# Encyclopaedia of Islam: Baha'i Selections

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> BAHADUR SHAH GUDJARATl — BAHA'IS                                                915
> 
> December 1534, however, in return for a promise to          judiced evidence of his rival Karadelebizade, he was
> aid Bahadur Shah against the Mughals, the Portu-            chosen because he was so enfeebled by excessive
> guese obtained Bassein and in Rablc I I/October 1535        indulgence in narcotics that the Grand Vezir and
> the right to build -a fort at Diw where Bahadur             the SultanWalide thought they would be able to
> Shah himself had taken refuge. The nominal Portu-           do as they pleased with him. His subsequent vigour,
> guese assistance to the Gudjarat sultan did not             and his firmness in resisting certain of their demands,
> prevent Humayun from capturing Bahadur Shah's               give the lie to this accusation. The favour which
> capital of Ahmadabad.                                       he showed to the Mewlew! and Khalwati orders soon
> Humayun's withdrawal from Gudjarat in 942/1536           brought hiir into conflict with the orthodox religious
> to face the threat from Sher Khan enabled Bahadur           party, which also objected to his approval of tobacco
> Shah to recover most of his dominions from the              and coffee and his toleration of the dervish use of
> now disunited, dispersed and disaffected Mughal             music and dancing. His fall, however, was due not
> forces.                                                     to their efforts but to other causes. In Djum. I
> Bahadur Shah then turned to recover the rights           io6i/April-May 1651, in the course of a dispute
> surrendered to the Portuguese at Diw. In an                 which arose out of a question of jurisdiction involving
> atmosphere fraught with mutual suspicion of bad             the British Consul and the KacJI of Izmir, Bahacl
> faith, Bahadur Shah rashly visited Nuno da Cunha            Efendi placed the British ambassador in Istanbul
> on his flagship at Diw and, hurriedly returning to          under house arrest. For this breach of diplomatic
> the shore after sensing treachery, was slain by the         usage he was dismissed and exiLd to Midilli. He
> following Portuguese forces. His death occurred on          remained, however, at Gelibolu and Lampsaca, and
> 3 Ramadan 943/13 February 1537.                             was reinstated in Ram. io62/Aug. 1653; he continued
> Bibliography: Firishta, ii, 203-11, 416-7,            in office until his death, of a quinsy, on 13 Safar
> 420-43; Abu '1-Fadl, Akbar-ndma, i, 126-46; cAbd         1064/3 Jan. 1654. He was buried in Fatilj.
> Allah Muhammad b. c Umar al-Makkl al-Asafi                  Bahacl was known both as a poet and as a scholar,
> Ulugh Khani, Zafar al-Walih bi muzaffar wa               and left a number of poems and fetwas. His best-
> Alih, 3 Vols. ed. E. D. Ross, London, 1910-1928,         known ruling was that in which he pronounced smokiii, index, xxxiv; Sikandar b. Muhammad Man-             ing lawful, thus ending the prohibitions and red[hu, Mirdt-Sikandari, Bombay (lith.) 1890,              pressions of the early i7th century. He was himself
> 188-259; Mir Abu Turab Wall, Ta>rikh-i Gujarat,          a heavy smoker, and his contemporary HadjdjI
> ed. E. D. Ross, Calcutta 1909, 1-35; Nizam al-DIn        Khalifa remarks of him that had it not been for this
> Ahmad, Taba^dt-i Akbari, iii, Calcutta 1935,             self-indulgence he might have become one of the
> 193-234; 'All b. cAziz Allah Tabataba, Burhdn-i          most eminent scholars of the country. BahacFs
> Ma'dthir, Haydarabad (Delhi printed) 1936,               authorisation of smoking, however, was due, ac-
> 270-281; Hadjdii Khalifa, Tuttfat al-Kibdr fi Asfdr      cording to Fladjdii Khalifa, not to his own addiction
> al~Bifrdr, trans. J. Mitchell, London, 1831, 65-66;      but-to a concern for what was best suited to the
> Caspar Correa, Lendas da India, 4 vols., Lisbon          condition of the people, and to a belief in the legal
> 1858-1864, index, 10 under Badur (Sultao, rei de         principle that the basic rule of law is licitness (Ibafra
> Cambaya); Fernao Lopez de Castanheda, Historia           asliyya).
