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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Boris Handal, The Philosophy of Baha'i Education, bahai-library.com.
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Religion and Education
ISSN: 1550-7394 (Print) 1949-8381 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/urel20
The Philosophy of Bahá’í Education
Boris Handal
To cite this article: Boris Handal (2007) The Philosophy of Bahá’í Education, Religion and
Education, 34:1, 48-62, DOI: 10.1080/15507394.2007.10012391
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The Philosophy of Bahá’í Education
Boris Handal
This paper discusses the main tenets underpinning a philosophy of Bahá’í
education encompassing the individual and the society. It also examines the
state of education and the child in the 19th century in the light of those
principles. This is followed by a review of Bahá’í-inspired enterprises to
implement those ideals around the world in the last century. Finally, the
paper deals with the current state of education for children and women of
the world as well as the erosive effects of secularism on religious values
that have taken place in the past hundred and fifty years.
Brief Introduction to the Bahá’í Faith
Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, the newest of all world’s
religions, was born in Iran in 1817 into an aristocratic family whose lineage
can be traced back to the early Persian kings.1 His teachings centered on
the principles of oneness of God, the unity of all religions and the unification
of the human race.
Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings also included the independent investigation of
truth, the elimination of racial, religious or national prejudices, the equality of
men and women, the harmony between science and religion, the abolition of
extremes of poverty and wealth, the establishment of an international tribu-
nal of justice to preserve universal peace, and the adoption of an interna-
tional auxiliary language to facilitate communication and understanding among
nations. He is recognized by the followers of the Bahá’í Faith as the mes-
senger of God for this age. According to the Bahá’í teachings, messengers
of God like Moses, Abraham, Christ, Muhammad, Krishna and Buddha,
have appeared at intervals throughout history to establish the world’s great
religions.
The Muslim clergy and the Iranian government fiercely opposed
Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings right from the beginning and as a result many thou-
sands of Bahá’ís were executed for their beliefs in the 19th century. Simi-
larly, Baha’u’llah endured forty years of torture, imprisonment and exile in
Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Palestine under the combined orders of the Shah of
Iran and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
Religion & Education, Vol. 34, No.1 (Winter 2007)
Copyright © 2007 by the University of Northern Iowa
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 49
During that period, over 100 volumes of writings flowed from Bahá’u’lláh’s
pen on a broad range of issues dealing with the progress of the individual
and the society. These include mystical treatises, ethical and social teach-
ings, laws and ordinances, in addition to fearless epistles to kings and rulers
of the world such as Queen Victoria, Napoleon III, Pope Pius IX, the Em-
peror Franz Joseph of Austria, the Shah of Iran, the Sultan of the Ottoman
Empire, the Czar Alexander II of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany,
among others.
His passing as a prisoner in ‘Akká (now in Israel) occurred in 1892. In
an interview granted to Professor Edward Granville Browne of Cambridge
University in 1890, Baha’u’llah summarized the main tenets of this new
Faith:
We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of
the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and
sedition worthy of bondage and banishment... That all na-
tions should become one in faith and all men as brothers;
that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of
men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should
cease, and differences of race be annulled — what harm
is there in this?... Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes,
these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great
Peace’ shall come... Do not you in Europe need this also?
Is this not what Christ foretold?...Yet do we see your kings
and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means
for the destruction of the human race than on that which
would conduce to the happiness of mankind... These strifes
and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be
as one kindred and one family... Let not a man glory in this,
that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he
loves his kind...3
Bahá’í Principles on Education
While a prisoner in a penal colony in Palestine, Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed
the principle of universal education as well as a number of other pedagogi-
cal ideals that are only now being encouraged and appreciated by modern
educationalists. There were the times when education all over the world
was more a privilege than a right. The notion of mass education did not yet
exist and the principles contained in the Declaration of the Rights of the
Child as delineated by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1959
were no more than a utopian dream.
