On Baha’i
February 25th, 2007Of the people there are some who say: “We believe in God and the Last Day” but they do not (really) believe. … When it is said to them: “Make not mischief on the earth,” they say: “Why, we only want to make peace!” Of a surety, they are the ones who make mischief, but they realise (it) not. (al-Baqarah 2:8-12)
I don’t write much about my Baha’i days, or even my current opinion of the Baha’i religion, mostly because it is in my past and better left there. For those readers that don’t know, I was raised a Baha’i (my parents met through the religion in the halcyon days when it was all about world peace and unity) and I was an active Baha’i in my own right, in my teens and early twenties. At a relatively young age, I taught Sunday School, did a Youth Year of Service, was appointed an assistant to an Auxiliary Board Member for Propogation and even elected to a large Local Spiritual Assembly. I was a shining star of a believer, on my way up. Mostly, I believed. I believed in the promise of world peace, that we were bearers of God’s message for the new day, that we had a divine plan of administration headed by the noble men of the Universal House of Justice, and that Baha’is had a mission to make the world a better place.
It was a combination of being elected to the LSA (when I discovered that Baha’is in authority are still human beings with all their foibles), the dawn of the internet (when I discovered there were disgruntled Baha’is), and my own coming of age that began to sow a seed of doubt in my heart about whether everything was just as divine and perfect as I had confidently believed and preached all those years.
When a LSA meeting decided to counsel a women’s group not to do service work at a nursing home because of the home’s policy to prohibit proselytizing (thus severely restricting the potential for converts) that I really felt that things were not quite right. I began to view the Baha’i faith as the Amway of religions. Mostly only interested in growing their own numbers, despite professing interest in bringing world peace and helping the masses.
I had also began to study Arabic and Islam at university (chosen with a view to becoming a translator of Baha’i scriptures working in the headquarters of the Baha’i religion in Haifa, Israel). All of a sudden I was introduced to the Islam–not of Baha’i opinion–but as Muslims saw it. As a Baha’i, I had given tacit recognition to Islam as a divine religion, but with the caveat that Islam had been corrupted and now Muslims were a bunch of people astray. It was not uncommon for Baha’is to talk about the type of punishments that the divine wrath of God would inflict on Muslims because of what “they” did to the Baha’is.
But I was being introduced to a different Islam. One in which there was a rich universe of intellectual, spiritual, theological, and philosophical traditions. One where a person’s whole attention and devotion was on the Creator (not his prophetic vehicle, no matter how much beloved he was as a human being), and one where Muslims openly stated they were not perfect, nor were they divinely guided.
You see, the UHJ claims to be infallible and divinely guided. And as an extension of this, the administrative organs of the Baha’i religion are endowed with a sort of quasi-infallibility by Baha’is. There is little questioning allowed, and in fact a number of high-profile academics (and even some ordinary Baha’is) have been excommunicated because they dared to publicly say they did not believe the Universal House of Justice is infallible, nor did they believe that one day in the future Baha’is - through the UHJ - would rule the world.
Now, there have been Muslims who have done some grievous things, and there is plenty of prejudice within the Muslim community. But I was being introduced to a religion which contained all the best things I liked about the Baha’i faith (such as the concept of oneness of God, oneness of humanity, progressive revelation, prayers, fasting, etc.) but without the things that were starting to be a serious problem for me (authoritarianism, the encouragement of blind-faith, lack of real concern for the poor and for the victims of injustice, the drive to proselytize etc.)
So I converted. It wasn’t that easy - I went through a process of real questioning. After a few months as a Muslim, facing some health problems, I even converted back to the Baha’i religion and got re-elected (in a different country) to another LSA. But the same problems kept cropping up again and again. I battled in good faith until I could battle no more (that’s for another series of posts) and I returned to Islam.
