Shua Ullah Behai

Shua Ullah Behai (1878 - July 3, 1950) was the grandson of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. Shua Ullah Behai was born in Acre District, Palestine. He emigrated to the United States in 1904 and became an American citizen in 1914, the only known descendant of Baháʼu'lláh to have done so.[1]

Shua Ullah Behai
Born1867
Died3 July 1950

Behai represented his father Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí in America while he was trying to establish his own sect of the Baháʼí Faith separate from his brother ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, who had been appointed by Baháʼu'lláh to lead the movement. Behai established a publication called Behai Quarterly that ran from 1934 to 1937 and further tried to consolidate any Baha'is who defected from the leadership of Shoghi Effendi, such as Khayru'lláh. These went by a variety of names: Unitarian Baha'is, Society of Bahaists, New History Society, or National Association of Universal Religion. The attempted schism was unsuccessful and Behai returned to Palestine.[2] The sect gradually faded into obscurity and disappeared.[3] Behai noted in his memoir,

Baháʼu'lláh's progressive teachings have inspired millions of people around the world, but his own family was torn apart by schism and authoritarian interpretations of the religion. Most of his descendants are remembered today as heretics or have been forgotten by Baháʼís. ... Mr. Bahai [Muhammad-ʻAlí] started a competing sect of the Baháʼí faith during ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's ministry. Unity was commanded by Baháʼu'lláh and schism prohibited, so this has to be as something of a black mark against Mr. Baháʼí legacy.

— Shua Ullah Behai, Republished in A Lost History of the Baha'i Faith (2014), p. 521

In addition to the quarterly magazine, Behai compiled an introduction to the Baháʼí Faith in the 1940s. These, along with memoirs and other documents related to Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí were republished in 2014 in A Lost History of the Baha'i Faith, compiled and edited by Eric Stetson with materials provided by Nigar Bahai Amsalem, the niece of Shua Ullah Behai. Stetson is a former Baháʼí turned critic of the Baháʼí Faith.[2]

Notes
  1. Behai 2014, p. 396.
  2. Gonzales 2016.
  3. Behai 2014, p. xxxvii.

References
  • Behai, Shua Ullah (2014). Stetson, Eric (ed.). A Lost History of the Baha'i Faith. Vox Humri Media. ISBN 978-0692331354. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016.
  • Gonzales, Grover (2016), A Lost History of the Baha'i Faith, by Eric Stetson: Review, Baha'i Library Online, retrieved 2019-08-21
  • Cole, Juan, ed. (July 2004). "Behai Quarterly". Documents on the Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Movements. h-net.msu.edu. 08 (2). Retrieved 2019-08-21.


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