The plight of a troubled minority

          
          Features.Bahais
          ast month, after a United Nations report criticised Iran's
          human rightSreCOrd the Khomeini government invited the UNto send
          in envoy to investigate the charges. The plight of Iran's 300,000 Bahais
          ias aroused particular concern. Irene Ertugrul describes their position
          s a religious minori&v in Iran and the historical background of their
          chefs and practices.
          The plight of a
          troubled minority
          lthough Bahais assert that their faith is
          an independent religion, Muslims
          •egard it as a pernicious heresy within
          slam. Censequently the Bahais, and the
          abis who preceded them, have often faced
          vpression, especially in Iran, the birthplace
          .f Bahaism.
          Under the Qajars and the Pahievis, Iran's
          3ahais were constantly harassed and
          ometimes subjected to murder and torture,
          ,ften instigated by religious leaders and
          )olitical groups. Their situation became
          yen worse with the victory of the Islamic
          evolution in early 1979. A determined
          ampaign was launched to eradicate the
          aith from Iran, even though the Bahais
          ow comprise the country's largest religious
          rninority.
          in an interview given shortly before his
          eturn fiom exile, Ayatollah Khomeini
          romised full respect for religious
          ninorities, affirming that islam would
          .dopt “a humanistic attitude” and that
          there should be no reason to fear'. But
          ater he remarked: ‘They Ithe Bahaisi are a
          ,olitica.l faction: they are harmful; they will
          iot be accepted.”
          Various tactics are now being used,
          including the arrest and execution of
          arominent Bahais, the confiscation of the
          issets of the Bahai community and the
          cxertion of financial pressure and
          intimidation, in order to force .Bahais to
          renounce their faith. In August 1980 all
          nine members and two appointed officials of
          the Bahai National Spiritual Assembly
          were arrested by Revolutionary Guards and
          have not been seen since.
          Eight months later, two members of the
          Shiraz Local Spiritual Assembly were
          ex cuted on charges of “assisting Zionism
          and Savak”, as well as being members of
          the Bahai hierarchy — the first instanee of
          such a role being designated a capital
          offence. At the end of 1981 those eli cted to
          replace the national leaders were rounded
          up and executed. In January 1982 six
          members of Tehran's Local Spiritual
          Assembly were shot, together with the
          woman at whose house they were meeting.
          Iranian officials have repeatedly denied
          that these people were executed for being
          B.ahais. A spokesman for the Iranian
          Embassy in London told The Middle East
          “Do you think that, after so many people
          have given their lives to institute an Islamic
          regime in Iran, anyone would be executed if
          he were not guilty of the offences charged?”
          But no evidence has been made public (even
          to the victims' relatives ) to substantiate the
          various political charges made against
          them.
          Since the start of the revolution some 120
          Bahais, many of them prominent members
          of the community, have been killed and
          more than 200 imprisoned, In cases where
          formal accusations have been made, they
          have reportedly been accompanied by offers
          to drop the charges if the Bahai repudiates
          his faith. No action has been taken against
          those who have murdered Bahais and
          investigations into these cases have been
          cursory.
          Economic pressure has also been applied.
          All community property, including the
          investments which supported a wide range
          of charitable activities, has been confiscated.
          Homes, businesses and farms have been
          looted or destroyed.
          Many graveyards have been vandalised.
          and the most sacred Bahai shrine in Iran.
          the Shiraz borne of the Bab, was attacked in
          September 1979 and completely dismantled
          to make way for a square and roads.
          Many Bahais have lost thrir jobs in
          government-controlled institutions, now
          that regulations barring Bahais from state
          employment are being rigidly enforced —
          whereas under the Shah officials often
          turned a blind eye when Bahai abilities and
          qualifications were needed. Students who
          have received government grant .s to . in in
          education and health have been ordered to
          repay the money and, according to some
          sources, Bahais sacked from employment
          will have to repay their salarier. Since the
          autumn of 1981 many Bahai children have
          been denied admission to state schools and
          are now being tutored at home.
          A far-flung, community
          ofmore than two million
          Various national and international
          organisations have protested to the Iranian
          government and in March 1982 the United
          Nations Human Rights Commission
          adopted a resolution calling upon the UN
          secretariat tn monitor what it called “the
          perilous situation facing the Bahais in
          Iran”. Since then. fewer Bahais have been
          executed. ‘The Iranian government knows
          it is being watched,” the Bahai liaison
          officer at the UN said, but in late 1982
          arrests were stepped up again
          Today worldwide Bahai membership
          exceeds two million, about a third of whom
          Bahaisin Austria highlighting persecution in fran
          The Middle East April 1983 35
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          Fea turfs Bahais
          Enmity towards the Bahais is largely
          theological. Both Babism and Bahaism
          claimed to be new revelations superseding
          the Quran. Thus. in recdgnising either
          faith. Muslims would be denying their
          own creed: that Muhammad's message is
          valid for all time and for all men.
