Find Communities in Australia

Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.

Learn about the Baha’i Faith

Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.

DISMISS MENU

Explore

This post is featured in the following collections:

Our Story Is One: The Persecution of Baha’is in Iran

in Explore > Themes

June 18, 2023 will mark 40 years since 10 Baha’i women were hanged in Shiraz. Their only ‘crime’ was their refusal to renounce their beliefs in a faith that promotes the principles of gender equality, unity, justice, and truthfulness. This collection highlights Baha’i Blog content relating to the ongoing persecution of Baha’is in Iran.

Education: A Right for Everyone

September 2, 2011, in Articles > Baha'i Life, by

The recent arrests of some Baha’i’s in Iran for running the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) has been met with outrage across the world.

Iran’s attack on Bahá’í educators has also struck a strong chord with me for a number of reasons.

The BIHE is an online university and it was established in 1987 for Bahá’ís in Iran.  Bahá’ís in Iran have repeatedly been denied access to a higher education ever since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.  A leaked confidential Iran memo in 2006 (from Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology) exposes a government-level policy to deny Bahá’í students university education.

I’m a Bahá’í, and I’ve had the opportunity to go to university, graduate, and now specialise in adult education – but hey, I don’t live in Iran. To be honest, I never thought going to university was such a big deal. I just saw it as a natural continuation from my schooling years.  My only source of stress during my university years was waiting to see if my marks were good enough to get into the course of my choice, as well as some of the last minute study cramming I used to do for my exams.  In fact, my years at university were some of the best years of my life, so far! This is why I find it confusing and unthinkable that Bahá’í students in Iran are repeatedly denied the opportunity to pursue a further education, and even be arrested for trying! 

More than 40 years ago, the world’s nations, speaking through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, asserted that “everyone has a right to education”.

There are some amazing quotes from the Bahá’í Writings on education and its importance in achieving material and spiritual progress. What I love about the Bahá’í teachings is that it exalts the concept of knowledge and promotes free inquiry and self-reflected learning. The Bahá’í teachings talk of the importance of creating a career for yourself and striving towards perfecting your skills. I’m sure you would have also heard the common phrase ‘work is worship’.

Bahá’u’lláh so eloquently professes that acquiring knowledge and expertise will promote human prosperity – long before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights even came into existence! Two of my favourite quotes about education are from the pen of Bahá’u’lláh:

Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being and are conductive to this exaltation.  Knowledge is as wings to a man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone.

Bahá’u’lláh – Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Regard man as a mine rich in gems of estimable value.  Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom. 

Bahá’u’lláh- Gleanings from The Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

Bahá’u’lláh – Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Every human being in this world has a right to grow their ‘wings’ and reveal their ‘treasures’ to one another.

There is currently a campaign underway which has been going viral. It advocates for the right of young Bahá’ís in Iran to an education, but it’s not a Bahá’í campaign. It’s been organised by a group of young people of different nationalities and religious backgrounds who believe that everyone has the right to an education. If this is something you agree with and you want to get involved, you can voice your support by checking out their website: www.can-you-solve-this.org

Posted by

Pedro

Pedro

Discussion 7 Comments

I LOVE this article!!!!! There is ALWAYS something we can ALL do to help the people of Iran & in particular the people
who are being systematically discrimination against & persecuted. Raising awareness may not seem like too much but it’s really the foundation to
fixing any problem. Now that we know what the problems are we must ACT and act BOLDY & ardently so that we can help our fellow human beings who have been suffering for decades.

Shamim Bina

Shamim Bina (September 9, 2011 at 9:07 AM)

The initiative you mentioned got featured on mashable.com, the world’s second most read blog.

Mehran

Mehran (September 9, 2011 at 1:37 PM)

Here’s the mashable.com article about the ‘can-you-solve-this’ campaign: http://mashable.com/2011/08/23/qr-code-iran/

Naysan

Naysan (September 9, 2011 at 2:31 PM)

It is so sad to hear that Baha’i children and the Baha’i youth are deprived from basic human’s right (EDUCATION).

“Among the greatest of all services that can possibly be rendered by man to Almighty God is the education and training of children….”

ferdous Mitchell

ferdous Mitchell (September 9, 2011 at 2:46 PM)

This is good place for my learning.
I am doing all what I can do for
education, physically, intellectually and divine.

Pukirahe

Pukirahe (September 9, 2011 at 11:12 PM)

[…] “Everyone has the right to education”, says article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. […]

Can You Solve This? | Baha'i Blog

Can You Solve This? | Baha'i Blog (February 2, 2012 at 1:08 PM)

My mother is a Knight of Baha’u’llah. She radiates love and kindness for all she meets. We should all see ourrselves as knights in the path of Human development. I like this story told by Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyah Khanum and passed on to me by my mother. While travelling Ruhiyyah Khanum met a mman that said he could not read or write and how was he to teach the cause of God. She asked him if he believed in God and the teachinggs of Baha’u’llah. He responded saying that he did with all his heart. She said that he had all he needed to teach the faith and that he should go without hesitation and do so. He did.

I think that the one thing that my mother taught me was this, that love is the key to teaching the cause of God for the past dispensations, current dispensation and in the future. The mind and intellect can grasp the concepts but only the heart that is kindled with the love of Baha’u’llah can ever hope to transform the world.

Robert Ray MacLeod

Robert Ray MacLeod (October 10, 2013 at 6:20 PM)

Leave a Reply to Robert Ray MacLeod Cancel reply

YOUR EMAIL WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED
REQUIRED FIELDS ARE MARKED *

"*" indicates required fields

Receive our regular newsletter

Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.

Find Communities in Australia

or Internationally

The arts and media have a critical role in how we share our community experiences. We’ve got resources, projects and more to help you get involved.

Visit our Creator Hub

Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.

What Baha’is Believe

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia.

We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.

Baha’i Blog is a non-profit independent initiative

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha’i Faith.