50 Religion & Education
Central to that philosophy was the value ascribed by Bahá’u’lláh to
knowledge acquisition. Knowledge was not only seen as a tool for the de-
velopment of a rational mind but also as a spiritual quality on its own that
everyone should possess in order to become a nobler being. In Bahá’u’lláh’s
words,
Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being, and are
conducive to its exaltation. Knowledge is as wings to man’s
life, and a ladder for his ascent. The knowledge of such
sciences, however, should be acquired as can profit the
peoples of the earth… In truth, knowledge is a veritable
treasure for man [mankind], and a source of glory, of bounty,
of joy, of exaltation, of cheer and gladness unto him.4
Bahá’u’lláh commanded every father to take responsibility for instructing
his children in the art of reading and writing. He also advised people to
earmark part of their income for educational purposes. “Everyone, whether
man or woman”, Bahá’u’lláh wrote referring to this, “should hand over ... a
portion of what he or she earneth through trade, agriculture or other occu-
pation, for the training and education of children.”5 He went further to say
that in deciding on the education of one’s children, in the case of insufficient
financial means, preference should be given to the girl child because women
are the first educators of the next generation. Moreover, Bahá’u’lláh stated
that if a father deliberately fails to educate his children then he would lose
his paternity rights or, as we call it today, loss of custodial rights. Bahá’ú’lláh
has also stated that, in cases if intestacy, teachers would inherit a small part
of the state of a person thus giving them the status of spiritual members of
a family.6
‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1844-1921), Bahá’u’lláh’s eldest son and successor, also
wrote extensively on education.7 His progressive ideals dealt with a diver-
sity of forward-looking educational issues such as instruction based on child’s
individual needs8, the standardization of training and teaching standards9,
and formal education from infancy for both boys and girls10, arts, drama11,
music12, and physical education13 in addition to inter-faith learning14, knowl-
edge of modern languages15 and acquisition of skills beneficial to mankind.16
In addition, the Bahá’í teachings advocated innovative learning prac-
tices such as learning in groups through consultation17, interactive learning
through play for nursery children18, the abandonment of physical chastise-
ment practices19, character building as the most important objective of
schooling20, service to humanity21 and world-embracing instruction empha-
sizing education for peace.22 These educational provisions were all consid-
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 51
ered to be indispensable parts of the school curriculum as early as the turn
of the 19th century. Bahá’u’lláh also indicated that the principles of religion
should be taught in schools “… but this is such a measure that it may not
injure the children by resulting in ignorant fanaticism and bigotry”.23
It is noteworthy that the Bahá’i teachings do not pretend presenting a
detailed and definite system of education. Rather, they provide scholars and
educational practitioners with a set of articulated ideas and ideals to guide
them in designing educational models around such principles. Generating
such a system is a process that will obviously require more planning, action,
reflection and further refining over longer periods of practical experience
and conceptualization.24 However, this process has already started in many
countries and it is evolving such as initiatives in the United States, Australia,
India and Africa, as outlined further in this paper.
Education in the 19th Century
During the time Bahá’u’lláh’s writings were expounded, Iran, the birth-
place of the Bahá’í Faith, was sunk in a state of utmost intellectual and
spiritual obscurity. Governed by the corrupt Qajar dynasty, there was no
formal education system for children and the only establishment available
was the madreseh. The madresehs were religious seminars to prepare young
people for the clergy with emphasis on theology, history and Islamic law. In
a church-state country where the intellectual life was controlled by an
intolerant religious hierarchy, the only scholarly exercise was for the divines
to indulge themselves on lengthy metaphysical arguments and profitless
orthodox debates. Any attempt to modernization from overseas was averted
in the name of religious uncleanliness.25 Only children from wealthy fami-
lies, like Bahá’u’lláh, were fortunate enough to receive some basic literacy
and numeracy instruction, and the rudiments of commerce from home tu-
tors.26
By the middle of the 19th century, the condition of education in the
western world was also deficient, particularly in Europe which was held in
a state of continuous warfare. Only Denmark, Switzerland, Prussia and
Holland had accepted responsibility for providing compulsory and free edu-
cation.27 In many countries such as Victorian Britain and the United States,
child labour was institutionalized with many children working in factories
sometimes under inhuman conditions.28 In industrialized cities, working class
children attending fee paying schools still followed a differentiated curricu-
lum, one which would reproduce their production role within a burgeoning
industrial revolution driven society.29 Child slavery continued to be institu-
tionalized in several southern states of the Union until its total abrogation in
52 Religion & Education
1865 with the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment.30 although the seg-
regationist sequel in public schools remained in place under the “separate
but equal” legal injunction till the early 1950s.
