AI-TRANSLATED English translation of the Persian slide text ===== Slide 1 ===== ===== Slide 2 ===== Baha'a... The Bab Abdu'l-Baha Shoghi Rabbani Subh-i-Azal ===== Slide 3 ===== Founder: Sayyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi Known as: The Bab Birth: 1235 AH Death: 1266 AH Activities: First, he claimed to be the deputy of the Imam of the Age (may God hasten his reappearance); then he claimed prophethood, divinity, and lordship. ===== Slide 4 ===== Letter of repentance: In his letter of repentance, he wrote: “...that some people have attributed to this weak servant a claim to the station of being the Gate of the Imam, peace be upon him, whereas I have not claimed and do not claim such a thing...” He goes on to write: “...Whoever attributes to this humble person the rank of being the Gate of the Imam, peace be upon him, God is witness that he is in error and will be in the Fire in the hereafter.” ===== Slide 5 ===== Founder of the Baha'i faith: Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri Known as: Baha'u'llah Birth: 1233 Death: 1308 City of Haifa Important activities: Claiming to be “He Whom God Shall Make Manifest” — the Lord of what is seen and what is unseen. Most important book: Iqan (The Book of Certitude) ===== Slide 6 ===== Abbas Effendi, known as: Abdu'l-Baha Birth: 1260 AH Death: 1340 AH In Haifa Important activities: The temple and “Mashriqu'l-Adhkar” in the city of “Ashgabat.” ===== Slide 7 ===== Shoghi Effendi, known as: Shoghi Rabbani Birth: 1314 lunar Hijri Death: Important activities: Establishing the administrative and spiritual center of the Baha'is in Haifa, Israel, known as the “Supreme Divine House of Justice.” ===== Slide 8 ===== Centenary celebration of the Baha'i faith ===== Slide 9 ===== Beliefs of the Baha'i faith: Most Baha'i beliefs revolve around Baha'u'llah; here we mention a few examples: 1. Recognition: The first obligation placed upon servants is to recognize the place where revelation shines forth and the Cause of God dawns; that is, to know Mirza Husayn Ali Baha'u'llah, because through this recognition deeds are accepted. 2. Baha'u'llah is God Himself, and after him Shoghi Effendi became God. 3. Baha is the promised good news of earlier prophets and the Bab. In other words, Sayyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab, was only the herald of Baha'u'llah, and with his coming the Resurrection draws near. 4. The names, attributes, and acts ascribed to God, blessed and exalted, are symbols referring to people who are manifestations of God (meaning that God has appeared in them); otherwise, God has no names, attributes, or acts. 5. Baha'u'llah is the One and Only, with no partner in His dominion, because God has manifested in him. This manifestation is for a greater understanding of God, who is hidden from sight behind the veil of the unseen. 6. The Baha'i faith is better than all previous religions, because God has manifested in Baha'u'llah, and the other religions come to an end with the appearance of Baha and reach the stage of perfection. 7. Islam was valid until the coming of Baha'u'llah, and the Holy Quran has no miraculous quality and was abrogated by the Bab. 8. Baha'u'llah is a miracle because, without attending school, he was able to dictate sacred tablets in Persian and Arabic. 9. Baha'i religious law can be changed only after a thousand years. That is, God, blessed and exalted, can manifest in another person after a thousand years and abrogate the Baha'i religion, just as, by manifesting in Baha, He abrogated Islam. ===== Slide 10 ===== The Baha'i solar calendar begins at Nowruz and is divided into nineteen months, each with nineteen days. The four remaining days (five in leap years) are designated as days of thanksgiving and celebration. Baha'is are required to perform daily prayers, fast for nineteen days during the last month of the year, and visit one of their holy places, including the home of Sayyid Ali Muhammad the Bab in Shiraz and the home of Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri in Baghdad. Baha'is are also required to attend feasts held once every nineteen days. In the Baha'i faith, drinking alcoholic beverages and consuming substances harmful to health are prohibited, and the consent of the bride's and groom's parents is considered necessary for marriage. ===== Slide 11 ===== Religious laws: 1. Prayer: They perform nine units of prayer, in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, individually; their direction of prayer is the city of Acre, where the grave of Mirza Husayn Ali Baha (their God) is located. In the Baha'i faith, the prayer of signs has been abrogated, and a person who has no water says “In the name of God, the Most Pure, the Most Pure” five times instead of performing ablution. 2. Fasting: The Baha'is say that every year has 19 months and every month has nineteen days, so fasting for 19 days in the final month of the year is obligatory, and Nowruz becomes their Eid al-Fitr. 3. Pilgrimage: Visiting the birthplace of the Bab in Shiraz and the house of Husayn Ali Mirza in Baghdad at any time has been substituted for visiting the Kaaba. 