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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Graham Hassall, Persian Baha'is in Australia, bahai-library.com.
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Persian Bahá'ís in Australia
Graham Hassall
published in Religion and Ethnic Identity, An Australian Studyed. Abe Ata
Melbourne: Victoria College & Spectrum, 1989
In the Australian Bahá'í Community, the issues of religious
and ethnic identity merit examination and explanation. Bahá'í
beliefs, laws, and system of administration originate in the life
and work of Mirza Husayn Ali, "Bahá'u'lláh" - who was
born into the Persian nobility in 1817, and exiled for his
beliefs, across the Ottoman Empire to the province of Palestine,
modern-day Israel, where he died in Akka, near Haifa, in 1892.
But whereas the Bahá'í Faith began in Iran in the nineteenth
century, and acknowledges its religious and cultural heritage,
its "worldview" is global rather than regional: it is a
world religion, not an Eastern philosophy, nor is it a sect of
Islam. Its basic teaching, around which all others revolve, is
the "oneness of mankind", a belief that all peoples,
beliefs, and values, while possessing their own integrity, share
a common origin, purpose, and destiny. These defining statements
suggest some parameters of the Bahá'í Faith as a religion, as
they also suggest the issues of contention and opposition
discussed in fundamentalist Christian and Islamic literature.
Iran is a Muslim country with a population of some 50 million,
but its brand of Islam, Shi'a, differs from the Sunni Islam of
the Arabic countries. The term "Iranian" derives from
"Aryan", and indicates the Indo-European origins of the
population, and "Persia" dates to the Greek name for
the southern province of Fars, where the first Persian Empire
began. Although "Farsi" is the dominant Persian
language, the country contains numerous ethnic groups each having
their own distinctive culture and language. The country has been
called Iran since 1935, the people and culture continue to be
termed Persian.
Whereas the Bahá'ís constitute the largest religious minority
in Iran (although unrecognized by the country's constitution),
larger Bahá'í communities exist in Asia, the Americas, and
Africa. Persian Bahá'ís thus form a significant section of the
Bahá'í world community, without being its most populous. This
paper suggests that the community of Persian Bahá'ís living in
Australia forms part of a contemporary religious diaspora,
initiated over one hundred years ago, and dependent on religious
forces both within the religion, and political and religious
forces acting upon it, that have their origins in the clash
between Shi'a Islam and the modernizing West. The flight of
Bahá'ís from persecution in Iran since the revolution in 1979,
although the most well-known period of their exodus, has thus
been a continuation of a century of diaspora-formation, not
merely an isolated instance of political/religious refugee
resettlement.
Two factors have generated the dispersion of Persian Bahá'ís.
First, early widespread support for the religion provoked fear in
the Shi'a Ulama (clerics), who branded it an heretical sect of
Islam, and worked for its elimination. Barbarous opposition to
the prophet-founders of the Bahá'í religion, climaxing more than
a century later in the persecutions in the revolutionary era, has
impelled Bahá'ís to emigrate, or flee from Iran, episodically,
and during repression of varying intensity. Christians,
Armenians, Jews and Zoroastrians have shared a similar fate, and
exodus.
Secondly, Bahá'ís have emigrated from Iran in order to
propagate Bahá'í beliefs in other countries, and among diverse
cultures. Although without clergy - the religion has an
administrative system, devoid of clerical offices - Persian
Bahá'ís participated, together with their co-religionists from
other parts of the world, in programs of global dissemination of
Bahá'í beliefs. Given this combination of persecution and
missionary zeal, a Persian Bahá'í diaspora was inevitable: they
were both pushed and pulled from their country of birth.
Persian Bahá'ís were not the first to bring the Bahá'í Faith
to Australia. An English-Irish couple, Hyde and Clara Dunn,
arrived in Sydney from San Francisco in 1920 and within a decade
succeeded in attracting a sufficient following to establish
"Local Assemblies" in Sydney, Adelaide and Auckland.
Although there were as yet no Persian Bahá'ís in Australia, there
were periodic communications between the two communities.
Australian Bahá'ís were keen to learn of the major events of
Bahá'í history which had unfolded in Persia, and in 1930-31 an
Australian photographer, Effie Baker, travelled through Persia
and Iraq photographing important historical sites and religious
artifacts which were rapidly deteriorating. In 1932 the
Australian Assemblies cabled to the Court of the Shah, thanking a
court minister for removing a ban that had been unreasonably
imposed on Bahá'í literature, and at other times, Australian
Bahá'ís contributed to relief funds in aid of Persian Bahá'í
communities affected by such natural disasters as floods and
earthquakes.
Although emerging within different cultural contexts, Bahá'í
communities in Persia and Australia, as in all other countries
where there were Bahá'ís, established similar religious
institutions, on the basis of identical beliefs, and
administrative guidelines. Coincidentally, the National Spiritual
Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand, and of
the Bahá'ís of Iran, were both established in 1934. Thus, by the
1950s, when the first Persian Bahá'í immigrants arrived in
Australia, there was an established community of Bahá'ís in the
antipodes ready to greet them.
PERSIAN BAHA'IS AND AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION POLICY: THE
1950s
Although Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith
1921-1957, exhorted Bahá'ís over many years to leave Iran, none
considered Australia as a potential destination until the late
1940s. When, however, Persian Bahá'ís first applied for entry to
Australia in 1948, they were classified as "Asiatic"
rather than "European" by Australia's "White
Australia" policy, and were denied entry. Others attempted
but failed to meet the stringent requirements for entrance to
Australia for tertiary study; although some successfully entered
New Zealand, where they completed their education.
Beginning in 1951 the National Assembly attempted to identify
sponsors for Persian Bahá'ís, but it was informed by the
Department of Immigration in 1953 that the existing policy
allowed no possibility for reciprocity between Iranians and the
Australian government. Nevertheless, a number of Persians passed
through Australia during 1953-54, en route to resettlement in New
Zealand and several Pacific Island territories - notably the
Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Western Samoa.
