Vasspaan

دکتر شدن چه آسان آدم شدن چه مشکل

I was surfing on the web & i found this old blog then i just searched for Hamid Algar's biography before reading his essai about freemasonry in Iran

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Algar

//www.campus-watch.org/article/id/596

I am in shock of what he said about armenian Genocide but even worse  How he said it !!!!!!!! Unbelievable that a scholarship can be  so stupid untolerant and hateful !

همین آدما باعث شدن ایران به خاک سیاه تبدیل شود با این افکار پوسیده و افرتیشون ! اسلام شناسان در و پیت ! جز نفرت چیزی نکشدید !

 I will not bother to read him now because nothing good can get out of such brainless "person"

ps: of course you can say it's a rumour as any legal action was taken to prouve it ! but still this guy born in uk in 1940, studing persian and writing about Koran all his life sound very fishy to me !! at least if he had wrote about Rumi Ferdowsi something truly persian ..... but no he dedicated his life to Allah  ! he is weird !

امیدوارم اسلیتش ایرونی‌ نباشه چون واقعا آبرو ریزیه طرف

Rea

The Holy Graal is found :-) Now what I am trying to do is pin-point and locate all the assorted places, forms, contexts and beliefs She has likewise been present in throughout history as well as all the other places She might be presently abiding in as well. Think of it as the other side of Dan Brown ;-)

Ya NUR

Nur

Ufff, has taken me ages to find this blog again.

No, there is no Goddess, no Fatima Zahra, no M. Magdalene.  As I've said, debating societies.  That's all there is.

Btw, whatever it is you're looking for, gotta find it on your own.  Nothing to do with the masons, least of all the Templars.  Keep your feet on the ground.

At the same time, appreciated the Iranian lodges input, knew nothing about. Thx. :)

Thanks

Looking through the site now. Do you know anything about their beliefs, rituals, symbolisms? Is it standard (modified) Masonry? Are they Goddess-centered??

Ya NUR

Nur

Grande Loge Féminine de France: www.glff.org/ - En cache  

More interesting, Grande Loge Mixte de France. :)

Dear Rea

Re: Transliteration/God in Masonic symbolism

"Freemasonry was at foundation an initiatic Craft."  Nowadays, lodges are more like debating societies, at least for rank and file masons.

"you cannot even become a Mason unless you believe in some notion of a God or Supreme Beiing".  Not the French case.

Agree with the rest.

Site refuting Anti-Masonic propaganda

For those interested, here is a relatively informed site refuting mainstream anti-Masonic hysteria and propaganda (most of which originate from fundamentalist sources in the Church and mosque):

//freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/index.html

See especially the FAQ

Ya NUR

Ok

Who or what is the source of your information? Is it a published source? That's all I'm asking.

Ya NUR

Isma'il Ra'in

I am not disputing the sources you mention

or the existance of Iranian lodges. But reporting what I have been told in relation to the history of formation of Iranian lodges.

Great

Looking forward to reading your notes because all of the published info, from Ra'in to Ruhani to Algar, often gives contradictory information on which European rite actually had the Grand Lodge in Iran.

As for the Anjoman-i-Ukhovat: since they were a homegrown and native Iranian Sufo-Masonic Order, the existence of their Grand Lodge in Tehran is a matter of course.

The Belgians BTW are Martinists or a fusion of  the Grand Oriental rite of Misraim and Martinism.

Ya NUR

Interview with two Iranian Grandmasters

My recollection is that Iranian lodges were associated with the Grand Orient, Scottish and I think Belgian (the latter I need to check) grand lodges and the English grand lodge approached on several occasions would not endorse the idea. I will try to find my notes and revert with any further information/correct names of the lodges. 

Mr. Fozolie

Fooled or not fooled

I explained to you what Freemasonry is actually all about. If you know differently, by all means go ahead and explain it the same way I have.

Now you were going to provide the source for your claim that the British rite never sanctioned a Grand Lodge in Iran? Ball in thy court...

Ya NUR

The days of tomfoolery are over

Nobody gets fooled by this stuff any more. Interesting ruse to advertise your 'religion'.  

Mr. Fozolie

Transliteration/God in Masonic symbolism

The system adopted in many academic publications and journals transliterates it as Isma'il rather than Esmaeel; Shi'i or Shi'a; Ra'in rather than Raeen. The apostrophe represents the hamza' and hence glottal stop as well as sometimes the 'ayn. We are using Romanized letters for Perso-Arabic script, after all, and since we're not using phonetic markers for our script such as macrons, circumflexes and other (long/short) vowel markers (like many of the journals and publications do in their transliteration systems), it somewhat compounds the problem. But in an actual publication setting if you were to use Esmaeel and Raeen, it would immediately be changed by an editor to Isma'il and Ra'in.