> da descombrimento e conquista da India pelos                   Bibliography: Na c ima, years 1059, 1061, 1062,
> Portuguezes, Lisbon 1833, Bk. viii, Chs. xxix-              1064. HadidjI Khalifa, Mlzdn al-Habk, Istanbul
> xxxiii, 69-85, Ixxii, 180, Ixxxiiii, 204, xciii-cii,        1290, 42-3 (— The Balance of Truth, tr. G. L.
> 225-246, cxxi, 285, cli-cliiii, 349-357, clxiiii-clxv,      Lewis, London 1957, 56-7); Ahmed Rif c at, Dawfrat
> 384-390; Joao de Barros, Decadas da Sua Asia,               al-MashdHkh, Istanbul n.d., 55-7; 'Ilmiyye Salna-
> Lisbon 1777-8, index under Badur Chan ou                    mesi, Istanbul 1334, 458 (with specimens of his
> Soltao Badur, 26; Diogo de Couto, Da Asia,                  handwriting; 'Othmdnlt Mu'ellifleri         ii, 101;
> Lisbon 1779-1788, index under Badur (Soltao), 47;           Sidjill-i 'Othmdni, ii, 29; Hammer-Purgstall, in-
> Bombay Gazetteer, (Gudjarat) I, i, Bombay,                  dex; I. H. Uzuncarsllf, Osmanli Tarihi, iii/i,
> 1896, 347 ff.; M. S. Commissariat, History of               Ankara 1951, index; Gibb, Ottoman Poetry, iii,
> Gujarat, i, 1938. On the embassy which he sent in           294-7. A rumber of his rulings are included in the
> 1536 to Istanbul, accombanied by the Lodi prince            Ottoman kdnuns published in MTM i.
> Burhan Beg, see Hammer-Purgstall2, ii, 156-7.                                                       (B. LEWIS)
> (P. HARDY)             AL-BAHA'I [see AL-CAMIL!].
> BAHA'l MEtfMED EFENDI, Ottoman jurist                       BAHA'IS, adherents of the new religion which
> and theologian. Born in Istanbul in 1004/1595-6,            was founded by Baha* Allah [q.v.], and of which
> he was the son of cAbd al-cAziz Efendi, a Kadl-             the forerunner, according to Bahal doctrine, was
> c
> asker of Rumelia, and the grandson of the historian        the Bab [q.v.]. The foremost authority on the Baha5!
> Sacd al-DIn. Entering upon the cursus honorum of            religion, and its disseminator in Europe and America,
> the religious institution, he became mudarris and           was c Abbas Efendi, the eldest son of the founder,
> molla and was appointed kadi first in Salonica and          better known among the Baha'is as cAbd al-Baha*
> then, in 1043/1633-4, in Aleppo. A heavy smoker,            (Servant of Baha?). Born on 23 May 1844 at Tehran,
> he was reported by the Beylerbey Ahmed Pasha,               he accompanied his father on his journeys and in
> with whom he was on bad terms, and in 1044/1634-5           his exile, and at his death was recognised by the
> was dismissed and exiled to Cyprus as a punishment          great majority of the Bahals as the authorised
> for what was then regarded as a serious offence.            exponent and interpreter of his father's writings
> Towards the end of 1045 (early 1636) he was par-            Centre of the Covenaut and "Model of Baha*! Life",
> doned and in Muh. iO48/May-June 1638 appointed              in accordance with Baha3 Allah's will (Kitdb <Ahdi)\
> Molla of Syria; in Safar io54/April 1644 he was             this will, however, was contested by cAbd al-Baha''s
> transferred to Edirne, and in Rab. I loss/May 1645          brother Muhammad CAH, who s* t up a rival group
> became Kacjl of Istanbul. After brief terms as              within the Baha*! organisation and contrived to
> Kadi-caskcr of Anatolia and of Rumelia, he was              compromise his brother with the Ottoman authorities,
> appointed Shaykh al-Islam for the first time in             who were hostile to the Bahals. He was released
> Radjab IO59/July-Aug. 1649. According to the pre-           frorr prison in 1908 under the amnesty granted by
> 9i6                                                  BAHA'IS
> 
> the new Ottoman Government of the Young Turks,             The Prophet has two differing conditions: he is a
> and in 1910 began his three great missionary journeys.      man, but also a very clear mirror in which God is
> The first was to Egypt (1910), the second to Europe         reflected. Thus in a certain sense it is not wrong
> (Paris and London, 1911), and the third to America         to call him God, by way of abbreviation. The status
> and Europe (1912-1.3). From New York he made                of such a being as could be called "prophetic" is
> his way across the entire United States in eight            radically different from that of man; it falls between
> months to Los Angeles and San Francisco, stopping           man's status and that of God. According to Baha3!
