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Baha'i Faith

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  1. Introduction
  2.  
  3. The Baha’i faith is a post-Islamic religion and one of the world’s youngest faiths, founded by the Iranian prophet and nobleman Mirza Husayn-ʿAli Nuri, Baha’u’llah (or Baha’-Allah, Ar. “Glory of God”) (b. c. 1817–d. 1892). The religion emerged from the messianic matrix of the Babi movement (Babism), which had developed from Shaykhism (shaykhiyya) within Twelver Shiʿi (Ithna ʿashari) Islam, in mid-19th-century Iran. Baha’is believe that Baha’u’llah is the latest, but not the last, in a series of prophets or messengers—termed “Manifestations of God” (mazhar ilahi ) in Baha’i lexicon—whose appearance has ushered in the longed-for millennial peace and fulfilled the scriptural promises of the world’s religions. For Baha’is, the various prophets or “manifestations”—which include figures such as Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab, and Baha’u’llah—appear cyclically according to the needs of the time and subsequently provide teachings suited for the given age in which they live. According to Baha’is, the most important of these needs in this era is the realization of the oneness of God, the essential unity of all religions, and the oneness of humanity. Thus, according to Baha’i doctrine, Baha’u’llah has appeared for the current cycle of humanity and has provided the basis for the establishment of a new spiritual and temporal order (Nazm-i Badi). Baha’is are variously considered to be unbelievers (kufar), apostates (murtad), or heretics (zindiq) by the Shiʿite establishment in Iran and have been persecuted in their native homeland until the present. Baha’is comprise the largest religious minority in Iran, with close to three hundred thousand members across the country. Since its inception, the religion has grown steadily, and, along with Christianity, it is considered to be one of the world’s most geographically widespread religions. At present, it is estimated that there are approximately six million Baha’is living around the world.
  4.  
  5. General Overviews
  6.  
  7. The first sustained academic interest in the Baha’i faith appeared early in its beginnings, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the work of such Orientalists as A. L. M. Nicholas and Edward G. Brown, whose interests rested more particularly in Babism, the predecessor of the Baha’i faith (see Bab). After this initial interest, there followed a period of prolonged scholarly neglect, a situation that was improved when new converts to the religion took an avid interest in the academic study of the Baha’i faith in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, largely from the perspective of Near/Middle Eastern studies, Islamic studies, and Iranian studies. There is a burgeoning of scholarly literature on the Baha’i faith, which has grown rapidly in recent years and continues to grow. There are now several academic and scholarly overviews and introductions to the Baha’i faith available. Smith 1987, Smith 1999, Smith 2000, and Smith 2008 provide the best academic introductions to the history and doctrines of the faith. Stockman 2012 is an excellent scholarly introduction to the religion, intended for beginners. Momen 2008 provides a short general overview, with discussions of the history and teachings of the religion, as well as its spiritual, social, and administrative principles. Hutter 2009 is an invaluable academic introduction to the religion, in German. Danesh, et al. 2012 is both a textual and visual introduction to the Baha’i faith. Cole 2011 is an excellent academic overview of the faith, in article form.
  8.  
  9. Cole, Juan R. I. “Bahaism i: The Faith.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
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  11. Cole’s article is a balanced academic overview of the religion’s history, theology, social teachings, worship, and administration. Originally published 15 December 1988.
  12. Cole, Juan R. I. “Bahaism i: The Faith.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
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  14. Danesh, John, Seena Fazel, and Paul Slaughter. The Baha’i Faith in Words and Images. Oxford: Oneworld, 2012.
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  16. This volume brings together the teachings, texts, practices, community life, and organizational structure of the faith, through a textual and visual register.
  17. Danesh, John, Seena Fazel, and Paul Slaughter. The Baha’i Faith in Words and Images. Oxford: Oneworld, 2012.
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  19. Hutter, Manfred. Handbuch Bahā’ī: Geschichte–Theologie–Gesellschaftsbezug. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 2009.
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  21. This is an excellent academic handbook or textbook on the history, theology, and social teachings of the Baha’i faith, by the German scholar of comparative religion Manfred Hutter. Though the volume has a few minor historical and factual inaccuracies, it is still one of the best overviews of the faith available in German.
  22. Hutter, Manfred. Handbuch Bahā’ī: Geschichte–Theologie–Gesellschaftsbezug. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 2009.
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  24. Momen, Moojan. The Bahá’í Faith: A Beginner’s Guide. Oneworld Beginners’ Guides. Oxford: Oneworld, 2008.
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  26. A new edition of Momen’s 1997 short introduction to the Baha’i faith, which contains some updated material, especially in the bibliography. The volume provides for the beginner a general overview of the teachings and history of the religion.
  27. Momen, Moojan. The Bahá’í Faith: A Beginner’s Guide. Oneworld Beginners’ Guides. Oxford: Oneworld, 2008.
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  29. Smith, Peter. The Babi and Baha’i Religions: From Messianic Shiʿism to a World Religion. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
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  31. An excellent academic and historical introduction to the Baha’i faith, covering its emergence from the Babi movement in 19th-century Iran to its rise and development as a modern religion. The bibliography is now dated, covering academic literature up to 1985, but this does not detract from the substance of the work. It is still one of the best and most comprehensive surveys on the subject in English.
  32. Smith, Peter. The Babi and Baha’i Religions: From Messianic Shiʿism to a World Religion. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
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  34. Smith, Peter. The Bahá’í Faith: A Short History. Oxford: Oneworld, 1999.
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  36. Smith provides a short but concise historical overview of the Baha’i faith. The volume concentrates on the history of the religion and is intended for the beginner.
  37. Smith, Peter. The Bahá’í Faith: A Short History. Oxford: Oneworld, 1999.
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  39. Smith, Peter. A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá’í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld, 2000.
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  41. Smith’s concise encyclopedia is an invaluable companion piece to his Cambridge introduction to the Baha’i faith, covering many entries on all aspects of its history, theology, worship, and institutions.
  42. Smith, Peter. A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá’í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld, 2000.
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  44. Smith, Peter. An Introduction to the Baha’i Faith. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
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  46. This is one of the best academic introductions to the Baha’i faith currently available in English. It provides a general overview of Baha’i history, doctrine, and praxis. The volume is well suited as a first-year undergraduate textbook in religious studies.
  47. Smith, Peter. An Introduction to the Baha’i Faith. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
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  49. Stockman, Robert H. Bahá’í Faith: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Continuum, 2012.
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  51. This is a valuable scholarly introduction to the Baha’i faith, in the Guides for the Perplexed series. The author takes into account some of the most recent scholarship available on the religion. It is an excellent text for undergraduates who require entry-level texts for the study of the religion.
  52. Stockman, Robert H. Bahá’í Faith: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Continuum, 2012.
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  54. Bibliographies
  55.  
  56. There is a vast corpus of literature produced on the Baha’i faith, ranging from polemic to the academic and to that produced from the Baha’i position. There are now several excellent bibliographic resources available on the Baha’i faith, some of which can be accessed online. Collins 1990 is one of the best bibliographies of secondary literature on the religion, up to the 1980s, available in print. Denis MacEoin’s Babi and Baha’i Religions: An Annotated Bibliography is one of the most extensive, containing both primary and secondary sources, and is available online. Stockman and Winters 1997 also provides a vast annotated bibliography that contains both academic resources and material from a Baha’i perspective. Cooney 2011 is a bibliography of Babism in most European languages but is equally important to Baha’i studies, because it contains many works that simultaneously treat the Baha’i faith. McGlinn 2009 provides a useful annotated bibliography of the writings of Baha’u’llah, and Ishraq Khavari 1967 is a Persian-language bibliography of Baha’u’llah’s oeuvre.
  57.  
  58. Collins, William P. Bibliography of English-Language Works on the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths, 1844–1985. Oxford: George Ronald, 1990.
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  60. This is the best bibliography of English-language material on the Baha’i faith from the beginning, up to the mid-1980s. It is an indispensable source of bibliographical information for scholars and students up to that period. However, in light of the growing literature in the field of Baha’i studies since the 1980s, it must be consulted together with more-recent bibliographical information.
  61. Collins, William P. Bibliography of English-Language Works on the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths, 1844–1985. Oxford: George Ronald, 1990.
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  63. Cooney, Steve. “European Language Publications on the Bábi Religion 1844–Current (May 2011).” Antipodean Baha’i Studies (2011).
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  65. This is the most up-to-date bibliography of Babism in most European languages. Its usefulness to Baha’i studies lies in its inclusion of many scholarly works that simultaneously treat the Babi and Baha’i faiths.
  66. Cooney, Steve. “European Language Publications on the Bábi Religion 1844–Current (May 2011).” Antipodean Baha’i Studies (2011).
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  68. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid. Ganj-i Shayiga. Tehran, Iran: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1967.
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  70. A bibliography of the published writings of Baha’u’llah, in Persian.
  71. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid. Ganj-i Shayiga. Tehran, Iran: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1967.
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  73. MacEoin, Denis. Babi and Baha’i Religions: An Annotated Bibliography. In Bahá’í Library Online.
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  75. This is one of the most comprehensive annotated bibliographies of the Baha’i faith, which also relies heavily on material from Collins 1990. It also includes primary sources in Arabic and Persian.
  76. MacEoin, Denis. Babi and Baha’i Religions: An Annotated Bibliography. In Bahá’í Library Online.
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  78. McGlinn, Sen. Leiden List: Bibliography to the Tablets of Baháʾuʾlláh. Version 905. In Bahá’í Library Online. 2009.
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  80. A valuable annotated bibliography of the published works of Baha’u’llah, covering both original sources and translations.
  81. McGlinn, Sen. Leiden List: Bibliography to the Tablets of Baháʾuʾlláh. Version 905. In Bahá’í Library Online. 2009.
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  83. Stockman, Robert H., and Jonah Winters. A Resource Guide for the Scholarly Study of the Bahá’í Faith. Wilmette, IL: Research Office of the Baha’i National Center, 1997.
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  85. An important resource guide that contains an extensive annotated bibliography. It includes scholarly resources as well as works from a Baha’i perspective.
  86. Stockman, Robert H., and Jonah Winters. A Resource Guide for the Scholarly Study of the Bahá’í Faith. Wilmette, IL: Research Office of the Baha’i National Center, 1997.
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  88. Historical Background
  89.  
  90. There is, as of yet, no full academic account of the history of the Baha’i faith comparable to the volume on Babism by Abbas Amanat (see section on the Bab). Mazandarani 1973 provides some of the most important resources on the history of the religion, in Persian. Momen 1981 is an excellent collection of early Western historical accounts. Cole 1998 and Saiedi 2000 offer two highly contrasting and controversial accounts of the history and development of the Baha’i faith: one, from a Middle Eastern historical-critical perspective; the other, from a philosophical and Baha’i perspective. Shoghi Effendi 1944 is the standard history of the religion, written from a Baha’i perspective by one of its central figures. Afnan 2008 is a translation of an early history, chronicling the beginnings of the religion in the province of Fars. Warburg 2006 provides a critical examination of the religion, from the perspective of globalization and sociology. MacEoin 1983 provides a historical analysis of the development of the Baha’i faith from Babism. Cole 2005 is a sociohistorical study of the development of charismatic authority in the Baha’i faith.
  91.  
  92. Afnan, Mirza Habibu’llah. The Genesis of the Bábí-Bahá’í Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs. Translated and edited by Ahang Rabbani. Studies in the History of Religions 122. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2008.
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  94. This is a scholarly translation of Mirza Habibu’llah Afnan’s history Tarikh-i Amri-i Fars va Shiraz, chronicling the emergence of the Babi and Baha’i religions in the city of Shiraz. It is one of the few full-length scholarly translations of primary historical documents on the Baha’i faith. The volume is extensively annotated by Ahang Rabbani.
  95. Afnan, Mirza Habibu’llah. The Genesis of the Bábí-Bahá’í Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs. Translated and edited by Ahang Rabbani. Studies in the History of Religions 122. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2008.
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  97. Cole, Juan R. I. Modernity and the Millennium: The Genesis of the Baha’i Faith in the Nineteenth-Century Middle East. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 9. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
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  99. This is a historical-critical study of the circumstances of the emergence of the Baha’i faith. Cole, a professor of Middle Eastern history, situates and contextualizes the religion in the larger sociopolitical and religious developments in the 19th-century Middle East (especially in Qajar Iran and Ottoman Turkey).
  100. Cole, Juan R. I. Modernity and the Millennium: The Genesis of the Baha’i Faith in the Nineteenth-Century Middle East. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 9. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
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  102. Cole, Juan R. I. “The Evolution of Charismatic Authority in the Bāhā’i Faith (1863–1921).” In Religion and Society in Qajar Iran: Proceedings of the Conference Held on 4–6 September 2000 in Bristol and Jointly Organised by Bristol University (Department of Theology and Religious Studies), the British Institute of Persian Studies, the Iran Heritage Foundation, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the University of Bristol Faculty of Arts. Edited by Robert M. Gleave, 311–345. RoutledgeCurzon/BIPS Persian Studies 4. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005.
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  104. Cole provides a succinct study of the development of the Baha’i faith from the Babi movement, employing Weberian sociological categories of charismatic authority.
  105. Cole, Juan R. I. “The Evolution of Charismatic Authority in the Bāhā’i Faith (1863–1921).” In Religion and Society in Qajar Iran: Proceedings of the Conference Held on 4–6 September 2000 in Bristol and Jointly Organised by Bristol University (Department of Theology and Religious Studies), the British Institute of Persian Studies, the Iran Heritage Foundation, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the University of Bristol Faculty of Arts. Edited by Robert M. Gleave, 311–345. RoutledgeCurzon/BIPS Persian Studies 4. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005.
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  107. MacEoin, Denis. “From Babism to Baha’ism: Problems of Militancy, Quietism, and Conflation in the Construction of a Religion.” Religion 13.3 (1983): 219–255.
  108. DOI: 10.1016/0048-721X(83)90022-2Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  109. MacEoin provides a historical analysis of the origin of the Baha’i faith in Babism, and its eventual departure from that matrix to construct a new religious identity. Available online.
  110. MacEoin, Denis. “From Babism to Baha’ism: Problems of Militancy, Quietism, and Conflation in the Construction of a Religion.” Religion 13.3 (1983): 219–255.
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  112. Mazandarani, Fadil. Tarikh-i Zuhur al-Haqq. Vol. 8, Parts 1 and 2. Iran: Muʼassasah-i Milli-i Matbuʻat-i Amri, 1973.
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  114. Translates as History of the Manifestation of Truth. One of the best sources in Persian on the history and development of the Baha’i faith, containing a wide range of biographical and historical information.
  115. Mazandarani, Fadil. Tarikh-i Zuhur al-Haqq. Vol. 8, Parts 1 and 2. Iran: Muʼassasah-i Milli-i Matbuʻat-i Amri, 1973.
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  117. Momen, Moojan, ed. The Bábí and Bahá’í Religions, 1844–1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts. Oxford: George Ronald, 1981.
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  119. Momen provides an excellent collection of early Western sources regarding the Babi and Baha’i religions, from the beginning to 1944.
  120. Momen, Moojan, ed. The Bábí and Bahá’í Religions, 1844–1944: Some Contemporary Western Accounts. Oxford: George Ronald, 1981.
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  122. Saiedi, Nader. Logos and Civilization: Spirit, History, and Order in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. Bethesda: University Press of Maryland, 2000.
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  124. This volume is a philosophical study of the thought of Baha’u’llah through some of his major writings, with interesting insights into Baha’i theology, theophanology, philosophy, mysticism, and social theory. Saiedi, a professor of sociology, deploys some of the lexicon and methodologies of contemporary Continental philosophy and sociology in his reading of the writings of Baha’u’llah. The volume is written from a theological perspective.
  125. Saiedi, Nader. Logos and Civilization: Spirit, History, and Order in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. Bethesda: University Press of Maryland, 2000.
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  127. Shoghi Effendi. God Passes By. Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1944.
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  129. This is the standard Baha’i history of the religion, written by Shoghi Effendi (b. 1897–d. 1957), one of the central figures of the religion. Covering its first hundred years, from 1844 to 1944, the volume is hagiographical and interpretive in scope, written from the perspective of a Baha’i theology of history or sacred history.
  130. Shoghi Effendi. God Passes By. Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1944.
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  132. Warburg, Margit. Citizens of the World: A History and Sociology of the Baha’is from a Globalisation Perspective. Studies in the History of Religions 106. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2006.
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  134. The Danish scholar and sociologist of religion Margit Warburg treats in detail (this is the author’s doctoral dissertation) the history, beliefs, and practices of the religion, deploying the methodological apparatus of the history of religions and of sociology. She also employs the framework of a globalization perspective in her analysis of the religion’s community life, using a sociological examination of the Baha’i community in Denmark as a recurrent test case.
  135. Warburg, Margit. Citizens of the World: A History and Sociology of the Baha’is from a Globalisation Perspective. Studies in the History of Religions 106. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2006.
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  137. Central Figures and Institutions
  138.  
