Hermann Zimmer was an early pioneer of the

Baháʼí Faith in Germany Though mentioned in German literature in the 19th century, the history of the Baháʼí Faith in Germany (german: Bahaitum) begins in the early 20th century when two emigrants to the United States returned on prolonged visits to Germany bringing t ...

. Zimmer is one of a few Baháʼís who revived the efforts of Ruth White to oppose

Shoghi Effendi Shoghí Effendi (; 1 March 1897 – 4 November 1957) was the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, appointed to the role of Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. He created a series of teaching plans that over ...

, claiming that the ''

Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá The ''Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá'' was a seminal document of the Baháʼí Faith, written in three stages by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. Several sections were written under imminent threat of harm. The first section was probably written in 1906. T ...

'' was forged.

Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

The Will and Testament was written in three parts and covers a wide range of topics. It reiterates some of the fundamental teachings of the Baháʼí Faith, clearly calls out

Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí ( fa, 1853–1937) was one of the sons of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was the eldest son of his father's second wife, Fatimih Khanum, later known as Mahd-i-'Ulya, whom Baháʼu'lláh m ...

as being a

Covenant-breaker Covenant-breaker is a term used by Baháʼís to refer to a person who has been excommunicated from the Baháʼí community for breaking the ' Covenant': actively promoting schism in the religion or otherwise opposing the legitimacy of the chai ...

, establishes a new institution of the

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

and clarifies its roles as compared to those of the

Universal House of Justice The Universal House of Justice ( fa, بیت‌العدل اعظم) is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate o ...

, and also defines the responsibilities of the

Hands of the Cause Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá who died in 2007. Hands of ...

Opposition

Zimmer was a Baháʼí in good standing during World War II, and as a German, traveled to Berlin to unsuccessfully lobby the Nazi government to rescind their ban of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

. By 1971, however, he wrote a book titled ''A Fraudulent Testament devalues the Baháʼí Religion into Political Shogism'', which criticized the

Baháʼí administration The Baháʼí administration or Baháʼí administrative order is the administrative system of the Baháʼí Faith. It has two arms, the elected and the appointed. The supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith is the Universal Ho ...

. Zimmer based his claims partly on the work of criminologist Charles Ainsworth Mitchell, who Ruth White had hired to review photocopies of the original ''Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá''. Mitchell had compared the photocopies to original samples of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's handwriting. Mitchell's provisional report indicated that the ''Will'' was a forgery, pending inspection of the originals. White later placed Mitchell's signed report with the U.S.

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

in 1930. Mitchell could not read

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, however, and the claims of a forgery were not taken up by many other Baháʼís opposed to Shoghi Effendi at that time, most notably including

Ahmad Sohrab Mírzá Aḥmad Sohráb (March 21, 1890 – April 20, 1958) was a Persian- American author and Baháʼí who served as ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's secretary and interpreter from 1912 to 1919. He co-founded the New History Society and the Caravan of East a ...

. Hermann Zimmer remained one amongst a small group of Baháʼís to question the authenticity of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's ''Will''. Zimmer attempted to establish a group called "

Free Baháʼís Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...

" or the "World Union of Universal Religion and Universal Peace" along with Charles Seeburger of Philadelphia, but it is not clear that it actually came into being.

Impact

Zimmer's own work was further taken up by Francesco Ficicchia in ''Der Bahā'ismus-Religion der Zukunft? Geschichte, Lehreund Organisation in kritischer Anfrage'', a work which

Denis MacEoin Denis M. MacEoin (26 January 1949 – 6 June 2022) was a British academic, scholar and writer with a focus on Persian, Arabic and Islamic studies. He authored several academic books and articles, as well as many pieces of journalism. Since 2014 ...

notes "did indeed do a lot of damage to the public image of the Baháʼís" in German-speaking Europe and "damaged the Baháʼís and distorted their cause in certain quarters, mainly within the Catholic and Protestant churches." Zimmer and Ficicchia's works were funded and distributed by evangelical Christian organizations in Germany. The work had such a negative impact on the Baháʼí community that a lengthy apologetic response came from

Schaefer Schaefer is an alternative spelling and cognate for the German word ''schäfer'', meaning 'shepherd', which itself descends from the Old High German '' scāphare''. Variants "Shaefer", "Schäfer" (a standardized spelling in many German-speaking ...

, Towfigh, and Gollmer in ''Making the Crooked Straight: A Contribution to Baháʼí Apologetics''.

Works

References

Bahá'í divisions History of the Bahá'í Faith {{Baháʼí-stub

Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

Opposition

Impact

Works

See also

References