Ibrahim George Kheirollah (November 11, 1849 – March 6, 1926) was the first Baha’i teacher sent to the United States who made the first Americans to convert to the Baha’i Faith and formed the first Baha’i community in the United States. After confronting and arguing with Abdu’l-Baha over ideological matters and leadership style, his positions as the main and prominent spokesman and organizer of the Baha’i Faith in the United States were taken from him. He then tended to the unificationist Baha’i group of Muhammad Ali Baha’i and took hundreds of American Baha’is to that group at least temporarily.
آنچه در ادامه می خوانید
Introduction
I was born to Christian parents in the village of Behmadoun, in the mountainous region of Lebanon and Syria, in November 1849. My father died when I was two years old, and my mother shouldered to educate and take care of me and my only sister. Our ancestors were Assyrians, who fled from the city of Antakya (present-day Turkey) and settled in the region of Mount Lebanon due to the persecution of the Turks. I received my bachelor’s degree in art from the American College of Syria (Beirut) in 1870.
I left there for Egypt and worked as a teacher in the American Protestantism Academy and then after that, I found a job for myself. In Alexandria, Egypt, I married a Syrian girl born on the outskirts of Sidon, and she bore me three children: Nabiheh, who married Prince Hani Ali Shahab; Labibeh, who married R.J. Salibi; And George Ibrahim Kheirollah who graduated from the University of Chicago in medicine.
I had a good economic situation in Egypt, and was engaged in the trade of cotton and grains, and grew cotton and sugar. For eight years, I had a contract with a sugar factory in the city of Biba, in Upper Egypt. I also had a dried fruit shop in Cairo called the “London House”, which I sold it to an English couple named Mrs. and Mr. Cole.
After the death of my first wife, I married a Coptic widow, but I separated from her before I became a Baha’i. I became a Baha’i in 1890 and married a Greek girl. In the same year, Baha’u’llah issued a tablet addressing me which I have included at the end of my book, Baha’u’llah.
On June 9, 89, I left my family in Cairo, Egypt, and went on a trip to St. Petersburg, which I expected to last about three months. The purpose of the trip to Russia was to sell a device to the government of that country, which I had invented myself, and helped a person in walking and prevented fatigue.
In this deal, I hoped to be able to make up for the damage done to me in a case against Abd al- Malik Beyk by the intervention and influence of Lord Kramer, the British governor of Egypt. Lord Kramer had used the case to provide the grounds for controlling the Egyptian local courts. When the deal with the Russian minister was canceled, I went to Germany and from there to France, and finally boarded the German ship Sevavia, went to the United States, and landed in New York three days before Christmas 89.
Taking Baha’ism to America
In the winter of 1893, I taught my ideas of Baha’ism to a number of Syrians living in New York, and discussed some of its principles with Professor Briggs, who was considered an infidel by evangelical Christians because of his beliefs. I also went to see His Excellency Hoffmann at Chelsea Square. He was the head of a theological education institute. I shared the teachings of Baha’ism and the viewpoints of Professor Briggs. There, I also met Ernest Jewell. Of course, I had already met him in a tourist trip to Egypt. He took me to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and from there to Petoskey where he had been appointed as a church preacher by Bishop Tuttle (of Missouri) and Bishop Gillespie (of Michigan). I tried to make him a Baha’i, but later I heard that he had become a Catholic priest. I arrived in Chicago in February 1894. On my way to Chicago, I delivered speeches on religion and Egypt, first at the Grand Rapids and then at Kalamazoo and Do Vajicka. Then I put the subject of my speech and discussion on “Heavenly Father and the establishment of the divine paradise on earth.”
Although it was difficult to explain my content to the Americans with that broken English, I nevertheless succeeded to convert a significant number of intellectuals and educated people to Baha’ism in late 1894 and early 1895. They were all convinced of the truth of the Baha’ism and that the Baha’ism was the fulfillment of the promises of Christ and the prophecies of the previous prophets. These included William James, Edward Dennis, Mrs. Will Cutt, Mrs. Kendall, the late Arthur George, Dr. Straub, and Dr. Augusta Linderburg.