4. Marriage: More than one wife is not permitted. Marriage to one's father's wife is forbidden, but marriage to other close relatives, such as an aunt, a sister, and so on, is permitted. 5. Purity: All things in the world are pure, such as urine, feces, semen, dogs, and so on, and this is Baha's gift to his servants. 6. Centers of gathering: “Haziratu'l-Quds” in Ashgabat and “Mashriqu'l-Adhkar” near Chicago in the United States are among the Baha'i centers of gathering. 7. Education of children: Teaching lessons and religious laws to a child is the father's responsibility, and if he is poor, the expense is paid from the House of Justice. 8. One-third of the blood money for a person who has been killed belongs to the Baha'i House of Justice rather than to the person entitled to claim the blood money. 9. Adultery: The penalty for adultery is nine mithqals of gold on the first occasion and eighteen mithqals on the next, paid into the House of Justice. 10. Hospitality: Everyone is obliged to host a gathering once a month, even if only water is offered. 11. Hygiene: Bathing and cutting one's nails once every week are obligatory. ===== Slide 12 ===== 12. Festivals: There are two festivals each year: the day of the Bab's mission (his claim to be the Gate) and the birthday of Mirza Husayn Ali Baha. 13. Burial of the dead: The dead must be buried in crystal, precious stones, and strong and fine wood, with a ring engraved with Baha's name. 14. Conduct and social relations: People of other religions should be treated with love and peace so that they may perceive the sweet fragrance of the Merciful One (Baha'u'llah). 15. Inheritance: The shares of daughters and sons are equal, just as both reach maturity at the age of 15. 16. Household furnishings: Household furnishings must be replaced once every nineteen years. Given the overt support of imperialist powers and the illogical claims of the Baha'i faith, we must say that the Baha'i faith is not a religion but a colonial plot to strike at the Islamic community and dominate Islamic countries. For if people accept this school of thought, the struggle against oppression, jihad, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong would lose their meaning, and valuable items would have to be deposited into the Baha'i account at the House of Justice, which takes the place of the public treasury customary in Islam, so that imperialist powers could comfortably dominate the great Islamic countries without any rivals. ===== Slide 13 ===== The Baha'i faith and Russia: “...The Minister for the Colonies of the Government of His Majesty the King of England, ‘Mr. Winston Churchill,’ immediately upon the publication of this news (the death of Abdu'l-Baha), sent a message to the High Commissioner for Palestine, ‘Sir Herbert Samuel,’ and requested that he convey the sympathy and condolences of the Government of His Majesty the King of England to the Baha'i community. The High Commissioner of Egypt and Viscount Allenby also conveyed their condolences through the High Commissioner for Palestine to the survivors of the late Sir Abdu'l-Baha Abbas Effendi and the Baha'i community: Convey my sincere condolences on the loss of their highly esteemed leader...” ===== Slide 14 ===== 1- When Ali Muhammad the Bab (together with his assistant Muhammad Ali Zunuzi) was executed in Tabriz and his body was thrown into a ditch, the next morning the Russian consul in Tabriz came to the edge of the ditch and had the consulate's artist make an image of the bodies of the Bab and his slain companion. Baha'u'llah receiving a stipend from the consul of the Russian embassy. Muhammad Ali Fayzi, another well-known Baha'i historian, also explicitly mentions the above point in his history, quoting Hajj Ali Asghar. The Russian consulate's depiction of the Bab's body is even explicitly mentioned in the writings of Baha'i leaders such as Abbas Effendi and Shoghi. 2- Mulla Muhammad Ali Zanjani (leader of the Babis of Zanjan), who fought for a long time in that city against troops sent by Amir Kabir, had assured his companions during the fighting that “the Russian government would come to their aid.” 3- The gathering of the Babis (under the leadership of Quddus, Qurrat al-Ayn, and Husayn Ali Baha) in 1264 AH at Badasht (near Shahrud) is well known in history. There it was decided that the Babis would gather at Maku (the place of detention of Ali Muhammad the Bab), attack his place of confinement to free him, and “stand firm” against the Iranian government of the time (Muhammad Shah and Haji Mirza Aqasi); if they were defeated, they would seek refuge “on Russian soil.” ===== Slide 15 ===== 4- Members of the Afnan family (relatives of the Bab and representatives of Abbas Effendi in Iran) had close ties to the Russian embassy, and Haji Mirza Muhammad Taqi Afnan Vakil al-Dawla (a maternal cousin of the Bab), together with his brothers and sons, operated as Russian commercial representatives in Bombay and Yazd. Vakil al-Dawla was instructed by Abbas Effendi to build the first Baha'i temple and missionary center in the world (Mashriqu'l-Adhkar) in Ashgabat, Russia. He carried out this mission (with the support of the Tsarist Russians) and ultimately died in Haifa (where Abbas Effendi lived). In this connection, reference should also be made to the ties between the Baqirov brothers (Baha'i businessmen) and Russia; accounts of their “Russophilia” and relations with Russian agents appear in history. 