahá'í law as it relates to inheritance, for Bahá'u'lláh included detailed instructions on inheritance law in cases of intestacy in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. These include Seena Fazel's "Inheritance," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 4.1 (1994), and John and Linda Walbridge's "Bahá'í Laws on the Status of Men," in World Order, 19.1/2 (Fall 1984/Winter 1984-85). Six authors commented on and responded to the latter in dialogue's forum, "A Question of Gender: A Forum on the Status of Men in Bahá'í Laws," in dialogue 2:1 (Summer/Fall 1987). Udo Schaefer's "'The Balance hath been Appointed': Some Thoughts on the Publication of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 3.1 (1993), offers considerations on aspects of Bahá'í law. John Hatcher considers aspects of punishments for violating Bahá'í laws in "The Model of Penology in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas," in The Law of Love Enshrined. Few items of secondary scholarship have been published on the legal nature of specific Bahá'í codes of conduct, save Udo Schaefer's In a Blue Haze: On the Ethics of Smoking, in which uses the ethicality of smoking to examine wider implications of Bahá'í laws of personal conduct.

¶37. Manifestations of God

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 407-23 (Gleanings, XXI-XXXV); 462-63 (Gleanings, LXXXVII). 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 55-60; Some Answered Questions, Part One (3-80), examines the influence of the various Manifestations on human development; part three (143-74) deals with the powers and conditions of the Manifestations of God. Lights of Guidance, 469-511, is an extended compilation of notes on Bahá'í teachings on the concept of Manifestation and some of the various Manifestations.

Esslemont, 202-4                          Huddleston, 40-3                          
Faizi, 30-37                              Momen, 94-6, 99-103                       
Ferraby, 37-38, 43-49                     Smith 1987, 73-74                         
Hatcher and Martin, 81-83, 115-23         Smith 1996, 37-8, 64-7                    

Juan Cole, "The Concept of the Manifestation in the Bahá'í Writings," Bahá'í Studies, no. 9, and Moojan Momen's "Bahá'u'lláh's Prophetology," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 5:1 (1995), examine the archetype of prophethood, Cole's to arrive at a theological understanding of the nature of revelation and Momen's to seek patterns in the lives and teachings of the prophets and thus arrive at a paradigmatic understanding of the nature of prophethood. Julio Savi writes extensively and incisively about the Bahá'í concept of the Manifestation in his book The Eternal Quest for God. Also useful is David M. Earl's "The Mystery of the Manifestation," in World Order, 23.3 (Spring/Summer 1989): 21-30. Juan Cole's "Problems of Chronology in Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet of Wisdom," in World Order, 13.3 (Spring 1979) considers the question of the accuracy of historical information in Bahá'u'lláh's revelation. John Hatcher examines the nature of the Manifestation in "The Doctrine of 'The Most Great Infallibility' in Relation to the 'Station of Distinction," in The Law of Love Enshrined. Enoch N. Tanyi presents a possible chronology of all Manifestations listed in the sacred texts of world religions in "The Syrian Prophet(s)," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 4.3 (Sept.-Dec. 1991). Christopher Buck's extended essay "Native Messengers of God in Canada? A test case for Bahá'í universalism," in Bahá'í Studies Review, 6 (1996), argues that Bahá'í manifestation theology allows for certain religious figures in other cultures and time periods to be considered Manifestations.

¶38. Mysticism

Though Bahá'u'lláh interpreted a great deal of previous religious symbolism, he said that he was reluctant to expound upon mystical works of earlier dispensations because such a vast amount of new mystical knowledge has come with his revelation (Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, volume 2, 285). However, very little of Bahá'u'lláh's mystical writings has been translated thus far. This is partly because these writings are so uniquely difficult to render into another language, and perhaps also partly because some of the symbolism and themes in Bahá'u'lláh's mystical works would seem very foreign and easily misunderstood to anyone not from a Muslim background.