But the people I had grown up with, the Baha’is of my family and friends, could not cope with my conversion: all except one or two. An elderly Baha’i who had been friends with my parents, and who was very well respected in the community, inferred to me that I should have got the death penalty for converting away. Others simply did not know how to react to me. I went through a year or so of angst, where I became angry that the Baha’i religion had “let me down” and I was relatively active on the internet telling all and sundry of what I thought of the Baha’is. I rarely spoke about the founders of the Baha’i religion (as I still thought they had some pretty good sentiments) but I was very PO-d with the administration for not being all that my parents had taught me it should be.
Pretty soon I was on a list of ‘enemies of the faith’ who should be ‘left to their own devices’. This meant that if I bumped into an old Baha’i friend in the street, they had a rather stilted conversation that didn’t include the usual niceties of exchanging phone-numbers and promises of coffee. All except for one or two Baha’i friends who maintained contact anyway, who didn’t believe I was the evil nasty, pasty that was infected with ‘enemy’ status, or who weren’t aware of my status.
In short, I was being shunned without really being shunned, as Baha’is don’t quite know how to react with people who decide the Baha’i faith isn’t really for them. Luckily enough, I wasn’t declared a covenant breaker, as that would have meant my mother, father and other relatives would be required to shun me, but given that I had converted away to a different religion, I was just seen as a plain old enemy.
But after about a year of ‘getting it out of my system’ on the internet, I realised that I was still involved in the Baha’i world, and it just wasn’t where I wanted to be. Even just hanging around Baha’i internet forums was enough to keep putting salt in the old wounds, so I decided to stop all that. And for the most part, that was the best decision ever. Until every now and again, I go and masochistically step back for a quick browse and punch in the face.
… those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part [of God’s revelations] that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except God… (al-I-Imran 3:7)
A Melburnian Muslim convert blogs religion, academia and life in general.
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Salaam ‘Alaikum
Really interesting. I would like to hear more about this in the future, whenever you decide to write about it (if you do).
This is very interesting. I met my first bahai a few months ago and was a bit confused about some things they did. She did make bahai sound like islam but tried to make it sound better but when i asked questions like do you guys pray, not eat pork etc. i was a little stunned at the answers. Anyway, it’s always interesting to hear converts stories - whether to or from a religion.
It seems to me that some Baha’is did things that were unwise and not in accord with the Baha’i teachings. I think you took the PROCESS of consultation as the same as the resultant DECISIONS. The process can be quite trying because it is takes a lot of work to bring out a unified decision. I am sorry that you could not help them do better and find some charity in your heart for their foibles.
It seems odd, however, that you would choose to become a Muslim, when the majority of the Islamic world has persecuted the Baha’is so viciously. The criticisms you level at the Baha’i community are even more exaggerated in the Islamic heartland itself, so you may have stepped out of one problem commitment into another one where you will run into similar problems. If you are a woman, I hope no Muslim man demands that you veil yourself, applies the Qur’anic beating verse to you, or questions your Islamic identity because you were once one of the “Zionist, antiIslamic, apostate, infidel” Baha’is.
But the Baha’i writings and the Universal House of Justice are clear that everyone has the right to choose his religion. That you chose Islam gives no one the right to imply that you deserved some horrible fate or that they should cut off contact with you. You focused on a few frail people and missed the essence of the faith.
The essence of the [Baha’i] faith is that it’s a fabricated religion, plain and simple. Does that detract from the values it advocates? I sure hope not. Does that justify the atrocious treatment suffered by Bahai’s in history? Of course not. Does it mean people shouldn’t follow it? Not necessarily. People can do whatever they like. It’s their God-given right. What consequences they may encounter, are also up to God, too.
The Qur’an is clear in its directives concerning the right to choice, especially when it comes to religion. All one has to do is read Chapter 109. And when reading any part of the Qur’an, one should make sure to differentiate between God’s messages to believers (i.e. Muslims), and His messages to all of Humanity. The expectations and requirements for each group tend to differ substantially.
