Heroes of the Dawn Breakers

HEROES OF THE DAWN BREAKERS An illustrated Baha’i History

Ivan Lloyd

www.Bahai Faith Art Tucson, Arizona

Heroes of the Dawn Breakers

Written and illustrated by Ivan Lloyd Persian Calligraphy courtesy of Foaad Haghighi Layout and design by Carol Albee First Edition Published by Desert Rose Publishing Tucson, Arizona Copyright © 2021 Ivan Lloyd Studios E:Mail: ivan@ivanlloyd.com All rights reserved under the Pan American and International Copyright Convention.

ISBN 0-9657967-8-7 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2020917659

Introduction The Baha’i Faith is an independent religion initiated by the Bab, the Herald of the Faith, in 1844 in Shiraz, a city in ancient Persia. Baha’i means a follower of Baha’u’llah. It is not a sect of Islam, it is a modern world Faith with its own Holy books, Holy places, Holy Days, teachings, laws, administrative institutions, and its own calendar. The Baha’i World Center is on Mount Carmel in Haifa Israel.

Baha’u’llah taught three basic principles: a) The Oneness of God; b) The Oneness of Mankind; c) The Oneness of Religion. Most of the Baha’i teachings revolve around these three principles. a.) There is only one Creator, and although, He has been called many different names, He is the same God and is not in competition with Himself.

Baha’u’llah taught that God has revealed His religion to mankind several times throughout history. All the major world religions come from the same divine source and are part of one evolutionary process. Each belief system is equally true, valid and important. The Bab declared that Prophets appear over and over and will do so forever, to help man develop spiritual, moral and intellectual capacities.

Baha’is accept the Founders of all the major world religions as God’s Messengers, including, but not limited to, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Moses, Abraham, Christ and Muhammad. Through His Messengers God has adapted His religion to meet the needs of each age in which it was revealed.

They are equal chapters of one Book. A universal God does not play favorites and this concept, so basic to the Baha’i perspective, is known as “Progressive Revelation.” It views the history of humanity as one evolving plan towards its fulfillment of world peace. b.) Mankind is one species, one human race; and together we all make a beautiful human flower garden. Our diversity is created to be accepted and appreciated, not condemned, persecuted or destroyed. c.) The ultimate purpose of God’s plan for humanity is found in the Holy Books of the major revealed religions. When we examine those scriptures, we discover each one contains prophecies concerning the return of a 3

Messianic figure who is to appear in order to establish the Kingdom of God on Earth. Each major religion has a different title for this Messianic figure.

The Christians await the Second Coming of Christ. The Jews await the Messiah, Muslims await the Mahdi, Zoroastrians await the Shah-Bahram, Hindus await the Tenth Avatar and Buddhists await Maitreya, the Buddha of Universal Fellowship.

If the prophesies are interpreted literally, they conflict with each other as well as with science and reason. If they are interpreted symbolically, however, not only are they logical, they all fit together perfectly.

Baha’u’llah made two very bold claims. First, He declared He was God’s Messenger for this age and for the next thousand years, with the same divine authority, spirit and power as the other Messengers. Taken on face value that claim, makes the Baha’i Faith the most recent of the great major world religions.

His second claim is even more challenging as He proclaimed He was the promised World Messenger, of all the major religions who’s reappearance was foretold by their many prophecies, and His Mission is to establish Universal World Peace Because of His claims and teachings, Baha’u’llah was condemned and treated as a heretic by the religious authorities of Persia. The Muslim clergy collaborated with the Persian ministers and the Turkish government to do everything in their power to destroy what they felt was a, fast growing heresy which challenged their secular stranglehold on society.

Baha’u’llah was stripped of His possessions, ridiculed, stoned, imprisoned in dark dungeons, placed in chains and stocks, poisoned, exiled and spent forty years of His life as a prisoner.

In spite of the extremely intense campaign for His personal persecution, and the martyrdom of thousands of His followers, Baha’u’llah wrote over one hundred volumes revealing God’s plan for the achievement of the Unity of Mankind and Universal World Peace.

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THE IMAM HUSAYN Ali, the First Imam, was assassinated by a poisoned sword while praying in a mosque in Kufah. His son Hasan became the Second Imam and ruled peacefully in Mecca.