          In the early 16th century Iran had
          turned to Shi in in its Jaafari form, after
          adhering to Surinism for the previous 900
          years. The Janfari Shiites believe that the
          T/velfth Imam (in a line of succession from
          Au. Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law
          went into concealment while still an
          infant. One day he will return as the
          saviour, hut until then his community is
          destined to suffer under the rule of the
          unjust.
          In 1844 Sayyid Au Muhammad of
          Shiraz claimed to be the Bab (or gate) to
          the Hidden In iam and, as his vice-regent,
          to be entitled to rule over the faithful. The
          Bab's following quickly grew as many
          Iranians, facing increasing foreign
          encroachment, sought national regenera-
          tion through religious revivalist move-
          ments. Soon the Bab even tried to bring
          the Shah into an alliance. “if you pledge
          allegiance to me and regard obedience to
          me as obligatory,” read his message to
          Muhammad Shah, ‘ t then I will make your
          sovereignty great and bring foreign
          powers under your sway,” But the Shah
          brushed aside these overt wt 's and in 1847
          ordered the Bab to be put under house
          arrest. provoking him ..md his foihiwers
          into open confrontation with the regime.
          • In 1848 the Bab procla. med himself to
          be the Hidden Imnam retunied and ordered
          the laws of Islam to be abrogated. He
          declared that a new religion, with its own
          lega) system and scriptures, would now be
          given to the world. The Quran had been
          sufficient for its time, the Bab explained,
          hut the world was now ready for a
          contemporary message — his own
          teachings, summarised in the Bayan.
          In 1850' the Bab wa executed after
          being convicted of heresy. As a result of
          clashes between Babi adherents and
          government troops in the two preceding
          years some 3,000-4,000 Babis were killed.
          In 1852. after Bahi followers had tried
          unsuccessfully to assassinate Nasir al-Din
          Shah, many Bahis were imprisoned and
          50 execoted. Those who remained had to
          keep their beliefs hidden or emigrate to
          Baghdad.
          The early years of exile in iraq saw
          struggles for leadership and disputes over
          doctrine, since carrying out the Bab's
          religious prescriptions depended on the
          establishment of a Babi state, which had
          clearly become impossible. Eventually
          Baha Allah assumed the leadership of the
          movement.
          Babi doctrines continued to win
          converts from among the many Iranian
          pilgrims who visited Shiite shrines in Iraq,
          and the Iranian government pressed the
          Ottoman authorities in Iraq either to
          repatriate Baha Allah or move him
          further from the Iranian frontier. In 1863,
          shortly before he was moved to Edirne
          (Adrianople), Baha Allah proclaimed that
          he the new prophet whom the Ba,b
          had predicted would follow him.
          In accordance with the Bab's concept of
          successive divine revelations to meet the
          changing needs ‘ mankind, Baha Allah
          announced that he would issue a new
          scripture. Sobh-e AzaJ and his followers.
          refused to accept this and the BObis split
          into two sects, the Azalis arid the Bahais.
          Sobh-e-Azal, remaining loyal to the Bab's
          doctrines, was exiled to Famagusta,
          Cyprus, which became the headquarters of
          the Azali sect.
          Baha Allah, on the other hand, quickly
          distanced his teachings from those of the
          Bab. He recognised the Bab as the prophet
          who succeeded Muhammad and as his
          own forerunner, but tried to erase the
          Babi legacy of challenging secular
          authority. The Bahais were expected to be
          loyal to whatever government, was in
          power. Carrying arms was forbidden,
          except in times of necessity, and
          unbelievers were to be won over by
          peaceful proselytisation. The burning of
          books, the destruction of shrines and the
          shunujing of non-believers were also
          discarded. And although the Bahais
          retained as an ultimate goal a world
          commonwealth of theocratic states
          governed by Bahai institutions, its
          attainment was indefinitely postponed.
