Adib Masumian

Books

The Secrets of True Happiness (with Bijan Masumian and Farnaz Masumian; George Ronald, December 2019; Purchase from George Ronald | Purchase from Amazon)

This practical and research-oriented book is the result of six years of research on the subject of happiness. Stephen G. Post, PhD, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, best-selling author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People, calls this book “the finest book on happiness that [he has] ever read with regard to both content, style, and potential to transform lives….”

Debunking the Myths: Conspiracy Theories on the Genesis and Mission of the Baha’i Faith (Lulu, January 2009; Read online for free | Purchase in color | Purchase in black and white)

Over the past hundred years, Iranian conspiracy theorists have thrown many baseless allegations in the face of the Baha’i community so as to cast their religion in a negative and unappealing light. A common element in these accusations is an appeal to treason: the claims range from Baha’is having historically been agents of Russian imperialism and British colonialism to sharing a common goal for world domination with Zionists to having been affiliated with the secret police of the late Shah’s regime. All claims attempt to depict the Baha’i Faith as a political organization in the guise of a religious group that has, from the very outset, been pursuing a covert agenda of inciting domestic chaos and advancing global hegemony. In under 100 pages, I have attempted to refute these claims and others in my first book. 

Book Chapters

Adib Masumian, “Gáh-shumár-i-Mukhtaṣar-i-Zindigáníy-i-‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” published in Fereydun Vahman (ed.), ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Farzand-i-Írán: Bakhsh-i-Farámúsh–shudiy-i-Táríkh-i-Rawshanfikríy-i-Írán (Sweden: Baran Publishers, 2023), pp. 629–633. This chapter will also be published as “An Abridged Chronology of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Life” in the forthcoming English translation of the book, which will be titled ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Son of Persia: A Forgotten Chapter of the History of Enlightenment in Iran.

Fereydun Vahman, Adib Masumian (trans.), “The Bab: A Sun in a Night Not Followed by Dawn,” published in Fereydun Vahman (ed.), The Bab and the Babi Community of Iran (London: Oneworld Academic, 2020), pp. 1–77. Translation of Fereydun Vahman, “Báb, Khurshídi dar Shabi bí Saḥar,” published in Fereydun Vahman (ed.), Báb va Jámiʻiy-i-Bábíy-i-Írán: Yádnámiy-i-Divístumín Sálgard-i-Mílád-i-Báb, 1819–2019 (Sweden: Baran Publishers, 2020), pp. 19–89.

Academic Reports

Adib Masumian, “Medium.com as a Contender in the Participatory Web.” Master’s report presented to the faculty of the graduate school of The University of Texas at Austin in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, December 2015.

This Master’s report represents the culmination of a self-study that lasted from January to May 2014, wherein I set out to evaluate the standing of Medium.com—an online communal blogging platform—as a contender in the participatory web. I conducted the original self-study with a fixed scope and a certain set of goals in mind. Based on feedback from my instructor and peers, however, I have endeavored to build upon my prior research by further analyzing my personal experience with Medium’s participatory aspects, taking my previous conclusions in a new direction, and using the benefit of a year’s hindsight—between the present day and the time when I finished the first version of this paper—to see how far Medium has come. This Master’s report, therefore, will be split into two parts. The first, entitled “The Original Self-Study on Participatory Web Activities,” will feature a complete and unaltered report of the original research I carried out last year. The second, “Another Look,” features a) a review of the updates Medium has implemented over the past year, which have allowed for greater discoverability for Medium’s published content and richer modes of interaction between its users; b) a snapshot of Medium’s userbase and incoming traffic as illustrated by data analytics; c) a revisiting of Medium’s participatory aspects and list of best practices for engaging with the service; d) a review of Medium’s competition; e) an updated conclusion that synthesizes the foregoing items. From these assessments, I have concluded that Medium is continuing to take steps to become the ideal communal publishing platform where anyone can publish and be discovered, and that the site is consolidating its status as a major player in today’s participatory web.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Bijan Masumian and Adib Masumian, “Baháʼuʼlláh’s Gradual Awareness and Disclosure of His Station before the Síyáh-Chál Experience,” forthcoming.

Muhammad Afnan, Adib Masumian (trans.), “The Invocation ‘Is There Any Remover of Difficulties Save God…’” (Bahá’í Library Online, May 2023). Translation of Muhammad Afnan, “Dhikr-i-‘Hal min Mufarrijin Ghayru’lláh…,'” Safíniy-i-‘Irfán, Daftar-i-Nuhum [no. 9], 2006, pp. 263–264.

