Tag Archives: Qajar Dynasty

His Declaration

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 29, 2026- On the ninth day after His and His family’s arrival in the Garden of Ridvan, Baha’ullah summoned His eldest son, Abbas*, into His tent. There, He announced to His son that He was the Promised One, mentioned by His immediate Predecessor, Ali Muhammad, known to posterity as al-Bab (“The Gate”). Baha’ullah would make the same announcement to four other people, later that same evening, under a promise of confidentiality. This was due to the tight surveillance imposed by their Ottoman overseers and to the presence of operatives of the Persian Qajar Dynasty, which had initiated the exile of Baha’ullah and His family from Teheran, some ten years previous.

Baha’ullah, like the Great Teachers Who came before Him, intended His Teachings to redound to the benefit of all humankind. Coming as He did on the cusp of global connectivity and accelerated communication technology, His words can have an enormous impact-for the betterment of the world. Indeed, studied carefully, without coercion, the Teachings of Baha’ullah can lead to a greater understanding of the forces of change that have been extant in the world since the middle of the 19th Century and which are accelerating today, even as many of the institutions that have underpinned both Western and Eastern civilizations,for nearly 500 years, are fading away.

It is a given, that when one system draws to an end, another rises to take its place. This does not have to be frightening or debilitating. Rather, careful study of Scriptures, both past and contemporary, can offer solace that the Age in which we live is a period of birthing. There is no one who needs to be left out or excluded, in the civilization that is slowly rising, even as many time-honoured institutions are falling away.

Take your time with understanding all of this, and hang on-the world needs you.

  • Known to posterity as ‘Abdu’l-Baha

Sanity Prevails-For Now

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Family, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 7, 2026- The only possible solution to the current stalemate in and around Iran has been reached-for now. Personally, I am most concerned for the safety and well-being of my fellow Baha’is in that country. They have, since the proclamation of the Babi Faith, in the days of the Qajar Dynasty, been relentlessly persecuted by the Shiite Muslim clergy and by elements of the government. This was as true during the Pahlavi Dynasty of the mid-Twentieth Century as it was earlier. The Islamic Republic has upped the level of persecution, to the extent of desecrating Baha’i graves, banning Baha’i marriages and refusing to let children of Baha’is receive an education, past eighth grade-if even for that long. Many Baha’is have been imprisoned, and several executed.

That said, the way to reversing the waves of prejudice against my fellows in Faith doe snot lie in “an eye for an eye” or “bombing the country back into the Stone Age”. ( Iran was a highly civilized place when much of western Europe was still a land of hunter/gatherers and North America was mostly settled and a place of organized agricultural communities, but not yet of classical, nation-based civilization.) Baha’is take the position that only consultation and equanimity can resolve the various conflicts, large and small, around the globe.

One of the tenets of the Baha’i Faith is to “regard the Earth as but one country and mankind its citizens.” This is accepted, in principle, by a good many people around the world. Some go back, though, to “What about national sovereignty?” or “Clean up your own back yard”, when I have raised this in the past. I say we can, and should, be concerned at all levels. Indeed, my most elemental concerns are for my own health and well-being, then for my granddaughter and her parents, and on up the family ladder. Neighbourhood, community, state, nation and planet do not, however, get short shrift. We all share the air, water and mineral resources.

The various leaders, when they take a break from screaming and yelling at one another, can surely bear witness to this reality.