Abdul Baha's failed prophecy : All Iranian Jews will soon convert to Baha'ism

Iranian Jews pray at the tomb of Harav Oursharga, one of the holiest Jewish sites in Iran, in the city of Yazd 420 miles (676 kilometers) south of capital Tehran. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) - 2014
In one of his letters on the occasion of the death of a number of Baha’is in Yazd and Isfahan, Abdu’l-Baha tries to blame the Scholars of Iran for their death and claims these deaths were the result of the Jealousy of Shia scholars due to the massive conversion of Persians to Baha’ism. This is what he states in a section of this letter that is part of the suppressed Baha’i texts that Baha’is simply refuse to translate to English:



“In summary, in these days the scholars of the Shia [belief], meaning the former religion of Iran, noticed that the call of God has been raised, and the East and West have stirred, the lights of the sun of truth have spread to such an extent that the eyes have become illuminated, the flag of the cause of God has been hoisted, the people enter by troops under the word of God (i.e. they are converting to Baha’ism), and the Shia have become Baha’is. Even the Israelites (Jews) are so excited and astonished that soon not a single one of them will remain in Iran but that he will be guided to the highest guidance (i.e. he would become a Baha’i). Also the majority of the Parsis (Zoroastrians), who are the ancient people of Iran and deny all the Prophets like Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad), testify and admit that all Books, Messengers, and Divine Prophets [are legitimate] and with the utmost truthfulness and serenity have become Baha’is. This has become a source of animosity and jealousy for the evil scholars…” (Abdu’l-Baha, Makatib [Letters], vol. 3, pp. 124-125)
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The aforementioned paragraph is replete with false statements:
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1- Shia Islam is called the “former religion of Iran” thus making it seem that Baha’ism is now officially the religion of Iranians and most of the population have converted to Baha’ism. The intention to induce such a meaning is evident from what Abdu’l-baha states in the remainder of the paragraph.
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2- It is stated that “the people enter by troops under the word of God (i.e. they are converting to Baha’ism), and the Shia have become Baha’is.” This is also false because the percentage of Baha’i converts in Iran among the population was minute and still is.
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3- He claims “Even the Israelites (Jews) are so excited and astonished that ere long not a single one of them will remain in Iran but that he will be guided to the highest guidance (i.e. they will all become Baha’is).” This is obviously false and a failed prophecy because more than a century has passed since this claim was made but Iran still retains the second-highest Jewish population in the middle-east.
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4- He also claims that the majority of Zoroastrians are now Baha’is. The falsity of this sentence is self-evident and needs no further explanation.
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If one were to read these statements in light of Baha’i claims about the station of Abdu’l-Baha, including the infallibility of his Pen,[1] his superhuman knowledge,[2] the reception of direct inspirations from Baha’u’llah,[3] his own claims about knowing everything when he wants,[4] and that whatever he says is fact,[5] it would quickly become clear that these statements are all part of a great deception.


[1] “Little wonder that from the same unerring pen there should have flowed, after Abdu’l-Baha’s memorable visit to the West” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 75)
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[2] “while it does not by any means justify us to assign to Him the station of Prophethood, indicates how in the person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahā the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized,” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 134.)
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[3] “That Abdu’l-Baha is not a Manifestation of God, that He gets His light, His inspiration and sustenance direct from the Fountain-head of the Baha’i Revelation; that He reflects even as a clear and perfect Mirror the rays of Baha’u’llah’s glory … His words are not equal in rank, though they possess an equal validity with the utterances of Baha’u’llah” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 139)
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[4] “No, I do not know everything. But when I need to know something, it is pictured before me,” (Stanwood Cobb, Memories of Abdu’l-Baha in In his Presence: Visits to Abdu’l-Baha (Kalimat Press, 1989), p. 60)
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[5] “Many times He said, `I do not make a claim of infallibility (ma'sumiyyat). I am the first of sinners (avval-i gunahkar). But the Blessed Beauty favored me with a gift (mawhibati). Whatever I say, it is that (har chih beguyam, haman ast).” (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/abinfall.htm)

2 comments:

  1. " ,,,in these days the scholars of the Shia [belief], meaning the former religion of Iran,..."

    Qadim does not mean "former", but rather ancient, well-establishe d. It is a title of God, and does not mean that God used to be God and is now something else !