Vahid Rafati, Adib Masumian (trans.), “Qáʼim-Maqám Faráhání in the Baháʼí Writings,” Lights of ʻIrfán, Book 20, May 2019, pp. 161–196. Translation of Vahid Rafati, “Qáʼim-Maqám Faráhání dar Áthár-i-Baháʼí,” Safíniy-i-‘Irfán, Daftar-i-Hizhdahum [no. 18], 2015, 268–293.

Adib Masumian, “An Introduction to the Baháʼí Religiolect,” Baha’i Studies Review, vol. 21, June 2015, pp. 101–120. (Purchase the published paper | View the full text on Academia.edu)

Christopher Buck and Adib Masumian, “Baha’u’llah’s “Paradise of Justice”: Commentary and Translation,” Baha’i Studies Review, vol. 20, June 2014, 97–134. (Purchase the published paper | View the full text on Academia.edu)

Bijan Masumian and Adib Masumian, “Baha’i Studies in Iran: A Preliminary Survey,” Baha’i Studies Review, vol. 20, June 2014, 69–85. (Purchase the published paper | View the full text on Academia.edu)

Bijan Masumian and Adib Masumian, “The Bab in the World of Images,” Baha’i Studies Review, vol. 19, no. 1, June 2013, 171–90. (Purchase the published paper | View the full text on Academia.edu)

Other Papers

Adib Masumian, “The Lawḥ-i-Ḥamd-i-Musha‘sha‘ (The Tablet of the Effulgent Praise): A Little-Known but Significant Early Writing of Bahá’u’lláh” (Bahá’í Library Online, August 2023). Also see here for my provisional translation of the Tablet discussed in this paper.

Online Editorials

A Tribute to Abdu’l-Baha and His Words (BahaiTeachings.org, November 2021)

The Men Who Put Abdu’l-Baha to the Test, an essay in three parts (BahaiTeachings.org):

• Part 1: Abdu’l-Baha: the Mystery of God (September 2020)
• Part 2: Abdu’l-Baha’s Superhuman Knowledge (September 2020)
• Part 3: Abdu’l-Baha Responds to a Blank Letter (September 2020)

Jesus Foretold the “Glory of God” – Baha’u’llah (Co-authored with Christopher Buck; BahaiTeachings.org, August 2020)

Zoroaster, the “Spirit of Purity” (Co-authored with Christopher Buck; BahaiTeachings.org, March 2020)

Looking at Justice in a Whole New Way (Co-authored with Christopher Buck; BahaiTeachings.org, November 2016)

Justice, Equity and Courtesy: What do they have in Common? (Co-authored with Christopher Buck; BahaiTeachings.org, November 2016)

Iranian Television Series Defames the Baha’i Faith (Iran Press Watch, February 2010)

Was Hoveida Ever a Baha’i? (Iran Press Watch, June 2009)

Essays

Immersion in the Ocean of His Words (Bahá’í Recollections, November 2016)

ʻAbduʼl-Bahá’s Blueprint for a Progressive and Prosperous Iran (Baháʼí Library Online, August 2016)

Interviews

The Utterance Project: A Personal Initiative That Shares Readings of Baha’i Writings in Their Original Languages (Baha’i Blog, September 2021)

Debunking the Myths: An Interview with Adib Masumian (The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights, March 2009)

Professional Publications

Digital Accessibility And Unlawful Discrimination Checklist (WCAG 2.1 Update) (LexisNexis – Mealey’s Litigation Report: Cyber Tech & E-Commerce, vol. 20, no. 6, August 2018)

With one in five people in the U.S. reporting a disability—and an increased reliance on online information, transactions, and services—web accessibility has rapidly grown as an area of legal focus. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, were put together by the World Wide Web Consortium to offer guidelines to web developers on how to create websites that are as digitally accessible as possible. In July 2016, Mealey’s Litigation Report: Cyber Tech & E-Commerce released a checklist created by Vivian Cullipher of Microassist that condenses these guidelines into a format that web developers can use to gauge their efforts towards accessibility. With the June 2018 release of WCAG 2.1, an incremental update to the guidelines, Vivian Cullipher and Adib Masumian expanded on the previous article with a discussion of what has changed with this update, and what ramifications it has for web developers.