Association for Baha’i Studies

The UK publisher George Ronald have announced two new publications which will be of interest to Bahai scholars and researchers. The first is a study of the Badi (”New”) calendar, Time and the Baha’i Era, a calendar which originated in the Writings of the Bab. This thought-provoking book examines the historical background and symbolic significance of the Badí‘ calendar, as well as practical issues to be resolved before it can assume its rightful place as a world calendar. The Badí‘ calendar is derived directly from the revealed writings of both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh and is a component part of the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, whose teachings must be understood in their entirety as medicine for the diseases of our age. Its inherent symbolism, however, has until now remained largely unexplored, so that the systematic investigation presented by this wide-ranging, impressive study is no doubt the first of its kind. One of the main themes of the book is that the Badí‘ calendar is creative in the sense that, through its symbolic association with different aspects of the Bahá’í Faith, it can serve to represent and illustrate many of the central tenets of the Faith. Symbol and object converge in the Badí‘ calendar in a manner which is unique in the entire revelation. The full effect the Badí‘ calendar will have on society is hardly predictable at present or in the near future. Just as the actual unfolding of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh will reveal to future generations aspects of practical and spiritual life which we cannot even imagine today, so too will the world-wide application of the Badí‘ calendar exert an influence on the physical and spiritual rhythm of life in a fashion and to a degree which we cannot yet appreciate. The meaning of the Badí‘ calendar will first become fully evident to those privileged to live in the pulse of this future World Order. The second volume is the companion to Udo Schaefers study of Baha’i Ethics released earlier in 2008. Available in Feb 2009, Schaefer’s second volume. Baha’i Ethics in Light of Scripture: Volume 2:  Virtues and Divine Commandments “attempts to analyse the underlying structures and detect the interior architecture of the Bahá’í moral system and is a step towards developing a Bahá’í moral theology. Finely argued and meticulously researched and annotated, Virtues and Divine Commandments, the second of two volumes, considers the structures of the moral order and its concrete values – the virtues, divine commandments and principles of social ethics, including justice, from a Bahá’í perspective. Includes an appendix on art and morality and correspondence with the Universal House of Justice on issues considered in the book.

Leading academic publishers EJ Brill have announced the forthcoming publication, The Messiah of Shiraz: Studies in Early and Middle Babism, in the series Iran Studies (edited Ali Gheissari (University of San Diego, CA), Roy P. Mottahedeh (Harvard University), Yann Richard (Sorbonne Nouvelle)) The 19th century saw an enormous shift in the authority structure of Iranian and Iraqi Twelver Shiʿism, with the victory of a theological school (Usulism) that stressed the power of the clergy. This is well known. What is less well known is that there was a parallel development of authority in the Shaykhi school and its offshoot, the Babi sect. Here, especially in later forms of Babism, the Shiʿite claim to charismatic authority reached its limits in hyperbolic attestations of divinity. The present text is in two parts: a study of how Shaykhism bifurcated into a form close to orthodoxy next to the highly unorthodox Babi movement. Part two examines how Babism changed after the death in 1850 of its founder, the Bab. Author Denis M. MacEoin, Ph.D. (1979) in Persian Studies, University of Cambridge has taught Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University. His most recent work has been on radical Islam in the United Kingdom. His previous books include The Sources for Early Babi Doctrine and History. This volume joins the recently announced volume of translation and annotation by Ahang Rabbani from the same publisher The Genesis of the Babi-Bahá’í Faiths in Shiraz and Fars by Mírzá Hábíbu’lláh Afnán to be published as volume 122 in the series Numen Book Series ; Texts and Sources in the History of Religions (Editorial board: Steven Engler (Mount Royal College, Calgary, Canada), Richard King (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, U.S.A.), Kocku von Stuckrad (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands), and Gerard Wiegers (Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands). Also reccomended is the excellent study published by Brill in 2006, Margaret Warburg’s Citizens of the World A History and Sociology of the Baha’is from a Globalisation Perspective.

Muhammad ‘Abduh (1849-1905) was one of the key thinkers and reformers of modern Islam who has influenced both liberal and fundamentalist Muslims today. ‘Abdul-Baha (1844–1921) was the son of Baha ‘ullah (1817-1892), the founder of the Baha’i Faith; a new religion which began as a messianic movement in Shii Islam, before it departed from Islam.Oliver Scharbrodt offers an innovative and radically new perspective on the lives of these two major religious reformers in nineteenth-century Middle East by placing both figures into unfamiliar terrain. While one would classify ‘Abdul-Baha, leader of a messianic movement which claims to depart from Islam, as an exponent of heresy in Islam, ‘Abduh is perceived as an orthodox Sunni reformer.

This book, however, argues against the assumption that both represent two extremely opposite expressions of Islamic religiosity. It shows that both were influenced by similar intellectual and religious traditions of Islam and that both participated in the same discussions on the reform of Islam in the nineteenth century. Islam and the Baha’i Faith provides new insights into the Islamic back¬ground of the Baha’i Faith and into ‘Abduh’s own association with so-called heretical movements in Islam. This book is a valuable resource to anyone interested in the Baha’i Faith and its Islamic roots and in the intellectual history of modern Islam.

The book, Islam and the Baha’i Faith: A comparative study of Muhummad Abduh and ‘Abdu’l-Baha Abbas is published by Routledge in the Series: Culture and Civilization in the Middle East (General Editor: Ian Netton). Table of Contents: 1. Introduction 2. The Formative Years: Mysticism and Millenarianism 3. Into Modernity 4. Succession and Renewal 5. Charisma Routinized 6. Creating Orthodoxy: The View of Posterity Epilogue Bibliography. Oliver Scharbrodt is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Western Kentucky University, USA. His research interests lie in the study of modern Islam and of Iranian Shiism and Sufism.

Peter Terry has finally made available after many years of toil his translation of Louis Alphonse Daniel Nicolas’ biography in French of the life of the Bab, Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Bab (Paris, 1905). Not merely a translation, the book is heavily annotated and footnoted  to expand or correct with later research Nicola’s pioneering work.

ALM Nicolas was a translator at the French Legation in Tihran and became acquainted with the life of the Bab and his writings and over the course of several decades published a number of studies and translations of the Bab and the Babi movement. Nicolas was so captivated by the eloquence of the Bab that he describes himself as having become  “bit by bit profoundly and uniquely a Babi”. A Prophet in Modern Times is published on demand by lulu.com and is available from the usual onlne stores.

This volume represents Volume 1 of a series of planned translations of Nicolas’s Babi works and it is hoped that this version of Nicolas’ biography can be expanded to include those chapters that refer to the Bab’s colleagues, the Letters of the Living, some of which has been published recently elsewhere, as well as useful additions such as an index and an aggregated bibliography of the many cited sources in the footnotes.

 Nicolas personal library was acquired in part by the International Baha’i Library and constitutes one of its special collections. The French edition of the book translated here was reprinted a few years ago in the Elibron Classics series. It is also available in a digitised format from the H-Bahai Digital Library.

Millennialism and Violence: The Attempted Assassination of Nasir al-Din Shah of Iran by the Babis in 1852. Moojan Momen ‌. The association of millennialist movements with violence has been a subject of much study following recent high-profile events. This article examines a case of millennialism and violence that occurred just over 150 years ago. It tracks the events leading to the attempted assassination of Nasir al-Din Shah of Iran in 1852 by a small group of followers of the religion of the Bab, a religious leader who claimed to fulfill the prophecies of Shi’i Islam about the coming of the Imam Mahdi. The factors leading to the violence are analyzed and compared with other cases of millennialism and violence.

The main factors that stand out in this case include: a pre-existing religious milieu that expected a violent, millennial event and engendered a radically dualist worldview, with the shah’s government as the embodiment of an evil destined to be defeated and removed; a severe persecution of the group resulting in some followers’ desire for revenge and a dramatic violent act that would bring divine intervention and ultimate victory; government removal of moderate leadership, leaving only radical extremist leaders; and the presence among the Tehran group of Babis, which carried out the attempted assassination, of a charismatic leader whom these Babis believed had access to a source of divine power that could make the plan achievable, when a more rational analysis would have demonstrated the opposite. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, August 2008, Vol. 12, No. 1, Pages 57–82.

