The following description by Mirza Munir Zayn, of the final burial of the Bab’s remains in the Shrine dedicated to him, on Mount Carmel in Israel was published in Star of the West volume 11 page 316 (March 2 1921). In addition to its inherent interest, Zayn’s account is clearly the source of a description of the same event by Shoghi Effendi, Read the rest of this entry »
An account of the burial of the Bab
Posted by Sen on February 9, 2010
Posted in History | 2 Comments »
The Pilgrims’ Hostel & the Mashriq
Posted by Sen on February 7, 2010
I think the meaning is wider than simply “pilgrim’s hostel.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community | Tagged: Bahai House of Worship, hostels, Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, pilgrimmage, pilgrims | 1 Comment »
Mary, and Mary, and Mary
Posted by Sen on January 25, 2010
There is no harm in any affliction which befalleth thee in the love of El-Baha, … Remember the hardships of the disciples, and what Mary, the Virgin; Mary, the Magdalene; and Mary, the mother of Jesus Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, Theology | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai Faith, brothers of Jeus, Lesser Peace, Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, postmodern theology, Virgin Mary, بهائیت, عبدالبهاء | Leave a Comment »
World Order, Administrative Order
Posted by Sen on January 1, 2010
A Pilgrim’s note
On Planet Bahai (a very good Bahai discussion forum), I had been arguing that Baha’u’llah’s World Order and the Bahai Administrative Order are two different things, to which the moderator Dale replied,
There is a pilgrim’s note, I forget the origin of it, in which Shoghi Effendi one day asked where authority resides after Baha’u'llah’s ascension….
“‘Abdu’l-Baha,” replied the person to whom he was talking.
“And where,” he then asked, “does authority reside after the Master’s passing?”
“The Guardian,” the other person replied.
“No,” he said. “It resides with the World Order of Baha’u'llah.”
Posted in Church and State | Tagged: Bahai Administrative Order, Bahai World Order, Church and State, Emeric Sala, new world order, Organic unity, pilgrim's notes, political theology, Religion and Politics, Shoghi Effendi, بهائی | 1 Comment »
Days of marriage
Posted by Sen on December 20, 2009
A friend asked about the ‘days of marriage’ which Abdu’l-Baha referred to in a letter to Alwyn Baker in late 1920. That led to me to two letters from Abdu’l-Baha, one of them translated by Shoghi Effendi and available only in an edited form, the other not available in English in Ocean and the other search engines, and containing some remarks on philosophy, evolution and the eternity of creation. And, in the end, I also found out about the ‘days of marriage.’ Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, Community, History | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Alwyn Baker, Bahai community, Chicago reading room, eternity of creation, evolution, philosophy, Shoghi Effendi, Star of the West, بهائی, عبدالبهاء | 2 Comments »
Heroes of modernity: Rushdiyh
Posted by Sen on December 10, 2009
Mirza Hasan Rushdiyh – the father of modern Persian education
(contributed by Ahang Rabbani)
Mirza Hasan was born on 5 July 1851 in Tabriz, which one year earlier had seen the tumult associated with the execution of the Bab and which had emerged as a stronghold of Shaykhi faction of the Twelver Shiites. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in History | Tagged: Constitutional Revolution, education, modernity, Rushdiyh | Leave a Comment »
Anna presents the New World Order
Posted by Sen on November 25, 2009
An awkward question
Anna’s come a long way – to national television, in fact. She’s being interviewed on her favourite subject: the Bahai Faith. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, Church and State, Defence of the Faith | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Anna's presentation, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, Church and State, kingship, political theology, Shoghi Effendi, بهائی | 4 Comments »
Executive and legislative
Posted by Sen on October 29, 2009

One of the friends asked:
What do you make of ‘Abdu’l-Baha having written:
“This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the executive, the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.” (Will and Testament, 14)
Posted in Bahai Writings, Church and State, Political science | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, Church and State, International Tribunal, poltical theology, Secret of Divine Civilization, Sermon on the Art of Governance, Shoghi Effendi, Supreme Tribunal, Tablet to the Hague, Will and Testament | Leave a Comment »
The mystery of sacrifice
Posted by Sen on October 16, 2009
One of the friends said:
Long ago I picked up a supposed quote from the Bab, “The mystery of sacrifice is there is no sacrifice.” Now I can’t find a source. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community | Tagged: Bahai Faith, Bahai lore, Louise Waite, Mystery of sacrifice, Seals & Crofts, بهائی, بهائیت | Leave a Comment »
Instant, exact and complete?
Posted by Sen on October 12, 2009
In a discussion group, one of the participants recalled that Shoghi Effendi had said that the requirement for appointment as a Hand of the Cause was “instant, exact and complete obedience.” It’s a familiar phrase in Bahai discourse, but is it from the words of Shoghi Effendi? Is it about the Hands of the Cause?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community | Tagged: Bahai Faith, Bahais, Hands of the Cause, Helene Blavatsky, Obedience, Shoghi Effendi, theosophists, بهائی, بهائیت | Leave a Comment »
Church and State in Scripture
Posted by Sen on October 6, 2009
In a conversation with a friend about the translation of the 8th Ishraq (discussed here), I realised that he thought the whole question of the Bahai teachings on church and state hinged in some way on doubtful matters: on the translation of the Ishraqat, on whether the words “the consummate union and blending of church and state” had been interpolated into a report of Abdu’l-Baha’s words, (See the entry ‘A consummate union’), and such like.
