Baha\'i Faith and Al-Qaida

By: Juan Cole

 

“John Ricardo I. \"Juan\" Cole (born October 1952) is an American scholar, public intellectual, and historian of the modern Middle East and South Asia. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on television, and testified before the United States Senate.

Cole became a member of the Bahá\'í Faith in 1972 as an undergraduate at Northwestern, and the religion later became a focus of his academic research. He resigned from the faith in 1996 after disputes with Bahá\'í leadership concerning the Bahá\'í system of administration.”

The Baha\'i faith stands for universal love, for tolerance, and for a separation of religion and state.  The need for religious leaders to let politicians do the ruling is a key value stated over and over again in Baha\'i scripture.

Unfortunately, a weird Baha\'i sub-cult has arisen.  It structurally resembles al-Qaida, and differs from al-Qaida only with regard to methods, not ideals.  It does not usually employ violence or terrorism (though persons with this mindset have beaten up friends of mind).

And, most frighteningly of all, it has taken over and subverted the main institutions of the Baha\'i faith.

1) Al-Qaida believes in the destruction of secular, civil governments and replacing them with a fascist theocracy.

Baha\'i theocrats believe in the destruction of secular, civil governments and replacing them with a fascist theocracy.  Ian Semple, a member of the Baha\'i Universal House of Justice, has for decades cast scorn on civil governments and spoken of his dream of a future when Baha\'i Institutions will rule in their stead.

One pilgrim wrote,

\"I recall being in Haifa in the \'70s (\'72 and \'78) and hearing long talks about this from Ian Semple, on how the world was destined to be ruled by houses of justice and there will eventually be no distinction between church and state, with rather snide and smug comments about how at last the world will finally get it right and have God and Government fused through the power of the Baha\'i covenant.\"

Note that this is the opposite of what `Abdu\'l-Baha says in the Treatise on Leadership:

Ian Semple also put out a letter from the Secretariat of the UHJ:

\"As for the statement made by Shoghi Effendi in his letter of 21 March 1932, the well-established principles of the Faith concerning the relationship of the Baha\'i institutions to those of the country in which the Baha\'is reside make it unthinkable that they would ever purpose to violate a country\'s constitution or so to meddle in its political machinery as to attempt to take over the powers of government. This is an integral element of the Baha\'i principle of abstention from involvement in politics. However, this does not by any means imply that the country itself may not, by constitutional means, decide to adopt Baha\'i laws and practices and modify its constitution or method of government accordingly.\"

In this passage he basically argues for a Nazi-like tactic of getting elected democratically and then abolishing democracy.  By the way, the Islamists (with al-Qaida links) tried this in Algeria, and the democrats and secularists fought back, embroiling the country in a civil war that has cost 100,000 lives.  This is the sort of conflict between theocratic Baha\'is and the rest of society that Semple is urging on the world.  At that point would the Baha\'i theocrats refrain from violence?

2)  Al-Qaida wishes to reestablish the Islamic Caliphate as the One World Government.
Baha\'i theocrats substitute the House of Justice for the Caliphate and envision it ruling the world.

3) Al-Qaida despises parliamentary democracy as corrupt, money-driven and unrepresentative.  It wishes to overthrow parliaments and institute authoritarian religious rule instead.
Baha\'i theocrats despise parliamentary democracy and wish to substitute their religious institutions, which are not freely elected, for civil government.  Long-time Baha\'i leader Firuz Kazemzadeh said in 1988:

\"If somebody is dissatisfied with a local assembly, he is not prevented from appealing to the NSA . . .  It is something else when whispering campaigns or petitions are sent around for signatures objecting to the activities of the institutions.  That also may be something which is countenanced by American democracy but has nothing to do with the Bahaullah and Baha’i Faith.  We must always remember that our institutions are an unusual and unique combination of theocracy in the best sense of the term with democracy.  The institutions of the Baha’i Faith have not been created by us, the institutions have
been created by God.

Actually, Kazemzadeh\'s version of the Baha\'i institutions has been created by Kazemzadeh.

4) Al-Qaida establishes cells throughout the world to work for theocracy, and recruits innocent Muslims at mosques.
Baha\'i theocrats have secret cells within the Baha\'i community, and recruit Baha\'is at deepenings and other events into their twisted world-view.  Many \"Auxiliary Board Members\" and Assistants are secret theocrats who play dirty tricks on ordinary Baha\'is to force them out of the Faith.

The Ian Semple / Kazemzadeh theocratic ideology aims at destroying American democracy.  It aims at gutting the Constitution and abolishing Congress in favor of Kazemzadeh\'s weird, secretive, authoritarian way of ruling.

5)  Al-Qaida demands absolute obedience from its recruits, and no dissent is permitted.

Baha\'i theocrats demand absolute obedience to \"the Institutions\" and tolerate no dissent.  Kazemzadeh told a group of Baha\'i intellectuals, \"the word dissent implies separating oneself from the activities of the group and putting oneself outside the mainstream of the community, and that is contrary to Baha\'i practice.

You can\'t disagree with the NSA.

The dangers to the pristine Baha\'i faith, with its values of tolerance, allowing the expression of diverse points of view, and firm commitment to the separation of religion and state, of this theocratic cult that has taken control of the community cannot be overstated. Moreover, it is a threat to the whole world.

Now that we have seen where such authoritarian theocracy leads, on September 11, I call upon all Baha\'is to step back, reread the scriptures, and adhere to the real values of our religion.

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