- Foad Seddigh. Analysis of the Salient Features of Risáliy-i-Ja'faríyyih, An (2019). This treatise, one of the major writings of the Báb, was written before He had disclosed His complete station of prophethood to the public. It comments on an Islamic prayer for the advent of the promised Qa'im. Includes translation.
- Todd Lawson. Authority of the Feminine and Fatima's Place in an Early Work by the Bab, The (2007). While Tahirih inspired many in Europe and eventually America, she is very much a daughter of her own culture, history, mythology, and religion. She was a religious mystic who felt a new day arising in the world, and seen by some as the "return" of Fatima.
- Zackery Mirza Heern. Báb and 'Alí Muhammad, Islamic and Post-Islamic, The: Multiple Meanings in the Writings of Sayyid 'Alí Muhammad Shírází (1819-1850) (2023). Writings of the Báb can be understood as a commentary on the Qur'án, the original Qur'án, and divine revelation; the metaphors and symbolism of Gate (Báb), Remembrance (Dhikr), and Point (Nuqtah). Link to article (offsite).
- Ahmad Nur Fuad. Babi Movement in Iran, The: From Religious Dissent to Political Revolt, 1844 (1998). Development of the Bábí movement and the political implications of its religious teachings, as seen in its shift from purely religious dissent to political dissent.
- Hutan Hejazi Martinez. Bahá'ísm: History, Transfiguration, Doxa (2010-05). An outsider's view of the role of ideologies in a postmodern era, focusing on Bahá'í history, conversion narratives, ideology, and other competing philosophies. (Link to thesis, offsite.)
- Khazeh Fananapazir. Bahá'u'lláh as fulfilment of the theophanic promise in the Sermons of Imam 'Alí ibn Abí Ṭálib: Translation of al Tutunjiyya, Iftikhár and Ma'rifat bin-Nurániyyat (2007). Translations of Tutunjiyya "Sermon of the Gulf," Iftikhár "Sermon of Iftikhár," and Ma'rifat bin-Nurániyyat "Sermon of Ma'rifat bin-Nurániyyat."
- Moojan Momen. Comparison between the Commentary and Interpretation of an Islamic Tradition by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Ayatu'llah Khomeini, A (2017). On different interpretations of the hadith regarding taqlíd, "to follow (legal interpretations)," as given by Shi`i clerics like Ayatu’llah Khomeini vs. the interpretation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
- Said Amir Arjomand. Consolation of Theology, The: Absence of the Imam and Transition from Chiliasm to Law in Shi'ism (1996). Overview of the Shi'i doctrine of occultation, or the "Hidden Imam," and how this idea evolved into a principle of salvation: historical background; hidden God / sealed prophecy; theodicy and law; rationalization. Contains no mention of the Bahá'í Faith.
- Ahang Rabbani. Conversion of the Great-Uncle of the Báb, The (1999 Spring). The history of Hájí Mírzá Sayyid Muhammad (1798-1876), maternal uncle of the Bab.
- Said Amir Arjomand. Crisis of the Imamate and the Institution of Occultation in Twelver Shiism, The: A Sociohistorical Perspective (1996-11). Background of the history and theology of concepts like Qa'im, Mahdi, ghayba, and the hidden twelfth Imam. No mention of the Bahá'í Faith.
- Vahid Rafati. Development of Shaykhi Thought in Shi'i Islam, The (1979).
- Jonah Winters. Dying for God: Martyrdom in the Shii and Babi Religions (1997). Religious and cultural meanings of martyrdom/witnessing, and their role in Shí'í and Bábí history.
- Encyclopaedia Iranica. Arjen Bolhuis, comp. Encyclopaedia Iranica: Selected articles related to Persian culture, religion, philosophy and history (1982-2023). Sorted, categorized collection of links to over 170 articles.
- William F. McCants, John Walbridge, Frank Lewis, et al.. Richard C. Martin, ed. Encyclopedia of Islam and The Muslim World (2004). Articles on Abdu'l-Bahá, the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths, Hujjatiya, Persian language and literature, Shaykhism, and Twelver Shi'ism.
- Juan Cole. Ideology, Ethics, and Philosophical Discourse in Eighteenth-Century Iran (1989 Winter). Intellectual biography as a discipline assumes that the life and thought of an individual can shed light on an epoch. This paper examines 1700s Iran via the Shi'i scholar Mohammad Mehdi Niraq (d. 1794). No mention of the Bábí or Bahá'í Faiths.
- Said Amir Arjomand. Imam Absconditus and the Beginnings of a Theology of Occultation: Imami Shiʿism Circa 280-290 A. H./900 A. D. (1997). Examination of the end of the 9th century and events following the death of the eleventh Imam, and the formal beginnings of the doctrine of the "hidden" twelfth Imam. Contains no mention of the Bahá'í Faith.
- Juan Cole. 'Indian Money' and the Shi'i Shrine Cities of Iraq, 1786-1850 (1986-10). On the political economy of the Shi'i shrine cities of Iraq, theological and pilgrimage centers which grew around the tombs of the Imams, in the 18th and 19th centuries. Connections from India proved lucrative for the Usuli clerics in these cities.
