Edict of Toleration was issued by the Sultan of Turkey: The Muslim government of the Ottoman Empire was compelled by the Western Powers, notably Britain and France, to grant religious tolerance to all nations within its borders. Broader questions of religious tolerance, such as might presumably involve Jewish land rights and Jewish immigration are not mentioned in the Edict. [Sours (below) p9]

To set the context, this came during the period known as "Tanzimat" (lit. Reorganization) 1838 to 1876. The Tanzimat era was characterised by various attempts to modernise the Ottoman Empire and to secure its territorial integrity against internal nationalist movements and external aggressive powers. The reforms encouraged Ottomanism among the diverse ethnic groups of the Empire and attempted to stem the tide of the rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire. During the Tanzimat period, the government's series of constitutional reforms led to a fairly modern conscripted army, banking system reforms, the decriminalization of homosexuality, the replacement of religious law with secular law and guilds with modern factories. The Ottoman Ministry of Post was established in Istanbul in 1840. [Wikipedia]

The fulfillment of the prophecies of Christ and of the Bible has been over a period of a hundred years or more matter of common knowledge and remark in the West. But the full extent of that fulfillment is only seen in Bahá'u'lláh. The proclamation of His Faith was made in 1844, the year when the strict exclusion of the Jews from their own land enforced by the Muslims for some twelve centuries was at last relaxed by the Edict of Toleration and "the times of the Gentiles" were "fulfilled." [GPBiv Introduction by George Townshend]

• See The 1844 Ottoman "Edict of Toleration" in Bahá'í Secondary Literature by Michel W. Sours and published in the Journal of Bahá'í Studies Vol 8 no 3 1998 pp 53-80.

  Michael Sours makes the point that there have been some Christian notions that have been adopted uncritically by a number of Bahá'í apologists that cannot be supported: 1. That Jews were strictly excluded from Palestine for 1,260 years prior to 1844 2. That Muslim Authorities were responsible for this exclusion 3. That the 1844 Edict ended the exclusion and enabled Jews to immigrate to Palestine 4. That the Edict brought about the fulfilment of the prophecy concerning the "times of the Gentiles". By extension it was the Christian maltreatment of Jews in Europe and elsewhere that prompted the large migration in the 19th and particularly in the 20th century. [Sours p77]

The wife of Ḥakím Áqá Ján, Ṭúṭí Khánum, was a deeply faithful believer and his son, Mírzá Mihdí Khán, a doctor of medicine like his father, became the personal physician of Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh.

In 1881, on his deathbed, Ḥakím Áqá Ján was reported to have seen Bahá'u'lláh standing in his room although He was in the Holy Land. In a tablet addressed to his son after his passing, Bahá'u'lláh said that He was with him at the moment of his ascension. [An Account of the Life of Ḥakím Áqá Ján translated by Adobe Masumian]

For more information on the enrolment of Persian Jews see Jewish Identities in Iran: Resistance and Conversion to Islam and the Baha'i Faith by Mehrdad Amanat as well as Arsalan Geula's Iranian Bahá'ís from Jewish Background: A Portrait of an Emerging Bahá'í Community.]

The Balfour Declaration was a letter sent to Lord Walter Rothschild by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour declaring support for the establishment of a 'national home for the Jewish people' in what was to become the British Mandate of Palestine. It was the first official declaration of political support for Jewish independence and is viewed by some as paving the way for the legal foundations of the modern State of Israel as evidenced by the level of international diplomacy that went into securing the letter. In the context of WWI which was still raging at the time, it offered Britain the opportunity for a stake in the Middle East in the expected wake of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It also marked one of the first major successes of the political Zionist movement which had officially been established with the First Zionist Congress in 1897.

Given that the Balfour Declaration was not a unilateral document on behalf of the British but rather something which had been agreed upon privately by allied diplomats before it was issued, it is viewed as the beginning of a legal process, which involved the San Remo conference of 1920 where the Declaration was officially adopted by the allied powers and latter, the creation of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922.

The implementation of the Declaration was not without its failings. It provided for the safeguarding of the rights of the residents of Palestine saying 'nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine'. In the run up to WWII that the British wanted to placate the Arab leadership in the Mandate. They issued a White Paper limiting Jewish immigration to the Mandate to fifteen thousand every year for five years, ultimately refusing entry to thousands of Jewish refugees from Europe, many of whom would tragically die in the Holocaust. [Wikipedia]

• The Palestine Mandate.

The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Budapest was elected. There were about 14 believers in the community, mostly of Jewish ancestry. This caused difficulty for the community in the Nazi persecutions that followed. [Rebirth: Memoirs of Renée Szanto-Felbermann p108]

      According to the description of Renée Szántó-Felbermann, they could not even meet in Budapest: „It was at their (the Sugárs) house in Alag (today part of Budakeszi) that we elected the first Spiritual Assembly in the history of Hungary, Ridvan 1939. When we boarded the train for Alag, in order to avoid suspicion, we Bahá'ís did not remain together, but went by twos and threes. The same procedure was repeated on our arrival to Alag. It was a memorable, unforgettable evening, that Feast of Ridván in the small house at Alag fragrant with spring flowers. We were all deeply moved. And our dear Bertha Matthiesen was radiant. … Jenő Sugár was elected chairman, Mária Kleinberger became treasurer and I continued as secretary." [www.bahai.hu]

• See www.bahai.hu for a list of community members.
• Ms Bertha Matthiesen spent a lot of time in Hungary between 1937 and 1939 when most declarations took place and the first spiritual assembly was formed. [www.bahai.hu]
• Mr Emeric Sala (Imre Szalavetz) a Canadian Bahá'í who was born in Hungary visited Budapest in 1933 and in 1937. [www.bahai.hu]
• Canadian travel teacher Ms Lorol Schopflocher visited Budapest in March-April 1937. [www.bahai.hu]

This book presents a look at the history of early Iranian Bahá'ís who recognized the promised Messiah and the resulting effects on their lives—including severe hardships and stunning achievements. The gradual emergence of a Bahá'í identity among believers of Jewish background is explained. It shows the organic growth of faith and identity—a process that all new adherents to the Faith undergo.