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Report Iran: the Situation of the Bahá'í Community
Report Iran: The situation of the Bahá’í community Report Iran: The situation of the Bahá’í community LANDINFO – 12 AUGUST 2016 1 About Landinfo’s reports The Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre, Landinfo, is an independent body within the Norwegian Immigration Authorities. Landinfo provides country of origin information to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (Utlendingsdirektoratet – UDI), the Immigration Appeals Board (Utlendingsnemnda – UNE) and the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Reports produced by Landinfo are based on information from carefully selected sources. The information is researched and evaluated in accordance with common methodology for processing COI and Landinfo’s internal guidelines on source and information analysis. To ensure balanced reports, efforts are made to obtain information from a wide range of sources. Many of our reports draw on findings and interviews conducted on fact-finding missions. All sources used are referenced. Sources hesitant to provide information to be cited in a public report have retained anonymity. The reports do not provide exhaustive overviews of topics or themes, but cover aspects relevant for the processing of asylum and residency cases. Country of origin information presented in Landinfo’s reports does not contain policy recommendations nor does it reflect official Norwegian views. Translation provided by Cellule Relations internationales et européennes, Direction de l’immigration, Service Réfugiés, Luxembourg. © Landinfo 2017 The material in this report is covered by copyright law. Any reproduction or publication of this report or any extract thereof other than as permitted by current Norwegian copyright law requires the explicit written consent of Landinfo. For information on all of the reports published by Landinfo, please contact: Landinfo Country of Origin Information Centre Storgata 33A P.O. -
Revelation & Social Reality
Revelation & Social Reality Learning to Translate What Is Written into Reality Paul Lample Palabra Publications Copyright © 2009 by Palabra Publications All rights reserved. Published March 2009. ISBN 978-1-890101-70-1 Palabra Publications 7369 Westport Place West Palm Beach, Florida 33413 U.S.A. 1-561-697-9823 1-561-697-9815 (fax) [email protected] www.palabrapublications.com Cover photograph: Ryan Lash O thou who longest for spiritual attributes, goodly deeds, and truthful and beneficial words! The outcome of these things is an upraised heaven, an outspread earth, rising suns, gleaming moons, scintillating stars, crystal fountains, flowing rivers, subtle atmospheres, sublime palaces, lofty trees, heavenly fruits, rich harvests, warbling birds, crimson leaves, and perfumed blossoms. Thus I say: “Have mercy, have mercy O my Lord, the All-Merciful, upon my blameworthy attributes, my wicked deeds, my unseemly acts, and my deceitful and injurious words!” For the outcome of these is realized in the contingent realm as hell and hellfire, and the infernal and fetid trees, as utter malevolence, loathsome things, sicknesses, misery, pollution, and war and destruction.1 —BAHÁ’U’LLÁH It is clear and evident, therefore, that the first bestowal of God is the Word, and its discoverer and recipient is the power of understanding. This Word is the foremost instructor in the school of existence and the revealer of Him Who is the Almighty. All that is seen is visible only through the light of its wisdom. All that is manifest is but a token -
Buddhism and the Bahá'í Writings: an Ontological Rapprochement
Buddhism and the Bahá’í Writings An Ontological Rapprochement * Ian Kluge Buddhism is one of the revelations recognised by the Bahá’í Faith as being divine in origin and, therefore, part of humankind’s heritage of guidance from God. This religion, which has approximately 379 million followers 1 is now making significant inroads into North America and Europe where Buddhist Centres are springing up in record numbers. Especially because of the charismatic leader of Tibetan Prasangika Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, Buddhism has achieved global prominence both for its spiritual wisdom as well as for its part in the struggle for an independent Tibet. Thus, for Bahá’ís there are four reasons to seek a deeper knowledge of Buddhism. In the first place, it is one of the former divine revelations and therefore, inherently interesting, and second, it is one of the ‘religions of our neighbours’ whom we seek to understand better. Third, a study of Buddhism also allows us to better understand Bahá’u’lláh’s teaching that all religions are essentially one. (PUP 175) Moreover, if we wish to engage in intelligent dialogue with them, we must have a solid understanding of their beliefs and how they relate to our own. We shall begin our study of Buddhism and the Bahá’í Writings at the ontological level because that is the most fundamental level at which it is possible to study anything. Ontology, which is a branch of metaphysics, 2 concerns itself with the subject of being and what it means ‘to be,’ and the way in which things are. -
Program and Abstracts
‘Irfán Colloquium One Hundred and Thirty-Second Session Memorials of the Faithful: A Centenary Celebration Program and Abstracts Centre for Bahá’í Studies Acuto, Italy 2-5 July 2015 Vision and Aims of `Irfan Colloquium The Haj Mehdi Arjmand Memorial Fund was established in 1992 to honor Haj Mehdi Arjmand (1861-1941) and is dedicated to promoting the scholarly study of the Bahá’í Faith. Haj Mehdi Arjmand was a Persian scholar and teacher of the Bahá’í Faith who became well known in Iran for his profound knowledge of the Bible, Qur’an, and Bahá’í scriptures. The primary activity of the Fund is sponsoring ‘Irfán Colloquium and its publications. In 2012, benefiting from the guidance received from the Universal House of Justice, a management board was appointed for this fund by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States to function as a Bahá’í agency and sponsor ‘Irfán Colloquia, presently held in North America and Western Europe in English, Persian and German languages. The ‘Irfán Colloquium aims at promoting and supporting systematic studies of fundamental principles of the Bahá’í beliefs, the Writings of the Central Figures of the Bahá’í Faith, the interface of the Bahá’í Faith with intellectual schools of thought and religious traditions, and looking at current challenges in human society from the Bahá’í perspective. `Irfán is a Persian word referring to mystical, theological and spiritual knowledge. As of July 2015 one hundred and thirty-two sessions of colloquia have been held. Papers in English presented or received at the `Irfán Colloquia are annually published in a series of volumes of the Lights of `Irfán. -
The Letters of the Living
TO BECOME ACQUAINTED WITH THE MAJOR EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF THE BÁB AND TO DEVELOP A DEEP LOVE FOR HIM BASED ON AN UNDERSTANDING OF THESE EVENTS THE LETTERS OF THE LIVING SPIRITUAL QUALITIES RELEVANT TO THIS TOPIC: ENTHUSIASM, IDEALISM, OBEDIENCE, STEADFASTNESS O My beloved friends! You are the bearers of the name of God in this Day. You have been chosen as the repositories of His mystery. It behooves each one of you to manifest the attributes of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His righteousness, His power and glory. Selection from the Báb’s Farwell Address to the Letters of the Living, quoted in The Dawn-Breakers, p. 92 God sent His Prophets into the world to teach and enlighten man, to explain to him the mystery of the Power of the Holy Spirit, to enable him to reflect the light, and so in his turn, to be the source of guidance to others. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, pp. 61-72 Central Figures –The Báb – Level Two 43 GOAL: TO BECOME ACQUAINTED WITH THE MAJOR EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF THE BÁB TOPIC: THE LETTERS OF THE LIVING LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES • To know the concept of the Letters of the Living and how each Letter of the Living had to discover the Báb independently • To know who the Letters of the Living were, their names, and how each discovered the Báb • To know the lives of selected Letters of the Living SUGGESTED LEARNING ACTIVITIES • Use games and role play to assist the community) to learn the names and stories learners to understand the concept of the of the Letters of the Living. -
Provisional Translations of Selected Writings of the Báb, Bahá׳U׳Lláh
Provisional Translations of Selected Writings of the Báb, Baháʼuʼlláh, and ʻAbdu’l-Bahá by Peyman Sazedj Translations originally posted at peyman.sazedj.org, reconstructed from archive.org Contents The Báb 1. Order of the Verses (Persian Bayán 3:16) 2. The Seven Stages of Creation 3. On Divine Nonfulfillment (Badá) Baháʼuʼlláh 4. Addressed to an Ancestor: "Forfeit Not the Brief Moments of Your Lives!" 5. The Meaning of Pioneering 6. Tablet of Visitation of Badí 7. The Stages of Contentment (Riḍá) 8. On Divine Tests 9. The Maiden of Divine Mystery 10. A Most Weighty Counsel 11. The Voice of the Heart of the World 12. The Three Types of Attachment 13. From the Kitáb -i-Badí: About the Short Time Span between the Revelation of the Báb and Baháʼuʼlláh 14. The Proof of the Next Manifestation 15. Interpretation of “He Employeth the Angels as Messengers, with Pairs of Wings, Two, Three and Four…” ʻAbdu’l-Bahá 16. What Youth Must Master 17. The Middle Way 18. Both Motion and Stillness are of God 19. Life on other Planets 20. About the Jinn 21. Ignorance of Self 22. The Ruby Tablet and the fifth Tablet of Paradise 23. Allusions to the Covenant in the Hidden Words 24. Interpretation of the Hidden Word: "In the Night Season..." 25. The Five Standards of Acquiring Knowledge 26. Prophets Mentioned in the Qu'rán, Zoroaster, and Mahábád 27. Prayer for Visiting the Shrine of Baháʼuʼlláh The Báb 1. The Order of the Verses (Persian Bayán 3:16) Let him who is able render the order of the Bayán in whatever manner is sweetest, though it be rendered in a thousand ways. -