In the absence of strong public education systems parochial schools
became common. While retaining the power to accommodate their curricu-
lum to their peculiar religious beliefs such as the teaching of their own
catechism, these denominational schools were under varying degrees of
government support, regulation and funding according to each country. For
example, by the middle of the century, German schools were totally in hands
of the government, the French had abolished the teaching of religion in
schools after the establishment of the Third Republic while England having
a state-supported church avoided government intervention on educational
issues.31 In other countries, both Reformation Protestants and Roman Catho-
lics were competing in creating they own parochial schools for having a
share in the spiritual and intellectual lives of their societies. In the United
States, the massive Irish Catholic immigration in the 19th century, reluctant
to be assimilated into the traditionally oriented Protestant school system,
opted for creating their own schools within an atmosphere of continuous
and very often violent religious conflict. The issue was finally was put to an
end when free public education, non-denominational by nature, became fully
institutionalized in all states by the turn of the century.32
Education was also introduced to impoverished indigenous populations
by European missionaries in the form of religious instruction and cultural
dominance, thus becoming an instrument of colonization that very often
accompanied various forms of oppression33, such as the case of the stolen
generation of Aboriginal children in Australia34 or in several African, Latin
American and Asian dependencies.
Philosophies on schooling revolved on themes like patriotism, milita-
rism, the industry or the church.35 Generally speaking, girls had limited ac-
cess to education, and what little instruction they had access to was based
on house chore duties and perpetuating other traditional roles. The institu-
tion of the kindergarten was virtually unknown while schools still prescribed
corporal punishment.36 Teaching and learning methods were embedded within
a mechanicist view of instruction. Rote learning was the norm, the child
being considered as a vessel to be passively filled in with information37, and
teacher training was scarce and rudimentary.38 Cooperative learning was
an embryonic concept while the only didactical tool used in the classroom
was the chalkboard. The child was taught to blindly accept the tenants
espoused by the textbook.39 School curricula was encyclopedically oriented,
lacked diversity and study of ancient languages such as Greek and Latin
were lauded following the Renaissance educational tradition.40
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 53
Pedagogy and psychology were still unborn sciences as such. Philoso-
phers and well-wishers such as Pestalozzi, Russeau, Herbart, and Froeber
had formulated or were developing their own views on education. As re-
search methods were unknown, some of these views were more subjective
appreciations rather than the product of experimentation or systematic ob-
servation. This led to a variety of ideas such as those expressed by Jean
Jacques Rousseau, the father of the French Revolution and author of the
famous Émile, who asserted that women should be educated to please the
men.41 In all of these, the 19th century was a century moving towards
secularization and rejection of the divine. Darwin had totally denied the
Bible as divine revelation and himself gave up Christianity at the age of
forty42, Freud called religion a “universal obsession neurosis of humanity”43,
Marx regarded it as the “opium of the people”44 while Nietzsche declared
that “God is dead”.45
The trend towards secularized education became more prominent in
the last century. “The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every
land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it.” ob-
served Bahá’u’lláh in 1873, “The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the
vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation
can cleanse and revive it?”46 Educational programs were also caught in this
secularizing tendency and consequently the design and delivery of schools
and teacher training programs were influenced. For example, most of these
20th century educational theories were based on materialistic assumptions
of the human being. Pavlov compared children’s learning to animal behaviour
through his theory of classical conditioning, Skinner in his behaviorism asso-
ciated cognitive processes with black boxes, while Piaget related these pro-
cesses to vegetal functioning, probably due to his training as a biologist.47
Other 20th century learning models such as the information-processing ap-
proach equated thought processes to computers components or like cogni-
tive psychologists that explained these thought processes in terms of the
interaction of chemical and physical neural reactions. Constructivism, con-
sidered by many as a more thorough approach to understanding how people
comprehend the world, still partook of the idea of human beings as social
animals, contrasting with the Bahá’í belief that humankind is not only a
distinctive realm of creation but the supreme one.48
A New Conception of the Child
It is in this disoriented spiritual and intellectual landscape of the 19th
century that Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed that a human being is a Supreme Tal-
isman and stated that “Lack of proper education hath, however, deprived
54 Religion & Education
him of that which he doth inherently possess.”49 He emphasized that it is
mainly through both the development of spiritual capabilities and formal
instruction that men and women will develop and accomplish their highest
destiny. The talisman metaphor inspires us to believe in the fathomless
spiritual powers of each individual to solve problems, a capacity that goes
beyond his or her material nature. In the same paragraph, Bahá’u’lláh also
compared human beings to mines “rich in gems of inestimable value”50
whose treasures can be revealed only through education for the benefit of
all mankind.
