20,000 martyrs?
Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 5:27 am
In one of his articles for the "Religion" journal (From Babis to Baha'ism: militancy, quietism and conflation in the construction of a religion), Denis MacEoin has severely criticised 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Efffendi for claimed that there 20,000 Baha'i martrys. Part of the criticism is that most of the martrys viewed themselves as Babis, not Baha'is, and so the Baha'i Faith should not claim them as its martyrs. I think that Baha'is will obviously and reasonably discount this point, as it as fundamental principle of the Faith that the Bab was the Forerunner of Baha'u'llah.
The rest of MacEoins criticism is based on the premise that there simply were not 20,000 martyrs, even if you count the Babis. He thinks the figure to be in total less than 4000. Related to this point, he argues that Baha'i are in some confusion as to when the number of 20,000 was reached: he says that 'Abdu'l-Baha claimed that number as early as 1871 (I'm not so sure), that Shoghi Effendi used it right throughout his ministry (which is true) and that it is still the figure used in most modern Baha'i publications (which is also true).
Granted that this article was written in the 1980's, I presume that Baha'i scholars have developed as response to these criticisms. However, I have so far been unable to find such a response in the scholarly literature.
-Does any know where I can it?
-Also, has anyone carried out empirical studies to ascertain a minimum verifiable number of martyrs (of the Babi and Baha'i Faiths), from 1844 onwards, with a breakdown into various time-periods preferably?
The rest of MacEoins criticism is based on the premise that there simply were not 20,000 martyrs, even if you count the Babis. He thinks the figure to be in total less than 4000. Related to this point, he argues that Baha'i are in some confusion as to when the number of 20,000 was reached: he says that 'Abdu'l-Baha claimed that number as early as 1871 (I'm not so sure), that Shoghi Effendi used it right throughout his ministry (which is true) and that it is still the figure used in most modern Baha'i publications (which is also true).
Granted that this article was written in the 1980's, I presume that Baha'i scholars have developed as response to these criticisms. However, I have so far been unable to find such a response in the scholarly literature.
-Does any know where I can it?
-Also, has anyone carried out empirical studies to ascertain a minimum verifiable number of martyrs (of the Babi and Baha'i Faiths), from 1844 onwards, with a breakdown into various time-periods preferably?