This book explores the role of millennialism, the Millerites, and prophecy in the historical development of the Bahá’í faith, especially in North America. The author demonstrates the importance of the Bahá’í religion to millennialism studies and its connection to certain Protestant American and Shia Islamic modes of thought. Bahá’ís see two millennial visions on far-separated continents, within different religious milieux, and from contrasting social climates, as spiritually and prophetically linked: the Millerites who expected the return of Christ in 1844 CE and Shia Muslims who expected the Mahdí/Qá’im/Twelfth Imam in 1260 AH/1844 CE. The chapters in this volume reflect on theories about millennialist movements, the continuum from catastrophic to progressive millennialism, Bahá’í interpretations of biblical prophecy, and Bahá’í efforts to build the “Kingdom of God on earth” under a systematic divine plan. The book highlights the maturation of the Bahá’í community toward a focus on process and a capacity to deal with both catastrophe and progress. It provides scholars of religion with a detailed study of the trajectory in Bahá’í millennial ideas.

The publication offers hopeful and practical examples, drawing on the efforts of Baha’i communities in over 100,000 localities worldwide, showcasing how collaborative efforts with friends, co-workers, and government officials can foster societies that embody the principle of gender equality.

The publication, which will be published in hardcopy in the near future, covers the original 12 “critical areas of concern” outlined in the Beijing Declaration and introduces two additional significant themes: the role of men and boys in the advancement of women, and the intersections between faith and feminism. [BIC News 17 Sep 25; BIC News 2 Sep 25]

The six Bahá'í women were first arrested in November 2023, held in solitary confinement for 31 days, which runs counter to international law, and forced to endure prolonged interrogations without access to lawyers or their families. Guilty verdicts and sentences were handed down in April 2024—after which the women appealed the verdicts. The six women are Zarrindokht Ahadzadeh, Farideh Ayyoubi, Noura Ayyoubi, Neda Mohebbi, Jaleh Rezaie, and Atefeh Zahedi. Two of the women, Atefeh and Neda, have children from as young as five years old. [BIC News]

The Department of the Secretariat of the Universal House of Justice shared the following about this publication:

“Designed to serve as a resource that will support and reinforce the process of growth that is currently under way in neighbourhoods, clusters, and villages worldwide, this collection will vastly increase access to the Sacred Writings for many of those whose initial encounter with the Creative Word has been through participation in the courses of the training institute. Among the passages included in the volume will be found many excerpts that are quoted in the materials of the training institute, here frequently set within the original sources from which the quotations were drawn, along with a number of newly translated excerpts which are published here in English for the first time. The book gathers together in a single volume a comprehensive collection of selections representing the range of the Bahá’í teachings.” [from a letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada to all Assemblies, Groups and Regional Councils dated 8 July 2025]

In addition to the website, the News Service is also available on a mobile application Android and  iOS, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and YouTube, as well as through an email subscription.

In both Tehran and Shiraz, the named and sanctioned judges have convicted large numbers of Bahá’ís with harsh prison sentences solely for their beliefs. Trials were conducted without due process and in the absence of any evidence of wrongdoing, relying on spurious charges aimed at oppressing and extinguishing religious identity.

​The decision also highlighted the role of prison authorities in the persecution of Bahá’ís. Not only are Bahá’ís unjustly detained, they are also subjected to harsh prison conditions, poor levels of sanitation and are frequently denied proper medical care. In addition, there are numerous cases where Bahá’í women have been arbitrarily imprisoned and separated from their infants and young children. [Iran Press Watch; BIC News 16 April 2025]

In December 2024, after years of medical neglect and harsh prison conditions, she underwent open-heart surgery. Despite her deteriorating health, she now faces the harrowing prospect of being forced back into prison to serve the remainder of her unjust 10-year sentence. Since then, her condition has significantly worsened, with multiple medical reports warning that continued imprisonment could cause irreversible harm. [BIC News release]

See the News Release for further details on Ms Sabet.

