July 8. On this date in 1985, the Universal House of Justice addressed a letter to several National Spiritual Assemblies addressing "a letter from the non- Bahá'í husband of a Bahá'í questioning the justice of the removal of administrative rights from Bahá'ís who deny their faith in order to leave Iran by official routes."

 

July 8.   On this date in 1985, the Universal House of Justice addressed a letter to several National Spiritual Assemblies addressing "a letter from the non- Bahá'í husband of a Bahá'í questioning the justice of the removal of administrative rights from Bahá'ís who deny their faith in order to leave Iran by official routes."

Department of the Secretariat
To the National Spiritual Assemblies of
Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States
Dear Bahá'í Friends:
The Universal House of Justice recently received a letter from the non- Bahá'í husband of a Bahá'í questioning the justice of the removal of administrative rights from Bahá'ís who deny their faith in order to leave Iran by official routes. Since this question has arisen from time to time in discussions with representatives of other organizations who are interested in the plight of Bahá'í refugees, the House of Justice felt that it might be helpful to you to have the following extracts from the reply to this enquirer.
"It was the approved practice for many years for Bahá'ís to leave blank the space for religion on official forms in Iran. This was not a denial of their religion, it was merely a tacit refusal to state it. In recent times, however, the authorities refused to accept forms made out in blank, and would deny passports and exit visas to anyone who entered `Bahá'í' in the appropriate spaces. In order to get such documents a Bahá'í would either have to enter `Muslim' (or one of the other recognized religions) on the forms or would have to employ an agent to do it for him. This thus became a conscious act by the Bahá'í to deny his faith, and the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran at that point warned all the believers that such an action was unacceptable.
".it was permissible in Shi'ih Islam for believers to deny their faith in order to escape persecution. since the time of Bahá'u'lláh such an action has been forbidden for Bahá'ís. We do not defend our Faith by the sword, as was permissible in Islam, but Bahá'ís have always held to the principle that when challenged they should `stand up and be counted', as the modern expression is, and not purchase their safety by denying that which is most important to them in this world and the next. The principle is well known to the Iranian Bahá'ís and is upheld by the overwhelming majority of them when the penalty is martyrdom.
"Those Bahá'ís who have left Iran by official routes since the governmental regulations changed have made a conscious choice. While the majority of their fellow-believers have preferred to face all manner of difficulties, rather than deny their faith, these people have chosen to make this denial rather than face whatever problems were before them. They have left Iran freely, with the permission of the authorities as Muslims. They have chosen freedom and comparative ease at the cost of giving away their faith, and have got what they wanted. Some, however, once they are free, want to have their membership in the Bahá'í community back again. The attitude of the Bahá'í institutions in refusing to immediately readmit them should not be regarded as a vindictive punishment. These institutions are simply saying: `You have shown the insincerity of your belief by denying it for your personal advantage, we are not going to readmit you to the Bahá'í community until we have some confidence that you are sincerely repentant of such an act. In the meantime you can abide by the choice you yourself have made.'
"If any Bahá'í finds that he does not believe in the Faith, he is free to leave it, and no stigma at all attaches to such an action. What is shameful in Bahá'í eyes is for a person who still believes to deny that belief for his own advantage.
"When a former Bahá'í approaches the authorities abroad for assistance, claiming to be a Bahá'í, the institutions of the Faith are obligated to those authorities to give a truthful reply, namely that the person concerned was a Bahá'í in Iran but, in order to be able to leave the country through an official route, renounced his faith and stated he was a Muslim or a follower of some other religion. This reply is usually sufficient to indicate that the person was in danger in Iran and is in need of consideration by the authorities."

With loving Bahá'í greetings,
Department of the Secretariat