HRES1008AUG1

Founded in 1863 by Mirza Hoseyn ‘Ali Nuri after he had a revelation while in prison in 1852 in Persia. Baha’i is an interpretaiion of Islam. Mirza considered himself ‘The Promised One’ who would begin a new era in religious history. Mizra’s conclusion about his identity was fostered by the founder of the Baha’i, Sayyid Ali' Muhammad who, in 1844 deemed himself the ‘Bab’ (Arabic for door (to the 12^th Imam)). He faced persecution from the existing Shiites, who did not believe he fulfilled the scriptures. He was arrested for heresy and killed in 1850. Before he died he told of the coming of The Promised One.

In 1852 two followers of the Bab tried to assassinate the Shah resulting in Mizra’s imprisonment because he was the Baha’i leader of the moment. While in prison for heresy he had the revelation that he was The Promised One. (Baha' Ullah). His announcement of the revelation was made in 1863 after which he was exiled from one city after another finally ending up in the Syrian city of Akka.

The leadership of the faith was handed down through his family and in 1894 Ibrahim George Kheiralla established the faith in the US.

Ibrahim bought a medical doctor diploma, called himself a doctor and began a practice of healing patients for profit while introducing the faith to them. There are now a reported five million followers in the world and 127,000 in the US.

The faith believes there is one God who is unknowable and indescribable and he has been represented throughout history by divine messengers including, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Krisna and Muhammad. The latest was Mizra. The Baha’i believe that the old world orders are crumbling to make way for the principles of Baha’i.(Virginia.edu)

“Baha'is believe in the oneness of humanity and devote themselves to the abolition of racial, class, and religious prejudices. The great bulk of Baha'i teaching is concerned with social ethics; the faith has no priesthood and does not observe ritual forms in its worship. Every Baha'i, however, is under the spiritual obligation to pray daily; to abstain totally from narcotics, alcohol, or any substances that affect the mind; to practice monogamy; to obtain the consent of parents to marriage; and to attend the Nineteen Day Feast on the first day of each month of the Baha'i calendar. If capable, those between the ages of 15 and 70 are required to fast 19 days a year, going without food or drink from sunrise to sunset. The Baha’i elect each year a “national spiritual assembly with jurisdiction over Baha'i's throughout an entire country. All national spiritual assemblies of the world periodically constitute themselves an international convention and elect a supreme governing body known as the Universal House of Justice. This body applies the laws promulgated by Baha' Ullah (Mizra) and legislates on matters not covered in the sacred texts. The seat of the Universal House of Justice is in Haifa, Israel, in the immediate vicinity of the shrines of the Bab and 'Abd ol-Baha, and near the Shrine of Baha' Ullah at Bahji near 'Akko.” The Baha’i calendar has 19 months. (Crystal.com)

More resolution below…

Sponsor: Rep. Mark Kirk (IL-10^th)

Vote: Passed House August 1, 2008 408 to 3 RC 564

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost

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Whereas in 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2006, Congress declared that it deplored the religious persecution by the Government of Iran of the Baha'i community and would hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all Iranian nationals, including members of the Baha'i faith;

Whereas on March 20, 2006, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir, revealed the existence of a confidential letter dated October 29, 2005, from the chairman of the command headquarters of Iran's Armed Forces to the Ministry of Information, the Revolutionary Guard, and the police force, stating the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, instructed the command headquarters to identify members of the Baha'i faith in Iran and monitor their activities;

Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur expressed `grave concern and apprehension' about the implications of this letter for the safety of the Baha'i community;

Whereas in May 2006, 54 Baha'is were arrested in Shiraz and held for several days without trial in the largest roundup of Baha'is since the 1980s;

Whereas in August 2006, the Iranian Ministry of the Interior ordered provincial officials to `cautiously and carefully monitor and manage' all Baha'i social activities;

Whereas in 2006, the Central Security Office of Iran's Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology ordered 81 Iranian universities to expel any student discovered to be a Baha'i;

Whereas in November 2006, a letter issued by Payame Noor University stated that it is Iranian policy to prevent Baha'is from enrolling in universities and to expel Baha'i upon discovery;

Whereas in 2007, more than two-thirds of the Baha'is enrolled in universities were expelled upon identification as a Baha'i;

Whereas in February 2007, police in Tehran and surrounding towns entered Baha'i homes and businesses to collect details on family members;

Whereas in April 2007, the Iranian Public Intelligence and Security Force ordered 25 industries to deny business licences to Baha'is;

Whereas in 2006 and 2007, the Iranian Ministry of Information pressured employers to fire Baha'i employees and instructed banks to refuse to provide loans to Baha'i-owned businesses;

Whereas in July 2007, a Baha'i cemetery was destroyed by earthmoving equipment in Yazd, and in September 2007, a Baha'i cemetery was bulldozed outside of Najafabad, erasing the memory of those Iranian citizens;

Whereas in November 2007, the Iranian Ministry of Information in Shiraz detained Baha'is Ms. Raha Sabet, 33; Mr. Sasan Taqva, 32; and Ms. Haleh Roohi, 29, for educating underprivileged children;

Whereas Mr. Taqva reportedly was detained while suffering from an injured leg which required medical attention;

Whereas on January 23, 2008, the State Department released a statement urging the Iranian regime to release all individuals held without due process and a fair trial, including the 3 young Baha'is being held in an Iranian Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Shiraz;

Whereas the Government of Iran is party to the International Covenants on Human Rights; and

Whereas in December 2007, the Iranian Parliament published a draft Islamic penal code, which violates Iran's commitment under the International Covenants on Human Rights by requiring the death penalty for `apostates', a term applied to Baha'is and any convert from Islam: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) condemns the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of Baha'is, calls on the Government of Iran to immediately cease activities aimed at the repression of the Iranian Baha'i community, and continues to hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding all the rights of its nationals, including members of the Baha'i community;

(2) condemns the Government of Iran's continued imprisonment of individuals without due process and a fair trial;

(3) calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release 3 Baha'is: Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and Ms. Haleh Roohi; and

(4) calls on the Government of Iran and the Iranian Parliament to reject a draft Islamic penal code, which violates Iran's commitments under the International Covenants on Human Rights.

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