Nothing could be further from the truth: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Church and State, Theology | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'u'llah, bahai theology, Church and State, Kitab-i Iqan, kitab-i-aqdas, monarchy, Quran, render to Caesar, Resaleh-ye Siyasiyyeh, separation of church and state, Shoghi Effendi, spiritual sovereignty, The Bab, بهائی, بهائیت | 2 Comments »
Abdu’l-Baha and the African tribe
Posted by Sen on September 15, 2009
Abdu’l-Baha and his critics

You can ‘prove’ just about anything, by pulling words out of context. A few years ago there was an example of this tactic on a web site opposing the Bahai teachings, called ‘Answering Bahaullah.’ One page there purported to show examples of racism in Bahai scripture. That site is no longer functioning, although the web archive has a copy, but the material from that page is being recycled by various bloggers and has been reproduced in the ‘Bahai Combat Kit’ at page 73 (image later in this entry).
So let’s look at these “proofs” of racism in the Bahai scriptures. But first let’s look at Abdu’l-Baha. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, Defence of the Faith, Translations | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Africa, Africans, Bahai Combat Kit, Contextual reading, Convention for Race Amity, Louis Gregory, NAACP, racism, Rousseau, Some Answered Questions, state of nature, بهائی, بهائیت, عبدالبهاء | 6 Comments »
Muhammad at Medina
Posted by Sen on June 28, 2009
While Ayatollah Khomeini was in exile in Najaf in 1970, he said:
This slogan of the separation of religion and politics and the demand that Islamic scholars not intervene in social and political affairs has been formulated and propagated by the imperialists; it is only the irreligious who repeat them. Were religion and politics separate in the time of the Prophet? Did there exist on one side a group of clerics, and opposite it, a group of politicians and leaders? (As cited by Nader Hashemi)
Posted in Church and State, Islam | Tagged: Church and State, jihad, Khomeini, Medina, Muhammad, Qurayza, مهمد در مدینت, بهائی, بهائیت | 2 Comments »
Mitchell’s mistake
Posted by Sen on May 27, 2009
I’ve been looking again at an old claim that Abdu’l-Baha’s Will and Testament was not written by Abdu’l-Baha, that it was ‘fraudulent.’ This claim is the foundation for two small Bahai splinter groups that reject the institution of the Guardianship (established by Abdu’l-Baha in his Will and Testament), and it has also been propagated in Germany in anti-Bahai polemics published by the Lutheran ‘Central Office for Questions of Ideology’ (EZW). In looking through the documents, I’ve noticed something that doesn’t seem to have been commented on in the past.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, History, Polemics | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Ainsworth Mitchell, Guardianship, handwriting analysis, Will and Testament, بهائی, بهائیت, عبدالبهاء | 25 Comments »
No counterfeits
Posted by Sen on May 11, 2009
This posting points out that there is a clear procedure for the appointment of a legitimate Guardian of the Bahai Faith, and none of the claimants satisfy it. Therefore, all the past claimants and present hopefuls are counterfeit.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Aqdas and Law, Defence of the Faith | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Guardianship, Hands of the Cause, hermeneutics, Mason Remey, secret ballot, Will and Testament, بهائی, بهائیت, عبدالبهاء | 9 Comments »
Knowledge: project or process?
Posted by Sen on May 4, 2009
The Bahai Encyclopaedia Project has begun to put up a selection of online articles. As of today, there are 21 articles online, so it is just a small beginning. Two are classified under “teachings and laws,” but one of these is misfiled: it is on the Letters of the Living and belongs in the history category. That leaves one article on the Bahai teachings, the one entitled ‘children.’
Looking down this article, I was surprised to see that even where better sources are easily available, it draws extensively on The Promulgation of Universal Peace, which is not an authentic source. In a footnote to the footnotes the Encyclopaedia editors even list Promulgation of Universal Peace among ‘scripture and other authoritative texts.’ The author and editor are clearly not aware of source-critical issues, which is not a promising start for such a project.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, Community | Tagged: Bahai Encyclopaedia, Bahai scholarship, Bahai Studies, Howard MacNutt, Joseph Hannen, new paradigm, pilgrim's notes, Promulgation of Universal Peace, source criticism, Star of the West | Leave a Comment »
The world’s a stage
Posted by Sen on April 26, 2009
One of the friends said:
… an elderly lady once told me that Shoghi Effendi had said that the earth would “fall off its axis and spin wildly for three days”… well, I’ve searched and searched for anything even close…
Posted in Bahai Writings, Community, Translations | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Ahmad Sohrab, Apocalypticism, Bahai Faith, causes of World War I, militarism, polar shift, Ruth Moffet, Star of the West, survivalism, World War 1, WWI, بهائی, بهائیت | 3 Comments »
Foundations for inter-faith sharing
Posted by Sen on April 18, 2009

Bahais have been frequent participants in inter-faith fora, and like all the participants we need to work out what our basic stance is: are we there to protect our interests and have our say; are we counting the other participants as anonymous Bahais and including them into our project; are we there to show what we have to offer that other religions do not have, and so win converts?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community, Islam, Theology | Tagged: Bahai Faith, ecumenicism, future of Christianity, interfaith, prayer for Islam, Rodney Stark, بهائی, بهائیت | 3 Comments »
It’s Friday: thank God
Posted by Sen on April 11, 2009
I happened recently to be reading the wikipedia page for the Bahai Calendar and noted that it said “Like Islam, Friday is also the day of rest in the Baha’i Faith.”
