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Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 1942, ascending sort latest first

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1942 (In the year)
194-
The House of the Báb in Shíráz was attacked and damaged by fire. [BBD108; BW18p389] Báb, House of (Shiraz); * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Destruction; - Persecution; Shíráz, Iran; Iran
1942 – early
194-
The publication in Iran of The Political Confessions or Memoirs of Prince Dolgoruki (or, simply, Dolgorukov's Memoirs). The book contends that the Bábí Faith was simply an element in a plot to destabilize Iran and Islam. [22 February, 2009 Iran Press Watch]
  • See Religious Contentions in Modern Iran, 1881-1941 by Dr Mina Yazdani where she posits that "The process of Othering the Bahá'ís had at least three components; 1) religious, carried on by the traditionalist theologians; 2) institutional and formal, sanctioned by the state; and 3) political, the result of a joint and gradual process in which Azalīs, former Bahá'ís and reformist theologians all played a role. This process reached its culmination with the widespread publication of The Confessions of Dolgoruki which resulted in a fundamental paradigm shift in the anti-Bahá'í discourse. With the widespread impression of Bahá'ís as spies of foreign powers, what up to that point constituted a sporadic theme in some anti-Bahá'í polemics now became the dominant narrative of them all, including those authored by traditionalist clerics. Consequently, as Iran entered the 1940s, the process that would transform Islamic piety to political ideology was well under way."
  • In its preface, Dolgorukov's Memoirs purported to be a translation of the memoirs of Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov (Russian Minister in Iran from 1845-54), first published in the official organ of the Soviet Communist Party. According to the book, whose Russian "original" has never been found, Prince Dolgorukov had travelled to Iran during the 1830s, entered the ranks of the 'ulama, and instigated the Bábí-Bahá'í uprising. The book totally contradicted the well-documented life of Prince Dolgorukov, and made obvious chronological and historical mistakes in its allegations about the lives of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. Nevertheless, it was reprinted many times, and created a master narrative that others subsequently deployed. With its political tone, the book, on the one hand, heralded the ascendancy of politics over religion in the mindset of Iran's Shi'a clergy, and on the other, demonstrated the vast popularity that conspiracy theories enjoyed in Iran. [Iran Press Watch 1407] iiiii
  • Conspiracy theories; Criticism and apologetics; Prince Dolgorukov; * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; Iran
    1942 (The early 20th Century)
    194-
    Bahá'í Scholarship

    The publication in 1865 of the Comte de Gobineau's (1816-1882),Les Religions et Les Philosophies dans l'Asie Centrale created an interest in Europe. A scholar that was inspired by Gobineau was E.G.Browne. He travelled to Iran and also visited Bahá'u'lláh in Akka in the latter days of His life. He translated two histories of the new religion and published two other books as well as a number of articles. He also made an important collection of manuscripts that he gave to Cambridge University Library. Bahá'ís have criticized Browne's work for being too sympathetic to Azal, Baha'u'llah's half-brother and implacable enemy. One of the books that Cobineau for Les Religions... was Násikhu't-Taváríkh (the 'history to abrogate all previous historiies') by Lisánu'l-Mulk. This book had been condemned by Bahá'u'lláh as a falsification of history one which even an infidel would not have had the effrontery to produce. [SUR36-37]      

    A.L.M. Nicolas (1864-1939) was a French consular official in Iran who researched and wrote a biography of the Báb as well as translating three of the Báb's major works into French.

         Just as the Báb was the centre of the scholarly interests of Gobineau, Browne and Nicolas, some Russian scholars who were more interested in Bahá'u'lláh. Baron Viktor Rosen (1849-1908), the director of the Oriental Department of the University of St. Petersburg was assisted by Aleksandr Tumanski (1861-1920). He spent a great deal of time with the Bahá'í community of Ashkhabad and with Mirza Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani. Although he did not write as much as Browne or Nicolas, what he did write was derived from a very deep and thorough investigation. [L&E43-83]

      See An Officer and an Orientalist: Alexander Grigorevich Tumanskii and His Contribution to Russian Historiography on and Policy towards the Babi-Baha'i Religion by Soli Shahvar, Bahá'í Studies Review 20 (1), 3-19

         There was much interest in scholarship in the early days of the Faith because almost all of the most important disciples of the Báb were Islamic religious scholars, as were many of the leading converts to the Bahá'í Faith in later years. The most important of these was the above mentioned Mirza Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani (1844-1914). He was learned in the Zoroastrian and Jewish scriptures and spent some time in the Christian West at the request of 'Abdu'l-Bahá prior to His visit.

         During the 1930s to 1960s, a second generation of Iranian Bahá'í scholars, such as Fadil Mazandarani (1881-1957), 'Abdul-Hamid Ishraq-Khavari (1902-1972), and 'Azizu'llah Sulaymani (1901-1985) systematized Bahá'í theology and law, developed aids for scholars such as dictionaries of Bahá'í terminology, and wrote histories and biographies. This was of course a more traditional style of scholarship than is current in the West, but it continues to be useful to all present scholars.

         The above-described initial flurry of interest in the Bábí and Bahá'í religions in the West was not sustained and from the 1920s to the 1970s, there were no Western scholars who were as deeply engaged as the above-named ones and only a handful of studies that can be said to have done much to advance knowledge. From the 1970s onward, there gradually emerged a new stream of scholars who can be said to be a fusion of the above two groups, the Western and the Bahá'í scholars. This new generation of scholars mostly began as Bahá'ís, although some have subsequently left the religion. They use Western academic methodology and most operate from within Western universities but they have access to insider information and resources. Apart from these individuals, the Bahá'í Faith has been very little studied by Western scholars of religion.

         A word must also be said about what passes for scholarship on the Bahá'í Faith in Iran and to a lesser extent in the rest of the Middle East. Bahá'ís have been persecuted in many Middle Eastern countries and rejected by Islamic leaders, and one form of this discrimination has involved the manipulation of information. For most of the last 100 years, deliberately distorted or falsified information and documents have been created mostly by some within the Islamic religious establishment and then distributed as though these were facts about the Bahá'í Faith. Since the Bahá'ís have had no ability to respond to this material in the Middle East, these distortions have gradually become accepted in the Middle East as the truth. One example is the forged memoirs of Count Dolgorukov, the Russian ambassador to Iran in the 1840s to 1850s. This and other contradictions were so clearly spurious that even some Iranian scholars debunked them when they were first published in the 1940s. But despite this, they are often regularly cited by Middle Eastern writers up to the present day as though they are a reliable source for the history of the religion.

         Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, this manufacturing of disinformation and forged material has increased greatly with programs in the media, articles, and books appearing on a frequent basis, especially in the government-run media. The result is that there is almost nothing published in the Middle East that has reliable information about the Bahá'í Faith in it. A little of this sort of scholarship has also appeared in the West; some Christian missionaries, notably Reverend William McElwee Miller(1892-1993)(Also see WOB83) have written anti-Bahá'í material and ex-Bahá'ís have published academic work that is calculated to make the Bahá'í community resemble a cult as portrayed in the anti-cult campaigns that were carried out in the Western media in the 1980s. [The above was copied from the website Patheos and has been edited for brevity. It was contributed by Dr. Natalie Mobini]

