How and Why Shoghi Effendi Changed the Text of the Kitáb-i-Íqán?

The Kitáb-i-Íqán is one of the most important and most-read pieces of Baha'i scripture, the faith's major theological work. It was written when Bahá outwardly accepted the authority of His Holiness Subh-i-Azal, before Bahá began to publicly advance any divine claim of his. Shoghi Effendi had this to say about it:

"A model of Persian prose, of a style at once original, chaste and vigorous, and remarkably lucid, both cogent in argument and matchless in its irresistible eloquence, this Book [the Íqán], setting forth in outline the Grand Redemptive Scheme of God, occupies a position unequalled [sic] by any work in the entire range of Baha'i literature, except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. . ." (God Passes By, p. 138-139)

Why then would Shoghi Effendi change this work he so highly praised, a book he believed to have been divinely inspired, and a book which was authored by the Prophet of his religion who he is a successor to?

Bahá asks in his Íqán: "Can a man who believeth in a book, and deemeth it to be inspired by God, mutilate it?" (p. 20)

The answer to that question is "yes," and I can prove it.

The most obvious case in which we see that the text has been changed by Shoghi Effendi is with this passage: "...until the hour when, from the Mystic Source, there came the summons bidding Us return whence We came. Surrendering Our will to His, We submitted to His injunction" (p. 57-58)

Here, Bahá is referring to his self-imposed exile in Suleymanieh, Iraqi Kurdistan which he undertook after being rebuked by His Holiness Subh-i-Azal for attempting to undermine his cause.

Some of Bahá's antics are documented in Atiyya Ruhi's biography of His Holiness Subh-i-Azal. She writes: "After a while, Baha thought of making his own claim. He would often write what he called verses and then would have them washed out in the sea and would say that 'they were the share of the fish!' Elders of the Babi [Bayani] community went to Baghdad and admonished Baha for his improper behavior. As a result, he took to the Suleymaniyya where he stayed for two years. There, he also made fresh claims as a result of which he received death threats and saw no option but writing to Subh-i-Azal asking for permission to return which was granted."

Even during the years preceding the Bayání-Bahá'í schism, Bahá in private created his own circle of friends, constantly trying to undermine Subh-i-Azal, and promoting himself. He was at instances caught red-handed making claims forcing him to then retreat and recant. Examine this letter of Bahá written during the Baghdad period where he says: "I swear by God," Baha places on record with firm conviction, "that if any one of the People of the Bayan were to mention that the Book [i.e. the Bayan] is abrogated, may God smash the mouth of the speaker and the calumniator, and by him who holds my soul and myself in his hands one letter from the Bayan is the most loved with me than all that are in the heavens and on the earth" (http://www.bayanic.com/notes/Abbas/AbbasWill-06.html).

In the original text of the Íqán quoted by Prof. E.G. Browne in his Persian introduction to the Nuqtatu'l-Kaf, Bahá explains his return in these words:

"باری تا آنکه از مصدر امر حکم رجوع صادر شد و لابد تسلیم شدم و راجع نمودم"

Here, Bahá speaks in the first person singular, and he states that he returned at the behest of the "Source of Command" who was His Holiness Subh-i-Azal, but Shoghi Effendi changes the text to read "Mystic Source," and it is translated with Bahá speaking in the first person plural! This is done to conceal Bahá's loyalties to His Holiness Subh-i-Azal.

Further, these are some of Bahá's original words:

"و این عبد در کمال رضا جان بر کف حاضرم که شاید از عنایت الهی و فضل سبحان این حرف مذکور .و مشهور در سبیل نقطه و کلمة مستور فدا شود"

In some copies, the words in bold appear as "و کلمه علیا," both denoting His Holiness Subh-i-Azal.
Shoghi Effendi's version, appearing translated in The Dawn-Breakers quotes Bahá as saying: "I stand, life in hand, ready; that perchance, through God's loving-kindness and grace, this revealed and manifest Letter may lay down his life as a sacrifice in the path of the Primal Point, the Most Exalted Word (http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/nz/DB/db-1.html).