> in the main towns and preaching in evangelical              doctrine no man, however perfect he may become,
> churches, synagogues, masonic halls, etc. In Sep-           will be able to attain prophetic status (or better,
> tember 1912 he returned to Europe, and from Eng-            that of "manifestation"), just as no animal, perfect
> land went again to Paris, then to Germany, Austria          as it may be of its kind, can aspire to human status.
> and Hungary. Finally at the end of 1913 he returned         The manifestation of God through the Prophets
> from Paris to Palestine. The first Baha*! group in          never ceases. The manifestations of the Divine are
> America had formed as early as 1894, and on 10              successive. The first prophet is Adam, then come
> December 1898 the first American Baha5! pilgrims            the traditional prophets of Judaism, Christianity
> arrived at Acre. cAbd al-Baha?'s journey, one of            and Islam. Zoroaster also is considered a true prothe objects of which had been to counter the pro-           phet, though the Buddha and Confucius are seen
> paganda of his brother's supporters, also notably           rather as great masters of the spiritual life. After
> strengthened the community of American adherents.            Muhammad come the Bab (considered by the Baha^ls
> In addition to this he formed Baha5! groups in the          as a true independent manifestation of God whose
> European countries he passed through. In 1920 the           specific mission lasted only nine years), and Baha3
> British Government appointed him Knight of the              Allah. The Baha3ls allow that other prophets better
> Order of the British Empire. He died on 28 Novem-           adapted to advanced stages of human progress may
> ber at Hayfa and was buried beside the Bab, in              come after him, but "not before a thousand years"
> the great mausoleum which was completed in                  (Afrdas). The prophetic periods are grouped together
> 1957. In his will he had appointed Shoghi Efendi           in larger cycles; with the Bab the cycle begun by
> (Shawkl Efendi) RabbanI, the oldest of his grand-           Adam ends and the Baha3! cycle begins. The latter
> sons (the eldest son of bis eldest daughter) as "Guar-      is destined, according to doctrine, to last at least
> dian of the Cause of God" (Wali-yi Amr Allah).               500,000 years. It is thus inexact to consider the
> Shoghi Efendi, who died on 3 Nov., was born at               Baha'I religion as syncretistic. Although it accepts
> Hayfa in the last years of the last century. He stu-       all the prophetic religions as essentially true, it
> died at Oxford and in 1936 married the American             claims that it is the one best adapted to the present
> Mary Maxwell, who took the name Ruhiyyih Kha-               time, and that it includes in itself all its predecessors.
> num. From 1923 onwards he lived in Hayfa in Israel,             4. Man. Baha3l psychology is somewhat complex.
> c
> the world administrative centre of the faith.                 Abd al-Baha3 (Mufdwidat) distinguishes five types
> The Bah a3! religion, while it claims to be "scienti-   of "spirit": animal spirit, vegetable spirit, human
> fic" and opposed to dogma, has more clearly de-             spirit, the spirit of faith, and the Holy Spirit. The
> fined theological, philosophical, and social doctrines      spirit of faith is given by God, and alone confers
> and forms of worship than some Orientalists have            true "eternal life" on the human spirit (we are thus
> thought. I give them briefly below on the basis of         a long way from a purely philosophical conception
> the sources cited in the bibliography.                     of the immortality of the soul), "Faith" is essential
> Religious doctrines, i. God. A completely trans-        to Baha3! spiritual life. The text of the first verse
> cendent and unknowable entity. "Every road to               of the Afydasruns as follows: "The first commandment
> Him is barred". The Baha^ls are opposed to mystic          of Gocl to his servants is knowledge of the Dawn
> pantheism. Mystics have only given form to their            of His revelation, and the Dayspring of His Decrte
> own imaginings. "Even the loftiest souls and the            (i.e., of the Prophet), who is his appointed Represenpurest hearts, however high they may fly in the             tative in the created world (fi 'dlam al-amr wtflrealms of science and mysticism, can never pass             khalfr). He who has attained this knowlege has atbeyond that which has been created inside them-             tained all good. He who know? it not is of the world
> selves" (md khulifca /* anfusihiw bi-anfusihim)             of error, even though he performs all (good) works".
