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From: jrcole@umich.edu <jrcole@umich.edu> Subject: Re: Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Freedom of Conscience Date: Monday, February 15, 1999 6:03 PM Dear Rachel: The works of the Bab in the possession of the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa have been deliberately suppressed and any Baha'i who ever tried to arrange for their publication has been stopped from doing so on pain of being shunned. A few 'selections' from the writings of the Bab were published, but nothing like his whole corpus, and the couple volumes of prayers and 'selections' are not representative of his work. There are large numbers of Babi and Baha'i chronicles and histories of the community in Iran that have never been published, and the publication of which has been blocked by the Baha'i authorities, even in the face of explicit instructions of `Abdul-Baha and Shoghi Effendi. `Abdul-Baha, for instance, ordered that Bayda's history of the persecution of Baha'is in Yazd be published, but it never has been. Shoghi Effendi made preparations to publish Ashchi's biography of Baha'u'llah, but the Persian text of it was suppressed by Haifa in 1982. The UHJ has forbidden the publication of the remaining volumes of Hand of the Cause Fadil Mazandarani's *History of the Manfestation of Truth*, a massive 9-volume history of the faith from its beginnings till the time of `Abdul-Baha, even though it was commissioned at the behest of Shoghi Effendi. Even some small chronicles of the Babi period by eyewitnesses that managed to get published in anthologies were taken out of subsequent volumes at the order of the Baha'i authorities. About 15% of Baha'u'llah's writings have been published, and about 5% translated. Translations of the remaining corpus and its publication are blocked by the Baha'i officials within a Baha'i framework. Even the vast majority of *Shoghi Effendi's* Persian letters have not been published, including especially those that say that all LSA's should be devoting a major portion of their time and money to philanthropical work, including charitable work for non-Baha'is. I cannot entirely explain why this policy of suppression is in place. To some extent, the publication of the masses of primary sources would undermine the fundamentalist stance of most Baha'i officials, who can maintain it only if they suppress alternative evidence. And then, the Baha'i faith is mostly run like a family Public Relations firm, and it is easier to do PR for simple causes than for complex ones. Obviously, it is harder to maintain that all Babis and Baha'is have always been angels if you have the histories of conflict published. Finally, an emphasis in the Tablets of the holy figures and in the letters of Shoghi Effendi on pure charity would undermine the current stance that Baha'is should throw money at the 'institutions' and let others worry about doing good for human beings. This suppression of primary sources is now definitively breaking down. For those who know Arabic and Persian see the Arabic and Persian digital library at: https://h-net2.msu.edu/~bahai/index/diglib/arapub.htm and https://www.bahai.com/ where several hundred pages of works by Baha'u'llah and `Abdul-Baha have been posted. For new translations see: https://h-net2.msu.edu/~bahai/trans.htm cheers Juan In article <7a90d8$225$1@news4.svr.pol.co.uk>, <r.woodlock@bigfoot.com> wrote: > ...speaking of the release of Baha'i scripture... > > My husband and I were discussing this and he was quite surprised to find out > that photocopies / scans of the all original texts in the possession of the > World Centre aren't freely available to all and sundry who ask (which was my > assertion). But I also know I am not speaking from experience (having never > attempted to gain access to an unpublished original) - therefore can anyone > set the record straight on what is the official policy regarding release of > copies of original texts? Surely if copies of the original are as freely > available as McDonalds restaurants, that would rule out some dark character > putting out her own mistranslations that are full of errors? > > Regards > Rachel > > Juan Cole History, U of Michigan https://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai.htm -----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- https://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own Homepage |