To Bill: Please try to stay consistent. People in glass houses really shouldn’t be throwing stones. Some of your points reflect the fact that you, yourself, have managed to “focus on a few frail people and miss the essence of the faith.”
The majority of the Islamic world? Really? In Algeria and Libya? In Bosnia? In Somalia, they are persecuting Baha’is, or have Iran and a few other places become the sum total of all of us?
“Bill,” consider the radical notion that Umm Yasmine’s conversion is about faith, and not about what people to do one another. If you choose your faith based on what people are doing, then… well, I’m afraid that no faith or ideology will ever be sufficient.
I would rather go the way of those Baha’is whose bodies were fiendishly shredded for their beliefs, than be swayed away from the Path to Bahá’u'lláh’s Shrine by such pitiable yawp.
The Holy Qur’an shows how every umma (community)has an ajal (period of time) and when that time is over, they will be judged by a Book. The community of Muslims is no exception. They are being and will be judged.
And by “Muslim” I mean the formal designation; because we know that Prophets and their followers before Muhammad (PBUH) were “muslim”. Therefore it follows that communities after Muhammad may be “muslim”, although they may be called by a New and Most Great Name, the promised Ism-i-Azam.
Let me make myself clear: I don’t care if I am the only Bahá’à in the world, and all the others fall away like autumn leaves; I intend to remain one of those whom Bahá’u'lláh addressed: “Antal baha’i, wa baha’i la yoksha” (Thou art my glory, and My glory fadeth not.)
I can only speak from my own experience, and there is a striking difference between the truth claims of Muslims and those of Baha’is. Muslims believe that whilst the Qur’an is the infallible word of God, and the sunnah is the interpretation of that Qur’an into practical reality - there is no claim (at least among Sunni Muslims) that our scholars infallible. The practical consequence of this, is that there is much flexibility in adapting Islam to various cultures, times and conditions through time-honoured methodologies. Where there is a need for genuine criticism of how Muslims are implementing Islam, it has been carried out by scholars from generation to generation and continues even today.
The Baha’is, on the other hand, claim that the administration of the Baha’i religion is divinely ordained, guided and that the supreme institution - the Universal House of Justice - is infallible. Consequently, erroris and injustices committed by Baha’is - including by the UHJ, NSAs, LSAs and the appointed arm are routinely hidden, swept under the carpet, in case the crack in the shell is ever exposed, and the divine protection of the Baha’i administration is shown to be… not that divine after all.
This is why I can accept all the errors of the Muslims in the world - and I am the first to admit there are many - whilst I can accept none from the organs of the Baha’i administration.
[…] In the thread On Baha’i and Freedom of Religion, there is a question lingering in the background: choice of religion. Anyone who has read my blog for long enough (gosh aren’t I presuming) will know I’ve struggled with the concept of religious pluralism on and off. The question being: are all religions offerings at a huge divine banquet, and it’s up to yourself to pick which delicious dish you prefer, all being equal in nutrition and tastiness, or is there one better than all the rest? […]
The Universal House of Justice is infallible when rendering judgments on those matters not referred to in the Text. The appearance of such an institution to guide mankind was long promised. Its presence on Mount Carmel is promised as well.
And as much as some hate to admit it, the return of the Jews to their homeland, at the time of the new Advent, was promised too…not because of their virtue, but because of their need.
To every ummah (religious community) is an ajal (fixed term): when their ajal is reached not an hour can they cause delay nor (an hour) can they advance (it in anticipation). O ye children of Adam!
Whenever, as is sure to happen, there shall come to you (Immá ya ‘tiyanna-kum) Messengers from amongst you rehearsing my signs, -those who are righteous and mend (their lives), -on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve. ~Qur’án 7:34-5
For each “ajal†(fixed term, period) is a Book (revealed). (Sura Ra’d [Thunder 13:38] (Yusuf Ali tr)
To each age its Book. (Rodwell tr)
for every period there is a book. (E.H. Palmer tr)
(Such has been) the practice (approved) of Allah
already in the past:
(48:23, 17:77, 30:30, 33:62, 35:43)
no change wilt thou find in the practice (approved) of Allah
(Do they not see) that it may well be that their ajal (term) is nigh drawing to an end?
In what message after this will they then believe? (7:185)
From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh:
Say: Was it not revealed in the Qur’án [2:143], and His word is the Truth: “Thus We have made you a nation intermediate (ummatan wasatan). That ye may be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves?†But you have interpreted this verse according to your desires although at all times you also admitted what was revealed was truth: None knoweth the interpretation thereof except God and they that are firmly grounded in knowledge. [3:7] Although you are certain oft this verse, and although you were prevented, you have interpreted and expounded the words of God. And you have arisen to object to and to deny those “firmly grounded in knowledge.†In fact you slay them as you slew them aforetime and are proud of what you perpetrate. Woe unto you and what your hands have wrought and woe unto you for having vain imaginings in the Cause of God during these days, when the lights of guidance are manifest at this Dawn of knowledge. Ask them then as to how they interpret that which has been revealed from the kingdom of glory unto the Arabian Prophet and what do they say the meaning of Intermediate is. If Prophethood has been sealed with Him, how is the Prophet’s nation said to be intermediate amongst the nations? In this wise ascertain the limit of their cognizance…†~Bahá’u’lláh, (Surih of Patience, provisional translation )
Oh gosh AbuOmid, I haven’t delved into Baha’i apologetics for years. I presume you’re familiar with the gruff-styled (apologies) but fairly comprehensive Answering Bahaullah (sic) site?
We know that Bahá’u'lláh championed the belief that the Báb was the Qa’im. Most of the Bábà leaders were killed in the wars of NayrÃz, Zanjan, and Fort Shaykh Tabarsà in Mazandaran. Fortuitously, Baha’u'llah was not involved in combat, because He was detained at Amul.
Consider this tradition, which is mentioned, by Shaykh Ibnu’l-’Arabà in his “Futuhat-i-Makkiyyih.”
“All of them [the companions of the Qá’im] shall be slain except One who shall reach the plain of ‘Akká, the Banquet-Hall of God.”
Then, there is a 1300 year old prophecy which states: “Ere long God will shine from the face of the BahÃyy’ul-Abhá [The Glory of the Most Glorious] with the name of Bahá on the Day of Absolute, in the plain of Akká.†-Dala’il’u'l-Irfan
What is so special about the Valley of Achor, Acre, Akko, or Akka?
It is the new Qiblih, or Point of Adoration.
And I will give you the valley of Achor for a door of hope. Hosea 2:15
AndSharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. (Isaiah 65:10 KJV)
The pillars have been shaken by His Highness the Almighty, and He has changed the Qiblih again, as He changed it before.
Baha’u'llah said: “Nothing more exalted or more explicit than “attainment unto the divine Presence†(Arabic: “laqá’u’lláhâ€) hath been revealed in the Qur’án.”
By what other means then the Word of God can humanity attain to the “Divine Presence”?
Another pillar that has been shaken concerns jÃhad. Military jÃhad is abolished and abrogated; but the war against the insistent self goes on…
I hope sharing a few of these points will remind the Muslim friends to look into all things with “a searching eye” and understand what the Baha’i Faith has already done in the world without military conquest.
It is unfortunate that you had such experiences with the local Baha’i Community. However, it is obvious you did not recognize that the comma in history we are involved in is simply part of a bigger story. I have no pity whatsoever for those who felt they have been let down by the religion they follow. I am a Baha’i and I have been involved in some pretty harry stuff but that does not change what the Baha’i Faith is. Islam has simply expired. We have turned the page. Try to look ahead a few hundred years at the socio/economic/political landscape. It will and is moving to a more united World. its sad that you are only looking around you, as opposed to looking down on to the bigger picture.
I wish you the best and I can understand why you left. Whatever spiritual journey you are on, you will eventually come to the same place. Try reading the Seven Valleys again. Its a map.
