A Minority Within a Majority: the Baha’i Principle of Non-Interference in Politics Is Revisited

22 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXVIII, No.1, Fall 2014 A Minority Within a Majority: the Baha’i Principle of Non-Interference in Politics Is Revisited Leila Chamankhah* Introduction “Non-interference in politics” is one of the main doctrinal principles in Baha’ism. Articulated by Mirza Hussein Ali Noori (12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892), Bahaullah, the founder of the Baha’i faith, this significant principle was supposed to prohibit Baha’i believers from any kind of involvement in politics in general, and of participation in political organizations and parties in particular. This principle is widely perceived to be one of the main characteristics of Baha’ism, and a point of difference between it and its predecessor Babism. Babism should be understood in the context of the intellectual developments which had been in circulation in the seminaries of the nineteenth century Ottoman Iraq and Persia. It should be noted that the main goals of the Babi movement; a radical, millenarian movement of sorts, was both to revive Shiite Islam and to overthrow the Qajar dynasty in the 19th century Persia. The movement was not only smashed aggressively by the Qajars, but also its refugees had to live in exile in the Ottoman Empire. Reminiscent of a headless body, the scattered Babis of Baghdad were suffering from several difficulties including the execution of their leader, Sayyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi in Iran, being a minority, sandwiched *Leila Chamankhah earned her PhD in 2007. Since then, she divided her time between teaching and researching in Islamic Studies and Political Sociology. The focus of her interest is Islamic Intellectual History, where she pursues her studies and research at the University of Exeter, England. She published several books in Persian and translated some other from English into Persian. Her areas of interests are Iranian Studies, Islamic Studies, Political Sociology and Women’s Studies. 23 between both the Shiite population and the Sunni majority poverty and poor economic condition, and last but not least, the competition of a number of claimants over the succession of their slain leader. As the result of the crisis of leadership, Mirza Hussein Ali Noori, known as Bahaullah (Glory of God), successfully hijacked the leadership from the rest of the claimants, including his half brother, Mírzá Yaḥyá Núrí, (1831–1912) known as Ṣubḥ-i Azal (Morning of Eternity). Bahaullah created some innovations involving the fundamentals of Babism; among them non-interference in politics was the most noticeable. Therefore, the Baha’i movement, a peaceful, though still millenarian movement, rose from the ruins of Babism. Regarding our discussion on non-interference in politics in Baha’ism, it should be added that the rest of the Baha’i leaders, from Bahaullah’s son and immediate successor, Abdu’lBah á, ‘Abbás Effendí (23 May 1844–28 November 1921), to the International House of Justice in Haifa, promoted this principle. Moreover, the International House of Justice, as the central Baha’i organization, issued many decrees confirming the late leaders’ orders. This principle, with its peer “absolute obedience to government” forms a dual principle which is the principle of political quietism. In sharp contrast with what the Baha’i leaders had instructed during the Pahlavi era, specifically from 1953-1979, many Baha’is offered a variety of services to different branches of the regime, and were actively involved in Iran’s political institutions, bureaucracy, and military. By abandoning the first pair of the principle and accepting the second part, they interpreted this religious principle in an arbitrary manner, to the extent that even sentences issued by the International House of Justice to prevent them from cooperating with the regime seemed to be ineffective. The purpose of this paper is to briefly discuss the two doctrinal principles of non-interference in politics and absolute obedience from government. In doing so, and from a historical viewpoint, I will shed light on the Babi movement; its formation and downfall, and then, from the perspective of political sociology, I will take a look into the relationship of the Pahlavi regime and the Baha’i minority, and develop an argument for the conceptualization of minority-state relation in contemporary Iran. Finally, I will...