The more or less annual compilation of papers from the regular sequence of Irfan Colloquia held in North America nad Europe during the year is eagerly awaited because it often contains original research or preliminary explorations into new areas of scholalrly inquiry. Volume 8 of Lights of Irfan: Papers presented at the Irfan Colloquia and Seminars is available from the Baha’i Distribution Service in the United States (although not currently in the online catalogue).

This volume, subtitled Studies in the Principal Baha’i Beliefs, contains the following papers: Amin Egea (trans Francisco Diaz), Chronicles of a Birth: Early References to the Babi and Baha’i Religions in Spain (1873-1895), 1-19; Youli Ioannesyan, Baron Rosen’s Archive Collection of Babi and Baha’i Materials, 11-34; Farhang Jaharpour, Mysticism East and West, 35-52; Wolfgang Klebel, The Word is the Master Key for the Whole World: The Baha’i Revelation and the “Teaching and the Spirit of the Cause” in Dialogical and Personal Thinking, 53-124; Ian Kluge, Buddhism and the Baha’i Writings: An Ontological Rapprochement, 125-178; Grant Martin,Why the Baha’i Faith Is Not Pluralist,179-201; Jack McLean, The Art of Rhetoric in the Writings of Shoghi Effendi, 203-256; Moojan Momen, Abdu’l-Baha’s Tablet on the Functioning of the Universal House of Justice: A Provisional Translation and Commentary, 257-297; Ali Nakhjavani, The Baha’i Covenant, 299-308; Mahyad Zaerpoor Rahnamaie, Minimalism from a Baha’i Perspective, 309-322; Julio Savi & Faezeh Mardani Mazzoli, Lawh-i-Maryam (Tablet to Maryam) Revealed by Baha’u'llah: A Provisional Translation and Commentary, 323-362; James Thomas, The Emergence of World Civilization: An Exposition on Excerpts from the Writings of Shoghi Effendi, 363-386; Elucidations: Research Dept, Baha’i World Centre, Memoranda on  Designation of Mirza Yahya in the Writings of the Bab, Status of Letters Written on Behalf of the Guardian, Daniel’s Prophecies, 387-414.

Iranian Studies is one of the leading periodicals in the field of Iranology or Iranian Studies. Published by the International Society for Iranian Studies, the journal as well as the biennial conferences of the Society are well regarded (The forthcoming seventh Biennial conference has several papers relevant to Baha’i studies). Most years the Iranian Studies journal will publish a significant paper on Babi or Baha’i Studies (see under Publication Roundup). Well known author Moojan Momen has published in the June 2008 issue of Iranian Studies a new piece of research on the Iranian Baha’i community and the Constitutional Revolution. Edward Granville Browne, a noted early authority on the Iranian Babi-Baha’i community, was himself intimately involved in the British aspect of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, and early on also noted some aspects of the Baha’i relationship in his study of the Constitutional Revolution. Moojan Momen adds to these insights. See also the recent paper by Kavian Milani, Baha’i Discourses on the Constitutional Revolution in The Baha’is of Iran Socio-Historical Studies

Accounts of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran have tended to ignore the role of the Baha’is in that event. This paper looks at the case of Sari, capital of Mazandaran province, where the Baha’is of the city played a major part in initiating the move towards Constitutionalism and in educating people about the reforms envisaged and about the modern world. They also led the way in carrying out some of these reforms. In particular, the Baha’is established the first modern schools in the town. In this process, they were opposed by the Muslim ‘ulama in the town, who equated Constitutionalism and the Baha’i Faith, and persecuted the Baha’is of the town relentlessly for both reasons, leading eventually to the killing of five of the leading Baha’is of Sari in 1913. A brief account is also given of the attitude of the Baha’i leader ‘Abdu’l-Baha (1844-1921) towards the Constitutional Movement and the role of the Baha’is in it. This paper follows the events of the seven years 1906-13 in Sari and describes seven swings of the pendulum of power in the town alternating between the Baha’is and Constitutionalists on the one hand and the ‘ulama and the royalist forces supporting Muhammad ‘Ali Shah on the other. It points out that the neglect of the Baha’i aspect of these events by historians has led to a failure to account adequately for some of the events of these years. Iranian Studies, Volume 41, Issue 3 June 2008 , pages 343 - 363