It was ‘Abdu’l-Baha who inspired an awe in me for the Qur’án. Somehow, no Muslim missions came to America before that. Why is that?
Slavers did send some Muslims to America.
The Sura of Hud shows how Dvine Revelation is progresive.But there is always objection. Pray without ceasing that we don’t say what Allah
does not approve.
“‘The hand of God,’ say the Jews, ‘is chained up.’ Chained up be their own hands! And for that which they have said, they were accursed. Nay, outstretched are both His hands!” Sura 5:64
For over a thousand years they have been reciting this verse, and unwittingly pronouncing their censure against the Jews, utterly unaware that they themselves, openly and privily, are voicing the sentiments and belief of the Jewish people!
(Baha’u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 136)
Thank you for providing a place to share.
Goodness me - years of being raised a Baha’i, teaching the faith, chewing over the intricacies of prophecy on soc.religion.bahai, I somehow completely missed all these verses you are quoting, why did no-one tell me they were there! Gee, let me reconsider this whole conversion to Islam thing ;oP~~~
Muslims don’t believe the hand of God is chained up, we just don’t necessarily believe He spoke thru Mirza Hussayn ‘Ali Nuri.
There is a lot of errot on the one above, please use this one instead. thanks.
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Maryam, you have an interesting blog, well commended and well intentioned, the only drawback is I feel you are rather naive and you are not sharp in your assessment of what’s happening in the Muslim world vis a vis the world at large (hence, you tend to grow resentment against the anti-Islamic parties which to me is rather misdirected. Your resentment should go to the Muslim masses who interpret Islam the way it is perceived in the world today, to the numerous hate literature that Muslims produce in a large quantity in most Muslim/islamic countries, to the anti-humanistic websites that radical Muslims, Al Qaeda host, to the countless of Muslims in general who preach revenge, blood bath and division of mankind). You saw all the bad stuff from your old religion, but being a convert in a free land sterile of the bad stuff that islam brings about day in day out in most Muslim countries, you can’t see the same things in your new religion through your colored glasses. Your laundry list of authoritarianism, the encouragement of blind-faith, lack of real concern for the poor and for the victims of injustice, the drive to proselytize etc. that you felt Bahai was all about is a daily occurence in the Islamic lands, and not just that, but to the most extreme of degrees!
your contention that:
>>Muslims believe that whilst the Qur’an is the infallible word of God, and the sunnah is the interpretation of that Qur’an into practical reality - there is no claim (at least among Sunni Muslims) that our scholars infallible. >>
Yeah the “brochure†says that but in reality the scholars/ulemas hold a weighty clout over their ummahs, perhaps more so than any other religion. They constantly issue fatwas of the dos and don’ts of the righteous.
>>The practical consequence of this, is that there is much flexibility in adapting Islam to various cultures, times and conditions through time-honoured methodologies. Where there is a need for genuine criticism of how Muslims are implementing Islam, it has been carried out by scholars from generation to generation and continues even today.>>
Yeah Indonesia was a beautiful, colorful, true-to-itself Muslim country untill the last few years (prolly started in the late 80’s, and getting worse and worse today) when Salafi Islam began to gain roots among the masses. You see more women cover these days (and it’s often implemented by force). It’s more arabized than ever which is a BIG disappointment. Nothing good coming from the arab land (if there is I’d like to know -other than the claimed science invented by Muslim that is), but Indonesia is one beautiful, extremely rich culture! I am seeing destruction of our traditional heritage on my land, caused by the over eager Muslims who can’t see that anything non/pre-Islamic has merit. This is a tragedy, unisonly mourned by the moderate/nominal Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
It’s easy to be a Muslim when you can decide for yourself what kind of interpretation you want to apply to your own life. The reality of islam in the Islamic world is something so totally different. To say that it is not Islam, it is Muslims or Muslim culture is so ridiculous. On the one hand Muslims claim that there is no ambiguity in Islam that it is the perfectes way, on the other, they basically contradict that statement when apologizing for the backwardness of the Muslim world by blaming it to Muslims/culture. Islam is not just a bunch of theories, it is also a soul that Muslims breath in…and that soul can’t be separated from its lands, its people, its history/culture and world-view and the dynamics between all of those. If you want to “convert” us to your brand of islam, first and foremost convert your own people. Don’t get me worng, we want Islam to be the Islam you believe in. We want to love the Islam that is beautiful and sounds endearing to the non-believers’ ears but we are not seeing that supposedly true Islam in the belief system of the majority of Muslims (not the nominal ones, they don’t count). We want to see Muslims progress and leave their backward ways, if you think hating/disliking something is fun…well I can tell you now it is not. We want to think Islam is as harmless as Hinduism or Buddhism. But it’s sadly not happening in our world, one of the reasons being that progressive Muslims like yourself are too busy doing PR for the non-Muslim world instead of educating and righting your own people.
