The Bahá'í prisoners of the Islamic Republic of Iran

In my book I described many instances of the persecution of the early Iranian Bahá'ís. Unfortunately the persecution of the Bahá'ís of Iran has continued to the present time.

Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, many Bahá'ís were imprisoned, their properties confiscated, and over two hundred were killed for their belief. They are excluded from higher education, their pension plans are denied, etc.

Now more than 30 Bahá'ís are in prison in Iran. For several months, seven members of the Bahá'í Community of Tehran have been imprisoned and now facing the death penalty on trumped up charges of being Israel’s spies and enemies of Islam. All peace loving people of the world are asked to write and express their support for the Bahá'ís of Iran.

For more information see the Bahá'í World News Service or CNN.

Talk at Louhelen Baha'i School.

Today I visited with the friends at the Irfan Colloqium sessions held at Louhelen Baha'i School in Michgan. There I presented asome excerpts from the book in the form of two presentation, both in English and Persian.

After the talk many were interested to know more about the Jews and the Baha'is of Iran. In particular the integration of the early Baha'is from the Jewish background into the Baha'i Community was of great interest and generated audience participation which continued after the talk.

One of the audience's questions conerned the difficulty in braking away from past traditions when becoming a Baha'i. From anecdotes and stories, I related that most portray this transformation as slow and difficult.

Iranian Baha'is from Jewish Background

I am very pleased to announce the publication of my book: Iranian Baha'is from Jewish Background. The book presents a fascinating look at the history of early Iranian Baha'is who recognized the promised Messiah and the resulting effects on their lives.

Based on deep and innovative research, including eyewitness accounts, original sources, and exhaustive reviews of existing literature, this book represents one of the first efforts to approach this subject in an authoritative fashion.

I hope to blog at least weekly and introduce some of the stories, interesting characters, and news around the subject, and invite you to participate via questions, comments, and open discussion.