5- The work of Captain Tumansky, a Russian officer, in translating and promoting Baha'i writings is another matter that some informed observers have taken as evidence of a connection between Russia and the Baha'i faith. Valentine Chirol, the well-known correspondent of The Times, was one of those whom the British Foreign Office consulted about the 1907 agreement (the division of Iran into Russian and British spheres of influence). Awarding the title of Sir to Abdu'l-Baha. 6- The establishment of the first major Baha'i missionary center in the Middle East (called Mashriqu'l-Adhkar) in Ashgabat, Russia, with open Russian support, is another sign of the connection between the Tsarist state and the leaders of this sect. ===== Slide 16 ===== 7- In this connection, mention should also be made of the presence of Baha'is in organizations and institutions connected with Tsarist Russia in Iran (such as the embassy and the Russian Loan Bank). 8- Repeated promises made by Baha'i leaders (Baha and Abdu'l-Baha) to their followers that the Tsarist Empire was invincible and enjoyed divine support are further evidence of this connection! 9- The traces of the Babis' and Baha'is' ties with Tsarist Russia should, above all, be sought in the case of Hasan Ali Baha himself (the founder of the Baha'i denomination), whose father, Mirza Abbas Nuri, was an assistant to the “Russophile” Qajar prince (Imam Verdi Mirza). Three of Baha's close relatives (his brother, his sister's husband, and his nephew or niece) were employed by the Russian embassy. During the Babis' unsuccessful assassination attempt against Naser al-Din Shah, Baha himself was saved from imprisonment and execution by the serious and persistent support of the Russian ambassador (Dolgorukov), left Iran under the embassy's protection, and issued a tablet praising the Tsar and his ambassador. The establishment of the first major Baha'i missionary center in the Middle East (called Mashriqu'l-Adhkar) in Ashgabat, Russia, with open Russian support, is another sign of the connection between the Tsarist state and the leaders of this sect. ===== Slide 17 ===== The Baha'i faith and England: He was sentenced to death by “Jamal Pasha,” commander of all Ottoman forces, because his espionage on behalf of the British government had been exposed. Upon learning of this, the British government came to Abbas Effendi's defense and, according to the Baha'is themselves, prevented the sentence from being carried out: “When this report, that is, the death sentence against His Honor the Master (Abbas Effendi), reached ‘Lord Balfour,’ the foreign secretary at the time, on the very day it arrived he sent a telegraphic order to General Allenby, commander of the British army in Palestine, and strongly emphasized that he should do everything in his power to protect and safeguard His Holiness Abdu'l-Baha and his family and friends.” With British troops entering Ottoman territory, Abbas Effendi was saved and, because of the espionage and great services he had rendered to the colonial British government, received the high honor of “knighthood” and the title “Sir”! After receiving this decoration and title of “merit” for “treachery” and “espionage” against Islam and the Muslim community, Abbas Effendi raised his hands in prayer and asked for divine blessings upon the King of England as follows: “O God, the canopy of justice has been raised in this land, and I thank and praise You ... O Lord, grant the great Emperor George V, King of England, the support of Your merciful blessings, and keep his lofty shadow over this noble region (Palestine).” ===== Slide 18 ===== The Baha'i faith and Israel: Ben-Gurion (prime minister of Israel and leader of the country's hardline faction, its so-called “hawks”). “With the greatest pride and joy, we inform the Baha'is of the expansion and development of the Baha'i faith's relations with the authorities of the State of Israel. In a meeting with Ben-Gurion, the prime minister of Israel, they expressed to him the Baha'is' sincere feelings for the advancement of that state, and he replied: Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Baha'is have always maintained cordial relations with the State of Israel.” “Contact and communication were established with the President of Israel, the prime minister, five cabinet ministers, and the speaker of that country's parliament. As a result, a special department called the Baha'i Department was established in the Ministry of Religions, and the Minister of Religions made official statements in parliament, affirming the international character of the Cause and the importance of the Baha'i World Center. As a result of these developments, the President of Israel decided to pay an official visit to the Most Holy Shrine in the early days of the Ridvan festival.” ===== Slide 19 ===== The Baha'i faith and America: Abbas