  139. Along with Baha’u’llah, Baha’is consider several other figures and institutions central to their faith. Baha’is believe that ʿAli-Muhammad Shirazi, known as the Bab (Ar. Gate) (b. 1819–d. 1850)—the founder of the Babi movement—aside from occupying the station of the promised one of Islam as the Qa’im/Mahdi and a manifestation of God, is the herald and forerunner of the Baha’i faith. According to Baha’i thought, Baha’u’llah’s eldest son Abbas Effendi (b. 1844–d. 1921), known as ʿAbdu’l-Baha (or ʿAbd al-Baha’, servant of the Glory [of God]), was appointed as his successor and interpreter. ʿAbdu’l-Baha then designated his grandson Shoghi Effendi Rabbani (b. 1897–d. 1957), titled Guardian of the Cause of God (wali amr’u’llah), as the interpreter and leader of the religion after him. Then for a brief period, from 1957 to 1963, the religion was under the leadership of eminent Baha’is appointed by Shoghi Effendi, called the Hands of the Cause of God (ayadi-i amr’u’llah). At present, the head of the faith is the institution of the Universal House of Justice (1963–) (bayt al-ʿadl al-azam), whose sphere of authority lies in legislation rather than interpretation. In this section, select sources in Persian, Arabic, and English and other European languages are presented on Baha’u’llah, the Bab, ʿAbdu’l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice.
  140.  
  141. Baha’u’llah
  142.  
  143. A singular comprehensive academic volume on the life, works, and teachings of Baha’u’llah remains a scholarly desiderium. The most-important works still remain in primary sources in Persian and Arabic, and some of them in manuscript form, such as Nabil Zarandi’s chronicle in Persian. There are now a few academic sources on the life of the prophet, but the majority of the works consist of hagiographies. Both Cole 2011 and Bausani 2011 are excellent academic overviews of the life, writings, and teachings of Baha’u’llah. Momen 2007 provides a concise and scholarly biography of Baha’u’llah, with a discussion of his claims and writings. Mazandarani 1973a and Mazandarani 1973b represent two of the best Persian-language resources of biographical information on the life of Baha’u’llah (not least because it contains extensive quotations from Zarandi’s original Persian narrative), indispensable for scholars undertaking research in primary sources on the life of the prophet. Malik Khusravi 1958 is an excellent resource for scholars studying the family origins and early life of Baha’u’llah, and Faizi 1990 is a useful, one-volume introductory biography in Persian. Balyuzi 1980 is a hagiography, but it is one of the only extensive English-language biographies of Baha’u’llah. Eschraghi 2010 is a translation and commentary of a text by Baha’u’llah, but it contains a substantial biography and is the best German-language academic treatment of his life, works, and teachings.
  144.  
  145. Balyuzi, Hasan M. Bahá’u’lláh: The King of Glory. Oxford: George Ronald, 1980.
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  147. This is the only extensive biography of Baha’u’llah available in English, one of a trilogy by Balyuzi on the central figures of the religion (the other two are on the Bab and ʿAbdu’l-Baha). The volume is written largely in a hagiographical style. There were some amendments made to the volume by Moojan Momen, such as further annotations and bibliographical data.
  148. Balyuzi, Hasan M. Bahá’u’lláh: The King of Glory. Oxford: George Ronald, 1980.
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  150. Bausani, Alessandro. “Bahā’-Allāh.” In Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2d ed. Edited by P. J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, Clifford E. Bosworth, Emeri van Donzel, and W. P. Heinrichs. Leiden, The Netherlands, and London: E. J. Brill, 2011.
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  152. Along with Cole, this is another academic and economical account of the life and thought of Baha’u’llah. However, this article is now quite old, and because its author has died, it cannot take account of the more recent scholarship.
  153. Bausani, Alessandro. “Bahā’-Allāh.” In Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2d ed. Edited by P. J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, Clifford E. Bosworth, Emeri van Donzel, and W. P. Heinrichs. Leiden, The Netherlands, and London: E. J. Brill, 2011.
  154. Find this resource:
  155. Cole, Juan R. I. “Bahāʾ-Allāh, Mīrzā Husayn ʿAlī Nūrī.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
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  157. This is a valuable academic overview of the life and thought of Baha’u’llah, covering his life, works, and station according to Baha’i thought. The article would benefit from an updated bibliography (originally published 15 December 1988).
  158. Cole, Juan R. I. “Bahāʾ-Allāh, Mīrzā Husayn ʿAlī Nūrī.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  159. Find this resource:
  160. Eschraghi, Armin. Bahā’u’llāh: Brief an den Sohn des Wolfes = Lauh-i Ibn-i Dhi’b. Berlin: Verlag der Weltreligionen, 2010.
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  162. This is a scholarly translation into German of one of the last major works of Baha’u’llah: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. The translation takes up about a hundred pages, but the greater portion of the volume (five hundred pages) consists of an introduction, a biography of Baha’u’llah, and a commentary on the text. The volume is extremely valuable for its biographical information on Baha’u’llah.
  163. Eschraghi, Armin. Bahā’u’llāh: Brief an den Sohn des Wolfes = Lauh-i Ibn-i Dhi’b. Berlin: Verlag der Weltreligionen, 2010.
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  165. Faizi, Muhammad ʿAli. Ḥadrat-i Bahā’u’llāh. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1990.
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  167. One of a trilogy of biographies by Faizi in Persian (the other two are on the Bab and ʿAbdu’l-Baha), which was emulated in some respects by Balyuzi. Available online.
  168. Faizi, Muhammad ʿAli. Ḥadrat-i Bahā’u’llāh. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1990.
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  170. Malik Khusravi, Muhammad ʿAli. Kitāb-i Iqlīm-i Nūr. Iran: Muʼassasah-i Milli-i Matbuʻat-i Amri, 1958.
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  172. This is an important source of biographical information on the early life of Baha’u’llah in his ancestral province of Mazandaran, Nur.
  173. Malik Khusravi, Muhammad ʿAli. Kitāb-i Iqlīm-i Nūr. Iran: Muʼassasah-i Milli-i Matbuʻat-i Amri, 1958.
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  175. Mazandarani, Fadil. Tarikh-i Zuhur al-Haqq. Vol. 4. Iran: Muʼassasah-i Milli-i Matbuʻat-i Amri, 1973a.
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  177. This is the fourth volume of a nine-volume work by the Baha’i scholar Fadil Mazandarani. It contains a wealth of primary-source materials on the development of the Baha’i religion from Babism, and valuable material on the biography of Baha’u’llah, covering the period from 1851 to 1868. Volume 4 contains some of the original Persian of Nabil Zarandi’s narrative (Tārīkh-i Nabīl), chronicling the life of Baha’u’llah (the first volume, covering the Shaykhi and Babi periods, has been translated into English by Shoghi Effendi).
  178. Mazandarani, Fadil. Tarikh-i Zuhur al-Haqq. Vol. 4. Iran: Muʼassasah-i Milli-i Matbuʻat-i Amri, 1973a.
  179. Find this resource:
  180. Mazandarani, Fadil. Tarikh-i Zuhur al-Haqq. Vol. 5. Iran: Muʼassasah-i Milli-i Matbuʻat-i Amri, 1973b.
  181. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  182. Volume 5 covers the biography of Baha’u’llah from 1868 until 1892, which marks his death in ʿAkka. It also chronicles Baha’i events in Iran up to that period.
  183. Mazandarani, Fadil. Tarikh-i Zuhur al-Haqq. Vol. 5. Iran: Muʼassasah-i Milli-i Matbuʻat-i Amri, 1973b.
  184. Find this resource:
  185. Momen, Moojan. Baha’u’llah: A Short Biography. Oxford: Oneworld, 2007.
  186. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  187. This is a concise but scholarly biography of Baha’u’llah, intended for the general reader but valuable to students and scholars alike. The volume uses some primary sources to illuminate aspects of Baha’u’llah’s life, writings, and teachings.
  188. Momen, Moojan. Baha’u’llah: A Short Biography. Oxford: Oneworld, 2007.
  189. Find this resource:
  190. Bab
  191.  
  192. The standard academic account of Babism is still the monumental study in Amanat 2005. MacEoin 2009 is another academic volume on the Bab and the various stages of Babi history and doctrine, and MacEoin 1992 is an excellent academic survey of Babi texts and the historiography of Babism. Lawson 2012a provides one of the most scholarly and astute readings of the literary origins of the Babi movement. Saiedi 2008 is a philosophical discussion of the writings and thought of the Bab. Lawson 2012b is an important collection of essays on the writings of the Bab. Eschraghi 2004 is an introduction, analysis, and semicritical edition of one of the early works of the Bab, in German. Zarandi 1932 is a translation of the standard hagiographical account of the life of the Bab, and the rise of Babism. Afnan 2000 is an indispensible volume on the life of the Bab, containing many new primary sources.
  193.  
  194. Afnan, Abu’l-Qasim. ʿȦhd-i A’lā: Zindigānī-i Ḥaḍrat-i Bāb. Oxford: Oneworld, 2000.
  195. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  196. This is a novel treatment of aspects of the life of the Bab and Babi history. The Afnans are descendents of the Bab, and this volume contains a wealth of primary sources from Afnan’s own private manuscript library, many items of which are available here for the first time.
  197. Afnan, Abu’l-Qasim. ʿȦhd-i A’lā: Zindigānī-i Ḥaḍrat-i Bāb. Oxford: Oneworld, 2000.
  198. Find this resource:
  199. Amanat, Abbas. Resurrection and Renewal: The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 1844–1850. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 20. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2005.
  200. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  201. This is the standard academic history of the life of the Bab, and the development of his movement, from an esoteric Shiʿi school—Shaykhism—into a religion. There is no comparable volume in English on Baha’u’llah and the Baha’i faith. Originally published in 1988 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press).
  202. Amanat, Abbas. Resurrection and Renewal: The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 1844–1850. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 20. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2005.
  203. Find this resource:
  204. Eschraghi, Armin. Frühe Šaiḫī- und Bābī-Theologie: Die Darlegung der Beweise für Muḥammads besonders Prophetentum: (Ar-Risāla fī iṯbāt an-nubūwa al-khāṣṣa). Islamic Philosophy, Theology, and Science 57. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2004.
  205. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  206. Originally a doctoral dissertation, Eschraghi provides a semicritical edition of one of the early works of the Bab: Risāla fī iṯbāt an-nubūwa al-khāṣṣa or “Treaties on the Special Prophethood [of Muhammad].” It has an extensive discussion of the life and thought of the Bab, especially its background in Shaykhi theosophy, philosophy, metaphysics, and mysticism.
  207. Eschraghi, Armin. Frühe Šaiḫī- und Bābī-Theologie: Die Darlegung der Beweise für Muḥammads besonders Prophetentum: (Ar-Risāla fī iṯbāt an-nubūwa al-khāṣṣa). Islamic Philosophy, Theology, and Science 57. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2004.
  208. Find this resource:
  209. Lawson, Todd. Gnostic Apocalypse in Islam: Qur’an, Exegesis, Messianism, and the Literary Origins of the Babi Religion. Iranian Studies 12. London: Routledge, 2012a.
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  211. The volume represents a revision and expanded version of Lawson’s unpublished doctoral thesis, “The Qurʾan Commentary of Sayyid ʿAli Muhammad, the Báb (1819–1850),” completed in 1987. Lawson, an associate professor of Islamic studies, has done a marvelous job of untangling the early writings and thought of the Bab, which are riddled with esoteric, mystical, and Gnostic motifs in Shiʿism and especially Shaykhism.
  212. Lawson, Todd. Gnostic Apocalypse in Islam: Qur’an, Exegesis, Messianism, and the Literary Origins of the Babi Religion. Iranian Studies 12. London: Routledge, 2012a.
  213. Find this resource:
  214. Lawson, Todd, and Omid Ghaemmaghami. A Most Noble Pattern: Collected Essays on the Writings of the Báb, ʿAlí Muhammad Shírází (1819–1850). Oxford: George Ronald, 2012b.
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  216. An excellent collection of scholarly articles on select writings of the Bab. Some of the articles are groundbreaking and original.
  217. Lawson, Todd, and Omid Ghaemmaghami. A Most Noble Pattern: Collected Essays on the Writings of the Báb, ʿAlí Muhammad Shírází (1819–1850). Oxford: George Ronald, 2012b.
  218. Find this resource:
  219. MacEoin, Denis. The Sources for Early Bābī Doctrine and History: A Survey. New York and Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1992.
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  221. An indispensible academic survey of the textual and doctrinal history of Babism—both by the Bab and Babi notables—including notices of primary historical sources documenting the origins and development of the Babi movement.
  222. MacEoin, Denis. The Sources for Early Bābī Doctrine and History: A Survey. New York and Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1992.
  223. Find this resource:
  224. MacEoin, Denis. The Messiah of Shiraz: Studies in Early and Middle Babism. Iranian Studies 3. Boston and Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 2009.
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  226. This volume is the coming together of MacEoin’s scholarship on Babism over many years, such as his doctoral dissertation, “From Shaykhism to Bābīsm” (completed in 1979), and a host of other articles on Babi history and thought, written mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. Most of these are reproduced here in minimally revised form.
  227. MacEoin, Denis. The Messiah of Shiraz: Studies in Early and Middle Babism. Iranian Studies 3. Boston and Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 2009.
  228. Find this resource:
  229. Saiedi, Nader. Gate of the Heart: Understanding the Writings of the Bāb. Bahá’í Studies. Waterloo, Canada: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2008.
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  231. This is a study into the highly esoteric and symbolic universe of the writings and thought of the Bab. Saiedi deploys the same methodology and perspective as in his Logos and Civilization (Saiedi 2000, cited under Historical Background) in his reading of the Bab’s voluminous oeuvre, and he discusses his theology, theophanology, cosmogony, metaphysics, messianism, and the mystical and symbolic dimension of some of his most radical religious laws (Sharia).
  232. Saiedi, Nader. Gate of the Heart: Understanding the Writings of the Bāb. Bahá’í Studies. Waterloo, Canada: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2008.
  233. Find this resource:
  234. Zarandi, Nabil. The Dawn-Breakers: Nabīl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation. Translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi. New York: Baha’i Publishing Committee, 1932.
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  236. Translation of the first volume of a two-volume hagiography, Tārīkh-i Nabīl, written by the Baha’i poet Nabil Zarandi in the late 19th century, chronicling the Shaykhi period, the life of the Bab, and the Babi movement, as well as its central saints and martyrs. The volume intends to chronicle the emergence of the Baha’i faith from Babism and provides a theological reading of Babi history from a Baha’i perspective.
  237. Zarandi, Nabil. The Dawn-Breakers: Nabīl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation. Translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi. New York: Baha’i Publishing Committee, 1932.
  238. Find this resource:
  239. ʿAbdu’l-Baha
  240.  
  241. No full academic account of the life and thought of ʿAbdu’l-Baha has been penned at this time. Bausani and MacEoin 2011 and Kazemzadeh 2009 provide general academic overviews of the life and teachings of ʿAbdu’l-Baha. The single full-length biography, to date, is the hagiography in Balyuzi 1987. A useful biography in Persian is Faizi 1986, and an excellent Arabic account of the life and thought of ʿAbdu’l-Baha, with special emphasis on his travels to Egypt, is Bushrui 2011. A valuable collection of articles on various aspects of ʿAbdu’l-Baha’s life, writings, and thought is Anjuman-i Adab va Hunar 2003. Zarqani 1998 is a translation of a primary source on the travels of ʿAbdu’l-Baha to America, and Scharbrodt 2008 provides an interesting comparative analysis of the life and thought of ʿAbdu’l-Baha and the Muslim reformist Muhammad ʿAbduh.
  242.  
  243. Anjuman-i Adab va Hunar. Khoosh-i-há’i az Kharman-i-Adab va Honar. Vol. 14, Dawrah-’i Mīsāq. Proceedings of a Seminar on the Most Exalted Pen, September 1992. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 2003.
  244. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  245. An excellent collection of articles in Persian on the life, thought, and writings of ʿAbdu’l-Baha.
  246. Anjuman-i Adab va Hunar. Khoosh-i-há’i az Kharman-i-Adab va Honar. Vol. 14, Dawrah-’i Mīsāq. Proceedings of a Seminar on the Most Exalted Pen, September 1992. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 2003.
  247. Find this resource:
  248. Balyuzi, Hasan M. ʿAbdu’l-Bahā: The Centre of the Covenant of Baha’u’lláh. 2d ed. Oxford: George Ronald, 1987.
  249. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  250. This is Balyuzi’s first hagiographic trilogy, the others covering the lives of the Bab and Baha’u’llah. It is effectively one of the only full-length biographies of ʿAbdu’l-Baha in English. It was to be amended with further primary sources but was never realized due to the author’s death.
  251. Balyuzi, Hasan M. ʿAbdu’l-Bahā: The Centre of the Covenant of Baha’u’lláh. 2d ed. Oxford: George Ronald, 1987.
  252. Find this resource:
  253. Bausani, Alessandro, and Denis MacEoin. “ʿAbd–ā al- Bahā.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  254. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  255. An academic discussion of ʿAbdu’l-Baha’s life and works (Bausani) and his teachings (MacEoin). Originally published on 15 December 1982.
  256. Bausani, Alessandro, and Denis MacEoin. “ʿAbd–ā al- Bahā.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  257. Find this resource:
  258. Bushrui, Suheil Badi. ʿAbbās Effendi. Beirut, Lebanon: Al-Kamel, 2011.
  259. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  260. Bushrui, a professor of Arabic literature and the world’s foremost scholar of the poet Khalil Gibran, has written an important volume in Arabic—the first of its kind—on the life and thought of ʿAbd’ul-Baha, especially his visit to Egypt. A Persian and English translation of this volume was forthcoming as of 2012.
