A Critique of Six Examples of Qurʾanic Citation in the Bahá’í Sect

Author
Rouhollah Najafi
Kharazmi University
Abstract
A thousand years after the death of Imam Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī and the beginning of the period of occultation, a cleric from Shiraz named Sayyid ʿAlī Muḥammad announced the end of the occultation and declared himself first to be the Qāʾim and later a prophet. After his execution, Mīrzā Ḥusayn ʿAlī Nūrī continued the movement and likewise claimed to be the promised prophet. In this way, the Bahá’í religion emerged and added a new dimension to interreligious and theological disputes. In their efforts to promote Bahá’í teachings, Bahá’í missionaries have at times appealed to verses of the Qurʾan. These citations concern issues such as the return of Jesus, the future clarification of the Qurʾan, the Prophet Muḥammad’s covenant regarding future prophets, the destruction of false prophets, the coming of messengers after the end of the Islamic community, and the return of the Islamic cause to God within a thousand-year period. This article examines six such examples in order to evaluate the validity of Qurʾanic citation within Bahá’í discourse. The study argues that Bahá’í interpreters frequently depart from the apparent meanings of the Qurʾanic verses and from established interpretive principles, instead relying on highly remote interpretations in an attempt to challenge the doctrine of the finality of Prophethood.
Keywords
Qurʾan, Finality of Prophethood, Bahá
&rsquo
í
Faith, Interpretation, Hermeneutics
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Metaphysical Research
Volume 7, English Special Issue
June 2026
Pages 195-211