Peace Bahai

I]t is our duty to put forth our greatest efforts and summon all our energies in order that the bonds of unity and accord may be established among mankind. ... Now is the time to associate together in love and harmony." --'Abdu'l-Bahá

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

ISLAMIC YOUTH DEFENDING BAHAIS RIGHTS

Here is the group ' s website: http://www.bahairights.org/






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--New Article on BBC-Persian

Interesting article

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2007/07/070719_si-wkf-bahaiedefence.
shtml

and a quick translation:

Formation of a Muslim Group in Defense of the Rights of Baha ' is

Na ' im Sobhani

BBC-Persian , Washington

For the first time on the internet, a group of Muslim youth has
established a site called "the Muslim Network for Baha ' i Rights." This
site closely monitors the conditions of Baha ' is in Egypt and Iran
.

That a group of Muslims-made up social activists and liberal students
from Arab countries-has exposed the plight of Baha ' is is seen as a
significant development by human rights advocates.

"The Muslim Network for Baha ' i Rights" is not based in any specific
country, nor does it have an office or staff.

This internet group has made known its goal of attaining civil rights
and basic freedoms for Baha ' is in the Islamic and Arab worlds.

On their website, they closely follow and discuss all the latest news on
the Baha ' is in the Islamic world.

The founder of this internet project is Esra ' a Shafei, young woman
from Bahrayn.
Esra ' a states that she is a believing Muslim and has no connection
with Baha ' is. However, as a Muslim, she believes it is necessary to
respect the rights of this religious minority.

This Bahrayni student added that she has purposefully named the group
"Islamic" to attract the attention of Muslims.

However, this step has stirred a great deal of debate. According to Esra
' a, "They ask me why I am doing this? Why are you working against your own
religious identity? They even accuse me of being a traitor and a Zionist. 70
percent of the reactions I have thus far received have been of this nature."

Esra ' a, who is only 20 years old, adds that such reactions will not
dissuade her. She states that she closely follows the condition of
Baha ' is in Iran and Egypt .

It is believed that there are some 500 Baha ' is in Egypt .

In the 1960s, their religion was declared illegal by order of Jamal
Abdul-Nasser, the former president of Egypt . Until this day, Baha '
is are considered "apostates" in Egypt .

The Iranian constitution also refuses to officially recognize the Baha '
i religion-one of the largest non-Muslim minorities in this country. The
Baha ' is of this country face extensive limits on work and education.

Unknown

The founder of "the Muslim Network for Baha ' i Rights" believes that
most people in the Arab world know very little about the Baha ' is:
"When I talk to my friends about the Baha ' i faith, they tell me that it is
a satanic religion. I ask them to provide me with one of the principles of
this religion, but they have no answer. Some think that the Baha ' is are a
sect of Shi ' i Islam which is also a mistake. They don ' t know anything
about it, but they are nonetheless suspicious of its followers."

This Bahrayni youth is convinced that the most successful societies in
the world today are those which-notwithstanding the diversity of religions
and ethnic groups within them-are able to preserve their unity and respect
the rights of their minorities.

John Wall, a professor of Islamic history at Georgetown
University in Washington DC , agrees with this view. But he believes
that in an age of globalization, one can ' t affix the label of religious
minority to any one religion: "In this day and age, everyone is considered a
minority. Even Christians, who constitute the largest religion in the world,
are a minority in certain countries. Muslims are the majority in the Middle
East, but are considered a religious minority
in Europe . Sunni Muslims, for instance, face difficulties in
attaining permission to establish mosques."

Mr. Wall provided a positive assessment of the fact that a Muslim group
has for the first time taken up the problem of Baha ' i rights.
According to him, the efforts of individuals such as Esra ' a, a Bahrayni
student, can help in promoting human rights and inter-faith
dialogue in the Middle East .
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The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established. Bahá'u'lláh

-- We must seek the fragrance of the rose from whatever bush it is blooming -- whether oriental or western.
Be seekers of light, no matter from which lantern it shines forth.
Be not lovers of the lantern.
At one time the light has shone from a lantern in the East, now in the West. If it comes from North, South, from whatever direction it proceeds, follow the light.


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Is peace possible on the planet

Human-kind have come to the world in innumerable numbers, and passed away; their physical bodies and that which belonged to them passes away with them.Their health and disease both passed away. Their restand hardship both vanished. Their wealth and povertyended. Their honor and misery terminated. But the reality of man is immortal. The spirit of man is everlasting.It is the spirit to which importance is to be attached.The difference (between spirit and body) is this, thatone will enter the realm of enlightenment whereas the other will fall into the world of darkness.

--Star of the West Magazine
Vol. 14, No. 1, April, 1923
From the Pilgrim Notes of
Mrs. I. D. Brittingham
Acca, October, 1909

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O people of the earth! The first Glad-Tidings which the Mother Book hath, in this Most Great Revelation, imparted unto all the peoples of the world is that the law of holy war hath been blotted out from the Book. Glorified be the All-Merciful, the Lord of grace abounding, through Whom the door of heavenly bounty hath been flung open in the face of all that are in heaven and on earth. -- Baha'u'llah

Tablets of Baha'u'llah p. 21


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Islam attained a very high spiritual state, but western scholars are prone to judging it by Christian standards. One cannot call one world Faith superior to another, as they all come from God; they are progressive, each suited to certain needs of the times. Shoghi Effendi
From a letter written on his behalf
to an individual believer.
November 19, 1945
Compilations Lights of Guidance p. 494

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O CONCOURSE of Christians! .....