Freemasonry is at foundation an initiatic Craft. It's philosophy, symbolisms and worldview is about esotericism, and specifically Hermeticism. An esoteric understanding of geometry (or sacred geometry, rather) guides it throughout, since, as with the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks (i.e. Pythagoras to Plato), shape, form and proportion are the basic building blocks of the universe. The Godhead in Masonry is always symbolized as the Great Architect, and Masonry is very much God-centered. The Masonic symbol of the All-Seeing Eye together with the symbol of the ruler (below) and the compass (above) denotes this. The 'G' in the middle is the Anglicized Hebrew letter gimmel ('G') which in the Craft is a letter symbolizing initiation into the Great Mysteries. In Alchemy (which Masonry has extensively drawn from) the the compass and ruler also simultaneously denote the yin/yang, male/female, light/darkness polarity or complementarity of all the energies in the universe. The lay out of the ruler and compass in this Masonic symbol also can form the shape of the Hexagram which is known by Masons as the Seal of Solomon. Solomon is central to Masonic sacred history because of Hiram Abiff who was apparently the architect of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.

Anyway, you cannot even become a Mason unless you believe in some notion of a God or Supreme Being. It is one of the first questions a superior asks of you (in all of the rites) before sanctioning your application to enter a lodge. The form, contour, nuance and content of that belief is irrelevent. It is the axiom that matters here.

But if you still think Masonry isn't about "mysticism," then I invite you to look through one of the foundation texts of Anglophone Masonry, and that is, Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma. The whole book from start to finish is about Hermeticism and the Kabbalah.

Finally, what is your source that the British rite never sanctioned a Grand Lodge in Iran?

Ya NUR 

errrrrrmmmm what tomfoolery is this?

How does Esmaiel Raeen turns into

I guess the same way Shia became 'Shite'. What tomfoolery is this?

Why do we always to have to attach mysticism into everything? FreeMasons essentially came about as a forum for enlightened people who could not openly practise against religion dogma. I am sure a lot can be written about the need for secrecy making them easy target of hatemongers, and the same secrecy cloaking corruption in some lodges (and in some cases to hide racist activities - as a number of Iranian Freemasons fleeing Iran to Europe, found the brotherhood was meant for 'white' brothers only).  

One point about British Rites: the British grand lodge whose name escapes me never gave official permission to establish lodges in Iran (like Lenin perhaps they were scared of what Iranians are capable of) that is why the lodges were established either independently or via other European Lodges. 

Mr. Fozolie

Thank you, mahmoudg

I would love to correspond with you. I am very interested in Freemasonry, both in its Iranian and non-Iranian context. I am not one of those conspiracy theorists regarding Masonry. Other than the British rite Masons, who I see as having corrupted the Craft,  I see the Masons themselves as good guys who have gotten a bum rap.  As such I hold Freemasonry in utmost regard and as a bona fide initiatic brotherhood continuing Hermetic transmissions in a European context. And if the Order of the Knights Templar are really behind its genesis, then given what we know about the Templars, Isma'ili Shi'ism and Sufism have had a lot to do with the birth and nourishment of the Craft.

Thank you for posting here, good Brother. You are most welcome to continue contributing your knowledge. In fact I insist you do :-)

Ya NUR

Unfortunatley none are accurate

Including that of Raeen, who by some account was asked by Savak to write the book.  However be it that most of my family members have been  masons, i have done extensive research and written about it in American publications.  Most of the information i have come across were from family artifacts and interviews and rellied little on outside sources as most can not be rellied on.  This is my two cents.

Isma'il Ra'in's

History of Iranian Freemasonry, in crucial sections, has been proven a forgery. The first edition was taken out of circulation by SAVAK immediately after it was published. All subsequent editions have either incorrect information, fabricated content or outright omissions. If you are half as experienced as you believe you are, Mooshie, you would've known this.

Hamid Algar is one of the most widely respected contemporary Western scholars of Iranian and Islamic studies who was a fully tenured academic historian at the University of California-Berkeley until his retirement recently. Granted his own political history is checkered given his involvement with the Khomeinists in the 70s and 80s. But on actual questions of scholarship not even his worst political enemies have had anything bad to say about his work. Besides, that article is considered the best available source in English, and one which is using historical critical methodologies of investigation and source criticism. It has been cited as an authoritative source by almost everyone who matters -- which obviously doesn't include you.