Here "مذکور مشهور" is turned into "revealed and magnificent" and the word "and" immediately following the "Point" is suppressed to give a different slant to "و کلمة مستور" or "و کلمه علیا".

http://www.bayanic.com/notes/BahaiBooks/bahaiBook-12-1.html

The most hilarious (not to mention, hypocritical), aspect of this situation, I think, is that Shoghi Effendi in God Passes By accuses Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí of tampering with the text of holy writings when he had done the same thing himself! Shoghi Effendi writes: "And yet it was this same Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí...He it was who, when sent on a mission to India, had tampered with the text of the holy writings entrusted to his care for publication" (p. 248-249).

Read the debate here :
https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateReligion/comments/6hc72b/how_and_why_shoghi_effendi_changed_the_text_of/dixffff/

A Baha'i convert to Bayani / Azali faith exposes Baha'i cultists.

Buy online here

August J. Stenstrand was likely one of, if not the first, follower of Subh-i-Azal in the United States. August J. Stenstrand was born in Sweden in May 1862. He emigrated from Sweden to the United States on 12 February 1889 and was naturalised on 21 March 1899 [Date of entry Feb. 12, 1889. District CT of 25th Judicial District McPherson Co, Kansas. Certificate of Naturalisation #3805. Sweden & Norway. Date Nat. March 21, 1899]. He is listed in the 1900 census as living in the Elfstrom household along with other individuals of Scandinavian descent and being an unemployed day labourer. He was unemployed for four months as of the time of the census. He would be exposed to the teachings of Bahai Religion through missionary Dr. Ibrahim G. Kheirullah (The Complete Call to the Heaven of the Bayan, see: p. 5).

The following are selections from his writings published by Muhammad al-Ahari in The Complete Call to the Heaven of the Bayan.

"The first open notice of this separation which took place between the Behaists, and the Babists or Azalists was at a meeting in a Masonic temple, hall 912, on May 6th, 1906, when I was by an unanimous vote, voted out of the 'First Central Church of the Manifestation' belonging to the Society of the Behaists of America" (Ibid., p. 53).

"It is very remarkable that the Babists, before Baha ever appeared on the stage, had as it stands in the book of Ighan, over twenty volumes of inspired books written by the Bab and some of his learned disciples as proof for this religion. And I know that the Behaists have tried with all their might and power to proof Baha's claim with utterances from all the existent- religions on the face of the earth; but they have not translated a single copy of all those twenty volumes of books which the Bab and his learned friends wrote as Proof for Baha's claim, which seems very suspicious to me, although the Bab is taught by the Behaists to be Baha's forerunner or road-clearer. Does it not to you?" (Ibid., p. 97)

"Now since I published "A Call of Attention to the Behaists or Babists of America" in 1907, and "An Open Letter to the Babi World" in 1911, I have received many letters from my Bahai friends, both friendly and unfriendly. Some have asked me, "What right have you to disturb a religious movement so peaceful as the Bahais?" Well, my friends! The Bahai relgion has not proven to be very peaceful in its propagation so far. The history proofs contrary. The early Babist's waged war openly against their opponents, and when Baha declared himself to be the head of the movement it became a secret warfare by assassinating their opponents with either poison, bullet or dagger; not less than twenty of the most learned and oldest of the Babists, including many of the original 'Letters of the Living,' were thus removed. It was said, that Baha did not order these assassinations. No, but he was well pleased with them, and the perpetrators, for be promoted them to higher names and ranks. One of them received the following encouragement from Baha for stealing £350 in money from one of his antagonists:

O phlebotomist of the Divine Unity! Throb like an artery in the body of the Contingent World, and drink of the blood of the 'Block of Heedlessness' for that he turned aside from the aspect of thy Lord the Merciful!...