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 3-29 (Seven Valleys and Four Valleys in toto); 501-05 (Gleanings, CXXIV-CXXV). The Hidden Words (Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 33-59), though often considered primarily an "ethical" work, also has many mystical themes.

Ferraby, 114, 129-141                     Smith 1987, 35-8, 64, 111-2, 154-5        
Momen, 105-7                              Smith 1996, 156-7                         

Ruhi Afnan compared Christian and Islamic mysticism with the Bahá'í approach to the subject in Mysticism and the Bahá'í Revelation: A Contrast. The only full study of mysticism, though a basic one, is Glenn A. Shook's Mysticism, Science, and Revelation. These are both rather old works. More recently, Farnaz Ma'súmián wrote a short introduction to Bahá'í mysticism, "Mysticism and the Bahá'í Faith," in Deepen, 6.3 (1995). Moojan Momen presents some findings of medicine and psychology on the mystic state and their relation to Bahá'u'lláh's mysticism in his "The Psychology of Mysticism and its Relationship to the Bahá'í Faith," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 2.4 (1984). Jack McLean discusses the mystical aspects of spirituality in Dimensions of Spirituality, especially 82-88. A work of fiction which may be of interest is Bruce Wells' From Discontent: the Biography of a Mystic. William Hatcher discussed the Bahá'í concept of the spiritual life in "The Concept of Spirituality" (Bahá'í Studies, 11, reprinted in The Bahá'í World: An International Record, Volume XVIII, and The Law of Love Enshrined) which, though not directly related to mysticism, may be useful. John Walbridge devotes a chapter to some of the textual bases of Bahá'í mysticism in Sacred Acts, Sacred Space, Sacred Time. William S. Hatcher presents some philosophical aspects of mysticism in "Myths, Models, and Mysticism," in Logic and Logos: Essays on Science, Religion, and Philosophy.

¶39. New World Order

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 233 (second Ishráq, in Tablets 126); 478-79 (Gleanings, CIV); 480-81 (Gleanings, CVI-CVIII); 482-83 (Gleanings, CXI-CXII); there are also many statements about the new world order in Bahá'u'lláh's tablets to the kings (see The Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh; much of it is found in Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 479-99). Many of Bahá'u'lláh's laws and principles for the new world order are found in the tablets of Bishárát, Tarázát, and Ishráqát (Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 181-92 and 220-38, also in Tablets 21-29, 33-44, and 101-134). Shoghi Effendi, Call to the Nations, 45-66; "The Goal of a New World Order," in World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 29-48. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 32 (the Seven Candles of Unity).

Esslemont, 137, 273-82                    Momen, 59-62                              
Ferraby, 80-93, 297-305                   Smith 1987, 196-99                        
Hatcher and Martin, 136-42                Smith 1996, 107                           
Huddleston, 110-12, 153-72                                                          

Relatively few articles have been written on the Bahá'í concept of the new world order and how it will be established; one is Douglas Martin's "The Spiritual Revolution," in World Order, 8.2 (Winter 1973-74). Closely related is Alessandro Bausani's "The Religious Crisis of the Modern World," in World Order, 2.3 (Spring 1968). A lengthy elaboration of the current world situation and the resources offered by the Bahá'í teachings for revolutionizing world society may be found in Udo Schaefer's The Imperishable Dominion: The Bahá'í Faith and the Future of Mankind. A new compilation of essays edited by Charles Lerche has been published under the title Emergence: Dimensions of a New World Order. These essays focus on the Bahá'í world order model; the international political changes that have been moving the world toward a new world order; human nature and the problem of establishing world peace; social and economic development; and environmental problems. Particularly relevant is Loni Bramson-Lerche's essay "An Analysis of the Bahá'í World Order Model" (1-70). A useful and somewhat critical book review of Emergence was published by Sen McGlinn in The Bahá'í Studies Review, 3.1 (1993): 87-92. Toward the Most Great Justice: Elements of Justice in the New World Order, and Emergence: Dimensions of a New World Order, both edited by Charles O. Lerche, contains many pieces tangential to the topic.

