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Covenant-breaker
Covenant-breaker is a term used by Baháʼís to refer to a person who has been excommunicated from the Baháʼí community for breaking the ' Covenant': actively promoting schism in the religion or otherwise opposing the legitimacy of the chain of succession of leadership. Excommunication among Baháʼís is rare and not used for transgressions of community standards, intellectual dissent, or conversion to other religions. Instead, it is the most severe punishment, reserved for suppressing organized dissent that threatens the unity of believers. Currently, the Universal House of Justice has the sole authority to declare a person a Covenant-breaker, and once identified, all Baháʼís are expected to shun them, even if they are family members. According to 'Abdu'l Baha Covenant-breaking is a contagious disease. The Baháʼí writings forbid association with Covenant-breakers and Baháʼís are urged to avoid their literature, thus providing an exception to the Baháʼí principl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covenant Of Baháʼu'lláh
In the Baháʼí Faith there are two covenants, deemed the 'greater' and 'lesser'. The greater covenant refers to an agreement of progressive revelation: that God will send messengers about every thousand years, and it is humanity's duty to recognize them and respond to their teachings. The lesser covenant is the agreement between the faith's founder, Baháʼu'lláh, and his followers, regarding the succession of leadership and the maintenance of unity. Succession in the Baháʼí covenant was explicit and in written form, providing a clear chain of authority that led Baháʼís to follow ʻAbdu'l-Bahá as the authorized interpreter of Baháʼí scripture after Baháʼu'lláh's death, and the one who would lead the community. Baháʼu'lláh outlined the Universal House of Justice, a nine-member institution that could legislate on religious matters, and hinted at an appointed role for his descendants, both of which were elaborated upon by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá when he appointed Shoghi E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose of the institutional act is to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular, those of being in communion with other members of the congregation, and of receiving the sacraments. It is practiced by all of the ancient churches (such as the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox churches and the Eastern Orthodox churches) as well as by other Christian denominations, but it is also used more generally to refer to similar types of institutional religious exclusionary practices and shunning among other religious groups. The Amish have also been known to excommunicate members that were either seen or known for breaking rules, or questioning the church, a practice known as sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendi (; 1 March 1897 – 4 November 1957) was the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, appointed to the role of Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. He created a series of teaching plans that oversaw the expansion of the faith to many new countries, and also translated many of the writings of the Baháʼí central figures. He was succeeded by an interim arrangement of the Hands of the Cause until the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963. Shoghi Effendi spent his early life in ʻAkká, but went on to study in Haifa and Beirut, gaining an arts degree from the Syrian Protestant College in 1918, then serving as secretary and translator to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. In 1920 he attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied political science and economics, but his second year was interrupted by the death of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and his appointment as Guardian at the age of 24. Shoghi Effendi was the leader and head of the Baháʼí ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guardian (Baháʼí Faith)
Shoghí Effendi (; 1 March 1897 – 4 November 1957) was the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, appointed to the role of Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. He created a series of teaching plans that oversaw the expansion of the faith to many new countries, and also translated many of the writings of the Baháʼí central figures. He was succeeded by an interim arrangement of the Hands of the Cause until the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963. Shoghi Effendi spent his early life in ʻAkká, but went on to study in Haifa and Beirut, gaining an arts degree from the Syrian Protestant College in 1918, then serving as secretary and translator to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. In 1920 he attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied political science and economics, but his second year was interrupted by the death of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and his appointment as Guardian at the age of 24. Shoghi Effendi was the leader and head of the Baháʼí Fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mason Remey
Charles Mason Remey (15 May 1874 – 4 February 1974) was a prominent member of the early American Baháʼí community, and served in several important administrative capacities. He is well-known for an attempted schism of 1960, in which he claimed leadership and was rejected by the overwhelming majority of Baháʼís, who regard him as a Covenant-breaker. Remey came from a distinguished naval family of Washington, D.C., and was among the first Baháʼís of the United States. He was a contemporary of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, one of the faith's three central figures, and traveled around the world as a teacher of the faith. As an architect, he designed the Houses of Worship in Kampala and Sydney, both dedicated in 1961, as well as the International Archives building in Haifa. In 1951 he was appointed by Shoghi Effendi as the president of the International Baháʼí Council, and later as a Hand of the Cause. When Shoghi Effendi died in 1957, Remey and the other Hands signed a declaration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Mason Remey