That’s not true for Islam: Friday is the day on which attendance at the congregational prayers at noon in the mosque is obligatory for those Muslims who are able, but it is not a ‘day of rest’ in Islam. But what about the Bahai Faith? We do not say our obligatory prayers in congregation (although we may say them, each for himself, during the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar service, but that is another story). Do we have a day of rest, as the wikipedia article says?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Aqdas and Law, Bahai Writings, Community, Devotions, Translations | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Aqdas, Badi` Calendar, Baha'i calendar, Baha'u'llah, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, Bayan, day of rest, dhikr, Friday prayers, Gerald Keil, Mason Remey, remembrance of God, sabbath, Sunday, The Bab, بهائی, بهائیت | 10 Comments »
Civilization
Posted by Sen on March 21, 2009
Is civilization to be ‘ever-advancing,’ or is it limited to moderation?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, Ethics and Morality, Translations | Tagged: Baha'u'llah, Civilization, Lawh-e Maqsuud, qanat, Shoghi Effendi, urbanisation, بهائی, بهائیت | Leave a Comment »
Stark choices
Posted by Sen on March 8, 2009
In a discussion on this blog, I referred briefly to Rodney Stark’s work on the dynamics of religious growth. Stark is primarily a sociologist, whose contribution to church history is to employ the statistical and analytic methods used in sociology. His book, The Rise of Christianity (1996, Princeton University Press) deals roughly speaking with the first three centuries of Christianity, and the first century of Mormonism, and offers a lot of food for thought for the Bahais.
Stark begins by estimating that there were 1000 Christians in the Roman Empire in the year 40. He notes that in the middle of the third century, Christians were by their own account few in number (p.5), but by the year 300 there were about 5 to 7.5 million Christians: so numerous that a few years later Constantine found it expedient to embrace the church. This has led the church in its own histories, and some scholars, to suppose that there was a mass conversion event in the late third century. But constant growth of 40% per decade, or 3.42% per year, is enough to explain these results: no mass conversion event is required. This is the same growth picture that Stark had found in his previous work on the Mormon church, which has grown hugely in 100 years without mass conversions, and it is supported by the archaeological evidence of church sizes.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community | Tagged: Bahai, Bahai Faith, Benton Johnson, conservative theology, Constantine, devotional meetings, entry by troops, Hoge, Lesser Peace, liberal theology, Luidens, mass conversion, Moonies, Mormons, Rodney Stark, Ruhi, The Rise of Christianity, triumphalism, Vanishing Boundaries, بهائی, بهائیت | 8 Comments »
Entry by troops (time to be announced)
Posted by Sen on February 17, 2009
It has been my experience that Bahais often become discouraged as a result of having unrealistic expectations of what is called entry by troops (EBT) and large scale conversion. I would like to look again at what the Bahai scriptures say about this, and at how Shoghi Effendi conceived the historical process of growth. The little that the scriptures say suggests to me that its importance has been over-rated, and that the time-frame of entry by troops, its nature, and how the Bahais can bring it about have all been misunderstood. From my reading of the world and of the scriptures, I suggest that we should not now be greatly preoccupied with entry by troops or large scale conversion: a concern with the needs of the age we live in, and the needs of our Bahai communities today, will indicate healthier, locally-specific priorities which – ironically – will be more conducive to actual ‘growth’ in every sense. We will start by briefly looking back over the last two generations.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community, Ethics and Morality | Tagged: Bahai Faith, bahai theology, entry by troops, Lesser Peace, mass conversion, Matthew 16:3, millenialism, personal transformation, Shoghi Effendi, y2k, year 2000, بهائی, بهائیت | 9 Comments »
Elections in Baha’u'llah’s World Order
Posted by Sen on January 30, 2009
One of the friends asked three questions:
1. After the World Order of Baha’u'llah is established and the World’s legislative & executive branches of government are arms or derivatory institutions of the Universal House of Justice (which appears to be the case from my readings) will non-Baha’is have the opportunity to vote for the National Assemblies that elect the House of Justice? Alternatively, can/will the Universal House of Justice be elected in some other way?
2. Will the World Legislature and/or Executive be elected or appointed by the Universal House of Justice? Alternatively, is the Universal House of Justice to become the World Executive? If elected, will only Baha’is have the right to vote?
Posted in Church and State, Community, Political science | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, democracy, elections, International Tribunal, Organic unity, Shoghi Effendi, the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, World Legislature, World Order | Leave a Comment »
One morning in Shiraz
Posted by Sen on January 25, 2009
I was in the bazaar of Shiraz one morning early, just after sunrise in April. The sound of a sermon drew me off the main route through the bazaar: the mullah’s voice rising and falling in beautiful rhythmical Persian.
I followed the sound and came into a courtyard with shops on two floors around, and in the middle a garden with some orange trees. It appeared to be a former madrasah converted into shops. In one corner sat the mullah on a chair, rocking back and forth and gesturing left and right in time with the rhythms of the language, all built up of pairs of synonym phrases. Either he had it entirely memorised, or this was highly polished extempore art like rapping.
In front of him a cloth of perhaps 10 metres square was spread out on the ground, and about 25 merchants were sitting around the edges of the cloth, eating cucumber and flat white bread and white cheese, and drinking tea. Several of them gestured me to come and sit at an empty place, and one who made it his business to serve the others brought me some food and tea. I noticed, a little bit further away, under one of the orange trees, that there were two women also sitting on a cloth. The sermon was interrupted with some munajat, responses from the merchants, then more rhythmic Persian by way of conclusion. Then the mullah looks at his watch, jumps up, bows left and right and hurries off. I suppose it lasted 30 minutes, but I was hardly aware of time passing.