Now who is disputing anything about Mirza Malkum Khan's Faramush-Khaneh (House of Oblivion)? The information that Algar highlights, which not even your hero Isma'il Ra'in disputes, is that the activity of European lodges in Iran pre-dates the formal composition of Mirza Malkum Khan's Faramush-Khaneh. Do you have any actual evidence or argument to the contrary? Can you dismiss this without rant or canard, but with actual information?

Now get out of here! The joke is on you, Mr Fateh...

What a joke!

Given your age and an innate lack of experience, I don't expect you to be anything other than a novice in these fields (despite all your presumptious pretentions to the contrary) but at least try to show some small depth in your showy blogs.

The history of Iranian Freemasonary and Faramush-khane is inextricably linked to one name: the late Esmaeel Raeen and his four masterly voulmes covering from the creation of Freemasonary in Iran to present day (fourth volume - the Islamic Lodge - is rarely found). Imagine some one misses such a grand name in Iran's contemporary history (or even that of Freidoon Adamiyat) and goes for Algar!!! Where have you been all these years?

Boy you should stop Googling so much. It is bad for your eyes (LOL).

Adib

So far as I am aware the official Grand Lodges operating in Iran before the (counter-)Revolution were 1) the British rite Grand Lodge in Tehran and 2) the Anjoman-i-Ukhovat (Brotherhood Association). There were various other lodges operating as well (but not Grand Lodges), such as, the Ancient and Established Scottish Rite (the predominant rite in North America), the Oriental Rite of Misraim and the Martinist (French) rite. I have heard of a Dr Aliabadi, but I don't know whether he was a Grand Master of any of the first two mentioned. As far as I am aware, the last President of the Anjoman-i-Ukhovat is a prominent Iranian scholar who is still alive. I won't mention their name, since their presidency is only rumor. Do you have a source for this Dr. Aliabadi and his directorship (Grand Masterhood)?

The British rite of Masonry, as Algar shows, was progressively established in Iran over the course of the 19th century. Technically it even pre-dates even Malkum Khan's Faramush-Khaneh (House of Oblivion). The British rite is a rival to the line of the Ancient and Established Scottish Rite and the Oriental Rite of Misraim, both, and as far as I am concerned they are the bad guys (i.e. the British rite)! Interestingly the Oriental Rite of Misraim, the Martinists and other continental European spin-offs of these two have even been allowing women into the lodge and up through the grades for quite some time now. In France presently there is a Martinist-Misraim (Jewish) rite of Zion who has a Grand Mistress!

Now as for the Anjoman-i-Ukhovat: although it has been identified as an Iranian branch of Freemasonry, technically it isn't. This Association was founded by the Qajar notable and Constitutionalist Zahir'u-Dowleh Safa' 'Ali-Shah who was simultaneously acting as a Sufi shaykh of the Safialishahi branch of the Ni'matullahi Sufi order as well as the founder and President-for-life of the Anjoman-i-Ukhovat. After Zahir'u-Dowleh the presidency of the Anjoman was elected on a rotating basis as was its grand council, i.e. just like the majority of normal Masonic lodges of all the rites. The membership of this Anjoman throughout the Pahlavi period apparently consisted of high ranking military officers, a few courtiers and some of the notable secularist intellectuals of the era. This Anjoman came about as a result of European Masonic encroachments into Iran, especially amongst the Qajar court and aristocracy Zahir'u-Dowleh belonged to. The permission ('ijaza) to initiate this Association (as a separate entity from the regular Sufi transmission) was given by Zahir'u-Dowleh's own pir directly, and that is, Hajj Mirza Hasan Isfahani Safialishah (ra). The Anjoman-i-Ukhovat was officially disbanded in March 1979 and its last President fled overseas. Two of the Shah's generals immediately executed by the Khomeinists after the (counter-)Revolution are rumored to have belonged to it (the Godhead rest their souls). Rather than a European Masonic colonial encroachment (and hence ideological-cultural aberration), this Anjoman-i-Ukhovat instead should be considered a homegrown, nationalist resistance to European secret societies coming into Iran, and under the fully operative form of a secular democratic Iranian Sufo-Masonic secret society, no less. No need to mention the fact that my sympathies are fully on their side in the greater scheme of things!

Ya NUR

Thanks

I think I've seen Algar's name somewhere before, perhaps on Iranica. Would you happen to know anything about the Luj-i-Buzurg, specifically under the directorship of a certain Dr. `Aliabadi? (spelling might vary)