Addressing the individual, Bahá’u’lláh declared: “Thou art even as a
finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness of its sheath and its value
hidden from the artificer’s knowledge.”51 “Man is even as steel,” Bahá’u’lláh
stated, “the essence of which is hidden: through admonition and explana-
tion, good counsel and education, that essence will be brought to light.”52
Thus Bahá’u’lláh, as far back as the 1850s, was proposing a developmental
view of education, one that must also come from within the individual.53
This innate nobility of human beings proclaimed by Bahá’ú’lláh was distinc-
tive at that time and presented a clear contrast with prevalent theological
conceptions of children as being born sinful.54
‘Abdu’l-Bahá defined education as a holistic activity encompassing
material, human and spiritual aspects of the individual and the society. In
explaining these three broad facets for educating the body, the mind and the
spirit, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated:
Material education is concerned with the progress and de-
velopment of the body, through gaining its sustenance, its
material comfort and ease. This education is common to
animals and man. Human education signifies civilization and
progress— that is to say, government, administration, chari-
table works, trades, arts and handicrafts, sciences, great
inventions and discoveries and elaborate institutions, which
are the activities essential to man as distinguished from the
animal. Divine education is that of the Kingdom of God: It
consists in acquiring divine perfections, and this is true edu-
cation; for in this state man becomes the focus of divine
blessings, the manifestation of the words, “Let Us make
man in Our image, and after Our likeness.” This is the
goal of the world of humanity.55
Great emphasis was placed on the role of schools in developing charac-
ter and ethical values to the extent that it was considered the ultimate goal
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 55
of education. “A child that is cleanly, agreeable, of good character, well-
behaved—even though he be ignorant—,” in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s advice, “is
preferable to a child that is rude, unwashed, ill-natured, and yet becoming
deeply versed in all the sciences and arts…. If, however, the child be trained
to be both learned and good, the result is light upon light.”56 The approach
taken to moral development sought to empower children to develop their
own moral conscience even at the sacrifice of their own immediate inter-
ests. Rather than bearing towards current behaviour modification theories
which differentiate being than doing by inducing rational but moral-free
responses to life choices, the Bahá’i approach focuses on living the virtues
and adopted them permanently as part of people’s spiritual nature regarding
of the circumstantial outcomes of their decisions.57 Personal transformation
was also seen as a powerful factor in achieving social transformation. For
example, raising awareness on world citizenship was considered a prepara-
tion for achieving unity in diversity in a world free from religious, racial or
national prejudices.58 These all-embracing ideals coupled with the acquisi-
tion of virtues and spiritual qualities were seen as indispensable as the aca-
demic component of the school curriculum.
Bahá’i-inspired Education in the 20th Century
Empowered by the copious literature of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
on education, the oppressed Iranian Bahá’í community in the 20th century
positioned itself at the vanguard of educational reform in their own country.
Bahá’u’lláh had exhorted: “Bend your minds and wills to the education of
the peoples and kindreds of the earth”60 while ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had written:
“The primary, the most urgent requirement is the promotion of education. It
is inconceivable that any nation should achieve prosperity and success un-
less this paramount, this fundamental concern is carried forward.”61 The
Iranian Bahá’í community itself managed in an atmosphere of fanaticism
and bigotry to establish a network of fifty progressive schools for boys and
girls, the first one founded in 1898 and the rest in the early part of the 20th
century (see Fig.1). These schools were open to children of all backgrounds;
for example, half of the students in one of the schools in the capital Tehran
came from the broader community. Regrettably, in an act of religious intol-
erance, all Bahá’í schools were banned in the mid-1930s by the government
of Reza Shah. It was also due to this emphasis on education that by 1973
illiteracy among Bahá’í women under forty was almost totally eradicated as
compared to the 15% national literacy rate.62 Likewise, many Bahá’ís went
to higher education and pursued successful professional careers thus ob-
taining positions of prominence in the Iranian society before the 1979 revo-
lution.
56 Religion & Education
Fig. 1: A Bahá’í School for Girls in Iran in 1933
Unfortunately, for the past 26 years, the Iranian Bahá’í youth have
been deprived access to tertiary education and Bahá’í teachers have been
banned from teaching in public schools and universities as part of the cul-
tural cleansing campaign pursued by the Iranian government. In addition,
over 200 Bahá’ís have been executed because of their beliefs, a number of
them after explicitly being charged for teaching Bahá’í children’s classes,
the equivalent of Sunday schools in the West, including the hanging of a
seventeen year old girl.63 The regime has also managed to close down an
institution of higher learning established by the Iranian Bahá’í Community
with an enrollment of over 900 students and a staff of 150 academics.