The shopkeepers fell to gossiping, and then went off one by one to raise the shutters on their shops.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Church and State, Devotions, Islam | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai Faith, Christ, Christianity, Church and State, Future of Islam, Future of religion, Iran, Islam, secular state, Shiraz, Some Answered Questions | 5 Comments »
House of Justice, House of Worship
Posted by Sen on January 21, 2009
Now concerning nature, it is but the essential properties and the necessary relations inherent in the realities of things. And though these infinite realities are diverse in their character yet they are in the utmost harmony and closely connected together. As one’s vision is broadened and the matter observed carefully, it will be made certain that every reality is but an essential requisite of other realities. Thus to connect and harmonize these diverse and infinite realities an all-unifying Power is necessary, that every part of existent being may in perfect order discharge its own function.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Tablet to August Forel, pages 20-21)
In a letter dated 7 April 1999 the Universal House of Justice warns among other things of an “attempt to suggest that the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar should evolve into a seat of quasidoctrinal authority, parallel to and essentially independent of the Local House of Justice.” Although I am not aware that this idea has ever been put forward in the English-speaking Bahai world, the letter may be taken as evidence that it has or may emerge somewhere. So it seems a good idea to consider the relationship between the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar or House of Worship and the Houses of Justice (i.e., the Bahai administrative institutions, which at the local and national level are now known as Spiritual Assemblies). To understand the institutional relations at the core of the organic Bahai community, we will also have to include the guardianship.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community, Devotions, Theology | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Administrative Order, August Forel, Bahai, Bahai community, doctrine, Guardianship, Haziratu’l-Quds, House of Justice, House of Worship, Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, Organic unity, quasidoctrinal, Shoghi Effendi, twoness | 1 Comment »
Century of light
Posted by Sen on January 15, 2009
In Century’s end, I showed that Bahais of my generation widely expected universal peace to arrive in the twentieth century. Some of the texts on which this belief was based did not refer to the twentieth century; others did refer to the twentieth century or dates in the 20th century, but were pilgrims’ notes. There may be more, but I have found five such unauthentic sources:
- The Maxwell’s pilgrim’s notes, anticipating the Lesser Peace by 1953.
- Esselmont’s pilgrim’s notes, in the first edition of Baha’u'llah and the New Era, anticipating universal peace by 1957. As Dan Jensen has pointed out, the 1950 edition changed the date to 1963, but it is still just a pilgrim’s note, and universal peace was also not achieved in 1963.
- Sarah Kenny’s Haifa notes anticipating the Lesser Peace in the 20th century.
- A report in the Montreal Star on September 11, 1912, printed in Abdu’l-Baha in Canada p. 35, saying that peace would be universal in the 20th century.
- A talk reported in The Promulgation of Universal Peace page 126, and in Star of the West 3.8.14, calling the twentieth century the century of international peace.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, Community, Theology, Translations | Tagged: 7 candles, Abdu'l-Baha, Alexander Whyte, Baha'u'llah, Bahai, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, century, century of light, election, Esselmont, failed prophecy, Isaiah 11:9, Lesser Peace, pilgrim's notes, qarn, Sarah Kenny, Seven Candles of Unity, Shoghi Effendi, Some Answered Questions, The Promised Day is Come, twentieth century, unity of nations, Universal House of Justice, World Order of Baha'u'llah, `asr, عبدالبهاء | 6 Comments »
Century’s end – my two cents
Posted by Sen on January 12, 2009
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11
The word ‘century’ appears unproblematic: a period of a hundred years, which in common usage begins with the year 00 (although sticklers will insist that the century begins in the year 01, so that the 21st century began on 1 January 2001). But in reading the Bahai texts, things are not so simple. In this post I want to look at the peculiar significance Bahais have mistakenly attached to the 20th century and what can be learned from the whole affair; in the next posting I will look at what the Bahai writings really say about the ‘century’ (not the 20th century).
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community, Theology | Tagged: 1 Corinthians 13:11, 20th century, 7 candles of unity, Adib Taherzadeh, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, golden calf, Kheirella, Lesser Peace, millennium, Paris Talks, pilgrim's notes, Promulgation of Universal Peace, Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, twentieth century, Universal House of Justice, world unity, y2k, عبدالبهاء | 31 Comments »
The future of religions
Posted by Sen on January 5, 2009
One of the friends asked:
What is the ideal future envisioned in Baha’i religion? Is it a global order in which the world is composed of many diverse religions, each tolerant of one another, and the Baha’i just one amongst many? Or would the Baha’i be the organizing principle?
