- 1864-00-00 —
'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote the Sharh-i Kuntu Kanzan Makhfiyan, the commentary on the well-known Islamic tradition 'I was a Hidden Treasure …' for 'Alí Shawkat Páshá.
- See Commentary on the Islamic Tradition "I Was a Hidden Treasure..." by Abdu'l-Bahá translated by Moojan Momen. In the article, he refers to another provisional translation done by Baharieh Ma'ani in collaboration with Hooper Dunbar.
- See 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Response to the Doctrine of the Unity of Existence by Keven Brown Fourth Section.
- See as well BNE52. Here, 'Abdu'l-Bahá is described as "about fifteen or sixteen years of age".
- Mention of this Tablet is made in Messages to Canada, p34-35, where, in a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, it is stated that the Tablet is about 50 pages in length and had been published in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's second volume of His Tablets published in Egypt.
- A Tablet of Baháʼuʼlláh, recently discovered by Necati Alkan and available in provisional translation by Adib Masumian, indicates that it was written during the sojourn in Edirne. The original text has been published in Safíniy-i-ʻIrfán, vol. 6, p. 10 (2003). In the Tablet Bahá'u'lláh says that Ali (Şevket/Shawkat) Pasha requested 'Abdu'l-Bahá to write His commentary "during the days of stopover/residence in the Land of Mystery" (dar ayyám-i tavaqquf dar Ard-i Sirr).
And now concerning the extensive commentary on the Islamic tradition which begins, "I was a hidden treasure…" During the days of Our sojourn in the Land of Mystery, ʻAlí Páshá had asked the Most Mighty Branch of God—may My life be a sacrifice for the ground which His most pure footsteps have trodden—to provide a commentary on this hadith. This He did in accordance with the exigencies of the time, and His purpose was that all may benefit from it…
As per a 1995 article prepared for The Bahá'í Encyclopedia, it was previously believed that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was 17 years old at the time of writing, if so, this would have dated the Tablet at about 1861. Given that this new evidence proves that it was written in Edirne, He would have been 19 years old but more probably in his early twenties. [Thanks to Necati Alkan for providing this correction and to Adib Masumian for doing the translation at his request.] iiiii
- 1922-00-00 — Abdullah Cevdet was one of the founding members of the Young Turk ‘Committee of Union and Progress’, who in 1922, caused considerable public commotion by publishing an article favourable to the Bahá'í religion in his journal İctihâd. He was prosecuted for attacking Islam and the prophet Mohammad by expressing his thoughts in favour of the Bahá'í faith, recommending it as a world religion to replace Islam, which he deemed to be backward. It is argued here, in the context of Cevdet's Weltanschauung, that he did not use ‘Baha'ism’ merely as a tool to educate the Muslims in line with his Positivist ideas but that he identified himself with this new religious creed. The Eternal enemy of Islam: Abdullah Cevdet and the Bahá'í religion by Necati Alkan.
Bahá'u'lláh and Àbdu'l-Bahá had contact with many of the reformers and modernist ideas in Turkey even in the 1860s-1890s. This paper focuses on the "Young Turk" leader Abdullah Cevdet. This paper examines the relationship between the Young Ottoman and Young Turk reform movements and the Bahá'ís that was established probably from the time of Bahá'u'lláh’s exile to Istanbul and Edirne and certainly from 1868 with Bahá'u'lláh’s banishment to Palestine. The emphasis of this article is not the convergence of ideas but the nature of the contacts and the impressions of the Young Ottomans and Young Turks of the Babis and Bahá'ís.
Ottoman Reform Movements and the Bahá'í Faith, 1860s-1920s by Necati Alkan
For more information on Cevdet see the Wikipedia entry.
- 2010-00-00 — The publication of Dissent and Heterodoxy in the Late Ottoman Empire: Reformers, Babis and Baha'is by Necati Alkan. It was published b Gorgias Press of Piscataway, NJ, USA
Table of contents :
Illustrations:
Acknowledgements:
Foreword:
Introduction:
1. Reforms in the Late Ottoman Empire:
2. Early Babis in the Ottoman Empire:
3. The Babis, Iran and the Ottoman Reform Elite:
4. The Baha'is and the 'Fathers' of Ottoman Constitutionalism:
5. Iranian Reformers, Young Turks and the 'Babis' in 19th Century Istanbul:
6. 'Abdu'l-Baha and the Ottomans, 1890s - 1910s:
7. From Empire to Republic: State and Religion in the Era of Kemalist reform:
Conclusions:
Appendices:
Illustration:
Bibliography:
Index
See also Abdu’l-Baha’s Turkish Writings: A Survey and The Babi and Baha’i Religions in the Ottoman Empire (both YouTube), two talks by Necati Alkan on the Corinne True Centre for Bahá'í History.
For other work by Necati Alkan in English please see Bahá'í Library Online.
- 2025-12-31 — The publication of Handbook of Qurʾānic Hermeneutics Volume 6; Qurʾānic Hermeneutics by Non-Muslims, edited by Georges Tamer. It was published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co, Berlin/Boston.
Todd Lawson and Necati Alkan contributed a chapter titled The Qur'ãn in Bahai Writings..
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