The Behaists in this country have not been very peaceful either. But on the contrary have they outsteth, given bad names and throwing mud at each others both in their sermons and their print worst than any of the Christian denominations or heathen religions have done. I am afraid of a religion of which its highest disciple and promulgators makes utterances like this:

Surely, you cannot pretend to deny that a Prophet, who is an incarnation of the Universal Intelligence, has as much right to remove anyone whom he perceives to be an enemy to religion and a danger to the welfare of mankind as a surgeon has to amputate a gangrened limb?

What a very contrasting idea opposed to the teaching of the 'Point of the Bayan' which says:

No one is to be slain for unbelief, for the slaying of a soul is outside of the religion of God; . . . and if any one commands it, he is not and has not been of the Bayan, and no sin can be greater for him than this"

(Ibid., p. 102-103).

"Others have asked me, 'Why should an illiterate and ignorant man like you who hardly knows the English language try to dispute the well established fact, that Baha'ullah is the True Manifestation, and 'He Whom God should manifest' as foretold by the Bab?' It is true, that I am ignorant in the English language, as well as other languages. But my dear friends! My object was not to teach languages or grammar. My only purpose was this: I had received an idea concerning the Babi religion different from the ideas of the rest of the Babists' or Behaists' view of looking at things. And this idea I wished to put before the people to consider, and I thought that the most peaceful and practical way was to publish it and send it around to them, and then let them choose or reject as they please [...] Concerning the 'well established fact that Baha'ullah is the True Manifestation, and 'He whom God should manifest' as foretold by the Bab' is very doubtful. The history, and the sacred scriptures of the Babis, as well as the twenty or more assassinations of the oldest and, most learned disciples of the 'Point of the Bayan' which inaugurated Baha's claims disproof this. And it is my purpose with this little booklet to take the sacred scriptures of the Babis and try to proof that Baha is not what he, claims to be, but the contrary. And in doing so I will ask my readers to overlook my illiterateness, and my grammatical defects and only look to the ideas I am trying to put forth, and I will do my best in setting them forth in as plain language as I am able to do, to make you understand what my ideas are concerning the religion which today is called Babism or Bahaism; and if I can do this my object is attained" (Ibid., p. 104-105).

"The Most and the Strongest Evidence of the Baha'is Assassinating the Azali's at Acca are from the Baha'is themselves. In Phelps history, page 75. Behiah Khanum — a sister of Abbas Effendi — says that the Bahai assassins had no intention to kill the Azalis at Acca, but only to scare them to death. But that such fierce fight occurred that they had to kill them in order to save themselves. She says that two Azalis and one Bahai were killed" (Ibid., p.165).

"In the 'Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion,' pages 154-155. Prof. Browne has quoted a letter which he received from Dr. Kheiralla [...] concerning these events, wherein Dr. Kheiralla's life is threatened by Abbas Effendi's messengers to America. This letter is read as follows: —

'Statement of the Words of Mirza Hasan Khurdsani to me on November 30th, 1900.
'I came here to especially bring you back to your allegiance to Abbas Effendi, and am prepared to stay ten years if necessary. If you return to Abbas Effendi, I will cause the American believers to follow you as head in everything even better than heretofore. If you will not listen to me and become a follower of Abbas, your abode will be in the bowels of the earth [...] If you will not listen, your life will be short. If Abbas Effendi should give me the word to cut you to pieces, or to tear your eyes out, or to kill you, I will do so at once. I fear not the consequences' [...] He then repeated to me the fate of Mirza Yahya of Jeddah, and offered me a copy of the pamphlet published by himself entitled 'the Great Miracle of Abbas Effendi'"

(Ibid., p. 169-170).

"[W]e can plainly see that it was the order and the customs of the followers of Baha not to slay anyone before they had received the command form their spiritual head or chief. This testimony is also from the Bahai sources and not from the Azalis" (Ibid., p. 171).

Shoghi Effendi's relations with the first Jew who governed Israel.

Visiting Jewish colonies. Sir Herbert Samuel preceded by Zionist banner [Richon le Zion].

June 15. On this date in 1925, Shoghi effendi addressed a message to Sir Herbert Samuel in The Heart and Nerve Centre in her book The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.

