March 4. On this date in 1912, the New York Times carried an article titled "Bahá’í Leader Due Here," with the claim that "about one-third of the Persians are now Bahá’ís"

 

March 4. On this date in 1912, the New York Times carried an article titled "Bahá’í Leader Due Here," with the claim that "about one-third of the Persians are now Bahá’ís"

Head of Religious Unity Movement to Arrive Early in April.

The leader of the Bahá’í movement, which aims at a world religious unity, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbas, as he is called by his followers, and Abbas Effendi by official title, will arrive in America the first week in April. Preparations for his welcome have been undertaken by the Persian-American Educational Society of Washington. Abbas Effendi is the third of the leaders of Bahá’ísm. He was the prisoner of the Turks and the Persians until the Young Turks movement a few years ago. The former Sultan, ‘Abdul Hamid, sentenced him to prison for life. The believers among the Moslems regarded his liberal tendencies with greatest distrust and punished him repeatedly.

The Bahá’í belief is that universal peace is possible only through harmony of all religions, and they teach that all religions are basically one. Hence they seek a return to first principles. Differences, they say, have arisen through the corruptions of theology and dogmas. All religions they believe are divinely inspired.

Abbas Effendi was born in 1844, and on the very day that Ali Mohammed made his declaration as first leader of the cult. It is estimated that about one-third of the Persians are now Bahá’ís. In America the number of friends of the movement has grown steadly since the teachings first became known at the World’s Fair at Chicago in 1893.