December 10th 2008 sees the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Drafted in the aftermath of the Second World War, the UDHR represents one of the great achievements of the human mind at a time when leading thinkers and states people were coming to understand the interdependent nature of the global society that was beginning to emerge.Sadly, since 1948 the vision of the drafters of the UDHR - that we are each responsible for the well-being of all and that governments have a duty to enable their citizens to flourish in safety - has been eroded by a growing tendency on the part of some states and governments, motivated by morally dubious ideologies, to pursue their selfish interests at the expense of the health of the whole body of humankind. Furthermore, the human rights discourse at the United Nations, amongst governments and in civil society, has become mired in moral relativism and a growing secularism. The National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom has decided to mark this important anniversary by making a distinctive Bahá’í contribution to reenergizing the discourse and rearticulating it in positive ways that are underpinned by Bahá’í principles and moral values. We are planning a range of activities intended to attract the interest and engagement of a wide range of interested individuals and relevant organizations. These will include parliamentary seminars, seminars and other meetings in universities and colleges, sixth form conferences, presentations and discussions in schools and city academies. It is our hope that this programmed will culminate in a major public conference on or near Human Rights Day - 10th December 2008 -at which we hope a number of high profile speakers will address the issue.

The UK Bahá’í contribution to refocusing the human rights discourse will also be reflected in an edited collection of essays on relevant themes to be published by Juxta Publishing.

Call for Papers:

The National Spiritual Assembly invites all those who are interested in writing an essay for this volume to submit a proposal consisting of a suggested title and an abstract of no more than 500 words. Essays should address themselves to one or other of the following broad themes: the  history and origins of human rights; the history of the UDHR - especially the input of religious communities to its drafting; . human rights now; . the role of religion in human rights; .rights and responsibilities - revisiting duties whilst maintaining rights; . forging universality - from universality of suffering to universality of rights (an opportunity to explore Baha’i idea of oneness of humanity and its relevance in the rights discourse); looking forward to the world envisaged by Article 28: ‘Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully
realized.’.

Please send your proposal to oea@bahai.org.uk by 1 June 2008. Please note that submission of a proposal is no guarantee of publication.

Rob Weinberg
Secretary for External Affairs.

Globale Religionen: Ein Lesebuch zum interreligiösen Gespräch. Bahá i, Christentum, Islam A reader for interfaith discussion.Bahá i, Christianity, Islam ) Ulrike ElsdörferEinheit und Vielfalt in und hinter monotheistischen Religionen hierum kreisen alle Beiträge dieses Lesebuches zu ‘Religion und Globalisierung’. Zum interreligiösen Dialog führen Ulrike Elsdörfer immer auch Begegnungen mit Menschen verschiedener Religionen. Auch ihr Beitrag zur Bahá`i-Religion fußt auf Interviews, Gesprächen, persönlichen Beobachtungen. Und sie bleibt nie bei der theoretischen Reflexion stehen. Die von ihr ausgewählten AutorInnenbeiträge erschließen ein vielfältiges Bild praktizierten Christentums in den USA, Lateinamerika, Indonesien und Afrika. Gewalt als öffentliches und privates Problem in Nord- und Südamerika, Wie sehen die möglichen Reaktionen der christlichen Kirchen auf diese Herausforderung aus? Globalisierung und wirtschaftliche Marginalisierung in Afrika und Indonesien, Wie verstehen sich besonders Frauen als Subjekte religiösen Denkens und politisch- wirtschaftlichen Handelns? Interreligiöse Begegnung im Alltag völlig verschiedener Kontexte, Wie etwa leben Muslime und Christen in Ghana miteinander, wie in Deutschland? Ulrike Helmer Verlag

[Google Translation] [Google Translation] Unity and diversity in and behind this monotheistic religions circulate all articles read this book to ‘religion and globalization’.For interreligious dialogue Ulrike Elsdörfer always encounters with people of different religions. Even their contribution to the Bahá`i religion is based on interviews, discussions, personal observations. And she never stays at the theoretical reflection. The authors selected their contributions tap a diverse picture practised Christianity in the United States, Latin America, Indonesia and Africa.Violence as a public and a private problem in North and South America, what are the possible reactions of the Christian churches to this challenge? Globalization and economic marginalization in Africa and Indonesia, as of women as subjects particularly religious thought and political and economic action?; Inter-religious encounters in everyday life totally different contexts, such as Just Muslims and Christians in Ghana with each other, as in Germany?

