This is Baha’ism

This is Baha’ism

4/5/2008

Sayed Nezeily

A short time ago, some people tried to organize a conference called “Egyptians Against Discrimination” at the Journalists’ Syndicate, and some members of the Syndicate Committee resisted the hosting of this conference at the Syndicate, on the grounds that the organizers, Egyptians of One Nation, were a shady organization, in addition to the idea of the attendance of Baha’is, who are rejected on the grounds that Baha’ism constitutes apostasy from Islam. There was a huge outcry throughout the Syndicate as a result, which caused the conference organizers to hold it at the Tagamu Party Headquarters, where the head of the Syndicate went to offer them his apologies.

The latter act angered many of the writers on the grounds that it conflicts with freedom of opinion, and constitutes political thuggery, blackmail, arm-twisting and implies blasphemy towards Islam.

Regardless of the correctness of either party’s positions, for each has its own logic, reasoning and philosophical underpinning, and of the resolutions issued by the conference later on, which called for striking at the fundamentals of the nation, dismantling its foundations, and emptying it of its identity and character, making  of it a farce with neither colour nor flavour. It is enough to say that the conference focuses on the amendment of Article 2 of the Constitution, which states that “The official religion of the state is Islam and sharia is the main source of legislation” and other recommendations we have heard repeated in recent years at Coptic conferences here and abroad.

What concerns us here is to expose Baha’ism as a fabricated sect, called for by the Mirza Hussein Ali, called “Al Baha’a”. He was born in the village of Nur, near Maznedran, Iran in 1817. This Al Baha’a met a purported prophet named Al Bab and became one of his followers until his death. He struggled over the succession to Al Bab with his brother, Sobh-al-Zal, until they parted both physically and mentally.

The roots of Baha’ism are the ideas advocated by Al Bab, a Shia named the Mirza Ali Mohammed Al Shirazy who alighted on the idea of the Bab [Gate] to the Mahdi Al Montazar [Awaited Guided One]. The atmosphere of Iran at that time was ready to accept the idea of the Mahdi’s appearance. One of their frequent prayers was “Lord, the waiting has lengthened, the unbelievers mock us, and it is hard for us to wait.” He claimed to be a prophet and called for the supersession of the Islamic sharia, and that preoccupation with prayer, fasting and zakat [giving] and other practices called for by Mohammed were all nonsense, false and only to be indulged in by the ignorant and uninformed.

The call of Al Bab was not free of the spread of iniquity and of the communal sharing of women between men. The so-called “Qurat-Al-Ain”, one of the disciples of Al Bab, preached at a conference calling on them:  “Do not conceal your beauty from your loved ones, for there is no going back now, no limits, no restrictions, no obligations and no repulsions, take your share of this life for there is nothing after death.”

This Al Bab claimed that the message he carried was more eloquent than the Quran, and its dictates superseded those of the Quran. He did not content himself with claiming to be a prophet but elevated himself above the master of messengers himself, peace be upon him, and even had the effrontery to claim to see nothing but God in himself, blaspheming grossly by saying “I have surpassed all names. What time has passed since my appearance has passed, and I have waited until all others have faded and none remains but my face, and I know it is not mine but a mirror, because only God can be seen in me.” All these perverse ideas were absorbed by and enthralled Hussein Ali Nuri, and he chose for himself the title “Al Baha’a”.

The call of Al Baha’a went through several stages:

First:

He claimed to be Christ the son of Mary.

Second:

He claimed that divine revelation had been made to him, and that God had not sealed the prophets and had revealed to him the Book of Al Aqdas, where he said, “Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power. To this beareth witness that which the Pen of Revelation hath revealed. Meditate upon this, O men of insight!”

Third:

The fraud even professed divinity, until he no longer addressed others except as the Lord on High: “O peoples of the world! Give ear unto the call of Him Who is the Lord of Names, Who proclaimeth unto you from His habitation in the Most Great Prison: “Verily, no God is there but Me, the Powerful, the Mighty…”etc., which are words that could only come from a madman, sick of heart and soul.