When Sir Herbert Samuel's term of office was drawing to a close the Guardian sent to him, on June 15, 1925, one of those messages that so effectively forged links of good will with the government, expressing his own and the Bahá'ís abiding sense of gratitude and deep appreciation of the "kind and noble attitude which Your Excellency has taken towards the various problems that have beset them since the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá ... The Bahá'ís ... remembering the acts of sympathy and good will which the Palestine Administration under your guidance has shown them in the past, will confidently endeavour to contribute their full share to the material prosperity as well as the spiritual advancement of a land so sacred and precious to them all."

As High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel was the first Jew to govern the historic land of Israel in 2,000 years, and his appointment was regarded by the Muslim-Christian Associations as the "first step in formation of Zionist national home in the midst of Arab people." Herbert Samuel welcomed the arrival of Jewish settlers under the auspices of the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association and recognised Hebrew as one of the three official languages of the Mandate territory.

Shoghi Effendi had a warm and extended relationship with Herbert Samuel. For example, Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum describes a letter Shoghi Effendi received from Herbert Samuel shortly after 'Abdu'l-Bahá's death,

While Shoghi Effendi was thus occupied and was gathering his powers and beginning to write letters such as these to the Bahá'ís in different countries, he received the following letter from the High Commissioner for Palestine, Sir Herbert Samuel, dated 24 January 1922:

Dear Mr. Rabbani,

I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of Jan. 16., and to thank you for the kind expression it contains. It would be unfortunate if the ever to be lamented death of Sir 'Abdu'l-Bahá were to interfere with the completion of your Oxford career, and I hope that may not be the case. I am much interested to learn of the measures that have been taken to provide for the stable organization of the Bahá'í Movement. Should you be at any time in Jerusalem in would be a pleasure to me to see you here.

Yours sincerely,
Herbert Samuel

Babis, Baha'is and the British Deep State

In the early 19th century, the strategic location of the Middle East, sitting directly between the British Empire and her colony India, made the deep state of the British Empire focus their attention on the Middle East. Securing and obtaining the control of the routes to her colony with the hopes of establishing new colonial areas in the process, became a veritable obsession for it.

However, it wasn't only Ottoman Empire that became a target in the process due to her key territories like Egypt, Suez, Palestine, Iraq and Basra. Iran also had a very highly strategic position in the region.

As a part of its plan to secure the control of the region, British government at the time put into action what the historians now call the ‘the Great Game’ between 1830-1895 against the Russian Empire, which it considered as one of its biggest rivals to her colonial order in India.

The game was based on the idea of turning the Ottoman Empire, Iran and the Emirate of Bukhara into buffer states to stop the southward advance of Russia. This way, it had hoped, it could stop Russia from having land access to India and preventing it from gaining ports in the Persian Gulf or Indian Ocean, which could pose a treat to the sea trade routes of the British.

During the process of great game, the British deep state surrounded Iran from the south and made it a half-colony, all the while robbing its natural resources and securing concessions in all industries.

Maneckji Limji Hataria

In the meantime, in a bid to weaken the country, it used twisted movements like Babism, and Bahaism, which were created by the British deep state in the first place, to fuel sectarian clashes, for assassinations, riots, terror and unrest. The most prominent spies of the British deep state would be chosen amongst these perverted sects. Maneckji Limji Hataria, the emissary of the British India administration in Iran, led the mentioned project of creating unrest. [i]

The famine resulted in the death of some three million people between 1870-1871, wiping off almost one third of the country’s entire population. Ibrahim Kızılbas Zencani maintains that the England of the time deliberately caused the famine by gathering the food on the market and transferring it to India:

"Forget about donkeys and horses; people begun to eat dogs and cats in the cities. In some places, people would start eating human flesh… There were countless bodies strewn on the streets eaten by dogs. On the roads between villages, bodies of women, children, elderly and young people that had starved to death, were lined up...’

The discovery of oil in Iran in 1908 became the key factor in the 20th century Iran policy of the British deep state, which was marked by military campaigns, social-economic projects, political interventions and political coups.

