Free Baháʼís

The term Free Baháʼís has been used by or about a small number of Baháʼís that have attempted schism from the main body of believers of the Baháʼí Faith. More specifically, it is a form of belief that rejects the authority of Shoghi Effendi, appointed in 1921 to lead the community following the death of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá.

The term was first used by Hermann Zimmer, who revived the earlier claims of Ruth White that the Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was forged. White's claim was widely rejected by other Baháʼís of the time, including Baháʼís who, like her, were enemies of Shoghi Effendi.[1][2][3][4] White was able to gather the support of a single Baháʼí in Germany, Wilhelm Herrigel, who took up her cause; only a few Baháʼís followed him, and most repudiated him following his death in 1932.[5][6]

Zimmer wrote a polemic attacking the Baháʼí administration in 1971, entitled A Fraudulent Testament devalues the Baháʼí Religion into Political Shogism, which was widely distributed by Evangelical Protestant organizations in Germany, and later translated into English and distributed worldwide.[1][5] Zimmer attempted to establish a group called "Free Baháʼís" or the "World Union of Universal Religion and Universal Peace" along with Charles Seeburger of Philadelphia, but it is not clear that it actually came into being. An attempt to form a group in the 1970s was never documented to form.[1]

References
  1. Momen, Moojan (1995). "Covenant, The, and Covenant-breaker". Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  2. Taherzadeh, Adib (2000). The Child of the Covenant. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. pp. 299–300. ISBN 0-85398-439-5.
  3. Adamson, Hugh C. (2009). The A to Z of the Baha'i Faith. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 121. ISBN 0810868539.
  4. Taherzadeh, Adib (1972). The Covenant of Baháʼu'lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. p. 347. ISBN 0-85398-344-5.
  5. Bramson-Lerche, Loni (1988). "Establishment of the Guardianship". In Moojan Momen (ed.). Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M. Balyuzi. Kalimát Press.
  6. Rabbani, Ruhiyyih (1948). Twenty-Five Years of the Guardianship. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Baháʼí Publishing Trust. p. 21.
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