I think it is both a pluralist world of diverse religions tolerant of one another and working together, and one new world religious order, whose organising principle is one that is given in the Bahai Scriptures. Tolerance and cooperation between religions is new (although not entirely unknown in history), and it is a Bahai principle, but it is not a monopoly of the Bahais. It’s something the world must learn.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Islam, Theology | Tagged: A Traveller's Narrative, Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, Christianity, ecumenicism, Islam, Judaism, new world order, postmodern theology, religious diversity, religious pluralism, religious tolerance, Secret of Divine Civilization, Shoghi Effendi | 1 Comment »
He cannot override …
Posted by Sen on December 30, 2008
In Shoghi Effendi’s 1934 letter ‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah,’ there’s a well-known paragraph in which he says that “the Guardian of the Faith has been made the Interpreter of the Word and that the Universal House of Justice has been invested with the function of legislating …”. I want to look at the paragraph after that, which deals with the fact that the Guardian is a member of the House of Justice; so that while the spheres of the two institutions are distinct, their memberships overlap. How would that work, with the Guardian or his representative in the room, while the House of Justice was making its decisions?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community, Theology | Tagged: Bahai, bahai theology, Guardian, House of Justice, infallibility, interpreation and legislation, literature review, Mark 2:27, Remeyites, right of self-expression, sabbath, separation of powers, Shoghi Effendi, The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah, twin spheres, `ismat | 1 Comment »
750 muskets
Posted by Sen on December 25, 2008
It’s the season of family movies, and Christmas miracle stories. If you don’t have cable, it’s hard to find anything else. But who would want to? I love them. I don’t believe them, of course, but I believe in them. I think the world’s a better place with them, and I go soppy-eyed every time the director pulls a tear-jerker. They work for me.
I feel the same way about other miracle stories. I believe in them, even if I can’t believe them. Take the 750 muskets at the martyrdom of the Bab, for example.
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Posted in Community, History | Tagged: A Traveller's Narrative, Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai Faith, Dawnbreakers, Kazem Beg, miracles, muskets, Shoghi Effendi, Tabriz | 2 Comments »
Red Tulips
Posted by Sen on December 20, 2008
I have a lovely story to share, told to me by Brent Poirier and shared with his permission. He heard it around 1980 from Inez Greeven, whose sister was India Haggarty, the subject of our story. India Haggarty was a Bahai living in Paris in 1931. I will let Brent tell the story:
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Posted in Community | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai, Bahai Faith, Brent Poirier, creativity, doors of perception, dreams, India Haggarty, Inez Greeven, inspiration in dreams | 4 Comments »
The Supreme Institution
Posted by Sen on December 16, 2008
Older Bahais, like me, will have noticed a new way of referring to the Universal House of Justice, as “the supreme institution.” I think I first noticed people saying this about 1985. In Anna’s Presentation we find “We have already spoken about the supreme institution, which is the Universal House of Justice…”. Paul Lample, in his Preface to A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters [of the Universal House of Justice] refers to “a continuous flow of guidance that comes from the Supreme Body.”
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Posted in Community | Tagged: Ahmadiyya, Anna’s Presentation, Bahai, Bahai Faith, constitutional monarchy, covenant, doctrinal exaggeration, Guardian, International Teaching Centre, NRMs, Paul Lample, Shoghi Effendi, The Supreme Body, Universal House of Justice | 4 Comments »
Two commonwealths
Posted by Sen on December 10, 2008
In thinking about the future of the world, and of the Bahai community, and in speaking about them, we need to distinguish between the two uses of ‘commonwealth’ : the commonwealth of nations and the Bahai Commonwealth. If we do not, governments are likely to be misled and alarmed, thinking that there is something political or governmental about this ‘Bahai Commonwealth’ Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Church and State | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'u'llah, Bahai, Bahai Commonwealth, federalism, political theology, Shoghi Effendi, world government, World Order of Baha'u'llah, بهائی | 7 Comments »
Reward and Punishment
Posted by Sen on December 5, 2008
Baha’u’llah writes:
Schools must first train the children in the principles of religion, so that the Promise and the Threat recorded in the Books of God may prevent them from the things forbidden and adorn them with the mantle of the commandments; but this in such a measure that it may not injure the children by resulting in ignorant fanaticism and bigotry.
(Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 68)
Promise and Threat, or reward and punishment, is one of those basic dynamics that acts out at several levels. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community, Ethics and Morality | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'u'llah, Bahai, Bahai Faith, religion in schools, reward and punishment | 1 Comment »
How theocracy happened
Posted by Sen on December 2, 2008
A person investigating the Bahai Faith had encountered theocratic ideas among the Bahais she met, and asked if these were correct, and where they came from. But in fact, she seemed to know already that these ideas must be wrong. She wrote:
> I have to say that the idea of a one-world government run by a
> religious institution of any sort whatsoever, is what I can only
> call a total nightmare. I cannot believe for one second that this
> is what Bahaullah envisaged,
She was quite right. This is certainly not what Baha’u'llah envisioned!
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Church and State, History | Tagged: A Traveler's Narrative, Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, Church and State, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Hippolyte Dreyfus, Horace Holley, Kitab-i Iqan, Luke 20:20-26, Mark 12:13-17, Matt. 22:15-22, millenialism, one-world government, render to Caesar, Risaleh-ye Siyasiyyah, Sermon on the Art of Governance, Shoghi Effendi, Supreme Tribunal, The Promised Day is Come, theocracy, Universal House of Justice, World Order of Baha'u'llah | 17 Comments »
A modern-day Romeo and Juliet
Posted by Sen on November 30, 2008
… i like this girl and she likes me.. my faith is bahai … she is a very strong christian. and she takes the bible very seriously, and i respect that of her, but in the bible there is a verse that says jesus is the only way to heaven, and in another it says a christian shouldn’t get involved with someone non- christian…
there in lies my problem. and she won’t go out with me until i’ve changed my mind about christ and the bible.. now we did go on a date and it went good, but in her and my art class together i got in an argument over my beliefs with her and half of the class today. let alone this wasn’t bad enough she decided not to date me until i’ve changed…
i will not change my beliefs for her. but is there any way one of you could give me some very convincing verses from the bible, or better yet some strong proof to why bahaism is better..
