Bahá'í Faith in fiction

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.cite web | url = http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_bahai.html | title = Baha'is in Science Fiction and Fantasy | publisher = adherents.com | accessdate=2006-08-12 | date=2005-07-25 | author=adherents.com] Out of these roughly three dozen known direct or indirect references to the Bahá'í Faith, there are perhaps a dozen where there is a significant relationship with the religion, where the Bahá'í Faith is a crucial aspect of the story. The first occurrence known is perhaps that of two books by Kahlil Gibran: "The Prophet", and "Jesus, The Son of Man" albeit evidence for the sustained influence of `Abdu'l-Bahá in these works comes second hand.cite web | url = http://www.kahlil.org/bahai.html | title = Excerpts from Juliet Thompson Remembers Kahlil Gibran as told to Marzieh Gail | publisher = Bahá'í International Community | accessdate=2006-09-13 | author= Marzieh Gail] In modern times the first known occurrence is of a short story by non-Bahá'í Tom Ligon "The Devil and the Deep Black Void", [Found in Analog (New York), v.106 no.1 (Jan. 1986)] - he also wrote a sequel "The Gardener". [Found in Analog (New York), v.113 no.11 (Nov. 1993)] The next fictional publication, in 1991, which references the Bahá'í Faith may be a short story "Home Is Where…"by Bahá'í Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff,cite web | title = The Bahá'í Faith | last = Bohnhoff | first = Maya | url = http://www.mysticfig.com/Bahai_Faith.htm | accessdate = 2006-08-13 | date = 2005-04-29] 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" by Nabíl-i-A`zam.

The first period of the appearance of fictional works referencing the Bahá'í Faith strongly surrounded the period of the Ministry of `Abdu'l-Bahá. From the 1930s through the 1970s few if any publications mentioned, or were identifiably affected by the religion, let alone had fictionalized references until we come to the 1980s. Starting then several works mark the early years of the emergence of the Bahá'í Faith in fiction leading up to 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.cite web | url = http://www.bahaibookstore.com/showproducts.cfm?FullCat=710. | title = Bahá'í Distribution Service - Category: Fiction-Adult | publisher = National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States | accessdate=2006-09-23 | date=2006-09-23 | author= National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States] 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.

Additionally and perhaps parenthetically, the futuristic hero of Robert Sheckley's 1960s SF novel "Mindswap", has visited and prayed at the Bahá'í 'hanging gardens' in Haifa, among other pilgrimages described as typical of his fictional future world. In James A. Michener's "The Source", a fictionalised history of the Holy Land and its peoples, the first page bears a description of a ship coming into Haifa harbour with the gleaming golden dome of the Bahá'í Shrine on the slopes of Mt Carmel (the Shrine of the Báb) one of the distinctive sights.

Khalil Gibran's books

A published account notes about Khalil Gibran:

It was on April 6, 1943, in her studio-room, upstairs at the front of the house, that Juliet shared with me and a few other guests, these memories of Kahlil Gibran…

"He lived across the street from here," said Juliet Thompson, "at 51 West 10th. He was neither poor nor rich - in between. Worked on an Arab newspaper; free to paint and write. His health was all right in the early years. He was terribly sad in the later years, because of cancer. He died at forty-nine. He knew his life was ending too soon.

"His drawings were more beautiful than his paintings. These were very misty, lost things - mysterious and lost. Very poetic.

"A Syrian brought him to see me - can't even remember his name. Khalil always said I was his first friend in New York. We became very, very great friends, and all of his books - "The Madman", "The Forerunner", "The Son of Man", "The Prophet" - I heard in manuscript. He always gave me his books. I liked "The Prophet" best. I don't believe that there was any connection between `Abdu'l-Bahá and "The Prophet". But he told me that he thought of the `Abdu'l-Bahá all through. He said that he was going to write another book with '`Abdu'l-Bahá as the center and all the contemporaries of '`Abdu'l-Bahá speaking. He died before he wrote it. He told me definitely that [the book] "The Son of Man" was influenced by '`Abdu'l-Bahá."