In 1913, the British government secured a contract that practically made the entirety of Iranian oil British property. Only six years later, it imposed an agreement, which gave it control of the Iranian army and treasury.

Although Iran had declared its neutrality during WWI, the British invaded southern Iran. Capturing the region up to Kazvin, and gaining control of areas under the rule of the Qajar Dynasty, they became the sole power in the country and once again employed the method of causing famine to weaken it, all the while blocking the aid efforts of countries like the Ottoman Empire and the USA.

After two years of famine, the Iranian population, which was 20 million in 1917, dropped to 11 million in 1920. British journalist Donohoe wrote about the painful scenes during those years in his book “With the Persian Expedition":

"There are countless humans that fell on the ground on the side of the street… they are dead… they are rotten… between their dried fingers, pieces of grass stick out… they tried to beat their starvation with grass… their eyes have sunken back, they are only skin and bones… they don't really look like humans…They crawl on all fours on the side of the street…’

As the disaster was unfolding, the Bahai's, which the British deep state was using as killing machine, unleashed a fresh wave of terror in 1916.

Although Iran declared its neutrality once again during WWII, the troops of Great Britain didn't refrain from invading a large part of Iran and left in its wake a country struggling with poverty and starvation.

Even though the country was in the grips of famine and poverty, it was actually home to one of the world’s largest oil reserves. The reason behind this surprising dilemma was the British Anglo-Persian Oil Company (AIOC), as it had been controlling the country’s oil since the beginning of the century. Known as BP today, AIOC managed to increase its annual profit in 1950 to 200 million pounds, while Iran was making only 16 million pounds in profits.

Since 1908, Britain had been considering Iranian oil its own property and was fiercely protective of it. It had been using the country’s oil to meet its energy needs for over half a century, while the Iranian people were struggling with hunger and death.

Mohammad Mosaddegh, who was elected as Prime Minister with massive popular support in May 1951, started the National Iranian Oil Company and transferred the entire oil industry, which was under British control, to its Iranian counterpart. The British immediately responded with a series of economic and political sanctions against Mosaddegh for landing a massive blow to their biggest source of income. Mohammad Reza Shah also began to pressure the Mosaddegh government. However, when these efforts failed, a military coup was planned to overthrow Mosaddegh.

Upon the request of the British, US President Eisenhower instructed the CIA to organize a coup. After having organized many anti-government rallies throughout the summer of 1953 by means of the month-long ‘Operation Ajax’, the CIA carried out the coup with General Fazlollah Zahedi as the coup's leader.

The great game that the British deep state started in early 1800 continues even today for Iran, Turkey, the Middle East not to mention the Islamic geography in general. The method is invariably the same: Inciting conflicts by means of sectarian, ethnical, racial differences so that in the end Muslims begin fighting each other. The only thing that changes are the names and faces; in the past, the Bahais were used. Today, it is MI6 Shias, MI6 Sunnis and Salafists.

However, today the British deep state is completely exposed. Soon, Muslims will put and end to their separation and disagreements and join their forces around the unifying spirit of the Qur’an. When this happens, the great game of the British deep state will come to a definitive end and not only the Middle East but the entire world - including the British people - will then find peace and security.

[i] Şahbazi. Abdullah, ‘Manekci Hateria and Bahayigeri-e Avvaliye’, 29 Bahman 1388/18 February 2010 , ‘Bahayism’ p.22.

Source : http://www.harunyahya.com/en/Articles/246896/The-end-of-The-Great-Game

Video : Abdu'l Baha says all Baha'i activities must be aimed at gaining converts...

Abdul Baha asks Baha'is to :
Convey the Message! Attract the hearts! Sow the seeds! Teach the cause (Baha'ism) to those who do not know.... I enter all meetings, all churches, so that the Cause (Baha'ism) maybe spread. 

This is also worth reading :
http://bahaitexts.blogspot.com/2017/05/what-is-aim-of-all-bahai-activities.html