Bahaism and Its Claims: A Study of the Religion Promulgated by Baha Ullah and Abdul BahaWilson, Samuel Graham
Religion
Bahaism and Its Claims: A Study of the Religion Promulgated by Baha Ullah and Abdul Baha
Wilson, Samuel Graham
Bahai Faith -- Controversial literature
These principles are boldly interpreted and applied by the Bahais to the
subject under discussion. Sayid Kamil, a Bahai of Shiraz, said to
Professor Browne[555] with a look of supreme surprise, "You surely
cannot pretend to deny that a prophet, who is an incarnation of the
Universal Intelligence, has a right to inflict death, openly or
_secretly_, on those who stubbornly opposed him. A prophet is no more to
be blamed for removing an obdurate opponent that a surgeon for an
amputation of a gangrenous limb." This opinion prevailed among the
Bahais. At Yezd they said,[556] "A divine messenger has as much right to
kill and compel as a surgeon to amputate." The Bahai missionaries
maintained[557] that, "A prophet has a right to slay if he knows it
necessary; if he sees that the slaughter of a few will prevent many from
going astray, he is justified in commanding such slaughter. No one can
question his right to destroy the bodies of a few that the souls of many
may live." A Bahai acquaintance of Doctor Frame, of Resht, told him[558]
"without any appearance of shame, that he paid so much to have a
persecutor removed."
8. In connection with all the above facts, it must be kept in mind that
"_religious assassination has been freely practiced since the beginning
of Islam_, and that the prophet Mohammed gave it the sanction of his
example on numerous occasions." Professor Browne,[559] who thus
emphasizes this fact, and gives instances from the Moslem biographies of
Mohammed, points out its bearing on our judgment regarding the
assassinations alleged against the Bahais, and concludes, "In Asia a
different standard of morality prevails in this matter." Certain facts
regarding the Imams revealed in the dark annals of Islam show what
historical precedents the Babis and Bahais had back of them. Consider
the deaths of the twelve Imams. Ali was[560] assassinated with a dagger,
Husain killed after battle, nine other Imams were _poisoned_, and the
last one mysteriously disappeared.
To sum up. Our investigation has led to the conclusion that the Bahais
were guilty of these assassinations as charged. The evidence is both
direct and circumstantial, with names and places. Some of the witnesses
are still living. Some have given their testimony in writing, some in
conversation with Europeans, who have reported it accurately to the
world. The environment in which they lived, and the historical and
theological traditions on which they fed, strengthen the direct proofs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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