It is known that `Abdu'l-Bahá also sat for portraits at the request of Gibran. See [http://bahai-library.org/?file=bushrui_gibran_man_poet] and [http://users.whsmithnet.co.uk/ispalin/heritage/pictures/dis05.htm] . 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 cooperated 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 Gibran's, and his most famous, are properly mentioned here.

There are many reviews of this famous book, "The Prophet". Here's one:cite web | url = http://www.kahlil.org/prophetreview | title = review: The Prophet | author = J Tinsley | accessdate = 2006-09-013]

Khalil Gibran's "The Prophet" is a book that has touched many people very deeply since its publishing in 1923. It has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American edition alone has sold more than four million copies. It is considered both by Gibran himself, and by the general public to be his literary masterpiece. "The Prophet" is about a man who is leaving a small town called Orphalese where he has made his home for the past twelve years. He has, for that time period, been waiting for a boat to take him back to the land of his youth. We are not told where that land is, only that he has been waiting to return there for twelve years. The entire book occurs on the date of his departure. As he is about to leave, the townsfolk stop him in the town and request that he tell them about certain things. He talks to them about life's lessons and imparts his wisdom to them. He is asked about giving, and he tells the people to give without recognition, because their reward is their own joy. He also talks about things like marriage, work, friendship and also love. He speaks about each, and more, describing the way that people should deal with each issue. This book is an interesting book. It is ninety-three pages of life's lessons set down in writing. These are words to live by, and tell others to live by. This book is certainly a book that everyone should read. Even if people don't agree with some of the beliefs, they should still read the book, if only to get their mind thinking about life, and its many quandaries from a different perspective. This book is not unlike the musings of an aging man imparting his life's lessons to an audience of just about anyone whom he can gather to listen to him. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its lessons and stories are wise beyond the ages, and still hold up to be as true today as they were when Gibran wrote them in 1923. The lessons enumerated within this pages are lessons that one would hope were followed by the general population, and I know that if more people read this book, then the world as a whole might become a more easily survivable place.

Here's one of many reviews of "Jesus, The Son of Man":cite web | url = http://www.kahlil.org/jesusreview | title = review: Jesus, The Son of Man | author = Richard Swartz | accessdate = 2006-10-01]

I find it amazing that he wrote this in the time period he did. It's very prophetic, it seems to be in line with a more modern understanding of Jesus that readers of "The Course in Miracles" and "Marianne Williamson" are a large part of vocalizing. But even fundamentalists would enjoy this book… being how it is written from the opinion of 80 different points of view, many of which do proclaim him the Son of God. Ultimately, any view can be thoughtfully stimulating because the people of any opinion have personalities and background given that support why they view Jesus with their perspective. The overall impression I received from this beautiful prose is the beauty and message of Jesus, the devotion, admiration, gratitude and love inspired by him, and the grace which he exuded with confident compassion. And whether he was God, man, a combination of both that we all are potentially, or a combination we can only idolize with an envious self-debasing distorted form of humility, this book shows him to be nothing less than relevant to our comprehension.

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 World War I. Indeed the whole relationship between `Abdu'l-Bahá and Jesus was one `Abdu'l-Bahá was at pains to clarify both to the general publiccite web | url = http://bahai-library.com/?file=zarqani_mahmuds_diary.html&chapter=2#n17 | title = Mahmúd's Diary - The Diary of Mírzá Mahmúd-i-Zarqání Chronicling `Abdu'l-Bahá's Journey to America | author = `Abdu'l-Bahá Mírzá Mahmúd-i-Zarqání | accessdate = 2006-10-01] and among early Bahá'ís.cite web | url = http://bahai-library.com/?file=lee_reconciling_other#fn10 | title = Reconciling the Other - The Baha'i Faith in America as a Successful Synthesis of Christianity and Islam | author = Anthony Lee | accessdate = 2006-10-01]

Tom Ligon's short stories

Among Tom Ligon's many short and medium sized works (and one award winning science fact article publishedcite web | url = http://torsatron.tripod.com/fusor/fusor.html | title = "The World's Simplest Fusion Reactor: And How to Make It Work" | last = Ligon | first = Tom | accessdate = 2006-09-05] 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.)cite web | url = http://www.angelfire.com/va2/TomLigon/Writing.htm#devil | title = "Devil" and "The Gardener" | last = Ligon | first = Tom | accessdate = 2006-08-12] 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:

"The Devil and the Deep Black Void" had an interesting genesis. I remember being outraged by reports coming from the far east. Vietnamese "boat people" were being preyed on by pirates. I set up a situation where a political upset in a distant colony would make it likely that refugees would be preyed on by pirates. However, the story developed a mind of its own. I realized that, due to the vastness of space, the pirates would be easy to evade. The real threat was the vastness itself. Running away was certain death, and the only hope was returning to face the original problem. That quickly became the focus of the story…

I needed good victims. Recent news had offered an excellent group, the Baha'is, who had been horribly persecuted in Iran. The more I researched them, the more convinced I became that they would make excellent space colonists. My primary reference was an aged primer on the Baha'i Faith by J. E. Esselmont. I did receive some comments from several Baha'is suggesting that I'd portrayed them as too pacifistic, however, I'll stick by my guns on this. My characters, while they believe in public defense, even armies, to preserve peace, are stubborn in living by a passage I found in Esselmont's book in which Baha'u'llah forbids the Baha'is from taking up arms in the defense of the faith. The story is carefully crafted to back them into this corner. Our hero is faced with a loss of his faith, which enables him to take action to save his people, but leaves him in a spiritual dilemma.

I left him in that state for about 7 years, when I had the inspiration for the sequel, "The Gardener". Hoping to give Hab, our hero, some hint of faith back, not to mention some much-needed feminine companionship, I devised a story to show what he'd been up to in seven years of self-imposed exile on a remote continent of a planet just begging for life."

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 Bohnhoff's works

Bohnhoff 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). [cite web | url = http://www.baens-universe.com/authors/Maya_Bohnhoff | publisher=Jim Bean's Universe | accessdate=2006-08-13 | title= Maya Bohnhoff | author=Jim Bean's Universe | date=2006]

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 2006cite web | title = Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Member SFWA, Bibliography | last = Bohnhoff | first = Maya | url = http://www.mysticfig.com/Bohnhoffbiblio.htm | accessdate = 2006-09-10 ] Bohnhoff, mother of two and married since 1981 (both true at least as of 2001),cite web | title = Interview with Jeff Bohnhoff | last = Ohi | first = Debbie | middle = Ridpath | url = http://www.electricpenguin.com/filking/articles/jeffbohnhoff.html | publisher = The Dandelion Report | accessdate = 2006-09-10 | date = 2001-03] 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. [cite book | title = The White Dog |first = Maya Kaathryn last = Bohnhoff | location = London | publisher = Interzone | year=1999 | url = http://bahai-library.com/?file=bohnhoff_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)cite web | title = The MERI is back in print! | last = Bohnhoff | first = Maya | url = http://www.mysticfig.com/Maya_Books.htm#meri | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] . 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 head 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 workscite web | title = Bibliography | last = Kaathryn | first = Maya | url = http://www.mysticfig.com/Bohnhoffbiblio.htm | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] 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.

Isabel Allende "El Plan Infinito" ("The Infinite Plan")

Best selling Chilean author Isabel Allende published this novel in 1991. The main character, Greg Reeves, engages in a search for meaning and identity. His mother is a Baha'i. She is portrayed in a somewhat negative light.

Joseph Sheppherd's "The Island of the Same Name"

