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The Bahá'í Faith has appeared in fiction in multiple forms. The mention of the Bahá'í Faith, prominent members, or even individual believers have appeared in a variety of fictional forms including science fiction, and fantasy, as well as styles of short stories, Novelettes, and Novels, and even diverse media of the printed word and TV series. One estimate is of more than 30 references though it could be far more.•by Bahá'í Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff•, following which Bohnhoff wrote a trilogy of novels called The Meri (1992-1995) and a stand alone novel The Spirit Gate (1996). In 1997 Joseph Sheppherd published The Island of the Same Name which is told in four eras of humanity but centering on two generations of researchers who get caught up in the history of the world's change from what it is now/was to what it could be from a Bahá'í point of view. Then in 2000, The Hidden Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by William "Bill" Paxton is published and the Bahá'í Faith is framed in a Sherlock Holmes short story. Also in 2000 Bahiyyih Nakhjavani published The Saddlebag inspired by chapter VII of The Dawn-breakers (book) by Nabíl-i-A`zam. The first period of the accurance of fictional works referencing the Bahá'í Faith strongly surrounded the period of the Ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. From the 1930's through the 1970's few if any publications mentioned, or were identifiably affected by the religion, let alone had fictionalized references until we come to the 1980's. Starting then several works mark the early years of the emergence of the Bahá'í Faith in fiction leading upto the turn of the century. Since then a number of works have appeared - at least nine fictional works are in print just from Bahá'í publishing sources in the United States in 2006.• TK Ralya's The Golden Age: Thy Kingdom Come is one of these and uses a wide array of the teachings and predictions of the Bahá'í Faith to paint a future society in contrast with the world as we know it today. Khalil Gibrans books A published account notes:
It is known that 'Abdu'l-Bahá also sat for portraits at the request of Gibran. See * and *. From the above it may be concluded that 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Gibran knew each other more than in passing, but that 'Abdu'l-Bahá made no formal or informal claims or suggestions about Gibran's writing but coorperated whenever asked (as for sitting for the drawings.) So the influence is really at the choice of Gibran - he could as well have chosen and mention any other source of inspiration for his book. It seems he chose 'Abdu'l-Bahá. As 'Abdu'l-Bahá is one of the Central Figures of the Bahá'í Faith and these are works of fiction, it is certainly the case that at least two of Girbran's, and his most famous, are properly mentioned here. There are many reviews of this famous book, The Prophet. Here's one:
Here's one of many reviews of Jesus, The Son of Man:
Curiously, this is not the only case where someone associated with the Bahá'í Faith wrote a speculative work about things the New Testament is silent on in regards to Jesus. Wellesley Tudor Pole , a contemporary of Gibran, wrote a series of books about Jesus - The Silent Road, A Man Seen Afar, and Writing on the Ground as well as some pamphlets though these were written later in the 20th century. Wellesley Tudor Pole also knew 'Abdu'l-Bahá well having interviewed him, worked with him and played a significant role in saving his life in WWI. Indeed the whole relationship between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Jesus was one 'Abdu'l-Bahá was at pains to clarify both to the general public and among early Bahá'ís. Tom Ligons short stories Among Tom Ligon's many short and medium sized works (and one award winning science fact article published in relation to Fusion rocket technology), two published in 1986 and 1993 in Analog Magazine, are science fiction stories which are about a Shi'a Muslim terrorist organization in a largely Muslim space-faring civilization where Bahá'ís are space colonists willing to try to make harsh living conditions more tolerable (though there is brief mention of a US NSA back on Earth.) In the stories the terrorists are prevented from crashing a spaceship into the Earth (long predating the events of 9-11) and instead are driven to an unusual world where Bahá'ís live which eventually reveals that civilizations have reached great levels of technology and then mysteriously transcended. The ethical conflict of pacifism, a debatable stance associated with the Bahá'í Faith, in the face of terrorists is worked out. One character, who takes on the name of the historical Bábí who performed an assassination attempt on the life of the Shah of Iran, chooses the path of violence in defense of the population by way (as portrayed) of matching a strength of the Bahá'í Faith in acceptance of science compared to a weakness of Shia Islam of superstition. The author comments:
Among the special qualities to Mr. Ligon's contribution to the Bahá'í Faith in fiction is that he is a non-Bahá'í, the stories mentioned explicitly reference the religion, and indeed the religion provides some of the central context for the story line, and possibly the first publication to seriously reference the Bahá'í Faith in fictional literature context. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoffs works Mrs. Bohnhoff's first work to use the Bahá’í Faith as a central aspect of a story may be her 1991 published "Home Is Where..." novelette summarized as "A Baha'i family from the year 2112 is on a time travel research assignment in midwest USA, in 1950." There has not been a published review of her work noting the presence of the Bahá'í Faith in her works generally. Her first publication was in 1989 and her publications continue through 2006 Bohnhoff, mother of two and married since 1981(both true at least as of 2001), has also written many short stories and novelettes, some of them with a significant basis in relation to the Bahá'í Faith, in most of the well known publishing magazines: Analog Magazine, Interzone (magazine), Amazing Stories, Realms of Fantasy, and others. Another example "The White Dog" wherein a lady whose shocking albino appearance is eventually warmly loved in accordance with the special relationship pointed out by `Abdu'l-Bahá for a little white dog. Her longest work with a strong presence of the Bahá’í Faith is The Meri fantasy series which is a trilogy (The Meri published in 1992, Taminy in 1993, and The Crystal Rose in 1995) by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff who has won several awards for her works of fiction and music( especially filk music which is music tied to science fiction or related styles or issues). The series revolves around the period of transition among the people who live on a peninsula. The chapters are headed with quotes from scripture presented as those of the religion of the people but many are in fact quotes from Bahá'í scripture, while a few are from the Bible. The first and second book also carry an acknowledgement of Bahá'u'lláh, a Local Spiritual Assembly and Bahá'í community. The plot involves a progression on the understanding of a people in relation to the role and position of women. Unknown to the people of the story, women have always been instrumental to their religion as agents of God and a chosen few have always acted as the personification of the Spirit of God, or "Meri". The first book focuses on a young girl destined to take on that role. While similar to other stories of the triumph of women it has several unique qualities most particularly a central male character being her benefactor and teacher and not an obstacle she has to overcome. The second book focuses on the return of the prior "Meri" who takes it as her mission to promulgate the new paradigm as the headd of the religion. The third book focuses on her transition to being a head of state but wrestling with several of the same issues from among as well as beyond her people. Another novel she has written called The Spirit Gate has many of the same features but is written in a different context - a fantasy work set in a historical time and place of roughly 1000AD in the area today of Poland and Ukraine where two forms of Christianity and Islam met the pagan older religion. Bahá’í themes, especially in the respect granted other religions, are largely identified with the older religion, however the names of some of the central figures of the religion appear near the end without strongly hinting at any spiritual prominence (names of an ambassador and Caliph, not simply religious figures.) Among Bohnhoff's unique contributions to the Bahá'í Faith in fiction is that she is a Bahá'í who has had more than three dozen works published in many major and some minor publishing venues and she has written at least 6 full length novels of her own - four with strong Bahá'í references though mentioning something in relation to the religion in the others. In combination she has probably subtlety or directly presented themes of the Bahá'í Faith to the widest audience in literature. Joseph Sheppherds The Island of the Same Name Bahá'í Joseph Sheppherd uses his wide experience living in many countries and professional knowledge as an anthropologist and archaeologistto write an embracing story about the adventures and discoveries of spiritual leaders bound to an island off Africa. The center pivotal periods of the story revolve around two generations of researchers: an archaeologist and his anthropologist daughter. Each in turn visits the same African island, but make vastly different discoveries as the story travels in four different time periods: humanity's distant past, near past, near future, and far future. Published in 1997 the near past and future are near enough to have their relative positions significantly altered - the 1970's for the first and the 2000's for the second, roughly now. This book is over 500 pages long and covers a wide range of topics in careful detail from the practicalities of stone axe making, through archeological digs in tyrannical third world countries, spiritual values expressed among aboriginal peoples of the world and the practical lives of individual people occasioned by mystical experiences and those around them, and so on. It follows the form of addressing life in different times and thus a kind of science fiction, but like other entries in this article emphasizes the inward issues and spiritual discoveries more than the quasi-magical or technological leaps made as part of the plot. Mr. Shepperd prefers the term "social fiction" rather than science fiction. The Baha'is, or any paraphrases of principles of the religion, are at best obliquely referred to until late in the second section, of the near past, when an Iranian Doctor mentions the Bahá’í Faith and his reasons for living in a place far from his home and how the principles of the religion stand in the context of the international challenges and needs of humanity. A key character in the book shows interest and later joins the religion but aside from a few specifics there is no clear statement of the future position of the religion nor how the future world culture was established (brief references to a dual process that has merged before the distant future, but doesn't state explicitly what place the Bahá’í Faith has in this pattern.) However in the header of each section there is a text presented with a dating scheme that is exactly that of the Bahá'í calendar so for example 2007 of the common calendar is year 163 of the Bahá’í Era, or BE. While the textual reference is exact it only becomes clear when the two dating schemes are cross referenced and the explicit mention of the religion had already been made. Late in the story the Universal House of Justice is mentioned as having 19 members and a metropolis called Haifaakka is mentioned. However the Baha'is Faith is not framed as the singular or dominant theme of the story - it is but a explicit component of the plot occasionally and a subtext for specifics recognizable but not identified as specifically related to the religion. In otherwords the majority of the content of the book describes how the world at large arrives at a Bahá’í oriented future, but not how the Bahá’í Faith itself arrives to be in that position. Mr. Sheppherd has published about 10 works before the year 2000 (and