¶40. Peace and War

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 496-99 (Gleanings, CXVII-CXX). 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 295-312, and Esslemont, 170 (a statement written by 'Abdu'l-Bahá specifically for Esslemont's book). 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes on the importance of founding political peace in Secret of Divine Civilization 64-6, which is partially excerpted in Shoghi Effendi's World Order of Bahá'u'lláh 37-8. The statement by the Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace, is the best summary yet written on the meaning and broad significance of peace. Lights of Guidance also contains a section of quotations on peace, 430-437. A lengthy compilation on peace is included in Compilation of Compilations, volume II. Another systematic compilation of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice about war and peace and related subjects was published in 1986 under the title Peace: More than an End to War.

Esslemont, 156-74                         Momen, 46, 50                             
Ferraby, 92-93                            Smith 1987, 74-7, 108, 140-3, 148         
Hatcher and Martin, 140-41                Smith 1996, 71, 82-3, 86, 126, 156        
Huddleston, 1-27, 149-52, 230-33                                                    

PEACE

Philip Hainsworth's Bahá'í Focus on Peace is a useful discussion of the issues of war and peace from a Bahá'í perspective. Hossain B. Danesh's Unity: The Creative Foundation of Peace highlights the dynamic nature of the Bahá'í concept of unity and its application to problems preventing world peace. Ronald Roesch briefly examines the relevance of individual psychology to the establishment of world peace in "Psychology and Peace," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 1.2 (1988-1989). John Huddleston's Achieving Peace By the Year 2000: A Twelve Part Proposal offers a series of concrete steps, based on a Bahá'í perspective, for establishing world peace. Huddleston's Search for a Just Society, chapters 20-25, discusses the political history of peace and war in the last two centuries, and concludes by proposing Bahá'í solutions in chapter 29, "A Vision of World Peace." Anthony Lee edited a volume of useful essays on peace issues by different Bahá'ís titled Circle of Peace: Reflections on the Bahá'í Teachings. This volume includes essays on peace groups, human rights, women, youth, and the Soviet Union, as well as a harrowing account of one Bahá'í's experiences fighting in the Vietnam war. Huschmand Sabet's The Way Out of the Dead End: A Plea for Peace examines the current world situation and the resources offered by Christianity and the Bahá'í Faith for solving world problems. Cooperative Peace Strategies, a collection of papers related to the subject of world peace, has been edited by John Davidson and Marjorie Tidman for the Association for Bahá'í Studies of Australia. It includes articles on peace and the media, parenting, agriculture, the environment, the arms race, and gender equality. Kathy Lee examines the forces, both destructive and creative, which are leading to the lesser peace in Prelude to the Lesser Peace. Nader Saiedi proposes Bahá'í solutions to the prolonged conflicts in the Middle East in "The Middle East and World Peace," in World Order, 26.1 (Fall 1994). The compilation of essays in Emergence: Dimensions of a New World Order, edited by Charles Lerche, is also useful. These essays include discussions of the Bahá'í world order model, the international political changes that have been moving the world toward a new world order, human nature and the problem of establishing world peace, social and economic development, and environmental problems.

John N. Danesh's "Four Peace Messages, 1983-85: A Comparison," in World Order, 24.1 (Fall 1989/Winter 1989-90): 7-19, compares the Universal House of Justice's peace statement with similar statements issued by the World Council of Churches, the World Methodist Council, and the Vatican. Charles Lerche's "Human Nature and the Problem of Peace," in Charles Lerche, ed., Emergence, 101-30, considers negative attitudes about humanity's nature that have existed since Augustine and the Bahá'í response to them.

WAR

Bahá'u'lláh has explicitly outlawed the concept of holy war, jihád. Indeed, this was his first legislative act following his declaration (Smith 1987, 78).