i need a lot of help with this one, i like her a lot and she likes me, but our strengths in our religious beliefs are getting in the way and we both tend to be stubborn, and i don’t want to see someone as amazing as her just leave me…
Dear Romeo,
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Posted in Community | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Arguing about religion, Bahai, Bahai Faith, Christianity, John 10:16, Star crossed lovers, twoness | 2 Comments »
The practicalities of monarchy
Posted by Sen on November 28, 2008
In the fifteenth Glad-Tidings, Baha’u’llah writes:
Although a republican form of government profiteth all the peoples of the world, yet the majesty of kingship is one of the signs of God. We do not wish that the countries of the world should remain deprived thereof. If the sagacious combine the two forms into one, great will be their reward in the presence of God.
I don’t think we have to suppose that Baha’u'llah was thinking about some future form of constitutional monarchy, requiring us to figure out what he meant and how it could be put into practice. There were good models of constitutional monarchy already working in his day, and most of them are still working today. In contrast, most of the republics from the time of Baha’u’llah have gone through at least one revolution, or at least a major upset, in the past century, and the absolute monarchies have fared even worse. Constitutional monarchy is the ‘leading technology’ in the field of government.
So why do constitutional monarchies work so well?
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Posted in Political science | Tagged: Baha'u'llah, Bahai, cabinet government, constitutional monarchy, fifteenth Glad-tidings, Iran, monarchy, Pahlavi, Political science, Qajar, republicanism | 5 Comments »
Church and State in Islam
Posted by Sen on November 21, 2008
In a discussion, I was asked: “You state that separation of church and state is principle in Islam. Could you explain that a bit more?“
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Posted in Church and State, Islam | Tagged: at-taghut, Baha'u'llah, Bahai, Bahai Faith, Church and State, David, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'lah, Islam, Joseph, Kings and rulers, Kitab-e Aqdas, kitab-i-aqdas, Lawh-e Ashraf, Mecca, Medina, Moses, Muhammad, Muhammad Abduh, no compulsion in religion, Pharoah, Quran, Sen McGlinn, Solomon, Surah-ye Bayan, twin seas | 1 Comment »
Bahais and military service
Posted by Sen on November 18, 2008
“Baha’is do not join the military, except as non-combatants“
To which the response was:
“That really limits how many Bahais a Nation can have!“
Good point!
But is it really a Bahai teaching that we should not serve as combatants, or is this just current practice? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Ethics and Morality | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai, Bahai Faith, collective security, conscientious objection, Custodians, Darfur, Ethics and Morality, Hands of the Cause, holocaust, Jalal Khazeh, just war, Mai Pederson, military service, Nazi Germany, non-combatant status, Sermon on the Art of Governance, Shoghi Effendi, Shu'a'llah 'Alai, Some Answered Questions, Srebrenica massacre, world peace | 6 Comments »
Two by two
Posted by Sen on November 14, 2008
There is a delightful story – which I have reason to think is true, in broad lines at least — about the martyr and Hand of the Cause Mirza `Ali-Muhammad Varqa (Grandfather of the Hand of the Cause of the same name who died in 2007). Mr. Varqa made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land during the lifetime of Baha’u'llah. He found himself with fellow pilgrims in the presence of the Manifestation. He watched as Baha’u'llah spoke to the gathering, and thought to himself, “How fortunate I am! To have recognized the Manifestation of God for this Day, and to be in His very presence!”
Then he thought to himself, “I believe that He is the Manifestation of God. But I want to really believe. What could Baha’u'llah do, that would make me know beyond all doubt that He is the Manifestation of God?”
He thought for a time, and then thought, “I have always wondered about the verse in the Holy Qur’an, where it says that Noah brought the animals into the Ark in pairs. This can’t mean a pair of giraffes and a pair of gnats. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Church and State, Community | Tagged: Baha'u'lah, Bahai, Church and State, communism, disciples in pairs, dualism, fascism, fundamentalism, Hand of the Cause, Mark 6:6-13, nationalism, Noah's ark, ontological dualism, ontological pluralims, postmodernism, Quran 36:36, Shoghi Effendi, twoness, `Ali-Muhammad Varqa | 2 Comments »
Pray for good government
Posted by Sen on November 7, 2008
In many Christian churches, and in Sunni Islam in particular, prayers for the ruler or government are a routine part of collective worship. Bahais too are told to pray for their rulers. But we do not seem to be comfortable with it: how often is a prayer for the government part of a Baha’i meeting? Perhaps some background will help.
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Posted in Church and State, Community, Devotions | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'u'llah, Bahai, Church and State, Majlisi, prayer for government, Religion and Politics, Sen McGlinn | 1 Comment »
The knower as servant (response to Paul Lample)
Posted by Sen on October 20, 2008
I’ve been reading Paul Lample’s “Learning and the Evolution of the Bahá’í Community.” He presents various possible roles for the “learned Bahai” in the Bahai community. I found it striking that he did not mention the possibility that the learned Bahai could be a servant, someone who uses knowledge to minister to the faithful.
