Theosophy in Iran had serious effects through Iranian Awakening Loge, the most important Iranian mason organization which played a major role in the constitutional developments and overthrowing the Pahlavi monarchy. The Theosophical sect was closely associated with the Baha’i sect in Iran and similar sects in India, especially the Brahma Samaj, led by the Tagore Family. It was because of this association that in the years 1911-1913, the Theosophical Society planned the controversial and propaganda trip of Abbas Effendi, the same Abdul-Baha, the leader of the Baha’i Faith, to Europe and the United States. During this journey, Abdul-Baha attended the Theosophical assemblies of various cities and gave numerous lectures, all of which were in keeping with the spirit of Theosophical teachings. Due to the association between Theosophy and Baha’ism and the “unseen masters”, it is said that during Abbas Effendi’s visit, extensive propaganda was carried out in his favor as one of the leaders of Theosophism; so much so that the Queen of Romania and her daughter Julia recognized Abdul-Baha as the leader of Theosophy and corresponded with him with this title.
During this trip, Abbas Effendi met with some Iranian political and cultural figures such as Sultan Hussein Mirza Jalal al-Dawlah (son of Zell-al-Sultan), Doost Mohammad Khan, Mo’ayer al-Mamalik (son-in-law of Naser al-Din Shah), Seyyed Hassan Taghizadeh, Mirza Mohammad Qazvini, Aliqoli Khan Sardar Asad Bakhtiari and others; Arminius Vambery was the founder of Pan-Turanism and also because of his association with these “unseen masters” who during the above trip, a famous Jew like Arminius Vambery, who is one of the wonders of his time and we said that he is known as the founder of “Pan Turanism”, met with Abbas Effendi, expressing his interest in “Baha’ism”. Vambery’s blackmail went so far as that he wrote a letter to this “emerging prophet” in admiring him.
The important point is that Vambery mentions in the letter that he knew Abbas Effendi “the grandfather of His Excellency’s father” closely.
Due to this deep connection and the existence of two sects of unseen occult masters, a Baha’i named Hossein Kazemzadeh Iranshahr (1240-1340 AD), the director of the influential Iranshahr magazine, became one of the leaders of Iranian theosophism and in the winter of 1305, shortly after its official establishment. The Pahlavi dynasty (November 1304) introduces theosophism by publishing a detailed article in two issues of Iranshahr magazine.
Due to this deep connection and the existence of the unseen masters for the two sects, a Baha’i named Hossein Kazemzadeh Iranshahr (1262-1340 solar hijri), the director of the influential Iranshahr magazine, became one of the leaders of Iranian theosophism and in the winter of 1305, shortly after its official establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty (Aban 1302), introduces theosophism by publishing a detailed article in two issues of Iranshahr magazine.
Iranshahr introduces Theosophy as a continuation of the traditional Sufism of the Islamic world, and likens the Brothers of Light of the Theosophists to the same saints as, for example, mentioned in the book of memoirs of Attar (Tazkirat al-Awliya). he writes:
“As our Sufis say, Sufism has existed since the time of Adam and the earth has never been empty of the saints. The followers of Theosophy also believe that Theosophy has existed since the creation of the universe and in every period of the history of the earth, God Almighty has shared servants from his wisdom, and blessed from the grace of the Holy Spirit, has entrusted the implementation of his commandments and the education of mankind to them, and it is in their hands to this day. This class of creatures who are the executors of justice and the guides of human evolution and the liaisons between the lower and upper worlds and the educators and teachers of the races are called the “Elder Brothers” or the “White Brothers”, i.e. the brothers of light. They are called older brothers, which means that they are the elder brothers of human beings and have reached the superhuman status from human status, just as every human being will reach their status after countless stages of evolution, and they are called white brothers or brothers of light, which means that They are against the black brothers, the forces of darkness and the demons. These white brothers are the publishers of light and the guides of the straight path and the kind and pure-hearted educators of mankind”.