> (Lawh-i Salman).                                            Faith in God (which, God being by definition un-
> 2. Creation. The unknowable essence of God              knowable, can only be faith in His manifestation,
> makes itself manifest and creates that which is not         the Prophet) confers immortality on the believer,
> God. The Bahal idea of the beginning of things              who continues in the worlds beyond his eternal
> falls between that of creation and that of emanation.       journey towards the unknowable Essence of God
> We could speak of eternal creation-, seeing that the        (excessive interest in these worlds on the p?rt of
> Baha5! texts tend to keep the term khalfr (crea-            Baha'is is discouraged; they are explicitly forbidden
> tion), but at the same time maintain that since             to take part in spiritualist meetings). Paradise and
> the attribute of khdlik (creator) is co-eternal with        Hell are symbols, the first of which stands for the
> God, there has never been a time when the                   true believer's journey towards God, and the second
> world did not exist. Thus the world is eternal              the fruitless path towards annihilation of him who
> (Lawb-i tlikmat).                                           knowingly rejects the Faith and performs evil works.
> 3. A special form of the manifestation of God is        In the context of this progressive view of the world
> that which features in the Prophets (The Bahal              beyond Baha^s are allowed, and advised, to pray
> technical term is mazdhir-i ildhiyya, divine mani-          for the dead. Equally, the idea of reincarnation in
> festations, rather than rusul or anbiyd). Thus the          this world is firmly rejected.
> concept of bulul (incarnation in the full sense of              On the phenomenon of man Baha*! doctrine acthe word) is not accepted. In this connexion the            cepts the theory of evolution, not, however, as proletter of Baha> Allah to Nasir al-Din Shah (Lawji-i         pounded by Darwin, but rather in the traditional
> Sultdn) is particularly interesting, as is the Kitdb        mystic sense already present in the matknawl of
> al-Shaykh, in which he describes his own mystic             Mawlana Djalal al-Din RumI [q.v.]. "Man was alexperience in the prison of Siyah Cal at Tehran.            ways man throughout his evolution", even though
> BAHA'IS                                                    917
> 
> he may have passed through a series of stages of             of organisation in the person of the Guardian (Wali~yi
> development.                                                 Amr Allah). The administrative bodies are as follows:
> Moral and social principles. The Baha'Is accept           i. The local spiritual assembly (Bayt al-lAdl-i Mathe ancient formula attributed to CA1I: "All private         balli). These are formed wherever there are at least
> matters belong to the human sphere, all concerns             nine Baha*Is. They are of nine members elected by
> of society to the divine". Hence the great emphasis          universal suffrage. Election is considered as an
> in Baha3! doctrine on the improvement of society,            act of worship, and the Baha'i concept, unlike
> a task which is the charge of the Baha5! world              that underlying the electoral system of the parliaadministration (see below).                                  mentary democracies, does not imply responsibility
> The moral and social tenets of the Baha'ls are            of the elected towards their electors, since the latter
> classified by cAbd al-Baha3 under the following              are merely instruments of the will of God. Elections
> twelve headings: i. Unity of the human race. 2.              are held each year during the period from 21 April
> Need for an independent search for Truth. 3. Essen-          to 2 May (Ridwan festival). At the present time there
> tial unity of all religions. 4. Need for religion to pro-    are local assemblies in more than 200 countries
> mote unity. 5. Need for science and religion to be           throughout the world. 2. Where there is a sufficient
> in harmony. 6. Equal rights and duties for the two            number of local assemblies a "Convention" of 19
> sexes. 7. Opposition to all kinds of prejudice: national,     members elected by universal suffrage elects a nareligious, political, economic, etc. 8. Attainment of         tional spiritual assembly (Bayt al-*Adl-i Milli or
> world peace* 9. Obligation to provide universal edu-         Markazl) also of nine members, not necessarily from
> cation, accessible to all. 10. Solution on a religious       among its own members but from all adherents of the
> basis of the social problem, with the abolition of          faith. There are at the present time more than twenty
> the extremes of excessive wealth and degrading              of these. 3. When sufficient national assemblies have
> poverty, n. Use of an auxiliary international lan-          been formed their members will elect a universal
> guage. 12. Constitution of an International Tribunal.       spiritual assembly (not necessarily from among
> The forms of administration and organisation which        themselves but from all adherents).
> we now describe in brief conduce according to the               This assemblv will be called Bayt al-'Adl-i 'Umumi,
> Baha'ls to the realisation of these aims:                    Universal House of Justice. Its president will be the
> The Baha:I religion has no public ritual, nor any        Guardian, by virtue of his office, and for the term
> sacraments or private rites of a sacred character.           of his life. The task of the Universal House of Justice
> The only religious duties of the Baha5is are: i. To          will be to function as supreme administrative body
> assemble every 19 days on the first day of each Babl         and court, and in addition to frame in accordance
> month (the Bab's calendar was adhered to by                  with the needs of the time laws not laid down by
> Baha> Allah) for a communal celebration, called             the Akdas or the other writings of the Founder;
> by the Western Bahals the "igth day's Feast",               these laws it will have the power to abrogate should
> and by the Persians diydfat-i ruz-i nuzdahum. It             need arise.
> consists of readings cf prayers and sacred texts                 The jurisdiction of the different Assemblies is ab-
> (and even of passages from the Bible, the Kur'an,            solute within their sphere of competence and fully
> and other sacred texts if desired), followed by deli-        binding on all believing Baha'ls, who should in
> berations more properly administrative in character,         theory bring before their Assembly even their priwhen the community's financial affairs are reviewed,         vate affairs and differences (in the first instance the
> important announcements are made, etc. A small               local Assembly would be concerned, subsequently
> meal is then taken together, "even if nothing more           the national if the question proved insoluble).
> than a glass of water", in accordance with the Bab's             Alongside these elected administrative systems,
> decree. 2. To fast 19 days, i.e., the entire Babl month      which are graded from the bottom up, is the inof cAla>, from 2 to 21 March, the Bahal New Year's           structional system, graded from the top down and
> Day. The fast is of Islamic type, requiring abstention      made up of appointed members. At its head is the
> from all food and drink, etc., from dawn till sunset.        Guardian, whose powers, however, are interpretative
> 3. To practise complete abstention from all .alco-           only and not legislative. He has legislative powers
> holic drink. 4. To pray three times a day, morning           only as a lawful member of the Universal House
> noon, arid evening, according to short, set formulae.        of Justice, on the same basis as the other members.
> The obligatory prayers (written in Arabic by Baha5           The Guardian's position is hereditary, but his eldest
> Allah) may be recited in any language. Some are              son is not necessarily appointed his successor. He
> preceded by ablutions, which are much simpler than           names his successor in his life-time from among the
> Islamic ablutions, consisting only of washing the            members of his family. Immediately below the Guarface and hands and reciting two very short prayers.          dian in the instructional order come the "Hands
> Apart from this the Akdas lays down precise rules         of the Cause of God" (Ayadi-yi Amr Allah), of
> for the division of inheritances (a portion of which         whom he appoints a varying number. The "Hands
> falls to the teachers), levies a tax of 19 per cent on       of the Cause" elect among themselves a Council
> revenues, and prescribes numerous other rules and            of nine members whose duty is to assist the Guardian
> penal, civil and religious laws, which are followed          and confirm his choice of successor. The Hands of
> in part only by the eastern Baha'is. Marriage is             the Cause appoint their own subsidiaries in their
> monogamous: although the Akdas allows bigamy,                turn, who assist them in their work of instruction
> the provision was cancelled by cAbd al-Baha*                 and disiemination of the doctrine and spirit of the
> ("Model of Baha5! Life", on the basis of an explicit         Faith ("Auxiliary Boards").