  • See as well the publication of Der Bahā'ismus, Weltreligion der Zukunft?: Geschichte, Lehre und Organisation in Kritischer Anfrage (Bahá'ísm-Religion of the Future? History, Doctrine and Organization: A Critical Inquiry) by Francesco Ficicchia under the auspices of the Central Office of the Protestant Church for Questions of Ideology in Germany.
  • Bahá'í studies; Scholarship; Orientalism; Bábísm; Comte de Gobineau; E. G. Browne; A.L.M. Nicolas; Baron Rosen; Alexander Tumansky; Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani; Mírzá Asadullah Fadil-i-Mazandarani; `Abdu'l-Hamid Ishraq-Khavari; Azizullah Sulaymani; Reverend William McElwee Miller; Francesco Ficicchia
    1942 (In the year)
    194-
    Dr Malcolm King, a Jamaican who had become a Bahá'í in the United States, introduced the Faith to his homeland. [SDSCp425 note 2]
  • He held meetings at 190 Orange Street in Kingston. By 1943, the people he had taught founded a spiritual assembly in Kingston. [The Gleaner]
  • - First Bahá'ís by country or area; Jamaica first Jamaican Baha'i
    1942 (In the year)
    194-
    In the village of Daidanaw eleven Bahá'ís were slain. Records, books and documents that had been transferred to Daidanaw from the headquarters in Mandalay and Rangoon were lost when the headquarters building was destroyed by fire. [BW11p33] Persecution, Myanmar (Burma); - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution, Destruction; - Persecution; Daidanaw, Myanmar; Mandalay, Myanmar; Yangon, Myanmar; Myanmar
    1942 (In the year)
    194-
    The publication of Selected Writings of Bahá'u'lláh: Author of the Bahá'í Dispensation by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada. It was published by the Bahá'í Publishing Committee in Wilmette. 43p. * Publications; - Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh
    1942 1 Jan
    194-
    Shoghi Effendi announced the expulsion of his sister Mehrangiz. [Baha'i News #150 January 1942 p1] Covenant-breaking; - Bahá'í World Centre
    1942 16 Jan
    194-
    The passing of Carole Lombard Gable (b. 6 October 1908 in Ft Wayne, IN) near Las Vegas. She was buried at the Forst Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. She was a second generation Bahá'í, her mother, Elizabeth Peters, had been brought into the Faith my Mrs Orol Platt. Carole, at the age of 14, wrote to 'Abdu'l-Bahá to ask for His permission to pursue a career in Hollywood. His Tablet came, praying for her success. She accepted the Faith in Los Angeles in about April of 1938. Her closest Bahá'í friend was the well-known teacher, Mrs. Beulah Storrs Lewis.
  • She became an icon of cinema, the American Film Institute named her one of the greatest American female screen legends.
  • She died in a plane crash while on a bond-selling tour. [Bahá'í Chronicles; Bahá'í Teachings; Bahá'í Arts Connection; BW9p635-637]
  • Images.
  • Her biography was entitled Carole Lombard: A Bio-Bibliography by Robert D. Matzen.
  • See documentary videos on You Tube, Carole Lombard (Part 1) and Carole Lombard (Part 2).
  • Carole Lombard; Ft Wayne, IN; Las Vegas, NV; United States (USA)
    1942 13 Feb
    194-
    Ustád Habíbu'lláh Mu'ammarí was martyred in Nayríz, Iran. [BW18:389] * Persecution, Iran; - Persecution, Deaths; - Persecution; Nayriz, Iran; Iran
    1942 (In the year)
    194-
    The publication of The Bahá'í Temple: House of Worship of a World Faith Commemorating Completion of Exterior Ornamentation 1942, by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada. Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, Wilmette; * Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (House of Worship); Dedications; * Publications; Chicago, IL; Illinois, USA
    1942 Ridván
    194-
    The first local spiritual assembly in Cuba was established in Havana. [One Country Issue 1 Vol 17 Apr-Jun 2008]
  • A loose organization had been formed in 1940.
  • Local Spiritual Assembly, formation; Havana, Cuba; Cuba first LSA in Cuba
    1942 Ridván
    194-
    The first local assembly in El Salvador was established in San Salvador. LSA; San Salvador, El Savador first LSA in El Salvador
    1942 Ridván
    194-
    The first local spiritual assembly in Haiti was established in Port-au-Prince. Local Spiritual Assembly; Port-au-Prince, Haiti first Local Spiritual Assembly in Haiti
    1942 Jun
    194-
    The Spiritual Assembly of San José, Costa Rica, was legally registered with the government, the first local assembly to be incorporated in Latin America. [BW11:46] Local Spiritual Assembly; San Jose, CA; Costa Rica firstLocal Spiritual Assembly incorporated in Latin America
