# Baha'i Faith, Scholarship on

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moojan Momen, Baha'i Faith, Scholarship on, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Bahá'í Faith, Scholarship on
> 
> Moojan Momen
> 
> 1995
> 
> Babi Scholarship
> 
> Scholars and
> scholarship were intimately connected with the Babi movement from its earliest
> days. All eighteen of the "Letters of the Living" (q.v.) had been students
> of the Shaykhi leader, Sayyid Kazim Rashti, studying
> at Karbala, one of the foremost centres of learning in the Shi`i
> world. The new religion was then spread by this group through their social
> network of relatives and friends who consisted mainly of other `ulama
> (lit. learned persons). Thus many of the other prominent early converts
> were also `ulama, including some who had gained the status of mujtahid,
> the highest grade of learning in the Shi`i world. These included Sayyid
> Yahya Darabi Vahid (q.v.), Hujjat Zanjani (q.v.), Mirza Ahmad Azghandi
> and Mulla Muhammad Taqi Haravi. All were persons who had established religious
> leadership and authority.
> This learning was put to the benefit of the new religion
> in the form of numerous treatises written by these scholars. These treatises,
> most of which have unfortunately not survived, were mainly polemical in
> nature, seeking to prove the new religion using methods of argument and
> reasoning current in Shi`i scholarship. The Bab himself gave every
> encouragement to such activity and it is even reported that, during his
> incaceration in Chihriq, the Bab instructed forty of his followers
> to compose treatises to demonstrate the validity of his mission (DB 304).
> 
> Early Bahá'í Scholarship
> 
> The
> stream of conversions of Muslim `ulama slowed a little after the intense
> persecutions of the Babi period but it by no means stopped. Several of
> the most prominent followers of Bahá'u'lláh had previously been important
> Muslim clerics. Of the 19 persons named by Shoghi Effendi as "Apostles
> of Bahá'u'lláh" (q.v.), at least ten were `ulama and of these four had
> been prominent mullas or mujtahids before their conversion. Many of these
> scholars became muballighs, teachers, and exponents of the
> Bahá'í Faith who frequently travelled from place to place. Through such
> persons the stream of scholarly works continued. The exigencies of the
> times however determined that these were mostly still introductory and
> polemical works.
> Of major importance among the activities of the Bahá'í
> scholars of this period was the work of Mirza Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani (q.v.)
> in relating the prophecies in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles to the Bahá'í
> Faith. This opened the way to the conversion of Jews and Christians in
> Iran, Syria, and Egypt. Gulpaygani's other notable achievements include
> his conversion of a number of Sunni scholars of the al-Azhar University
> in Cairo and his presentation of the Bahá'í teachings to the Bahá'ís of
> the West during his four-year sojourn in America.
> Other important Bahá'í scholars of this period included
> Shaykh Muhammad Qa'ini Nabil-i-Akbar (q.v.), Shaykh
> Muhammad `Ali Qa'ini (q.v.) and from a somewhat later period Mirza Asadu'llah
> Fadil-i-Mazandarani (q.v.). Many others wrote istidlaliyyihs, works
> written in proof of the Bahá'í Faith usually written from the viewpoint
> of a particular religion. Among such authors were Haji Mirza Muhammad Afshar
> (from an Islamic viewpoint), `Andalib (Christian), and Mirza Mihdi Arjumand
> (Jewish and Christian).
> Bahá'u'lláh himself gave encouragement to the development
> of scholarship and on some occasions referred questions that had been asked
> of him to scholars such as Gulpaygani to answer.
> 
> Western Scholarship on the Bahá'í Faith
> 
> The first accounts of the Babi movement to be published in scholarly
> journals were a brief notice by the American missionary, Dr Austin Wright,
> published in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenl?ndishe Gesellschaft
> (vol. 5, 1851, pp. 384-5) and notes concerning some Babi manuscripts by
> Bernard Dorn published in Russia in 1865.
> Of much greater importance in alerting the West to the
> rise of the Babi movement was the book Les Religions et les Philosophies
> dans l'Asie Centrale (Paris, 1865) by Arthur, Comte de Gobineau (q.v.).
> More than half of the book is devoted to the Babi movement. In the same
> year, a Russian scholar from the Caucasus, Mirza Kazem-Beg, produced a
> book on the Babis,
> Bab i Babidui (St Petersburg, 1865), which also
> came out in French translation in the Journal Asiatique in 1866.