Confident of my ability to succeed in propaganda, I decided to become an American citizen and spend the rest of my life in the United States. In this case, I sent a few letters to my Greek wife and asked her to join me, but her answer was always no. Accordingly, I went to court, and the Chicago State Court issued a divorce order for us. I announced this divorce decree to all Baha’i men and women. In the summer of 1895, I married Miss Marianne Miller at the home of William James (the first American who converted to Baha’ism). We then went to Europe, where I got familiar with Ms. Miller’s family and relatives in France and the United Kingdom, and made Ms. Miller’s aunt, Miss Brown a Baha’i.
We returned to the United States that year and settled in Monroe Street in western Chicago, where I resumed my teaching work. Many truth-seekers came, and I spoke to them in five-person to twenty five-person classes. I had a free talk on Friday evenings and Sunday evenings, and after my speeches, there was an hour for attendees to ask their questions. My answers were usually satisfying to all listeners.
In 1896, I published the book “Bab-e Din” or “Chapter of Religion”, which contained several sections on “The Identity of God”, “The Unity of God” and so on. I later republished these articles in the book “Bahaullah”. That same year, Mr. Lane from Kinosha, Wisconsin, asked me to come to his house once a week. We established publicity meetings there, and I was presenting what I was saying in Chicago. Everyone except one in the class accepted the Amr or cause. As the number of beginners increased in Chicago, I sent Mr. Dealy to Kinosha instead of myself. For almost two years in a row, I held promotional sessions, from noon to night; and then, I went to bed and slept tired and dead. Then I set up an assembly in Kinosha. I appointed Mr. Lane as its teacher. Then we set up another assembly in Racine (Wisconsin) where all the members had passed our first teaching class in Kinosha.
Contrary to Dr. Wilson’s claim, I never secretly preached the Baha’ism, but rather retold my content as I did in the book “Bahaullah”. The first lesson was “eternity and immortality”, the second lesson “intellect and thought”, the third lesson “life and existence” and so on. Of course, I also had a class schedule and a private ad, because I did not allow newcomers to sit in the advanced classrooms and listen to what I was saying to the advanced beginners. The materials presented to the participants in the classes are the same as what I have introduced in the book of Bahaullah without distortion and deviation.
In the summer of 1897, my wife and son and I spent our annual vacation in Enterprise, Kansas. We were there for two months and I started a propaganda class there and in the end a number of them converted to Baha’ism.
In 1898, Mrs. Lida Talbot and the late Mr. Arthur Dodge (they attended preaching sessions in Chicago and then moved to New York City) asked me to go to New York and hold preaching sessions for New York beginners and a few others from New Jersey. Due to the influence of Mrs. Talbot and her friend, Mrs. Kern, the number of beginners increased to 200. We divided them into three classes: the first group meeting was held at the home of the late Dr. Goren C.; the second group was held in the 19th Century Hall and the third session was held at our residence and the family of the late Arthur Dodge. At the end of four months of classes and publicity, 141 participants in the three programs joined the Baha’i faith. We organized them as a Baha’i assembly and appointed Mr. Howard McNatt as their teacher.
On my way from Chicago to New York City, I stopped in Ithaca, New York, for a few days at the request of the late Mrs. Gatsinger. There, I allowed her to form a class on a trip to visit some of her relatives and retell them what she had learned. I helped her set up and present the materials in the first session, and then I gave them the Most Great Name and taught them how to do it.
During my mission in New York City, I traveled to Philadelphia several times, organized a class there, and assisted Sarah Herron, whom I had sent to teach and run the class. As a result of our work and efforts, about twenty-four people converted to the Baha’i faith.
Writing Bahaullah
To protect the content and lessons of my speeches from any distortions and misconceptions by the teachers whom I appointed as well as other people who might want to study them, I decided to record and publish them in the form of a book. In the summer of 898, I rented a typewriter, and along with my wife and Mrs. Annabel traveled to the northern part of Maine, a town called Lubec. I spent nine weeks there. I went up and down the room, reading the lessons as presented in the classroom, and Mrs. Bell typed them. We worked between 6 and 9 hours a day until 21 chapters of the book came to an end. At that time I named the book as Bahaullah. To commemorate this event, we prepared and maintained two copies typed by Ms. Annabelle. I lent one copy to Mr. Hawar in New York and took the other with me to Acre.
