I am not convinced that the return of Hidden Imam from the cities of Juabulqa and Jabursa is strictly part of Baha’i teaching. Abdu’l-Baha in a letter published in A Radiant Gem : A biography of Jinab-i-Fadil-i-Shirazi (2005) states that the belief in the Hidden Imam emerged as a way to comfort the bereft Shiahs in the ninth century. This is also pretty much what modern historians have unearthed as well.

In the recently translated Gems of Mysteries Baha’u'llah discusses these traditions and identifies them as symbolic/esoteric “To interpret this city according to the literal meaning of the tradition would indeed prove impossible, nor can such a city ever be found. Wert thou to search the uttermost corners of the earth, nay probe its length and breadth for as long as God’s eternity hath lasted and His sovereignty will endure, thou wouldst never find a city such as they have described, for the entirety of the earth could neither contain nor encompass it.”Gems, 35)
and impossible to be realised on the material plane.

In any event the return of the Hidden Imam is important to Ahmadinejad and to this end the recent study by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy “Apocalyptic Politics: On The Rationality of Iranian Society” (2008) is reccomended (http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC04.php?CID=286)

The BIC article is getting a bit long in the tooth (citing Hatcher/Martin from 1985 from a generalist text). Moojan Momen’s “Islam and the Baha’i Faith” is certainly a more detailed and specific text.

News beyond that of global warming? I should say!

It is extremely timely and there are excellent footnotes for all those who might wish to go for a deeper understanding of its implications. Hats off to you!