Hossein Kazemzadeh Iranshahr: These “brothers of light” are not symbolic and imaginary creatures, but are completely real. Iranshahr continues:
“The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 by two Theosophical seekers, Madame Blavatsky, who was of Russian descent, and Colonel Olcott, an American, in the United States. Because these “white brothers”, who are also called “great masters”, are not seen like Hazrat Khidr except in the eyes of special followers and disciples, and we will understand its wisdom later, when those two people, who had been educated under the guidance of these unseen masters for years, they were commissioned to set up the Theosophical Society, their statements about the existence of such unseen masters and their superstitions caused most people, especially the materialist scholars of America and Europe to ridicule them, and the two founders were the target of thousands of mockery and humiliation and totally denied the existence of such men.”
Then, Iranshahr tries to prove the real existence of these “white brothers” so that some readers do not surprise and deny or laugh at the above claim:
“These white brothers are the same beings who are called Rijalollah or the men of God and Rijal al-Ghayb or the men of unseen in the books of Sufism and Eastern mysticism, and Just as these unseen men have classes and degrees such as saints, Aqtab, Ghous, Imam, Otad, Abdal, Akhyar, Abrar, Niqba, etc., so these brothers of light also have organizations and classes, and duties and privileges are prescribed for people of every class, and like the Sufis, they believe that every human being can reach the position they have reached through special education and training. From prehistoric times, they have done their best to protect, support, and guide human beings, and all the prophets and messengers are considered to be the descendants of these brothers of light, and they appear in every covenant and among every nation, as we believe that every age has its own Imam and a guardian or a Khidr, which is called “the Khidr of the Time”.
Each member of this chain of Brothers of Light is a Khidr of time and like Khidr, he is present wherever he wants and guides and helps the willing people, but every sight does not see him, but the inner sight and the Khidr-seer are necessary.
All the supernatural habits, wonders and miracles that we attribute to the saints and Khidr and the books of mystics and mystics are full of them, all come true for these brothers of light, but rather they become the source of miracles that are far above and beyond the scope of understanding. And today’s intellect and perception is human. But in spite of this, their infallibility is free from any human pollution, and they do not call themselves but brothers, and they do not wait for human rewards in any way, and without human beings realizing this, they help and guide the mankind like angels of mercy all day and night.
All mystics, sages, Sufi sheikhs, and so on, who have been the manifestation of miracles, events and discoveries, are all indebted to the efforts and support of these Khidrs and eternal lives, and wherever the name Khidr is mentioned, he has definitely been one of these brothers. The path and followers of the path of truth have always wished for the will of Khidr to seek his efforts and see him and have considered him a blessing of truth, and often saved him from great dangers by assisting Khidr, or by pointing and guiding him, they have succeeded to discover many scientific truths and the unseen events, and in a word it must be said that these unseen men and the brothers of light are the hands of divine power that govern the cycles of evolution of the small world, our earth.
In explaining the “White Brothers”, Iranshahr, while using religious concepts to prove them and citing the example of Khidr and Elijah, emphasizes that they have nothing to do with religions. He adds:
“These brothers of light also have different and strange names that will seem strange to the short-sighted and ignorant people, but we should know that these are basically outside the circle of religions and human intellects and illusions, and now it does not matter whether we call them Khidr or give them another name. These have always been present and will always be, and they will appear under different names and lead the human caravan to a certain destination, which is the evolution of the mankind”.
“Brothers of light” have supernatural powers:
“The powers which these unseen men possess, which the immature minds of man call magic or miracle, are infinite, and many of them at the beginning of the formation of the Theosophical community and in his early years, which were necessary to attract attention, came to the fore that their description with authentic papers and documents and even photos of some papers and writings that have fallen from the air in various meetings and are in the handwriting of these unseen men have been published in Theosophical books in important European languages. But these unseen men, who call themselves only brothers, first of all have aversion and hatred for presenting miracle and virtues, unless as a matter of necessity, and secondly, they say that these are neither magic nor miracles, but all are in accordance with the application of the laws and rules of nature and the invisible worlds and the hidden sciences”.
Then, Iranshahr attributes powers such as teleportation and leaving the material body and domination over time and place and conquering in nature and so on to these brothers of light. But the most important work of the Brothers of Light is not in the earthly world but in the spiritual one:
“The main powers and duties of the unseen men, however, are in the world of the unseen, the paradise, and the world of spirits, and the services they perform in those worlds are far greater in terms of importance and grandeur, and are beyond our imagination”.
Source: Baha’i research (Website of Abdollah Shahbazi)