Effendi, the Baha'i leader, traveled to Europe and America in the years before 1300 in the Solar Hijri calendar, that is, toward the end of his life. Influenced by new ideas that had arisen in those countries against religion, he introduced new subjects and teachings called the twelve teachings of the Baha'i faith. At a meeting with a group of American businessmen, he first declared that “the light of humanity can be seen in its fullest radiance and manifestation in their faces.” He then told them: “For the trade and profit of the American nation, there is no country better than Iran, for all the sources of that country's wealth lie hidden beneath the ground. I hope that the American nation will cause that wealth to be revealed.” (10) This eagerness, inclination, relationship, and connection continued and, after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, persisted in the form of America's unstinting support for this misguided sect. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, between the years 1361 and 1373, that is, over a period of twelve years, American representatives passed six resolutions in which they took the side of and supported the Baha'i faith. The issuing of these resolutions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, in purportedly compassionate and humanitarian support of the colonial Baha'i sect, calling it a religion and faith, and demanding freedom for the misleading and corrupting activities of Iranian Baha'is, continued after 1373 as well. ===== Slide 20 ===== The Baha'i faith and the Pahlavi regime: One of the wicked acts of this sect is its support for the Pahlavi regime's horrific massacres of the people. Five days after the suppression of the bloody uprising of the fifteenth of Khordad, the National Baha'i Assembly of Tehran wrote a letter of encouragement to Brigadier General Parviz Khosravani, commander of the Central District Gendarmerie at the time of the killings on the fifteenth of Khordad. In it, they called the Muslim nation's rightful uprising, led by the senior religious authorities and, at their head, Imam Khomeini, an “assault by riffraff, hooligans, and scoundrels” and “the misconduct of ignorant people known as scholars”! While “praising” the general's “efforts, services, and speed of action,” they wrote: “The history of the Baha'i Cause will record and preserve your name among those same shining figures and guardians of human civilization”! Baha'i prime minister: Hoveyda Baha'i ministers: 1- Abbas Shahqoli: Minister of Health and Minister of Science 2- Rouhani: Minister of Water and Electricity and Agriculture 3- Shahpour Rasekh: Senior adviser and administrator of the Plan and Budget Organization 4- Leili Amir-Arjomand: Special adviser to Farah and director of the educational and upbringing programs of Reza Pahlavi Ali Qoli Khan Nabil al-Dawla, with the 33rd Masonic degree, was among the Baha'is. Lieutenant General Abdolkarim Ayadi, the Shah's personal physician and head of the army medical service, held 80 responsibilities. ===== Slide 21 ===== Security classification: VERY CONFIDENTIAL Information report Page one of one Page number one of four 1- To: 321 2- From: 7 H (29) 3- Report number: 7596/H 4- Report date: 18/2/50 Source: 1699 Date of occurrence: 11/2/50 Date information reached the source: 11/2/50 Date information reached the local operations leader: 12/2/50 Subject: Baha'is A meeting attended by nine Baha'is from District 15 of Shiraz was held in the home of Mr. Farhang Azadegan under the supervision of Mr. Loqmani. After the reading of a letter, Mr. Valiollah Loqmani spoke about the religions of the world, their statistics, and the martyrs [!] of the Baha'i faith. He added that Baha'i gentlemen would do better to study more and judge on the basis of truth, so that they would understand what the Baha'i faith means now that they have greater freedom. In the old days, the beloved ones could not say that they were Baha'is and could not proselytize. If they engaged in any struggle, they would immediately be killed, but now those prejudices have been set aside. We now have explicit orders from America and London to promote fashions in clothing or buildings and the removal of veils in this country so that Muslims will remove the coverings from their faces. I read certain materials in Mr. Motamed's home, and all the Baha'i girls and boys were delighted. In Iran and other Muslim countries, do whatever you can, through following fashions and propaganda, to distress the Muslim nation, so that they will not say that [Imam] Husayn [peace be upon him] was the conqueror of the world and [Imam] Ali [peace be upon him] was victorious over the world. The atom, in the atomic age, is made by the hands of Baha'is; arms and ammunition are made by our young people in Israel. In the end, these Muslims will be eliminated by the hands of Baha'is, and the world of His Holiness Baha'u'llah will flourish. Sunday's assessment (30): Saturday's statements (31) are confirmed. Daryani. Wednesday's assessment (32): The accuracy of Saturday's statements is confirmed. Assessment 7/H — Wednesday's assessment is confirmed. M. To be