Initially established through Indiana University as a distance education pro-
gram, the Open University later on developed its own courses in the form
of ten undergraduate degrees. Disciplines taught included computer sci-
ence, accounting, psychology, law, literature, applied chemistry, biology, civil
engineering, pharmacology and dental science. Classes were run in private
homes and in rented premises where laboratories, photocopying facilities
and specialized libraries were held. This endeavor came to an end in 1998
when over 500 homes were raided, 36 academics were arrested and all
their equipment was confiscated.64
Despite this bleak background, Bahá’í individuals and institutions have
established a large number of schools, universities, radio stations, centers of
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 57
learning and other grassroots socio-economic projects around the world for
people of all backgrounds. There are currently over 1700 projects operating
mostly in developing countries and running programs on literacy, numeracy,
environment, and agriculture, the advancement of women, health care, drug
prevention and parenting.65 Their endeavours are continually aiming at de-
veloping new curricula by exploring the processes and significance of ap-
plying spiritual values to educational concepts and practices, including a
strong service component to the broader community. Successful examples
of Bahá’í-inspired educational initiatives around the world include among
others: Nur University in Bolivia66, Maxwell International School in Canada67,
the School of the Nations in Macau68, Yerrinbool College in Australia69, the
Banani School in Zambia70, Towshend International School in the Czech
Republic71, Santitham School in Thailand72, the Ocean of Light School in
Tonga 73 , the School of the Nations in Brazil 74 , and the
Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women in India.75 Some of these en-
terprises have had their work publicly acknowledged such as the City
Montessori School in India76 that won in 2002 the UNESCO award for
Peace Education and FUNDAEC (The Foundation for the Application and
Teaching of the Sciences) of Colombia which was qualified by the Bucharest
Club as “the best educatory project of the time.”77
Their activities are guided by the Universal House of Justice, the inter-
national governing body of the Bahá’í Faith located in Israel, through its
Office of Social and Economic Development. In addition, a group-based
and self-directed tutorial system called the “Ruhi Institute” has been imple-
mented at the Bahá’i local level in the past five years. Their aim is to de-
velop human resources within the Bahá’í community. There are currently
over 11000 study circles established around the world. Some of the modules
of this training institute are aimed at the moral education and training of
children and youth while other community-oriented courses such as teacher
training and primary health are being developed at the local level.78 On a
major scale, the Bahá’í International Community has been advocating in
international forums in favour of universal and moral education since 1948
from its position as an international non-governmental organization at the
United Nations, and through it consultative status within the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC).
Conclusions
The Bahá’i Faith brought a new light to the languishing education of the
19th century. It proclaimed that children are born noble, not sinful, with
58 Religion & Education
plenty of latent attributes that need to be patiently developed and nurtured.
Pedagogically, the Baha’i writings advocated for more child-centered ap-
proaches that included many of the innovative practices that are in use
nowadays as outlined earlier in this paper. Curriculum wise, moral educa-
tion and world citizenship were made central to the child’s upbringing. These
ideals also advocated for more diversity in the school curriculum, one that
necessarily should reflect the changing needs of society and prepare the
individual as a world citizen. According to the Bahá’i writings, education
had to be compulsory for both boys and girls, rather than voluntary, and
social mechanisms were put in place to this effect to minimize disadvantage
such as girls education and funding the education of the less privileged in
society.
Last century witnessed the emergence of a number of successful
Bahá’i-inspired educational establishments striving to apply the principles
enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdul-Bahá. Although restricted by mate-
rial resources, these institutions have achieved remarkable results, as seen
above. Such a doctrinarian and historical commitment at the local, national
and international level, within a single century, by a world religious commu-
nity that is still banned and persecuted in its birthplace is indeed extraordi-
nary.
It is certainly encouraging to witness that many of these ideals are now
being unanimously accepted and implemented. However, it should be as-
serted that no enough effort has been rendered in the fields of universal and
spiritual education in response to Bahá’u’lláh’s counsel. On the one hand, a
constant trend towards secularization and value-neutral education has con-
tinued to drive religious values away at least from most public education
systems. Using the lens of history, it can be said that the three generations
of the 20th century, both in the East and the West, has grown up in a world
reverencing nationalism, racialism and communism as virtual deities.79
On the other hand, this year UNICEF has alerted that 121 million chil-
dren of primary-school age do not attend school while two-thirds of the
illiterate adult population are women, mostly from developing countries.80
Such disturbing reality certainly conflicts with our 21st century claims to
modernity and globalization. This lack of progress in the fields of universal
and moral education not only summons all the nations for the worldwide
implementation of these principles but also reminds us of Bahá’u’lláh’s ad-
monitions more than a century-and-a-half ago:
Strain every nerve to acquire both inner and outer perfec-
tions, for the fruit of the human tree hath ever been and
will ever be perfections both within and without. It is not
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 59
desirable that a man be left without knowledge or skills, for
he is then but a barren tree. Then, so much as capacity and
capability allow, ye needs must deck the tree of being with
fruits such as knowledge, wisdom, spiritual perception and
eloquent speech.81
Notes
1. Bahá’í International Community. Statement on Baha’u’llah: His Life
and Work. (New York: Office of Public Information, 1991), http://
info.bahai.org/bahaullah-introduction.html.