  261. Bushrui, Suheil Badi. ʿAbbās Effendi. Beirut, Lebanon: Al-Kamel, 2011.
  262. Find this resource:
  263. Faizi, Muhammad ʿAli. The Life of ʿAbdu’l-Bahá = Ḥayát-i Ḥaḍrat-i‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Hofheim-Langenhain, West Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1986.
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  265. This is a one-volume biography of ʿAbdu’l-Baha in Persian, covering many of the main events of his life, with illustrations and reproductions of texts.
  266. Faizi, Muhammad ʿAli. The Life of ʿAbdu’l-Bahá = Ḥayát-i Ḥaḍrat-i‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Hofheim-Langenhain, West Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1986.
  267. Find this resource:
  268. Kazemzadeh, Firuz. “ʿAbdu’l-Bahá ʿAbbás (1844–1921).” In The Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project. 2009.
  269. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  270. An excellent academic account of the life, works, and teachings of ʿAbdu’l-Baha.
  271. Kazemzadeh, Firuz. “ʿAbdu’l-Bahá ʿAbbás (1844–1921).” In The Bahá’í Encyclopedia Project. 2009.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. Scharbrodt, Oliver. Islam and the Baha’i Faith: A Comparative Study of Muhammad ‘Abduh and ‘Abdul-Baha ‘Abbas. Culture and Civilisation in the Middle East. London and New York: Routledge, 2008.
  274. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  275. This is an interesting, comparative look at the life of ʿAbd’ul-Baha and Muhammad ʿAbduh, which challenges certain current assumptions about the life of both figures; one as the son of the founder of the so-called heterodox messianic movement, and the other as the quintessentially orthodox Sunni Muslim reformer.
  276. Scharbrodt, Oliver. Islam and the Baha’i Faith: A Comparative Study of Muhammad ‘Abduh and ‘Abdul-Baha ‘Abbas. Culture and Civilisation in the Middle East. London and New York: Routledge, 2008.
  277. Find this resource:
  278. Zarqani, Mirza Mahmud. Mahmūd’s Diary: The Diary of Mīrzā Mahmūd-i-Zarqāni, Chronicling ʿAbdu’l-Bahā’s Journey to America. Oxford: George Ronald, 1998.
  279. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  280. This is a translation of the first volume of Zarqani’s two-volume work Kitāb-i-Badāyi’u’l-Āthār, published in 1913, regarding the travels of ʿAbdu’l-Baha to America.
  281. Zarqani, Mirza Mahmud. Mahmūd’s Diary: The Diary of Mīrzā Mahmūd-i-Zarqāni, Chronicling ʿAbdu’l-Bahā’s Journey to America. Oxford: George Ronald, 1998.
  282. Find this resource:
  283. Shoghi Effendi
  284.  
  285. There is no full academic account of the life and works of Shoghi Effendi at present. Momen 2011 is one of the only scholarly overviews of his life and writings. Ruhiyyih Rabbani 1988 and Ruhiyyih Rabbani 2000 provide two hagiographical biographies, one of which focuses on his station as the Guardian of the Baha’i faith (wali amr’u’llah). Khadem 1999 is an interesting look at the life of Shoghi Effendi while he was a student at Oxford. Anjuman-i Adab va Hunar 2000 gathers a useful collection of articles on various aspects of Shoghi Effendi’s life, works, and station. McLean 2007, McLean 2008, and McLean 2011 represent two scholarly articles and a valuable volume on the literary and theological character of Shoghi Effendi’s writings and thought. The Vision of Shoghi Effendi brings together another collection of articles, written mostly from a Baha’i perspective.
  286.  
  287. Anjuman-i Adab va Hunar. Khoosh-i Ha’i az Kharman-i-Adab va Honar. Vol. 11, Dawrah-’I Vilāyat. Proceedings of a Seminar on the Most Exalted Pen, September 1992. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 2000.
  288. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  289. This is an excellent collection of papers in Persian, from the proceedings of a seminar on the legacy of Shoghi Effendi.
  290. Anjuman-i Adab va Hunar. Khoosh-i Ha’i az Kharman-i-Adab va Honar. Vol. 11, Dawrah-’I Vilāyat. Proceedings of a Seminar on the Most Exalted Pen, September 1992. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 2000.
  291. Find this resource:
  292. Khadem, Riaz. Shoghi Effendi in Oxford and Earlier. Oxford: George Ronald, 1999.
  293. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  294. This book covers the early life of Shoghi Effendi while he was a student at Oxford University.
  295. Khadem, Riaz. Shoghi Effendi in Oxford and Earlier. Oxford: George Ronald, 1999.
  296. Find this resource:
  297. McLean, Jack. “Art of Rhetoric in the Writings of Shoghi Effendi.” Lights of ʿIrfán 8 (2007): 203–256.
  298. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  299. This is a literary study of the rhetorical aspects of Shoghi Effendi’s writings.
  300. McLean, Jack. “Art of Rhetoric in the Writings of Shoghi Effendi.” Lights of ʿIrfán 8 (2007): 203–256.
  301. Find this resource:
  302. McLean, Jack. “Shoghi Effendi’s The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh: A Theology of the Word.” Lights of ʿIrfán 9 (2008): 239–280.
  303. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  304. This is a study of a text of Shoghi Effendi discussing the fundamental verities of the religion.
  305. McLean, Jack. “Shoghi Effendi’s The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh: A Theology of the Word.” Lights of ʿIrfán 9 (2008): 239–280.
  306. Find this resource:
  307. McLean, Jack. A Celestial Burning: A Study of Some of the Main Writings of Shoghi Effendi. New Delhi: Baha’i Publishing Trust of India, 2011.
  308. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  309. An important study of the major writings of Shoghi Effendi, in English. The volume does not treat his Persian and Arabic works.
  310. McLean, Jack. A Celestial Burning: A Study of Some of the Main Writings of Shoghi Effendi. New Delhi: Baha’i Publishing Trust of India, 2011.
  311. Find this resource:
  312. Momen, Moojan. “Shoghi Effendi.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  313. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  314. A scholarly overview in four parts: “Biography,” “Leadership of the Bahai Community,” “Writings,” and “The Institution of the Guardianship.”
  315. Momen, Moojan. “Shoghi Effendi.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  316. Find this resource:
  317. Ruhiyyih Rabbani. The Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. London: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1988.
  318. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  319. A hagiographical account of the station of Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian (wali).
  320. Ruhiyyih Rabbani. The Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. London: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1988.
  321. Find this resource:
  322. Ruhiyyih Rabbani. The Priceless Pearl. London: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2000.
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  324. A hagiography of the life and works of Shoghi Effendi by his widow, a Canadian Baha’i notable elected by him into the office of the hands of the cause of God. Originally published in 1969.
  325. Ruhiyyih Rabbani. The Priceless Pearl. London: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2000.
  326. Find this resource:
  327. The Vision of Shoghi Effendi: Proceedings of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, Ninth Annual Conference, November 2–4, 1984, Ottawa, Canada. Ottawa, Canada: Baha’i Studies Publications, 1993.
  328. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  329. A varied collection of articles on the life, legacy, and writings of Shoghi Effendi, from a Baha’i perspective.
  330. The Vision of Shoghi Effendi: Proceedings of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, Ninth Annual Conference, November 2–4, 1984, Ottawa, Canada. Ottawa, Canada: Baha’i Studies Publications, 1993.
  331. Find this resource:
  332. Universal House of Justice
  333.  
  334. There are a few academic works on the Baha’i faith’s supreme legislative body, the Universal House of Justice. Momen 1989 provides an academic overview of the institution of the Universal House of Justice, which was conceived by Baha’u’llah in the Kitāb al-ʿAqdas (Most holy book). Tober 2008 is an important new study of the theological significance of the notions of law and justice as embodied in the Universal House of Justice. Ruhiyyih Rabbani 1992 brings together a collection of documents on the ministry of the Custodians or Hands of the Cause (ayadi-ye amr’u’llah), a transition period between the death of Shoghi Effendi and the election of the House of Justice. Sinclair 2005 is a study of the constitution of the House of Justice. Milani 2002 provides an interesting interpretation of the mystical significance of the Baha’i administration, whose main body is the House of Justice. Schaefer 2000 is an excellent discussion of the concept of infallibility (ʿisma), pertaining to the House of Justice, and Momen 2007 is a study and translation of a tablet of ʿAbdu’l-Baha about the functioning of the House of Justice. Schaefer 2003 provides an extensive discussion of the Baha’i Administrative Order, and Cooney 2007 is a useful resource of secondary literature on Baha’i administration and institutions.
  335.  
  336. Cooney, Steve. “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: Notes on Recent Secondary Literature, and Material from the Bahá’í World Centre.” Online Journal of Bahá’í Studies 1 (2007): 490–519.
  337. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  338. This is an excellent survey of works written on various aspects of Baha’i political theory, governance, the Baha’i Administrative Order, and the Universal House of Justice.
  339. Cooney, Steve. “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: Notes on Recent Secondary Literature, and Material from the Bahá’í World Centre.” Online Journal of Bahá’í Studies 1 (2007): 490–519.
  340. Find this resource:
  341. Milani, Kavian S. “The Mystical Dimensions of the Bahá’í Administrative Order.” Lights of ʿIrfán 3 (2002): 95–106.
  342. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  343. An interesting study of the mystical dimension of the Baha’i administrative system.
  344. Milani, Kavian S. “The Mystical Dimensions of the Bahá’í Administrative Order.” Lights of ʿIrfán 3 (2002): 95–106.
  345. Find this resource:
  346. Momen, Moojan. “Bayt al-ʿAdl.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 1989.
  347. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  348. An academic overview of the administrative head of the Baha’i religion.
  349. Momen, Moojan. “Bayt al-ʿAdl.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 1989.
  350. Find this resource:
  351. Momen, Moojan. “Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablet on the Functioning of the Universal House of Justice: A Provisional Translation and Commentary.” Lights of ʿIrfán 8 (2007): 257–298.
  352. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  353. A scholarly introduction and translation of a tablet of ʿAbdu’l-Baha, regarding the operational structure and function of the Universal House of Justice.
  354. Momen, Moojan. “Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablet on the Functioning of the Universal House of Justice: A Provisional Translation and Commentary.” Lights of ʿIrfán 8 (2007): 257–298.
  355. Find this resource:
  356. Ruhiyyih Rabbani, ed. The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957–1963: An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause. Haifa, Israel: Baha’i World Centre, 1992.
  357. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  358. A compilation of materials on the period of the leadership of the Custodians, before the first election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963.
  359. Ruhiyyih Rabbani, ed. The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957–1963: An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause. Haifa, Israel: Baha’i World Centre, 1992.
  360. Find this resource:
  361. Schaefer, Udo. “Infallible Institutions?” Baha’i Studies Review 9 (2000).
  362. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  363. A scholarly study of the Universal House of Justice’s sphere of authority, and the concept of conferred infallibility (al-ʿismat al-sifatiyya). Text available online.
  364. Schaefer, Udo. “Infallible Institutions?” Baha’i Studies Review 9 (2000).
  365. Find this resource:
  366. Schaefer, Udo. Grundlagen der Gemeindeordnung der Bahā’ī. Studien zum Bahā’itum 3. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2003.
  367. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  368. This is the revised version of Schaefer’s doctoral dissertation to the faculty of law at the University of Heidelberg in 1957, on the Baha’i Administrative Order. The volume deals extensively with aspects of Baha’i law and justice, and especially the role and function of the Universal House of Justice.
  369. Schaefer, Udo. Grundlagen der Gemeindeordnung der Bahā’ī. Studien zum Bahā’itum 3. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2003.
  370. Find this resource:
  371. Sinclair, Guy. A Study Guide to the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice. Oxford: George Ronald, 2005.
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  373. As the title suggests, this is a study guide to the constitution of the Universal House of Justice.
  374. Sinclair, Guy. A Study Guide to the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice. Oxford: George Ronald, 2005.
  375. Find this resource:
  376. Tober, Tajan. Ein neues ius divinum? Zur Theologie des Rechts der Baha’i. Schriften zum Staatskirchenrecht 40. Frankfurt and New York: Peter Lang, 2008.
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  378. This is the author’s doctoral dissertation on the theology of justice and divine law in the religion, with useful discussions on the Universal House of Justice.
  379. Tober, Tajan. Ein neues ius divinum? Zur Theologie des Rechts der Baha’i. Schriften zum Staatskirchenrecht 40. Frankfurt and New York: Peter Lang, 2008.
  380. Find this resource:
  381. Sacred Writings
  382.  
  383. The Baha’i sacred writings form the authenticated writings of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha in Arabic and Persian (with respect to ʿAbdu’l-Baha, it also includes Turkish) and are generally titled “Tablets” (alwah). However, Baha’is do not consider ʿAbdu’l-Baha’s writings to be stricto sensu divine verses (ayat), a position solely reserved for the writings of Baha’u’llah. Baha’is consider the writings of Shoghi Effendi (in Arabic, Persian, and English) to be authoritative interpretation, and the works of the Universal House of Justice to be authoritative in matters of legislation and administration. The authenticated writings of the Bab are also considered to be sacred scripture by Baha’is, but they consider the laws (Sharia) of his short-lived religion to have been superseded by Baha’u’llah’s new laws. The number of Baha’i scriptures is staggeringly vast. Only a portion of these have been published in their original Persian and Arabic, to date, some of which have been officially translated into English and various other languages. At present, it is estimated that there are about eighty thousand writings of Baha’u’llah, ʿAbdu’l-Baha, and Shoghi Effendi in manuscript form, at the Baha’i World Center in Haifa, Israel.
  384.  
  385. Persian and Arabic Writings
  386.  
  387. At present, there are no full, critical editions of the Baha’i writings in Persian or Arabic. However, the publishing company Baha’i Verlag in Germany has produced the best published editions of the Baha’i scriptures, with a view toward including some scholarly apparatus in each publication. The majority of the important writings of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha have been published in Persian and Arabic, but many still remain in manuscript form and will be published in the future. A selection of published Arabic and Persian writings of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha will be discussed in the following sections.
  388.  
  389. Baha’u’llah
  390.  
  391. Baha’u’llah’s voluminous oeuvre takes various evocative literary forms and titles, such as book (kitab), tablet(s) (lawh/alwah), surah (a mimesis of Qurʾanic chapters), tafsir (commentary), spiritual hermeneutics (ta’wil), prayers (munajat), and poetry (ash’ar/qasidah), covering an immense range of subjects and themes. There is a growing body of published writings by Baha’u’llah available in Persian and Arabic. Baha’u’llah 1969–1978 contains one of the most comprehensive collections of Baha’u’llah’s tablets, in eight volumes. Baha’u’llah 2008 is Baha’u’llah’s apologia in defense of his theophanic and messianic claims. Yārān-i Pārsī (Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1998) is a one-volume collection of the tablets of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha to Baha’is of Zoroastrian background. Mazandarani 1985 brings together a four-volume collection of the writings of Baha’u’llah, the Bab, and ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Baha’u’llah 1920 is a collection of the tablets of Baha’u’llah in Arabic. Baha’u’llah 1999 is a selection of the writings of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha to Baha’i notables. Ishraq Khavari 1984–2000 is a monumental, nine-volume collection of the writings of Baha’u’llah, ʿAbdu’l-Baha, and Shoghi Effendi. Rafati 2006 is an excellent new collection, bringing together some hitherto unpublished writings of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha, and Baha’u’llah 1986–1991 is a three-volume set of the tablets of the prophet, in Arabic.
  392.  
  393. Baha’u’llah. Majmū‘ih-yi Maṭbū‘ih. Edited by Muhyi’d-Din Sabri Kurdi Sanandaji Kanimishkani. Cairo: Matba‘at as-Sa‘adah, 1920.
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  395. This is another collection of the tablets of Baha’u’llah, in Arabic. Text available online.
  396. Baha’u’llah. Majmū‘ih-yi Maṭbū‘ih. Edited by Muhyi’d-Din Sabri Kurdi Sanandaji Kanimishkani. Cairo: Matba‘at as-Sa‘adah, 1920.
  397. Find this resource:
  398. Baha’u’llah. Āthār-i Qalam-i A‘lā. 8 vols. Tehran, Iran: Mu’Assasah-i Milli-i Matbu’At-i Amri, 1969–1978.
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  400. This volume contains a collection of many Arabic and Persian tablets of Baha’u’llah, some of which have been translated into English and other languages.
  401. Baha’u’llah. Āthār-i Qalam-i A‘lā. 8 vols. Tehran, Iran: Mu’Assasah-i Milli-i Matbu’At-i Amri, 1969–1978.
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  403. Baha’u’llah. La’ālī al-ḥikmat. Edited and compiled by Vahid Behmardi. 3 vols. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Editoria Baha’i Brasil, 1986–1991.
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  405. A compilation of the tablets of Baha’u’llah in Arabic and Persian. Some of them are published here for the first time, especially in the third volume, which is meticulously edited by Behmardi.