- Todd Lawson. Joycean Modernism in a Nineteenth-Century Qur'an Commentary?: A Comparison of The Báb's Qayyūm Al-Asmā' with Joyce's Ulysses (2015). Comparison of the formal structure of the two works and themes such as time; oppositions and their resolution; relation between form and content; prominence of epiphany; manifestation, advent and apocalypse; and the theme of heroism, reading and identity.
- Stephen Lambden. Arjen Bolhuis, comp. List of Baha'i Studies and Translations. A list of content available at Lambden's personal website, Hurqalya Publications, with select links to manuscripts, texts, introductions. Includes Shaykhi and Bábí studies, bibliographies, genealogies, provisional translations.
- Ismael Velasco. Logos, Mythos and Kerygma: The Logic of Reconciliation and the Occultation of the Promised Qá'im in Bábí-Bahá'í Scripture (2004). Theological background of the Twelfth Imam in Shi'i Islam, comprehensive interpretation of Bahá'u'lláh's and 'Abdu'l-Bahá's position on the occultation and the Qá'ím, and the historicity of the 12th Imám in the Bahá'í writings.
- Juan Cole, Moojan Momen. Mafia, Mob and Shiism in Iraq: The Rebellion of Ottoman Karbala 1824-1843 (1986). On the role of gangs in urban social history of the 19-century Ottoman empire; with a decline in government control, gangs ran protection rackets and acted as a parallel government, making alliances and becoming popular leaders against an alien threat.
- Michael W. Sours. Maid of Heaven, the Image of Sophia, and the Logos, The: Personification of the Spirit of God in Scripture and Sacred Literature (1991). The Logos in Christianity and the Maiden for Bahá'u'lláh can be equated as one and the same eternal reality; the divine image of wisdom in Proverbs; Sophia and Logos are combined in the feminine personification of the Most Great Spirit.
- Stephen Lambden. Messianic Roots of Babi-Bahá'í Globalism, The (2005). Contrast of the continuity between the globalism of the Bab’s Qayyum al-asma’ and Baha’u’llah’s globalism, verses breaks between the two, e.g. the abandoning of jihad as a means of promoting a globalisation process.
- Farshid Kazemi. Mysteries of Alast: The Realm of Subtle Entities and the Primordial Covenant in the Babi-Bahá'í Writings (2009). One of the more esoteric concepts in Shi'i and Shaykhi thought is the "realm of subtle entities," 'ālam-i dharr, a sort of pre-existence for the archetype of humanity, which is relevant to free will and the seven stages of creation.
- al-Sharif al-Radi. Tahera Qutbuddin, trans. Nahj al-Balághah: The Wisdom and Eloquence of 'Alí (2024). Critical edition and translation Imam Ali's orations and reflections, showcasing his wisdom on piety, virtue, and governance. No mention of the Bahá'í Faith.
- Bahá'u'lláh. Adib Masumian, trans. One Who Related the Existence of the Qáʼim, The (2015). One-paragraph passage related to the coming of the Mahdi.
- Jonah Winters. Origins of Shi'ism: A Consensus of Western Scholarship (1996). Shi'ism, representing about 10% of the umma, is often regarded as illegitimate by the majority Sunnis. Using Western historiographical methods, I examine three key events occuring during the life of Muhammad that are used to legitimize Shi'i origins.
- Richard N. Frye. Persia (1968). Excerpt from a book on the history of Iran. Includes mention of Bahá'í schools in the early twentieth century.
- Ismael Velasco. Prolegomenon to the Study of Babi and Baha'i Scriptures, A: The Importance of Henry Corbin to Babi and Baha'i Studies (2004). On the foremost Western authority on the Islamic philosophy of Persia, one of the most influential Islamicists of the 20th century, whose work is uniquely relevant in understanding the philosophical context for the emergence of the Bábí Faith.
- Haji Mirza Siyyid Ali Muhammad. Denis MacEoin, trans. Questions of Haji Mirza Siyyid Ali Muhammad occasioning the Revelation of the Kitab-i-Iqan (1997-06). Translation of the questions submitted to Bahá'u'lláh by Haji Mirza Siyyid Muhammad, the maternal uncle of the Bab, which
led to the revelation of the Kitab-i Iqan.
- Ismael Velasco. Reflections on Baha'u'llah's Claims to Being the Return of Imam Husayn (2020-06). On Imam Husayn in Shi'a Islam, expectations of his return, his place in Bábí theology, and various relationships to the Bábí Faith: ancestral, devotional, initiatory, theophanic, typological, eschatological, and messianic.
- Roshan Danesh. Reflections on the Concept of Law in the Bahá'í Faith, Some (2014). The concept of law in the Bahá’í Faith; its early Islamic context; the nature of legal language and discourse in Bahá’u’lláh’s writings. Religious law, rooted in conscious knowledge and the dynamics of love, rejects rigid and legalistic rules.