Bahá'í Joseph Sheppherdcite web | title = Alison Marshall in New Zealand of Arts Dialogue interview | last = Marshall | first = Alison | url = http://bahai-library.com/bafa/s/sheppherd.htm | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] uses his wide experience living in many countriescite web | title = Fiat Lux Mailing List Class Notes - May 2003| author = Office of Strategic Communications | url = http://www.fiatlux.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=212 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] cite web | title = Journal of Green Lifestyle 2002 | author = Joe Keehner Jr. | url = http://ww.freepress.org/journal.php?strFunc=display&strID=41&strJournal=9 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] 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 1970s for the first and the 2000s 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 an explicit component of the plot occasionally and a subtext for specifics recognizable but not identified as specifically related to the religion. In other words 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)cite web | title = Friends, neighbors cushion a tough week for Bend woman | last = The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon) | url = http://www.uga.edu/bahai/2002/020610-3.html| accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] 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), "The Bab Deception" in "The Hidden Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by non-Bahá'í William "Bill" Paxton (not the actor Bill Paxton) was published in 2000-1.cite web | title = Amazon.com entry | last = Amazon.com | url = http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097022981X/102-7394962-7564146?v=glance&n=283155 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] cite web | title = ebay.com entry | last = ebay.com | url = accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] A published synopsis:cite web | title = SHERLOCKIAN STORY SUMMARIES - P's | url = http://www.schoolandholmes.com/summariesp.html | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] Set in August, 1896, Sherlock Holmes expounds at great length on his occult beliefs and invites Watson to a (spiritualism) based séance. Lestrade & Macintosh take Holmes & Watson to the home of Sir Randolph Gretzinger, former Ambassador to Persia, who has been murdered along with his servant. Holmes finds a copy of the Bayan (see Bayán (exposition)) in Gretzinger's hand, and he expounds at length on Babism. Side note: Holmes is presented as having a high regard for the religion and being current on its situation enough to know that "Abo ol-Baha" is a political prisoner at that time and knowing full well that the religion would never associate with such a plot having already suffered many martyrs and known to not organize any rebellion and instead maintained a peaceful, unified vision with all mankind. He deduces that the men have been injected with poison (from small wounds in their thumbs), and expounds at length on snake venom. The following day they are summoned to the Diogenes Club, where Mycroft expounds at great length on the politics of petroleum and how this may be the true reason for the murder. After visiting the dead man's widow and urging her to continue his oil negotiations with the Shah of Persia Holmes is visited by representatives of the Bahá'í Faith who fear that the book was planted on the body to implicate them. They expound at length on the assassination of the last Shah and feel an effort is being made to frame them, but Holmes assures them he is well aware of the reputation of the Bahá'ís and believes in their innocence. Holmes & Watson are invited to a séance and Holmes expounds at length on the other guests. At the séance a spirit claiming to be Moriarty hurls a dagger at Holmes. Holmes organizes London Baha'is into a "Baker Street Baha'i" including a ones in the Russian Embassy to locate Gretzinger's missing appointment book, from which he is able to learn the murderers name, and establish the innocence of the Bahá'ís.

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 [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Persia] , and [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Nasr-ed-Din] .) 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 Nakhjavani's books

The Saddlebag: A Fable for Doubters and Seekers - a published review of the 2000 publicationcite web | title = Amazon.com entry | url = http://www.amazon.com/Saddlebag-Bahiyyih-Nakhjavani/dp/0807083437 | accessdate = 2006-09-11] notes:

[A] day in the life of nine 19th-century characters traveling between Mecca and Medina in this engaging first novel. Though they come from a wide variety of religious, national and socioeconomic backgrounds, all find themselves in the same caravan when it is beset by a sandstorm and a brutal bandit attack. Each chapter recounts these events from the perspective of its title character, a device Nakhjavani uses skillfully; not only does she avoid the tedium that could result from multiple retellings, but she also turns the bit player in one narrator's story into the complicated hero of another… Nakhjavani shows how God uses their respective religious orientations and the secrets bundled in a saddlebag to reveal life-changing truths to each of them. The novel's Baha'i message is beautifully rendered in these tales of multiple paths leading to one destination.

Nakhjavani has published six books - some academic and at least two fictional, as well as articles and poetry.

TK Ralya's "The Golden Age: Thy Kingdom Come"

Official synopsis:cite web | title = Tk Ralya | url = http://www.tkralya.com/ | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] "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",cite web | title = Qadas-Jewish | url = http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:kggE3uFssGMJ:www.orderofstluke.org/deanscovell_book2.pdf | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] or a Muslim style of prayercite web | title = Qadas-Moslem | url = http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1042&CATE=4 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] 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.