  406. Baha’u’llah. La’ālī al-ḥikmat. Edited and compiled by Vahid Behmardi. 3 vols. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Editoria Baha’i Brasil, 1986–1991.
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  408. Baha’u’llah. Áyát-i-Bayyinát: Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and ʿAbdu’l-Bahá in Honour of Samandar, Nabíl ibn-i-Nabíl, and Their Families. Dundas, Canada: Association for Baha’i Studies in Persian, 1999.
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  410. This is an important collection of the tablets of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha, which, as its title suggests, were written for eminent Baha’is such as Samandar, Nabil ibn-i Nabil, and their families.
  411. Baha’u’llah. Áyát-i-Bayyinát: Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and ʿAbdu’l-Bahá in Honour of Samandar, Nabíl ibn-i-Nabíl, and Their Families. Dundas, Canada: Association for Baha’i Studies in Persian, 1999.
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  413. Baha’u’llah. Kitáb-i-Badi’. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2008.
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  415. As in Baha’u’llah’s earlier work, the Book of Certitude, which was an apologia for the claims of the Bab, this is Baha’u’llah’s apologia for his own theophanic claims. The work sets out the proofs for his claim to be the promised one of the Bayan or the Babi messiah (man yazharu’llah), against polemical questions raised by Azalis, a Babi faction named after Baha’u’llah’s younger half-brother Mirza Yahya Azal, who was named the head of the Babi community until the appearance of the Babi messiah and who rejected Baha’u’llah’s claims.
  416. Baha’u’llah. Kitáb-i-Badi’. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2008.
  417. Find this resource:
  418. Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Yārān-i Pārsī. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1998.
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  420. This is a collection of tablets from Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha, to Baha’is of Zoroastrian provenance, many of which were written in the so-called pure Persian (farsi-ye sareh). It contains many instances of symbolic interpretations of Zoroastrian scriptures, and the significance of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster/Zarathustra, Zoroastrianism, Iran, and so forth
  421. Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Yārān-i Pārsī. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1998.
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  423. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid, comp. Mā’idiy-i Āsmānī. 9 vols. New Delhi: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1984–2000.
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  425. Mā’idiy-i Āsmānī (The heavenly bread) is a nine-volume compilation from the writings of Baha’u’llah, ʿAbdu’l-Baha, and Shoghi Effendi, by the prolific Iranian Baha’i scholar and compiler ʿAbdu’l-Hamid Ishraq Khavari. Some of the tablets are not transmitted with due care and attention and thus need to be compared to other manuscript copies of the same tablets for critical evaluation.
  426. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid, comp. Mā’idiy-i Āsmānī. 9 vols. New Delhi: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1984–2000.
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  428. Mazandarani, Fadil. Amr va Khalq. 4 vols. Hofheim-Langenhain, West Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1985.
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  430. This is a four-volume compilation by the Baha’i scholar Fadil Mazandarani, consisting of the writings of Baha’u’llah, the Bab, and ʿAbdu’l-Baha. The topics are wide ranging and include a variety of subjects, such as Baha’i theology, theophanology, mysticism, philosophy, spirituality, free will versus predestination, alchemy, and so forth. Text available online.
  431. Mazandarani, Fadil. Amr va Khalq. 4 vols. Hofheim-Langenhain, West Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1985.
  432. Find this resource:
  433. Rafati, Vahid, ed. Yādnāmeh-yi Meṣbāḥ-i Monīr. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2006.
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  435. This is an excellent volume containing many previously unpublished tablets of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha in Persian and Arabic. One of its salient features is the variety of texts on the interpretation of the Bible and the Qurʾan, commentaries on Baha’i texts, and many other theological and philosophical themes.
  436. Rafati, Vahid, ed. Yādnāmeh-yi Meṣbāḥ-i Monīr. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2006.
  437. Find this resource:
  438. ʿAbdu’l-Baha
  439.  
  440. There is a significant amount of published works by ʿAbdu’l-Baha in Persian and Arabic. There are several collections such as in ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1910–1921, which are mainly letters in Arabic, and ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1979–2005, a selection of the author’s writings both in Arabic and Persian. A volume of his answers to questions is ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1983, which has been translated and published in English. The talks of ʿAbdu’l-Baha are collected in ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1984, and another important collection of Arabic and Persian correspondences is in ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1982. ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1934 is an important treatise on some aspects of the political teachings of the Baha’i faith.
  441.  
  442. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Makātīb-i ʿAbdu’l-Bahā. 3 vols. Cairo: Matba’at Kurdistan al-ʿIlmiyah, 1910–1921.
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  444. This is a collection of letters by ʿAbdu’l-Baha in Persian and Arabic, on a wide range of topics.
  445. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Makātīb-i ʿAbdu’l-Bahā. 3 vols. Cairo: Matba’at Kurdistan al-ʿIlmiyah, 1910–1921.
  446. Find this resource:
  447. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Risala-yi Siyasiyya. Tehran, Iran: Muhammad Labib, 1934.
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  449. This important political treatise was penned in 1892, responding against the political involvement of the Shiʿite clerics in matters of the state. It was published during the Constitutional Revolution in 1906 and represents the development of Baha’i political theory during the period of ʿAbdu’l-Baha’s leadership. It is translated into English and is available online.
  450. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Risala-yi Siyasiyya. Tehran, Iran: Muhammad Labib, 1934.
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  452. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Muntakhabāt. 6 vols. Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1979–2005.
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  454. Selections from the writings of ʿAbdu’l-Baha in Persian and Arabic, on various subjects and themes.
  455. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Muntakhabāt. 6 vols. Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1979–2005.
  456. Find this resource:
  457. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Min Makātīb-i Haḍrat-i ‘Abdu’l-Bahā. Vol. 1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Editora Baha’i Brasil, 1982.
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  459. A collection of Arabic letters and correspondences of ʿAbdu’l-Baha, consisting of many topics, such as doctrinal clarifications, scriptural interpretations, ethical and spiritual exhortations, and so forth
  460. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Min Makātīb-i Haḍrat-i ‘Abdu’l-Bahā. Vol. 1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Editora Baha’i Brasil, 1982.
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  462. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Mufāvaḍāt. New Delhi: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1983.
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  464. This volume in Persian is translated into English as Some Answered Questions. It is a reprint of the 1920 Cairo edition.
  465. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Mufāvaḍāt. New Delhi: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1983.
  466. Find this resource:
  467. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Khiṭābāt (Talks of ʿAbdu’l-Baha). Hofheim-Langenhain, West Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1984.
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  469. Collection of the talks of ʿAbdu’l-Baha, delivered in America, Canada, Europe, Egypt, and Palestine. Reprint of three volumes: Vol. 1 (Egypt, 1921), Vol. 2 (Egypt, 1942), and Vol. 3 (Tehran, Iran, 1970).
  470. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Khiṭābāt (Talks of ʿAbdu’l-Baha). Hofheim-Langenhain, West Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1984.
  471. Find this resource:
  472. English Translations
  473.  
  474. There are no scholarly or critical editions of Baha’i writings in English translation. A number of the important writings of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha have been translated into English, many of which were translated by the Guardian of the Baha’i faith, Shoghi Effendi. Due to the interpretive importance ascribed to his renderings, most translations in other languages are drawn from them, instead of from the original Persian or Arabic. A selection of English translations from the writings of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha will be discussed in the following section.
  475.  
  476. Baha’u’llah
  477.  
  478. There are several translations of the writings of Baha’u’llah available in English, and the Baha’i World Center (in Haifa, Israel) continues to publish new translations. There currently are twelve titles of his writings available in English translation. The central book of the Baha’i religion is the book of laws called the Most Holy Book (Baha’u’llah 1994). One of Baha’u’llah’s important works, which contains the summary of his teachings, is Baha’u’llah 1988. The principal hermeneutical work of Baha’u’llah is Baha’u’llah 1982, and a collection of excerpts from the prophet’s tablets and writings is contained in Baha’u’llah 2005. Several of Baha’u’llah’s preproclamatory works are represented in Baha’u’llah 2004, and two short, mystical treatises written in the lexicon of Sufism are in Baha’u’llah 1991. Baha’u’llah 2002a is a short work containing both mystical and hermeneutical elements. Baha’u’llah 2006 contains several tablets important to Baha’is of Zoroastrian provenance, and Baha’u’llah 2002b is a collection of the revelatory proclamations of Baha’u’llah to the leaders, rulers, and kings of the East and the West.
  479.  
  480. Baha’u’llah. The Book of Certitude. 3d ed. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. London: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1982.
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  482. Kitāb-i Iqān, or the Book of Certitude, is one of the major doctrinal works by Baha’u’llah that was composed in the Baghdad period. It sets out his theology, theophanology, anthropology, and eschatology and consists of the spiritual hermeneutics (ta’wil) of the Bible and the Qurʾan. It is an apologia in defense of the messianic claims of the Bab (and by extension his own future theophanic claims). It was composed in response to the Bab’s maternal uncle, who put certain questions to Baha’u’llah, inquiring how his nephew could have fulfilled the eschatological promises of Islam, especially Shiʿi messianic expectations.
  483. Baha’u’llah. The Book of Certitude. 3d ed. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. London: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1982.
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  485. Baha’u’llah. Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1988.
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  487. This is a translation of one of the last major works of Baha’u’llah, written in ʿAkka c. 1891, composed in Arabic and Persian, and called Lawḥ-i ibn Ḍhib. It is one of the best introductions to the whole range of Baha’u’llah’s teachings in his own words. It was composed for Shaykh Muhammad-Taqi, named the Son of the “Wolf,” whose father was titled “Wolf” (Dhib) by Baha’u’llah, due to his instigation of the death of two Baha’i brothers.
  488. Baha’u’llah. Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1988.
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  490. Baha’u’llah. The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys. Translated by Marzieh Gail and ʿAli-Kuli Khan. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1991.
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  492. The volume comprises two early mystical treatises by Baha’u’llah from the Baghdad period, written in the lexicon of Sufism in response to two Sufi correspondents. The theme of the two treatises is the mystic quest or the spiritual journey of the soul (suluk) and its ascent to God, or, more specifically, to the manifestation of God. Haft vādī (Seven valleys) was composed in the tradition of the Sufi poet ʿAttar’s Mantiq al-ṭayr (Language of the birds), whereas Chehār vādī (Four valleys) comprises another Sufi tradition in which four stages, stations, or journeys are conceived for the mystic wayfarer.
  493. Baha’u’llah. The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys. Translated by Marzieh Gail and ʿAli-Kuli Khan. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1991.
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  495. Baha’u’llah. The Most Holy Book. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1994.
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  497. The Kitáb-i Aqdas, or the Most Holy Book, is Baha’u’llah’s book of laws (Sharia) and may be regarded as the religion’s most important and central text. It was composed in the ʿAkka period and contains most of the religious laws to be observed by Baha’is.
  498. Baha’u’llah. The Most Holy Book. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1994.
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  500. Baha’u’llah. Gems of Divine Mysteries. Haifa, Israel: Baha’i World Centre, 2002a.
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  502. Javāhir al-Asrār, or Gems of Divine Mysteries, is an early Arabic work by Baha’u’llah, written before the Book of Certitude in the Baghdad period. It is a work that contains elements of Baha’u’llah’s mystical treatises, such as the Seven Valleys, and his scriptural hermeneutics, such as the Book of Certitude.
  503. Baha’u’llah. Gems of Divine Mysteries. Haifa, Israel: Baha’i World Centre, 2002a.
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  505. Baha’u’llah. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: Tablets of Bahaullah. Haifa, Israel: Baha’i World Centre, 2002b.
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  507. This is an important collection of the tablets of Baha’u’llah that were given to various kings and rulers of the time, both in the East and the West. Included are Sūriy-i Haykal (Tablet of the temple), which consists of messages addressed to Pope Pius IX, Napoleon III, Czar Alexander II, Queen Victoria, and Nasiri’d-Din Shah (the king of Iran), Sūriy-i Ra’īs (Tablet to the chief), Lawh-i Fu’ād (Tablet of Fu’ād Pāshā), and Sūriy-i Mulūk (Tablet of the kings).
  508. Baha’u’llah. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: Tablets of Bahaullah. Haifa, Israel: Baha’i World Centre, 2002b.
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  510. Baha’u’llah. The Hidden Words. Oxford: Oneworld, 2004.
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  512. Kalimāt-i Maknūnih, or the Hidden Words, is one of the early works of Baha’u’llah in the Baghdad period and consists of an Arabic and Persian section. It was originally titled the Book of Fatima (Ṣaḥifiy-i Fāṭimiyyih), an early allusion to Baha’u’llah’s messianic claims, because that title was an allusion to an esoteric Shiʿi text that was to be in the possession of the Qa’im at his advent.
  513. Baha’u’llah. The Hidden Words. Oxford: Oneworld, 2004.
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  515. Baha’u’llah. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. New ed. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2005.
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  517. This is a translation of a collection of the writings of Baha’u’llah, culled from various tablets in Persian and Arabic. The subjects treated in these “Gleanings” are wide ranging and contain many doctrinal and ethical principles of the religion.
  518. Baha’u’llah. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. New ed. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2005.
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  520. Baha’u’llah. The Tabernacle of Unity: Bahá’u’lláh’s Responses to Mánikchí Ṣáḥib and Other Writings. Haifa, Israel: Baha’i World Centre, 2006.
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  522. A small collection of Baha’u’llah’s writings, in Persian, to Baha’is of Zoroastrian background, and to a 19th-century Zoroastrian/Parsi notable, Manakji Sahib.
  523. Baha’u’llah. The Tabernacle of Unity: Bahá’u’lláh’s Responses to Mánikchí Ṣáḥib and Other Writings. Haifa, Israel: Baha’i World Centre, 2006.
  524. Find this resource:
  525. ʿAbdu’l-Baha
  526.  
  527. At present, there are eight translations of the writings of ʿAbdu’l-Baha in English, excluding the unauthenticated works such as Paris Talks or ʿAbdu’l-Bahá in London. The authentication of any of the English translations of the writings of ʿAbdu’l-Baha is dependent on locating Persian and Arabic originals, which were either penned by him or copied by one of his trusted amanuenses. The work of authentication is often carried on by the research department at the Baha’i World Center in Haifa, Israel. Without such authentication, the writings of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha are given the status of “pilgrim’s notes” or just unauthenticated. This measure was taken by its central figures, presumably to safeguard the religion from the creation of problems associated with hadith literature, such as in Islam. ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1970 is a treatise that ʿAbdu’l-Baha wrote on the necessity of improving the conditions of Iran and the East. ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1977 is an important document that presents the expansion plans of the religion, as set out by ʿAbdu’l-Baha. ʿAbdu’l-Baha 2008 contains the answers to questions put to ʿAbdu’l-Baha by Laura Clifford-Barney, an early American Baha’i. ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1971 is a hagiography of the life of the early saints and martyrs of the religion. ʿAbdu’l-Baha 2012 is a collection of the talks of ʿAbdu’l-Baha, delivered during his visit to North America. ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1909 represents a comprehensive collection of his tablets, some which are revised and translated in ʿAbdu’l-Baha 2010. Another collection with important tablets, such as the Tablet of the Branch, is contained in Bahá’í World Faith (Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1976), and, finally, one of the more important texts in the Baha’i canon, aside from Baha’u’llah’s Most Holy Book (Baha’u’llah 1994, cited under English Translations: Baha’u’llah), is ʿAbdu’l-Baha 1944.
  528.  
  529. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas. Chicago: Baha’i Publishing Society, 1909.
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  531. A large collection of tablets by ʿAbdu’l-Baha, many of which have not been retranslated and republished in English again. A newer and more updated translation would be a welcome edition.
  532. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas. Chicago: Baha’i Publishing Society, 1909.
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  534. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Committee, 1944.
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  536. This is the last will and testament of ʿAbdu’l-Baha, which is one of the central works for the Baha’i concepts of covenant, administration, and succession. In this text, ʿAbdu’l-Baha appoints Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian (wali) of the religion.
  537. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Committee, 1944.
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  539. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. The Secret of Divine Civilization. Translated by Marzieh Gail. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1970.
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  541. Originally written in Persian and titled Risālih-ye Madani-ye. The work is a critique of Qajar society in Iran, and the need for social and political reformation. It was also intended by its author to have universal implications, beyond its immediate historical setting. It was disseminated in Iran without being ascribed to ʿAbdu’l-Baha at first, and it was considered groundbreaking by some Iranian clerics and intellectuals.
  542. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. The Secret of Divine Civilization. Translated by Marzieh Gail. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1970.
  543. Find this resource:
  544. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Memorials of the Faithful. Translated by Marzieh Gail. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1971.
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  546. This work is titled Tadhkirat al-Vafā, and it covers the lives of Babi and Baha’i saintly figures, many of whom were put to death by the Iranian state. It is written in the Tadhkira (memorials) genre of Islamic hagiography, the most famous example of which is the Sufi poet ʿAttar’s the Memorials of the Friends [of God], or Tadhkirat al-Awliya’.
  547. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Memorials of the Faithful. Translated by Marzieh Gail. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1971.
  548. Find this resource:
  549. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Tablets of the Divine Plan: Revealed by ʿAbdu’l-Bahā to the North American Bahá’ís. Rev. ed. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1977.
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  551. This is a collection of tablets to Baha’is of North America, outlining the role of these countries in the worldwide expansion of the religion.
