Transsexuality

Memorandum

To: The Universal House of Justice

Date: 26 December 2002

From: Research Department

Transsexuality

The Research Department has studied the questions concerning the Bahá’í perspective on the “medical and social treatments of transsexual people” raised by Mr. ... in his email message of 7 November 2002 to the Universal House of Justice. We provide the following response.

As to the Bahá’í view of transsexuality and sex-change operations, the extract from a letter dated 31 August 1983, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, cited below, sets out the following guidance:

“The House of Justice has not found any text in the Bahá’í writings which deals explicitly with the subjects of transsexuality or surgical operations carried out to change sex or to establish a single sex. It has decided that changes of sex or attempts to change sex should, at the present time, be considered medical questions on which advice and guidance should be sought from experts in that field.”

Mr. ... is doubtless aware that the issue of transsexuality and the question of determining the circumstances under which sex-change operations should be undertaken are very complex. There is a wide range of gender identity disorders of which transsexuality is one of the most extreme. In addition, international standards of care have been established for gender identity disorders. These include psychotherapy, hormone treatment and surgical therapy, which are frequently offered sequentially to the individual concerned. The specific treatment regimen, necessarily, depends on the diagnosis and decision of the medical experts involved.

With regard to the specific questions raised by Mr. ... we attach for his interest a short compilation of extracts from letters written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice in response to questions concerning the subjects of transsexuality and sex-change operations.

The Original Text of the Súriy-i-Haykal

Memorandum

From: Research Department

To: The Universal House of Justice

Date: 29 September 2002

The Original Text of the Súriy-i-Haykal

The Research Department has been asked by the Universal House of Justice to provide a summary of the considerations that led to its choice of the manuscript which served as the basis for the translation of the Súriy-i-Haykal.

The question of the authenticity of the numerous transcribed copies of the Súriy-i-Haykal held in the Bahá’í World Centre Archives, as well as of the various printed editions, was the subject of detailed study by the Research Department during the preparation of ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’. Its manuscript history can be summarized as follows: Originally revealed in Adrianople, the Súriy-i-Haykal in its initial form had limited circulation and was addressed principally to members of the Bábí community who had not yet recognized Bahá’u’lláh. Soon after the arrival of the exiles in ‘Akká it was recast in scope and content and expanded to include five of Bahá’u’lláh’s principal messages to individual kings and rulers. This early ‘Akká-period text, which can be regarded for all intents and purposes as a separately revealed work, was later revised in the Holy Land, at Bahá’u’lláh’s initiative, in preparation for its publication in Bombay in 1308 A.H. (1890-91) as the first and longest Tablet of the Kitab-i-Mubin. The bulk of these final revisions are primarily stylistic in nature, although in a few cases, such as in paragraph 80 of the translation of the Súriy-i-Haykal, the changes are more substantial.

The Research Department’s conclusion that the final revisions were undertaken with Bahá’u’lláh’s approval is based primarily on the existence of three manuscripts held in the Bahá'í World Centre Archives which corroborate the reading of the Súriy-i-Haykal in the Kitáb-i-Mubín. The first, which was donated to the Archives in 1990, is in the hand of Zaynu’l- Muqarrabin and is dated 30 Jamádíyu'th-Thání 1307 (21 February 1890). The other two are undated draft copies, both in the hand of Mírzá Áqá Ján and also held in the Archives. These three manuscripts match closely the reading of the Bombay Kitáb-i-Mubín, including the revised wording of paragraph 80:

‘Alíyu’lláhí and Nusayrí Sects and the Infallibility of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Memorandum

To: The Universal House of Justice

Date: 6 March 2002

From: Research Department

‘Alíyu’lláhí and Nusayrí Sects and the Infallibility of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The Research Department has studied the questions raised by Mr. ... in his email message of 16 October 2001 to the Universal House of Justice. He states that in chapter nine of H. M. Balyuzi’s ‘The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days’, "Mr. Balyuzi establishes that the guards who escorted the Báb from Isfahán to the northern region of Iran were members of the ‘Alíyu’lláhí sect". Mr. ... points out that Mr. Balyuzi indicates that in ‘A Travellers Narrative ‘Abdu’l-Bahá "affirms that those who escorted the Báb were followers of the Nusayrí sect". Mr. ... writes that, "Although Mr. Balyuzi highlights the similarity between these two sects..., as far as beliefs are concerned”, the two sects are very different from one another. He asks, “If Abdu’l-Bahá’s infallibilities include the power to know of far-off or remote historical events such as, for example, His affirmation that Helena, mother of Constantine, knew the actual resting place of Jesus Christ's mortal remains, then would it not be more appropriate to omit other historical references in favor of Abdu’l-Bahá’s assertion of the identity of the horsemen who escorted the Báb?"

Mr. ... further asks, "If it were the case that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s infallibility is relative as concerns historiographical knowledge, then in which aspects is it for certain? Is the infallibility conferred on Abdul-Bahá (al-'isma al-Sifátiyya) comparable in its scope to that of the Guardian of the Faith?" We provide the following response.

1. ‘Alíyu'lláhí and Nusayri sects

The sources that Mr. ... referred to were perused. We provide both references below. On page 11 of A Traveller's Narrative, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:

“A period of four months passed in this fashion, and the Mu'tamid passed away to the mercy of God. Gurgín Khán, the Mu'tamid's nephew, was aware of the Báb's being in the private apartments, and represented the matter to the Prime Minister. Hájí Mírzá Áqásí, that celebrated minister, issued a decisive command and gave instructions that they should send the Báb secretly in disguise under the escort of Nusayrí horsemen to the capital.”

The passage on page 118 of ‘The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days’ reads as follows:

“Following the instructions of Muhammad Sháh, Gurgín Khán gave the custody of the Báb to Muhammad Big-i-Chápárchí (the chief courier). Muhammad Big belonged to the sect of Ahl-i-Haqq (the People of Truth), commonly known as the ‘Alíyu’lláhí, who have had a long tradition of tolerance, liberalism and rectitude. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states in ‘A Traveller ‘s Narrative’ that the guards who escorted the Báb, on this journey to the north, were Nusayrí horsemen. Nusayrís and ‘Alíyu’lláhís are almost identical.

Prayer of the Báb, Jungle Story, Statement Concerning Persepolis, Psychic Powers

Memorandum

To: The Universal House of Justice

From: Research Department

Date: 6 August 2007

Prayer of the Báb, Jungle Story, Statement Concerning Persepolis, Psychic Powers

At the instruction of the Universal House of Justice, the Research Department has studied the questions on the above-mentioned subjects posed by Mr.--              in his email letters of 13, 18 and 23 May 2007 received at the Bahá’í World Centre. We provide the following response.

Prayer of the Báb

Mr. refers to Velda Piff Metelmann’s book entitled Lua Getsinger, Herald of the Covenant (Oxford: George Ronald, 1997). He indicates that in this book, it is stated that "Lua used to say a certain prayer that the Báb had given to Táhirih." Mr.-- wishes to know which particular prayer Lua used. From a preliminary perusal of Mrs. Metelmann’s book, the Research Department has located several brief references to Táhirih on pages 55 and 56, page 189, and pages 277 and 278, none, however, relate specifically to Lua's recitation of a prayer by the Báb. If Mr.-- could provide the precise page reference, it might be possible for the Department to undertake an additional search.

Story about a person in a jungle

With regard to the enquiry about "a story about someone trying to get out of a jungle, but repeatedly being put back by a hand to the middle of the jungle, unable to reach the city", the Research Department has found no information about this subject in the authoritative Writings of the Faith.

Statement concerning Persepolis