Karen Anne Webb's "Adventurers of the Carotian Union" series

Late in 2006, "The Chalice of Life" was released by Dragon Moon Press, a small Canadian press specializing in science fiction and fantasy. Webb's book, while intended as a fantasy adventure, includes many themes from the Baha'i Writings, including quotes from a variety of faith traditions [http://www.planetbahai.org/cgi-bin/articles.pl?article=319 The Chalice of Life by Elizabeth Lehman] ] and a fantasy version of a society based on the fully realized society of the future envisioned by Baha'u'llah. Central to the plot (although the idea is referred to rather than explained with great explicitness in the first book) is the idea of the School of Transcendent Oneness and the idea that a special class of being is sent into Creation from time to time to help civilization along. She relates this to the "once and future king" concept with the introduction of the quest that forms the overall theme for the series: the search for Eliander, a Carotian prince magicked away long ago to a place outside normal space-time. The one character from a world outside the Carotian Union (the system Eliander's return is meant to save) is, in fact, living in the time of his own world's Promised One; his search for this Promised One becomes a strong theme in the series and become the pivot point of the sequel.

Jackie Mehrabi's books

Jackie Mehrabi has written several fiction books for children and young teens, often about the lives of fictional Bahá'ís with a moral message behind each tale.

Other books

One of the stories from Stephen Leacock's bestselling 1914 book "Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich" features a character that caricatures the religious leader `Abdu'l-Bahá.

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.

Other popular media

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 in the episode She of Little Faithcite web | url = http://www.snpp.com/episodes/DABF02 | publisher = The Simpsons Archive | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | first = Benjamin | last = Robinson | title = She of Little Faith Capsule Revision] and once when Bart Simpson is playing Billy Graham's Bible Blaster game at Ned Flanders' house in the episode Alone Again, Natura-Diddily.cite web | url = http://www.snpp.com/episodes/BABF10 | publisher = The Simpsons Archive | date =2000-11-09 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | first = Benjamin | last = Robinson | title = Alone Again, Natura-Diddly Capsule Revision]

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 Christianitycite web | url = http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/new_phil_wakeup.html | journal = The Journal of Religion and Film | publisher = The University of Nebraska Omaha | editor: Paul Allen Williams | accessdate = 2006-09-11 | author = Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel Wagner | title = Wake Up! Gnosticism & Buddhism in The Matrix] ). However a movie critic did use the Bahá’í Faith as the lead off in his review.cite web | url = http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/2003/05/14 | publisher = Terry Mattingly | date =2003-05-14 | accessdate = 2006-09-11 | | title = God-talk and The Matrix I]

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'ícite web | title = First Baha'i Character | author = Australian Baha’i Community | publisher = www.bahai.org.au | url = http://www.bahai.org.au/docs/abr%206-2.pdf | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | date = 2006-06-05] actress Petra Yared. [cite web | title = Layla Young - Receptionist/Student Liaison Officer, MDA | accessdate = 2006-08-14 | url = http://www.abc.net.au/mda/episodes/archive.htm | date = 2005 | author = Australian Broadcasting Corporation | publisher=abc.net.au] . [cite web | title = Medical Defense Australia: Episode Guide | accessdate = 2006-08-14 | url = http://www.abc.net.au/mda/staff/layla.htm | date = 2005 | author = Australian Broadcasting Corporation | publisher=abc.net.au]

The role-playing game "Trinity" by White Wolf Game Studio, in a futuristic setting, includes a faction called the Interplanetary School for Research and Advancement. Many of its members are humans with psionic powers related to clairsentience. The leader, and as a result many of his followers, is a member of the Bahá'í Faith.cite web | title = ISRA Methodology and Philosophy | author = White Wolf Publishing, Inc | publisher = Adeptus Systematus Corporation | url = http://www.adeptsys.com/chrysalis/Pages/orders/isra.html | accessdate = 2006-12-12 | date = 2006-12-12] A second role-playing game, this one based in computer technology, is called "The Seven Valleys" named after the "The Seven Valleys" and uses it and "The Conference of the Birds" explicitly as inspirations for its adventures.cite web | title = The Seven Valleys Story: Background | author = Virus Games | publisher = Virus Games | url = http://www.virusgames.com/games/sevenvalleys/story.html | accessdate = 2006-12-14 | date = 2006-12-14]

Other references

For research and review, the reader may be interested in a few notable instances of research and materials to the presence of the Bahá'í Faith in Fiction:

1. "Baha'is in Science Fiction and Fantasy", from Adherents.com:"This annotated bibliography list, a subset derived from the Adherents.com Religion in Literature database, is intended as a resource for literary research. It lists both mainstream and Baha'i-oriented science fiction/fantasy novels or short stories which contain references to Baha'is. It is not necessarily a comprehensive list of such literature, but all Hugo- and Nebula-winning novels have been surveyed, as have many other major works."