  552. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Tablets of the Divine Plan: Revealed by ʿAbdu’l-Bahā to the North American Bahá’ís. Rev. ed. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1977.
  553. Find this resource:
  554. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Some Answered Questions. 4th ed. Compiled and translated by Laura Clifford Barney. Kessinger Publishing’s Rare Reprints. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 2008.
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  556. This is a collection of a series of questions put to ʿAbdu’l-Baha by Laura Clifford Barney, while visiting him in Palestine from America. It is a miscellany of subjects covering many topics, such as interpretations of Christian doctrines, biblical exegesis, theology, station of the manifestation, the soul, degrees of spirit, and so forth. A revised translation of this volume is forthcoming. Originally published in 1900 (London: Baha’i Publishing Trust).
  557. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Some Answered Questions. 4th ed. Compiled and translated by Laura Clifford Barney. Kessinger Publishing’s Rare Reprints. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 2008.
  558. Find this resource:
  559. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2010.
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  561. A select collection from the tablets of ʿAbdu’l-Baha, some of which are in the longer 1909 publication Tablets of ʿAbdu’l-Bahā Abbās. The translation is revised and updated.
  562. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2010.
  563. Find this resource:
  564. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʿAbdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Compiled by Howard MacNutt. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2012.
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  566. A collection of talks by ʿAbdu’l-Baha, delivered during his visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Some of the talks in this collection remain unauthenticated at this time. Originally published 1922–1925.
  567. ʿAbdu’l-Baha. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʿAbdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Compiled by Howard MacNutt. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2012.
  568. Find this resource:
  569. Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Bahā’ī World Faith: Selected Writings of Bahā’u’llāh and ʿAbdu’l-Bahā. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1976.
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  571. This is a selection of writings from Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha. It contains some important translations that have not been republished in English, such as the Tablet of the Branch by Baha’u’llah, which is written regarding the exalted station and status of ʿAbdu’l-Baha.
  572. Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Bahā’ī World Faith: Selected Writings of Bahā’u’llāh and ʿAbdu’l-Bahā. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1976.
  573. Find this resource:
  574. Studies in Baha’i Scripture
  575.  
  576. Numerous studies, commentaries, and glosses have appeared on the Baha’i writings since the inception of the religion. Select studies in European and Persian literature will be presented in the subsections Studies in European Languages and Studies in Persian.
  577.  
  578. Studies in European Languages
  579.  
  580. Since the late 1970s a large number of European language studies have been produced on the multivolume corpus of Baha’i scripture, mostly in article form. At present, there has been only one attempt at a sweeping discussion of the whole range of Baha’u’llah’s oeuvre: Taherzadeh 1974–1987. Most studies have been dedicated to those books of Baha’u’llah concerned with mystical, doctrinal, and legal matters, as seen in Bushrui 1995, Buck 1995, and Savi 2008. Others have focused on individual tablets dealing with theological and philosophical subjects (Brown 1997, McCants 2002, Momen 1997), while a select few have written on the mystico-poetic output of Baha’u’llah (Lambden 1984, Lewis 1999).
  581.  
  582. Brown, Keven. “Hermes Trismegistus and Apollonius of Tyana in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.” In Revisioning the Sacred: New Perspectives on a Bahá’í Theology. Edited by Jack A. McLean, 153–188. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 8. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1997.
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  584. This is a scholarly study of the tablet of Wisdom, with a focus on Hermes and Apollonius of Tyana mentioned in that tablet, and Islamicate Hermetica and Alchemy. These issues were repeatedly raised by early Baha’is and appear in many of Baha’u’llah’s writings. Text available online.
  585. Brown, Keven. “Hermes Trismegistus and Apollonius of Tyana in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.” In Revisioning the Sacred: New Perspectives on a Bahá’í Theology. Edited by Jack A. McLean, 153–188. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 8. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1997.
  586. Find this resource:
  587. Buck, Christopher. Symbol & Secret: Qur’an Commentary in Bahá’u’lláh’s Kitáb-i Íqán. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1995.
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  589. One of the earliest full-length, scholarly studies in English of one of Baha’u’llah’s central doctrinal works, the Book of Certitude (Kitāb-i Iqān). The text is available as a PDF file online through Buck’s website.
  590. Buck, Christopher. Symbol & Secret: Qur’an Commentary in Bahá’u’lláh’s Kitáb-i Íqán. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1995.
  591. Find this resource:
  592. Bushrui, Suheil B. The Style of the Kitáb-i-ʿAqdas: Aspects of the Sublime. Bethesda: University Press of Maryland, 1995.
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  594. This is a useful study of the literary and theological aspects of Baha’u’llah’s Kitāb al-ʿAqdas, the Most Holy Book (Baha’u’llah 1994, cited under English Translations: Baha’u’llah).
  595. Bushrui, Suheil B. The Style of the Kitáb-i-ʿAqdas: Aspects of the Sublime. Bethesda: University Press of Maryland, 1995.
  596. Find this resource:
  597. Lambden, Stephen. “An Early Poem of Mirza Husayn ʿAli Bahá’u’lláh: The Sprinkling of the Cloud of Unknowing, Rashh-i ʿAmá.” Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 3.2 (September 1984).
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  599. A scholarly study of the earliest revelatory work of Baha’u’llah, in the form of a poem, Rasḥh-i ʿAmā’ (Sprinkling of the Unknowable Cloud). Revisions can be found at Commentary upon the Rashḥ-i ‘Amā.
  600. Lambden, Stephen. “An Early Poem of Mirza Husayn ʿAli Bahá’u’lláh: The Sprinkling of the Cloud of Unknowing, Rashh-i ʿAmá.” Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 3.2 (September 1984).
  601. Find this resource:
  602. Lewis, Franklin. “Bahā’u’llāh’s Mathnavīy-i Mubārak: Introduction, and a Provisional Verse Translation.” Bahá’í Studies Review 9 (1999): 101–157.
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  604. An academic study and translation of one of the early mystical works of Baha’u’llah, written in a poetical form called mathnavi. The Persian mystical poet Jalal’ul-Din Rumi’s great poem was written in this form and is called Mathnavīy-i Ma’navī, or the Spiritual Couplets, and Baha’u’llah’s work, which to some degree bears an intertextual relationship to Rumi’s poem, is called Mathnavīy-i Mubārak, or the Blessed Couplets.
  605. Lewis, Franklin. “Bahā’u’llāh’s Mathnavīy-i Mubārak: Introduction, and a Provisional Verse Translation.” Bahá’í Studies Review 9 (1999): 101–157.
  606. Find this resource:
  607. McCants, William. “The Wronged One: Shíʿí Narrative Structure in Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of Visitation for Mullá Ḥusayn.” Lights of ʿIrfán 3 (2002): 83–94.
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  609. An important study of a tablet of visitation (ziyarat namih) for a disciple of the Bab, by Baha’u’llah. McCants studies the significance of the narrative structure of ziyara, in Islamic and particularly Shiʿite tradition, and its use in the writings of Baha’u’llah.
  610. McCants, William. “The Wronged One: Shíʿí Narrative Structure in Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of Visitation for Mullá Ḥusayn.” Lights of ʿIrfán 3 (2002): 83–94.
  611. Find this resource:
  612. Momen, Moojan. “Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of the Uncompounded Reality (Lawḥ-i Basít al-Haqíqa).” Abhā: A Journal of Bābi-Bahā’ī Studies 1.1 (1997): 1–15.
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  614. A scholarly study of Baha’u’llah’s philosophical tablet and commentary, related to the philosophical dictum Basīt al-Haqīqa, made famous by the Persian Shiʿi philosopher Mullah Sadra. Text available online.
  615. Momen, Moojan. “Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of the Uncompounded Reality (Lawḥ-i Basít al-Haqíqa).” Abhā: A Journal of Bābi-Bahā’ī Studies 1.1 (1997): 1–15.
  616. Find this resource:
  617. Savi, Julio. Towards the Summit of Reality: An Introduction to Bahá’u’lláh’s Seven Valleys and Four Valleys. George Ronald Bahá’í Studies. Oxford: George Ronald, 2008.
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  619. An impressive and lengthy study of two mystical treatises of Baha’u’llah, Ḥaft Vādī va Chehār Vādī (Seven Valleys and Four Valleys). The author makes full use both of secondary European and Persian scholarship on the study of these two works of Baha’u’llah.
  620. Savi, Julio. Towards the Summit of Reality: An Introduction to Bahá’u’lláh’s Seven Valleys and Four Valleys. George Ronald Bahá’í Studies. Oxford: George Ronald, 2008.
  621. Find this resource:
  622. Taherzadeh, Adib. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. 4 vols. Oxford: George Ronald, 1974–1987.
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  624. A four-volume hagiography covering the voluminous oeuvre of Baha’u’llah, with reference to some major primary sources. The volumes are a work of devotional historiography and were written from a Baha’i perspective.
  625. Taherzadeh, Adib. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. 4 vols. Oxford: George Ronald, 1974–1987.
  626. Find this resource:
  627. Studies in Persian
  628.  
  629. There has been a wealth of modern studies in Persian on the writings of Baha’u’llah and ʿAbdu’l-Baha. Ishraq Khavari 1972 is a valuable four-volume encyclopedic study of the Book of Certitude, and Ishraq Khavari 1997 is an important volume for the study of the religion’s seminal text, the Most Holy Book. Saiedi 1998 provides an analysis of a commentary by ʿAbdu’l-Baha on an Islamic doxological formula at the beginning of every chapter of the Qurʾan, and Saiedi 1997 is a commentary by ʿAbdu’l-Baha on a renowned Islamic tradition (hadith). Radmihr 2009 and Radmihr 2002 discuss many of the mystical treatises and poetry of Baha’u’llah, as well as one of his philosophical tablets. Ma’ani 2004–2006 presents an extensive study of Baha’u’llah’s Hidden Words, and Davudi 1998 provides a systematic study of a philosophical tablet of ʿAbdu’l-Baha. An example of the proliferation of studies is represented by the eleven volumes of Safini-yi ʿIrfán, which contain many useful articles on the Baha’i writings.
  630.  
  631. Davudi, ʿAli Murad. Malakūt-i Vūjūd. Darmstadt: ʿAsr-i-Jadid, 1998.
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  633. A fine study of an important philosophical tablet of ʿAbdu’l-Baha, to the notable Swiss scientist and psychiatrist Auguste-Henri Forel. It was written by the late, eminent Iranian and Baha’i philosopher ʿAli Murad Davudi, who was kidnapped after the 1979 revolution in Iran, never to be found.
  634. Davudi, ʿAli Murad. Malakūt-i Vūjūd. Darmstadt: ʿAsr-i-Jadid, 1998.
  635. Find this resource:
  636. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid. Kitāb-i qāmus-i īqān. 4 vols. Tehran, Iran: Mu’assasah-i Milli-i Matbu‘at-i Amri, 1972.
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  638. This is an important dictionary and encyclopedic work on Baha’u’llah’s central doctrinal work, the Book of Certitude. It is not an academic work but contains a wealth of important philological data, with cross-references to other works of Baha’u’llah.
  639. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid. Kitāb-i qāmus-i īqān. 4 vols. Tehran, Iran: Mu’assasah-i Milli-i Matbu‘at-i Amri, 1972.
  640. Find this resource:
  641. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid. Taqrīrāt-i Dar Bāre-ye Kitāb-i Aqdas. Edited by Vahid Rafati. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1997.
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  643. A major study of Baha’u’llah’s Most Holy Book in Persian, with intertextual references to his other works. The volume is excellently edited by Vahid Rafati and contains important historical and philological information relevant to the Arabic text.
  644. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid. Taqrīrāt-i Dar Bāre-ye Kitāb-i Aqdas. Edited by Vahid Rafati. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 1997.
  645. Find this resource:
  646. Ma’ani, Daryush. Kanz-i Asrār. 2 vols. Bundoora, Australia: Century Press Publications, 2004–2006.
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  648. This is a valuable, extended commentary on Baha’u’llah’s Hidden Words, illuminating the text with intertextual cross-referencing to other Baha’i writings.
  649. Ma’ani, Daryush. Kanz-i Asrār. 2 vols. Bundoora, Australia: Century Press Publications, 2004–2006.
  650. Find this resource:
  651. Radmihr, Fariduddin. Arbáb-i Ḥikmat dar Lawḥ-i-Ḥikmat. Hamilton, Canada: Association for Baha’i Studies in Persian, 2002.
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  653. A detailed study of one of the philosophical tablets of Baha’u’llah, Lawḥ-i Ḥikmat (Tablet of Wisdom), focusing on the philosophers mentioned therein, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as figures of importance in Arabic Hermetica, such as Hermes Trismagistus and Balinus (Apollonius of Tyana).
  654. Radmihr, Fariduddin. Arbáb-i Ḥikmat dar Lawḥ-i-Ḥikmat. Hamilton, Canada: Association for Baha’i Studies in Persian, 2002.
  655. Find this resource:
  656. Radmihr, Fariduddin. Nuḥ-Maqaliḥ, Bishi-yi Andishih-Hā. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2009.
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  658. A collection of insightful essays on the revelatory poetry and mystical writings of Baha’u’llah.
  659. Radmihr, Fariduddin. Nuḥ-Maqaliḥ, Bishi-yi Andishih-Hā. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2009.
  660. Find this resource:
  661. Safini-yi ʿIrfán: Papers Presented at the ʿIrfán Colloquia in Persian, Book I–XIII. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 1998–2008.
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  663. These thirteen volumes contain important scholarly articles and studies in Persian on many of the Baha’i writings.
  664. Safini-yi ʿIrfán: Papers Presented at the ʿIrfán Colloquia in Persian, Book I–XIII. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 1998–2008.
  665. Find this resource:
  666. Saiedi, Nader. “Negahī be Tafsīr-e Konto Kanz” (An Exposition of the Mystic Concept of Hidden Treasure). Khoosh-i-Ha 8 (1997): 94–104.
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  668. A study of ʿAbdu’l-Baha’s commentary on the Islamic tradition Ḥadith Qūdsī (divine saying), “I was a Hidden Treasure, and I longed to be known, hence I brought forth creation in order to be known.”
  669. Saiedi, Nader. “Negahī be Tafsīr-e Konto Kanz” (An Exposition of the Mystic Concept of Hidden Treasure). Khoosh-i-Ha 8 (1997): 94–104.
  670. Find this resource:
  671. Saiedi, Nader. “Tafsīr bismi llāh raḥmān raḥīm.” Pazhūhishnāmih 2.2 (Summer 1998).
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  673. A penetrating study of three commentaries by Shaykh Ahmad Ahsa’i, the Bab, and ʿAbdu’l-Baha, on the Qurʾanic bismi llāh raḥmān raḥīm (In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful), which heads every chapter (surah) of the Qurʾan except chapter 9. However, the interesting heritage of Islamic commentaries on this formula, especially Shiʿi, Isma’ili, and Sufi commentaries, are not discussed.
  674. Saiedi, Nader. “Tafsīr bismi llāh raḥmān raḥīm.” Pazhūhishnāmih 2.2 (Summer 1998).
  675. Find this resource:
  676. Doctrine
  677.  
  678. Many of the doctrinal principles of the Baha’i faith have their origin in Babism, and to some extent in esoteric Shiʿism, such as the Shaykhi school. In this section, we will discuss some important doctrines such as Baha’i Theology (concept of God), Theophanology (concept of Manifestation), the Maid of Heaven (Holy Spirit), Cosmogony, Anthropology (Human Nature), Covenant, and Ethics.
  679.  
  680. Theology
  681.  
  682. The Baha’i conception of God or theology (uluhiyyat) is supratranscendent in nature. God is completely beyond creation and unknowable in essence (dhat) and can be known only through the locus of Manifestation(s) (mazhar), who are the prophets or manifestations of God. Davudi 1996 covers the theological and theophanological doctrines of the religion; Lambden 1997 deals with Baha’i negative theology and its heritage in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; and McLean 1992 discusses Baha’i theology and its relationship to other religious traditions.
  683.  
  684. Davudi, ʿAli Murad. Ūlūḥiyyat va Maẓhariyyat. Vol. 2, Falsafih va ʿIrfán. 2d ed. Edited by Vahid Rafati. Dundas, Canada: Persian Institute for Baha’i Studies, 1996.
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  686. Davudi discusses the philosophical foundations of Baha’i theology, which conceives God to be epistemologically beyond the reach of human conception and understanding. See especially pp. 60–98.
  687. Davudi, ʿAli Murad. Ūlūḥiyyat va Maẓhariyyat. Vol. 2, Falsafih va ʿIrfán. 2d ed. Edited by Vahid Rafati. Dundas, Canada: Persian Institute for Baha’i Studies, 1996.
  688. Find this resource:
  689. Lambden, Stephen N. “The Background and Centrality of Apophatic Theology in Bábí and Bahá’í Scriptures.” In Revisioning the Sacred: New Perspectives on a Bahá’í Theology. Edited by Jack A. McLean, 37–78. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 8. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1997.
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  691. This article examines Baha’i negative or apophatic theology, in light of previous religious traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
  692. Lambden, Stephen N. “The Background and Centrality of Apophatic Theology in Bábí and Bahá’í Scriptures.” In Revisioning the Sacred: New Perspectives on a Bahá’í Theology. Edited by Jack A. McLean, 37–78. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 8. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1997.