          In 1868 Baha Allah and his followers
          were moved from Edirne to the
          Palestinian town of Acre. At first they
          were confined to a barracks but later Baha
          Allah was allowed a comfortable villa on
          the outskirts of town. He died in 1892 at
          the age of 75. The most important of his
          texts, the Kitab a]-Aqdas (The Most Holy
          Book). was written to supersede the Bayan.
          Abdel-Baha, Baha Allah's eldest son,
          was designated leader of the Bahai
          ‘community. He travelled widely in Europe
          and North America, winning many
          converts to the faith. He often visited the
          slum areas of cities, where he pleaded for
          the rights of minoritiaj.
          ‘During the First World War he
          organised a campaign to grow food for the
          population of Acre, when the town's
          normal stock was requisitioned. In 1920, a
          year before he died, Britain gave him a
          knighthood for. his “consistently loyal
          service to the British cause since the
          occupation”.
          Abdel-Baha decreed in his will that the
          Baha.is should be governed by a Universal
          House of Justice, headed by a guardian
          empowered to interpret the Bahal
          scriptures (the o-itings of the Bab. Baha
          Allah and himself). The guardianship was
          to remain in Baha Allah's family, going to
          Its most capable member. Shoghi Effendi,
          Abdel-Baha's eldest grandson, then a
          second-year student at Oxford, was
          chosen.
          Shoghi Efl 'endi did much to demarcate
          the Bahai religion from Islam, snreading
          the faith beyond the Middle East. He
          abandoned his grandfather's habit of
          attending Friday prayers in a mosque and
          translated many of Baha Allah's and
          Abdel-Baha's texts into English. With his
          death in 1957 the line of succession was
          broken, since he had no children, and the
          leadership wa placed in the hands of the
          Universal House of Justice, first. elected in
          1963.
          The Bab and his successors
          ‘I
          ;/ ‘ ::_.
          receivinga knighthood ‘from the British
          36 The Middle East April 1983
          
        

          
          Pea (ui-es Bahais
          in India. in Iran the Bahai community
          • timated at about 300,00C'. although
          10,000 have recently fled.
          ‘jktT ' Judaism and Islam, Bahaisni
          hy that God is unknowable but makes
          will known through prophets. As the
          -. . .ti ire of civilisation developed, prophets
          s Adam, Moses. Zoroastet'. Buddha,
          Muhammad, the Bab and Baha
          iii were sent, the Bahais believe, to
          vide mankind with a creed and a set of
          suitable to contemporary conditions.
          Bab was the last in the cycle of
          :..hcts which began with Adam. they
          eVe, and Baha Allah started a new cycle
          c! will last for some 500.000 years.
          Allah's message will in time become
          : , ted, although this is not expected to
          xn for at least 10 centuri s.
          e rights of women — and
          divine right of kings
          ildren of the Bahais are not
          r aticallv enrolled in the faith at birth.
          are free to choose, on reaching
          -ity, whether they wish to belong.
          0 emphasis is placed on equality of the
          -s. Although Baha Allah allowed men to
          e two wives, his successors have
          ouraged this practice. Education is
          ed and Bahais believe that if facilities
          limited girls should be given priority.
          education of women is of greater
          -,r j ce than the education of men, for
          are the mothers of the race,”
          . -Baha said in 1912.
          e Bahais are opposed to communism
          ‘cialism and believe monarchy enjoys
          c sanction. But they oppo e religious,
          :il. national or cla s prejudice and
          - ,re xieties where there are extremes
          alth and poverty, in their striving to
          ‘te world peace and uhi , they
          . rt international organisations such as
          United Nations and advocate the
          upnient of an international language
          . taught as a second tongue.
          cry fIve years members of the national
          mblies throughout the world elect a
          ci-sal House of Justice, convening in
          which was chosen by Baha Allah
          og his exile from Iran to serve as the
          headquarters.
          e Bahai administrative hierarchy,
          ‘ugh not respon ‘ I c for the rdministra-
          : f sacraments, cta as the defender of
          dox docfl-ine and can legislate on
          c ia not dealt with in the faith's
          ure. Daily prayer is regarded as a
          nal obligation, but on the first day of
          of the 19 months Bahais are urged to
          -r for a meeting where Bahai and other
          •. d texts are read, communal matters
          uscussed and a small meal is taken.
          hose meetings are usually at members'
          f -s. although in Europe and North
          : ca Houses of Worship (domed
          .r ings with nine entrances.t have been
          in addition, pilgrimages should be
          c i i ' to Baha Allah's house in Baghdad,
          the Bab's house in Shiraz and to the tombs
          of the Bab and Abdel-Baha in Haifa as well
          as to Baha Allah's tomb near Acre.