The desire by Bahá'ís to leave Iran increased following an
outbreak of persecution in 1955, in which Bahá'í properties were
confiscated, and the community's activities were curtailed: the
Australian Bahá'í House of Worship, at Ingleside in Sydney, was
constructed when the events of 1955 halted plans to build one in
Tehran. Although entry to Australia remained difficult into the
1960s, small but significant numbers of Persian Bahá'ís moved to
third countries - in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Some
families arrived in Australia from Indonesia, where they had
resided until all Europeans were expelled following political
unrest there in 1965-66. Individual families also arrived at this
time from Pakistan, India and Great Britain. At various times
through the 1960s the National Assembly continued consultation
with the Department of Immigration on the requirements for
bringing further Bahá'ís into Australia, the easing of policy
resulted in successful migration by professionals, especially
medical doctors. On the eve of revolution, in 1978, there were
approximately 50-60 Persian Bahá'í families in Australia.
REVOLUTION AND PERSECUTION: 1979-1988
With the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, the situation of the
Bahá'ís in Iran deteriorated dramatically, and reports of
persecution, imprisonment and execution gained world-wide media
attention. In Australia, the National Assembly began alerting the
Federal government, and a series of motions in the Australian
parliament's upper and lower houses between 1981 and 1983,
deploring the abuse of religious tolerance by the Iranian
government, oriented the Australian Government's policy toward
positive representation on behalf of the Iranian Bahá'í
community.
The Government protested to the Iranian Charge d'Affairs in
Australia, and supported resolutions on behalf of the Bahá'ís in
the United Nations General Assembly, and its International
Commission of Human Rights in Geneva. At the same time as it
lodged these protests on humanitarian grounds, the government
balanced its support for religious liberty with the need to
retain good political relations with Iran, realising the
potential that existed for the expansion of trade relations.
Thus, while maintaining diplomatic relations with Iran, the
Australian government also made provisions for the intake of
Iranian refugees. In 1981 Macphee, the Minister for Immigration,
announced a Special Humanitarian Assistance (SHP) Program under
which Iranian Bahá'ís and others were able to seek refuge in
Australia. By 1986, 538 Persian Bahá'ís had entered Australia
under the SHP program, and by 1988, some 2,500 had arrived in
Australia through either SHP or Refugee Programs. Together with
Persians already living in Australia, they constituted 38% of the
Australian Bahá'í community.
IDENTITY ISSUES
Although Persian Bahá'ís share an ethnic and religious
identity, aspects of both their culture and religious beliefs
restrain the community from forming a homogenous, insular ethnic
minority. In the first instance, the belief of Bahá'ís in an
emerging global society and in the equality of races prevents the
Persian Bahá'ís from establishing an ethnic community apart from
the wider Australian society. Furthermore, their entry into the
Australian Bahá'í community, in which Bahá'í beliefs and method
of administration have operated in the context of Australian
culture over a seventy-year period, has led to their dispersed
settlement, in all states, and in both urban and rural
environments, rather than in a small number of closely settled
localities.
This dispersed settlement pattern has been encouraged in part
by the distinctive nature of Bahá'í administration. The formation
of Local Spiritual Assemblies in all local government areas in
which nine or more Bahá'ís reside - administrative units in which
Persians have been quickly integrated at local level, has
enhanced the capability of the Australian Bahá'í community at the
same time as it has allowed the system to adapt to, and respond
to, the needs of its Persian members, newly arrived.
The integration of Persians into the non-Persian Bahá'í
community has cultural as well as religious implications. Despite
the tendency for scattered settlement, 1988 figures suggest that,
nation-wide, there were more Persians than non-Persians in 59 of
169 Bahá'í communities that had Local Assemblies, and in 19
Bahá'í communities, more than 75% of the members were Persian.
With such concentrated numbers, the Australian Bahá'í community,
particularly in metropolitan areas, has tended to appear less
culturally diverse, and more dominantly Persian, than is actually
the case.
THE CHALLENGES OF INTEGRATION AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Apart from the meta-cultural facets of the Bahá'í community,
in which religious belief is shared by all members, separate from
their cultural and ethnic backgrounds, the Persian segment of it
contains its own set of permutations and cultural influences, and
is far from homogenous. Whereas Persians who migrated prior to
the revolution transferred much of their wealth to Australia,
Persian refugees invariably escaped with no more than the clothes
they wore, across the borders to either Turkey or Pakistan; and
whereas some Persians had migrated at an earlier date to Europe,
Britain, or North American, gained a Western education, and
acquired Western cultural values, refugees invariably spent some
time in squalid camps (some even in jail) and learnt basic
English, before arriving in Australia. A further group, Bahá'ís
of Zoroastrian background, who speak the Dari dialect, often
spent periods in India, and are culturally linked with Indian
customs of dress, food, and languages, as much as Persian.
Government agencies, as well as the Bahá'ís themselves, have
observed closely the resettlement of Iranian refugees in
Australia. One report described the Persian Bahá'ís as
"articulate, well educated and highly motivated
settlers": many were professionally qualified and displayed
a determination to re-establish themselves quickly; they tended
to remain in migrant hostels for short periods; they had high
expectations of successful settlement, and strong career
ambitions.
There were, on the other hand, costs involved in this period
of migration. Principal among these were psychological
difficulties such as stress and depression concerning the fate of
relatives remaining in Iran; and concern at disappointment when
high resettlement expectations were not met (for example,
inability to gain employment of the same status as had been
enjoyed in Iran).
Whereas Persian Bahá'ís have suffered at the hands of
fundamentalist Muslims in Iran, relations between Persian Bahá'ís
and Persian Muslims in Australia have been cautious, but not
violent. Even so, separate Government translation facilities have
been required for Muslim and Bahá'í refugees. The two communities
left Iran for differing reasons. Many Muslims, especially those
with Western education, and acculturation, were economically
motivated to emigrate, since they wished to maintain their
standard of living. Consequently, most Persian Muslims in
Australia are well educated, with some capital. Persian Bahá'ís,
on the other hand, fleeing persecution, came from a variety of
economic and educational backgrounds - from land owners,
industrialists, and merchants, to humble villagers and peasantry.
In terms of class, therefore, the Persian Bahá'ís in Australia
are far from homogenous culturally, economically and in degree of
educational sophistication, and are united, rather, by religious
belief.
