Criticism of the Baháʼí Faith

[1] Western academics have criticized the requirement for Baháʼís to seek pre-publication review when publishing on the religion[2] and the exclusion of women from serving on the Universal House of Justice.

[6][7] In Iran and other parts of the Middle East, Baháʼís continue to be criticized for breaking with Islam and accused of conspiring with Western powers, resulting in intense persecution and the loss of civil rights.

He further argued that in the case of "Baha'ism, with its rather vague doctrines as to the nature and destiny of the soul of man, it is a little difficult to see whence the driving force to enforce the ethical maxims can be derived.

"[13] William McElwee Miller (1892–1993) was a Presbyterian missionary in Iran who published a polemic titled The Baha'i Faith (1974), in which he attacked the religion by promoting the views of individuals opposing Baháʼí leadership.

[14] For example, the perspectives of Subh-i-Azal, Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí, and Mason Remey, the most prominent covenant-breakers of the religion, were all upheld by Miller in an attempt to show its adherents as deceived, its teachings superficial or irrelevant, and its administration "a dictatorship".

[15] Douglas Martin wrote that Miller's writings were driven by animus against what he saw as a successful rival faith that was moving into Christian lands.

[17] Baháʼu'lláh's teachings on the equality of men and women, and that slavery should be banned, were controversial ideas in the nineteenth century Middle East that contributed to attempts to destroy his movement.

Abdo presented the following list of criticisms of the Baháʼí Faith from a feminist perspective at an annual gathering for Baháʼí studies in 1995: the ineligibility of women to serve on the Universal House of Justice--this is of particular interest to supporters of women priests within the Christian tradition; the intestacy laws in the Kitab-i-Aqdas; the dowry laws with particular reference to the virginity refund clause; the exemption of menstruating women from obligatory prayers and the implication of menstrual taboo; the use of androcentric language and male pronouns in texts; the emphasis on traditional morality and family values...[18] The religion's governing institution is the elected Universal House of Justice, whose membership is male-only.

[22] Baháʼí scholar Udo Schaefer stated that the legitimization of the death penalty in cases of murder and arson is usually met with disapproval and suspicion in Europe.

[28] Soon after his resignation, Cole created an email list and website called H-Bahai, which became a repository of both primary source material and critical analysis on the religion.