- Linda Walbridge. Reforming the Marja` at-Taqlid: The Baha'i Example (1997). Shi'i leadership paradigms and the marja` at-taqlid, "clerical exemplar" or "religious guide."
- Bahá'u'lláh. Adib Masumian, trans. Regarding Jaʻfar-i-Kadhdháb ('Jaʻfar the Liar') (2016). One-paragraph passage about the mystical cities Jabulqa and Jabulsa and the truthfulness of a figure, Jaʻfar (connected with the history of the Twelfth Imam).
- Wanden Mathews LaFarge. Relation of the Báb to the Traditions of Islám, The (1930). Discussion of prophecies made by Muhammad concerning his son-in-law Alí and the division which divided Islám into the two factions Sunni and Shi‘i, to understand the significance of the titles "Gate" and "Point" and the concept of the Twelfth Imám.
- Moojan Momen. Religious Background of the 1979 Revolution in Iran (1995).
- Todd Lawson. Role of Wonder in Creating Identity, The (2023). The term badí', "wondrous" or "new," is used dozens of times by the Báb in his proclamatory work the Qayyúm al-Asmáʾ. Wonder plays a major role in Bábí and Bahá'í thought and practice, and in their ethos and message. Link to article (offsite).
- Todd Lawson. Seeing Double: The Covenant and the Tablet of Ahmad (2005). The Tablet of Ahmad is believed to have special potency. "Seeing double" means both looking at the words of Scripture, and looking in the direction beyond the words, as indicated by the context. This paper also discusses the meaning of Covenant in Islam.
- Ali ibn 'Abu-Talib. Khazeh Fananapazir, trans. Sermon of Recognition with Luminousness (Khutbih-i-Ma'rifat bin-Núráníyyat) (2001). A sermon by Imam Ali, of interest to Bahá'ís because (1) it was often quoted by Shaykh Ahmad Ahsa'i and Siyyid Kázim Rashtí; (2) it concerns the true station of the Imáms; and (3) Bahá'u'lláh quotes it in the Kitáb-i-Iqán.
- Juan Cole. Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i on the Sources of Religious Authority (1993-10). How did Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i understand the structure of authority in Shi`ism, specifically the role of the ulama? Was he to be seen as an exemplar to be emulated, the first among equals, or a Sufiesque 'pole' channeling the grace of God?
- Juan Cole. Shi'i Clerics in Iraq and Iran, 1722-1780: The Akhbari-Usuli Conflict Reconsidered (1985 Winter). A debate which came to shape Shi'i jurisprudence, between those who believed that only the Imams should be the source of law, vs. those who held that rational study of scripture could yield worthy principles. (No mention of the Bábí or Bahá'í faiths.)
- Jonah Winters. Shi'i Qur'an: An Examination of Western Scholarship (1997). In the Kitab-i-Iqan (pp. 84-89) Bahá'u'lláh rejects the charge that the text of the Bible has been tampered with. Many Shi'is have charged the same, accusing Sunnis of removing the proofs of Ali's appointment as leader of the community from the Qur'an.
- Moojan Momen. Shi`i Islam (1995). Overview of Shi'a Islam, including a section on its relations to the Bahá'í Faith.
- Marzieh Gail. Six Lessons on Islam (1953). A brief overview of Islam, particularly Shi'a Islam, and its relevance to the Bahá'í Faith.
- Henry Corbin. Nancy Pearson, trans. Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth: From Mazdean Iran to Shi'ite Iran (1977). An analysis of interrelated themes in Iranian religion, including the angelology of Mazdaism and Islamic Shi'ite concepts of spirit-body identity. Includes descriptions of cosmologies in Zoroastrian, Shi'i Islamic and Shaykhi philosophies.
- Stephen Lambden. Translation of the Arabic Du'á' al-Sahar (The Dawn Supplication) or Du'á' al-Bahá' (The Supplication of Splendour) with Select Expository Scriptural Writings of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, A (2023). Translation of and commentary on the Shí'í "dawn supplication" for the Islamic month of Ramadán, and its symbolic exploration in Bábí and Bahá'í texts. Link to article (offsite).
- Juan Cole. Treatise on Leadership: Introduction (1998-02). Informal notes about and introduction to `Abdu'l-Bahá's Risalih-i-Siyasiyyih (1893).
- Christopher Buck. Unique Eschatological Interface, A: Baha'u'llah and Cross-Cultural Messianism (1986). Tracing themes of messianism through the Occidental religions.
- Moojan Momen. Usuli, Akhbari, Shaykhi, Babi: The Tribulations of a Qazvin Family (2003-09). The emergence of the Usuli school in the evolution of Shi'is jurisprudence and theology in 18th and 19th-century Iran, viewed through the lens of the Baraghani family as it faced schisms of the Akhbari, Shaykhi, and Bábí movements.
- William F. McCants. Wronged One, The: Shí'í Narrative Structure in Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet of Visitation for Mullá Husayn (2002). On the martyrdom of Mulla Husayn, the structure of sacrificial and devotional narratives, and Shi'i antecedents.
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