In the writings of ʻAbdu’l-Bahá, reference is made to the Ottoman government’s decision to exile him to the desert of Fezzan, or to drown or hang him. Regarding the governor of Beirut, it is mentioned that “he repeatedly said that the first act he would execute would be to hang ʻAbdu’l-Bahá at the gate of Acre.” According to these writings, what the followers of Muhammad Ali Effendi (the Naqizun) falsely attributed to ʻAbdu’l-Bahá and reported to the Ottoman government led to these decisions. [20]
Baha’is maintain that one of ʻAbdu’l-Bahá’s brothers, who sympathized with Muhammad Ali Effendi, went so far as to organize a banquet and, during a “full reception” of the “military delegation of Acre and Haifa,” especially the “Chief of the Gendarmerie,” by bringing his daughter to the gathering and organizing a “music and dance session,” sought to obtain from the Chief of the Gendarmerie an order for ʻAbdu’l-Bahá’s exile or execution while he was in a state of intoxication and dancing. [21]
On the other hand, the followers of Muhammad Ali Effendi rejected these accusations. For example, in the book Étienne al-Dalil li-Man Yurīd al-Iqbāl ilā Sawā’ al-Sabīl, published by some of them in Acre in 1318 AH, while criticizing ʻAbdu’l-Bahá for relocating the Báb’s tomb elsewhere instead of interring him at the Bahá’í Shrine, it was stated that this was a means of raising funds for him. Moreover, what had become infamous as his alleged culpability before the Ottoman authorities was deemed inaccurate, and consulting the Haifa government was recommended to distinguish truth from falsehood. [22]
Reflection on the aforementioned Ottoman government report (presented in Part One) indicates that, if the content is accepted as accurate, one must conclude that what ʻAbdu’l-Bahá’s followers described as his notorious conspiracy and attributed to the followers of Muhammad Ali Effendi is not entirely correct, and it originated in the final years of Bahá’u’lláh’s life, prior to the emergence of disputes between his two successors. [23]
References:
- Asadollah Fazel Mazandarani, Asrar al-Athar Khosoosi, vol. 5, pp. 133–135.
- Habib Moayyed, Habib’s Memoirs, p. 224.
- Étienne al-Dalil li-Man Yurīd al-Iqbāl ilā Sawā’ al-Sabīl, pp. 101–109.
- The apparent time of the dispute between ʻAbdu’l-Bahá and Muhammad Ali Effendi dates to 1314 AH (approximately four to five years after the passing of Bahá’u’lláh). (Asadollah Fazel Mazandarani, Tarikh Zohur al-Haqq, vol. 7, p. 96)