> These two works were to remain the main source of information on the Babi
> movement in the West for many years. They mark an important turning-point
> in that the accounts that had appeared before this gave the general impression
> of the Babis as revolutionary communists and anarchists. Gobineau was the
> first to demonstrate that there was some considerable substance in the
> teachings of the Bab as well as heroism in the actions of the Bab and the
> Babis. He did this so well that a number of European intellectuals became
> very interested in the Babi movement.
> Edward Granville Browne (q.v.) was the first academic
> to concentrate on the new religion. He travelled to Iran in 1887-8 and
> subsequently in 1890 to Cyprus to meet Azal and to `Akka to meet Bahá'u'lláh.
> He was the first to appreciate and document the nature of the change that
> had transformed the Babi movement into the Bahá'í Faith. He published the
> results of his researches in a number of papers and books. His later work
> on this subject was, however, somewhat biased towards the claims of Azal
> and against the Bahá'í position.
> Equally assiduous in his efforts although concentrating
> almost exclusively on the Bab was the French consular official and writer,
> A.-L.-M. Nicolas (q.v.), who had been born and raised in Iran. He wrote
> a history, Seyyed Ali dit le Bab (Paris, 1905), as well as translating
> a number of the Bab's most important works. He is also the first to have
> written at any length on the
> Shaykhis, Essai sur le Cheikhisme
> (4 vols., Paris, 1910-1914). Nicolas also adopted a somewhat hostile attitude
> towards the Bahá'í although not adopting the same pro-Azali position that
> Browne had done. However it is reported that late in life, he was reconciled
> to the Bahá'ís.
> In contrast to Browne and Nicolas who concentrated their
> efforts on the Bab, there were, at this time in Russia, a number of scholars
> who were concentrating more on the Bahá'ís. Baron Victor Rosen (1849-1908)
> in the course of cataloguing the collections of Arabic and Persian manuscripts
> at St Petersburg, took a close interest in the Bahá'í movement and wrote
> a number of papers on the subject as well as arranging for a collection
> of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh to be published. Aleksandr Tumanski was
> a Russian soldier and orientalist who took a close interest in the Bahá'ís
> and spent some time with the Bahá'í community in Ashkhabad. He published
> the text and a translation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas as well as a number of
> papers.
> A number of other Western oriental scholars also wrote
> important articles about the new religion at this time although none of
> them had a sustained interest in the subject: Prof. V.A. Zhukovski of St
> Petersburg; Prof. Clement Huart of Paris; Hermann Roemer of T?bingen; Prof.
> Ignaz Goldziher of Budapest; and Prof. Arthur Christensen of Copenhagen.
> There were also some who were considered eminent scholars
> in such fields as religion, but who were not oriental scholars, and who
> also wrote about the Bahá'í Faith. These included such figures as Dr. Benjamin
> Jowett, Prof. Thomas Cheyne and Prof. John Carpenter of Oxford; Prof Auguste
> Forel (q.v) of Switzerland; and the philosopher Leo Tolstoy (q.v.) of Russia.
> Among the nascent communities of Western Bahá'ís, the
> most proficient scholar was the Frenchman, Hippolyte Dreyfus (q.v.). He
> succeeded in gaining a mastery of Persian sufficient to investigate the
> teachings of the Bahá'í Faith in their original language. There exist some
> articles and letters that indicate that he was interested in research but
> the needs of the time dictated that his main efforts were in the field
> of translation of the Bahá'í scriptures.
> 
> Anti-Bahá'í Polemical scholarship
> 
> Just as the earliest followers of the religion of the Bab were `ulama,
> so the earliest oppponents of the religion were also Muslim clerics. Foremost
> amongst these in this early period was the Shaykhi leader
> Haji Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani (q.v.), who wrote four treatises
> against the Bab, the first in 1845. Since that time many Muslim scholars
> have written treatises against both the Babi and Bahá'í Faiths, such as
> the Miftah Bab al-Abwab by Mirza Mahdi Khan Za`imu'd-Dawlih
> (Cairo, 1321/1903-4). Muslim anti-Bahá'í polemic has increased in the years
> since the Iranian Revolution.
> From the early decades of this century, this stream of
> Muslim anti-Bahá'í polemic has been joined a rising amount of Christian
> anti-Bahá'í polemic. This was initiated by Christian missionaries in Iran
> such as S.G. Wilson and J.R. Richards, but has been extended in recent
> years to Christian theologians especially those from a Protestant fundamentalist
> background. Polemic from other religious groups against the Bahá'í Faith
> has not thus far been of major importance although it is anticipated that
> this may increase in the future.