Táhirih: a Religious Paradigm of Womanhood* Susan Stiles Maneck
Published in the Journal of Bahá’í Studies Vol. 2, number 2 (1989) © Association for Bahá’í Studies 1989 Táhirih: A Religious Paradigm of Womanhood* Susan Stiles Maneck An earlier version of this paper was presented for a seminar on women in Middle Eastern and South Asian literature, directed by Dr. Leslie Flemming at the University of Arizona. The author wishes to thank Dr. Flemming for her helpful comments on this work, which received an award from the American Academy of Religion, Western Region. Abstract Every religion has had its paradigm of the “ideal” woman. In Hinduism this has been Sita, the perfect wife who remains faithful to her husband at all costs. In Christianity the most eminent woman is the Virgin Mary, symbol of motherhood. Islam has Fátimih, Muhammad’s daughter, who figures in the role model of mother, wife, and daughter together. Táhirih, the archetypal paradigm of womanhood in the Bahá'í Faith, presents a startling contrast to the former models. She is remembered by Bahá’ís not as the typical wife, mother, and daughter but as the courageous, eloquent, and assertive religious innovator whose actions severed the early Bábís from Islam completely. This paper will first examine the biographical details of Táhirih’s life, focusing on her years as a Bábí leader from 1844 to her execution in 1852. Then it will explore Táhirih’s meaning as a paradigm to writers in the Middle East and in the West, both to Bahá'ís and non-Bahá'ís. But most especially it will look at the meaning Táhirih has for Bahá'ís in their perceptions of what a woman ought to be. -
Examples of the Bahá'í Faith's Outward Expressions
Examples of the Bahá’í Faith’s Outward Expressions Photo taken in 1894 Carmel means “Vineyard of the Lord”. Mount Carmel, of which the prophet Daniel called “the glorious mountain”. (KJV-Daniel 11:45) The New English Bible translation is “the holy hill, the fairest of all hills”. Mount Carmel, the home of the prophet Elijah, who challenged 450 prophets of Baal to prove their religious claims. “Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. (KJV, 3 Kings 18:19-29) He destroyed them, as well as the pervasive belief in Baalim, a false god. Caves where he lived in this Mountain are still revered. Mount Carmel, of which the Prophet Isaiah extolled “And it shall come to pass in the last days, [that] the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” (KJV, Isaiah 2:2-3) And again, “…let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (KJV, Isaiah 11:3) And again, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (KJV, 11:9) Mount Carmel, where Bahá’u’lláh (trans. -
Some Answered Questions
ACCA 1904-1906 SOME ANSWERED QUESTIONS SOME ANSWERED QUESTIONS COLLECTED AND TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN OF 'ABDU'L-BAHA I! BY LAURA CLIFFORD BARNEY PHILADELPHIA COMPANY J. B. LIPPINCOTT TRUBNER & CO. LTD. LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, 1908 All rights reserved AJ3 H0FFITT. Edinburgh : T. and A. COBSTAJJLIS, Printera to His Majesty INTRODUCTION 'I HAVE given to you my tired moments/ were the 1 words of 'Abdu'1-Baha as he rose from table after answering one of my questions. As it was on this so it continued between the day, ; hours of work, his fatigue would find relief in renewed he was able to at activity ; occasionally speak length ; but often, even though the subject might require more time, he would be called away after a few and even weeks would in moments ; again, days pass, which he had no opportunity of instructing me. But I could well be patient, for I had always before me the greater lesson the lesson of his personal life. During my several visits to Acca, these answers were written down in Persian while 'Abdu'1-Baha spoke, that I not with a view to publication, but simply At first might have them for future study. they of the had to be adapted to the verbal translation I had a interpreter; and later, when acquired slight This knowledge of Persian, to my limited vocabulary. and for no accounts for repetition of figures phrases, 1 ' Bahaism. He is also known, Abdu'1-Baha is the great teacher of name of Abbas Efendi. For further and especially in Syria, under the information see article on Bahaism, page vii. -
Introduction