The sacred writings discuss the unacceptably destructive nature of war in numerous places, including 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Secret of Divine Civilization, 61-67 and Shoghi Effendi in The Promised Day is Come. However, the Bahá'í Faith is not pacifist. Bahá'u'lláh wrote to Queen Victoria that, should any nation attack another, the other nations of the world should suppress the aggressor. Shoghi Effendi quoted this statement in many places, including World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 192, and God Passes By, 206-207. Shahrokh Monjazeb provided a complete translation of this tablet in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 4-21. In Secret of Divine Civilization, 70, 'Abdu'l-Bahá even says that "a conquest can be a praiseworthy thing." See also Lights of Guidance, 437.

Esslemont, 171-173                        Smith 1987, 21-2, 27, 43-5, 78-9, 147     
Hatcher and Martin, 13, 14, 20, 47        Smith 1996, 40, 42-6, 58, 66, 90, 157     

Denis MacEoin has studied the theme of war in the writings of the Báb in "The Babi Concept of Holy War," in Religion, 12 (1982), "From Babism to Baha'ism: problems of militancy, quietism and conflation in the construction of a religion," in Religion, 13 (1983), and "Bahá'í Fundamentalism and the Academic Study of the Bábí Movement," in Religion, 16 (Jan. 1986), especially 68-71 and 75-8. Ruhullah Mehrabkhani has challenged MacEoin's allegations of Bábí militancy in "Some Notes on Fundamental Principles: Western Scholarship and the Religion of the Báb" in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 2:4 (1984), especially pages 29-35, where he presents material that supports a much more eirenic picture of the Báb. Muhammad Afnán and William S. Hatcher have also rejected MacEoin's reading of Bábí history in their "Western Islamic Scholarship and Bahá'í Origins," in Religion, 15 (1985), 31-50 passim.

¶41. Persecution and Martyrdom

Esslemont, 15-7, 24-9, 169-71, 198-9,      Momen, 118-9, 127  Smith 1987, 79, 89,   
252 Ferraby, 288-90                        98, 172-4, 177-80                        
Hatcher and Martin, 195-8                 Smith 1996, 63, 90, 134-7, 145-7, 150     
Huddleston, 225-30                                                                  

PERSECUTIONS IN IRAN--historical and overviews

A starting point for studying the history of persecutions in Iran is Moojan Momen's detailed work, "A Chronology of Some of the Persecutions of the Bábís and Bahá'ís in Iran, 1844-1978," in The Bahá'í World vol. 18, pages 380-392. The studies of the current persecution in Iran are the most detailed. Douglas Martin's "The Persecution of the Bahá'ís in Iran, 1844-1984" (Bahá'í Studies, 12/13) provides an excellent historical overview, and Juan Cole's "The Bahá'ís of Iran," in History Today, 40 (1990) also discusses the topic. Roger Cooper's The Bahá'ís of Iran, published by Minority Rights Group, Ltd., a British Human Rights organization, is balanced and objective, though it is now a bit out of date (having been updated only through 1985). Muhammad Labib's Seven Martyrs of Hurmuzak describes a martyrdom that occurred in 1955; its relevance to the modern situation has been described in a review of the book by Howard Garey, published in World Order, 20.1 (Fall 1985). One of the worst outbreaks of persecution in Iran, that of Yazd and surrounding areas in 1903, has been reported on by both Bahá'í and non-Bahá'í writers. Michael Fischer, in his doctoral dissertation Zoroastrian Iran Between Myth and Praxis, has extensively discussed the massacre of Bahá'ís at Yazd. Parts of this have been published in Fischer and Mehdi Abedi, Debating Muslims: Cultural Dialogues in Postmodernity and Tradition and reprinted in Bahá'í Faith and Islam, "Social Change and the Mirrors of Tradition: The Bahá'ís of Yazd." The book Debating Muslims also includes an autobiographical story of a member of the Anti-Bahá'í Society who relates how he and his friends would taunt and harass Bahá'ís as youths and who later studied and practiced to best Bahá'ís in formal debate. Gary K. Waite seeks to understand some of the broader dynamics underlying the persections of the Bábís by comparing them with another persecuted religous group, the 16-century German Anabaptists, in "The Religious State: A Comparative Study of Sixteenth- and Nineteenth-century Opposition," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 7:1 (March-June 1995).