As I was dictating Chapter 22 to Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Khairullah, who rarely entered our office, opened the door and excitedly said, “Good news, very good news!” Then she read the telegram sent by Mrs. Getsinger from California, with the content that Mrs. Hurst had accepted the 17 commandments or causes, and that she was going on a pilgrimage to Acre, and that she and my wife had been invited to visit the Bahaullah’s tomb and visit her family. We had to be in New York on July 20 to sail to France. We moved to New York a few days later and of course I went to Chicago and Kenosha to say goodbye to my Baha’i friends. On July 20, my wife and I were in New York to board the ship with Mrs. Foob Hurst and her guests.
I did not receive any money during all the time I was holding classes for the beginners, and my teaching programs and lectures were free. I had even set this rule for the teachers I appointed that they also did not have the right to receive any wage or gift for religious propaganda. I made a living from my therapeutic and healing work, and in many cases even refused to accept Christmas presents. Many times I even paid for the meetings of speech assembly out of my own pocket, and they never paid me the money.
Traveling to Acre
In July 1898, we boarded the German steamship Furst Bismarck. We stopped in Paris for a few days, during which I completed the training program for Mrs. Foob Hurst and her companions, taught them the Most Great Name, and how to practice and perform it. At the same time, I joined those who had accepted the teachings along with Mrs. Hurst, and lived in England and France, and taught them materials about the creation of the Kingdom of All-Glorious on earth, and thus the teachings of the Cause started in Europe.
I went to Acre alone through Alexandria (Egypt) and planned to visit my two daughters who lived with their grandmother. I was with them in Egypt for twenty-one days until the German emperor’s visit to Palestine ended and he returned; because during His Excellency the emperor’s trip to the Holy Land, foreigners were not allowed to land in Haifa. My daughters also converted to the new faith and then followed me to visit The Bahaullah’s grave in Acre. Mrs. Hurst and her companions also came to Acre after us, bringing the number of pilgrims who were originally Christians to sixteen. I stayed in Acre for more than six months and during this time important events took place which are as follows:
A day after landing in Haifa, I went to Acre along with Hussein Irani (a person appointed to identify and receive pilgrims in Haifa). Abbas Effendi greeted us in the living room on the second floor of his house and said: O Beloved, O Peter the Baha’! O the second Christopher Columbus! Welcome and then he hugged me. Then we sat down on the couch together and he spoke and he was very kind to me, asking me to be his guest at his house, for which I also thanked him.
The next day, a Turkish Baha’i officer came to see me and put an Arabic Fineh hat on my head instead of a Western hat, saying, “Abbas Effendi ordered this Fineh for Peter the Baha’ and the second Christopher Columbus , the conqueror of America!” Therefore, the present Baha’is congratulated me on these praises and admirations and repeated these titles to me several times.
The first time we entered the “Rawdha Baha” room in the Bahji Edifice (a place where the remains of Bahaullah had been buried), Abbas Effendi told me that you were the first Bahia who has entered this room for worshiping and praying. But then I noticed that other Baha’is were also allowed to enter there for worshiping and praying! One day in Haifa, he took me to Mount Carmel to show me the house of his brother Mohammad Ali Effendi, and then we started digging to build the foundations of the tomb of the remains of the Bab who was supposed to be transferred from Iran to Haifa soon. Each of us had a pickaxe with which we were digging the ground, and there was a servant who dug out the soil. He then stopped digging and told me to drop the pickaxe, stating that I was the only Baha’i who has achieved such great honor. He praised my lessons and classes, and declared them their being true to his companions and followers, and in his writings called me “the shepherd of God’s people in America.” Thus, those around him were very kind to me; even his sister, Mrs. Bahia gave me her special book as a token of my gratitude and respect, and called it as a gift from her to “Peter the Baha’ and the conqueror of America who has worked for the Baha’i cause, which other teachers were unable to do. I also thanked him sincerely and put that book next to other valuable goods.
Before traveling to Acre, I had repeatedly asked Abdu’l-Baha’ to send me some of Bahaullah’s sayings so that I could compare them with my teaching lessons and pamphlets and correct any errors, but none of my requests were achieved; Therefore, when I was in Acre, I urged him to give me some of Baha’u’llah’s writings, but he concealed the existence of such writings, saying, “”All the writings have been taken out of Acre so that the Turkish and Ottoman authorities would not be able to find them and use them as an excuse to harass the Baha’is.” Then, I translated a few chapters of my book, Bahaullah into Arabic so that Abdu’l-Baha would correct them if there were any objections. But he endorsed and praised them in the presence of Western and Eastern Baha’is and those around him.