After his brother’s death, Husayn, the Third Imam set off from Mecca, accompanied by seventy-two companions, including women and children, in order to challenge the legitimacy and oppression of the Caliphate in Damascus.

When they arrived at the plains of Karbila, just south of Baghdad, they were brutally massacred by an army of four thousand warriors, under direct orders from Yazid, the Caliph of Damascus.

The tragic martyrdom of the Imam Husayn has remained the most significant event in Shi’ite history and the memorial is known as Ashura. His golden domed shrine in Karbila, has become an important center of pilgrimage for all Shi’ah Muslims.

The claim that He would return signifies the beginning of the concept of the Mahdi and the popular belief that His reappearance will establish justice for all the peoples of the world.

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THE HIDDEN IMAM The appearance of the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, in Samarra, a city just north of Baghdad, long associated with the Tower of Babel, established a new branch of Shi’ah Islam called the Twelver sect, which based their beliefs on mysticism and supernatural events.

The Twelfth Imam appeared only once as a child and, as he was never seen again, he became known as the Hidden Imam.

Many stories circulated regarding his disappearance, but the most popular legend claims he vanished in a cave beneath a mosque where the golden domed shrines of Ali al Hadi, the Tenth Imam, and Hasan al- Askari, the Eleventh Imam are situated.

The Twelfth Imam later went into a visionary state of existence during which time communication with him was only possible through visions and holy dreams.

Eventually, controversy developed regarding the exact nature of his existence and those who claimed to be in touch with him, were executed and their followers persecuted.

Consequently the Twelfth Imam passed into a second mystical stage at which time he became known as The Qa’im (the one who shall arise).

His followers claimed He would reappear in a thousand years and since that time devout Shi’ah pilgrims have gathered around the holy shrines of Karbila awaiting His return.

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SHAYKH AHMAD Shaykh Ahmad ibn Zanu’d-Din al-Ahsa’i, (17531826) a mystical divine from the Arabian Peninsula, was recognized by the religious authorities, in Karbila, as one qualified to unravel the sayings of Muhammad, and the Twelve Imams.

He felt the followers of Islam were mired in ignorance and fanaticism, however and that no amount of reform could regenerate the spirit of the Faith, so with a harmonious blend of reason, intuition and divine guidance, he founded the Shaykhi School which based its beliefs on the Twelver Sect of Shiah Islam and the imminent return of the Hidden Imam.

Through ascetic practices, revelatory dreams and visions, he soon established himself as one initiated into the mysteries of Divine Revelation and attracted thousands of followers.

Most notable among his beliefs was his controversial rejection of the commonly held belief in physical reincarnation.

Shaykh Ahmad founded religious colleges in Isfahan, Shiraz, Kirman, Mashhad and Yazd. As he had no political or temporal ambition, he was a welcome guest of mullahs, merchants and leading dignitaries, throughout Persia.

Over the course of time his spiritual nature, and self –effacing purity, surpassed the power and influence of all the other clerical authorities in the region.

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THE DECLARATION OF THE BAB On May 22nd 1844, in this room in Shiraz. Siyyid ‘Alí Muhammad declared that He was the Promised Qa’im.

Mulla Husayn was spellbound by the sweeping nature of the Bab’s Revelation, when He revealed: “O thou who art the first to believe in Me! Verily I say, I am the Báb, the Gate of God…”6 The Báb commented that in the future that night, and that very hour, would become one of the most celebrated and significant of all festivals.

For Mulla Husayn, it was as if the Voice of the Angel Gabriel was saying: “Awake, for, lo! the morning Light has broken. Arise, for His Cause is made manifest. The portal of His grace is open wide; enter therein, O peoples of the world! For He who is your Promised One is come!”7

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THE MASJID-i-VAKIL IN Shiraz The Bab traveled to Mecca where He proclaimed His Station to the pilgrims in front of the Kabaah. Upon His return to Shiraz the Bab was placed under house arrest by Husayn Khan who demanded that He attend the Friday congregation and deny His claim, that He was the Gate to the Promised Qa’im.

When the Bab ascended the pulpit in the mosque the crowd was silent.

He made a public announcement that he was neither the representative of the Hidden Imam nor the Gate to Him.

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End of this sample.

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