> In addition, there have been attacks on the Bahá'í Faith
> made by secular opponents. The largest volume of such material was generated
> in the Soviet Union as part of the communist anti-religion drive.
> Also to be included in this category are the works of
> "Covenant-Breaker" (q.v.) groups. These begin with Azali polemic in the
> 19th century such as the Hasht Bihisht of Mirza Aqa
> Khan Kirmani. For other examples see Ahmad Sohrab, Broken Silence
> (1942); and Herman Zimmer,
> A Fraudulent Testament devalues the Bahai
> Religion into Political Shoghism (1973).
> Lastly, there remain a number of works written by apostates.
> `Abdu'l-Husayn Avarih, for example, was a Bahá'í who wrote an important
> history of the Bahá'í Faith, the Kavakibu'd-Durriyyih. He later
> left the Bahá'í Faith and wrote the Kashfu'l-Hiyal. Other
> examples include the works of Subhi and Niku.
> 
> Modern Bahá'í Polemical Scholarship
> 
> During much of the period of Shoghi Effendi's leadership there were comparatively
> very few works of scholarship produced by the Bahá'ís. In part, this may
> have been due to the prodigious output of Shoghi Effendi himself who produced
> numerous works in English and Persian, including histories, commentaries,
> and translations of scripture. Although Shoghi Effendi made appeals for
> the emergence of "a more profound and coordinated Bahá'í scholarship" in
> order to explore the "deeper teachings" of the Bahá'í Faith and present
> them "intelligently and enticingly" (Gift of Teaching, p. 25) and
> although there were intellectuals in the Bahá'í community, there was very
> little response to this appeal from Shoghi Effendi. Most scholarship in
> the Bahá'í community continued to be mainly geared to producing polemical
> and introductory literature along lines that had, by the middle of the
> 20th century, become somewhat stereo-typed and out-dated.
> Among Iranian Bahá'í scholars, there was some diversification
> away from works of polemic to commentaries on scripture and histories.
> In particular should be noted the voluminous output of `Abdu'l-Hamid Ishraq-Khavari
> (q.v.) and the historical works of `Azizu'llah Sulaymani, Muhammad `Ali
> Faydi, and Muhammad-`Ali Malik-Khusravi. In more modern times a
> number of scholars with training in more modern academic disciplines arose
> and began to disseminate writings (mainly in the form of articles) informed
> by such areas as western philosophy. Notable among these are `Abbas `Alavi,
> `Ali-Murad Davudi, Badi`u'llah Farid, and Kamalu'd-Din Bakhtavar.
> In the West, Dr. John E. Esslemont (q.v.) did considerable
> research in writing his book,
> Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era (London,
> 1923), the book that has universally been regarded as the textbook of the
> Bahá'í Faith until recent times. A few further introductory books were
> published in the next few decades, the most notable being those of George
> Townshend (q.v.).
> In the period following the passing of Shoghi Effendi,
> the number and variety of books published has increased markedly. The area
> of history and biography has been well served. A start has been made in
> the area of applied scholarship: the application of the social teachings
> of the Bahá'í Faith to areas such as social and economic development and
> education. However, up to the present, the area of theology and philosophy
> have been comparatively neglected.
> 
> Modern Western Academic Scholarship on the Bahá'í Faith
> 
> After the death of E.G. Browne in 1926, the scholarly
> study of the Babi and Bahá'í Faiths lapsed in the academic institutions
> of the West. A small number of theses on the Bahá'í Faith were produced.
> The thesis of Mikhail Ivanov, Babidsjie vosstaniya v Irane (1848-1852),
> was published in Moscow in 1939. Among the Bahá'ís also there was little
> scholarly activity, the only exceptions being Alessandro Bausani in Italy
> and Adelbert M?hlschlegel and Hermann Grossmann in Germany. The needs of
> the Bahá'í community dictated that the majority of the literature which
> it published, apart from scripture, was either introductory or polemical
> in nature.
> This state of affairs continued until the 1970s when the
> Bahá'í community grew to the extent that it could sustain the "luxury"
> of a more analytical type of scholarship and there was a renewed upsurge
> in such studies. This renewal was was initiated by the writings of Hasan
> Balyuzi (q.v.). It has been carried on to a large extent (but not exclusively)
> by young Bahá'í scholars seeking to study their religion at post-graduate
> level.