2. W. Hatcher. The Arc of Ascent: The Purpose of Physical Reality.
(Oxford: George Ronald, 1994).
3. E. G. Browne. A Traveller’s Narrative. (New York: Bahá’í Publishing
Committee, 1930), xxxix-xl.
4. Bahá’ú’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. (US Bahá’í Publishing
Trust, 1988), 181.
5. Bahá’ú’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. (Haifa, Bahá’í World Centre, 1992),
90.
6. Bahá’ú’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh. (US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988),
90.
7. H. Balyuzi. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Centre of the Covenant of Baha’u’llah.
(Oxford: George Ronald, 1972).
8. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’i Education. (US Bahá’i Publishing Trust, 1987).
9. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, IX, 9
10. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’i Education, 31.
11. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London. (London Publishing Trust,
1982), 93.
12. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, IX, 8.
13. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, IX9, 89-96.
14. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selection from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. (US
Bahá’i Publishing Trust, 1978), 144.
15. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, XIII:7
16. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, VII:15.
17. Bahá’i World Centre. Consultation: A Compilation. (US Bahá’i Pub-
lishing Trust, 1980).
18. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, VII:15, 141-44; B. Hacker. “Montessori
and the Bahá’í Faith,” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 1 (2) 1988-1989.
19. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selection from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 125.
20. Ibid, 135.
21. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, XI:19, 329-330.
60 Religion & Education
22. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace. (US Bahá’í
Publishing Trust, 1982), 92.
23. Bahá’ú’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, 84.
24. F. Arbab. Lectures in Bahá’í-Inspired Curricula. (Florida, Palabras
Publications. 1994).
25. S. Effendi. “Introduction” to Nabil’s Narrative. (London: Bahá’i Pub-
lishing Trust, 1953), xxi-xxxiv.
26. H. Balyuzi. Bahá’u’lláh, King of Glory. (Oxford, UK: George Ronald,
2000).
27. L. Cole. A History of Education. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Win-
ston, 1961).
28. B. Simon. Studies in the History of Education 1780-1870. (London:
Lawrence & Wishart, 1960).
29. Arbab. Lectures in Bahá’í-Inspired Curricula.
30. W. Freehling. The Reintegration of American History: Slavery and
the Civil War. (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1994).
31. Cole, A History of Education.
32. R. Boston. “Bible Riots: When Christians Killed each other over Reli-
gion in Public Schools.” Liberty: A Magazine For Religious, (Liberty,
May/June 1997), http://candst.tripod.com/boston3.htm.
33. Bahá’í World Centre. Century of Light. (Bahá’í Publishing Trust of
Malaysia, 2001).
34. Department of Education and Training. Aboriginal Education. (New
South Wales, DET, 1996).
35. M. Gillet. Readings in the History of Education. (Canada: McGraw-
Hill, 1969).
36. T.W. Bamford. “Public School Town in the Nineteenth Century.” In
P.W. Musgrave (ed.) Sociology, History and Education, (London: Methuen
& Co Ltd, 1970), 273-284.
37. B. Handal. “Philosophies and Pedagogies of Mathematics.” Philoso-
phy of Mathematics Education Journal 7 (2003), www.ex.ac.uk/~PErnest/
pome17/pdf/handal.pdf.
38. R.H. Beck. A Social History of Education. (N.J., Prentice Hall, 1965).
39. J.M.D. Meiklejon. “Scottish Education.” In P. Gordon (ed.) The Study
of Education, Volume 1, (London: The Woburn Press, 1980), 1-42.
40. F. Ringer. “On Segmentation in Modern European Educational Sys-
tems: The Case of French Secondary Systems 1865-1920.” In D.K. Muller,
F. Ringer, B, Simon (eds.) The Rise of the Modern Educational System,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 53-87.
41. J.J. Rousseau. Émile, translated by Barbara Foxley. (New York: Dutton,
1966).
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 61
42. A. Desmond and J. Moore. Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolu-
tionist. (London, Michael Joseph, 1991), 658.
43. K. Marx. “A Contribution to a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.”
Introduction. Reprinted in Early Writings, trans. Rodney Livingstone and
Gregor Benton. (London: Penguin, 1975), 244.
44. S. Freud. The Future of an Illusion, translated and edited by James
Strachey. (New York: W.W.Nortan and Company, Inc., 1961), 245.
45. F. Nietzche. The Gay Science, translated by Walter Kaufmann. (New
York, Vintage Books, 1974), 167.
46. Bahá’ú’lláh. Gleaning from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. (US Bahá’í
Publishing Trust, 1990), 200.
47. Handal, “Philosophies and Pedagogies of Mathematics.”
48. B. Handal. “Metaphors in Education,” Journal of the Australian As-
sociation of Bahá’í Studies (in press).
49. Bahá’ú’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, 161.
50. Ibid.
51. Bahá’ú’lláh, The Hidden Words. (US Publishing Trust, 1985), 47.
52. Bahá’í World Centre. The Compilation of Compilations. (Bahá’í Pub-
lications Australia, 1991), 247.
53. Handal. “Metaphors in Education”.
5. M.J. Bunge (ed.). The Child in Christian Thought, (MI: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000).
55. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions. (US Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
1990), 8.
56. ‘Abdul-Bahá. Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdul-Bahá, 136.
57. W. Langley. “Children, Moral Development, and Global Transforma-
tion,” In World Order US, Bahá’i Publishing Trust 28(27) 2007: 13-24.
58. L. Kavelin-Popov. The Virtues Project Educator’s Guide: Simple
Ways to Create a Culture of Character. (CA: Jalmar Press, 2000),
www.virtuesproject.com.
59. L. Noguchi, H. Hanson, and P. Lample. Exploring a Framework for
Moral Education. (Florida: Palabra Publications, 1992).
60. Bahá’ú’lláh. Gleaning from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. (US Bahá’í
Publishing Trust, 1990), 334.
61. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization. (US Bahá’í Publish-
ing Trust, 1990), 116.
62. Bahá’i International Community. Education: A Bahá’i Perspective.
(New York, Bahá’í International Community, 1990).
63. N. Ghanea. Human Rights, the UN and the Bahá’ís in Iran. (UK,
George Ronald, 2002).
64. B. Bollag. “36 Professors Arrested in Iranian Crackdown on Under-
62 Religion & Education
ground Baha’i University.” Chronicle of Higher Education (November
13, 1998).
65. Bahá’i International Community. Bahá’í Development Projects: A Glo-
bal Process of Learning (2006), http://info.bahai.org/article-1-8-1-1.html.
66. Nur University, www.nur.edu.
67. Maxwell International School, www.maxwell.bc.ca.
68. The School of the Nations of Macau, www.schoolofthenations.com.
69. Yerrinbool College, www.ybcl.org.
70. The Banani School, www.banani.sch.zm.
71. Townshend International School, www.townshend.cz.
72. Santitham School, www.thai-bahais.org/Santitham/index.php.
73. Ocean of Light School of Tonga, www.oceanoflight.to.
74. The School of the Nations of Brazil, www.edn.org.br.
75. Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women, www.geocities.com/
RainForest/2519.
76. Montessory City School, www.cmseducation.org.
77. Fundación para la Aplicación y Enseñanza de las Ciencias (The
Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences),
www.fundaec.org and www.clubofbudapest.org/Awards/cw-fundaec.htm.
78. Ruhi Institute. Walking Together on a Path of Service. (Florida,
Palabras Publications, 2001).
79 S. Effendi. The Promised Day is Come. (US Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
1980).
80. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). State of the World’s Chil-
dren 2006 (2006), www.unicef.org.
81. Bahá’í World Centre. The Compilation of Compilations. (Bahá’í Pub-
lications Australia, 1991), 247.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Religion and Education
ISSN: 1550-7394 (Print) 1949-8381 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/urel20
The Philosophy of Bahá’í Education
Boris Handal
To cite this article: Boris Handal (2007) The Philosophy of Bahá’í Education, Religion and
Education, 34:1, 48-62, DOI: 10.1080/15507394.2007.10012391
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The Philosophy of Bahá’í Education
Boris Handal
This paper discusses the main tenets underpinning a philosophy of Bahá’í
education encompassing the individual and the society. It also examines the
state of education and the child in the 19th century in the light of those
principles. This is followed by a review of Bahá’í-inspired enterprises to
implement those ideals around the world in the last century. Finally, the
paper deals with the current state of education for children and women of
the world as well as the erosive effects of secularism on religious values
that have taken place in the past hundred and fifty years.