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  694. McLean, Jack A. “Prolegomena to a Bahá’í Theology.” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 5.1 (1992).
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  696. A comparative discussion of aspects of Baha’i theology with similar concepts in other religions.
  697. McLean, Jack A. “Prolegomena to a Bahá’í Theology.” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 5.1 (1992).
  698. Find this resource:
  699. Theophanology
  700.  
  701. Baha’i theophanology, or concept of manifestation (mazhariyyat), envisages a preexistent Logos (kalima) also termed the primal Will (mashiyyat awaliyya) or primal Intellect (aql-i ʿawwal) (there are many theophanological titles ascribed to the “manifestation” of God in Baha’i scripture), who is considered to be the intermediary between God and creation and appears resplendent in all the prophets/manifestations, as the sun appears within a mirror. Cole 1982 is a study of the intellectual history of Baha’i theophanology. Saiedi 1995 is a philosophical analysis of the Baha’i concept of Manifestation in Persian. Saiedi 1998 discusses the resolution of logical problems in negative theology using the Baha’i concept of Manifestation. Brown 1990 is a brief look at the preexistential and cosmogonic station of the Manifestation, typified by the term “Primal Will.”
  702.  
  703. Brown, Keven. “Brief Discussion of the Primal Will in the Bahá’í Writings.” Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 4.2 (January 1990): 22–27.
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  705. A very brief but useful discussion of the concept of the Primal Will, which is the preexistent reality of the Manifestations of God, and the cause of creation.
  706. Brown, Keven. “Brief Discussion of the Primal Will in the Bahá’í Writings.” Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 4.2 (January 1990): 22–27.
  707. Find this resource:
  708. Cole, Juan R. I. “The Concept of Manifestation in the Bahá’í Writings.” Bahá’í Studies 9 (1982): 1–38.
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  710. This is an excellent academic overview of the Baha’i concept of the manifestation of God, or theophanology.
  711. Cole, Juan R. I. “The Concept of Manifestation in the Bahá’í Writings.” Bahá’í Studies 9 (1982): 1–38.
  712. Find this resource:
  713. Saiedi, Nader. Maẓharíyyat. (Doctrine of Manifestation). Bahá’í Studies 8. Dundas, Canada: Institute for Baha’i Studies in Persian, 1995.
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  715. Saiedi brings to bear the whole history of Western philosophical thought, in his analysis of the concept of manifestation (mazhariyyat) in the Baha’i faith.
  716. Saiedi, Nader. Maẓharíyyat. (Doctrine of Manifestation). Bahá’í Studies 8. Dundas, Canada: Institute for Baha’i Studies in Persian, 1995.
  717. Find this resource:
  718. Saiedi, Nader. “Antinomies of Reason and the Theology of Revelation: Some Preliminary Thoughts.” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 8.4 (1998).
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  720. This is a philosophical discussion of the apparent paradox in the Baha’i concept of an unknowable God, and its relation to creation. The author demonstrates that the concept of the Manifestation of God, who is the knowable aspect of God, negates this paradox and resolves the “antinomies of reason” caused by negative theology.
  721. Saiedi, Nader. “Antinomies of Reason and the Theology of Revelation: Some Preliminary Thoughts.” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 8.4 (1998).
  722. Find this resource:
  723. Maid of Heaven
  724.  
  725. The Maid of Heaven (huriyya) or the Holy Spirit (ruh al-quds), an aspect of the manifestation of God and a source of divine revelation, is symbolized in Baha’i scripture as a heavenly Maiden of luminous beauty, who appears to Baha’u’llah in visionary and oneiric accounts symbolizing the event of his divine revelation. Walbridge 1997 is a brief look at the erotic imagery related to the Maid of Heaven in the writings of Baha’u’llah. Ekbal 1997 is a study of the Zoroastrian heritage of the symbolism of the Maid of Heaven in Baha’u’llah’s oeuvre, and Ekbal1998 is a Persian study of the motif of the heavenly Maiden in one of Baha’u’llah tablets. Sours 1991 is a comparative study of the concept of the Maid of Heaven in the Baha’i writings and its biblical and extra-biblical parallels.
  726.  
  727. Ekbal, Kamran. “Daena-Den-Din: The Zoroastrian Heritage of the ‘Maid of Heaven’ in the Tablets of Baha’u’llah.” In Scripture and Revelation: Papers Presented at the First Irfan Colloquium, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, December 1993 and the Second Irfan Colloquium, Wilmette, USA, March 1994. Edited by Moojan Momen, 125–169. Bahá’í Studies 3. Oxford: George Ronald, 1997.
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  729. This is one of the best discussions of the symbol of the Maid of Heaven in Baha’u’llah’s oeuvre and its Zoroastrian provenance.
  730. Ekbal, Kamran. “Daena-Den-Din: The Zoroastrian Heritage of the ‘Maid of Heaven’ in the Tablets of Baha’u’llah.” In Scripture and Revelation: Papers Presented at the First Irfan Colloquium, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, December 1993 and the Second Irfan Colloquium, Wilmette, USA, March 1994. Edited by Moojan Momen, 125–169. Bahá’í Studies 3. Oxford: George Ronald, 1997.
  731. Find this resource:
  732. Ekbal, Kamran. Angiz-ye Ḥuriyya yā Daenā va Dīn va rad-e pay-e Mazdisnā dar Lawḥ-i Mallāh al-Qūds (The Maid of Heaven and the Tablet of the Holy Mariner). In Safīnih-yi ʿIrfán. Vol. 1, 110–123. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 1998.
  733. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  734. Ekbal discusses the motif of the Maid of Heaven and its Zoroastrian heritage, specifically in Baha’u’llah’s Tablet of the Holy Mariner (Lawḥ-i Mallāh al-Qūds). Available online.
  735. Ekbal, Kamran. Angiz-ye Ḥuriyya yā Daenā va Dīn va rad-e pay-e Mazdisnā dar Lawḥ-i Mallāh al-Qūds (The Maid of Heaven and the Tablet of the Holy Mariner). In Safīnih-yi ʿIrfán. Vol. 1, 110–123. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 1998.
  736. Find this resource:
  737. Sours, Michael W. “The Maid of Heaven, the Image of Sophia, and the Logos Personification of the Spirit of God in Scripture and Sacred Literature.” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 4.1 (1991).
  738. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  739. Sours discusses the symbolism of the Maid of Heaven in the Baha’i writings, and its philosophical correspondence to other symbols in previous religious traditions, such as Judaism and Christianity.
  740. Sours, Michael W. “The Maid of Heaven, the Image of Sophia, and the Logos Personification of the Spirit of God in Scripture and Sacred Literature.” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 4.1 (1991).
  741. Find this resource:
  742. Walbridge, John. Erotic Imagery in the Allegorical Writings of Baha’u’llah. 1997.
  743. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  744. This is a brief overview of the motif of the Maiden (huriyya) in the writings of Baha’u’llah.
  745. Walbridge, John. Erotic Imagery in the Allegorical Writings of Baha’u’llah. 1997.
  746. Find this resource:
  747. Cosmogony
  748.  
  749. Baha’i cosmogony or creation (khilqat) is conceptualized as an emanative “process” (sudur) and has appeared through the intermediary of the primal Will of God in various stages, and it ultimately has no beginning or end. Hence, the cosmos has stemmed from the Primal Will (mashiyyat awaliyya) rather than directly from God’s essence (Brown 2003). A study of the Baha’i concept of creation or cosmogenesis, Brown 2002 is a discussion of Baha’i cosmogony and its heritage in Islamicate philosophy. Rafati 1998 is a paper on the Baha’i concept of the seven stages of creation, and Brown 1990 is a study on the Baha’i concept of the origin of matter.
  750.  
  751. Brown, J. Vahid. “The Beginning That Hath No Beginning: Bahā’ī Cosmogony.” Lights of ʿIrfán 3 (2002): 21–40.
  752. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  753. An insightful discussion of Baha’i cosmogony and its philosophical heritage in aspects of Islamicate philosophy.
  754. Brown, J. Vahid. “The Beginning That Hath No Beginning: Bahā’ī Cosmogony.” Lights of ʿIrfán 3 (2002): 21–40.
  755. Find this resource:
  756. Brown, Keven. “A Bahá’í Perspective on the Origin of Matter.” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 2.3 (1990): 15–44.
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  758. Brown provides one of the best discussions of the philosophical basis of the Baha’i concept of the origin of matter (mad’a).
  759. Brown, Keven. “A Bahá’í Perspective on the Origin of Matter.” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 2.3 (1990): 15–44.
  760. Find this resource:
  761. Brown, Keven. “Creation.” 2003.
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  763. This is one of the best scholarly discussions of the concept of creation or cosmogony in Baha’i scripture.
  764. Brown, Keven. “Creation.” 2003.
  765. Find this resource:
  766. Rafati, Vahid. “Marātib-i Sab‘ih va Ḥadīth-i Mashiyyat.” In Safīnih-yi ʿIrfán. Vol. 1, 53–81. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 1998.
  767. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  768. This article discusses one of the cosmogonic schemes in the Baha’i writings, the seven stages of creation (ʿmaratib-i sabʿih), in relation to its origin in Shiʿite oral traditions (ahadith), specifically the hadith of the Will (mashiyyat). Available online.
  769. Rafati, Vahid. “Marātib-i Sab‘ih va Ḥadīth-i Mashiyyat.” In Safīnih-yi ʿIrfán. Vol. 1, 53–81. Darmstadt: Asr-i Jadid, 1998.
  770. Find this resource:
  771. Anthropology
  772.  
  773. Baha’i anthropology (insaniyyat) views human beings as reflections of the names and attributes of God (sifat-i ʿillahi) and conceives human nature to be essentially spiritual. Human beings can spiritually progress eternally in the worlds beyond, but only within their own station (maqam) as created beings; they can neither attain the station of the manifestation of God nor become mystically annihilated (fana) or united with God, in the sense of mixing with God’s essence (dhat). Davudi 1987 is a collection of essays on the teachings on human nature in the Baha’i faith. Saiedi 1991 is a study of Baha’i anthropology and its sociophilosophical significance. Lepain 2000 deals with the conceptualization of human nature in Baha’u’llah’s thought.
  774.  
  775. Davudi, ʿAli Murad. Falsafih va ʿIrfan: Insan dar A’in-i Bahā’ī. Vol. 1. Edited by Vahid Rafati. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1987.
  776. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  777. Various essays presenting a philosophical analysis of human nature in the Baha’i writings.
  778. Davudi, ʿAli Murad. Falsafih va ʿIrfan: Insan dar A’in-i Bahā’ī. Vol. 1. Edited by Vahid Rafati. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1987.
  779. Find this resource:
  780. Lepain, Jean-Marc. L’esprit antropique: Le problème métaphysique de l’intelligibilité et de la rationalité du monde dans la pensée de Baha’u’llah. 2000.
  781. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  782. Lepain provides a philosophical analysis of Baha’u’llah’s metaphysics and the notions of rationality and intelligibility of the cosmos, and its relationship to human nature and thought.
  783. Lepain, Jean-Marc. L’esprit antropique: Le problème métaphysique de l’intelligibilité et de la rationalité du monde dans la pensée de Baha’u’llah. 2000.
  784. Find this resource:
  785. Saiedi, Nader. “Human Nature in Baha’i Perspective.” Canadian Association for Baha’i Studies, 1991.
  786. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  787. This is a philosophical discussion of Baha’i anthropology or the nature of human beings.
  788. Saiedi, Nader. “Human Nature in Baha’i Perspective.” Canadian Association for Baha’i Studies, 1991.
  789. Find this resource:
  790. Covenant
  791.  
  792. According to Baha’i thought, there is a covenant (ahd/mithaq) of love between God and humanity, drawn using the manifestations of God at various stages of sacred history, which is conceptualized in three forms: the primordial covenant (God and creation through the manifestation), the greater covenant (regarding the acceptance of the next manifestation), and lesser covenant (regarding the successorship of the manifestation). The recognition of this covenantal complex is considered to have profound importance on the spiritual development of human beings. Taherzadeh 1992 is largely a discussion of the Baha’i concept of the lesser covenant, while Lawson 2005 is a study of the concept of the covenant in one of the tablets of Baha’u’llah. Kazemi 2009 is a study of the esoteric dimension of the primordial covenant in the Baha’i faith, and Saiedi 1999 is an analysis of the concept of covenant in one of Baha’u’llah’s early writings.
  793.  
  794. Kazemi, Farshid. “Mysteries of Alast: The Realm of Subtle Entities (ʿĀlam-i dharr) and the Primordial Covenant in the Babi-Baha’i Writings.” Baháā’í Studies Review 15.1 (May 2009): 39–66.
  795. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  796. A scholarly study of the esoteric and gnostic dimension of the concept of the world of particles (ʿalam-i dharr), and the primordial covenant in early esoteric Shiʿism, Shaykhism, and its radical hermeneutics in the Babi and Baha’i writings. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  797. Kazemi, Farshid. “Mysteries of Alast: The Realm of Subtle Entities (ʿĀlam-i dharr) and the Primordial Covenant in the Babi-Baha’i Writings.” Baháā’í Studies Review 15.1 (May 2009): 39–66.
  798. Find this resource:
  799. Lawson, Todd. “Seeing Double: The Covenant and the Tablet of Ahmad.” In The Bahá’í Faith and the World Religions: Papers Presented at the Irfan Colloquia. Edited by Moojan Momen, 39–87. George Ronald Bahá’í Studies. Oxford: George Ronald, 2005.
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  801. A scholarly discussion of the Baha’i concept of the covenant in one of Baha’u’llah’s tablets, the Tablet of Ahmad (Lawḥ-i Aḥmad).
  802. Lawson, Todd. “Seeing Double: The Covenant and the Tablet of Ahmad.” In The Bahá’í Faith and the World Religions: Papers Presented at the Irfan Colloquia. Edited by Moojan Momen, 39–87. George Ronald Bahá’í Studies. Oxford: George Ronald, 2005.
  803. Find this resource:
  804. Saiedi, Nader. “Kalimat-i maknūnih va aṣl-i mīthāq.” Pazhūhishnāmih: A Persian Journal of Bahā’ī Studies 3.2 (Winter 1999): 68–107.
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  806. This is an insightful analysis of the Baha’i concept of the covenant, adumbrated in Baha’u’llah’s early work the Hidden Words (kalimāt-i maknūnih).
  807. Saiedi, Nader. “Kalimat-i maknūnih va aṣl-i mīthāq.” Pazhūhishnāmih: A Persian Journal of Bahā’ī Studies 3.2 (Winter 1999): 68–107.
  808. Find this resource:
  809. Taherzadeh, Adib. The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh. Oxford: George Ronald, 1992.
  810. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  811. The volume treats various aspects of the Baha’i concept of the covenant, especially the lesser covenant, relating to issues of successorship. It is written from a Baha’i perspective.
  812. Taherzadeh, Adib. The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh. Oxford: George Ronald, 1992.
  813. Find this resource:
  814. Ethics
  815.  
  816. According to Baha’i doctrine, the ultimate axis of Baha’i ethics and spirituality simultaneously revolves round two inseparable principles: the recognition of the manifestation of God for each age, and a life lived according to the teachings of that manifestation. Schaefer 2007–2009 is a theological reading of Baha’i moral theory and ethics. McLean 1994 is a study of the confluence of Baha’i spirituality and ethics. Danesh and Fazel 2004 is a volume of articles on Baha’i moral philosophy.
  817.  
  818. Danesh, John, and Seena Fazel, eds. Search for Values: Ethics in Bahá’í Thought. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 15. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2004.
  819. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  820. A collection of essays on various aspects of Baha’i ethical and moral thought.
  821. Danesh, John, and Seena Fazel, eds. Search for Values: Ethics in Bahá’í Thought. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 15. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2004.
  822. Find this resource:
  823. McLean, Jack A. Dimensions in Spirituality: Reflections on the Meaning of Spiritual Life and Transformation in Light of the Bahá’í Faith. Oxford: George Ronald, 1994.
  824. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  825. A philosophical reflection and study of the various facets of Baha’i ethics and spirituality, from an insider perspective.
  826. McLean, Jack A. Dimensions in Spirituality: Reflections on the Meaning of Spiritual Life and Transformation in Light of the Bahá’í Faith. Oxford: George Ronald, 1994.
  827. Find this resource:
  828. Schaefer, Udo. Bahá’í Ethics in Light of Scripture: An Introduction. 2 vols. Oxford: George Ronald, 2007–2009.
  829. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  830. An extensive discussion of the ethical teachings of the Baha’i faith, written from a theological and insider perspective.
  831. Schaefer, Udo. Bahá’í Ethics in Light of Scripture: An Introduction. 2 vols. Oxford: George Ronald, 2007–2009.
  832. Find this resource:
  833. Praxis
  834.  