archived. (33) ===== Slide 22 ===== The Imam and the Baha'i faith: Speech in the city of Qom addressed to the religious scholars of Yazd, dated Ordibehesht 1342: “...Among the things proving the ill intentions of the present government (Asadollah Alam) are the facilities it has provided for the travel of two thousand or more members of the misguided sect. Each has been given five hundred dollars in foreign currency and a discount of approximately one thousand two hundred tomans on an airline ticket, so that they can attend a gathering being held for them in London which is one hundred percent anti-Islamic. In contrast, what difficulties, injustices, and expenses do they not impose upon pilgrims visiting the Sacred House of God? Gentlemen should note that many sensitive posts are in the hands of this sect, who are in fact agents of Israel...” Speech at the Grand Mosque of Qom, dated 12 Ordibehesht 1342: “...Silence; today, silence means collaborating with the tyrannical apparatus. Do not remain silent. Two thousand Baha'is, each with five hundred dollars in foreign currency and a twelve-hundred-toman discount on airfare?! This is in the Donya newspaper. Someone told me that the oil company entered into a transaction with Sabet Pasal (one of the Baha'i businessmen) and granted a discount in the deal from which he profited by twenty-five million tomans, for the benefit of this group they sent to London against Islam. This is the condition of our oil; this is the condition of our country's currency; this is the condition of our airlines; this is the condition of our minister; this is the condition of all of us. Should we still remain silent? Say nothing at all? Not even speak? Not even lament? They destroy our homes, and should we not even cry out? ...” Letter addressed to Sayyid Kazem Shahangian, dated 20 Ordibehesht 1342: “...It is necessary that you take note that the anti-Islamic actions of the present government have brought danger nearer. Recently they gave passports to two thousand Baha'is, who went to London to attend the gathering, and gave each of them five hundred dollars in foreign currency and a twelve-hundred-toman discount on their tickets. God knows what evils this accursed gathering holds for Islam and the faith. Inform the people. Alert the distinguished religious scholars and consider what should be done about these matters...” ===== Slide 23 ===== Speech to the clerics and people of Hamadan in the city of Qom, dated 23 Ordibehesht 1342: “...I thank you for your kindness. Convey my greetings to the people and clerics of Hamadan and tell them: Your religion is at risk and under attack. Your government has given two thousand Baha'is five hundred dollars each for airfare so that they can go to London, gather, and make decisions against your Quran and Prophet. In a transaction involving the sale of oil and petroleum products by the oil company to Sabet Pasal (a Baha'i businessman), your government gave him a benefit of five million tomans so that this money could finance the sending of Baha'is to London and Baha'i propaganda. Tell the people that it uses the taxes your government collects from you Muslims to pay these expenses...” Letter addressed to Ayatollah Sayyid Hadi Milani, dated 31 Ordibehesht 1342: “...I submit to Your Excellency ... It is the same diabolical scheme to establish an anti-Islamic gathering in London, carried out by the treacherous government and tyrannical apparatus, using the earnings of the poor Muslim nation. They send two thousand people, or by some accounts five thousand, from the misguided sect that is a puppet of Israel to the anti-Islamic gathering in London, with ceremonies, facilities, ticket discounts, and five hundred dollars in foreign currency each, so that they can participate in anti-Islamic and anti-national ideas...” ===== Slide 24 ===== Religious authorities and the Baha'i faith: Questions raised: 1- Is the Baha'i faith misguided and deviant? 2- Are Baha'is ritually impure? 3- Are Baha'is religiously permitted to propagate their sect in the country? Answers Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei (may his blessings endure) In general, avoid any association with this misguided and misguiding sect. 1- Yes, they are completely deviant. 2- Yes, they are ritually impure. 3- Because they cause people to deviate and go astray, they are not permitted to proselytize. His Holiness Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani 1- Yes — it is a misguided and highly deviant sect. 2- They are even more impure than dogs and are a made-up sect. 3- Propagating their sect is forbidden, because they incline toward unbelief and cause people to become apostates. His Holiness Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi 1- Yes — Baha'is are considered unbelievers. 2- Baha'is are unbelievers and apostates and are ritually impure. 3- From the perspective of religious law, promoting this misguided sect is forbidden because Baha'is are impure and unbelievers. His Holiness Ayatollah Vahid Khorasani 1- Yes. 2- They are ritually impure because they are unbelievers. 3- They are not permitted to propagate their deviant and misguided sect.