did the supreme court of Persia, despite the fact that religious freedom is guaranteed by the Persian Constitution, make an exception in the case of the Bahá’ís?
We know full well that according to the universal standards of morality, the Persian Bahá’ís are not merely the peers, they are indisputably the superiors, of their fellow countrymen. The Persian Bahá’ís are truthful and industrious. They are progressive and public spirited. They value highly the benefits of scientific and industrial as well as cultural and religious education. They recognize the equality of men and women. They are bound by the explicit text of their religion to be loyal to the head of their national government and to take part in no movements of sedition. Since the individual Bahá’í cannot be condemned according to the prevailing moral or civil standard, and the Bahá’ís collectively cannot be proved ever to have arisen against the government, it must be that those responsible for their persecution assert that the Bahá’í Faith itself, independent of the lives and actions of its adherents, contains some dreadful taint, some mysterious evil, the stamping out of which is required by Divine law!
Should this species of vindication be put forward—this condoning of theft, arson, pillage, torture and murder on the part of officials and clergy as though sanctioned by the Will of God—then we assert that either no effort has been made by its enemies to understand the principles of this Faith, or those who occupy the seats of religious authority in Persia can no longer discriminate between right and wrong, good and evil, truth and falsehood.
Bahá’í Principles and Doctrines
The principles and doctrines of the Bahá’í Cause are not subject to changing interpretation according to individual caprice or the self-interest of any special group. These teachings are to be found in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, together with the interpretations of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—and exist in no other source. For the sake of brevity, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá summarized the esseritial objects and teachings of this Faith as follows:
[see appendix one at the conclusion of this letter]
Brief though it be, the foregoing statement of the principles and doctrines of the Bahá’í Faith is quite sufficient to reveal its comprehensive character, its noble purpose and its pure spirit. What conscientious minister or priest of any religion; what statesman of any country; what responsible man of affairs; what scientist or thinker, could assert that loyalty to such teachings threatens the true welfare of any person or group? By what logic can these principles be claimed a form of heresy to any Divine law or treason to any just government?
Nevertheless, the Persians themselves, save only the Persian Bahá’ís, still ignore the greatness that came into their midst, repudiate the principles of true progress and civilization so lovingly offered them, and even decide that the followers of this Faith, irrespective of their personal morality and civic virtue, are deserving of the most implacable hate, the most relentless hostility, the most inhuman death!
Outline of Bahá’í History
To consider now the circumstances under which Persia gave birth to a Cause destined to influence the entire world: On May 23, 1844, a youth of the pure lineage of Muḥammad arose in Shiráz and proclaimed a new spiritual mission. This personage, known as the Báb, based His mission upon truth and fact in exact conformity with the Qur’án of the Prophet Muḥammad. The essence of the Báb’s teaching was that He proclaimed the coming of One who would be the World Educator foretold in all the Holy Books. He asserted that true loyalty to the Prophet must now consist in awaiting the coming of that One and in preparations for loyalty and obedience to Him. This