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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Baha'i in Iran: A Life of Repression, Islam and Pluralism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Pluralism
Baha'i in Iran: A Life of Repression
By Katajun Amirpur

Baha'i calligraphy of the 'Greatest Name’: in Bahá'í belief the Greatest Name of God is 'Bahá', or 'splendour'

Anti-Americanism, open hostility towards Israel, a legal system that does not grant men and women equal rights, and a doctrine that calls itself the "rule of the supreme legal scholar" have determined the official philosophy and actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran since the 1979 revolution.

Yet there is another, less well-known constant: hostility towards the religious minority of the Baha'i. In Iran, where the religion has its origins, there are still an estimated 350,000 Baha'i, making them the country's largest religious minority by far. Unlike Jews and Christians, however, they are not entitled to protection as a religious minority under the constitution.

The Baha'i faith grew out of Shi'a Islam, but has severed itself from its roots. Although the Baha'i recognise Mohammed as a prophet, they do not regard him as the seal of monotheistic prophethood as other Muslims do.

Instead they believe that the divine revelation entered a new phase with Bahaullah, who died in 1892 and is regarded as a manifestation of God. The central dogma of Shi'a Islam is the belief in the return of the mahdi, comparable to the Jewish messiah in eschatological terms. For the Baha'i, however, the mahdi has already returned in the form of the founder of their religion. This view is religious sacrilege for the Shi'a.

http://newageislam.com/baha-i-in-iran--a-life-of-repression-/islam-and-pluralism/d/2145


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