Very recently Baha’is are also
interested in giving Fake ‘percentage Baha’i population’ for every country.
Thanks to the internet – their lie is getting exposed. The number of countries
and localities varies with each web site. There is ‘no consensus’ regarding the
actual number of countries, the actual number of localities, and the actual
number of Baha’i. This trouble in the Baha’i population is not generated by the
Baha’i Administration themselves but it is just the continuation of what Abdul
Baha and Shoghi Effendi have done.
One may ask, why didn't the NSAs , UHJ-ITC-ABM-CBC ever contact the Christian World Encyclopedia Editors, and request a correction? This is because the Baha’is wants to jack-up their numbers- for "public image".
Figure 1: Image of newspaper that quotes `Abdu'l-Bahā as saying the world Baha'i population is about 2 million
The same number is repeated in another paper the next day:
He estimates the number of his followers at about 2,000,000, about 5,000 of these being in this country. (Leader of New Cult [rest of title is missing], Chicago Illinois Post, 13 April 1912) (http://centenary.bahai.us/news/abdul-baha-and-chicago)
Figure 2: Image of another newspaper that quotes `Abdu'l-Bahā as saying the world Baha'i population is about 2 million
Matters become even more interesting. Six months into his stay these numbers dramatically change. He is quoted as saying he has ten million followers:
`Abdu’l-Bahā
Abbas, leader of the Bahā’ī movement, which he says has 10,000,000 followers in
the world, is in Salt Lake City.He is making a tour of the United States and
plans to lecture on his religion here. (Comes [sic] to Lecture on Bahal [sic]
Religion, The Evening Standard [Salt Lake], 30 September 1912)
(http://centenary.bahai.us/news/abdul-baha-abbas-comes-lecture-bahai-religion )
Figure 3: Image of newspaper that quotes `Abdu'l-Bahā as saying the world Baha'I population is about 10 million
This high number is further strengthened by a quote from another newspaper several days later in which `Abdu’l-Bahā claims he has converted several million people to Baha’ism himself:
The disciple is a martyr to religion and claims to have converted several million people, including Christian,Mohammedans and Jews to the Baha’ism faith. (Women Should Have Rights of Men, The Sacramento Bee [San Francisco] 4 October 1912) (http://centenary.bahai.us/news/women-should-have-rights-men-he-says )
Figure 4: Image of newspaper that quotes `Abdu'l-Bahā as saying he has converted several million people to Baha’ism himself
The number of American Baha’is can also be found in `Abdu’l-Bahā’s words. As we previously quoted, upon arriving in the US, he had mentioned his American followers to be around 5000:
He
estimates the number of his followers at about 2,000,000, about 5,000 of these
being in this country. (Leader of New Cult [rest of title is missing], Chicago
Illinois Post, 13 April 1912)
(http://centenary.bahai.us/news/abdul-baha-and-chicago )
Furthermore,
in his farewell speech he had claimed that he had converted thousands of
Americans during his eight month stay in America:
About 100 members of the New York Bahā’ī Society, 80 percent. of whom are
women, went to the pier to see `Abdu’lBahā off and were deeply moved as he
delivered his final address to them in the lounge. He said that during his tour
of the United States he had converted thousands of men and women and that they
would work among their churches after he had gone for the furtherance of the
movement for universal peace. (Abdul Baha Sails Away, The New York Times, 6
December 1912) (http://centenary.bahai.us/news/abdul-baha-sails-away-0 )
Figure 5: Image of newspaper that quotes `Abdu'l-Bahā as saying he has converted thousands of Americans to Baha’ism during his stay in America.
If we conservatively assume that `Abdu’l-Bahā had converted another five thousand people to the Baha’i faith during his stay in America based on the thousands that he had claimed—then we can estimate the total number of American Baha’is to be around ten thousand.