> declaration by Baha* Allah). For a marriage to be               The Baha'is consider such a complex administravalid the onsen t of the couple's parents is required.       tive system as of divine origin. This system is in
> Divorce is allowed, but discouraged.                         fact outlined in the Afrdas, with additions and im-
> The controlling bodies of the Baha'i community            provements by cAbd al-Baha3, and by the present
> are of two kinds, administrative and instructional,          Guardian, Shoghi Efendi, in the matter of appointing
> the first being made up of elected councils and the          assistants for the Hands of the Cause. For the Baha'Is
> second of persons and associations appointed from            such a system is not merely a means of internal
> above. The two types come together at the summit             administration of the Community's affairs, but the
> 9i8                                         BAHA'IS — BAHAR
> 
> prototype of the ideal world government of the future,     are cyclostyled. Recently (1955-58) great progress
> which will eventually arise after a long process of        has been made in Africa (especially Uganda) where
> peaceful evolution. The Bahals do not accept the           the number of Bahals exceeds three thousand.
> separation of Church and State, but maintain that                Bibliography: Apart from the works cited
> in the absence of priests and sacraments the Bahal            under Baha5 Allah, see; On cAbd al-Baha1: S.
> fusion of religion and administration will take on            Lemaitre, Une grandc figure de l'Un\t6, *Abdu
> a different character from that of the traditional            *l-Bahd>, Paris 1952; M. H. Phelps, Life and tea-
> Iheocracies. Every Baha5! is thus formally forbidden         ching of Abbas Kffendi, London 1912 (German
> to belong to a political party or to secret societies         trans. Abdu *l-Baha Abbas, Leben und Lehre,
> and obedience to due authority is obligatory. The            Stuttgart 1922); Lady Blomfield, The Chosen
> Baha5! religion having a strong pacifist trend, mem-         Highway, London 1940; M. Hanford Ford, The
> bers of the Baha5! community are advised to avoid             Oriental Rose, or the Teachings of Abdul Baha,
> military service, at least in lands where conscientious       New York 1910. Account of his journey to Europe
> objection is recognised by law. We could also speak           and America: Mahmud Zarfcam, Kitdb BaddW
> of a strong trend towards vegetarianism, based on            al-Athdr fi Asfdr Mawld al-Akhydr . . ., Bombay
> a short speech made by cAbd al-Baha5, during his              1914-1921 (2 vols.). His chief works: Makdtib-i
> c
> stay in America, in which he states that he favours             Abd al-Bahd*, Cairo 1910-1921 (3 vols.); al-Nur
> the creation of a way of life in which it would no           al-Abha fi Mufdwiddt liadrat <Abd al-Bahd> (relonger be necessary to kill other living beings for           cords of conversations, collected by Laura Clifford
> food; but he would not force others to accept his             Barney in Acre), Cairo 1920; (English trans, by
> view. Likewise he speaks critically of hunting. He            L, Clifford Barney, Some answered questions, Lonadvises strongly against smoking, without formally            don 1908; French trans, by I. Dreyfus, Les Lecons
> forbidding it.                                                de Saint Jean d'Acre, Paris 1929); Khi^dbdt-i Mu-
> Although the Baha^is have no public form of wor-           bdraka-yi ffadrat-i *Abd al-Bahd* dar Awriipd
> ship the Akdas recommends the erection of Mash-               wa-Amrikd, Tehran 99 (Baha5! era)/i942; al-Risdla
> rib al-Adhkdr (literally "place where the uttering            al-Madaniyya, Cairo 1329/1911 (a works written by
> c
> of the name of God arises at dawn"), a kind of temple           Abd al-Baha5 before 1292/1875, English trans,
> of circular plan surmounted by a dome cf nine sec-            by Dawud, The Mysterious forces of civilization,
> tions, and open to the faithful of every creed, all           Chicago 1918); Djavdb-i Professor-i Almdni Dr.