    1942 9 Jun - 15 Feb 1943
    194-
    John Stearns began sponsoring a radio program in Quito under the auspices of his small business, "Kandy Kitchen", which presented classical music and readings from the Bahá'í Writings. These broadcasts came over short wave (32.05 meter, 9355 Kc) Monday evenings at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. The broadcasts could be heard all over South America and occasionally in Spain.
    The Bahá'í Radio Hour, "Words and Music" was broadcasted every Sunday from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM and a program called "Bahá'í Echo" three times a week Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:15 to 9:30 PM. [Heroes of God: History of the Bahá'í Faith in Ecuador, 1940-1979 p5]
    Bahá'í Radio; John Sterns; Quito, Ecuador; Ecuador
    1942 25 Jun
    194-
    'Abdu'l-Jalíl Bey Sa'ad died in Egypt and Shoghi Effendi appointed him to the rank of Hand of the Cause of God on the day of his passing. [LoF57-59; MoCxxii; BW9:597]
  • For his obituary see BW9:597–9.
  • 'Abdu'l-Jalíl Bey Sa'ad was, for many years, the president of the National Spiritual Assembly and a judge in the Civil Courts in Egypt. Through his sustained effort the Declaration of Trust was recognized as valid and legalized in 1934.
  • He made an important contribution in translating into Arabic. Among his accomplishments were The Dawn-Breakers, Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Laws of Personal Status and Rules of Procedure.
  • In 1941 he employed the Declaration of Trust as an instrument to induce the Ministry of Civil Defence to grant permission to build the Hazíratu'l-Quds in Cairo. While supervising this project in the intense heat he fell ill and died suddenly after an operation.
  • - Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; - Births and deaths; - In Memoriam; Hands appointed posthumously by Shoghi Effendi; Hands of the Cause, Activities; `Abdu'l-Jalil Bey Saad; Declaration of Trust and By-laws; Haziratul-Quds (Bahá'í centres); Dawn-Breakers (book); Esslemont; - Arabic language; * Translation; Egypt
    1942 Aug
    194-
    Lidia Zamenhof was killed in the gas chambers at Treblinka. [HDBF516]
  • For her obituary see BW10:533–8.
  • See also Lidia by Wendy Heller, GR, Oxford, 1985 and Lidia Zamenhof, a cosmopolitan woman and victim of the Holocaust.
  • See JPost.com 8Feb2022 for a full history of the language and of the Zamenof family. iiiii
  • Lidia Zamenhof; World War II; Persecution, Poland; Esperanto; Treblinka, Poland; Poland
    1942 26 Oct
    194-
    Marion Lord Maxwell ('Miss Mac') became a Bahá'í, the first Jamaican to accept the Faith. [BW17:429]
  • For the story of her life see BW17:429–30.
  • Marion Lord Maxwell; Jamaica first Bahá'í in Jamaica
    1942 16 Nov
    194-
    Manuel Bergés Chupani, of Sánchez, Dominican Republic, became a Bahá'í, perhaps the first native Dominican person to accept the Faith. - First Bahá'ís by country or area; Dominican Republic first native Bahá'í in Dominican Republic
    1942 18 Dec
    194-
    The Assembly of Egypt, after obtaining government permission to maintain a Bahá'í cemetery, arranged for the transfer of the remains of Abu'l-Fadl and of Lua Moore Getsinger from their respective graves. The members of the National Spiritual Assembly, together with its committee who carried out the transfer, accompanied by representatives of all Bahá'í communities of Egypt, conducted a service at the Bahá'í cemetery during the reinterment. See BW9p82; 83; 87 for photos.

    After Abdu'l-Fadl passed away in early 1914 the American believers, in gratitude for the contribution he had made to the American Bahá'í community, collected a sum of money for the construction of a suitable monument for his grave. The work was interrupted with the Ascension of the Master and the money collected was reverted the National Fund. That money was now sent to the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt. [BW9p89]

    Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani; - Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh; Lua Getsinger; Cemeteries and graves; - In Memoriam; - Births and deaths; Cairo, Egypt; Egypt
    1942 Late in the year
    194-
    Shoghi Effendi asked Sutherland Maxwell to design the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb. [BBD210; DH140; GBF103–5] Sutherland Maxwell; Báb, Shrine of (Haifa); Architecture; - Architects; * Shoghi Effendi (chronology); Haifa, Israel; Mount Carmel
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