Archive for April, 2008

Sectarian Violence: Explosion in Shiraz Mosque

Published
by
Baquia
on April 12, 2008
in Iran
. 35 Comments

A home-made bomb exploded, killing at least 9 people, and injuring more than a 100 in Shiraz today. The site of the bombing was the Shohada (Martyrs) mosque, part of the Rahpouyan-e-Vesal cultural center.

My condolences and prayers to those who lost loved ones and for those who were injured.

No one has yet officially claimed responsibility but since the mosque is well known for its Saturday sermons against the Baha’i Faith and Wahabi Muslims, it is suspected that it is sectarian violence.

I have not read in any reports that the Baha’i community is even suspected of carrying out such an atrocity. Instead most reports cite a group of militant Sunni muslims who have carried out similar attacks.The Wahabis, a branch of Sunni Islam, view the Shi’ites as heretics.

The last instance of similar violence was in February 2007 when a bus carrying a group of Revolutionary Guards exploded, killing 11 and wounding 30 more.

It is not rare to hear sermons in Iran against the Baha’i Faith. Uniting the people against a common enemy, even if it happens to be a phantom one, and distracting them from real issues has been a very effective ploy used by the ruling clergy class.

I hope that the Baha’i community in Iran isn’t made to be the scapegoat of this tragedy and there are no repercussions to them. God knows they are already under enough persecution.

Looking on the bright side of things, if there can ever be one, is that news reports of this event highlight the Baha’i Faith and the plight of the Iranian community:

The Bahai faith was founded in the 1860s by a Persian nobleman, Baha’u'llah, who claimed to be a new prophet in the series that included Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Islam considers Muhammad to be the last of the prophets.

Iran had been the cradle of the Bahai faith in the middle of the 19th century. After the 1979 Islamic revolution, the faith was banned and it is not recognized in the Iranian constitution as a religious minority.

Last year, Bahai communities abroad reported that a group of followers were detained in Shiraz while helping poor communities there.

Second Fastest Growing Religion

Published
by
Baquia
on April 1, 2008
in Sundry
. 2 Comments

Currently there is an interesting discussion on Talisman about the nature and evolution of the Baha’i community and identity. Among the things being talked about is the size of the Baha’i community in the US.

Apparently, according to the numbers from the NSA of the United States, we are seeing a stagnant community. And if taken relative to the growing population of the host country, one that is slowly becoming smaller.

But to my surprise, according to the World Christian Database, at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, the Baha’i Faith is the second fastest growing religion in the world:

second-fastest-religion-bahai-foreign-policy-article

The methodology isn’t clear but it seems that they are citing the Baha’i communities in the developing world, especially India for that achievement.

This is a contentious issue because Indians have very malleable religious identities. Many are Baha’is as well as their original faith tradition (whatever it may be among the thousands available in India).

As well, according to the 1991 government census, the Indian Baha’i community numbers approximately 5,500 believers - that is people who identified themselves as such - instead of 1.8 million as cited in the article.

Of course, it is possible that in the interim years the community grew, but from 5,000 to 1.8 million? Either the census is inaccurate or the current numbers are (or both).

One thing which I don’t quite understand is this, if we assume the 1.8 million number to be correct then the Indian Baha’i community comprises a huge portion of the total. According to the World Christian Database, almost 25%!

So where are they? where is their influence? where and how are they represented in the worldwide community?

As I look across the membership of the International Teaching Center, the Universal House of Justice, the Counsellors, etc… I don’t see a proportional representation of Indian Baha’is.

And if you think this post is another April Fool’s prank, well, there’s no hope for you ;-)

Message from Above?

Published
by
Baquia
on April 1, 2008
in Humor
. 4 Comments

Have you ever gotten an email that wasn’t intended for you?

I know its rare but it does happen. The mathematical probabilities aren’t that small when you consider the sheer volume of email zipping around these days. Even so, I was flabbergasted when I got an email recently that most certainly was not intended for my eyes. It was…rather embarrassing, really.

I tried to send it back whence it came but it bounced back and almost shorted out my computer’s CPU (the header and signature are also a head scratcher since it seems to be in this pure white light font which is almost blinding). So instead of trying that again and probably permanently damaging my computer, I opted to just share it here in the hopes that the Sender would see it and being notified of the mistake take precautionary measures so that similar occurrences are prevented in the future.

Oh, and to save you the anguish I went through (two bottles of Visine) I haven’t cut/pasted the header info:

Dear members of the Universal House of Justice,

The Almighty God has advised us of Her conclusion that, on the basis of your established pattern of behavior and the statements you have published, you can not properly be considered as meeting the requirements of membership for such an august institution.

Accordingly, we have removed your names from the Crimson Ark and have informed the Holy Entities concerned.

Sincerely,

The Concourse on High

cc: Baha’u'llah, the Bab, Mohammad, Jesus, Moses, Zoroaster, Krishna, et al.
cc: Holy Spirit, Maid of Heaven, Huruf-i-Hayy, Archangels & Chosen Angels, et al.

concourse-on-high.gif

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