> being free to pray there as and when they wish.               Forel (Reply to Professor Forel), Cairo 1922; Alc
> Abd al-Baha5 emphasises that to every temple                wdfy wa Wasdyd-yi Mubdraka-yi ffadrat-i 'Abd althere should be attached a high school for giving             Bahd', Cairo 1342/1924 (important on the questioninstruction in the different sciences, a hospital, an         of the succession). — Anthologies: Tablets of
> c
> orphanage, a dispensary, and other institutions useful          Abdu 'l-Bahd* ed. Windust, New York 1930 (3
> to society. On 10 May 1912 he himself laid the first          vols.); The wisdom of cAbdu 'l-Bahd>, New York
> stone of the Mashrib al-Adhkdr at Wilmette (Illinois),        1924; 'Abdu 'l-Bahd* on Divine Philosophy, ed.
> on the shore of Lake Michigan hear Chicago. This              Chamberlain, Boston 1918; Selected writings of
> c
> impressive structure cost more than two million                 Abdu 'l-Bahdy, Wilmette 1942.
> dollars and was officially consecrated in the presence           Of the works of Shoghi Effendi, who writes in
> of the Guardian's wife in June 1953. Long previously,         English as well as in Arabic or Persian, the most
> in 1902, another Mashrik al-Adhkdr had been erected           important in English is God passes by, Wilmette
> at c lshkabad in what is now Soviet Turkmenistan              1945. Noteworthy for its rich and elegant Persobut we have no exact information on the present               Arabic style is the Lawh-i Karn, Bombay n.d.,
> state of this building. Other Baha5! buildings are the        a letter sent to the eastern Baha^s on the occasion
> Hazirat al-Kuds (literally Enclosures of Holiness),           of the first centenary of the foundation of the Faith
> which are administrative centres of no sacred cha-            (1944).
> racter, and finally the tombs of the Founders, all               On Baha5! doctrine: J. E. Esselmont, Bahd'-
> grouped together at the world centre of the Faith             ulldh and the New Era, London 1923 (with several
> near Mount Carmel in Israel. The tomb of Baha5                other enlarged editions, the last printed at Wil-
> Allah is at Bahdji and the bodies of the Bab and              mette in 1946); R. Jockel, Die Glaubenslehren der
> 'Abd al-Baha5 rest in the great mausoleum called              Bahd'i-Religion, Darmstadt 1951 (cyclostyled),
> Makdm-i A'ld, on the slopes of Mount Carmel. The             containing a very large bibliography of eastern
> Baha'is also consider as sacred localities the Ridwdn         and occidental works; Abu 'l-FadaM Gulpayagarden near Baghdad (see Bahd* Allah], and the house          gani (or Abu 5l-Fadl Diarfadhkan!) has produced
> of the Bab at Shiraz, etc. The mausoleum of the               interesting and stimulating controversial work in
> Bab (Makdm-i A'ld), surrounded by splendid gar-               Arabic and Persian. We may cite from his writings:
> dens, is the goal of frequent pilgrimages by European         al-Hudiadi al-Bahiyya, Cairo 1343/1925 (English
> and Eastern Baha^s.                                           trans, by CA1I Kull Khan, The Bahd>i proofs)-,
> It is very difficult to give figures for the numbers      Madjmtfa-yi Rasd*il, Cairo 1339/1920.
> of professing Baha^Is in their communities in the                The Md*ida-yi Asmdni, Tehran 104 (Baha5!
> different countries of the world. The central core is         era/1947, (6 vols.), is a vast anthology of the
> in Persia, where different estimates of their nurrber         Founders' doctrinal writings.
> vary from more than a million down to about five                 Miscellaneous statistics and information on the
> hundred thousand. In the c?ty of Tehran there are             life of Baha5! communities throughout the world
> about thirty thousand. The United States of America           are given in the biennial publications sumptuously
> come next (about ten thousand), and in Europe,                edited in America, The Bahd^i World (12 volumes
> Germany (one thousand); Baha^s in other countries             published up to the present time, from 1925 to
> can be counted in hundreds. In Iran even now (1958            1957).                                (A. BAUSANI)
> they are not a recognised religious minority and              BAHAR [see KAYL].
> often suffer persecutions of varying severity. Among          BAHAR, MUH. TAK! (1885-22 April 1951),
> other things they are forbidden to print books and          Persian poet and politician, born at Mash had of a
> newspapers. All official Baha5! publications in Persia     family originating from Kashan. In 1904, on the
>
> — *Encyclopaedia of Islam: Baha'i Selections (Used by permission of the curator)*