For those who interpret the Iranian revolution as an attempt
to replace Persian traditions with Islamic ones, as much as a
revolt against Western influences, the preservation of Persian
culture in Australia is most important. It is not clear the
extent to which emphasis in the Bahá'í writings on the concept of
a one-world mentality lessens dependence on the culture of birth.
What can be argued, nonetheless, is that Persian Bahá'ís, having
a familiar religious community to settle in to, suffer less
home-sickness and cultural shock, than Persian Muslims. As one
young Bahá'í commented, "Tradition weakens, but religion
continues".
This does not mean, on the other hand, that the Persian's love
of poetry, music, and dance is any less strong among the Persian
Bahá'ís than among the Muslim community, and the demonstration of
fluency in Arabic, and "High" Farsi continues to
command respect. Of Persian customs, however, only "Naw
Ruz" (New Year) is incorporated into the Bahá'í calendar.
Observed on 21 March, date of the spring equinox in the Northern
Hemisphere, (which in Australia marks the autumn equinox), Naw
Ruz is celebrated more widely than, for example,
"Yalda", the first night of winter, the longest night
of the year, on which families gather and picnic on the last of
the summer's fruit, especially watermelons and grapefruit. Other
celebrations, such as the thirteenth day after Naw-Ruz, on which
families hold picnics away from their homes, so as to avoid the
visitation of bad luck there; and "Charhar Shanbe
Suri", a fire-jumping ceremony dating to Zoroastrian times
held on the last Wednesday of each year year, are more often
observed by Muslim than Bahá'ís Persians, for whom they are
cultural but not religious observances.
Because the community of Persian Bahá'ís in Australia is of
recent origin, its second generation has as yet had little time
to assess itself in the context of Australian society. Young
refugees, in particular, are faced with the task of integrating
Persian traditions into a new cultural environment. 240 of the
refugees who entered Australia between 1983-87, were in the 15-21
age group, and, since more young males were allowed to escape
than females, (who presumably remain in the safety of family and
village in Iran) there is an apparent lack of female partners for
marriage. Whereas a 1987 survey found strong acceptance of cross
cultural marriages - up to 85% of Persians who had been resident
in Australia for 5 years or more favour the idea of themselves,
or their children marrying a partner from a different cultural
background- the Bahá'í principle of sexual equality may prove
more adaptable to Australian than to Persian culture, and inhibit
marriages between Persian males and non-Persian females. Apart
from advantages that young Persian Bahá'ís have over their elders
in acquiring competence in English, they are also usually more
able to adapt the Persian system of politeness,
"taroff", to Australian culture, than are older
Persians, for whom Australian manners and culture can seem
comparatively unsophisticated.
Although it has been suggested that the Persian Bahá'ís have
settled successfully into Australian society through their
universalist, rather than separatist, world-view, and by having
an adequate support network already in existence in Australia to
receive them, the permanence of the community cannot be taken for
granted. Whereas some Bahá'ís migrated from Iran voluntarily in
the period before the revolution, others were forced reluctantly
from their homeland, and retain a strong sense of Persian
ethnicity. Just as some Persians had Russian parents, who lived a
life-time in Iran, waiting for the revolution in their homeland
to subside, the possibility of some Persians waiting a life-time
in third countries such as Australia until the Islamic Revolution
whithers, remains. For the majority, however, the period of
revolution, flight, and resettlement will form the stuff of myth
and legend, and the appearance of Persian Bahá'ís in countries
such as Australia will mark that period in their diaspora in
which the Bahá'í religion, through the blood of its Persian
martyrs, came out of obscurity, and more widely known.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davidson, John, & Marjorie Tidman (eds), Integration
and Cultural Diversity, Association for Bahá'í
Studies - Australia, Monograph No.1, 1988.
Department of Ethnic Affairs. Notes on the
Settlement of Iranian Bahá'ís in Australia. March
1987.
Hassall, Graham, "The Bahá'í Faith", in Ian
Gillman (ed), Many Faiths, One Nation, William
Collins, Australia, 1988.
Sheffer, Gabrial (ed), Modern Diasporas in
International Politics, Croom Helm, Great Britain,
1986.
Smith, Peter, The Babi and Bahá'í Religions: From
Messianic Shi'ism to a World Religion, Cambridge
University Press, Great Britain, 1987.
ENDNOTES
Note: footnote reference numbers have been lost in this online version.
.. For an adequate introduction to the origins,
history, and beliefs, of the Bahá'í Faith, not possible here, see
Peter Smith, The Babi and Bahá'í Religions: From Messianic
Shi'ism to a World Religion, Cambridge University Press,
Great Britain, 1987. A brief account of the Bahá'í Faith in
Australia is found in Graham Hassall, "The Bahá'í
Faith", in Ian Gillman (ed), Many Faiths, One Nation,
William Collins, Australia, 1988.
.. Article 13 of the Iranian constitution reads
"Iranian Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians are the only
recognized minority religious groups which in the area of Islamic
laws are free to perform their religious ceremonies". The
relationship between ethnic minorities and the central government
since the revolution is examined in Patricia J. Higgins,
"Minority-State Relations in Contemporary Iran", Iranian
Studies XVII, 1, Winter 1984; See also Riffat Hassan,
"On Human Rights and the Qur'anic Perspective", Journal
of Ecumenical Studies, VIV:3 1982.
.. Recent figures suggest a global Bahá'í
population of near 5 million, with more than 1 million in India,
and approximately 300,000 in Iran. Dept. of Ethnic Affairs and
Immigration, Notes on the Settlement of Iranian Bahá'ís in
Australia, March 1987. For discussion of the growth of the
Indian Bahá'í community, see W. Garlington, "The Bahá'í
Faith in Malwa", in G.A. Oddie (ed), Religion in South
Asia, Manohar, New Delhi, 1977.
.. See, eg, "Unholy War: Assult on Iran's
Anglicans", Time 26 May 1980.
.. Treatment of the Bahá'ís in this period is
discussed in Shahrough Akhavi, Religion and Politics in
Contemporary Iran: Clergy-State Relations in the Pahlavi Period,
State University of New York Press, USA, 1980; Rose L. Greaves,
"The Reign of Mohammad Riza Shah, 1942-1976", in
Hossein Amirsadeghi, Twentieth Century Iran, Heinemann,
London, 1977; see also, "Heretics in Islam", Time
6 June 1955, "Drift in Iran", The Economist, 25
June 1955.