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Posted in Community, Theology | Tagged: Baha'u'llah, Bahai, Bahai scholarship, bahai theology, Community, creative theology, creativity, evolution, learned Bahai, learning, Paul Lample, postmodern, postmodern theology, scholar, scholar as archaeologist, scholar as artist, scholar as scout, scholar as servant, scholars, scholarship, Sen McGlinn | 6 Comments »
What is theology, and what’s it good for ?
Posted by Sen on October 1, 2008
On my web site, I’ve put up my part of two discussion threads about theology, and how the Bahai community can face the fact that some people know more than others, on particular topics, but without replicating the structures of past religions in which greater knowledge often translates into greater authority.
It’s the first and third items on the page
http://www.sonjavank.com/sen/postings/o_cs.htm
Click on the blue PDF buttons.
The threads have started because of my statement in my Master’s dissertation, Church and State, a postmodern political theology:
“that my stance is not that of a historian or academic scholar of the science of religion, but of a Bahai theologian, writing from and for a religious community, and I speak as if the reader shares the concerns of that community. As a Bahai theologian, I seek to criticize, clarify, purify and strengthen the ideas of the Bahai community, to enable Bahais to understand their relatively new faith and to see what it can offer the world. The approach is not value-free. I would be delighted if the Bahai Faith proved to have a synergy with post-modernity, if it prospered in the coming decades and had an influence on the world. The reader who is used to academic studies of religion that avoid such value judgments will have to make the necessary adjustments here and there.”
The Universal House of Justice (who had apparently seen only a selective citation, omitting the words in italics) found the idea of a Bahai theologian objectionable, calling it “a claim that lies well outside the framework of Bahá’í belief and practice,” and removed me from the membership rolls of the Baha’i community.
At various times, people have suggested that the real reason for my disenrollment was something else: – ‘challenging the UHJ’; ‘wanting to set up a body of experts to define Bahai theology’; ‘wanting to give the Mashriqu’l-adhkars some kind of doctrinal authority’; doing something unspecified in Tehran, political involvement, disregarding Bahai review, or the actual content of my book Church and State, which shows that the separation of the religious order and political order is an essential Bahai teaching (usually presented under the heading ‘non-involvement in politics’) and is indeed one of the ancient teachings of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Babi and Bahai Faiths.
The House of Justice itself has said, in separate letters, that Bahai review and the contents of Church and State were not the basis of its decision to expel me, the others are also obvious canards. They can be unmasked by asking the spreaders of falsehoods: (a) “So if you know the real reason Sen was expelled, how did the UHJ tell you this?” (b) “are you saying that the UHJ was not being honest about its reasons?” And (c), “suppose that this was the reason, where’s the evidence that Sen actually did or wrote what you say?”
Having disposed of the misinformation, the core issue remains: what is theology, and what is it good for? This is often formulated as the issue of Reason and Revelation, but that is a misstatement. The ‘reason’ in this case is our reason, the ‘Revelation’ is God’s revelation of Godself and God’s will, and clearly our reason is inadequate to the task. The formulation ‘Reason and Revelation’ decides the issue before we start, in favour of Revelation.
But the formulation is wrong, because we never have the Revelation – we each rather have our own understanding and recognition of the Revelation. That understanding and recognition is something we make for ourselves; it is always inadequate and incomplete, it contains inconsistencies, it is mixed with other ideas we have brought in our baggage, and it can always be improved upon. So our understandings – our ideas, not the Revelation itself – can be criticized, clarified, purified and strengthened. And that I think is what theology is good for.
Posted in Church and State, Community, Theology | Tagged: Bahai, bahai theology, Church and State, disenrollment, political theology, postmodern theology, reason and revelation, Theology, unenrollement | Leave a Comment »
Polemics revisited
Posted by Sen on September 7, 2008
Moojan Momen has posted on his web site a new version of his response-to-responses, occasioned by his Religion article on “Marginality and Apostasy in the Baha’i Community.” In this, he states :
‘My statement that Sen McGlinn’s disenrollment was due to “persistent challenges” to the Universal House of Justice is an inference that I have drawn from letters of the Universal House of Justice going back to 1995.’
Posted in Polemics | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Apologetics, Apostasy, backbiting, Bahai, Bahai Faith, courtesy, defamation, disenrollment, libel, Marginality and Apostasy, Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, Momen, Polemics, Religion, Sen McGlinn | 2 Comments »
“Matters of State” or “administrative matters”: the scope of the House of Justice
Posted by Sen on April 12, 2008
In the 1978 translation of Tablets of Baha’u’llah by Habib Taherzadeh “with the assistance of a committee,” the eighth section of the Tablet of Ishraqaat says:
“This passage, now written by the Pen of Glory, is accounted as part of the Most Holy Book: The men of God’s House of Justice have been charged with the affairs of the people (‘amuur-e mellat). They, in truth, are the Trustees of God among His servants and the daysprings of authority in His countries.
O people of God! That which traineth the world is Justice, for it is upheld by two pillars, reward and punishment. These two pillars are the sources of life to the world. Inasmuch as for each day there is a new problem and for every problem an expedient solution, such affairs should be referred to the House of Justice that the members thereof may act according to the needs and requirements of the time. They that, for the sake of God, arise to serve His Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen Kingdom. It is incumbent upon all to be obedient unto them. All matters of State (‘amuur-e siyaasiyyah) should be referred to the House of Justice, but acts of worship (`ibaadaat) must be observed according to that which God hath revealed in His Book.” [1]
There is a previous translation by Ali Kuli Khan, made in 1906 or earlier,[2] in which the italicised passages read:
“The affairs of the people are in charge of the men of the House of Justice of God … Administrative affairs are all in charge of the House of Justice, and devotional acts must be observed according as they are revealed in the Book.”