  835. The historical roots of Baha’i ritual and worship has its immediate background in the Babi movement (MacEoin 1994), and to a lesser degree in Islam (especially Shiʿism), though most of the highly arcane and esoteric elements of Babi law were abrogated in Baha’i law. The spiritual life and praxis of Baha’is may be divided into individual, communal, and institutional acts, which they perform as part of their religious duties as prescribed in the writings of Baha’u’llah and as elaborated by ʿAbdu’l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi. This is perfectly exemplified by Walbridge’s ternary typology of sacred acts, sacred space, and sacred time, as seen in Walbridge 1996. Sacred acts consist of individual worship, such as daily readings from the scriptures, meditation (dhikr), obligatory prayers (salat), and fasting period (ayam-i siyam), as described in Scholl 1983, Walbridge 1996, and Ma’ani 2011. It also includes rites of life and death, as well as other religious laws. Sacred space consists of a spatial spiritual voyage or pilgrimage (hajj) to Baha’i shrines and holy places and the recitation of special prayers of visitation (ziyarat namih) at these sites, and it also includes Baha’i temples or houses of worship (mashriq al-adkar, literally “dawning place of the remembrance” [of God]) (Momen 2010, Rafati and Sahba 2011, Walbridge 1996). Sacred time consists of the observance of holy days and festivals in the new Baha’i calendar, called the Badi’ calendar (Banani 2011, Ishraq Khavari 1974, Keil 2008).
  836.  
  837. Banani, Amin. “Bahaism ii: Bahai Calendar and Festivals.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  838. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  839. A brief academic summary of the origins of the Baha’i calendar and the nine festivals or holy days. Originally published 15 December 1988.
  840. Banani, Amin. “Bahaism ii: Bahai Calendar and Festivals.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  841. Find this resource:
  842. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid, ed. Ayyam-i Tis’ih. Tehran, Iran: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1974.
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  844. A major collection of Baha’i writings on the nine holy days and festivals in the Baha’i calendar. Originally published in 1947.
  845. Ishraq Khavari, ʿAbdu’l-Hamid, ed. Ayyam-i Tis’ih. Tehran, Iran: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1974.
  846. Find this resource:
  847. Keil, Gerald C. Time and the Bahá’í Era: A Study of the Badí’ Calendar. Oxford: George Ronald, 2008.
  848. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  849. A useful study of the Baha’i calendar, called Badi’, meaning “new” or “wondrous,” which has its origin in Babism.
  850. Keil, Gerald C. Time and the Bahá’í Era: A Study of the Badí’ Calendar. Oxford: George Ronald, 2008.
  851. Find this resource:
  852. Ma’ani, Daryush. Rāz-e Namāz. Madrid: Fundación Nehal, 2011.
  853. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  854. The title may be translated as Mysteries of Obligatory Prayer. It is a useful study of the mystical and esoteric (batin) dimension of obligatory prayers (namaz/salat) in the Baha’i faith.
  855. Ma’ani, Daryush. Rāz-e Namāz. Madrid: Fundación Nehal, 2011.
  856. Find this resource:
  857. MacEoin, Denis. Rituals in Babism and Baha’ism. Pembroke Persian Papers 2. London: British Academic Press, 1994.
  858. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  859. This is an academic study of aspects of Babi and Baha’i religious worship, with important translations of primary sources. The author discusses some of the more esoteric elements of these practices, especially in Babism.
  860. MacEoin, Denis. Rituals in Babism and Baha’ism. Pembroke Persian Papers 2. London: British Academic Press, 1994.
  861. Find this resource:
  862. Momen, Moojan. “Mašhreq al-Aḍkār.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2010.
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  864. A scholarly overview of the various meanings of this term (literally, “dawning place of the remembrance” [of God]) and its function in the Baha’i religion.
  865. Momen, Moojan. “Mašhreq al-Aḍkār.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2010.
  866. Find this resource:
  867. Rafati, Vahid, and Fariborz Sahba. “Bahaism ix: Bahai Temples.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  868. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  869. Brief academic overview of Baha’i temples and their place in the religion. Originally published 15 December 1988.
  870. Rafati, Vahid, and Fariborz Sahba. “Bahaism ix: Bahai Temples.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  871. Find this resource:
  872. Scholl, Steven. “The Remembrance of God: An Invocation Technique in Sufism and the Writings of the Bab and Bahaullah.” Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 2.3 (December 1983): 73–98.
  873. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  874. A valuable discussion of the mystical aspects of meditation, and the concept of dhikr in the writings of the Bab and Baha’u’llah.
  875. Scholl, Steven. “The Remembrance of God: An Invocation Technique in Sufism and the Writings of the Bab and Bahaullah.” Bahá’í Studies Bulletin 2.3 (December 1983): 73–98.
  876. Find this resource:
  877. Walbridge, John. Sacred Acts, Sacred Space, Sacred Time. Bahā’ī Studies 1. Oxford: George Ronald, 1996.
  878. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  879. This is the single-best academic volume on all aspects of Baha’i spiritual life and praxis. For the individual’s spiritual life and responsibilities, see pp. 3–93; for holy places, journeys, and sacred spaces, see pp. 103–165; for holy days and festivals, see pp. 171–241.
  880. Walbridge, John. Sacred Acts, Sacred Space, Sacred Time. Bahā’ī Studies 1. Oxford: George Ronald, 1996.
  881. Find this resource:
  882. Social Teachings
  883.  
  884. One of the most important elements of the Baha’i faith is its emphasis on the notion of “unity” (albeit a unity in diversity [vahdat dar kasrat], not a unity of uniformity), which underpins all aspects of Baha’i thought and practice. This motif manifests itself in varied forms in the religions social teachings, which Baha’is consider to be just as important as their spiritual praxis, such as prayer, fasting, and so forth. Baha’is believe that their religion’s social teachings provide new markers for the establishment of a future world civilization or world order. Baha’i social teachings consist of issues such as gender and racial equality, world peace and unity, socioeconomic justice and development, right to universal education, the need for a universal auxiliary language, the abolition of all forms of prejudice, and so forth. The literature on Baha’i social teachings is vast and varied in quality, but there are a growing number of scholarly works on the subject. Hayes 2007 provides a useful compilation on the social teachings of the Baha’i faith. Lee 1984 contains a collection of essays on most of the Baha’i social principles. Warburg, et al. 2005 provides an excellent collection of papers on the various aspects of Baha’i social teachings and globalization. Lerche 2004 consists of a collection of articles on the Baha’i contribution to peace and conflict resolution. Shahvar 2009 is a historical study on the role of Baha’is in educational development in Iran. Buck 2005 discusses the African American philosopher Alain Locke’s embracing of the Baha’i faith due to its teachings on racial equality. Maneck 1994 is an article on the role of women in the Baha’i faith, and Momen 2005 provides a historical analysis of the role of women in the Baha’i community of Qajar Iran. Meyjes 2006 discusses the Baha’i concept of a universal auxiliary language.
  885.  
  886. Buck, Christopher. Alain Locke: Faith and Philosophy. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2005.
  887. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  888. An academic study of the life of the African American philosopher Alain Locke and his conversion to the Baha’i faith. The volume contains important discussions of Baha’i teachings on the necessity of racial equality, and the progressive dimension of these teachings in the context of early-20th-century America.
  889. Buck, Christopher. Alain Locke: Faith and Philosophy. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2005.
  890. Find this resource:
  891. Hayes, Terrill G., comp. Peace—More Than an End to War: Selections from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ʿAbdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice. Edited by Terrill G. Hayes and Richard Hill. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2007.
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  893. A useful compilation from the Baha’i scriptures on a whole range of issues related to Baha’i social teachings. Originally published in 1986.
  894. Hayes, Terrill G., comp. Peace—More Than an End to War: Selections from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ʿAbdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice. Edited by Terrill G. Hayes and Richard Hill. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 2007.
  895. Find this resource:
  896. Lee, Anthony A., ed. Circle of Unity: Bahá’í Approaches to Current Social Issues. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1984.
  897. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  898. A useful collection of articles on various aspects of Baha’i social teachings and principles, such as gender and racial equality, world peace, human rights, economic and social justice, and so forth. The volume is a little dated, but it still contains useful material.
  899. Lee, Anthony A., ed. Circle of Unity: Bahá’í Approaches to Current Social Issues. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 1984.
  900. Find this resource:
  901. Lerche, Charles O., ed. Healing the Body Politic: Bahá’í Perspectives on Peace and Conflict Resolution. George Ronald Bahá’í Studies. Oxford: George Ronald, 2004.
  902. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  903. A valuable collection of articles on Baha’i social teachings on “peace” and its contribution to worldwide conflict resolution.
  904. Lerche, Charles O., ed. Healing the Body Politic: Bahá’í Perspectives on Peace and Conflict Resolution. George Ronald Bahá’í Studies. Oxford: George Ronald, 2004.
  905. Find this resource:
  906. Maneck, Susan S. “Women in the Baha’i Faith.” In Religion and Women. Edited by Arvind Sharma, 211–228. McGill Studies in the History of Religions. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.
  907. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  908. A scholarly article on the spiritual and social role of women in the Baha’i faith. Text available online.
  909. Maneck, Susan S. “Women in the Baha’i Faith.” In Religion and Women. Edited by Arvind Sharma, 211–228. McGill Studies in the History of Religions. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.
  910. Find this resource:
  911. Meyjes, Gregory. “Language and World Order in Bahá’í Perspective: A New Paradigm Revealed.” In Explorations in the Sociology of Language and Religion. Edited by Tope Omoniyi and Joshua A. Fishman, 26–41. Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society, and Culture 20. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: J. Benjamins, 2006.
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  913. A scholarly study of the Baha’i concept of a “universal auxiliary language” and its future role.
  914. Meyjes, Gregory. “Language and World Order in Bahá’í Perspective: A New Paradigm Revealed.” In Explorations in the Sociology of Language and Religion. Edited by Tope Omoniyi and Joshua A. Fishman, 26–41. Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society, and Culture 20. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: J. Benjamins, 2006.
  915. Find this resource:
  916. Momen, Moojan. “The Role of Women in the Iranian Bahā’ī Community during the Qajar Period.” In Religion and Society in Qajar Iran: Proceedings of the Conference Held on 4–6 September 2000 in Bristol and Jointly Organised by Bristol University (Department of Theology and Religious Studies), the British Institute of Persian Studies, the Iran Heritage Foundation, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the University of Bristol Faculty of Arts. Edited by Robert M. Gleave, 346–369. RoutledgeCurzon/BIPS Persian Studies 4. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005.
  917. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  918. An academic study of the role of women in the Baha’i community of Qajar Iran.
  919. Momen, Moojan. “The Role of Women in the Iranian Bahā’ī Community during the Qajar Period.” In Religion and Society in Qajar Iran: Proceedings of the Conference Held on 4–6 September 2000 in Bristol and Jointly Organised by Bristol University (Department of Theology and Religious Studies), the British Institute of Persian Studies, the Iran Heritage Foundation, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the University of Bristol Faculty of Arts. Edited by Robert M. Gleave, 346–369. RoutledgeCurzon/BIPS Persian Studies 4. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005.
  920. Find this resource:
  921. Shahvar, Soli. The Forgotten Schools: The Baha’is and Modern Education in Iran, 1899–1934. International Library of Iranian Studies 11. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 2009.
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  923. An excellent academic volume regarding the role of the Baha’i community in the development of modern education and pedagogy in Iran.
  924. Shahvar, Soli. The Forgotten Schools: The Baha’is and Modern Education in Iran, 1899–1934. International Library of Iranian Studies 11. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 2009.
  925. Find this resource:
  926. Warburg, Margit, Annika Hvithamar, and Morten Warmind, eds. Baha’i and Globalisation. RENNER Studies on New Religions 7. Aaarhus, Denmark: Aaarhus University Press, 2005.
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  928. A scholarly compendium containing articles on the relationship of the Baha’i teachings to the process of globalization.
  929. Warburg, Margit, Annika Hvithamar, and Morten Warmind, eds. Baha’i and Globalisation. RENNER Studies on New Religions 7. Aaarhus, Denmark: Aaarhus University Press, 2005.
  930. Find this resource:
  931. Political Theory
  932.  
  933. An important aspect of the social teachings of the Baha’i faith is its political philosophy or political theory, which has as its ultimate aim the achievement of universal peace. There is, at present, only a few scholarly articles and books regarding Baha’i political thought, and the issues have been controversially debated within the literature. Momen 2008 provides an analysis of Baha’i involvement in the Constitutional Revolution. Yazdani 2001 is an analysis of some Baha’i texts on the Constitutional Revolution, Yazdani 2003 is an excellent discussion of the Qajar state and society in light of the Baha’i writings, and Milani 2010 is another study of Baha’i discourses on the Constitutional Revolution. Alkan 2009 deals with the role of Baha’is on the reform movements in Ottoman Turkey. McGlinn 1999 is a study of the teachings of the Baha’i faith on the state, and McGlinn 2005 is a theological study of the Baha’i teachings regarding the separation of religion and state.
  934.  
  935. Alkan, Necati. Dissent and Heterodoxy in the Ottoman Empire: Reformers, Babis and Baha’is, 1844–1928. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2009.
  936. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  937. Alkan’s book is the publication of his doctoral dissertation and discusses the historical role and influence of the Babis and Baha’is on other reform movements in Ottoman Turkey.
  938. Alkan, Necati. Dissent and Heterodoxy in the Ottoman Empire: Reformers, Babis and Baha’is, 1844–1928. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2009.
  939. Find this resource:
  940. McGlinn, Sen. Journal of Church and State 41 (Autumn 1999): 697–724.
  941. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  942. McGlinn studies the Baha’i teachings on the politics of the state, arguing for a secular reading of aspects of the Baha’i writings. Available online by subscription.
  943. McGlinn, Sen. Journal of Church and State 41 (Autumn 1999): 697–724.
  944. Find this resource:
  945. McGlinn, Sen. Church and State: A Postmodern Political Theology. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 19. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2005.
  946. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  947. This is McGlinn’s self-published master’s thesis on Baha’i politics and governance. McGlinn reads the Baha’i teachings as demonstrating a theory of separation of religion and state.
  948. McGlinn, Sen. Church and State: A Postmodern Political Theology. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 19. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2005.
  949. Find this resource:
  950. Milani, Kavian S. “Baha’i Discourses on the Constitutional Revolution.” In The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Edited by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and Seena B. Fazel, 141–155. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  951. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  952. An important study of various Baha’i discourses on the Constitutional Revolution.
  953. Milani, Kavian S. “Baha’i Discourses on the Constitutional Revolution.” In The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Edited by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and Seena B. Fazel, 141–155. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  954. Find this resource:
  955. Momen, Moojan. “The Baha’is and the Constitutional Revolution: The Case of Sari, Mazandaran, 1906–1913.” Iranian Studies 41.3 (2008): 343–363.
  956. DOI: 10.1080/00210860801981310Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  957. A valuable case study of the Baha’i community of Sari in Mazandaran, and their role in the Constitutional Revolution. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  958. Momen, Moojan. “The Baha’is and the Constitutional Revolution: The Case of Sari, Mazandaran, 1906–1913.” Iranian Studies 41.3 (2008): 343–363.
  959. Find this resource:
  960. Yazdani, Mina. “Diyanat-i Baha’i wa-Nahdat-i Mashrutiyyat-i Iran az khalal-i Alwah-i Hadrat-i ʿAbd al-Baha.’’ Khushaha’i az Khurman-i Adab wa-Hunar 12 (2001): 223–248.
  961. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  962. Yazdani discusses the Baha’i faith in light of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran, especially in some of the writings of ʿAbdu’l-Baha.
  963. Yazdani, Mina. “Diyanat-i Baha’i wa-Nahdat-i Mashrutiyyat-i Iran az khalal-i Alwah-i Hadrat-i ʿAbd al-Baha.’’ Khushaha’i az Khurman-i Adab wa-Hunar 12 (2001): 223–248.
  964. Find this resource:
  965. Yazdani, Mina. Ouza-yi Ejtema’i-i Iran dar Ahd-i Qajar az Khalal-i Athar-i Mubarakeh-i Baha’i. Hamilton, Canada: Association for Baha’i Studies in Persian, 2003.
  966. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  967. This is a major study of the Baha’i writings on the society, politics, and governance of the Qajars in 19th-century Iran.
  968. Yazdani, Mina. Ouza-yi Ejtema’i-i Iran dar Ahd-i Qajar az Khalal-i Athar-i Mubarakeh-i Baha’i. Hamilton, Canada: Association for Baha’i Studies in Persian, 2003.
  969. Find this resource:
  970. Baha’is and Other Religions
  971.  
  972. Baha’is, employing a monotheistic lexicon, consider that divine revelation is progressive and that all the world religions are valid for a period of sociohistorical time, including the Baha’i faith. According to Baha’i thought, the differences between religions are due only to the requirements of the time in which they appear, and concern only secondary matters such as social laws and praxis, but with respect to their spiritual teachings they consider them to be essentially one. At present, there are few comparative academic studies of the Baha’i faith and other religions, and some of the literature is apologetic in nature, much of which is of uneven quality. A scholarly collection of articles covering various religions is presented in Momen 2005. Lundberg 2002 studies the Baha’i concept of progressive revelation, and Bausani 2000 provides one of the best academic studies of the Baha’i faith within the religious landscape of Iran. Gulpaygani 2001 is perhaps one of the most famous Baha’i apologetic works written in Persian. Moayyad 1990 contains several important articles on the relationship between Islam and the Baha’i faith, and an academic discussion of symbolic correspondences between Persian Christianity and the Baha’i faith is provided in Buck 1999. Sours 2000 presents a Baha’i perspective on the scriptures of the world religions. Matthews 1996 presents a Baha’i interpretation of the return of Christ, and Schaefer 2004 studies the Baha’i concept of “progressive revelation” as the paradigm that transcends religious diversity and conceptualizes their essential unity.