.. See, eg, Canberra Times, 15 September
1979, 16 July 1980; Pine and Peninsula Record, 26
September 1979, Daily News , 18 September 1979, Sunday
Independent, 23 September 1979; Lindsay Mackie, "Bahá'í
Faith fears extinction in Iran after 'spy' shootings", Weekend
Australian, 13-4 September 1980; "Alarm expressed at
human rights violations in Iran", Canberra Times, 20
August 1981; Alan Gill, "Iranian Bahá'ís endure campaign of
hate", Sydney Morning Herald, 18 November 1981;
Graham Bicknell, "Cry for help from Iran: Bahá'í members
tortured and shot for their beliefs", Daily Telegraph,
4 January 1982; Tom Krause, "Khomeini moves on
Bahá'ís", The Australian, 23 February 1982; James S.
Murray, "Iran's intolerance takes Bahá'ís to the
gallows", The Australian, 30 June 1983. Letters from
Beverly Stafford, then secretary of the National Spiritual
Assembly, include 18 January 1982, Sydney Morning Herald,
and 18 January 1982 The Australian. An interview with the
Iranian Charge d'Affairs at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, Canberra, appeared in the Canberra Times, 16 May,
1982. His statement that Bahá'ís were not being killed for their
religious beliefs was challenged in an article by John Bryant,
"Iran 'executing' Bahá'í officials", Canberra Times,
24 May 1982, by a Bahá'í whose father-in-law had been executed in
1981, and whose mother-in-law had been in prison since 1980. The
Charge d'Affairs repeated his government's position in a letter
"Treatment of Bahá'ís in Iran", Canberra Times,
12 July 1982, which prompted further letters to the editor, 16
August 1982. Other articles included Keith Suter, "Bahá'ís
in Iran", National Outlook May 1982; Keith McDonald,
"Waiting for a miracle", Daily Mirror, 9 June
1982; "Iran defends human rights policy", Sydney
Morning Herald 17 July, 1982; Exchanges between the National
Spiritual Assembly and the Iranian Charge d'Affairs appeared in The
Bulletin, 14 October, 4 November and 18 November, 1980; other
articles in The Bulletin included Greg Sheridan,
"Bahá'ís victims of the Ayatollah's drive", 26 May,
1981; Colin Smith, "The Ayatollah's 'holy' war on Bahá'í
religion", 12 July 1983. Following the murder in January
1981 of Manuchir Hakim, Professor of Medicine at the University
of Tehran, the Australian Medical Association protested to the
Iranian Embassy in a letter, 20 August 1981, and in 1984,
supported the Australian governments's efforts in connection with
the human rights situation in Iran. In September 1981 discussion
of the persecution of Bahá'ís at the United Nations Human Rights
Commission were reported in The Canberra Times, "Plea
to end persecution", 11 September 1981. Other articles in
the same month included Col Allan, "Iranians plan their own
'final solution'", The Australian, 21 September 1981;
and James S. Murray, "Now Harigans turn to Islam for
succour", The Australian, 24 September 1981. Recent
articles include David Lester, "Defenders of the
Faith", The Weekend Australian, 1-2 August, 1987.
Coverage in Newsweek magazine included "The Minority
that Iran Persecutes", 24 March 1980, "Iran's Holy War
on Bahá'ís", 25 January 1982, "The Agony of the
Bahá'ís", 8 March 1982. Secondary literature and overseas
press coverage is too extensive to include in this article.
.. Parliamentary Debates, Senate Daily
Hansard, 17 March 1981, 26 March 1981, 7 May 1981, 16
November 1982, 25 August 1983. Parliamentary Debates, House of
Representatives Daily Hansard, 19 August 1981, 24 March 1982,
8 September 1983, 28 February 1984. Reports on Bahá'í executions
by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Tony Street, were
included in Australian Foreign Affairs Record, January
1982 and July 1982. In a report on the 19 August 1981 debate in
the House of representatives, Simon Balderstone wrote "The
House took on a friendly, if serious, atmosphere when members
from both sides debated - in agreement - a motion on the
adherents of the Bahá'í Faith in Iran", The Age, 20
August 1981. Another debate in the House of Representatives, 28
October 1981, was reported in The Canberra Times,
"Call to Iran to end persecutions", 29 October 1981. In
1981 the National Spiritual Assembly published a leaflet, Iran:
The Facts. Significant summaries of responses by governments
world-wide appear publications of the Bahá'í International
Community, The Bahá'ís in Iran: A report on the Persecutions
of a Religious Minority, June 1981, and Update,
November 1981. Also important is Roger Cooper, The Bahá'ís of
Iran, Minority Rights Group, Report No. 51, February 1982,
Great Britain.
.. In September 1979 the Iranian Embassy in
Canberra announced that the Iranian Government did not recognize
the Bahá'í Faith as a religion and that it had not been informed
of any acts of violence against Bahá'ís in Iran. See
"Embassy not aware of violence to Bahá'ís", Canberra
Times, 11 September 1979. An explanation of the Iranian
justification for execution is given in Lyndall Crisp's interview
with Frood Bourbour, "In defence of killing", The
Australian, 12 September 1979.
.. See Patrick Walters, "Refugee rules
widened: government helps minorities", Sydney Morning
Herald, 19 November 1981.
.. John Read, "The Process of
Resettlement", Integration, 17.
.. Aflatoon Payman, "The Iranian Crisis
and the Australian Response", Integration, 11.
.. John Read, "The Process of
Resettlement", in J. Davidson, Integration and Cultural
Diversity, op.cit.
.. Muslim attacks on the Bahá'í Faith in
Australia have been inconsequential. Most recently, an Imam (who
is not Persian) spoke against Bahá'í, other religions, and even
service organizations such as Rotary and Lions Clubs, in a speech
"Islam and Judaism: can they coexist?" at the
University of Sydney, 18 September 1988. Jeff Penberthy &
Alan Gill, "An Outbreak of Ethnic Strife", Time,
5 December 1988, 56-7.
.. John Davidson, "An Emerging Identity -
The Changing Face of the Australian Bahá'í Community", Integration,
29.