Introduction The Danish RENNER project is a REsearch Network on the study of NEw Religions. This research network, which is supported by the Danish Research Council for the Humanities, has been active since 1992. In 1998, a new grant from the Research Council allowed us to conduct a specifi c study on new religions and globalisation, and we initiated the project with several separate studies of new age religion and globalisation. The present book, Baha’i and Globalisation, which is the seventh volume of the book series Renner Studies on New Religion, is the second of the case studies of the project. Another book, which emphasises the theoretical and methodological aspects of the study of new religions and globalisation, will be volume eight in the series, rounding off this special RENNER topic. Globalisation is the conventional term used to describe the present, rapid integration of the world economy facilitated by the innovations and growth in international electronic communications particularly during the last two decades. Globalisation carries with it an increasing political and cultural awareness that all of humanity is globally inter- dependent. However, the awareness of this global interdependency has been aired by philosophers and politicians much before the term globalisation was introduced. Thus, the founder of the Baha’i religion, the Iranian prophet, Husayn-Ali Nuri (1817-1892) called Baha’u’llah, claimed in the late 19th century that the central doctrine of the Baha’i religion is the realisation that the human race is one and that the world should be unifi ed: ‘The utterance of God is a lamp, whose light is these words: Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch’. -
Marzieh Gail Dawn Over Mount Hira and Other Essays
MARZIEH GAIL DAWN OVER MOUNT HIRA AND OTHER ESSAYS GR GEORGE RONALD OXFORD George Ronald 46 High Street, Kidlington, Oxford Introduction, selection and notes © George Ronald 1976 ISBN 0 85398 0632 Cased 0 85398 0640 Paper SET IN GREAT BRITAIN BY W & J MACKAY LIMITED AND PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. ii Contents FOREWORD vii I Paradise Brought Near Dawn Over Mount Hira 1 From Sa‘dí’s Garden of Roses 9 ‘Alí 12 From the Sayings of ‘Alí 14 II Take the Gentle Path There Was Wine 19 ‘For Love of Me …’ 29 Notes on Persian Love Poems 33 Current Mythology 43 III Headlines Tomorrow The Carmel Monks 49 Headlines Tomorrow 50 IV Bright Day of the Soul That Day in Tabríz 57 Bright Day of the Soul 62 The White Silk Dress 80 The Poet Laureate 91 Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl in America 105 iii V Age of All Truth The Goal of a Liberated Mind 117 This Handful of Dust 121 The Rise of Women 128 Till Death Do Us Part 137 Atomic Mandate 145 VI The Divine Encounter Echoes of the Heroic Age 153 Millennium 165 Easter Sunday 170 Bahá’u’lláh’s Epistle to the Son of the Wolf 176 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America 184 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Portrayals from East and West 194 VII Where’er You Walk In the High Sierras 219 Midnight Oil 222 Will and Testament 226 Where’er You Walk 232 NOTES AND REFERENCES 237 iv Foreword THE UNION OF EAST AND WEST has been and is the dream of many. -
Religion Asserts That Its Central Concerns Are Discovering Truth and Implementing the Measures Called for by That Truth
1 Truth: A Path for the Skeptic 2 Truth: A Path for the Skeptic Robert Vail Harris, Jr. First Edition (PDF Version) Copyright 2018 Robert Vail Harris, Jr. Website: truth4skeptic.org Email: [email protected] What is truth? Is there meaning in existence? What are life and death? These and similar questions are explored here. This work draws on techniques and examples from science and mathematics in a search for insights from ancient and modern sources. It is writ- ten especially for the skeptical scientist, the agnostic, and the athe- ist. It is informal but rigorous, and invites careful reflection. 3 Contents Page Questions 4 Answers 84 Actions 156 Notes and References 173 Truth: A Path for the Skeptic 4 Questions Overview The search for truth is a lifelong endeavor. From the time we open our eyes at birth until we close them at the hour of death, we are sorting and sifting, trying to determine what is true and what is not, what is reality and what is illusion, what is predictable and what is random. Our understanding of truth underpins our priorities and all our activities. Every thought we have, every step we take, every choice we make is based on our assessment of what is true. Knowing the truth enriches our lives, while false beliefs impover- ish and endanger us. The importance of truth can be illustrated by countless exam- ples. Contractual arrangements are accompanied by an assertion of truthfulness. Participants in a trial are required to tell the truth. Various implements have been used to try to ascertain truth, from the dunking and burning of accused witches to the use of lie detec- tors.