Subsequently, based on what the papers quoted from `Abdu’l-Bahā,there must have been two or ten million Baha’is worldwide (millions of which he had converted) and ten thousand in America at the end of 1912. According to a survey by two prominent Baha’i authors (P. Smith, M. Momen, The Baha'i faith 1957–1988: A survey of contemporary developments,Religion 19 (1989), pp. 63–91: http://bahai-library.com/momen_smith_developments_1957-1988(retrieved 28/2/2014)) the number of Baha’is 42 years later—in 1954—were only 213,000 worldwide and only 10,000 in North America, Europe, and Anglo-Pacific combined!
Even if we assume a large margin of error for all numbers, the estimated population of 1912 is still very large and greatly exaggerated.Ignoring the population growth, `Abdu’l-Bahā’s statistics are respectively about 9.4 times and 46 times the Baha’i population of 42 years later! These are the words of the Mystery of God who possesses superhuman knowledge (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 134.) and is the Unerring Pen (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 75.)
There is another point in these exaggerations that is worth mentioning. `Abdu’l-Bahā apparently didn’t mind these large numbers being published in these papers although he protested other facts that he deemed needed to be corrected. For instance:
`Abdul-Bahā, “Servant of Ineffable Splendor,” has arrived in Chicago from Persia to establish a world-wide peace betweenreligion and science, but feels a little doubtful of our newspapers because a reporter wrote that he wore a robe and turban of red and white stripes — which he never did;so there! ([title missing], Inter Ocean [Chicago] 2 May 1912) (http://centenary.bahai.us/news/abdul-baha-servant-splendor )
The paper that `Abdu’l-Bahā was referring to was published a day earlier:
`Abdul-Bahā, “Servant of Ineffable Splendor,” Adviser to 40,000,000 Through World . . . The high priest sat in a big plush chair during the brief reception. He wore a long, flowing robe, striped with red and white. His beard reached almost to his waist. A turban of the same material as the robe was wound about his head. (Bahaist Leader Opens Oriental Court Here, unnamed [Chicago] 1 May 1912) (http://centenary.bahai.us/news/bahaist-leader-opens-oriental-court-here )
Figure 6: Image of newspaper that claimed `Abdu'l-Bahā had worn a red and white striped robe.
Apparently, the color of his turban was an important point that needed to be corrected but his 40 million non-existent followers were not.
Why is wrong data given to non-English speaking audiences? Professor Juan Cole’s statements seem fairly reasonable:
The
statements of the Universal House of Justice must be understood against a
background of twentieth-century Bahā’ī translation practice, in which it has
been the custom to limit the amount of material translated, to suppress large
parts of the scriptural corpus by simply not making them available or by
ensuring they stay out of print, and by translating in such a way as to
build bridges to Western converts and potential converts. The purpose of
such translation is not academic accuracy, but building up a
seemingly seamless scriptural corpus in English that smooths over internal
contradictions and supports the contemporary 'party line;' and making the
scriptural corpus bland enough and 'naturalized' enough in English to ensure
it does not pose a Public Relations problem inside or outside the community.
(http://bahai-library.com/uhj_lawh_huriyyih_cole )
CAUTION
Going by the words (and not spirit) of deceased guardian of Bahá'í Faith – Shoghi Effendi - "Bahá'u'lláh has entrusted the sacred duty of every Bahá'í to spread the Faith", the Bahá'ís have found an easier way to spread the faith. SPREAD THE NUMBER!
It is high time world takes a serious note of such dubious claims. Else soon we may find Bahá'í population being reported more than the world population! How can one explain the strange classification of world population into ‘Bahá'ís’ and ‘Not yet Bahá'ís’ by Bahá'í Administration (The Arbabs, Mohajers and Razavis)? Such publicity should be questioned and the Bahá'í Faith office bearers be held accountable.
This skewed information is spread by the supreme Bahá'í Governing Body, the Universal House of Justice. The Indian Bahá'í census deflates the balloon instantly, which official census of Government of India says there are 4750 Bahais as claimed of 2.2 millions by the Universal House of Justice.