Charles Mason Remey (15 May 1874 – 4 February 1974) was a prominent member of the early American Baháʼí community, and served in several important administrative capacities. He is well-known for an attempted schism of 1960, in which he claimed leadership and was rejected by the overwhelming majority of Baháʼís, who regard him as a Covenant-breaker. Remey came from a distinguished naval family of Washington, D.C., and was among the first Baháʼís of the United States. He was a contemporary of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, one of the faith's three central figures, and traveled around the world as a teacher of the faith. As an architect, he designed the Houses of Worship in Kampala and Sydney, both dedicated in 1961, as well as the International Archives building in Haifa. In 1951 he was appointed by Shoghi Effendi as the president of the International Baháʼí Council, and later as a Hand of the Cause. When Shoghi Effendi died in 1957, Remey and the other Hands signed a declaration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mírzá Aḥmad Sohráb (March 21, 1890 – April 20, 1958) was a Persian- American author and Baháʼí who served as ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's secretary and interpreter from 1912 to 1919. He co-founded the New History Society and the Caravan of East and West in New York and was excommunicated from the Baháʼí Faith in 1939 by Shoghi Effendi. Biography Early life Born a Baháʼí in Sedeh, Isfahan Province, Persia (now Iran), Sohrab's father ʻAbdu'l-Baghi was a descendant of Muhammad. ʻAbdu'l-Baghi was the chief dyer of the town. Both sides of Sohrab's family, his mother and his father, claimed descent from the Imam Husayn, grandson of Muhammad. His mother died when Sohrab was a few months old, while she herself was still a teenager, and he was taken to live with his maternal grandmother in Isfahan. New History Society By 1911, he had founded an organization called the Persian-American Educational Society. Later that year he sailed to Europe "in the interests of his work". S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abd Al-Hosayn Ayati
Abd al Ḥosayn Ayati (1871—1953) was an Iranian convert to the Baháʼí Faith, who later converted back to Islam and wrote several polemic works against his former religion. He was known among Baháʼí circles as Avarih and is regarded as an apostate. In his later years he served as a secondary school teacher while writing poetry and history, and was regarded as a competent orator. During his 18 years as a Baháʼí, Ayati was a missionary to Turkestan, the Caucasus, the Ottoman Empire, and Egypt. During this time he associated with ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and wrote a two-volume history of the Baháʼí Faith, ''al-Kawākeb al-dorrīya'' (1914), which was translated to Arabic in 1924. His main polemic writing refuting the Baháʼí Faith was the three-volume ''Kašf al-ḥīal'' (1928-31). He has a total of seventeen published titles on various subjects, such as the history of Yazd ''Ātaškada-ye yazdān'' (1928), and commentaries and translations of the Qur'an. Early life Ayati wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orthodox Baháʼí Faith
The Orthodox Baháʼí Faith is an extremely small Baháʼí sect that was formed in 1960 by Mason Remey, and subsequently was the name used by one of his disputed successors, Joel Marangella. The sect is defined by a belief that the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi (1921–1957) continued with further appointees, whereas the mainstream Baháʼís follow a line of leadership that transitioned to the elected Universal House of Justice in 1963 with no eligible appointees as Guardian. Other than on the matter of leadership and organization, there are few differences between the Orthodox and mainstream Baháʼís regarding their doctrine. As a group who believe that Mason Remey was the second Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith, they are considered heretical Covenant-breakers by the majority of Baháʼís. While those who supported Mason Remey similarly feel that the majority strayed from the original teachings. Membership data of the Orthodox Baháʼís is scarce. They are mostly lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth White (Baháʼí Author)
Ruth (Berkeley) White was an early American Baháʼí who became known for challenging the '' Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá'', one of the founding documents behind the Baháʼí administration. She was designated a Covenant-breaker by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's successor, Shoghi Effendi. White met ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in 1912 in America, and again in 1920 when she went on pilgrimage to Haifa. When ʻAbdu'l-Bahá passed away in 1921, he left a will that designated Shoghi Effendi as the one that Baháʼís should turn to for guidance. It was this appointment that she opposed, and she went on to claim that the will was forged. Her claim was based in part on her belief that ʻAbdu'l-Bahá would never advocate for a hierarchy, much less the establishment of a "papacy". During her time of opposition, White wrote several letters to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States and Canada objecting to Shoghi Effendi and the idea of Spiritual Assemblies. She wrote a letter t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Munib Shahid
Munib Shahid (1908-1973) was Chairman of Hematology and Oncology at the Faculty of Medicine of the American University of Beirut. He built the hematology laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine, a development that increased research output significantly. The Dr. Munib Shahid Award is presented annually at the American University of Beirut to the fourth year medical student demonstrating the best performance in internal medicine and a mature character. Munib Shahid was born in 1908 in Acre, Palestine to a prominent Baháʼí lineage. He was the great-grandson of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder-prophet of the Baháʼí Faith. His parents were Jalal, an Afnán, and Rúḥá, a daughter of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. His paternal grandfather was Muhammad-Hasan, titled " King of the Martyrs". In 1944, he married Serene Husseini according to the Muslem rites. She was related to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, an enemy of the Baháʼís. Shoghi Effendi, Munib's cousin and then head of the Baháʼí Faith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bahíyyih Khánum
Bahíyyih Khánum (1846 – July 15, 1932) was the only daughter of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, and Ásíyih Khánum. She was born in 1846 with the given name Fatimih Sultan, and was entitled "Varaqiy-i-'Ulyá" or "Greatest Holy Leaf". Brought up through the trying times her family lived through, in adulthood she served the interests of the religion and was even occasionally trusted with running the affairs of the religion. Greatly favoured by Bahá'u'lláh, she is seen within the Baháʼí Faith as one of the greatest women to have lived. According to Baháʼís, every dispensation has one particular holy woman or "immortal heroine". In the time of Jesus it was the Virgin Mary, the time of Muhammad it was his daughter Fatima Zahra and during the Báb's dispensation it was Táhirih. Baháʼís believe that Bahíyyih Khánum is the outstanding heroine of the Baháʼí dispensation. During the lifetime of her father Tehran, 1846−1852 Born into a family ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
