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The Baha'i Faith is an | The Baha'i Faith is an Abrahamic [[Monotheism|monotheistic]] religion founded in Persia in the 19<sup>th</sup> century which claims to share the same values and origins of it's predecessors. Its founder, Baha'u'llah, is regarded by Baha'is as "the most recent in the line of Messengers of [[God]] that stretches back beyond recorded time and that includes [[Ibrahim|Abraham]], Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, [[Jesus|Christ]] and [[Muhammad|Mohammed]]." The current estimates for the total number of Baha'is around the world ranges from 5 million<ref>[http://news.bahai.org/media-information/statistics/ Statistics] - Bahá'í World News Service</ref><ref>Hutter, Manfred (2005). "Bahā'īs". in Jones, Lindsay. Encyclopedia of Religion. 2 (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference US. pp. 737–740. ISBN 0028657330.</ref> to 7.9 million.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html#people World: People: Religions] - CIA World Factbook</ref> | ||
From its inception to this day, the Bahá'ís of Iran have been persecuted. While the Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian minorities are also persecuted, they have certain limited rights, but the Baha'is have none.<ref>[http://www.marzeporgohar.org/v2/index.php?l=1&cat=25&scat=&artid=1166 Stop the Persecution of non-Muslim Iranians] - Human Rights Council of the Marze Por Gohar Party</ref> With the triumph of the Islamic revolution in 1979, this persecution of minorities has become systematized. Unofficial figures have put the number of Baha'i deaths into the thousands, but officially more than two-hundred have been executed or killed, hundreds more have been imprisoned, and tens of thousands have been deprived of jobs, pensions, businesses, and educational opportunities. All national and local Bahá'í administrative institutions have been banned by the Government, and Bahá'í holy places, cemeteries and community properties have been confiscated, vandalized, or destroyed.<ref>Friedrich W. Affolter - [http://www.aa.psu.edu/journals/war-crimes/articles/V1/v1n1a3.pdf The Specter of Ideological Genocide: The Bahá’ís of Iran] - War Crimes, Genocide, & Crimes against Humanity, Volume 1, January, 2005</ref> | From its inception to this day, the Bahá'ís of Iran have been persecuted. While the Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian minorities are also persecuted, they have certain limited rights, but the Baha'is have none.<ref>[http://www.marzeporgohar.org/v2/index.php?l=1&cat=25&scat=&artid=1166 Stop the Persecution of non-Muslim Iranians] - Human Rights Council of the Marze Por Gohar Party</ref> With the triumph of the Islamic revolution in 1979, this persecution of minorities has become systematized. Unofficial figures have put the number of Baha'i deaths into the thousands, but officially more than two-hundred have been executed or killed, hundreds more have been imprisoned, and tens of thousands have been deprived of jobs, pensions, businesses, and educational opportunities. All national and local Bahá'í administrative institutions have been banned by the Government, and Bahá'í holy places, cemeteries and community properties have been confiscated, vandalized, or destroyed.<ref>Friedrich W. Affolter - [http://www.aa.psu.edu/journals/war-crimes/articles/V1/v1n1a3.pdf The Specter of Ideological Genocide: The Bahá’ís of Iran] - War Crimes, Genocide, & Crimes against Humanity, Volume 1, January, 2005</ref> | ||
This treatment of Baha'is is justified by [[ | This treatment of Baha'is is justified by [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)|Shari'ah]] through [[Islam and Apostasy|apostasy]] laws, because apostasy mandates that anyone who leaves [[Islam]] should be killed. According to many scholars, since the Baha'i faith is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, they are apostates and can therefore be justifiably murdered. Many Baha'is continue to conceal their religion and often call themselves Muslims. | ||
The international community is becoming more aware of the Baha'is plight as campaigns have risen, bringing the United Nations, Amnesty International, the European Union, and the United States into discussions. | The international community is becoming more aware of the Baha'is plight as campaigns have risen, bringing the United Nations, Amnesty International, the European Union, and the United States into discussions. | ||
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A top Baha'i official has also criticized Iran's claim that the seven leaders of the religious minority who were imprisoned in Iran, were held for security reasons and not because of their faith. Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, called Iran's assertion "utterly baseless." saying that Iran's practice of connecting the group to Zionism, the underlying political philosophy of the Jewish state, was a "distortion" and an attempt to "stir animosity" among the Iranian public.<ref>Christopher Buck. Islam and Minorities: The Case of the Bahá'ís. Studies in Contemporary Islam, 5(1):83–106, 2003.</ref> All this hostility despite the fact that Baha'is respect Islam as a valid religion, revere Prophet Muhammad, and even defend him against critics of Islam. | A top Baha'i official has also criticized Iran's claim that the seven leaders of the religious minority who were imprisoned in Iran, were held for security reasons and not because of their faith. Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, called Iran's assertion "utterly baseless." saying that Iran's practice of connecting the group to Zionism, the underlying political philosophy of the Jewish state, was a "distortion" and an attempt to "stir animosity" among the Iranian public.<ref>Christopher Buck. Islam and Minorities: The Case of the Bahá'ís. Studies in Contemporary Islam, 5(1):83–106, 2003.</ref> All this hostility despite the fact that Baha'is respect Islam as a valid religion, revere Prophet Muhammad, and even defend him against critics of Islam. | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
{{page_title|Persecution of Baha'is in Iran}} | {{page_title|Persecution of Baha'is in Iran}} | ||
[[Category:Human rights]] | |||
[[Category:Apostasy]] | |||