Christopher Buck, Islam
and Minorities: The Case of the Bahá’ís,
in Studies in Contemporary Islam, 5.1-2, page 83-106. Provides some background
and discussion of the persecution of Bahá’ís in Muslim countries
(PDF, 1.1MB).
David Piff, Unofficial
information and rumour in the Bahá’í community: the case
of "The tree they couldn’t kill", published in the Bahá’í Studies
Review vol. 8 (1998), a study of legend and rumor spread via online discussion
groups, examines the place of "unofficial information" in the world view and
social dynamics of a religious community.
Firuz Kazemzadeh, The Bahá’ís in Iran: Twenty Years of Repression, in Social Research (New School for Social Research, 2002-06-22). A useful review of the persecution of the Iranian Bahá’ís.
Franklin Lewis, Review of Diana Malouf, Translating
the Hidden Words: an extended review of Diana Malouf’s Unveiling the Hidden
Words, published in the Bahá’í Studies Review vol.
8 (1998), discusses the qualities for a meaningful Bahá’í studies
culture, specifically the possible need to "update" the Shoghi Effendi's translations.
Ismael Velasco, Academic
Irrelevance or Disciplinary Blind-Spot? Middle Eastern Studies and the Bahá’í Faith
Today, published in the Middle East Studies Association Bulletin Winter
2001, examines some of the possible reasons for the lack of attention to Bahá’í history
and thought among Middle East studies academics.
Moojan Momen, Relativism:
A Basis For Bahá’í Metaphysics, published in Studies in Honor of the Late Husayn M. Balyuzi: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions vol.
5 (ed. Moojan Momen [Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1988]), presents "relativism" as a means of reconciling the divergent attitudes towards God and ultimate reality in the world’s religions.
Peter Smith and Moojan Momen, The
Bahá’í Faith 1957-1988: A Survey of Contemporary Developments, published in Religion vol. 19 (1989): pp. 63-91, gives a general account
of developments in the Bahá’í Faith during these three decades.
Seena Fazel and Khazeh Fananapazir, "A
Bahá’í Approach to the Claim of Finality in Islam, published
in the Journal of Bahá’í Studies (5:3 [1993]), explores
Bahá’í responses to the claim that the founder of Islam was
the "Seal of the Prophets." See also the authors' Persian
translation of the article (PDF, 1.2MB).
Seena Fazel, Interreligious
Dialogue and the Bahá’í Faith: Some Preliminary Observations,
published in Jack McLean, ed., Revisioning the Sacred: New Perspectives on a Bahá’í Theology (SBBR
8: Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1997), 137-152), provides an overview
of the Bahá’í imperative
and approach to interreligious dialogue and potential areas of fruitful dialogue.
Stephen Lambden, An
Episode in the Childhood of the Báb, published in Peter Smith, ed., In Iran:
Studies in Bábí and Bahá’í History vol. 3 (Los Angeles: Kalimat Press,
1986) 1-33, parallels legends of the Bab’s early childhood with those of
Jesus, a first exploration of Bahá’í historical myth-making.
Susan Stiles Maneck, The
Conversion of Religious Minorities to the Bahá’í Faith in Iran:
Some Preliminary Observations, published in the Journal of Bahá’í Studies 3:3
(1990-91), examines conversion patterns, esp. of Iranian Zoroastrians and Jews,
in the period 1877-1921.
Unpublished: Udo Schaefer, "Loyalty to the Covenant and critical thought." An important
commentary for Bahá’ís examining the balance of critical thought
with loyalty to Bahá’í institutions. www.familieschaefer.de/pdffiles/Loyalty_engl.pdf (see also local copy [PDF file])
