From Matthew Haase (circa 2009)

[NUR]

http://groups.google.com.au/group/talk.religion.bahai/browse_thread/thread/470629758d76627a#-

https://bahaism.blogspot.com/2010/02/interesting-correspondence-with-muslim.html

I hope you don't mind me telling you a little bit about myself, and
asking some questions.

I have read some of your articles about mysticism, and comments about
the Baha'i Faith and some of it is hard to deny. Here is a little
background about myself. I converted to Islam when I was nineteen
years old, and within a year I discovered the Baha'i Faith. I didn't
do much research at first because I was still getting used to
practicing Islam and grasping the idea of being part of a worldwide
Muslim community. I didn't care for all of the rules and regulations
that the 'ulama declared were the only true means of practicing the
faith. It seemed like they made Islam excessively hard to practice for
most people. When I finally began to research the Baha'i Faith, my
attraction was really towards the Bab', Ali-Muhammad Shirazi. I read
Mirza Husayn Ali's "Book of Certitude" in one night, and the parts
that kept me reading even though my mind was tired, were the
prophecies about the Bab' as the Mahdi. I was not interested in
prophecies at that time, because I didn't come from a particular
background that required them. The same was true for Islam. I didn't
"need" to know that Muhammad was prophesized in the Bible, as I was an
agnostic. Even so, when I read the Shi'a hadith that was quoted in the
book, I fell in love with this man called "The Bab'." Even when I
started to hang out with the Baha'is, I would jokingly refer to myself
as a "Muslim Babi" because of how attracted I was to him.

But jokes aside, I didn't see a contradiction with that phrase because
I viewed the Bab' as a man who created a community that was "outside"
of Islam but still "inside" at the same time, like a paradox. After a
month of spending time with Baha'is, I saw my first red flag. I was
talking to one of my Baha'i friends and mentioned that I wanted to
learn Farsi or French so I could read the Persian Bayan in full. For
some reason, still unknown to me to this day, she became instantly
suspicious and implied that my "intentions" to read it were impure
somehow. "Wait a minute", I thought. Why would she give me a guilt
trip because I wanted to read a part of her own faith's scripture? If
I were talking to a Muslim and stated that I wanted to learn Arabic so
I could read the Qur'an in its original language, they would be
ecstatic and probably even help me learn the language if they knew it.
I took the matter to some other Baha'is because I thought maybe she
just had her own issues or something, but they also became silent when
I said it was because I wanted to read the Persian Bayan.

One of them kindly suggested that it would be easier for me to just
read the writings of Baha'u'llah because he is the "most recent"
Manifestation of God, they are more easily available, and they are
translated into English so I don't need to learn a foreign language. I
understood the logic, but I didn't understand why they were all trying
to dissuade me from reading a piece of their own scripture. I got the
impression that they had something to hide. That wasn't my initial
perception at all, but when they kept trying to steer me in a certain
direction and even question my "intentions" (whatever that means),
what else was I to think? The only reason why I wanted to read the
Persian Bayan was because of my attraction to the Bab, not despite of
it. I eventually caved to their wishes and read the writings of Mirza
Husayn 'Ali instead, which were inspiring to a certain degree. But I
would get this intuitional feeling that somehow the Baha'i Faith
wasn't telling the whole story about its origins, like it was hiding
something.