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──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Persian Bahá'ís in Australia
Graham Hassall
published in Religion and Ethnic Identity, An Australian Studyed. Abe Ata
Melbourne: Victoria College & Spectrum, 1989
In the Australian Bahá'í Community, the issues of religious
and ethnic identity merit examination and explanation. Bahá'í
beliefs, laws, and system of administration originate in the life
and work of Mirza Husayn Ali, "Bahá'u'lláh" - who was
born into the Persian nobility in 1817, and exiled for his
beliefs, across the Ottoman Empire to the province of Palestine,
modern-day Israel, where he died in Akka, near Haifa, in 1892.
But whereas the Bahá'í Faith began in Iran in the nineteenth
century, and acknowledges its religious and cultural heritage,
its "worldview" is global rather than regional: it is a
world religion, not an Eastern philosophy, nor is it a sect of
Islam. Its basic teaching, around which all others revolve, is
the "oneness of mankind", a belief that all peoples,
beliefs, and values, while possessing their own integrity, share
a common origin, purpose, and destiny. These defining statements
suggest some parameters of the Bahá'í Faith as a religion, as
they also suggest the issues of contention and opposition
discussed in fundamentalist Christian and Islamic literature.
Iran is a Muslim country with a population of some 50 million,
but its brand of Islam, Shi'a, differs from the Sunni Islam of
the Arabic countries. The term "Iranian" derives from
"Aryan", and indicates the Indo-European origins of the
population, and "Persia" dates to the Greek name for
the southern province of Fars, where the first Persian Empire
began. Although "Farsi" is the dominant Persian
language, the country contains numerous ethnic groups each having
their own distinctive culture and language. The country has been
called Iran since 1935, the people and culture continue to be
termed Persian.
Whereas the Bahá'ís constitute the largest religious minority
in Iran (although unrecognized by the country's constitution),
larger Bahá'í communities exist in Asia, the Americas, and
Africa. Persian Bahá'ís thus form a significant section of the
Bahá'í world community, without being its most populous. This
paper suggests that the community of Persian Bahá'ís living in
Australia forms part of a contemporary religious diaspora,
initiated over one hundred years ago, and dependent on religious
forces both within the religion, and political and religious
forces acting upon it, that have their origins in the clash
between Shi'a Islam and the modernizing West. The flight of
Bahá'ís from persecution in Iran since the revolution in 1979,
although the most well-known period of their exodus, has thus
been a continuation of a century of diaspora-formation, not
merely an isolated instance of political/religious refugee
resettlement.
Two factors have generated the dispersion of Persian Bahá'ís.
First, early widespread support for the religion provoked fear in
the Shi'a Ulama (clerics), who branded it an heretical sect of
Islam, and worked for its elimination. Barbarous opposition to
the prophet-founders of the Bahá'í religion, climaxing more than
a century later in the persecutions in the revolutionary era, has
impelled Bahá'ís to emigrate, or flee from Iran, episodically,
and during repression of varying intensity. Christians,
Armenians, Jews and Zoroastrians have shared a similar fate, and
exodus.
Secondly, Bahá'ís have emigrated from Iran in order to
propagate Bahá'í beliefs in other countries, and among diverse
cultures. Although without clergy - the religion has an
administrative system, devoid of clerical offices - Persian
Bahá'ís participated, together with their co-religionists from
other parts of the world, in programs of global dissemination of
Bahá'í beliefs. Given this combination of persecution and
missionary zeal, a Persian Bahá'í diaspora was inevitable: they
were both pushed and pulled from their country of birth.
Persian Bahá'ís were not the first to bring the Bahá'í Faith
to Australia. An English-Irish couple, Hyde and Clara Dunn,
arrived in Sydney from San Francisco in 1920 and within a decade
succeeded in attracting a sufficient following to establish
"Local Assemblies" in Sydney, Adelaide and Auckland.
Although there were as yet no Persian Bahá'ís in Australia, there
were periodic communications between the two communities.
Australian Bahá'ís were keen to learn of the major events of
Bahá'í history which had unfolded in Persia, and in 1930-31 an
Australian photographer, Effie Baker, travelled through Persia
and Iraq photographing important historical sites and religious
artifacts which were rapidly deteriorating. In 1932 the
Australian Assemblies cabled to the Court of the Shah, thanking a
court minister for removing a ban that had been unreasonably
imposed on Bahá'í literature, and at other times, Australian
Bahá'ís contributed to relief funds in aid of Persian Bahá'í
communities affected by such natural disasters as floods and
earthquakes.
Although emerging within different cultural contexts, Bahá'í
communities in Persia and Australia, as in all other countries
where there were Bahá'ís, established similar religious
institutions, on the basis of identical beliefs, and
administrative guidelines. Coincidentally, the National Spiritual
Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand, and of
the Bahá'ís of Iran, were both established in 1934. Thus, by the
1950s, when the first Persian Bahá'í immigrants arrived in
Australia, there was an established community of Bahá'ís in the
antipodes ready to greet them.
PERSIAN BAHA'IS AND AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION POLICY: THE
1950s
Although Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith
1921-1957, exhorted Bahá'ís over many years to leave Iran, none
considered Australia as a potential destination until the late
1940s. When, however, Persian Bahá'ís first applied for entry to
Australia in 1948, they were classified as "Asiatic"
rather than "European" by Australia's "White
Australia" policy, and were denied entry. Others attempted
but failed to meet the stringent requirements for entrance to
Australia for tertiary study; although some successfully entered
New Zealand, where they completed their education.
Beginning in 1951 the National Assembly attempted to identify
sponsors for Persian Bahá'ís, but it was informed by the
Department of Immigration in 1953 that the existing policy
allowed no possibility for reciprocity between Iranians and the
Australian government. Nevertheless, a number of Persians passed
through Australia during 1953-54, en route to resettlement in New
Zealand and several Pacific Island territories - notably the
Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Western Samoa.
