The experience of the Baha'is of Iran is a classic case of
the violation of human rights, produced by religious intolerance. Prior to the
Islamic revolution a deep-seated prejudice against the Baha’is and their
religion characterized not only Iran’s Islamic clergy and the illiterate
masses, but also many among the country's educated elite and middle class. The
prejudice was widespread and communicated itself to many Western observers.
Michael Fischer, a generally sympathetic commentator on the revolution notes,
for example, that even the exercise of routine civil functions by Baha’is was
seen as proof of a “Baha’i conspiracy.”[1] Richard W. Cottam, author of
Nationalism in Iran, pointed out the problem of even discussing the subject of
the Baha’i Faith in a country in which the word “Bábí” has long been freely
used as an epithet, along with such words as “infidel,” to describe anyone to
whom the speaker is strongly opposed.[2] This prejudice is probably the most
important point to grasp for an observer wishing to understand the situation of
the Baha'is in modern Iran. The second point is that, in the land of the Baha’i
Faith’s origin, the prejudice is, paradoxically, combined with an almost
universal ignorance of the religion’s nature, teachings, and history. For over
a century a curtain of silence has surrounded the subject. The Baha'i community
has consistently been denied the use of any means of communication with the
general public: radio, television, newspapers, films, the distribution of
literature, or public lectures. The academic community in Iran has studiously
ignored the existence of the worldwide Faith founded there; the subject has
never been treated in any university courses or textbooks. Indeed, census
figures which provided statistics on all of the other religious and ethnic
minorities in Iran have consistently been omitted for the Baha'i community, the
largest religious minority of all.[3] Coupled with this calculated general
neglect, the public mind has been subjected, for decades, to abusive propaganda
from the Shi’ah Muslim clergy, in which the role of the Baha’i community in
Iran, its size, its beliefs, and its objectives have been grossly
misrepresented.
Both the ignorance and the prejudice are connected with the
tragic events that surrounded the beginning of the Bábí and Baha'i Faiths in
nineteenth-century Persia. It may help in clarifying the events of the past
decade if this background is briefly reviewed.
Historical Background
The Baha'i Faith came into existence through the teachings of
two successive Founders. The first, a young Persian merchant known to history
as the Báb, announced in Shiraz, in May 1844, that He was the bearer of a
Revelation from God, whom the Shi'ah branch of Islam had long expected under
the title “the Twelfth Imam."[4] The world stood, He said, on the threshold
of an era that would witness the restructuring of all aspects of life. The
challenge to humanity was to embrace these changes by undertaking a
transformation of its moral and spiritual character. Central to the Báb's
teaching was the announcement of the imminent appearance of yet a second Divine
Messenger, one who would address all the peoples of the world.[5] During the
course of widespread attacks on His followers, incited by the Muslim clergy,
the Báb was executed in the city of Tabriz, in 1850. There followed throughout
Persia a horrific series of massacres of followers of the new religion. These
pogroms aroused the revulsion of Western diplomats and scholars, and deeply
scarred the Persian psyche, inspiring an effort to justify the killing of thousands
of innocent people by excoriating the victims' beliefs and intentions.