One day, Mrs. Kheirollah and Mr. and Mrs. Getsinger requested me to ask Abdu’l-Baha what the symbolic meaning of the phrase “the two unclean animals that were allowed to board Noah’s ark” was. And they entered the assembly of the believers. His answer was that they were two polytheists who hypocritically pretended to be religious and joined the ranks of the believers. Then I said to him, “Since in this phrase the symbolic meaning of the ark is God himself, and since they could not deceive God, so, neither they were able to enter the ark, nor were allowed to do so”. Abdu’l-Baha then asked: What is the interpretation of the matter then? I said that those two unclean animals are the symbol of the parents who will be favored by God in this appearance (Bahaullah’s period) for the sake of the children who will believe. Then Abdu’l-Baha turned to them and told me to tell them, “Every subject has two meanings, one spiritual meaning and one material meaning. What I told you is true and what Kheirollah explained is also true!
Since then, Abbas Effendi has refused to answer all my questions that I asked for more information and knowledge. Therefore, I had to share various topics and questions with other teachers who were there, such as Ibn Abhar, with whom I disagreed on the eternity and immortality of the soul, reincarnation, return, and the attributes of God. In view of the differences, Abdu’l-Baha fixed a time for these matters to be raised in his presence so that he might judge and unite the differences. After long discussions, Abdu’l-Baha turned to me and said: “Your logic and reasoning are good, but you should not limit God or argue with Iranian physicians!” I said: Everything we know is limited, and about the eternal knowledge of God, the knowledge that he has about himself, in this case the knowledge of God is limited! He replied: This is wrong and you should not limit God, but say that God is independent and pure from his creatures. I replied: is not the statement that God is independent of his creatures a kind of restriction? Abdu’l-Baha paled and frowned at me. Then he got up and said with a smile: We will talk about this another time. Here, our first and final discussion on these issues came to an end.
After this meeting, there was a change in the behavior of Iranian and American Baha’is, and even my wife opposed me. When I asked them a question, they replied: Only Abbas Effendi can answer these questions, and when I asked the Abdu’l-Baha, his answer was, “Let’s discuss at a better time!” I inquired several times about books published during Bahaullah’s lifetime and by order of Bahaullah in Mumbai, India, but Abbas Effendi claimed that not a single copy of them could be found in Acre. Finally, when I returned to the United States, I bought those books in Egypt.
Other things like this happened, but they did not change me or did not change the mind of my daughters toward me; because our beliefs were based on the prophecies and promises of the books of the covenant. But we were impressed and surprised by the behavior of the Most Great Branch, Abdu’l-Baha. After returning to America and reading the Most Holy Book, God opened our eyes and we saw the truth. Understanding the facts does not always require time and patience. Now, in order to present and express the truth, I narrate some of those tragic events and leave many of them, which cannot be mentioned here, unsaid and concealed.
Abbas Effendi was a powerful, mischievous politician and a mixture of cunning Turkish and Roman diplomacy, and his policies are carried out with such management and skill that he brings even his most intelligent followers to their knees, let alone ordinary and simple Baha’is who can no longer be mentioned! He received all the pilgrims with love and friendship, and appointed those around him and his followers in Acre and Haifa to go with them wherever they wanted and serve them humbly, and never leave them alone until they go to the bedroom and bed! Then they would go and report all the events of the day to him. This system of espionage operates in all countries where there are Baha’is. He forbids the Baha’is from reading Bahaullah’s writings so that they remain unaware of the truth of Baha’i teachings.
His words and writings are emotional and full of accusations against his brother, Mohammad Ali Effendi, the Most Great Branch. Abdu’l-Baha has stated that the sufferings he suffered at the hands of the Ottoman government (Turkey) have been all due to his brother’s conspiracy. In this way, he has attracted the sympathy of others for himself and makes them pessimistic about his brother, so that they do not visit Mohammad Ali and do not become aware of the truth.
He enacted rules to interfere in all the actions and correspondence of his followers, and he always tried to get them in groups and face each other so that all of them would refer to him in some way and ask for help.