PERSECUTIONS IN IRAN--official and government statements

The persecution of Iran's Bahá'ís has generated many congressional and other governmental hearings. Some of these include the testimony given at the congressional hearings reprinted in World Order magazine, 16.3 (Spring 1982); 18.2 (Winter 1983-84); 18.3 (Spring 1984); 22.3 (Spring/Summer 1988); and 24.2/3 (Spring/Summer 1990). Testimonies have also been published in the U.S. government's Committee on Foreign Affairs' Religious Persecution as a Violation of Human Rights, pages 149-250. Official statements of the Bahá'í community include two recent and comprehensive works--which provide a history and an overview of the situation through 1993--The Bahá'í Question: Iran's Secret Blueprint for the Destruction of a Religious Community and Douglas Martin's "The Case of the Bahá'í Minority in Iran," in The Bahá'í World: An International Record, 1992-93. These replace an earlier Bahá'í International Community white paper titled The Bahá'ís in Iran: A Report on the Persecution of a Religious Minority, which details the persecution through 1982 and provides many statistics and copies of original Iranian government documents.

PERSECUTIONS IN IRAN--memoirs and general

Olya Roohizadegan's Olya's Story: A Survivor's Dramatic Account of the Persecution of Bahá'ís in Revolutionary Iran is a personal memoir of an Iranian Bahá'í who was imprisoned, interrogated, and survived to tell the story. Christine Hakim-Samandari's "Victory Over Violence," in World Order, 20.1 (Fall 1985), consists of selections from her longer and more general Les Bahá'ís: ou victoire sur la violence. Poignant letters from martyrs containing their reflections about life and sacrifice are published in English translations in Amin Banani's "Three Accounts of Love Sacrificed," in World Order, 17.1 (Fall 1982). Fereshteh Taheri Bethel included many similar letters as an appendix to her dissertation A Psychological Theory of Martyrdom: A content analysis of personal documents of Bahá'í martyrs of Iran written between 1979 and 1982. The moral implications of the Iranian persecutions are considered in Will van den Hoonaard's "The Persecution of the Iranian Bahá'í Community and the Emergence of a Universal Moral Order," in World Order, 19.1/2 (Fall 1984/Winter 1984-85). Geoffrey Nash's Iran's Secret Pogrom is useful and well-written, and William Sears' Cry from the Heart describes the persecution in a popular and passionate way. The so-called "Golpaygani Memorandum," a secret Iranian government memorandum to destroy the Iranian Bahá'í community and weaken the Faith worldwide, has been published in the original Persian, with English translation and commentary under the title "Iran's Blueprint to Destroy the Bahá'í Community," in World Order, 25.1 (Fall, 1993), 44-50.

PERSECUTIONS OUTSIDE OF IRAN

Scholarship on persecution of Bahá'ís outside of Iran includes a study of the persecution of Bahá'ís in Morocco in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Freedom of Religion on Trial in Morocco: The Nador Case (1963). The occasional persecution of the Bahá'ís in the Russian Empire dates back to the 1880s and is described in Anthony Lee's "The Rise of the Bahá'í Community of 'Ishqábád." Systematic persecution of the Bahá'ís in the Soviet Union under Stalin is described in "Persecutions under the Soviet Régime," The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, vol. 3, 1928-1930, 34-43; "Turkestan," The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, vol. 5, 1832-1934, 33-43; "Difficulties in Turkistán and Caucasus," in The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, vol. 7, 1936-1938, 100-102; "Persecution and Deportation of the Bahá'ís of Caucasus and Turkistan," in The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, vol. 8, 1938-1940, 87-90. Persecution of German Bahá'ís by the Nazis is described in The Bahá'í World: A Biennial International Record, vol. 10, 1944-1946, 20-25. There are also scattered references in Lidia: The Life of Lidia Zamenhof, Daughter of Esperanto (Lidia Zamenhof was a Bahá'í and lived in Warsaw during much of World War Two, until she was sent to the Treblinka concentration camp). While the opposition to the Bahá'í Faith in the United States can hardly be called "persecution," it has been studied; the best article is Douglas Martin's "The Missionary as Historian: William Miller and the Bahá'í Faith," in World Order, 10.3 (Spring 1976).

