Dennis MacEoin, born on January 26, 1949 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a former Islamic studies lecturer specializing in Shi’ism, Sheikhism, the Bab, and the Baha’ism and a former Baha’i. He also writes novels under the pseudonyms Daniel Easterman and Jonathan Aycliffe.
He teaches English by Michael Longley. He became interested in theater and literature, so he decided to study English language and literature. He converted to Baha’ism before moving to Dublin and was a Baha’i for about 15 years. He was the first Western Baha’i who studied Persian and Arabic, so he went to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where he studied Arabic, Quran and Persian. After four years in Edinburgh, he traveled to Jordan, Turkey and Iran. He studied at Shiraz University in Iran. Eoin received his doctorate from King’s College, Cambridge. He chose the topic of his dissertation on dealing with Sheikhism and Babism in 19th century Shiite Iran. For two years, 1979-1980, Dr. Eoin taught English, Islamic civilization, and English-Arabic translator at Mohammed V University in Fez, Morocco. In view of the Royal Literary Fund, Dr. MacEoin was teaching Arabic and Islamic studies at Newcastle University since 1981; Until the Saudi investors expelled him for teaching Shiite and Sufi subjects. MacEoin is one of Israel’s defenders and has published various articles in support for it. At the same time, according to himself, he feels very negative about Islam. He first traveled to Israel in 1986 when he was still a Baha’i. He is currently a board member of the Israel Defense Association and writes for a blog called “A Liberal Defense of Israel.”
MacEoin’s wife, Beth, has a degree in English as well as art history. Her third degree is in the field of homeopathy and she has published about 20 books in this field and in the field of public health.
Baha’ism
MacEoin was a Baha’i between 1966 and about 1980. He delivered speeches at Baha’i conferences during that time and wrote in support of the Baha’ism. He later withdrew from the Baha’ism due to disagreements with the Baha’i establishment and disagreement over the type of scientific research on Baha’i texts, and wrote against Baha’ism. He himself considers the writings of this period to be merely academic research and not anti-Baha’i. Concurrent with the publication of his first academic writings in rejecting Baha’ism, a book in critique of the Baha’ism was published in Germany by Francesco Fichikia, another former Baha’i. One of his articles, which referred to the stagnation in Babi and Baha’i studies, was criticized by a Baha’i figure named Juan Cole. Cole later left the Baha’ism and wrote articles criticizing the Baha’i Faith.
Compilations and articles
Dennis MacEoin has written extensively in encyclopedias and journals, among which we can refer to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam in the Modern World, and the Iranica Encyclopedia. He worked on his doctoral dissertation on Sheikhieh and Babism. He made great use of the Cambridge Library at the time, which provided the original and valuable manuscript collected by Dr. Edward Brown in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His longest scholarly work, “The Christ of Shiraz” is an 800- page collection from his doctoral dissertation and a large number of articles on Babism. Over the years, MacEoin has published numerous articles and books criticizing the Baha’i Faith as well as the Baha’i establishment. In addition to these issues, MacEoin has written extensively in support of Israel. Among them is a book entitled “Dear Gary, Why Are You Wrong about Israel?” He writes about Islam, Israel and the Middle East in a column for the Gatestone Institute. MacEoin is also known as a novelist. He has written about 23 novels since 1986, some of which have become bestsellers. He has published his novels under the pseudonyms Daniel Easterman and Jonathan Aycliffe.
MacEoin showed how the doctrine of non-interference in politics contradicts the goals of the Baha’ism about the Baha’i world government. He supports the theory that Mirza Yahya Subh-i-Azal was the successor of Ali Mohammad Bab. MacEoin presents numerous evidences and proofs that in the early years after Bab’s death, Babi community and even Mirza Hossein Ali Nouri himself considered Subh-i-Azal as the leader of the faith and the first figure.
In his opinion, why Mirza Hossein Ali Nouri went to Kurdistan and what happened when he returned to Baghdad from there, and also specifically the phrase “Masdar-e Amr” which according to Mirza Hossein Ali Nouri in the book “Iqan”, came to Baghdad from Kurdistan on his orders, has been controversial.
In his academic record, MacEoin has published more than 200 articles in the field of Islamic studies.