The worst thing he has committed is to place himself between the Baha’is and God, and to threaten anyone who dares to disobey his commands with hell, thereby creating fear in their small and simple hearts and minds which is the worst enemy of humanity. He also intends to prepare his granddaughter, Shoghi Effendi, to succeed him after his death. Undoubtedly, this action alone proves that he has lost his authority; because this is a clear violation of Bahaullah’s last will and testament in the Book of the Covenant, which appoints Muhammad Ali as Abdu’l-Baha’s successor by the command of God Almighty.
One day Abbas Effendi invited Badri Beyk, a Turkish military officer, to have dinner with him and American pilgrims. Before going to the dining room, Abbas Effendi asked my daughter, Nabiha, to tell the Americans that if Badri Beyk asked whether they know French to speak to him, they would say no. As we sat at the dinner table, Badri Beck asked if any of the women could speak French because he could not speak English himself. At the request of Abbas Effendi, they denied their ability and replied in the negative, while several of them, including Mrs. Krupper from London and her mother, the late Thorne Borg, and Mrs. Aberson, could speak French well. God hates lies, and whatever the reason, lying is not allowed.
Once at the dining table, Abbas Effendi began to tell two women some important things about their past lives. I suddenly remembered that he had already been informed of this by American pilgrims; because Mr. Getsinger had already given me a list of those materials and events in English, and I had translated them into Arabic at his (Getsinger’s) request. Then Abbas Effendi turned to the most respected lady of the meeting and said with a prophetic gesture: “After ten thousand years, your son’s newspaper will be sent as a valuable gift by one king to another king.” When we got up from the table, I openly expressed my dissatisfaction with this action, but he put his hand on my shoulder and said with a laugh, “I did it in a way that you cannot understand its wisdom at present!” At the table again, Mr. Getsinger asked Abbas Effendi for permission to take his photo. He replied that he had been photographed only once, when he was 27 years old, in Edirne in 1867, and that he had been photographed only one more time, when he put his father’s crown on his head and was taken to be martyred (killed) and thousands of bullets were shot at his body. These words affected all of us, and some wept bitterly. From that date on, he was repeatedly photographed, and his prediction never came true.
When I along with my wife went to say goodbye to Abbas Effendi, he insisted that we continue to live in peace, but when Abdu’l-Baha was saying these, my wife laughed out loudly, and this laughter was interpreted when we arrived at Port Said in Egypt; He left me and my daughters suddenly and without saying goodbye which caused the astonishment of those present.
Return to America: Decision to join Mohammad Ali Effendi
Two months after returning to the United States (in 1899), I received a letter from Abbas Effendi in his own handwriting and with his special signature (A. E.), in which he wrote after praising me: “You are the center of the circle of love and affection for God and the axis where the population of believers gather around you to praise and worship God.” This letter caused me to become resolute that he is nothing more than a flatterer! Because his letter was an answer to my question about how and through whom, a wealthy person, can send him money? At the same time, I learned that Mr. and Mrs. Getsinger, who had returned to the United States shortly after us, were spreading the word among the Bahائ’ کهs that Abbas Effendi was dissatisfied with me and that my teachings were wrong, and that Mr. Getsinger had been appointed as the head of the Baha’is group in America. And he has proved his claim by presenting a credential signed by Abbas Effendi.
Considering these unfortunate events, I thought about it and, after studying Bahaullah’s texts and writings, I was convince that the Abdu’l-Baha claims, conduct, and teachings were invalid and false. So, I separated from him and joined the line of Muhammad Ali’s followers according to the commandment of the Book of the Covenant. And I started corresponding with him. Among my documents and correspondence, I have more than one hundred and fifty letters from him in which you cannot even find a word against Abbas Effendi, but Abbas Effendi asked us to pray until Mohammad Ali repents and returns to the right path.