The desire by Bahá'ís to leave Iran increased following an
outbreak of persecution in 1955, in which Bahá'í properties were
confiscated, and the community's activities were curtailed: the
Australian Bahá'í House of Worship, at Ingleside in Sydney, was
constructed when the events of 1955 halted plans to build one in
Tehran. Although entry to Australia remained difficult into the
1960s, small but significant numbers of Persian Bahá'ís moved to
third countries - in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Some
families arrived in Australia from Indonesia, where they had
resided until all Europeans were expelled following political
unrest there in 1965-66. Individual families also arrived at this
time from Pakistan, India and Great Britain. At various times
through the 1960s the National Assembly continued consultation
with the Department of Immigration on the requirements for
bringing further Bahá'ís into Australia, the easing of policy
resulted in successful migration by professionals, especially
medical doctors. On the eve of revolution, in 1978, there were
approximately 50-60 Persian Bahá'í families in Australia.
REVOLUTION AND PERSECUTION: 1979-1988
With the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, the situation of the
Bahá'ís in Iran deteriorated dramatically, and reports of
persecution, imprisonment and execution gained world-wide media
attention. In Australia, the National Assembly began alerting the
Federal government, and a series of motions in the Australian
parliament's upper and lower houses between 1981 and 1983,
deploring the abuse of religious tolerance by the Iranian
government, oriented the Australian Government's policy toward
positive representation on behalf of the Iranian Bahá'í
community.
The Government protested to the Iranian Charge d'Affairs in
Australia, and supported resolutions on behalf of the Bahá'ís in
the United Nations General Assembly, and its International
Commission of Human Rights in Geneva. At the same time as it
lodged these protests on humanitarian grounds, the government
balanced its support for religious liberty with the need to
retain good political relations with Iran, realising the
potential that existed for the expansion of trade relations.
Thus, while maintaining diplomatic relations with Iran, the
Australian government also made provisions for the intake of
Iranian refugees. In 1981 Macphee, the Minister for Immigration,
announced a Special Humanitarian Assistance (SHP) Program under
which Iranian Bahá'ís and others were able to seek refuge in
Australia. By 1986, 538 Persian Bahá'ís had entered Australia
under the SHP program, and by 1988, some 2,500 had arrived in
Australia through either SHP or Refugee Programs. Together with
Persians already living in Australia, they constituted 38% of the
Australian Bahá'í community.
IDENTITY ISSUES
Although Persian Bahá'ís share an ethnic and religious
identity, aspects of both their culture and religious beliefs
restrain the community from forming a homogenous, insular ethnic
minority. In the first instance, the belief of Bahá'ís in an
emerging global society and in the equality of races prevents the
Persian Bahá'ís from establishing an ethnic community apart from
the wider Australian society. Furthermore, their entry into the
Australian Bahá'í community, in which Bahá'í beliefs and method
of administration have operated in the context of Australian
culture over a seventy-year period, has led to their dispersed
settlement, in all states, and in both urban and rural
environments, rather than in a small number of closely settled
localities.
This dispersed settlement pattern has been encouraged in part
by the distinctive nature of Bahá'í administration. The formation
of Local Spiritual Assemblies in all local government areas in
which nine or more Bahá'ís reside - administrative units in which
Persians have been quickly integrated at local level, has
enhanced the capability of the Australian Bahá'í community at the
same time as it has allowed the system to adapt to, and respond
to, the needs of its Persian members, newly arrived.
The integration of Persians into the non-Persian Bahá'í
community has cultural as well as religious implications. Despite
the tendency for scattered settlement, 1988 figures suggest that,
nation-wide, there were more Persians than non-Persians in 59 of
169 Bahá'í communities that had Local Assemblies, and in 19
Bahá'í communities, more than 75% of the members were Persian.
With such concentrated numbers, the Australian Bahá'í community,
particularly in metropolitan areas, has tended to appear less
culturally diverse, and more dominantly Persian, than is actually
the case.
THE CHALLENGES OF INTEGRATION AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Apart from the meta-cultural facets of the Bahá'í community,
in which religious belief is shared by all members, separate from
their cultural and ethnic backgrounds, the Persian segment of it
contains its own set of permutations and cultural influences, and
is far from homogenous. Whereas Persians who migrated prior to
the revolution transferred much of their wealth to Australia,
Persian refugees invariably escaped with no more than the clothes
they wore, across the borders to either Turkey or Pakistan; and
whereas some Persians had migrated at an earlier date to Europe,
Britain, or North American, gained a Western education, and
acquired Western cultural values, refugees invariably spent some
time in squalid camps (some even in jail) and learnt basic
English, before arriving in Australia. A further group, Bahá'ís
of Zoroastrian background, who speak the Dari dialect, often
spent periods in India, and are culturally linked with Indian
customs of dress, food, and languages, as much as Persian.
Government agencies, as well as the Bahá'ís themselves, have
observed closely the resettlement of Iranian refugees in
Australia. One report described the Persian Bahá'ís as
"articulate, well educated and highly motivated
settlers": many were professionally qualified and displayed
a determination to re-establish themselves quickly; they tended
to remain in migrant hostels for short periods; they had high
expectations of successful settlement, and strong career
ambitions.
There were, on the other hand, costs involved in this period
of migration. Principal among these were psychological
difficulties such as stress and depression concerning the fate of
relatives remaining in Iran; and concern at disappointment when
high resettlement expectations were not met (for example,
inability to gain employment of the same status as had been
enjoyed in Iran).
Whereas Persian Bahá'ís have suffered at the hands of
fundamentalist Muslims in Iran, relations between Persian Bahá'ís
and Persian Muslims in Australia have been cautious, but not
violent. Even so, separate Government translation facilities have
been required for Muslim and Bahá'í refugees. The two communities
left Iran for differing reasons. Many Muslims, especially those
with Western education, and acculturation, were economically
motivated to emigrate, since they wished to maintain their
standard of living. Consequently, most Persian Muslims in
Australia are well educated, with some capital. Persian Bahá'ís,
on the other hand, fleeing persecution, came from a variety of
economic and educational backgrounds - from land owners,
industrialists, and merchants, to humble villagers and peasantry.
In terms of class, therefore, the Persian Bahá'ís in Australia
are far from homogenous culturally, economically and in degree of
educational sophistication, and are united, rather, by religious
belief.