  973.  
  974. Bausani, Alessandro. Religion in Iran: From Zoroaster to Baha’ullah. Translated by J. M. Marchesi. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 11. New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 2000.
  975. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  976. This is an English translation of Bausani’s classic text in Italian, on the history of religious thought in Iran: Persia Religiosa (Milan, 1958). The last chapter of the book treats the Babi and Baha’i religions, which Bausani contextualizes in light of the history of religious thought in Iran. The author covers, inter alia, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Iranian Islam, Isma’ilism, Ishraqi philosophy, Persianate Sufism, Shiʿite philosophy in Safavid Iran, and Shaykhism.
  977. Bausani, Alessandro. Religion in Iran: From Zoroaster to Baha’ullah. Translated by J. M. Marchesi. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 11. New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 2000.
  978. Find this resource:
  979. Buck, Christopher. Paradise and Paradigm: Key Symbols in Persian Christianity and the Bahá’í Faith. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999.
  980. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  981. This academic volume deploys methods within comparative religion to look at the symbolic correspondences in early Persianate Christianity and the Baha’i faith.
  982. Buck, Christopher. Paradise and Paradigm: Key Symbols in Persian Christianity and the Bahá’í Faith. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999.
  983. Find this resource:
  984. Gulpaygani, Mirza Abu’l-Fadl. Kitāb al-farā’id: Fi bayān wujūh aqsām al-dalīl wa-al-burhān wa-jawāb masā’il intaqada bi-hā haḍrat al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Salām ʿal’a Ahi al-īqān. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2001.
  985. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  986. Gulpaygani was an Islamic scholar who later became an eminent Baha’i scholar and apologist. This is his magnum opus apologetic work in response to a certain Shaykh ʿAbdu’l-Salam’s polemics against the religion. It seeks to demonstrate that the Baha’i faith is the fulfillment of the eschatological promises of the Qurʾan and Islamic traditions. The volume is important not only for its theological exegesis, but also for its historical place and significance in secondary Baha’i literature.
  987. Gulpaygani, Mirza Abu’l-Fadl. Kitāb al-farā’id: Fi bayān wujūh aqsām al-dalīl wa-al-burhān wa-jawāb masā’il intaqada bi-hā haḍrat al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Salām ʿal’a Ahi al-īqān. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2001.
  988. Find this resource:
  989. Lundberg, Zaid. “From Adam to Bahá’u’lláh: The Idea of a Chain of Prophecy.” In Lights of ʿIrfán 3 (2002): 59–82.
  990. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  991. Lundberg uses methods within religious studies in his discussion of the Baha’i concept of “progressive revelation.”
  992. Lundberg, Zaid. “From Adam to Bahá’u’lláh: The Idea of a Chain of Prophecy.” In Lights of ʿIrfán 3 (2002): 59–82.
  993. Find this resource:
  994. Matthews, Gary L. He Cometh with Clouds: A Bahá’í View of Christ’s Return. Oxford: George Ronald, 1996.
  995. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  996. A Baha’i apologetic interpretation of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, presenting Baha’u’llah as the fulfillment of its eschatological promises.
  997. Matthews, Gary L. He Cometh with Clouds: A Bahá’í View of Christ’s Return. Oxford: George Ronald, 1996.
  998. Find this resource:
  999. Moayyad, Heshmat, ed. The Bahá’í Faith and Islam: Proceedings of a Symposium, McGill University, March 23–25, 1984. Ottawa, Canada: Association for Baha’i Studies, 1990.
  1000. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1001. A valuable collection of essays, many of them by renowned scholars such as Annemarie Schimmel, Alessandro Bausani, and Heshmat Moayyad, to name but a few.
  1002. Moayyad, Heshmat, ed. The Bahá’í Faith and Islam: Proceedings of a Symposium, McGill University, March 23–25, 1984. Ottawa, Canada: Association for Baha’i Studies, 1990.
  1003. Find this resource:
  1004. Momen, Moojan, ed. The Bahá’í Faith and the World’s Religions: Papers Presented at ʿIrfán Colloquia. George Ronald Bahá’í Studies. Oxford: George Ronald, 2005.
  1005. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1006. A collection of papers discussing the Baha’i faith, in light of religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Babism, African religions, and so forth. Originally published in 2003.
  1007. Momen, Moojan, ed. The Bahá’í Faith and the World’s Religions: Papers Presented at ʿIrfán Colloquia. George Ronald Bahá’í Studies. Oxford: George Ronald, 2005.
  1008. Find this resource:
  1009. Schaefer, Udo. Beyond the Clash of Religions: The Emergence of a New Paradigm. 3d ed. Studien zum Bahā’itum 5. Hofheim, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2004.
  1010. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1011. A philosophical and theological study of the unity and diversity of religions. Schaefer deploys the Baha’i hermeneutics of “progressive revelation” as a “new paradigm” for solving the paradoxes of “difference” between religions.
  1012. Schaefer, Udo. Beyond the Clash of Religions: The Emergence of a New Paradigm. 3d ed. Studien zum Bahā’itum 5. Hofheim, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2004.
  1013. Find this resource:
  1014. Sours, Michael W. Without Syllable or Sound: The World’s Sacred Scriptures in the Bahá’í Faith. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2000.
  1015. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1016. A discussion of the Baha’i approach to the scriptures of various religions, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, biblical Apocrypha, the Qurʾan, and Hindu and Buddhist scriptures. The volume does not treat Zoroastrian scripture.
  1017. Sours, Michael W. Without Syllable or Sound: The World’s Sacred Scriptures in the Bahá’í Faith. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2000.
  1018. Find this resource:
  1019. Persecution
  1020.  
  1021. The persecution of Baha’is emerged at the very beginnings of the religion and was due to the religion’s conception of a post-Islamic divine revelation. Though there have been a few other Islamic societies wherein Baha’is have seen persecution, such as Algeria and Egypt, it is largely in the land of its birth that the religion has witnessed the most systematic persecution. The varied narratives that underlie the logic for persecuting the religion and its members have gone through various permutations, which may be briefly outlined as the following: the Islamic/religious (i.e., Baha’i faith as heresy and apostasy), the Russian influence (Baha’is as Russian imperialist conspiracy), the English influence (Baha’is as British imperialist conspiracy), and finally the US and Zionist influence (Baha’is as Zionist spies and agents). However, at present, there seems to be a new paradigm emerging in the process of “Othering” the Baha’is in Iran, deploying methods of “cult studies” largely from Christian apologetic literature in the United States. There is now a growing body of scholarship on various aspects of the persecution of Baha’is in Iran. Cooney 2009 provides one of the best bibliographical sources on the persecution of Baha’is. The Bahá’í Question provides the Baha’i International Community’s own assessment of the persecution of its members and institutions. Vahman 2010 is an excellent assessment of the whole history of the persecution of Baha’is in Iran. The standard chronology of Baha’i persecution, up to the late 1970s, is Momen 1979–1983. A useful introductory examination of the historical origins of the persecution of Babis and Baha’is is discussed in Amanat 2010. Chehabi 2010 and Chehabi and Ashraf 2009 provide invaluable insights into the conspiratorial logic and nationalist historiography at the root of anti-Baha’i thought. Yazdani 2011 is the finest analysis of the Russian phase of the conspiracy narrative, and Tavakoli-Targhi 2010 brings to bear an incisive sociohistorical analysis of the persecution of Baha’is.
  1022.  
  1023. Amanat, Abbas. “The Historical Roots of the Persecution of Babis and Baha’is in Iran.” In The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Edited by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and Seena B. Fazel, 170–183. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  1024. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1025. An academic look at the historical origins of Babi and Baha’i persecutions.
  1026. Amanat, Abbas. “The Historical Roots of the Persecution of Babis and Baha’is in Iran.” In The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Edited by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and Seena B. Fazel, 170–183. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  1027. Find this resource:
  1028. The Bahá’í Question: Cultural Cleansing in Iran. Baha’i International Community. 2008.
  1029. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1030. This is the Baha’i International Community’s own informational resource on Baha’i persecutions.
  1031. The Bahá’í Question: Cultural Cleansing in Iran. Baha’i International Community. 2008.
  1032. Find this resource:
  1033. Chehabi, Houchang E. “Anatomy of Prejudice: Reflections on Secular Anti-Baha’ism in Iran.” In The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Edited by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and Seena B. Fazel, 184–199. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  1034. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1035. One of the best discussions of secular anti-Baha’i discourse in Iran as the “internal Other.”
  1036. Chehabi, Houchang E. “Anatomy of Prejudice: Reflections on Secular Anti-Baha’ism in Iran.” In The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Edited by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and Seena B. Fazel, 184–199. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  1037. Find this resource:
  1038. Chehabi, Houchang E., and Ahmad Ashraf. “The Paranoid Style in Iranian Historiography.” In Iran in the 20th Century: Historiography and Political Culture. Edited by Touraj Atabaki, 155–176, 294–303. International Library of Iranian Studies 20. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2009.
  1039. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1040. This is a significant study of the conspiratorial narrative in Iranian historiography, including toward Baha’is.
  1041. Chehabi, Houchang E., and Ahmad Ashraf. “The Paranoid Style in Iranian Historiography.” In Iran in the 20th Century: Historiography and Political Culture. Edited by Touraj Atabaki, 155–176, 294–303. International Library of Iranian Studies 20. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2009.
  1042. Find this resource:
  1043. Cooney, Steve. “Baha’i Faith: Persecution, Repression and Diaspora, European Language Bibliography; Chronological, 1979–current (August 2009).” 2009.
  1044. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1045. An indispensable bibliographic resource on the literature covering Baha’i persecutions, in most European languages.
  1046. Cooney, Steve. “Baha’i Faith: Persecution, Repression and Diaspora, European Language Bibliography; Chronological, 1979–current (August 2009).” 2009.
  1047. Find this resource:
  1048. Momen, Moojan. “A Chronology of Some of the Persecutions of the Babis and Baha’is in Iran, 1844–1978.” Bahá’í World 12 (1979–1983): 380–392.
  1049. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1050. A valuable historical chronology of Babi and Baha’i persecutions. The article does not contain a chronology of persecutions in post-revolutionary Iran (i.e., 1979 onward).
  1051. Momen, Moojan. “A Chronology of Some of the Persecutions of the Babis and Baha’is in Iran, 1844–1978.” Bahá’í World 12 (1979–1983): 380–392.
  1052. Find this resource:
  1053. Tavakoli-Targhi, Mohamad. “Anti-Baha’ism and Islamism in Iran.” In The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Edited by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and Seena B. Fazel, 200–231. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  1054. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1055. This is a penetrating historical analysis of some of the reasons behind anti-Baha’i propaganda in Iran, and the notions of “alterity” and Baha’is as the “Other.”
  1056. Tavakoli-Targhi, Mohamad. “Anti-Baha’ism and Islamism in Iran.” In The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Edited by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and Seena B. Fazel, 200–231. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  1057. Find this resource:
  1058. Vahman, Fereydun. Yakṣad va shaṣt sāl mubārazah bā dīyanat-i Bahāʼī: Gūshahā-yi az tārīkh-i ijtimāʻi-dīni-i Īrān dar dawrān-i muʻaṣir. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2010.
  1059. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1060. This is one of the more thorough Persian-language overviews of the persecution of Baha’is in Iran.
  1061. Vahman, Fereydun. Yakṣad va shaṣt sāl mubārazah bā dīyanat-i Bahāʼī: Gūshahā-yi az tārīkh-i ijtimāʻi-dīni-i Īrān dar dawrān-i muʻaṣir. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany: Baha’i-Verlag, 2010.
  1062. Find this resource:
  1063. Yazdani, Mina. “The Confessions of Dolgoruki: Fiction and Masternarrative in Twentieth-Century Iran.” Iranian Studies 44.1 (2011): 25–47.
  1064. DOI: 10.1080/00210862.2011.524055Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1065. A major academic study of a pseudo-memoir, the so-called Confessions of Dolgoruki, which was purported to be the memoirs of the Russian ambassador to Iran. Yazdani provides an important analysis of the origins of the conspiracy logic in this spurious text, which was to become the later trajectory of anti-Baha’i sentiment in Iran. A version of this article was first published in Persian in Iran Nameh 24.4, available online. The English version is also available online for purchase or by subscription.
  1066. Yazdani, Mina. “The Confessions of Dolgoruki: Fiction and Masternarrative in Twentieth-Century Iran.” Iranian Studies 44.1 (2011): 25–47.
  1067. Find this resource:
  1068. Countries and Regions
  1069.  
  1070. There are several useful histories written on Baha’i communities in various countries and regions. Smith 2011 provides a short overview of the general development of Baha’i communities. The best academic survey of the Baha’i community in Iran is Rafati 2011, and Brookshaw and Fazel 2010 contains a number of excellent articles on Baha’is in Iran. Stockman 1995 is the standard history of the Baha’i community in America. Van den Hoonaard 1996 brings together the community history of the religion in Canada. A collection of academic articles on the history of the Western Baha’i communities is presented in Smith 2004. Lee 2011 provides an important study of the development and growth of the Baha’i community in Africa. Seow 1991 is a valuable study on the historical development of Baha’i communities in the Far East, China, and Southeast Asia. Ruhe 1986 is the narrative history of the religion in Palestine and Israel.
  1071.  
  1072. Brookshaw, Dominic Parviz, and Seena B. Fazel, eds. The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  1073. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1074. An important collection of scholarly articles on the Baha’is of Iran, covering various themes such as conversion histories, social history, teachings on the status of women, and persecutions.
  1075. Brookshaw, Dominic Parviz, and Seena B. Fazel, eds. The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical Studies. Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies 12. New York: Routledge, 2010.
  1076. Find this resource:
  1077. Lee, Anthony A. The Baha’i Faith in Africa: Establishing a New Religious Movement, 1952–1962. Studies on Religion in Africa 39. Boston and Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 2011.
  1078. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1079. This volume was originally the author’s doctoral dissertation and may be regarded as a pioneering study of the establishment of the Baha’i community on the African continent.
  1080. Lee, Anthony A. The Baha’i Faith in Africa: Establishing a New Religious Movement, 1952–1962. Studies on Religion in Africa 39. Boston and Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 2011.
  1081. Find this resource:
  1082. Rafati, Vahid. Bahaism v: The Bahai Community in Iran. In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  1083. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1084. An academic summary and overview of the Iranian Baha’i community. Originally published 15 December 1988.
  1085. Rafati, Vahid. Bahaism v: The Bahai Community in Iran. In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  1086. Find this resource:
  1087. Ruhe, David S. Door of Hope: A Century of the Bahá’í Faith in the Holy Land. Rev. ed. Oxford: George Ronald, 1986.
  1088. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1089. A history of the Baha’i faith in Palestine and Israel, with many illustrations of the holy places associated with the faith, such as images of the shrine of the Bab and its prophet-founder, Baha’u’llah.
  1090. Ruhe, David S. Door of Hope: A Century of the Bahá’í Faith in the Holy Land. Rev. ed. Oxford: George Ronald, 1986.
  1091. Find this resource:
  1092. Seow, Jimmy Ewe Huat. The Pure in Heart: Historical Development of the Bahai Faith in China, Southeast Asia, and Far East. Mona Vale, Australia: Baha’i Publications Australia, 1991.
  1093. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1094. A valuable contribution to the history and the development of the religion in these regions.
  1095. Seow, Jimmy Ewe Huat. The Pure in Heart: Historical Development of the Bahai Faith in China, Southeast Asia, and Far East. Mona Vale, Australia: Baha’i Publications Australia, 1991.
  1096. Find this resource:
  1097. Smith, Peter. Bahaism iv: The Bahai Communities. In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  1098. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1099. A scholarly overview of the expansion and development of the Baha’i community worldwide. Originally published 15 December 1988.
  1100. Smith, Peter. Bahaism iv: The Bahai Communities. In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. 2011.
  1101. Find this resource:
  1102. Smith, Peter, ed. Bahá’ís in the West. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 14. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2004.
  1103. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1104. A collection of scholarly articles on various Baha’i community histories in North America, Europe, and Australia.
  1105. Smith, Peter, ed. Bahá’ís in the West. Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions 14. Los Angeles: Kalimat, 2004.
  1106. Find this resource:
  1107. Stockman, Robert H. The Bahá’í Faith in America. 2 vols. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1995.
  1108. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1109. The standard history of the origins of the Baha’i faith in the United States. The first volume (Origins, 1892–1900) covers the first phase of the religion’s expansion into America. The second volume (Early Expansion, 1900–1912) covers the second phase of Baha’i expansion. Originally published in 1985.
  1110. Stockman, Robert H. The Bahá’í Faith in America. 2 vols. Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1995.
  1111. Find this resource:
  1112. van den Hoonaard, Will C. The Origins of the Bahá’í Community of Canada, 1898–1948. Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1996.
  1113. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1114. As the title suggests, this is a study of the historical origins of Canadian Baha’is.
  1115. van den Hoonaard, Will C. The Origins of the Bahá’í Community of Canada, 1898–1948. Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1996.
  1116. Find this resource:
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