Based on "The Secret of Divine Civilization," his Treatise on Politics (Risalih-yi Siyasiyyih) and unpublished letters of ‛Abdu’l-Bahá written in Ottoman Turkish, this talk discusses the contributions of ‛Abdu’l-Bahá to the reform discourse in Iran and the Ottoman Empire. His discourse will be dealt within the framework of Bahá’u’lláh’s own claim as “World Reformer” which he expounds in various Writings, especially those revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas.
All this Bahá’í perspective will be presented against the historical background of the development of reforms in the Ottoman Empire and Iran where generations of forward looking intellectuals and statesmen have discussed and applied their progressive ideas for the betterment and transformation of society. Within this context especially the relationship between ‛Abdu’l-Bahá and Ottoman reformers and his attempt to infuse Bahá’í thoughts into the Ottoman and Iranian reform movement shall be described.