MARTYRDOM AND THE MEANING OF SUFFERING

The spiritual significance of martyrdom is another facet of persecution, one which gives an insight into why Bábís and Bahá'ís have tended to accept and in cases even seek persecution. Suffering and dying in the path of one's religion has long been given theological significance; "sacrifice" in Latin means "to make sacred," and the words for martyr and for witness, i.e. one who testifies to God's existence, are identical in Greek and closely related in Arabic. The Christian atonement--i.e. Jesus' death on the cross as a channel for reconciliation between the sinful humanity and the forgiving God--is perhaps the most systematized of religious notions of martyrdom, but the broad theme is found in all religions. In Shí'í Islam it takes the form of the sacrifice of Muhammad's grandson and the third Imám, Husayn, in the fields of Karbilá, which has led to a pervading ethos of redemptive suffering in Shí'ism. Much of the writings of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh reflect this ethos (e.g. Hidden Words, Arabic 45-51, and Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, 72-7), but the actual practice of martyrdom in the Bábí versus the Bahá'í Faiths is quite different. Whereas the Bábís were at times almost eager to be martyred, Bahá'u'lláh often declared that his followers were not to take statements praising martyrdom so literally that they would seek it; instead, Bahá'ís came to think of service as being a form of martyrdom--devoting one's life completely to the religion and to serving humanity is a form of living sacrifice (e.g. Advent of Divine Justice 7, and Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, volume 4, 302-3, and Smith 1996, 157).

'Abdu'l-Bahá explains types of sacrifices and their significances in Promulgation of Universal Peace, 449-52.

Esslemont 15-8, 22, 24-5, 169-71, 198-9,     Momen, 108-10 Smith 1987, 3, 27,       
252 Hatcher and Martin, 16-21, 195-7         44-5, 79, 180                          
Huddleston, 188-9                            Smith 1996, 16, 43-4, 66, 157          

The incidents of Bábí and Bahá'í martyrdom have been well recorded and frequently cited, as for example in the textbook citations given immediately above. Numerous first-hand accounts of martyrdoms, usually extolling the heroism of the martyrs, have been written, many of which were published in volumes of World Order magazine, Star of the West, and The Bahá'í World. A collection of documents of the martyrdom of the Báb, both Bahá'í scriptural accounts and a few eyewitness accounts, has been published as Martyrdom of the Báb: A Compilation.

However, little academic work has examined this issue. The citations given above for Smith 1987 mention some of the Shí'í influence on the patterns of martyrdom. Fereshteh Taheri Bethel conducted a somewhat useful study of the psychology of martyrdom, i.e. the internal states of martyrs, in her dissertation A Psychological Theory of Martyrdom: A content analysis of personal documents of Bahá'í martyrs of Iran written between 1979 and 1982, aspects of which she published as "A Psychological Theory of Martyrdom," in World Order, 20.2/3 (Spring/Summer 1986). Abdu'l-Missagh Ghadirian has examined a similar topic in "Psychological and Spiritual Dimensions of Persecution and Suffering," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 6.3 (Sept.-Dec. 1994). Jonah Winters' master's thesis Dying For God: Conceptions of Martyrdom in the Shi'i, Babi, and Bahai Religions traces continuities and discontinuities of the theologies of martyrdom.

