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"Bahá´í Studies is my thing." Bahá´í Studies |
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You don't have to be an academic to be a Bahá´í. But for those who are interested, there is a whole field of study known as 'Bahá´í Studies', with academic journals and publishers, academic e-mail lists and electronic libraries in Arabic, Persian and the European languages, and chairs of Bahá´í Studies at the universities of Jerusalem and Maryland.
Bahá´í studies includes theology, history of religion and religious studies, the sociology of religion, textual and literary criticism and apologetics: far too much to describe here. We do have some local Bahá´ís who can direct you to the sources or scholars relevant to particular fields. Arjan has just completed his dissertation on the history of the Bahá´í community in the Netherlands, from a sociology of religion perspective. Sen(sen(at)tele2.nl) is a student of Islamic Studies in Leiden, and can help with finding original sources and locating scholars and sources in Bahá´í studies in the English-speaking world. "... the most important achievement of 'secularisation' was to break the monopoly of institutionalised religion and set free the individual to be religious in his own way ..." The Letters and Essays 1886 - 1913 by Mírzá Abú'l-Fadl Translated from the Persian and Arabic by Juan R. I. Cole Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1985, ISBN: 0-933770-36-7 (hardcover). These essays were printed in various journals in Russia and Egypt. Some defend the Bahá´í Faith from criticisms, others are in response to questions put by Bahá´í's on topics such as the meaning of civilisation, or the nature of knowledge. The Brilliant Proof by Mírzá Abú'l-Fadl Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1981, ISBN: 1-890688-00-2 (hardcover). This essay was written in response to an article by a Presbyterian minister who had been a missionary in Iran, and who made claims in a London journal that the Bahá´í Faith was pantheistic among other things. This 1913 essay addresses each of the minister's criticisms. The Bábí & Bahá´í Religions, 1844-1944 Some Contemporary Western Accounts Edited by Moojan Momen George Ronald, U.K., 1988, ISBN: 1-85398-102-7 (hardcover). Detailed and clear sections with illustrations and maps on the period 1844-1944. It is easy to use as a reference if looking for a specific period or individual. Studies in Bábí & Bahá´í History - Volume 1 Edited by Moojan Momen Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1982, ISBN: 1-0933770-16-2 (hardcover). Essays - Early Shaykhí Reactions to the Báb and His Claims by Denis MacEoin; Early Relations Between Christian Missionaries and the Bábí and Bahá´í Communities by Moojan Momen; The American Bahá´í community, 1894-1917: A preliminary Survey by Peter Smith; Kenosha, 1893-1912: History of the Early Bahá´í Community in the United States by Willam P. Collins; Some Aspects of the Development of the Bahá´í Administrative Order in America, 1922-1939 by Loni Bramson-Lerche. From Iran East and West Studies in Bábí & Bahá´í History - Volume 2 Edited by Juan R. Cole & Moojan Momen Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1984, ISBN: 1-0933770-40-5 (hardcover). Essays - Bahá'u'lláh and the Naqshbandí Sufis in Iraq, 1854-1856 by Juan R. Cole; Bahá´í Influences on Mírzá 'Abdu'lláh, Qájár Court Musician and Master of the Radíf by Margaret L. Caton; Early Zorostrian Conversions to the Bahá´í Faith in Yazd, Iran by Susan Stiles; Ibrahim George Kheiralla and the Bahá´í Faith In America by Richard Hollinger; Reality Magazine: Editorship and Ownership of an American Bahá´í Periodical by Peter Smith; Bahá´í Conversions in Malwa, Central India by William Garlington. In Iran Studies in Bábí & Bahá´í History - Volume 3 Edited by Peter Smith Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1986, ISBN: 1-0933770-16-2 (hardcover). Essays - An Episode in the Childhood of the Báb by Stephen Lambden; The Bábí Movement: A Resource Mobilization Perspective by Peter Smith & Moojan Momen; Hierarchy, Authority, and Eschatology in Early Bábí Thought by Denis MacEoin; A Unique