For those who interpret the Iranian revolution as an attempt
to replace Persian traditions with Islamic ones, as much as a
revolt against Western influences, the preservation of Persian
culture in Australia is most important. It is not clear the
extent to which emphasis in the Bahá'í writings on the concept of
a one-world mentality lessens dependence on the culture of birth.
What can be argued, nonetheless, is that Persian Bahá'ís, having
a familiar religious community to settle in to, suffer less
home-sickness and cultural shock, than Persian Muslims. As one
young Bahá'í commented, "Tradition weakens, but religion
continues".
This does not mean, on the other hand, that the Persian's love
of poetry, music, and dance is any less strong among the Persian
Bahá'ís than among the Muslim community, and the demonstration of
fluency in Arabic, and "High" Farsi continues to
command respect. Of Persian customs, however, only "Naw
Ruz" (New Year) is incorporated into the Bahá'í calendar.
Observed on 21 March, date of the spring equinox in the Northern
Hemisphere, (which in Australia marks the autumn equinox), Naw
Ruz is celebrated more widely than, for example,
"Yalda", the first night of winter, the longest night
of the year, on which families gather and picnic on the last of
the summer's fruit, especially watermelons and grapefruit. Other
celebrations, such as the thirteenth day after Naw-Ruz, on which
families hold picnics away from their homes, so as to avoid the
visitation of bad luck there; and "Charhar Shanbe
Suri", a fire-jumping ceremony dating to Zoroastrian times
held on the last Wednesday of each year year, are more often
observed by Muslim than Bahá'ís Persians, for whom they are
cultural but not religious observances.
Because the community of Persian Bahá'ís in Australia is of
recent origin, its second generation has as yet had little time
to assess itself in the context of Australian society. Young
refugees, in particular, are faced with the task of integrating
Persian traditions into a new cultural environment. 240 of the
refugees who entered Australia between 1983-87, were in the 15-21
age group, and, since more young males were allowed to escape
than females, (who presumably remain in the safety of family and
village in Iran) there is an apparent lack of female partners for
marriage. Whereas a 1987 survey found strong acceptance of cross
cultural marriages - up to 85% of Persians who had been resident
in Australia for 5 years or more favour the idea of themselves,
or their children marrying a partner from a different cultural
background- the Bahá'í principle of sexual equality may prove
more adaptable to Australian than to Persian culture, and inhibit
marriages between Persian males and non-Persian females. Apart
from advantages that young Persian Bahá'ís have over their elders
in acquiring competence in English, they are also usually more
able to adapt the Persian system of politeness,
"taroff", to Australian culture, than are older
Persians, for whom Australian manners and culture can seem
comparatively unsophisticated.
Although it has been suggested that the Persian Bahá'ís have
settled successfully into Australian society through their
universalist, rather than separatist, world-view, and by having
an adequate support network already in existence in Australia to
receive them, the permanence of the community cannot be taken for
granted. Whereas some Bahá'ís migrated from Iran voluntarily in
the period before the revolution, others were forced reluctantly
from their homeland, and retain a strong sense of Persian
ethnicity. Just as some Persians had Russian parents, who lived a
life-time in Iran, waiting for the revolution in their homeland
to subside, the possibility of some Persians waiting a life-time
in third countries such as Australia until the Islamic Revolution
whithers, remains. For the majority, however, the period of
revolution, flight, and resettlement will form the stuff of myth
and legend, and the appearance of Persian Bahá'ís in countries
such as Australia will mark that period in their diaspora in
which the Bahá'í religion, through the blood of its Persian
martyrs, came out of obscurity, and more widely known.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davidson, John, & Marjorie Tidman (eds), Integration
and Cultural Diversity, Association for Bahá'í
Studies - Australia, Monograph No.1, 1988.
Department of Ethnic Affairs. Notes on the
Settlement of Iranian Bahá'ís in Australia. March
1987.
Hassall, Graham, "The Bahá'í Faith", in Ian
Gillman (ed), Many Faiths, One Nation, William
Collins, Australia, 1988.
Sheffer, Gabrial (ed), Modern Diasporas in
International Politics, Croom Helm, Great Britain,
1986.
Smith, Peter, The Babi and Bahá'í Religions: From
Messianic Shi'ism to a World Religion, Cambridge
University Press, Great Britain, 1987.
ENDNOTES
Note: footnote reference numbers have been lost in this online version.
.. For an adequate introduction to the origins,
history, and beliefs, of the Bahá'í Faith, not possible here, see
Peter Smith, The Babi and Bahá'í Religions: From Messianic
Shi'ism to a World Religion, Cambridge University Press,
Great Britain, 1987. A brief account of the Bahá'í Faith in
Australia is found in Graham Hassall, "The Bahá'í
Faith", in Ian Gillman (ed), Many Faiths, One Nation,
William Collins, Australia, 1988.
.. Article 13 of the Iranian constitution reads
"Iranian Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians are the only
recognized minority religious groups which in the area of Islamic
laws are free to perform their religious ceremonies". The
relationship between ethnic minorities and the central government
since the revolution is examined in Patricia J. Higgins,
"Minority-State Relations in Contemporary Iran", Iranian
Studies XVII, 1, Winter 1984; See also Riffat Hassan,
"On Human Rights and the Qur'anic Perspective", Journal
of Ecumenical Studies, VIV:3 1982.
.. Recent figures suggest a global Bahá'í
population of near 5 million, with more than 1 million in India,
and approximately 300,000 in Iran. Dept. of Ethnic Affairs and
Immigration, Notes on the Settlement of Iranian Bahá'ís in
Australia, March 1987. For discussion of the growth of the
Indian Bahá'í community, see W. Garlington, "The Bahá'í
Faith in Malwa", in G.A. Oddie (ed), Religion in South
Asia, Manohar, New Delhi, 1977.
.. See, eg, "Unholy War: Assult on Iran's
Anglicans", Time 26 May 1980.
.. Treatment of the Bahá'ís in this period is
discussed in Shahrough Akhavi, Religion and Politics in
Contemporary Iran: Clergy-State Relations in the Pahlavi Period,
State University of New York Press, USA, 1980; Rose L. Greaves,
"The Reign of Mohammad Riza Shah, 1942-1976", in
Hossein Amirsadeghi, Twentieth Century Iran, Heinemann,
London, 1977; see also, "Heretics in Islam", Time
6 June 1955, "Drift in Iran", The Economist, 25
June 1955.