2. Bahá'í Academics Resource Library - Fiction section, from bahai-library.org."Submissions and book excerpts welcomed. Fiction of larger scale and/or historical import is preferred, though new works by Baha'i authors can also be showcased here."cite web | url =http://bahai-library.org/fiction/ | publisher = Jonah Winter | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | first = Jonah | last = Winter | title = Bahá'í Academics Resource Library - Fiction section]

3. "The Baha'i and Science Fiction" by Lavie Tidhar, an analysis published in the British online magazine I R O S F ("Internet Review of Science Fiction") , Vol I, No. 1 (January, 2004).cite web | url = http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10017 | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2008-03-21 | first = Lavie | last = Tidhar | title = The Baha'i and Science Fiction | publisher = Quintamid LLC ] Note a response was written by Steven Kolins in the discussion section.cite web | url = http://www.irosf.com/forum/thread.qsml?thid=10045 | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | author = Steven Kolins | title = Well that was… weird | publisher = Quintamid LLC] Mr. Tidhar has published a short work of fiction in the form of a "might have been" history of the impact the religion could have had.cite web | url = http://www.nanobison.com/story6.htm | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | first = Lavie | last = Tidhar | title = The Baha'i and Science Fiction | publisher = Doug Helbling]

4. Bahá'í David C. Mueller had maintained a website at www.dcmstartships.com highlighting several topics related to fiction and non-fiction and has a few pages specifically about the Bahá'í Faith and such topics:

"How the Baha'i Community is like a Space Ark"cite web | url = http://www.dcmstarships.com/article-space%20ark%20and%20bahais.html | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | first = David | last = Mueller | title = How the Baha'i Community is like a Space Ark | publisher = David C. Mueller]

"Suggested Reading for Inquisitive Mind"cite web | url = http://www.dcmstarships.com/article-suggested%20reading.html | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | first = David | last = Mueller | title = Suggested Reading for Inquisitive Minds | publisher = David C. Mueller]

"The Artist's Favorite Science Fiction Novels"cite web | url = http://www.dcmstarships.com/article-favorite%20science%20fiction%20novels.html | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | first = David | last = Mueller | title = The Artist's Favorite Science Fiction Novels | publisher = David C. Mueller]

5. Bahá'í Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff has an ongoing presence in several websites, notably www.mysticfig.com and as a continuing contributor at www.authorsden.com. As she says she is "hopelessly addicted to words. I get the DTs if I go too long without putting them on paper."cite web | url = http://www.authorsden.com/bohnhoff | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | first = Maya | middle = Kaathryn | last = Bohnhoff | title = Bohnhoff biography | publisher = AuthorsDen, Inc.] and "My family and friends have tried to break me of this addiction, but without success. I have published bunches of science fiction stories…"cite web | url = http://www.mysticfig.com/Maya_Books.htm | date =2004-06-05 | accessdate = 2006-08-12 | first = Maya | middle = Kaathryn | last = Bohnhoff | title = Bohnhoff Writing | publisher = Jeff & Maya Bohnhoff]

6. [http://greenbelt.com/news/aslan/ "Aslan's Kin"] has a significant diversity of references to interfaith Fantasy and Science Fiction.

ee also

*Religious ideas in science fiction
*Spiritualism in fiction
*LDS fiction
*Cults and new religious movements in literature and popular culture
*Religious satire
*Parody religion

External links

* The first two chapters of [http://www.chaliceoflife.com "The Chalice of Life"] are posted online.

Notes

References

*cite book
last = Collins
first = William P.
year = 1990
title = Bibliography of English-lannguage Works on the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths
publisher = George Ronald
location = Oxford, UK
id = ISBN 0853983151