From: bavafa@netcom.com (Hooshyar Naraghi)
Subject: Re: Please leave BAHA'IS out of this!
Organization: What is a Baha'i?
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 11:39:05 GMT

In article <saied.718585750@cwis> saied@cwis.unomaha.edu (Saied*) writes:
>hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com (Kamran Hakim) writes:

salAm, said!  I read your post and thought if you clarify some points in
post that _I_ did not understand.  Hope you can elaborate a little more.

>Kamran, you do not have to challenge me; I never said there
>were any Baha'i in the Mojahedin. The Mojahedin's ideology
>is Islam; thus for one to join the Mojahedin, he or she must
>first believe in Islam (and in the case of Baha'is, to embrace
>Islam and leave baseless Baha'i religion behind).

I want to come back to this fine point that you raised in the above
paragraph.  Please note that Keivan has proposed that I have to define
the 'thing' before we can talk about it.  I will apply the concept as a
base line.

By definition of Mojahedin's ideology, in order to join the organization
one has to _first_ believe in Islam.  Therefore, by definition if a person
does not believe in Islam - as described and interpreted per Mojahedin - 
that person CANNOT be a mjahed.  Is this a correct conclusion according to
your above prerequisite?  Never mind one has to believe in other things
before s/he can officially become a member of the organization.

>The above said, now let me turn to another subject. I have
>learned that certain individuals (who had claimed they were
>Baha'is) had joined the NLA. The NLA, which is the military
>wing of the National Council of the Resistance, is a volunteer
>army, without any ideology, whose aim is to provide military
>support for the Iran's popular Resistance for peace and
>democracy.

>Now if an Iranian Baha'i is courageous enough to
>take arm and fight for his or her people, I respect his/her
>choice. You may no longer think he is a Baha'i because he is
>willing to sacrifice himself.

How about this:  'Now if an Iranian mojahed is courageous enough NOT to
take arm and fight for his or her people, I respect his/her choice.  You
may no longer think he is a mojahed because he is willing NOT to sacrifice
himself.'

The definition by design required that the majahed must take arm and fight
for his people and finally sacrifice himself.  So how can one be a mojahed
without satisfying the definition of the Mojahedin principles?

We Baha'is take the same position.  By definition of the Baha'i Faith,
a member of the Faith is NOT permitted to take arms and engage in any
activity to overthrow any government.  Please correct me if I am wrong.
Isn't it true that one of the mandates of the NLA military group is to 
overthrow the government of Iran known as the Islamic Republic of Iran by
means of at least military and arms struggle?

A Baha'i who joins such activities, is no longer a Baha'i BY DEFINITION.
From this point on the person is on his/her own.  If this person harms
any person, the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith and the members they 
represent are not accountable for the person's acts and should not be
persecuted or discriminated against, as you rightly state further.

>Fine. He may not care what you
>think thought he is willing to fight for YOUR rights. A person
>must be IN PEACE WITH HIMSELF AND HIS CONSCIOUS but not with
>what Kamran Hakim thinks. Things are not as black and white
>as you wish. Those individual Baha'is who have joined the NLA
>probably felt more at peace with themselves.

>So stop judging others. Do what you think is right.
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Here you are personal.  I leave the response to Kamran.  I would, however,
like to make an observation that has nothing with Kamran, and that is:

It was not judging.  It was the unwillingness on the part of the Baha'i to 
follow the principles of the Baha'i Faith that led to his exit.  He no longer
satisfied the definition of being a Baha'i, hence he is NOT A BAHA'I.  It is
only and only in this context that we say the person CANNOT be a Baha'i.
This is a very rational yet fair act on behalf of the Institutions of the
Faith who are vested to safeguard and protect the principles of the Faith.
We are not permitted to judge the person on his individual level.

The individual is free to make a choice.  And the beauty of the Faith is that
if a person leaves it to work against the Faith or its principles, the
Institutions DO NOT GO AFTER THE PERSON.  They do not condemn the person.
They do not issue or even suggest a death order.  The reason is nothing but
what you exactly stated:  it is the person's conscious to choose what s/he
determined to bring him/her peace and tranquility in his/her life.

Thanks for your ears!  You have openly stated mojahedin's and NLA's 
positions re: arms struggle, according to your understanding.  We have
also stated the position of the Baha'i Faith re: arms struggle and 
activities against the government of Iran or any other government in the
world in this forum.

It seems to me an ex-mojahed and ex-Baha'i are the same.  They are not
bad guys.  They just no longer support the principles of their respective
ex-organizations BY DEFINITION.

Happy not judging people.

Regards,
Hooshyar F. Naraghi
bavafa@netcom.com
(415) 322-8056

Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian