The Bahá'í Faith

The Prophets & War

2008-06-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

When we review history from the beginning down to the present day we find that strife and warfare have prevailed throughout the human world. Wars, religious, racial or political, have arisen from human ignorance, misunderstanding and lack of education. We will first consider religious strife and conflict.

It is evident that the divine prophets have appeared in the world to establish love and agreement among mankind. They have been the shepherds and not the wolves. The shepherd comes forth to gather and lead his flock and not to disperse them by creating strife. Every divine shepherd has assembled a flock which had formerly been scattered. Among the shepherds was His Holiness Moses. At a time when the tribes of Israel were wandering and dispersed, he assembled, united and educated them to higher degrees of capacity and progress until they passed out of the wilderness of discipline into the holy land of possession. He transformed their degradation into glory, changed their poverty into wealth and replaced their vices by virtues until they rose to such a zenith that the splendor of the sovereignty of Solomon was made possible and the fame of their civilization extended to the East and the West. It is evident therefore that His Holiness was a divine shepherd for he gathered the tribes of Israel together and united them in the power and strength of a great nationhood.

When the Messianic star of Jesus Christ dawned, he declared he had come to gather together the lost tribes or scattered sheep of Moses. He not only shepherded the flock of Israel, but brought together people of Chaldea, Egypt, Syria, ancient Assyria and Phoenicia. These people were in a state of utmost hostility, thirsting for the blood of each other with the ferocity of animals; but His Holiness Jesus Christ brought them together, cemented and united them in his cause and established such a bond of love among them that enmity and warfare were abandoned. It is evident therefore that the divine teachings are intended to create a bond of unity in the human world and establish the foundations of love and fellowship among mankind. Divine religion is not a cause for discord and disagreement. If religion becomes the source of antagonism and strife, the absence of religion is to be preferred. Religion is meant to be the quickening life of the body politic; if it be the cause of death to humanity, its nonexistence would be a blessing and benefit to man. Therefore in this day the divine teachings must be sought, for they are the remedies for the present conditions of the world of humanity.

At a time when the Arabian tribes and nomadic peoples were widely separated, living in the deserts under lawless conditions, strife and bloodshed continual among them, no tribe free from the menace of attack and destruction by another, -- at such a critical time Mohammed appeared. He gathered these wild tribes of the desert together, reconciled, united and caused them to agree so that enmity and warfare ceased. The Arabian nation immediately advanced until its dominion extended westward to Spain and Andalusia.

From these facts and premises we may conclude that the establishing of the divine religions is for peace, not for war and the shedding of blood. Inasmuch as all are founded upon one reality which is love and unity, the wars and dissensions which have characterized the history of religion have been due to imitations and superstitions which arise afterward. Religion is reality and reality is one. The fundamentals of the religion of God are therefore one in reality. There is neither difference nor change in the fundamentals. Variance is caused by blind imitations, prejudices and adherence to forms which appear later, and inasmuch as these differ, discord and strife result. If the religions of the world would forsake these causes of difficulty and seek the fundamentals, all would agree, and strife and dissension would pass away; for religion and reality are one and not multiple.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 21)

Forgiveness

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"All forgiveness floweth, in this Day, from God, Him to Whom none can compare, with Whom no partners can be joined, the Sovereign Protector of all men, and the Concealer of their sins!"

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 36)

Rule Whereby to Guide Thy Life

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O thou dear handmaid of God! Thy letter hath been received and its contents noted. Thou didst ask for a rule whereby to guide thy life.

Believe thou in God, and keep thine eyes fixed upon the exalted Kingdom; be thou enamoured of the Abha Beauty; stand thou firm in the Covenant; yearn thou to ascend into the Heaven of the Universal Light. Be thou severed from this world, and reborn through the sweet scents of holiness that blow from the realm of the All-Highest. Be thou a summoner to love, and be thou kind to all the human race. Love thou the children of men and share in their sorrows. Be thou of those who foster peace. Offer thy friendship, be worthy of trust. Be thou a balm to every sore, be thou a medicine for every ill. Bind thou the souls together. Recite thou the verses of guidance. Be engaged in the worship of thy Lord, and rise up to lead the people aright. Loose thy tongue and teach, and let thy face be bright with the fire of God's love. Rest thou not for a moment, seek thou to draw no easeful breath. Thus mayest thou become a sign and symbol of God's love, and a banner of His grace.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 26)

Pure & Goodly Deeds

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A good word is like a good tree whose root is firm, and whose branches are in the sky; it gives its fruit at every season by the permission of its Lord-but God strikes out parables for men that haply they may be mindful. And the likeness of a bad word is as a bad tree, which is felled from above the earth, and has no staying place.

(The Qur'an (E.H. Palmer tr), Sura 14 - Abraham, Peace be on Him)

Whosoever desires honour-honour belongs wholely to God; to Him good words ascend, and a righteous deed He takes up; and those who plot evil deeds, for them is keen torment, and their plotting is in vain.

(The Qur'an (E.H. Palmer tr), Sura 35 - The Angels)

O CHILDREN OF ADAM!
Holy words and pure and goodly deeds ascend unto the heaven of celestial glory. Strive that your deeds may be cleansed from the dust of self and hypocrisy and find favor at the court of glory; for ere long the assayers of mankind shall, in the holy presence of the Adored One, accept naught but absolute virtue and deeds of stainless purity. This is the daystar of wisdom and of divine mystery that hath shone above the horizon of the divine will. Blessed are they that turn thereunto.

(Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words)

Prayers & Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 180

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Thou dost consider, therefore, O my God, how they have transgressed against Thy Cause, and beholdest what their hands have wrought in Thy days. They have so grievously wronged me that the Lote-Tree of Thy Revelation moaneth, and the inmates of the Tabernacle of Thy majesty and the dwellers of the cities of Thy names lament. I know not, O my God, for what reason they have risen up to oppress me, and by what proof they have turned aside from Him Who is the Day-Spring of Thy signs. I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the Lord of all names and the Creator of the heavens, to aid them to act equitably in Thy Cause, that haply they may discover the sweet smell of the robe of Thy mercy, and set their faces towards the horizon that shineth with the brightness of the light of Thy face. Weak are they, O my Lord, and Thou art the Lord of strength and power. They are but paupers, and Thou art the All-Possessing, the Most Generous.

(Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 180)

The Báb's Speech to the 16 Disciples

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Mulla 'Ali was soon on his way to 'Iraq. Then the Báb called together the other sixteen disciples and spoke to them, adjuring them to go out into the world and serve their God in the light of the faith given to them:

O My beloved friends! You are the bearers of the name
of God in this Day. You have been chosen as the repositories
of His mystery. It behoves each one of you to
manifest the attributes of God, and to exemplify by your
deeds and words the signs of His righteousness, His power
and glory. The very members of your body must bear
witness to the loftiness of your purpose, the integrity
of your life, the reality of your faith, and the exalted
character of your devotion. For verily I say, this is the
Day spoken of by God in His Book: 'On that day will
We set a seal upon their mouths; yet shall their hands
speak unto Us, and their feet shall bear witness to that
which they shall have done.'[1] Ponder the words of Jesus
addressed to His disciples, as He sent them forth to
propagate the Cause of God. In words such as these, He
bade them arise and fulfil their mission: 'Ye are even as
the fire which in the darkness of the night has been
kindled upon the mountain-top. Let your light shine
before the eyes of men. Such must be the purity of your
character and the degree of your renunciation, that the
people of the earth may through you recognise and be
drawn closer to the heavenly Father who is the Source of
purity and grace. For none has seen the Father who is
in heaven. You who are His spiritual children must by
your deeds exemplify His virtues, and witness to His
glory. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have
lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? Such must
be the degree of your detachment, that into whatever
city you enter to proclaim and teach the Cause of God,
you should in no wise expect either meat or reward from
its people. Nay, when you depart out of that city, you
should shake the dust from off your feet. As you have
entered it pure and undefiled, so must you depart from
that city. For verily I say, the heavenly Father is ever
with you and keeps watch over you. If you be faithful
to Him, He will assuredly deliver into your hands all the
treasures of the earth, and will exalt you above all the
rulers and kings of the world.' O My Letters! Verily I
say, immensely exalted is this Day above the days of the
Apostles of old. Nay, immeasurable is the difference I
You are the witnesses of the Dawn of the promised Day
of God. You are the partakers of the mystic chalice of His
Revelation. Gird up the loins of endeavour, and be mindful
of the words of God as revealed in His Book: 'Lo
the Lord thy God is come, and with Him is the company
of His angels arrayed before Him!'[2] Purge your hearts
of worldly desires, and let angelic virtues be your adorning.
Strive that by your deeds you may bear witness to the
truth of these words of God, and beware lest, by 'turning
back',[3] He may 'change you for another people',[3] who
'shall not be your like',[4] and who shall take from you the
Kingdom of God. The days when idle worship was
deemed sufficient are ended. The time is come when
naught but the purest motive, supported by deeds of
stainless purity, can ascend to the throne of the Most
High and be acceptable unto Him. 'The good word
riseth up unto Him, and the righteous deed will cause
it to be exalted before Him.'[4] You are the lowly, of
whom God has thus spoken in His Book: 'And We
desire to show favour to those who were brought low
in the land, and to make them spiritual leaders among
men, and to make them Our heirs.'[5] You have been
called to this station; you will attain to it, only if you arise
to trample beneath your feet every earthly desire, and
endeavour to become those honoured servants of His
who speak not till He hath spoken, and who do His
bidding'. You are the first Letters that have been generated
from the Primal Point [the Bab], the first Springs that
have welled out from the Source of this Revelation.
Beseech the Lord your God to grant that no earthly
entanglements, no worldly affections, no ephemeral
pursuits, may tarnish the purity, or embitter the sweetness,
of that grace which flows through you. I am preparing
you for the advent of a mighty Day. Exert your
utmost endeavour that, in the world to come, I, who am
now instructing you, may, before the mercy-seat of God,
rejoice in your deeds and glory in your achievements.
The secret of the Day that is to come is now concealed.
It can neither be divulged nor estimated. The newly born
babe of that Day excels the wisest and most venerable
men of this time, and the lowliest and most unlearned of
that period shall surpass in understanding the most
erudite and accomplished divines of this age. Scatter
throughout the length and breadth of this land, and, with
steadfast feet and sanctified hearts, prepare the way for
His coming. Heed not your weaknesses and frailty; fix
your gaze upon the invincible power of the Lord, your
God, the Almighty. Has He not, in past days, caused
Abraham, in spite of His seeming helplessness, to triumph
over the forces of Nimrod? Has He not enabled Moses,
whose staff was His only companion, to vanquish Pharaoh
and his hosts? Has He not established the ascendancy of
Jesus, poor and lowly as He was in the eyes of men, over
the combined forces of the Jewish people? Has He not
subjected the barbarous and militant tribes of Arabia to
the holy and transforming discipline of Muhammad, His
Prophet? Arise in His name, put your trust wholly in
Him, and be assured of ultimate victory.
[1 Qur'án xxxvi. 65.]
[2 Qur'án lxxxix, 23.]
[3 ibid. xivii.]
[4 Qur'án.]
[5 ibid. xxviii 4.]

(H.M. Balyuzi, The Bab - The Herald of the Day of Days, p. 30)

Surah iv, 96: an-Nisa - "Women"

2007-10-05T23:16:00.000-07:00

O ye who believe! When ye go out in the path of God, do not act with haste and do not, in the hope of gaining spoils, reject anyone as an unbeliever who salutes you in the way of faith. With God there is an abundance of spoils. Such were ye too aforetime. And God was bounteous unto you. Then be discerning. God knoweth well your actions.

(The Holy Qur'an, Surah iv, 96: an-Nisa - "Women" as translated by A.J. Arberry)

If Thou Lovest Me...

2007-10-05T23:15:00.004-07:00

O SON OF MAN!
If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me and I may eternally live in thee.

(Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

Be Anxiously Concerned With the Needs of the Age Ye Live In...

2007-10-05T23:15:00.003-07:00

The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.

We can well perceive how the whole human race is encompassed with great, with incalculable afflictions. We see it languishing on its bed of sickness, sore-tried and disillusioned. They that are intoxicated by self-conceit have interposed themselves between it and the Divine and infallible Physician. Witness how they have entangled all men, themselves included, in the mesh of their devices. They can neither discover the cause of the disease, nor have they any knowledge of the remedy. They have conceived the straight to be crooked, and have imagined their friend an enemy.

Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner. Arise, and lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may be awakened. Say: O ye who are as dead! The Hand of Divine bounty proffereth unto you the Water of Life. Hasten and drink your fill. Whoso hath been re-born in this Day, shall never die; whoso remaineth dead, shall never live.

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 213)

One Common Faith, paragraphs 31-44

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The objection most commonly raised against the foregoing conception of religion is the assertion that the differences among the revealed faiths are so fundamental that to present them as stages or aspects of one unified system of truth does violence to the facts. Given the confusion surrounding the nature of religion, the reaction is understandable. Chiefly, however, such an objection offers Bahá'ís an invitation to set the principles reviewed here more explicitly in the evolutionary context provided in Bahá'u'lláh's writings.

The differences referred to fall into the categories of either practice or doctrine, both of them presented as the intent of the relevant scriptures. In the case of religious customs governing personal life, it is helpful to view the subject against the background of comparable features of material life. It is most unlikely that diversity in hygiene, dress, medicine, diet, transportation, warfare, construction or economic activity, however striking, would any longer be seriously advanced in support of a theory that humanity does not in fact constitute one people, single and unique. Until the opening of the twentieth century, such simplistic arguments were commonplace, but historical and anthropological research now provides a seamless panorama of the process of cultural evolution by which these and countless other expressions of human creativity came into existence, were transmitted through successive generations, underwent gradual metamorphoses and often spread to enrich the lives of peoples in far distant lands. That present-day societies represent a wide spectrum of such phenomena, therefore, does not in any way define a fixed and immutable identity of the peoples concerned, but merely distinguishes the stage through which given groups are-or at least until recently have been-passing. Even so, all such cultural expressions are now in a state of fluidity in consequence of the pressures of planetary integration.

A similar evolutionary process, Bahá'u'lláh indicates, has characterized the religious life of humankind. The defining difference lies in the fact that, rather than representing simply the accidents of history's ongoing method of trial and error, such norms were explicitly prescribed in each case, as integral features of one or another revelation of the Divine, embodied in scripture, their integrity scrupulously maintained over a period of centuries. While certain features of each code of conduct would eventually fulfil their purpose and in time be overshadowed by concerns of a different nature brought on by the process of social evolution, the code itself would lose none of its authority during the long stage of human progress in which it played a vital role in training behaviour and attitudes. "These principles and laws, these firmly-established and mighty systems", Bahá'u'lláh asserts, "have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated."19

To argue, therefore, that differences of regulations, observances and other practices constitute any significant objection to the idea of revealed religion's essential oneness is to miss the purpose that these prescriptions served. More seriously, it misses the fundamental distinction between the eternal and the transitory features of religion's function. The essential message of religion is immutable. It is, in Bahá'u'lláh's words, "the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future".20 Its role in opening the way for the soul to enter into an ever-more mature relationship with its Creator-and in endowing it with an ever-greater measure of moral autonomy in disciplining the animal impulses of human nature-is not at all irreconcilable with its providing auxiliary guidance that enhances the process of civilization building.

The concept of progressive revelation places the ultimate emphasis on recognition of the revelation of God at its appearance. The failure of the generality of humankind in this respect has, time and again, condemned entire populations to a ritualistic repetition of ordinances and practices long after these latter have fulfilled their purpose and now merely stultify moral advance. Sadly, in the present day, a related consequence of such failure has been to trivialize religion. At precisely the point in its collective development where humanity began to struggle with the challenges of modernity, the spiritual resource on which it had principally depended for moral courage and enlightenment was fast becoming a subject of mockery, first at those levels where decisions were being made about the direction society should take, and eventually in ever-widening circles of the general population. There is little cause for surprise, then, that this most devastating of the many betrayals of trust from which human confidence has suffered should, in the course of time, undermine the foundations of belief itself. So it is that Bahá'u'lláh repeatedly urges His readers to think deeply about the lesson taught by such repeated failures: "Ponder for a moment, and reflect upon that which has been the cause of such denial...."21 "What could have been the reason for such denial and avoidance...?"22 "What could have caused such contention...?"23 "Reflect, what could have been the motive...?"24

More detrimental still to religious understanding has been theological presumption. A persistent feature of religion's sectarian past has been the dominant role played by clergy. In the absence of scriptural texts that established unarguable institutional authority, clerical elites succeeded in arrogating to themselves exclusive control over interpretation of the Divine intent. However diverse the motives, the tragic effects have been to impede the current of inspiration, discourage independent intellectual activity, focus attention on the minutiae of rituals and too often engender hatred and prejudice towards those following a different sectarian path from that of self-appointed spiritual leaders. While nothing could prevent the creative power of Divine intervention from continuing its work of progressively raising consciousness, the scope of what could be achieved, in any age, became increasingly limited by such artificially contrived obstacles.

Over time, theology succeeded in constructing in the heart of each one of the great faiths an authority parallel with, and even inimical in spirit to, the revealed teachings on which the tradition was based. Jesus' familiar parable of the landowner who sowed seed in his field addresses both the issue and its implications for the present time: "But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way."25 When his servants proposed to uproot them, the landowner replied, "Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."26 Throughout its pages, the Qur'án reserves its severest condemnation for the spiritual harm caused by this competing hegemony: "Say: The things that my Lord hath indeed forbidden are: shameful deeds, whether open or secret; sins and trespasses against truth or reason; assigning of partners to God, for which he hath given no authority; and saying things about God of which ye have no knowledge."27 To the modern mind it is the greatest of ironies that generations of theologians, whose impositions on religion embody precisely the betrayal so strongly denounced in these texts, should seek to use the warning itself as a weapon in suppressing protest against their usurpation of Divine authority.

In effect, each new stage in the progressively unfolding revelation of spiritual truth was frozen in time and in an array of literalistic images and interpretations, many of them borrowed from cultures which were themselves morally exhausted. Whatever their value at earlier stages in the evolution of consciousness, conceptions of physical resurrection, a paradise of carnal delights, reincarnation, pantheistic prodigies, and the like, today raise walls of separation and conflict in an age when the earth has literally become one homeland and human beings must learn to see themselves as its citizens. In this context one can appreciate the reasons for the vehemence of Bahá'u'lláh's warnings about the barriers that dogmatic theology creates in the path of those seeking to understand the will of God: "O leaders of religion! Weigh not the Book of God with such standards and sciences as are current amongst you, for the Book itself is the unerring Balance established amongst men."28 In His Tablet to Pope Pius IX, He advises the pontiff that God has in this day "stored away ... in the vessels of justice" whatever is enduring in religion and "cast into fire that which befitteth it".29

Freed from the thickets with which theology has hedged religious understanding about, the mind is able to explore familiar scriptural passages through the eyes of Bahá'u'lláh. "Peerless is this Day," He asserts, "for it is as the eye to past ages and centuries, and as a light unto the darkness of the times."30 The most striking observation that results from taking advantage of this perspective is the unity of purpose and principle running throughout the Hebrew scriptures, the Gospel and the Qur'án, particularly, although echoes can readily be discerned in the scriptures of others among the world's religions. Repeatedly, the same organizing themes emerge from the matrix of precept, exhortation, narrative, symbolism and interpretation in which they are set. Of these foundational truths, by far the most distinctive is the progressive articulation and emphatic assertion of the oneness of God, Creator of all existence whether of the phenomenal world or of those realms that transcend it. "I am the Lord," the Bible declares, "and there is none else, there is no God beside me",31 and the same conception underpins the later teachings of Christ and Muhammad.

Humanity-focal point, inheritor and trustee of the world-exists to know its Creator and to serve His purpose. In its highest expression, the innate human impulse to respond takes the form of worship, a condition entailing wholehearted submission to a power that is recognized as deserving of such homage. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever."32 Inseparable from the spirit of reverence itself is its expression in service to the Divine purpose for humankind. "Say: All bounties are in the hand of God: He granteth them to whom He pleaseth: and God careth for all, and He knoweth all things."33 Illumined by this understanding, the responsibilities of humanity are clear: "It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West", the Qur'án states, "but it is righteousness-to believe in God ... to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask...."34 "Ye are the salt of the earth",35 Christ impresses on those who respond to His call. "Ye are the light of the world."36 Summarizing a theme that recurs time and again throughout the Hebrew scriptures and will subsequently reappear in the Gospel and the Qur'án, the prophet Micah asks, "...what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"37

There is equal agreement in these texts that the soul's ability to attain to an understanding of its Creator's purpose is the product not merely of its own effort, but of interventions of the Divine that open the way. The point was made with memorable clarity by Jesus: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."38 If one is not to see in this assertion merely a dogmatic challenge to other stages of the one ongoing process of Divine guidance, it is obviously the expression of the central truth of revealed religion: that access to the unknowable Reality that creates and sustains existence is possible only through awakening to the illumination shed from that Realm. One of the most cherished of the Qur'án's surihs takes up the metaphor: "God is the Light of the heavens and the earth.... Light upon Light! God doth guide whom He will to His Light."39 In the case of the Hebrew prophets, the Divine intermediary that was later to appear in Christianity in the person of the Son of Man and in Islam as the Book of God assumed the form of a binding Covenant established by the Creator with Abraham, Patriarch and Prophet: "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."40

The succession of revelations of the Divine also appears as an implicit-and usually explicit-feature of all the major faiths. One of its earliest and clearest expressions occurs in the Bhagavad-Gita: "I come, and go, and come. When Righteousness declines, O Bharata! When Wickedness is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take visible shape, and move a man with men, succouring the good, thrusting the evil back, and setting Virtue on her seat again."41 This ongoing drama constitutes the basic structure of the Bible, whose sequence of books recounts the missions not only of Abraham and of Moses-"whom the Lord knew face to face"42-but of the line of lesser prophets who developed and consolidated the work that these primary Authors of the process had set in motion. Similarly, no amount of contentious and fantastical speculation about the precise nature of Jesus could succeed in separating His mission from the transformative influence exerted on the course of civilization by the work of Abraham and Moses. He Himself warns that it is not He Who will condemn those who reject the message He bears, but Moses "in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?"43 With the revelation of the Qur'án, the theme of the succession of the Messengers of God becomes central: "We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma?il, Isaac, Jacob ... and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord...."44

For a sympathetic and objective reader of such passages what emerges is a recognition of the essential oneness of religion. So it is that the term "Islam" (literally "submission" to God) designates not merely the particular dispensation of Providence inaugurated by Muhammad but, as the words of the Qur'án make unmistakably clear, religion itself. While it is true to speak of the unity of all religions, understanding of the context is vital. At the deepest level, as Bahá'u'lláh emphasizes, there is but one religion. Religion is religion, as science is science. The one discerns and articulates the values unfolding progressively through Divine revelation; the other is the instrumentality through which the human mind explores and is able to exert its influence ever more precisely over the phenomenal world. The one defines goals that serve the evolutionary process; the other assists in their attainment. Together, they constitute the dual knowledge system impelling the advance of civilization. Each is hailed by the Master as an "effulgence of the Sun of Truth".45

It is, therefore, an inadequate recognition of the unique station of Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad-or of the succession of Avatars who inspired the Hindu scriptures-to depict their work as the founding of distinct religions. Rather are they appreciated when acknowledged as the spiritual Educators of history, as the animating forces in the rise of the civilizations through which consciousness has flowered: "He was in the world," the Gospel declares, "and the world was made by him...."46 That their persons have been held in a reverence infinitely above those of any other historical figures reflects the attempt to articulate otherwise inexpressible feelings aroused in the hearts of unnumbered millions of people by the blessings their work has conferred. In loving them humanity has progressively learned what it means to love God. There is, realistically, no other way to do so. They are not honoured by fumbling efforts to capture the essential mystery of their nature in dogmas invented by human imagination; what honours them is the soul's unconditioned surrender of its will to the transformative influence they mediate.

(Commissioned by The Universal House of Justice, One Common Faith, paragraphs 31-44)

One Common Faith, paragraphs 17-22

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Throughout history, the primary agents of spiritual development have been the great religions. For the majority of the earth's people, the scriptures of each of these systems of belief have served, in Bahá'u'lláh's words, as "the City of God",7 a source of a knowledge that totally embraces consciousness, one so compelling as to endow the sincere with "a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind".8 A vast literature, to which all religious cultures have contributed, records the experience of transcendence reported by generations of seekers. Down the millennia, the lives of those who responded to intimations of the Divine have inspired breathtaking achievements in music, architecture, and the other arts, endlessly replicating the soul's experience for millions of their fellow believers. No other force in existence has been able to elicit from people comparable qualities of heroism, self-sacrifice and self-discipline. At the social level, the resulting moral principles have repeatedly translated themselves into universal codes of law, regulating and elevating human relationships. Viewed in perspective, the major religions emerge as the primary driving forces of the civilizing process. To argue otherwise is surely to ignore the evidence of history.

Why, then, does this immensely rich heritage not serve as the central stage for today's reawakening of spiritual quest? On the periphery, earnest attempts are being made to reformulate the teachings that gave rise to the respective faiths, in the hope of imbuing them with new appeal, but the greater part of the search for meaning is diffused, individualistic and incoherent in character. The scriptures have not changed; the moral principles they contain have lost none of their validity. No one who sincerely poses questions to Heaven, if he persists, will fail to detect an answering voice in the Psalms or in the Upanishads. Anyone with some intimation of the Reality that transcends this material one will be touched to the heart by the words in which Jesus or Buddha speaks so intimately of it. The Qur'án's apocalyptic visions continue to provide compelling assurance to its readers that the realization of justice is central to the Divine purpose. Nor, in their essential features, do the lives of heroes and saints seem any less meaningful than they did when those lives were lived centuries ago. For many religious people, therefore, the most painful aspect of the current crisis of civilization is that the search for truth has not turned with confidence into religion's familiar avenues.

The problem is, of course, twofold. The rational soul does not merely occupy a private sphere, but is an active participant in a social order. Although the received truths of the great faiths remain valid, the daily experience of an individual in the twenty-first century is unimaginably removed from the one that he or she would have known in any of those ages when this guidance was revealed. Democratic decision-making has fundamentally altered the relationship of the individual to authority. With growing confidence and growing success, women justly insist on their right to full equality with men. Revolutions in science and technology change not only the functioning but the conception of society, indeed of existence itself. Universal education and an explosion of new fields of creativity open the way to insights that stimulate social mobility and integration, and create opportunities of which the rule of law encourages the citizen to take full advantage. Stem cell research, nuclear energy, sexual identity, ecological stress and the use of wealth raise, at the very least, social questions that have no precedent. These, and the countless other changes affecting every aspect of human life, have brought into being a new world of daily choices for both society and its members. What has not changed is the inescapable requirement of making such choices, whether for better or worse. It is here that the spiritual nature of the contemporary crisis comes into sharpest focus because most of the decisions called for are not merely practical but moral. In large part, therefore, loss of faith in traditional religion has been an inevitable consequence of failure to discover in it the guidance required to live with modernity, successfully and with assurance.

A second barrier to a re-emergence of inherited systems of belief as the answer to humanity's spiritual yearnings is the effects already mentioned of global integration. Throughout the planet, people raised in a given religious frame of reference find themselves abruptly thrown into close association with others whose beliefs and practices appear at first glance irreconcilably different from their own. The differences can and often do give rise to defensiveness, simmering resentments and open conflict. In many cases, however, the effect is rather to prompt a reconsideration of received doctrine and to encourage efforts at discovering values held in common. The support enjoyed by various interfaith activities doubtless owes a great deal to response of this kind among the general public. Inevitably, with such approaches comes a questioning of religious doctrines that inhibit association and understanding. If people whose beliefs appear to be fundamentally different from one's own nevertheless live moral lives that deserve admiration, what is it that makes one's own faith superior to theirs? Alternatively, if all of the great religions share certain basic values in common, do not sectarian attachments run the risk of merely reinforcing unwanted barriers between an individual and his neighbours?

Few today among those who have some degree of objective familiarity with the subject are likely, therefore, to entertain an illusion that any one of the established religious systems of the past can assume the role of ultimate guide for humankind in the issues of contemporary life, even in the improbable event that its disparate sects should come together for that purpose. Each one of what the world regards as independent religions is set in the mould created by its authoritative scripture and its history. As it cannot refashion its system of belief in a manner to derive legitimacy from the authoritative words of its Founder, it likewise cannot adequately answer the multitude of questions posed by social and intellectual evolution. Distressing as this may appear to many, it is no more than an inherent feature of the evolutionary process. Attempts to force a reversal of some kind can lead only to still greater disenchantment with religion itself and exacerbate sectarian conflict.

The dilemma is both artificial and self-inflicted. The world order, if it can be so described, within which Bahá'ís today pursue the work of sharing Bahá'u'lláh's message is one whose misconceptions about both human nature and social evolution are so fundamental as to severely inhibit the most intelligent and well-intentioned endeavours at human betterment. Particularly is this true with respect to the confusion that surrounds virtually every aspect of the subject of religion. In order to respond adequately to the spiritual needs of their neighbours, Bahá'ís will have to gain an in-depth understanding of the issues involved. The effort of imagination this challenge requires can be appreciated from the advice that is perhaps the most frequently and urgently reiterated admonition in the writings of their Faith: to "meditate", to "ponder", to "reflect".

(Commissioned by The Universal House of Justice, One Common Faith, paragraphs 17-22)

A Baha'i Denies No Religion

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A Bahá'í denies no religion; he accepts the Truth in all, and would die to uphold it.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 56)

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Slumber

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O SON OF MAN!
Many a day hath passed over thee whilst thou hast busied thyself with thy fancies and idle imaginings. How long art thou to slumber on thy bed? Lift up thy head from slumber, for the Sun hath risen to the zenith, haply it may shine upon thee with the light of beauty.

Human Beings

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I have just been told that there has been a terrible accident in this country. A train has fallen into the river and at least twenty people have been killed. This is going to be a matter for discussion in the French Parliament today, and the Director of the State Railway will be called upon to speak. He will be cross-examined as to the condition of the railroad and as to what caused the accident, and there will be a heated argument. I am filled with wonder and surprise to notice what interest and excitement has been aroused throughout the whole country on account of the death of twenty people, while they remain cold and indifferent to the fact that thousands of Italians, Turks, and Arabs are killed in Tripoli! The horror of this wholesale slaughter has not disturbed the Government at all! Yet these unfortunate people are human beings too.

Why is there so much interest and eager sympathy shown towards these twenty individuals, while for five thousand persons there is none? They are all men, they all belong to the family of mankind, but they are of other lands and races. It is no concern of the disinterested countries if these men are cut to pieces, this wholesale slaughter does not affect them! How unjust, how cruel is this, how utterly devoid of any good and true feeling! The people of these other lands have children and wives, mothers, daughters, and little sons! In these countries today there is hardly a house free from the sound of bitter weeping, scarcely can one find a home untouched by the cruel hand of war.

Alas! we see on all sides how cruel, prejudiced and unjust is man, and how slow he is to believe in God and follow His commandments.

If these people would love and help one another instead of being so eager to destroy with sword and cannon, how much nobler would it be! How much better if they would live like a flock of doves in peace and harmony, instead of being like wolves and tearing each other to pieces.

Why is man so hard of heart? It is because he does not yet know God. If he had knowledge of God he could not act in direct opposition to His laws; if he were spiritually minded such a line of conduct would be impossible to him. If only the laws and precepts of the prophets of God had been believed, understood and followed, wars would no longer darken the face of the earth.

If man had even the rudiments of justice, such a state of things would be impossible.

Therefore, I say unto you pray – pray and turn your faces to God, that He, in His infinite compassion and mercy, may help and succour these misguided ones. Pray that He will grant them spiritual understanding and teach them tolerance and mercy, that the eyes of their minds may be opened and that they may be endued with the gift of the spirit. Then would peace and love walk hand in hand through the lands, and these poor unhappy people might have rest.

Let us all strive night and day to help in the bringing about of better conditions. My heart is broken by these terrible things and cries aloud – may this cry reach other hearts!

Then will the blind see, the dead will be raised, and Justice will come and reign upon the earth.

I beseech you all to pray with heart and soul that this may be accomplished.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks)

The Many Worlds of God

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As to thy question concerning the worlds of God. Know thou of a truth that the worlds of God are countless in their number, and infinite in their range. None can reckon or comprehend them except God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Consider thy state when asleep. Verily, I say, this phenomenon is the most mysterious of the signs of God amongst men, were they to ponder it in their hearts. Behold how the thing which thou hast seen in thy dream is, after a considerable lapse of time, fully realized. Had the world in which thou didst find thyself in thy dream been identical with the world in which thou livest, it would have been necessary for the event occurring in that dream to have transpired in this world at the very moment of its occurrence. Were it so, you yourself would have borne witness unto it. This being not the case, however, it must necessarily follow that the world in which thou livest is different and apart from that which thou hast experienced in thy dream. This latter world hath neither beginning nor end. It would be true if thou wert to contend that this same world is, as decreed by the All-Glorious and Almighty God, within thy proper self and is wrapped up within thee. It would equally be true to maintain that thy spirit, having transcended the limitations of sleep and having stripped itself of all earthly attachment, hath, by the act of God, been made to traverse a realm which lieth hidden in the innermost reality of this world. Verily I say, the creation of God embraceth worlds besides this world, and creatures apart from these creatures. In each of these worlds He hath ordained things which none can search except Himself, the All-Searching, the All-Wise. Do thou meditate on that which We have revealed unto thee, that thou mayest discover the purpose of God, thy Lord, and the Lord of all worlds. In these words the mysteries of Divine Wisdom have been treasured. We have refrained from dwelling upon this theme owing to the sorrow that hath encompassed Us from the actions of them that have been created through Our words, if ye be of them that will hearken unto Our Voice.

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 151)

Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 17

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"Consider the past. How many, both high and low, have, at all times, yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God in the sanctified persons of His chosen Ones. How often have they expected His coming, how frequently have they prayed that the breeze of Divine mercy might blow, and the promised Beauty step forth from behind the veil of concealment, and be made manifest to all the world. And whensoever the portals of grace did open, and the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon of celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned away from His face—the face of God Himself...."

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 17)

When is the Day of Ressurection?

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"When the sun shall be folded up, And when the stars shall fall, And when the mountains shall be set in motion." (Surih LXXXI, "The Folded Up", vv. 1-3)

The Pattern of Religion

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"So set thou thy face steadily and truly to the Faith: (establish) God's handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by God: that is the standard Religion: but most among mankind understand not." -- The Holy Qur'an, translated by Yusuf Ali, 30:30

The Test of Gold

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The Test of Gold

Having referred to the downfall of Javad-i-Qazvini, it is interesting to recount the story of his eldest brother, Haji Muhammad-Baqir-i-Qazvini who had an unusual Bahá’í career; he was one who fell from grace, but was saved towards the end of his life. Haji Muhammad-Baqir attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad. While there he requested Bahá’u’lláh to bestow wealth upon him. Bahá’u’lláh acceded to his plea and assured him that God would grant his wish. Soon afterwards he became very rich, but as a result grew heedless of the Cause of God.

In the course of Haji Mirza Haydar-’Ali’s account of what appears to be his first audience with Bahá’u’lláh in Adrianople, we find the following story of Haji Muhammad-Baqir. Having explained that he cannot express in words the excitement, awe and wonder of what he felt in his heart whenever he attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, Haji Mirza Haydar-’Ali writes: 277

Because it was the early days of the rise of the Day-Star of the
World,[1] Bahá’u’lláh asked me to give Him an account of the
state of the believers in Tihran, Qazvin, Zanjan and Tabriz,
the towns I had passed through. He enquired of their faith,
and their love for the Cause. I did not reply.[2] After we [Haji
Mirza Haydar-’Ali and his two companions] were dismissed
from His presence, we were taken to a place where it was
arranged for us to stay. There, Bahá’u’lláh sent someone to
whom I could recount the conditions of the believers. I
reported all I knew about each person, including the late
Haji Muhammad-Baqir who was at that time a well-known
merchant, foremost among the believers in faith, certitude
and enthusiasm, and was serving the Cause with devotion
and self-sacrifice.
[1 Bahá’u’lláh. (A.T.)]
[2 It was not unusual for the believers who were in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh not to reply to His questions. In the first place, they were so carried away that they could not utter a word. Secondly, to speak was regarded by many as being contrary to the spirit of utter self-effacement in His presence.]

The messenger left and after some minutes returned with
an exalted Tablet which had been revealed in honour of the
Haji. He stated [on behalf of Bahá’u’lláh]: ‘This man attained
the presence of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad. There He wrote a
letter to Him and begged for wealth and prosperity. In
answer, this exalted and wonderful Tablet was revealed for
him. In it Bahá’u’lláh stated that his request would be
granted and that the doors of prosperity and wealth would be
opened for him from every direction. He warned him, however,
to be on his guard and not to allow riches to become a
barrier and make him heedless.

Now you are here to attain the presence of Bahá’u’lláh and
in the future you will witness that this man [Haji Muhammad-Baqir]
will be overtaken with fear to such an extent that
he will renounce God and His Cause. Not long after, he will
make substantial losses, following which he will write a letter
to Bahá’u’lláh and repent. God will then turn his losses into
profit and he will become again highly successful in his
business and will emerge as the foremost merchant in Constantinople 278
and Tabriz. However, this time he will wax
prouder than before, more heedless and deprived... This
time he will lose all his possessions, will be unable to continue
trading and will become helpless in arranging his
affairs. It is then that he will repent and return, and will be
content to live as a poor man. He will spend the days of his
life in the service of the Cause of God. His end will be blessed
and he will receive great confirmations from God.’ He then
said to me: ‘Remember all these things, for they will come to
pass, and you shall witness them.’

We were in Adrianople when news came that Javad, the
younger brother of the Haji, had been arrested and cast into
prison. Haji Muhammad-Baqir had paid one thousand
tumans[1] for the release of his brother and had left Tabriz for
Constantinople in great haste. Upon arrival he had gone to
visit the late Mushiru’d-Dawlih, the Persian Ambassador,
and there in his presence had recanted his Faith. Bahá’u’lláh
affirmed that this was the beginning of his tests and instructed
that believers passing through Constantinople should
not associate with him.
[1 A very large sum of money in those days. (A.T.)]

Later, I left Adrianople for Constantinople where I stayed
for fourteen months. There I heard that the Haji had bought
enormous quantities of cotton and because the prices had
suddenly fallen drastically, not only had he lost all his
possessions, but he was also unable to pay his creditors...
When this happened he wrote a letter supplicating Bahá’u’lláh
and repenting. A holy and blessed Tablet was revealed
in his honour. In it Bahá’u’lláh gave him the glad-tidings
that he would soon make enormous profits. When I went to
Egypt, I heard that the price of cotton had risen considerably
and the Haji’s wealth as a result increased tenfold.(6)

This time Haji Muhammad-Baqir became very rich and influential. He emerged foremost among the merchants of Constantinople and acquired great fame. However, his wealth again became a barrier between him and God. Again he forsook the Cause, and completely cut off his relationship with Bahá’u’lláh. After some years Bahá’u’lláh asked Haji Abu’l-Hasan-i-Amin[1] 279 to establish contact with him and find out how he was. Haji Amin went to see him in Constantinople. He found him to be utterly heedless and forgetful of Bahá’u’lláh and the Cause. The world and its attractions had so possessed him that at one point in the interview, Haji Muhammad-Baqir pointed to a coffer in his office and said, ‘My god is in this box!’
[1 The Trustee of Bahá’u’lláh. For further information see vol. III.]

Haji Amin has stated that when he reported this to Bahá’u’lláh, He became very sad. As He was pacing up and down, He stopped, held out His hand, palm open, and said ‘With this hand We conferred upon him riches.’ Then with a sudden movement, He withdrew, closed His hand, and said, ‘Now with the same hand We take it back from him.’

Soon Haji Muhammad-Baqir lost all his possessions. He again became repentant and wrote to Bahá’u’lláh. This time a Tablet was revealed for him in which Bahá’u’lláh clearly stated that God took away his wealth so that he might return to Him and become steadfast in His love. He directed Haji Muhammad-Baqir to leave Constantinople and occupy himself with transcribing the holy Writings.

After this incident, Haji Muhammad-Baqir lived the remainder of his life in the uttermost poverty. He grew strong in his faith and devoted his time to the service of the Cause. Haji Mirza Haydar-’Ali, who met him after this event, writes:

...I met him [Haji Muhammad-Baqir] in Tabriz. He said
‘After the revelation of the Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh, it was as if
the nails in the wall, the curtains in the room, and everything
else had ears to hear and were carrying out the command of
Bahá’u’lláh. I lost everything that I had earned. The house I
live in now is owned by my wife and the clothes I wear are
tailored by my children.’(7)

Haji Muhammad-Baqir was not the only one who had asked Bahá’u’lláh to bestow upon him riches through the power of God. There were others, some of whom became utterly heedless of the Cause after their success in life. It is man’s nature to 280 become attracted to material things. However, if he allows worldly riches to possess him and rule over his soul, then he will be deprived of the bounties of God, and will perish spiritually. Wealth and attachment to material things are some of the greatest tests for the soul of man. Bahá’u’lláh states in The Hidden Words:

O Son of Being!
Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the
gold, and with gold We test Our servants.(8)

As we have previously stated,[1] there is nothing in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh to condemn wealth as long as it does not become a barrier between man and God. On the contrary He glorifies the station of a rich person whose riches have not prevented him from recognizing His Cause and serving Him with devotion. The view that one must be poor in order to become godly and spiritual is not necessarily correct. The criterion for nearness to God is detachment, and although it is more difficult for the rich to attain to this lofty station, a poor person often has to fight many battles within himself before he becomes detached from this world.
[1 See vol. I, pp. 75-7.]

‘Abdu’l-Bahá in one of His Tablets(9)explains that it is a basic requirement for the order of creation to have both rich and poor in human society.[1] If all were equal the balance in this world would be upset, and human progress would halt.
[1 It is important to note that while the Bahá’í teachings maintain that human society should consist of many levels, they advocate the abolition of extreme poverty and wealth.]

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 2, p. 280)

The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v2, p.39

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In many of His Tablets Bahá’u’lláh exhorts His followers not to become the bond-slaves of the Kingdom of Names. The well-known Islamic saying, ‘The Names come down from heaven’, has many significances. In this world every one of God’s attributes is clad with a name, and every such name reveals the characteristics of its attribute. For instance, generosity is an attribute of God, and it manifests itself in human beings. However, a person who has this attribute often becomes proud of it and loves to be referred to as generous. When his generosity is acknowledged by other people, he becomes happy, and when it is ignored, unhappy. This is one form of attachment to the Kingdom of Names. Although this example concerns the name ‘generosity’, the same is true of all the names and attributes of God manifested within the individual. Usually, man ascribes these attributes to his own person rather than to God and employs them to exalt his own ego. For instance, a learned man uses the attribute of knowledge to become famous and feels gratified and uplifted when his name is publicized far and wide. Or there is the individual whose heart leaps with feelings of pride and satisfaction when he hears his name mentioned and finds himself admired. These are examples of attachment to the Kingdom of Names.

Human society at present exerts a pernicious influence upon the soul of man. Instead of allowing him to live a life of service and sacrifice, it teaches him to pride himself on his accomplishments. From early childhood he is trained to develop his ego and to seek to exalt himself above others. His ultimate aim is to achieve self-importance, success and power.

The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh aims to reverse this process. The soul of man needs to be adorned with the virtues of humility and self-effacement so that it may become detached from the Kingdom of Names.

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 2, p. 39)