al judgment of the Muslim
ecclesiastical court in that country pronounced against our Egyptian
brethren, denouncing them as heretics, expelling them from their midst,
and refusing them the application and benefits of the Muslim Law. I have
also acquainted you with the difficulties with which they are faced, and
the plans which they have conceived, in order to obtain from the Egyptian
civil authorities a recognition of the independent status of their Faith.
It must be explained, however, that in the Muslim countries of the Near
and Middle East, with the exception of Turkey which has lately abolished
all ecclesiastical courts under its rule, every recognized religious
community has, in matters of personal status such as marriage, divorce and
inheritance, its own ecclesiastical court, totally independent of the
civil and criminal tribunals, there being in such instances no civil code
promulgated by the government and embracing all the different religious
communities. Hitherto regarded as a sect of Islam, the Baha'is of Egypt,
who for the most part are of Muslim origin, and unable therefore to refer
for purposes of marriage and divorce to the recognized religious tribunals
of any other denomination, find themselves in consequence in a delicate
and anomalous position. They have naturally resolved to refer their case
to the Egyptian Government, and have prepared for this purpose a petition
to be addressed to the head of the Egyptian Cabinet. In this document they
have set forth the motives compelling them to seek recognition from their
rulers, have asserted their readiness and their qualifications to exercise
the functions of an independent Baha'i court, have assured them of their
implicit obedience and loyalty to the State, and of their abstinence from
interference in the politics of their country. They have also decided to
accompany the text of their petition with a copy of the judgment of the
Court, with selections from Baha'i writings, and with the document that
sets forth the principles of their national constitution which, with few
exceptions, is identical with the Declaration and By-laws promulgated by
your Assembly.

I have insisted that the provisions of their constitution should, in all
its details, conform to the text of the Declaration of Trust and By-laws
which you have established, endeavoring thereby to preserve the uniformity
which I feel is essential in all Baha'i National Constitutions. I would
like, therefor