This follows on the heels of a statement released on the 29th of January during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council, in Geneva, at which Egyptian authorities were held accountable for the systematic abuse of the rights of religious and other minorities in Egypt, which includes the Egyptian Bahá’í community. .

The Bahá'í International Community released a statement titled In full partnership: Women’s advancement as a prerequisite for peaceful societies, emphasizing that true equality requires a transformation that goes beyond policy reforms to address the spiritual and cultural roots of inequality.

Liliane Nkunzimana, a BIC representative from the New York Office, noted: The 12 critical areas of concern articulated in Beijing were an important evolution in equality of women and men. However, many of these advances have been eroded by policy rollbacks and other forces, from the grassroots through to the international stage. This is a disturbing regression. And it should prompt us to identify more enduring approaches to transformation.” [BWNS1783; BWNS1719; Insights from the Field: Podcast explores advances in gender equality in India]

The pdf of the statement can be download here.

The resolution explicitly acknowledged that the Iranian people had rejected all forms of dictatorship, including both the ruling theocracy and the monarchical regime, and have demonstrated their will for fundamental change through nationwide protests, particularly in 2018, 2019, and 2022. It recognized the role of Iran’s Resistance Units in mobilizing protests inside the country against the regime’s oppression.

The resolution highlighted the Ten-Point Plan proposed by Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), as a viable and democratic alternative to the current regime. This plan called for a democratic republic based on universal suffrage, free elections, gender equality, separation of religion and state, a nonnuclear Iran, and peaceful coexistence with other nations. The resolution noted that this plan has gained support from over 4,000 parliamentarians worldwide, including 243 bipartisan U.S. House members, majorities in 33 legislative assemblies, 130 former world leaders, and 80 Nobel laureates.

It also raised concerns over Tehran’s transnational repression, particularly the regime’s threats against Iranian dissidents abroad. The resolution called on the U.S. government to work with Albania to ensure the full protection of Iranian refugees in Ashraf 3, many of whom are former political prisoners and survivors of regime massacres. [National Council of Resistance of Iran website]

The text of the Resolution can be read here.

The incident came just two days before Iran’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where the country’s systematic persecution of the Bahá'ís is expected to be scrutinized. [BIC News 22 January 2025]

The Bahá'í International Community as well as human rights organizations and activists have urged Iranian authorities to release Sabet unconditionally. Activists worldwide have rallied around her case, organizing a social media campaign under the hashtag #FreeMahvash.

Her most recent arrest was on July 31, 2022, and she was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison by a preliminary court on charges of leading an “illegal group with the intention of disrupting national security.” This follows a previous decade-long sentence she served from 2008 to 2017 for her involvement in the administrative body of the Bahá'í community in Iran, the Yuran. [Agency France Press 2Jan25; Iran Press Watch 10Jan25]

Qatari authorities also issued a deportation order in January 2025 for a Bahá'í individual, without justification, an informed source told Human Rights Watch. He was born and raised in Qatar to Iranian parents and had lived there for 52 years during which he founded a company, got married, and had his daughter. He was also a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís in Qatar, the source said.

He was summoned to the Immigration Department on January 8, where a police officer informed him that he was to be deported for “disrupting public order” and that he had one week to leave Qatar, the source said. The officer in charge cited “immense pressure from above” to deport this person in particular, the source told Human Rights Watch. The Interior Ministry’s communication with the individual about the deportation was entirely verbal, the source said.

The individual continued to request weekly extensions until late February, when an influential Qatari friend intervened on his behalf, and he was given until March 26 to leave the country. His written request to the Ministry of Interior to reconsider the deportation order received no response. He left Qatar on March 22 and was told by officials that he is blacklisted, barring him from reentry.

This follows a series of deportations and blacklisting of Bahá'ís by Qatari authorities for over 20 years, as documented by the United Nations special rapporteurs on minority issues and freedom of religion or belief. According to their 2019 report, Qatari authorities’ discriminatory treatment against Bahá'ís has resulted in the separation of families and the loss of employment and income. [Human Right Watch 25 May 2025].