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‘Adasiyyah: A Study in Agriculture and Rural Development
Abstract
This paper comprises of a systematic study of the work of Baha'i farmers, food growers and sharecroppers who, for over half a century (190660), toiled on the lands in Adasiyyah, a village in the north-west of Jordan. The history of this community has been reconstructed from written and oral sources. The author presents the early history of this community from the time that Abdul-Baha purchased the land for it. The earliest settlers were Baha'is of Zoroastrian background who moved there from Yazd in Iran. The author describes the gradual growth of this community, some of the problems that they encountered and the guidance that Abdul-Baha gave them. In particular, the author concentrates on the agricultural development of the community's lands and the innovations that they introduced, some of which were subsequently taken up by other farmers in the area. Some conclusions are drawn about the features of Baha'i development in rural areas as advocated by Abdul-Baha: the importance of agriculture to rural development; fairness and moderation in the landlordtenant relationship; the importance of prayer and consultation in community decision-making and resolution of conflict; and the importance of developing self-sufficiency and self-reliance in rural populations.
Zoroastrianism, like any religion or cultural system, may be studied from either the internal or the external point of view. The internal, or emic, perspective arises from investigating the religion from within the system, as from the point of view of one of its adherents. From the external perspective Zoroastrianism is viewed in its relationship to the history and prehistory of the oldest Iranian languages and religions. Linguistic analysis shows that the Avesta is comprised of texts dating from different periods. The question of the date of the Old(er) Avesta is connected with that of its homeland if it is assumed that it originated in Proto-Iranian times when the Iranians were still one people and before they migrated southwards into Iran, presumably in the course of the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE (Schmitt 1987).
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