Eschatological Interface: Bahá'u'lláh and Cross-Cultural Messianism by Christopher Buck. Music, Devotions, and Mashriqu'l-Adhkár Studies in Bábí & Bahá´í History - Volume 4 by R. Jackson Armstrong Ingram Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1987, ISBN: 1-0933770-16-2. Some headings are; Eastern Bahá´í Devotional Practice; The Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in the Eastern Bahá´í Community; Eastern Chant and Western Bahá´ís; Early Devotions and the Music of Louise Waite, Early Bahá´í Devotions in Chicago; Bahá´í Hymns of Peace and Praise; Bahá´í Hymnody in Community Life; The Absorption of Waite's Hymns into Bahá´í Community Life; Other Bahá´í Hymnodists; Opposition to the use of Hymns; The End of the Era of Bahá´í Hymnody; The Building - The Choice of a Site and the Development of National Organization; The Bahá´í Temple Society; The Choice of the Design; The Development of a Design; Opposition to the Design; The Implementation of the Design; Choral Song and Sermonizing in Wilmette - The Vahid Choral Society; Early Uses of Foundation Hall; Developments in the 1930s; "High Church" Bahá´í Practice; The Auditorium Dedications; Post-1953 Practice; Scripture and Culture in the Development of Western Bahá´í Devotional Practice;, then pages of examples of music. Studies in Honor of the late Hasan M. Balyuzi Studies in the Bábí & Bahá´í Religions - Volume 5 Edited by Moojan Momen, Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1988, ISBN: 1-0933770-72-3 (hardcover). Essays - Hasan M. Balyzui (1908- 1980): A Bio-bibliographic Sketch by Moojan Momen; The Terms "Remembrance" (dhikr) and "Gate" (báb) in the Báb's Commentary in the Sura of Joseph by B. Todd Lawson; The Sinaitic Mysteries: Notes on Moses/Sinai Motifs in Bábí and Bábí Scripture by Stephen Lambden; Relativism: A Basis for Bábí Metaphysics by Moojan Momen; What Was a Bábí? Concerns of British Bábís, 1900-1920 by Peter Smith; Some Aspects of the Establishment of the Guardianship by Loni Bramson-Lerche. Community Histories Studies in the Bábí & Bahá´í Religions - Volume 6 Edited by Richard Hollinger Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1992, ISBN: 1-0933770-76-6 (hardcover). Essays - Bábí Communities in the West, 1897-1992 by Richard Hollinger; A History of the Kenosha Bábí Community, 1897-1980 by Roger Dahl, The Bábí Faith in Kansas, 1897-1947 by Duane Herrmann; The Bábís of Baltimore, 1898-1990 by Deb Clark; The Development and Influence of the Bábí Administrative Order in Great Britain, 1914-1950 by Phillip R. Smith; The Development and Decline of an Early Bábí Community in St John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1910-1925 by Will. C. van den Hoonaard; A History of the Sacramento Bábí Community, 1912-1991 by Peggy Caton. Symbol and Secret - Qur'an Commentary in Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i Iqán Studies in the Bábí & Bahá´í Religions - Volume 7 by Christopher Buck, Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1995, ISBN: 1-0933770-78-2 (hardcover). Foreword by Juan R. I. Cole; Chapters on: Bahá'u'lláh and the Book of Certitude; Exegesis and Ideology: the Doctrinal Content of the Book of Certitude; Beyond Islam: Hermeneutical Terminology in the Book of Certitude; Exegetical Techniques in the Book of Certitude; Conclusion: the Other Side of the Bridge. Revisioning the Sacred - new perspectives on a Bahá´í Theology Studies in the Bábí & Bahá´í Religions - Volume 8 Edited by Jack McLean, Kalimát Press, U.S.A., 1997, ISBN: 1-0933770-95-2 (hardcover). Chapters on: The Bahá´í Principle of Religious Unity: A Dynamic Perspectivism by Dann J. May; The Background and Centrality of Apophatic Theology in Bábí and Bahá´í Scripture by Stephen Lambden; Bahá'u'lláh and Liberation Theology by Juan R. I. Cole; The Spiritual Foundations of Science by Anjam Khursheed; Interreligious Dialogue and the Bahá´í Faith: Some Preliminary Observations by Seena Fazel; Hermes Trismegistus and Apollonius of Tyana in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh by Keven Brown; Promises to Keep: The Possibilities of Existential Theism by J.A. McLean. |
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