.. See, eg, Canberra Times, 15 September
1979, 16 July 1980; Pine and Peninsula Record, 26
September 1979, Daily News , 18 September 1979, Sunday
Independent, 23 September 1979; Lindsay Mackie, "Bahá'í
Faith fears extinction in Iran after 'spy' shootings", Weekend
Australian, 13-4 September 1980; "Alarm expressed at
human rights violations in Iran", Canberra Times, 20
August 1981; Alan Gill, "Iranian Bahá'ís endure campaign of
hate", Sydney Morning Herald, 18 November 1981;
Graham Bicknell, "Cry for help from Iran: Bahá'í members
tortured and shot for their beliefs", Daily Telegraph,
4 January 1982; Tom Krause, "Khomeini moves on
Bahá'ís", The Australian, 23 February 1982; James S.
Murray, "Iran's intolerance takes Bahá'ís to the
gallows", The Australian, 30 June 1983. Letters from
Beverly Stafford, then secretary of the National Spiritual
Assembly, include 18 January 1982, Sydney Morning Herald,
and 18 January 1982 The Australian. An interview with the
Iranian Charge d'Affairs at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, Canberra, appeared in the Canberra Times, 16 May,
1982. His statement that Bahá'ís were not being killed for their
religious beliefs was challenged in an article by John Bryant,
"Iran 'executing' Bahá'í officials", Canberra Times,
24 May 1982, by a Bahá'í whose father-in-law had been executed in
1981, and whose mother-in-law had been in prison since 1980. The
Charge d'Affairs repeated his government's position in a letter
"Treatment of Bahá'ís in Iran", Canberra Times,
12 July 1982, which prompted further letters to the editor, 16
August 1982. Other articles included Keith Suter, "Bahá'ís
in Iran", National Outlook May 1982; Keith McDonald,
"Waiting for a miracle", Daily Mirror, 9 June
1982; "Iran defends human rights policy", Sydney
Morning Herald 17 July, 1982; Exchanges between the National
Spiritual Assembly and the Iranian Charge d'Affairs appeared in The
Bulletin, 14 October, 4 November and 18 November, 1980; other
articles in The Bulletin included Greg Sheridan,
"Bahá'ís victims of the Ayatollah's drive", 26 May,
1981; Colin Smith, "The Ayatollah's 'holy' war on Bahá'í
religion", 12 July 1983. Following the murder in January
1981 of Manuchir Hakim, Professor of Medicine at the University
of Tehran, the Australian Medical Association protested to the
Iranian Embassy in a letter, 20 August 1981, and in 1984,
supported the Australian governments's efforts in connection with
the human rights situation in Iran. In September 1981 discussion
of the persecution of Bahá'ís at the United Nations Human Rights
Commission were reported in The Canberra Times, "Plea
to end persecution", 11 September 1981. Other articles in
the same month included Col Allan, "Iranians plan their own
'final solution'", The Australian, 21 September 1981;
and James S. Murray, "Now Harigans turn to Islam for
succour", The Australian, 24 September 1981. Recent
articles include David Lester, "Defenders of the
Faith", The Weekend Australian, 1-2 August, 1987.
Coverage in Newsweek magazine included "The Minority
that Iran Persecutes", 24 March 1980, "Iran's Holy War
on Bahá'ís", 25 January 1982, "The Agony of the
Bahá'ís", 8 March 1982. Secondary literature and overseas
press coverage is too extensive to include in this article.
.. Parliamentary Debates, Senate Daily
Hansard, 17 March 1981, 26 March 1981, 7 May 1981, 16
November 1982, 25 August 1983. Parliamentary Debates, House of
Representatives Daily Hansard, 19 August 1981, 24 March 1982,
8 September 1983, 28 February 1984. Reports on Bahá'í executions
by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Tony Street, were
included in Australian Foreign Affairs Record, January
1982 and July 1982. In a report on the 19 August 1981 debate in
the House of representatives, Simon Balderstone wrote "The
House took on a friendly, if serious, atmosphere when members
from both sides debated - in agreement - a motion on the
adherents of the Bahá'í Faith in Iran", The Age, 20
August 1981. Another debate in the House of Representatives, 28
October 1981, was reported in The Canberra Times,
"Call to Iran to end persecutions", 29 October 1981. In
1981 the National Spiritual Assembly published a leaflet, Iran:
The Facts. Significant summaries of responses by governments
world-wide appear publications of the Bahá'í International
Community, The Bahá'ís in Iran: A report on the Persecutions
of a Religious Minority, June 1981, and Update,
November 1981. Also important is Roger Cooper, The Bahá'ís of
Iran, Minority Rights Group, Report No. 51, February 1982,
Great Britain.
.. In September 1979 the Iranian Embassy in
Canberra announced that the Iranian Government did not recognize
the Bahá'í Faith as a religion and that it had not been informed
of any acts of violence against Bahá'ís in Iran. See
"Embassy not aware of violence to Bahá'ís", Canberra
Times, 11 September 1979. An explanation of the Iranian
justification for execution is given in Lyndall Crisp's interview
with Frood Bourbour, "In defence of killing", The
Australian, 12 September 1979.
.. See Patrick Walters, "Refugee rules
widened: government helps minorities", Sydney Morning
Herald, 19 November 1981.
.. John Read, "The Process of
Resettlement", Integration, 17.
.. Aflatoon Payman, "The Iranian Crisis
and the Australian Response", Integration, 11.
.. John Read, "The Process of
Resettlement", in J. Davidson, Integration and Cultural
Diversity, op.cit.
.. Muslim attacks on the Bahá'í Faith in
Australia have been inconsequential. Most recently, an Imam (who
is not Persian) spoke against Bahá'í, other religions, and even
service organizations such as Rotary and Lions Clubs, in a speech
"Islam and Judaism: can they coexist?" at the
University of Sydney, 18 September 1988. Jeff Penberthy &
Alan Gill, "An Outbreak of Ethnic Strife", Time,
5 December 1988, 56-7.
.. John Davidson, "An Emerging Identity -
The Changing Face of the Australian Bahá'í Community", Integration,
29.
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