Persia was at one time the centre of religious difference,
antagonism and oppression, to such an extent that pen is unable to describe.
The adherents of different nations and religions considered it their religious
duty to shed the blood of their opponents; they pillaged and ransacked each
other’s property and did not fall short of oppressing their own flesh and
blood. The hatred between the various religions attained to such a height that
they considered each other unclean. Should a Jew enter a Muslim home, he would
be made to sit upon the ground; if he drank water from a cup, that cup was
destroyed or washed again and again; for the Jew was considered unclean. Such
was the hatred and rancor among the different religions and nations in Persia.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet addressed to Mr. C. C. Philips, Secretary of the Mohonk
Conference on International Arbitration; Star of
the West, vol. 2, no. 15, December 12, 1911)
(To read the entire Tablet please
visit Tablets of
‘Abdu’l-Baha in Star of the West)