    For more on the conversion of Jews to the Bahai Faith in Iran, see
    Mehrdad Amanat, "Jewish Identities in Iran: Resistance and Conversion to Islam and the Baha'i" . This is a full-length study, and the paperback at 20 pounds is a steal.

    http://www.ibtauris.com/Books/Humanities/Religion%20%20beliefs/Islam/Jewish%20Identities%20in%20Iran%20Resistance%20and%20Conversion%20to%20Islam%20and%20the%20Bahai.aspx?menuitem=%7BB76CD7ED-145D-4688-AD64-AF89BF59B7F1%7D

    The blurb says: "The nineteenth century was a time of significant global socioeconomic change, and Persian Jews, like other Iranians, were deeply affected by its challenges. For minority faith groups living in nineteenth-cent ury Iran, religious conversion to Islam - both voluntary and involuntary - was the primary means of social integration and assimilation. However, why was it that some Persian Jews, who had for centuries resisted the relative security of Islam, instead embraced the Baha'i Faith - which was subject to harsher persecution that Judaism? Baha'ism emerged from the messianic Babi movement in the mid-nineteenth century and attracted large numbers of mostly Muslim converts, and its ecumenical message appealed to many Iranian Jews. Many converts adopted fluid, multiple religious identities, revealing an alternative to the widely accepted notion of religious experience as an oppressive, rigidly dogmatic and consistently divisive social force. Mehrdad Amanat explores the conversion experiences of Jewish families during this time. Many converted sporadically to Islam, although not always voluntarily.

    The most notorious case of forced mass-conversion in modern times occurred in Mashhad in 1839 when, in response to an organized attack, the entire Jewish community converted to Shi'i Islam. A contrast is offered by a Tehran Jewish family of court physicians who nominally converted to Islam and yet continued to openly observe Jewish rituals while also remaining intellectually sympathetic to Baha'ism. Many petty merchants and pedlars, in a position to benefit from Iran's expanding market, migrated from ancient communities to thriving trade centres which proved fertile grounds for the spread of new ideas and, often, conversion to Christianity or Baha'ism. This is an important scholarly contribution which also provides a fascinating insight into the personal experiences of Jewish families living in nineteenth-cent ury Iran."
    There's also a shorter study on line, by Moshe Sharon:
    http://bahai-library.com/sharon_jewish_conversion_bahai


    For the current observant Jewish population in Iran, see
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Jews
    It would appear that the population who are Jewish by religion dropped to about 10,000 today. Moshe Sharon says that Persian Jews "were among the early converts to the new religion, first here and there as individuals, and from the late 1870s in massive numbers." He does not specify the "massive numbers." However the strong presence of Bahais of Jewish background, in Bahai history and in today's Bahai community, leaves no doubt that Bahais of Jewish background in Iran today would considerably outnumber the Jews (defined by practice, not ethnicity) in Iran.

    The decline in the number of Jews in Iran is due much more to emigration than to conversions, and the portion of Jewish Bahais among the Jewish emigrants would be low, but I am only considering those who remain in Iran, as this is specified in the OP.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. -----------------

      Qadim does not mean "former", but rather ancient, well-established.

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      I have lost count of the number of times that you have made mistakes in translating Farsi/Arabic texts to English. Qadim means both 'ancient/old' and 'former'. This is also evident in the Steingass dictionary that you propagate on your blog and as you can see in the link below 'former' has been used as an equivalent for 'Qadim':

      http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=steingass&query=%D9%82%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%85&matchtype=exact&display=utf8

      With all that said, and all the explanations about Jews, you have written nothing that can justify Abdu'l-Baha's failed prophecy.

      As a side note, my dear friend, you have cited the works of Moshe Sharon here:

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      There's also a shorter study on line, by Moshe Sharon: http://bahai-library.com/sharon_jewish_conversion_bahai

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      This just made your response a great deal less credible, because this man has been caught lying about the descendants of Baha'u'llah in Israel. Here is a segment of the documentary "Baha'is in my Backyard" where he claims there are no descendants of Baha'u'llah but the producer manages to easily locate them right there in Israel:

      http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/media/Baha_u_llah_s%20great%20grand-daughter.mp4

      Delete

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