lost an additional 15 unpublished works in a house fire in 2002) ranging from professional publications to Bahá'í centered works whether of formal introduction or children's literature, poetry or this science/speculative fiction analysis of the multi-century changes based on humanity's response to religion centered in the non-west, specifically an African island. Sherlock Holmes "The Bab Deception" by William C Paxton Published as one of four stories (78 pages out of a total 239) in The Hidden Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by non-Bahá'í William "Bill" Paxton (not the actor Bill Paxton) in 2000-1• Note that on 1st of May 1896 Nasser-al-Din Shah was indeed assassinated and some did blame a Babí but most information points to an anarchist who had been been given privileged access to the person of the Shah because of the Shah’s sympathies for his suffering (see * , and *.) Most Baha’is have some information of an acknowledged assassination plot by some Babis in 1852 for which Bahá’u’lláh was encarcerated in the Siyah-Chal and eventually found innocent albeit much property had been confiscated or lost to mobs as a result of simply being accused. This is a different incident, in 1896. Bahiyyih Nakhjavanis books The Saddlebag: A Fable for Doubters and Seekers - a published review of the 2000 publication• notes:
Nakhjavani has published six books - some academic and at least two fictional, as well as articles and poetry. TK Ralyas The Golden Age: Thy Kingdom Come Official synopsis: "After one of his friends is killed in Iraq, Geoffrey Waters prays for help in understanding God's purpose for humanity. He is whisked forward in time to witness what a world could be like when the prophesies from Isaiah bring about peace on earth, and the lines 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' come to fruition. The people on the planet he visits explain that God's kingdom will be established on Earth no matter what, even if a horrible calamity must occur." The Bahá'í author notes that this book is her impression of what the future may be like based on the premise of fulfilled Biblical prophecy, with specifics from Bahá'í sources. There are several quotes and paraphrases from the Bahá'í Writings as well as examples of attitudes among various characters that believe as guided by these references, and the book was approved by the Special Materials Review Committee. Directly it only refers to the Bahá'í Faith as one of many religions mentioned in the foreword (which also mentions that it is meant to be the first of a trilogy.) Internally the strongest reference perhaps is the name of the Book of the religion of the future - "Qadas", which is similar to "Aqdas" - the central Book of Laws, of the Bahá'í Faith. However "Qadas" could also be rather more obscure references ("the holiness of God", or a Muslim style of prayer for example.) The overall feel of the story is much like Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time - of grand themes being played out not through technological achievements, but of spiritual beings and achievements. Ralya has also published children’s stories, two full-length musicals, a weekly newspaper column in a Minnesota paper for about 2 years, and a novel for 9-15 year-olds which also has significant reference to the Bahá'í Faith. Doing the Impossible official synopsis mentions "three fifteen-year-old girls are starting their sophomore year of high school. The “impossible” thing they are trying to do is living according to God’s standards in modern society. Megan gets the lead in the high school play, but her character is a rather “loose” woman. Her leading man is more interested in “fun” than appropriateness.... Ashley has a learning disability and wrestles with feeling dumb and unattractive. Brittney is very smart, but overweight. She deals with her body image as well as where a smart female fits in society without being considered aggressive. Baha’i school on Sunday mornings adds the different perspectives of other students." The unique contribution Ralya has made to the Bahá'í Faith in fiction is that her works center on the moral dilemmas of modern society in the west and spiritual insights and development that reflect an understanding of the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith in response to these challenges. On the one hand she has envisioned an attainable utopia (that is, not completely perfect) with specifics based on suggestions made in writings of the Bahá'í Faith. A particularly strong analysis is made of marital fidelity vs the divine law against adultery vs intense love and friendship between a man and a woman not married, though many topics are addressed including the moral and practical need for war, sustainable economics if children and mothers are of central importance to society, attitudes of the oneness of humanity vs racism, the importance of the arts and so on. On the other hand she has examined many of the same issues in young ladies lives in high school. Popular media Philip K. Dick's science-fiction novel Eye in the Sky features a parallel world theocracy dominated by a church of the "Second Bab". However, no attempt is made to explore the Baha'i Faith; it reads as a satire of Christian Fundamentalism. In addition to being mentioned directly in a number of works, the Bahá'í Faith and/or its teachings have also been mentioned in the TV and movie industry. For example the TV series The Simpsons has twice referenced the Bahá'ís - once when Lisa Simpson is considering what religion to join• and once when Bart Simpson is playing Billy Graham's Bible Blaster game at Ned Flanders.• The movie The Matrix uses parallel terminology to the Bahá’í Faith but there is little evidence that the movie or its makers were influenced by the religion specifically (more likely Buddhism and Gnostic Christianity•). However a movie critic did use the Bahá’í Faith as the lead off in his review•. There is also a TV medical-drama in Australia called MDA - Medical Defense Australia (MDA (TV series)) which went on the air on July 23, 2002 with an ongoing Bahá'í character, Layla Young, who is played by a non-Bahá'í• actress Petra Yared.•• Notes | |||||||
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