Mirza Muhammad Ali was a younger brother of Abdu’l-Baha who rebelled against his brother’s authority as head of the Bahai community, was able to secure possession of some Bahai properties and for some time to cause other difficulties, particularly by misrepresenting Abdu’l-Baha to the government as a threat to the Ottoman state. By the end of his life, Muhammad Ali was left without friends or followers, and had been forced to abandon the properties that he had seized, but did not have the means to maintain in a liveable condition. He died in 1937. There has been no “Muhammad Ali” sect of the Bahai Faith for seventy years past. So why mention this old history here?

The reason for the policy of shunning the violators was not that they had a different religion, it was because there is such a thing as a Covenant, and it is no trifle to be played with.

In recent weeks we have seen the curious phenomenon of an attempt to revive the claims of Muhammad Ali, in order to lend legitimacy to a newly-established sect, the ‘Unitarian Bahai Association’ avowing loyalty to Baha’u’llah but rejecting the authority that Baha’u’llah gave to Abdu’l-Baha and the Universal House of Justice. These claims have been made on a web site, and in postings to discussion groups, so I am breaking no confidences and blackening no reputations by mentioning them here: these people’s own public statements have already told the world what they are about. One of those who have been publicising this attempt on facebook, Eric Stetson, has put a comment on this blog. I welcome this as an opportunity to demonstrate why the rehabilitation of Muhammad Ali is not a realistic alternative to accepting the authority that Baha’u’llah gave to Abdu’l-Baha to lead the Bahai community. I welcome it so much, I’m putting my response to Eric here as well as in the comments section.

Full story...

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved