There was a young merchant in early 19th century Persia who one day revealed to the world the coming of a new Prophet, the one who would fulfil the prophecy about the twelfth imam, the one who will guide not only Shi’ites but the rest of the human race into a new world order. Before his revelation he was known as Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází but now he’s remembered as the ‘Bab’ which in Arabic means the gate.
His revelation opened the world to the coming of Baha’u’llah, the messenger of God for the Baha’i faith. He came with a message that I believe many of us today need to pay heed to, it made sense then as it makes sense now.
At a time when the world was brewing with scientific and social growth, he laid out the new message from God, a world where men and women are equal, a world where schools should teach the ‘western sciences’ and most importantly he called for a world where there is no need for the mullahs or the priests, as he believed people had matured enough to find their own way to God and truth. And it’s no surprise that, then, even as now, it’s the mullahs who have instigated violence against the community, even though in the starting many of the converts to the religion were mullahs, most of the clerics considered the new religion to be a threat against their whole system of power. Apart from the clerical fear of threat to traditional power the interpretation by many Muslims that Prophet Muhammad was the ‘Seal of the Prophets’ added to the hostility against this youngest religion of the world. This is contradicted by the Shia belief which has been waiting for the coming of the ‘Hidden Imam’ as Baha’u’llah by many is considered to be the fulfilment of that prophecy.
In the beginning the Baha’is were known as the Babis, followers of the Bab, and 20,000 of them were killed due to incitement by religious leaders while the Qajar dynasty rulers chose to let it happen than to make enemies out of the clerics.
The persecution at that time was sporadic, but when the clerics came to power with the birth of the Islamic revolution, the community was subjected to the worst kind of persecution in its history. In the first few years of the revolution more than 200 Baha’is were officially executed, a number disappeared and were put in jails. Since the revolution there has been systematic persecution of Baha’is in terms of social isolation, cultural cleansing and economic persecution. All Baha’i schools which attracted thousands of students were shut down in 1934, and just recently 800 Baha’i students were prevented from getting their National Entrance Examination scores which they need to gain admission to Iranian universities. The dismissal of Baha’is from the public sector, taking away their pensions and at times the authorities have even asked them to pay back the salaries they have taken over the years, tells us about their economic persecution. Cultural cleansing has been a part of an effort to obliterate Baha’i history from the land and the minds of the people, in 1979, two of the most sacred places of the Baha’i faith were demolished – the house of Bab and the house of Baha’u’llah – and out of all the Baha’is targeted 50% have been heads of Baha’i institutions or its important leaders.
Even though other religions like that of the Christians, the Zoroastrians and the Jews are granted protection under the Iranian Constitution, the Baha’is, their largest religious minority, the whole 300,000 of them are considered as ‘non-persons’ and as such are not recognised by the state.
One of the most disturbing example of the reasons under which Baha’is are often persecuted can be seen from the case which occurred in June 1983, when ten Baha’i women – including two teen‐aged girls – were hanged for having taught Baha’i classes, for being members of Baha’i youth committees, for being unmarried, for allegedly being supporters of Zionism, or for refusing to recant their faith. (Roohizadegan, 1993)
Reza Shah, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty in Iran in 1925, made sure the Baha’is were left alone; to do otherwise would be to concede that the mullahs influenced his policies. The governments and the rulers tolerated the Baha’is using them to appease the mullahs who would guarantee them support in times of revolt or disillusionment against the royals.
The use of Baha’is as a pawn in this political game has been common, even today; anything that goes wrong in the country is blamed on the Baha’is. Some of the very common phrases or reasons used to denounce the community are that, Baha’is are funded by the Zionists and the western states, they are a ‘misguided’ sect and are compared to Satanism and they are out to undermine Islam and the state. The most popular is of course the supposed links to Zionists and western powers and this is continuously reflected in the media, state controlled and ‘free’. Here are some of the headlines from a few Iranian newspapers and online publications.
- “Nonsensical Utterances of the Báb”, 8 November 2005, this appeared in Kayhan, a state run daily newspaper, with significantly wide circulation across the country.
- “The Connection between Baha’ism and Zionism”, 2 November 2005, Kayhan
- “Baha’ism in pursuit of gradual subversion of Islam”, 8 March 2010, Rasa News (Online)
- “Water-coolers: A tool to attract people to the misguided Bahaist sect”, 8 September 2010, Javan Daily (Online)
The effect of this blunt government propaganda and discrimination is obvious with the violence that is perpetuated against the community. The relationship between government propaganda and violence is symbiotic, for instance, over a period from 2008-2010, Baha’i properties were targeted, hate speeches were scrawled on Baha’i buildings, Baha’i children in the school were discriminated against and all these incidents occurred following a two-part anti-Baha’i lectures held in Tehran, which according to internet reports, sought to analyse the links between the Baha’i faith and Zionism. [1]
Over the years, especially with the establishment of the Islamic Revolution, members of the Baha’i community have chosen to migrate to different countries, like Australia, USA, Europe and also India, where they are a community of two million strong.
After all this discrimination, even now all the Baha’is that have been executed or arrested have not been given a chance to defend themselves, and remain at the mercy of the prejudiced.
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