Im Lichte der immer häufiger aufflammenden Konflikte zwischen verschiedenen religiösen und ethnischen Gruppen stellt sich mehr und mehr die Frage nach der Bedeutung kultureller und religiöser Faktoren für soziale Einstellungen, die einen Schwerpunkt der vorliegenden Arbeit von Dipl.-Psych. Katrin Modabber darstellt. Weiterhin wird die Frage untersucht, ob sich zwischen verschiedenen Völkern hinsichtlich ihrer seelischen Gesundheit Unterschiede feststellen lassen und ob Religiosität oder bestimmte Formen der Religiosität einen Beitrag zur seelischen Gesundheit des einzelnen Gläubigen leisten kann. Hierfür wurden zwei kulturelle Stichproben, Deutsche und US-Amerikaner, und zwei religiöse Gruppen, Bahai und Christen, hinsichtlich ihrer Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede in Hinblick auf Geschlechterrollenorientierung, ethnische Vorurteile und familienbezogene Einstellungen sowie ihre seelische Gesundheit untersucht. Das Buch richtet sich an Psychologen, Soziologen, Pädagogen, Religions- u nd Kulturwissenschaftler und Personen, die Interesse für die behandelten Themen haben. VDM Verlag Dr. Muller

[Google Translation] In light of the increasingly inflammatory conflicts between different religious and ethnic groups is becoming more and more the question of the importance of cultural and religious factors in social settings, the focus of this work by Dipl.-Psych Katrin Modabber .Furthermore, whether between different nations with regard to their mental health differences and determine whether religious or certain forms of religiosity contribute to the mental health of the individual believer can affordFor this purpose, two cultural sampling, Germans and Americans, and two religious groups, Baha’is and Christians, for their similarities and differences with respect to gender role orientation, ethnic prejudice and family settings, as well as their mental health. The book is intended for psychologists, sociologists, educators, religious and cultural scholars and people who interest to the topics covered.

Syracuse University Press has recently published a new volume of literary and film criticism and analysis of interest to scholars of the Babi and Baha’i religions in the Iranian, especially Qajar context: Representing the Unpresentable: Historical Images of National Reform from the Qajars to the Islamic Republic of Iran . The author, Negar Mottahedeh, is an Assistant Professor of Literature at Duke University. Over the years she has published insightful and analytical studies of a high standard ( including “Resurrection, Return, Reform: Ta’ziyeh as Model for Early Babi Historiography.” Iranian Studies 32.3 (2000): 387-399; “The Mutilated Body of the Modern Nation.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 18.2 (1998): 38-50; “Ruptured Spaces and Effective Histories: The Unveiling of the Babi Poetess Qurrat al-’Ayn-Tahirih in the Gardens of Badasht.” UCLA Historical Journal 17 (1997): 59-81.) Now several of these with thematic continuities have been assembled and extended into a book length treatment based in part on the original doctoral thesis. According to the publisher : “In this pioneering book Negar Mottahedeh explores the central issues of vision and visibility in Iranian culture. She focuses on historical and literary texts to understand the use of visual culture in the production of the contemporary nation. Tracing the historical mediation and dissemination of ideas for national reform in the modern period of Iran, the book examines the various discourses that have constituted the image of the “Babi.” As cinema began to displace other forms of Iranian entertainment, Islamic culture attempted to keep the motion picture industry free from what it perceived to be the taint of foreign values and intervention. With rich insight and compelling detail, Mottahedeh looks at the revealing ways in which Iranian cinema has dealt with representing the unpresentable. In her exploration of gender and Iranian film, the author argues powerfully against contemporary uses of veiling in the representation of Iran as a modern nation. This highly original work, signaling a paradigm shift in Iranian studies and gender studies, will be an invaluable resource for scholars”. If you enjoy thought provoking literary criticism, close readings and textual hermeneutics then you will savour Mottahedeh’s new book. It is also very reasonable obtained in hardback from online stores such as Amazon. Highly recommended.