For more info on the state of Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia today:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1592576,00.html?iid=chix-del
Should anyone wax angry with you, respond to him with gentleness; and should anyone upbraid you, forbear to upbraid him in return, but leave him to himself and put your trust in God, the omnipotent Avenger, the Lord of might and justice. ~Bahá’u’lláh, (Kitab-i-Aqdas, # 153)
It seems like this thread may be waning; but before it does, I would like to address the initial statement one more time. I have spent most of my life praying for “firmness in the Covenant” and I wondered how a person who loved Bahá’u'lláh could abjure that love. Did they love Him in the beginning? That’s why I invoked the memory of the martyrs whose love for Him was abiding.
Shoghi Effendi said, in The Advent of Divine Justice: “The field is indeed so immense, the period so critical, the Cause so great, the workers so few, the time so short, the privilege so priceless, that no follower of the Faith of Bahá’u'lláh worthy to bear His Name, can afford a moments hesitation.”
So Muslims are saying “The Hand of God is chained up” every time they say that the verse “Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets” implies there will be no more revelations to mankind. The leaders and masses had no authority to make such an interpretation. Even Bahá’Ãs believe He was the Seal of the Prophetic Cycle.
And God’s Name, The Creator, presupposes that He has a Creation, from the beginning that has no beginning to the end that has no end. That conscious creation will need education, protection, providence, and an accounting.
But AbuOmid - by the same criteria, Baha’is are saying the Hand of God is chained up everytime they reject Maitreya as holding a new revelation from God. Our Prophet said that there would be no new Prophets after him. Along come the Baha’is. Baha’u'llah said there would be no new manifestation for 1000 years. Along comes Maitreya. Do you see the problem with the argument?
Actually, Islam teaches that God continues to inspire and send reformers but always within the context of the shari`a and that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the last bearer of a book before the Day of Judgment. The concept that God is somehow prevented (His hand being chained up) from guiding and inspiring humanity is wrong, and not something Muslims believe, so Baha’u'llah was wrong when he said that we do.
[…] In the comments thread of this post, AbuOmid has repeated Baha’ Allah
’s claim that Muslims have chained up the hand of God (a Qur’anic accusation originally leveled at some Jews who mocked the Prophet) by claiming that the Prophet Muhammad 
, peace and blessings be upon him, is the final bearer of God’s revelation to humanity. The original Qur’anic verse is this (in the Yusuf Ali translation): O ye who believe! take not for friends and protectors those who take your religion for a mockery or sport … The Jews say: “God’s hand is tied up.” Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. Nay, both His hands are widely outstretched: He giveth and spendeth (of His bounty) as He pleaseth. (Al-Ma’idah 5:57,64) […]
I’ve decided to move this thread to a new post.
[…] Yasmin of Dervish (always a Dervish’s Du’a to me) writes On Baha’i. Ten years later, reflecting on her disillusionment with the religion in which she was raised, and […]
[…] More of my journey elaborated here […]