The beginning of tension and conflict in America
Seven months after returning to the United States, during a meeting at the Masonic Temple in Chicago, I announced my separation from Abdu’l-Baha and the reunion with his brother Muhammad Ali Effendi. I asked those who agreed with me to join me. About 300 people joined me in Chicago, Kenosha, and elsewhere but the majority remained with Abbas Effendi because the wealthy Americans were still in his party. In those days I gave a work of Bahaullah to the Hallister Brothers Publications in Chicago. I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Howard McNaught from New York City and thank him for the literary editing of many parts of that book. A few months later, Abbass Effendi first sent Haji Abdul Karim Tehrani to keep me among his supporters; but he could not convince me even after he promised that I would receive $ 50,000 in compensation from a wealthy American. Then Mirza Assadollah, the brother-in-law of Abbass Effendi and Mirza Hassan Khorasani were sent to either keep me in the group or get rid of me! Several threatening messages were sent to me from Acre, and three guards were assigned by the American police to look after me. Asadullah, the father of Dr. Amin Farid, told the American Baha’is that I would die soon if I continued to disobey Abdu’l-Baha, and even announced the day of my burial. On the same day, I met a Baha’i in the city and he was surprised that I was still alive. Then Abolfazl Golpayegani came to the United States to negotiate with me, and Mrs. Getsinger was the liaison and messenger between me and Golpayegani, but we did not agree to hold a meeting, so there was no meeting between us.
The unfortunate persecutions, the unjust sufferings, the accusations and the slanders that were inflicted on me by the followers of Abdu’l-Baha and his representatives and envoys, and most importantly, the important events that took place after my return from Acre, all of them have been recorded in the United States by Dr. Frederick A. Pease, a historiographer of the Baha’i group. He intends to publish them soon, so I see no need to include them in this autobiography.
Since 1900, there has been a great deal of correspondence between me and His Highness Muhammad Ali Effendi, the Most Great Branch, and Mahd-e Olia (Bahaullah’s Widow), Khademullah, Mirza Aqajan, and Muhammad Hussein Shirazi, and several others of Bahaullah’s family about Bahaullah’s teachings which deny the actions of Abbas Effendi, the Most Great Branch. I have made this clear in my two books, “Facts for Baha’is” and “Three Questions”, which I published between 1901 and 1902.
Muhammad Ali Effendi, the Most Great Branch, sent me hundreds of tablets issued by Bahaullah and many other valuable Baha’i texts written by prominent Baha’i writers. He also provided valuable information about Bahai tablets and artifacts, and gave me precious gifts such as a tablet in Bahaullah’s own handwriting, two strands of Bahaullah hair, and a few other gifts and memorabilia, addressing me in correspondence as “doctor”.
I continued to teach in Chicago with those who had joined me. In 1904, I married Miss Augusta Linderburg, after which we moved to St. Louis and from there to New York City.
We returned to Chicago in 1906 and began teaching as usual; I had two other classes in the Chicago suburbs, one in Evanston and the other in Wilmette. My wife died in 1912, a Baha’i woman who was resolute on her belief even in deathbed.
In 1994, I returned to Chicago with my son, George Ibrahim Kheirollah, after spending eighteen months in Black Hills (Rapid City, South Dakota). In Chicago, we had meetings with the Baha’is and decided to register an association under the title of the “National Association of World Religions” according to the laws of the state of Illinois.
Happy ending
For many years, my main desire and wish has been to strive to know and believe in the existence of God, the Creator of the world, the resurrection and the hereafter, the survival and immortality of mankind, the boundary between abstract reason and matter and right and wrong. By the grace of God, these facts were obtained for me through research and study, and I have explained them in my works, the book “Bahaullah”, and the same work namely “O Christians,” in which my biography has also been included.
Any rational and fair person can find strong scientific and logical reasons and arguments in the content of these books to convince him or her about the occurrence of the above events, but even if we do not accept any of these arguments and only suffice to what is in my works about the predictions included in the Bible, the Qur’an, and other sacred texts that go beyond human knowledge, it is enough that they convince anyone of the truth of these facts. In other words, there is a God who sent prophets and messengers to humanity and taught them about the survival and immortality of mankind and the resurrection, and then in the last stage, God himself appeared on earth to establish his kingdom on earth; while our forgiveness and salvation became certain, as our lord Jesus Christ had promised.
Let me finish writing this and raise our hands to heaven, like Jesus Christ, and joyfully exclaim, “O Heavenly Father, all thanks be to you; for you have given us eternal life through the manifestation of the soul and your great ego, and you made us recognize that you are only the true God; grandeur, omnipotence, glory and absolute power belong to you forever.
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