Every time I would feel that way, I would crush it and punish myself
for thinking such "unholy" thoughts. I also started to wonder if the
Baha'i Faith actually despised Islam at its inner core. While I could
never categorically prove this, I came across many passages and
writings that seemed to speak ill of Islam through cleverly
constructed phrases that appear to exalt the faith of Muhammad at face
value, but in actuality are tearing it apart. I would notice that out
of all of the interpretations given to particular Quranic verses and
hadiths that exist in the tradition of Islamic scholarship, the Baha'i
Faith would almost always pick the "bad" one that would make Islam
appear "backward" to the "enlightened" west, and would then say "this
is why Baha'u'llah came, to reform religion...etc." Perhaps that is
too conspiratorial, but it was a very strong feeling I had that would
inevitably creep up no matter how much I censored my thoughts. One of
my most vivid memories of this kind of thing, was a "conversation" I
had with a sweet elderly Persian woman. She initiated it by stating
that according to a Zoroastrian scholar on satalite t.v., Muhammad
(pbuh) commanded his followers to bury their new born children alive
during the early years of his prophethood; but he later abrogated that
law by commanding them to only bury their female new born children
alive and sparing the males. I told her that that was really confusing
since the Qur'an specifically mentions the practice of burying female
new borns and condemns it. She just brushed that off and kept saying
more things that would make Islam look bad, and ended our conversation
with a hug and an "apology" for "offending" me, and stating a final
after thought, "the Qur'an tells men to beat their wives...you know
this?"

This leads into my questions. What is it that I could have done to
make these Baha'is treat me this way? I was nothing but respectful
towards them and their faith. I never said a bad word about their
religion. And yet it seems like just because of the sheer fact that I
was a Muslim, that somehow meant that I was less than them. Even after
I became a Baha'i, while still retaining my love and appreciation for
Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, some of the Baha'is would still pick
at me for my association with Islam. The elderly Persian woman would
sometimes ask me if I was "still a Baha'i", which is a meaningless
question because the LSA would know if I had resigned from the Baha'i
Faith (which I did a number of years later.) In the research you have
done, is there any evidence that the Baha'i Faith has an agenda to
make Islam look barbaric and evil, while appearing to praise the
Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an? In connection with that question,
does the Baha'i Faith have an agenda to make the Babi Faith and Islam
appear to be enemies of each other? Did Tahirih really claim that
Muhammad's teachings were "nonsense"? Is there a full translation of
the Persian and Arabic Bayans in English? Or for that matter, are full
copies of the originals still in existence for anyone to read?
Thanks for getting back to me, I really appreciate it...About Western
imperialism and the Baha'i Faith, I am also starting to think there is
a connection. I still have a few Baha'i friends, and almost on a daily
basis I hear about the "oppression of Baha'is in Iran", which saddens
me. But what makes me question things is this: Out of all of the
oppressed peoples of the world, from South America to Chechnya, from
Iran to the First Nation peoples of North America, why is is that so
much attention is given to seven people in Iran? I am not saying that
persecution requires a high number of people for it to be persecution,
but they act as if Baha'is are the only people being persecuted in
that country. In the past twenty years, about two-hundred Baha'is have
been executed by the State. That is a serious human rights crime, but
does it really warrant a war, sanctions, and massive death for the
entire Iranian population, while other countries that are allies of
the United States kill groups of people in the thousands? And when non-
Baha'is question Baha'is why they don't speak out against the
oppression of other groups of people, they basically say that it's not
their job. Which would be a "fair", albeit selfish answer if it were
not for the sheer fact that the Baha'i institutions call on non-
Baha'is to speak out on behalf of Baha'is. But when the tables are
turned, the Baha'i institutions don't want to hear it.

This might sound really off-the-mark, but do you think it is possible
that the "higher-ups" of the Baha'i Faith are practicing some form of
"black" magick in an attempt to influence world affairs towards their
goals? Also, are you aware of any Baha'i-Freemason connections? I came
across some interesting things a Baha'i wrote on a Baha'i forum, but
haven't done enough researching yet to know if it is true. Basically,
he said that the name "Baha'u'llah" is a "special name" at the
Baltimore Masonic Temple, like a "code word." They have a hallway of
nine doors, with the ninth door being the highest as the hall moves
upwards. He also said that Gleanings from the writings of Baha'u'llah
is in their top ten books of scripture to read from. He said that
Baha'is are not permitted to join Secret Societies, but he knows at
least two Baha'is in "good standing" who are 33rd degree Masons.

#MatthewHaase