Key Baha’i teachings:

• It permitted followers to read books and learn science after the Bab forbade it.
• It made Magus holy day “Nawrouz” a holy day for his followers: “We have designated for you Naw-Rúz as a feast.”
• It specified that a third of a deceased’s estate devolve to the House of Justice, i.e. to the Baha’i state, and banned women and girls from ownership of the home, including its furnishings, and made them for men alone.
• It permitted the ownership of gold and silver vessels.
• It commanded its followers to bathe only in unused water and forbid the use of water storage tanks of beasts.
• It rebuked those who demanded liberty and condemned it as the vilest of vices, and disparaged the minds of those who seek it or call for it: “Liberty causeth man to overstep the bounds of propriety, and to infringe on the dignity of his station. It debaseth him to the level of extreme depravity and wickedness.”

The sources of Bab and Baha’i thought

• There are those who believe that Babism and Baha’ism drew from Buddhist delusions or Brahmin myths, particularly since the latter two ancient faiths believe in reincarnation, as does Baha’ism.
• Sources include “Zoroastrianism”, which deifies and sanctifies human beings.
• There is also a connection between Baha’i ideas and corrupted Judaism, and destructive Free-masonism.
• It cannot be denied that “Al-Batneya” represents one of the roots of Baha’i thought, in that it rests on the rejection of Islamic sharia and alleging prophesy, false interpretation, and bias towards the enemies of Islam.
• Baha’ism pays tribute to Jewish thought, and calls for the gathering of Jews in Palestine. Bahaullah – Abbas – called “Abdul Baha’a”, went to Switzerland to attend Zionist conferences including the Basel Congress in 1911.

A general look at the tenets of Baha’ism, its thought and worship practices:

1. That God is embodied in some of his creations, and was embodied in “Al Bab” and “Al Baha’a”.
2. Belief in the reincarnation of creatures and that reward or punishment falls on the soul alone.
3. The belief that all religions are true, and that the Torah and the Bible have not been corrupted, and that all faiths are united into one faith, Baha’ism.
4. They believe in the prophesy of Buddha, Confucius, Brahma, Zoroaster, and like wise men of India, China and Persia.
5. The believe, in agreement with Nazerenes, in the crucifixion of Christ.
6. The deny the miracles performed by the prophets, the reality of angels and djinn, and the existence of heaven or hell.
7. They forbid women from veiling, permit pleasures, and advocate communal women and property.
8. They say that the Bab faith supersedes Mohammed’s sharia.
9. Resurrection Day shall come when the Baha’a appears, and their prayer is directed at Akka, Palestine, instead of the Grand Mosque, Mecca.
10. Prayer is performed three times a day, with three prostrations each, morning, noon and night, and ablutions are performed with rose water, or if unavailable, by repeating “in the name of God, most pure” five times.
11. Group prayer is not permitted except when praying over the dead.
12. They regard the number 19 as sacred and have made 19 months in the year, each of which lasts 19 days.

Thus:

This is Baha’ism, which enemies of Islam attempt to consider a religion, which it is not. They organize shady conferences here and there to spread its teachings, and they spend large sums of money to proselytize for it.

Islamic scholars have confronted it, as have all Islamic learning centres, and all have regarded it as a destructive, misguided deviation.

The Egyptian judiciary has not numbered it among the religions and has not recognized it, and has not allowed them to state it or designate it as a religion in official documents such as national identification cards and birth certificates, and to be satisfied with leaving that that box empty by placing a dash in it.

Some may find it surprising to bring op this matter at this point, but we venture to say that that Islam and Muslims are fighting on many and varied fronts, and we must be vigilant and fully aware of all the methods, including their thought and deviousness: “And thus do We detail the verses, and [thus] the way of the criminals will become evident.” Al An’am, 55.

This was originally published in Arabic on Ikhwanonline.