MEMORANDUM
From: Research Department
To: The Universal House of Justice 2 February 2000
Servants in the Households of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab
The Research Department as considered the questions raised by Mr. Peter
Terry, in his email message of 2 December 1999. Mr. Terry states that on some
Internet discussion groups there is a discussion on the personal status of
Mubarak, Isfandiyar and other Ethiopian servants in the households of the Báb
and Bahá'u'lláh (and other believers). Mr. Terry...states that "it has been
alleged that the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice deliberately"
concealed information on the status of the servants. Mr. Terry requests that he
be sent information relevant to the above, or that a statement be prepared by
the Research Department "in response to these allegations". We reply as
follows.
By way of introduction, we note that, as Mr. Terry is no doubt aware, the
Bahá'í Faith is the first religion to explicitly ban slavery in its Sacred
Scripture. Bahá'u'lláh prohibited this practice in clear and unambiguous
language. In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (paragraph 72), it is stated:
It is forbidden you to trade in slaves, be they men or women. It is not for
him who is himself a servant to buy another of God's servants, and this hath
been prohibited in His Holy Tablet. Thus, by His mercy, hath the commandment
been recorded by the Pen of justice. Let no man exalt himself above another; all
are but bondslaves before the Lord, and all exemplify the truth that there is
none other God but Him. He, verily, is the All-Wise, Whose wisdom encompasseth
all things.
Returning to Mr. Terry's questions regarding the lives of servants of
African descent in the households of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, we note that very
little is known on the subject, and the information available is highly
fragmentary and anecdotal in nature. Currently, the only work on this subject is
Abu'l-Qasim Afnan's Black Pearls: Servants in the Households of the Báb and
Bahá'u'lláh (Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1988). In addition, we have found
references to servants of the Holy Family in the following works:
The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during
His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912 (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing
Trust, 1995). On pages 426-427, 'Abdu'l-Bahá recounts the services of
Isfandiyar, and praises his character and his loyalty to the Holy
Family.
The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í
Revelation (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1996). Several references to
Mubarak are found in this work, including his role in the first days of the
Declaration of the Báb and his services to the Báb during His pilgrimage to
Mecca. See pages 53-54, 62, 66, 68, 96, 129, 132-133 and 148.
An article entitled "The Sterling Faithfulness of Esfandayar [sic], Story
told by 'Abdu'l-Bahá: From the Diary of Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, October 25, 1913"
appears in Star of the West, volume 9 (April 28, 1918), number 3 (pages 38-39),
and recounts the services of Isfandiyar to the Holy Family, his character and
the love of 'Abdu'l-Bahá for him.
The Chosen Highway (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1967) contains
recollections of the Greatest Holy Leaf concerning the loyalty to the Holy
Family of Isfandiyar and a woman of African descent (pages 41 and 43).
Mahmud's Diary: The Diary of Mirza Mahmud-i-Zarqani Chronicling
'Abdu'l-Bahá's Journey to America (Oxford: George Ronald, 1998) contains two
remarks of 'Abdu'l-Bahá praising Isfandiyar (pages 367, 384).
A Gift of Love Offered to the Greatest Holy Leaf (Gloria Faizi, 1982), by
Hand of the Cause Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, includes a brief summary of the character
of Isfandiyar and his services to the Holy Family (pages 14-16).
Specifically, with respect to the "personal status" of the servants of the
families of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, we note below, for the benefit of Mr.
Terry, a few observations from a perusal of the sources mentioned above:
All the above accounts testify to the love and affection that existed
between the families of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, on the one hand, and the
servants in their households, and to the consideration shown to the servants.
The relationship seems to transcend those ordinarily encountered in
master-servant interactions.
The reference to the legal status of the servants in the household of the
Báb is in Black Pearls, where Abu'l-Qasim Afnan states that Mubarak and a female
servant named Fiddih were acquired by the Báb (pages 4-5, 21). Afnan further
states that "the bill of purchase" for Mubarak "still exists among the Báb's
business accounts." We note that this document is not held in the Archives at
the Bahá'í World Centre, and this matter will no doubt be researched further in
the future.
We have found no indication that any of the servants in the household of
Bahá'u'lláh were slaves. The only information we have found on this subject is
the following extract from a talk of 'Abdu'l-Bahá published in Star of the West,
mentioned above:
My grandfather had many colored maids and servants. When the Blessed
Perfection became the head of the family he liberated all of them, and gave them
permission to leave or stay, but if they desired to remain it would, of course,
be in a different manner. However, all of them, revelling in their new found
freedom preferred to leave, except Esfandayar [sic], who remained in household
and continued to serve us with proverbial faithfulness and chastity. (Star of
the West, volume 9 (April 28, 1928), number 3, page 38)
With regard to the suggestion that information on the servants in the
households of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb has been deliberately concealed: Of
course, there can be no basis for such an allegation, which is so far removed
from the teachings and spirit of the Faith. As Mr. Terry can well appreciate,
the Research Department is not able to respond to such general allegations,
without reference to any instances that may have given rise to the perception
that information concerning the servants was withheld.
(The Universal House of Justice, 2000 Feb 02, Servants in the Holy
Household)
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