> A number of important theses on the Shaykhi,
> Babi, and Bahá'í movements have been written in recent years. A measure
> of the change in level of academic activity can be gauged from the fact
> that between 1920 and 1970 only eight Ph.D. theses were produced while
> between 1970 and 1982, twelve were completed (between 1983 and 1987, a
> further seven theses were produced). Some of these theses have now been
> published: Peter Smith, The Babi and Bahá'í Religions and Abbas
> Amanat, Ressurection and Renewal. In addition, an increasing number
> of papers have appeared in academic journals, such as Iran, International
> Journal of Middle East Studies, Religion, The Journal of
> Religious History, Zygon, and Conflict Quaterly. The
> series
> Studies in Babi and Bahá'í History (now renamed Studies
> in the Babi and Bahá'í Religions), and more recently the Journal
> of Bahá'í Studies (Ottawa, Canada) has provided an important additional
> place for the appearance of academic material. Research notes and preliminary
> papers have been circulated in the Bulletin of Bahá'í Studies (Newcastle,
> England).
> At the University of Lancaster in England, annual seminars
> on Bahá'í studies took place between 1977 and 1980. Informal Bahá'í groups
> studying the Bahá'í Faith at varying academic levels have been meeting
> in Britain since the early 1970s, and in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s.
> The recent establishment of Bahá'í Chairs at the University
> of Mysore in India (1990) and at the Centre for International Development
> and Conflict Resolution at the University of Maryland (1993) signals an
> important new development in this area.
> The Bahá'í Encyclopedia began as a project of the
> Bahá'í Publishing Trust of the United States in 1983. The National Spiritual
> Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States agreed to sponsor the project
> in 1984 after the plan was endorsed by the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> Associations of Bahá'í Studies
> 
> A significant step in the development of Bahá'í studies occurred with the
> setting up in Canada in 1974 of the Canadian Association for Bahá'í Studies,
> which was renamed in 1981 the Association for Bahá'í Studies. This initiative
> has spread and there are now some seventeen Bahá'í studies associations
> around the world with the Association for Bahá'í Studies office in Ottawa
> acting as a coordinating center.
> These Associations for Bahá'í Studies aim to improve all
> levels of scholarship in the Bahá'í Community. They have tended to concentrate
> upon developing polemical scholarship and what can be termed applied scholarship
> (applying the Bahá'í social teachings to the problems of the world). They
> have made a tentative start in the area of promoting the academic study
> of the Bahá'í Faith.
> 
> Bibliography.
> 
> A listing of Ph.D.
> theses on Bahá'í-related topics can be found in Bahá'í World, vol.
> 18, pp. 890-1; Collins, Bibliography, 303-310. An account of the
> Lancaster seminars can be found in BW 18:204-5 (see also references at
> the end of this article). On the Association for Bahá'í Studies, see BW
> 18:194-200.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views18094 views since posted 2000; last edit 2022-02-04 23:04 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../momen_encyclopedia_scholarship_survey;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
> Language
> English
> Permission
> author
> Share
> 
> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/454
> Citation: ris/454
> 
> select Collection:
> Archives
> Articles
> Articles-unpublished
> Audio
> Bibliographies
> BIC
> Biographies
> Books
> Chronologies
> Compilations
> Compilations-NSA
> Compilations-personal
> Documents
> East-asia
> Encyclopedia
> Essays
> Etc
> Excerpts
> Fiction
> Glossaries
> Guardian
> Histories
> Introductory
> Letters
> Maps
> Music
> Newspapers
> NSA-documents
> NSA-letters
> Personal
> Pilgrims
> Poetry
> Presentations
> Resources
> Reviews
> Scripts
> Software
> Statistics
> Study
> Talks
> Theses
> Transcripts
> Translations
> UHJ-documents
> UHJ-letters
> Video
> Visual
> Writings
> 
> home
> 
> sitemap
> 
> series
> 
> chronology
> 
> search:
> author
> 
> title
> 
> date
> 
> tags
> 
> adv. search
> languages
> 
> inventory
> 
> bibliography
> 
> abbreviations
> 
> links
> 
> about
> 
> contact
> 
> RSS
> 
> new
>
> — *Baha'i Faith, Scholarship on (Used by permission of the curator)*