          Bahaism's success in gaining adherents
          throughout the world is mainly due to its
          acceptance of all previously revealed
          religions as part of one evolving faith (with
          its own doctrines regarded as the most
          suitable for the present age). But its
          international character and Westernised
          attitudes have only served to deepen
          antipathy towards it in some quarters.
          Because Bahai women are neither veiled
          nor segregated from men at Bahai
          gatherings, tales of ranipant immorality
          have spread in some Middle Eastern states.
          In Iran Bahai marriages are not
          considered valid and their children are
          therefore deemed illegitimate. Successive
          Iranian constitutions have recognised only
          followers of the Jewish, Christian and
          Zoroastrian faiths who have protection as
          dhirnrnis (non-Muslims living under
          Muslim domination).
          Bleak prospects for
          the Bahais'future
          The Bahais are oftei viewed as belonging
          to a clandestine network of mutual
          assistance, similar to the Freemasons, and
          charged with working in the interests of
          Western imperialism and Zionism. Because
          the Bahai faith developed during the
          British mandate in Palestine, a connection
          with Britain is inevitably made, and
          Abdel-Baha's knighthood is regarded as
          proof of this. Charge of Zionist ties arise
          from the fact that the Bahai headquarters is
          located in Haifa. Iranian Bahais often
          travelled to Israel and sent regular
          contributions there. Since 1979, however,
          when travel and the transfer of funds from
          Iran to Israel became illegal, these activities
          have ceased, but the Bahais see no reason to
          relocate their world ‘headquarters for
          reasons of immediate political expediency.
          Tension . has - sometimes been increased
          because of the political stands taken by the
          Bahais. Because of Baha Allah's injunction
          to support any government in pq s'er and
          their preference for monarchy, Iran's Bahais
          did not support demands for a constitution
          and saw Muhammad Au Shah, who tried to
          overthrow the 1906 constitution, as a ‘just
          king”. During the 1978-79 revolution, they
          said prayers for Muhammad Ra.za Shah and
          made no denunciations of Savak. These
          attitudes flew in the face of: popular
          sentiment and the views of the Shiite
          clergy, who believe monarchy to be
          fundamentally unjust.
          The situation of the Bahais in Iran is
          therefore complex. They hope one day to be
          recognised as a separate religion and so be
          granted constitutional protection, but this
          would be likely only if a secular goverment
          were established in Iran. Meanwhile,
          prejudices against the Bahais run deep,
          especially among those who have had no
          personal contact with them. U
          Sayings
          of the Month
          “The presence of warships sometimes
          seems to have a deterring effect on Libyan
          adventurism”
          Jeane Kirkpatrick
          US ambassador to the UN
          “Well, I don't believe there has been any
          naval movement of any kind”
          Ronald Reagan
          US President
          “My country is being vunished by
          Arneric'a today because ofj&'adherence to
          the principles of the non-aligned. It is
          pr',ving the price of its non-alignment”
          Major Abdel-Salam Jalloud
          Libya's second-in-command
          ‘7 see no sign of a crisis or a possible
          aggression against Sudan at the moment”
          Marshal Abu Ghazaia
          Egyptian Defence Minister
          “For the moment Qadda.fi is back in his
          box, where he belongs”
          George Shullz
          US Secretary of State
          ‘P/hat we do most certainly share with
          the Opec countries and indeed with.. the
          rest of the world is a desire not to see an
          exaggerated fall in ‘the world oilprice now
          which would inevitably be fOllowed by a
          sharp and damaging rebound later on”
          Nigel Lawson
          British Secretary of State for Energy
          “I don't think Mrs Thatcher would be
          disappointed to see the price disappear
          through the floor if that is what the
          market dictates”
          British government source
          quoted in the Sunday Times
          “The Gulf Co-operation Council states an
          easiLy flood the internationalmarket with
          cheaper oil without being affected,
          because the cost of production is very low.
          This means that the new oil producers in
          industrial countries, who entered the field
          because of the high price of oil., will face
          economic catastrophe along with their
          investors if oil prices are reduced sharply”
          Al-Seyassah, Ku aiti newspaper
          “If Lebanon does not triumph over the
          present situation, its environment will
          fall into chaos and loss. If Lebanon is
          divided, then every united political
          presence in the entire area will be divided
          Lebanon has become a key to war in
          the area just as it is a key to peace”
          Amin Gemayel
          Lebanese President
          The Middle East April 1983 37