Wilmette Institute

This is the first of four webinars hosted by Shahrokh Monjazeb for the course “Bahá’u’lláh’s Summons to Two Ottoman Prime Ministers” which begins on October 22, 2020.

The course will closely examine the three Tablets, Súriy-i-Ra’ís, Law h-i-Ra’ís, and Lawh-i-Fu’ád, addressed by Bahá’u’lláh to the two powerful and highly influential 19th century Turkish Prime Ministers ‘Álí Páshá (1815-1871) and Fu’ád Páshá (1814-1869).

More details/course registration

Súriy-i-Ra’ís
This Tablet was revealed in Arabic in honour of Hájí Muhammad Ismá‘íl-i-Káshání, entitled Dhabíh (Sacrifice) and Anís (Companion) by Bahá’u’lláh, and addresses ‘Álí Páshá, the Ottoman Prime Minister, referred to here as Ra’ís (Chief or Ruler).

Sultán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz lost both his throne and his life in 1876. During the subsequent war with Russia (1877–1878), Adrianople was occupied by the enemy and the Turks experienced a violent bloodbath.

Shahrokh Monjazeb, BSc

Independent Scholar

I am an independent scholar of the Bahá’í history and sacred scripture. I began my scholarly endeavours in Bahá’í history around 1989, after I completed my undergraduate degree in Applied Physics and Electro-Acoustics with a minor in Religious Studies and Middle Eastern History. Two years later in 1991, I was invited to present at the annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies North America on one of Bahá’u’lláh major works. Since then I have been involved with Bahá’í academic research as well as the work of translating into English the writings of the Central Figures of the Bahá’í Faith. I am a published author and lecturer whose writings and presentations focus on Bahá’í Sacred Text and their literary and historical significance in the context of socio-spiritual condition of human society. I have authored more than couple of dozen articles on Bahá’í history and Sacred Text as well as a monograph on Bahá’u’lláh entitled “Bahá’u’lláh: A Brief Survey of His Life & Works”.See Faculty Bio