NUMBERS OF BABI MARTYRS

One topic, though a minor one, that has occasioned a fair amount of academic debate is the number of believers who were martyred since the beginning of the Bábí movement. Denis MacEoin has consistently maintained that the number of martyrs was not 20,000, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi mentioned numerous times, but between 2,000 to 3,000 (e.g. "A Note on the Numbers of Babi and Bahá'í Martyrs in Iran," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 2.2 (Sept. 1983), and "From Babism to Baha'ism: Problems of Militancy, Conflation, and Quietism in the Construction of a Religion," in Religion, 13 (July 83), 235-8). However, the Universal House of Justice, in a letter to an individual dated 22 January 1984, reiterated that the figure of 20,000 is "clearly recorded" in "the official government historical record of events in Iran." (Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 3.4 (Dec. 1995), page 99).

¶42. Philosophy

Two texts that stand out as chief among the Bahá'í philosophical works are Bahá'u'lláh's "Tablet of Wisdom," in Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 239-47 (Tablets, 135-52), and 'Abdu'l-Bahá's "Tablet to Auguste Forel." 'Abdu'l-Bahá briefly defines philosophy in Memoirs of the Faithful, 92, and distinguishes between natural and divine philosophy in Promulgation of Universal Peace, 326-7 (quoted in H. M. Balyuzi's 'Abdu'l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, where the page numbers from an earlier edition of Promulgation are given). The Research Department of the Universal House of Justice has compiled a thorough list of references to philosophy from the Bahá'í writings and divided them by topic and has as well provided extracts on philosophy from previously unpublished works, in "References on Philosophy," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 5.1-2 (Jan. 1991): 76-87.

William S. Hatcher's Logic and Logos: Essays on Science, Religion, and Philosophy includes many discussions of philosophy, including for example Platonic thought, metaphysics, logic, and subjectivity. His five essays reprinted in The Law of Love Enshrined deal with scientific approaches to religion, philosophy, and spirituality. John S. Hatcher's The Purpose of Physical Reality: The Kingdom of Names ruminates on classical philosophy, the physical world, justice, and the afterlife, and his The Arc of Ascent: The Purpose of Physical Reality II contains a wealth of philosophical reflections on gender complementarity, salvation, historiography, Manifestation theology, peace, and the new world order. B. Hoff Conow has contributed a long and broad examination of Bahá'í theological philosophy with her The Bahá'í Teachings: A Resurgent Model of the Universe.

SPECIFIC STUDIES

Though a few works have addressed certain issues of philosophy and the Bahá'í Faith, none yet have been written in the strongly scholastic vein often associated with Western philosophy. William Hatcher examines a variety of philosophical considerations useful to an understanding of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in "The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Causality Principle in the World of Being," in The Bahá'í World: An International Record, 1993-94, reprinted in The Law of Love Enshrined. Bret Breneman examines the moral intent of classical rhetoric and its relation to Bahá'í teachings on speech in "Socrates'/Plato's Use of Rhetoric: A Bahá'í Perspective," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 4.1 (Mar.-June 1991). Ross Woodman contrasts aspects of the eschatological thought of Hegel and Nietzsche with that of Bahá'u'lláh in "The End of the World: Whatever Happened? Or Leftover Time to Kill," in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 3.3 (1990-1991). Robert Parry examines the nature of a possible Bahá'í theology through a comparison with Christian theology in "Philosophical Theology in Bahá'í Scholarship," in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 6.4-7.2 (Oct. [Dec.] 1992). Ruhi Afnan has written a series of philosophical works, two of which--The Revelation of Baha'u'llah and the Báb: Book I: Descartes' Theory of Knowledge and Baha'u'llah and the Bab Confront Modern Thinkers: Book II: Spinoza: Concerning God--show a relatively high degree of philosophical sophistication.*

¶43. Pilgrimage

Hatcher and Martin, 180-81                Momen, 73