Ye make mention of Me, and know Me not. Ye call upon Me, and are heedless of My Revelation.... O people of the Gospel! They who were not in the Kingdom have now entered it, whilst We behold you, in this day, tarrying at the gate. Rend the veils asunder by the power of your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Bounteous, and enter, then, in My name My Kingdom. Thus biddeth you He Who desireth for you everlasting life... Baha'u'llah

The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah p. 91

And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Isaiah 62:2

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

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...By Thy glory! Every time I lift up mine eyes unto Thy heaven, I call to mindThy highness and Thy loftiness, and Thine incomparable glory and greatness;and every time I turn my gaze to Thine earth, I am madeto recognize the evidences of Thy power and the tokensof Thy bounty.And when I behold the sea, I find that it speaketh to me ofThy majesty, and of the potency of Thy might, and of Thy sovereignty and Thy grandeur.And at whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the standards of Thine omnipotence. Baha'u'llah
Prayers and Meditations p. 271
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THE SPIRITUAL COUPLETS

OF MAULANA JALALU-'D-DlN MUHAMMAD RUMI


HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains,Lamenting its banishment from its home:"Ever since they tore me from my osier bed,My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears.I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs,And to express the pangs of my yearning for my home.He who abides far away from his homeIs ever longing for the day ho shall return.My wailing is heard in every throng,In concert with them that rejoice and them that weep.Each interprets my notes in harmony with his own feelings,But not one fathoms the secrets of my heart.My secrets are not alien from my plaintive notes,Yet they are not manifest to the sensual eye and ear.Body is not veiled from soul, neither soul from body,Yet no man hath ever seen a soul."This plaint of the flute is fire, not mere air.Let him who lacks this fire be accounted dead!'Tis the fire of love that inspires the flute,l'Tis the ferment of love that possesses the wine.The flute is the confidant of all unhappy lovers;Yea, its strains lay bare my inmost secrets.Who hath seen a poison and an antidote like the flute?Who hath seen a sympathetic consoler like the flute?The flute tells the tale of love's bloodstained path,It recounts the story of Majnun's love toils.None is privy to these feelings save one distracted,As ear inclines to the whispers of the tongue.Through grief my days are as labor and sorrow,My days move on, hand in hand with anguish.Yet,, though my days vanish thus, 'tis no matter,Do thou abide, O Incomparable Pure One! 2But all who are not fishes are soon tired of water;And they who lack daily bread find the day very long;So the "Raw" comprehend not the state of the "Ripe;" 3Therefore it behoves me to shorten my discourse.Arise, O son! burst thy bonds and be free!How long wilt thou be captive to silver and gold?Though thou pour the ocean into thy pitcher,It can hold no more than one day's store.The pitcher of the desire of the covetous never fills,The oyster-shell fills not with pearls till it is content;Only he whose garment is rent by the violence of loveIs wholly pure from covetousness and sin.Hail to thee, then, O LOVE, sweet madness!Thou who healest all our infirmities!Who art the physician of our pride and self-conceit!Who art our Plato and our Galen!Love exalts our earthly bodies to heaven,And makes the very hills to dance with joy!O Iover, 'twas love that gave life to Mount Sinai, 4When "it quaked, and Moses fell down in a swoon."Did my Beloved only touch me with his lips,I too, like the flute, would burst out in melody.But he who is parted from them that speak his tongue,Though he possess a hundred voices, is perforce dumb.When the rose has faded and the garden is withered,The song of the nightingale is no longer to be heard.The BELOVED is all in all, the lover only veils Him; 5The BELOVED is all that lives, the lover a dead thing.When the lover feels no longer LOVE's quickening,He becomes like a bird who has lost its wings. Alas!How can I retain my senses about me,When the BELOVED shows not the light of His countenance?LOVE desires that this secret should be revealed,For if a mirror reflects not, of what use is it?Knowest thou why thy mirror reflects not?Because the rust has not been scoured from its face.If it were purified from all rust and defilement,It would reflect the shining of the SUN Of GOD.6O friends, ye have now heard this tale,Which sets forth the very essence of my case.*NOTES:1. Love signifies the strong attraction that draws all creatures back to reunion with their Creator.2. Self-annihilation leads to eternal life in God the universal Noumenon, by whom all phenomena subsist. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 400.3. "Raw" and "Ripe" are terms for "Men of externals" and "Men of heart" or Mystics.4. Alluding to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Koran vii. 139.5. All phenomenal existences (man included) are but "veils" obscuring the face of the Divine Noumenon, the only real existence, and the moment His sustaining presence is withdrawn they at once relapse into their original nothingness. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 165.6. So Bernard of Clairvaux. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 435.
 (Mathnavi of Rumi (E.H. Whinfield tr), The Masnavi Vol 1)