Posted in Church and State, Community, Translations | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Administrative matters, Affairs of the people, Ali Kuli Khan, amuur-e mellat, Aqdas, ‘amuur-e siyaasiyyah, Bahai, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, Bisharat, Church and State, Community, House of Justice, Iqan, ishraqat, lawh-e dunya, matters of state, politics, Religion, Sermon on the Art of Governance, Shoghi Effendi, Tehran, theocracy, theocratic, Translation | 1 Comment »
Do assemblies learn?
Posted by Sen on April 3, 2008
The Spiritual Assemblies that administer affairs in Bahai communities suffer from growing pains: and the members themselves are the nerve that feels it the most. If the problem is disunity, is there a point at which it is better for some members to resign? Or should the assembly be maintained, and meet, come what may – even if the problems in the meeting seep out and undermine the good work and good feeling in the community? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Community | Tagged: Administration, Assemblies, Assembly, Assembly meetings, Atmosphere of secrecy, Bahai, Bahai elections, Community, elections, exchange programme, minutes, openness, Shoghi Effendi | 2 Comments »
The puzzle of the Aqdas: joining a few pieces
Posted by Sen on March 29, 2008
I first wrote this as an email posting on 1 Jan 2008. I’ve reworked it as a blog entry. It concerns one of the things that puzzles Bahais from a Christian or non-religious background: what is ‘religious law’ and how do we treat the Kitab-e Aqdas?
Usually this comes up not as a broad theoretical question, but in terms of particulars. Why do women seem to be disadvantaged in the inheritance law, why are they treated differently in regard to some religious duties, and what is that verse about having no more than two wives?
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Posted in Aqdas and Law, Bahai Writings, Community | Tagged: Aqdas, Bahai, bigamy, equality, inheritance, kitab-i-aqdas, religious law, religious pluralism, supercession, two wives, women | 11 Comments »
Youth: every age its own problem
Posted by Sen on February 20, 2008
As a first experiment in blogging, here’s a letter I wrote to the Bahai Youth Council in 1996. The Council had written a jeremiad about the terrible state of youth, and invited comments. They got them.
To the European Bahá’í Youth Council
I have recently received a copy of your paper “The State of the Bahá’í Youth in Europe,” dated May 1995. That is a long time ago – particularly in the life of a youth – and perhaps this paper no longer reflects the thinking of the Youth Council. I hope so, at any rate, because the approach adopted in the paper does not suggest a way forward for either the Council or the youth themselves.
In addition to the general observation that one cannot expect positive output from negative input, two areas in particular struck me as needing re-vision: the approach to morality and to individualism.
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Posted in Community, Ethics and Morality, Individualism | Tagged: Bahai, Generation gap, Individualism, Maturity, Morality, Organic unity, Youth | Leave a Comment »








This posting begins by discussing a letter written on behalf of the Guardian, which refers to “the Bahai theocracy” as a divinely ordained system, and goes on from there to address the claims that there is ‘a theocratic undercurrent’ in Shoghi Effendi’s writings, or that he contradicted himself, changed his mind or concealed his real views for reasons of prudence. In addition to the few places where Shoghi Effendi speaks directly on the topic, we can look at the Bahai writings he translated, to see what teachings he thought were central and important for the English-speaking Bahais to understand. 
One of the Bahais asked what wording is meant by the following verse in Baha’u’llah’s
This slogan of the separation of religion and politics and the demand that Islamic scholars not intervene in social and political affairs has been formulated and propagated by the imperialists; it is only the irreligious who repeat them. Were religion and politics separate in the time of the Prophet? Did there exist on one side a group of clerics, and opposite it, a group of politicians and leaders? (As
I was led to this subject by one of the friends, who commented that the House of Justice’s revenues include mines, and its expenditures the care of the poor, both governmental matters, so it is not unreasonable for Habib Taherzadeh to say, in his translation of Baha’u'llah’s Tablet of Ishraqat, that “matters of State should be referred to the House of Justice” (Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 27)
… an elderly lady once told me that Shoghi Effendi had said that the earth would “fall off its axis and spin wildly for three days”… well, I’ve searched and searched for anything even close…
Since the potluck took place at the day and home which regularly hosts a Ruhi circle, the devotions flowed straight on to a Ruhi session, Book 1 Chapter 2, on Prayer. The first words of the chapter are “Abdu’l-Baha says that prayer is conversation with God.” No source was given. This part of the Ruhi book raises a lot of questions, and questions are always good.
A metaphor asks us to form a picture of the image presented in our mind’s eye, and then find the similarities between that and the subject of the metaphor. But there’s something odd when you think about this image of the sword in its sheath, “its value hidden from the artificer’s knowledge.” Surely the person who made the sword knows what it is worth?
The Bahai community has a tendency to get carried away with its enthusiasms for prophecies that supposedly give an insight into the immediate future. I’ve discussed one of these in 
Now concerning nature, it is but the essential properties and the necessary relations inherent in the realities of things. And though these infinite realities are diverse in their character yet they are in the utmost harmony and closely connected together. As one’s vision is broadened and the matter observed carefully, it will be made certain that every reality is but an essential requisite of other realities. Thus to connect and harmonize these diverse and infinite realities an all-unifying Power is necessary, that every part of existent being may in perfect order discharge its own function.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11
