The Baha'is in Iran

The Baha'is in Iran are being subjected to the most abusive human rights violations. A minority religion in the midst of Islamic fundamentalists, the Baha'is have been murdered, tortured, imprisoned, and deprived of their livelihood based solely on their religion. Regarded as infidels and enemies of the state, the persecution of the Baha'is in Iran amounts to genocide.

The persecution of the Baha'is in Iran is longstanding. It began almost from the point that the Baha'i faith was established in that country in 1844. Repression appears to have occurred in waves. During the first fifty years after the inception of the Baha'i faith, its members were severely persecuted, with more than 20,000 Baha'is murdered (Bordewich 28). The Baha'is were targeted again during the 1950s. The current wave of repression has lasted almost twenty years, with no end in sight: "It is now the official policy of the Government of Iran to repress and discriminate against the Baha'is. It has been properly called 'genocide by attrition'" (U.S. Congress, 1995, p. 6). The modern persecution of the Baha'is differs from the previous periodic violence in that the former is all-ecompassing and systematic.

The modern persecution of the Baha'is began after the Iranian revolution in 1979, when all political groups opposed to the Shah of Iran unified under Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. After the Shah left Iran, Khomeini was designated Faqih and Leader of the Islamic Republi

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could be given" (Smith 73). Abdu'l-Baha embodied the spiritual principles of his religion and was instrumental in the spread of the Baha'i faith to the Western world. Baha'is are encouraged to glory in the diversity of humanity. In the writings of Abdu'l-Baha, the example of a garden is given to illustrate this point. A garden boasts a wide range of flower colors, shapes, and sizes. To be otherwise would produce a boring garden. This diversity exists and thrives, however, under the central authority of God: "Naught but the celestial potency of the Word of God is capable of harmonizing the divergent thoughts, sentiments, ideas, and convictions of the children of men" (Abdu'l-Baha 95). The Baha'is believe that all religions can contribute to the knowledge of human's understanding of God. Therefore, the significance of the sacred writings of other religions, e.g., the Bible and the Koran, are also acknowledged: "Baha'u'llah was universal in his religious scope; therefore, all the Holy Writings of the world's religions are held as sacred" (Bjorling 17). Compared with other major religions, the Baha'i faith places little emphasis on rituals and traditions: "The Baha'i faith has no clergy and is administered purely by elect

Category: History - T