Brief Introduction to the Bahá’í Faith
Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, the newest of all world’s
religions, was born in Iran in 1817 into an aristocratic family whose lineage
can be traced back to the early Persian kings.1 His teachings centered on
the principles of oneness of God, the unity of all religions and the unification
of the human race.
Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings also included the independent investigation of
truth, the elimination of racial, religious or national prejudices, the equality of
men and women, the harmony between science and religion, the abolition of
extremes of poverty and wealth, the establishment of an international tribu-
nal of justice to preserve universal peace, and the adoption of an interna-
tional auxiliary language to facilitate communication and understanding among
nations. He is recognized by the followers of the Bahá’í Faith as the mes-
senger of God for this age. According to the Bahá’í teachings, messengers
of God like Moses, Abraham, Christ, Muhammad, Krishna and Buddha,
have appeared at intervals throughout history to establish the world’s great
religions.
The Muslim clergy and the Iranian government fiercely opposed
Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings right from the beginning and as a result many thou-
sands of Bahá’ís were executed for their beliefs in the 19th century. Simi-
larly, Baha’u’llah endured forty years of torture, imprisonment and exile in
Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Palestine under the combined orders of the Shah of
Iran and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
Religion & Education, Vol. 34, No.1 (Winter 2007)
Copyright © 2007 by the University of Northern Iowa
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 49
During that period, over 100 volumes of writings flowed from Bahá’u’lláh’s
pen on a broad range of issues dealing with the progress of the individual
and the society. These include mystical treatises, ethical and social teach-
ings, laws and ordinances, in addition to fearless epistles to kings and rulers
of the world such as Queen Victoria, Napoleon III, Pope Pius IX, the Em-
peror Franz Joseph of Austria, the Shah of Iran, the Sultan of the Ottoman
Empire, the Czar Alexander II of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany,
among others.
His passing as a prisoner in ‘Akká (now in Israel) occurred in 1892. In
an interview granted to Professor Edward Granville Browne of Cambridge
University in 1890, Baha’u’llah summarized the main tenets of this new
Faith:
We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of
the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and
sedition worthy of bondage and banishment... That all na-
tions should become one in faith and all men as brothers;
that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of
men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should
cease, and differences of race be annulled — what harm
is there in this?... Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes,
these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great
Peace’ shall come... Do not you in Europe need this also?
Is this not what Christ foretold?...Yet do we see your kings
and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means
for the destruction of the human race than on that which
would conduce to the happiness of mankind... These strifes
and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be
as one kindred and one family... Let not a man glory in this,
that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he
loves his kind...3
Bahá’í Principles on Education
While a prisoner in a penal colony in Palestine, Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed
the principle of universal education as well as a number of other pedagogi-
cal ideals that are only now being encouraged and appreciated by modern
educationalists. There were the times when education all over the world
was more a privilege than a right. The notion of mass education did not yet
exist and the principles contained in the Declaration of the Rights of the
Child as delineated by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1959
were no more than a utopian dream.
50 Religion & Education
Central to that philosophy was the value ascribed by Bahá’u’lláh to
knowledge acquisition. Knowledge was not only seen as a tool for the de-
velopment of a rational mind but also as a spiritual quality on its own that
everyone should possess in order to become a nobler being. In Bahá’u’lláh’s
words,
Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being, and are
conducive to its exaltation. Knowledge is as wings to man’s
life, and a ladder for his ascent. The knowledge of such
sciences, however, should be acquired as can profit the
peoples of the earth… In truth, knowledge is a veritable
treasure for man [mankind], and a source of glory, of bounty,
of joy, of exaltation, of cheer and gladness unto him.4
Bahá’u’lláh commanded every father to take responsibility for instructing
his children in the art of reading and writing. He also advised people to
earmark part of their income for educational purposes. “Everyone, whether
man or woman”, Bahá’u’lláh wrote referring to this, “should hand over ... a
portion of what he or she earneth through trade, agriculture or other occu-
pation, for the training and education of children.”5 He went further to say
that in deciding on the education of one’s children, in the case of insufficient
financial means, preference should be given to the girl child because women
are the first educators of the next generation. Moreover, Bahá’u’lláh stated
that if a father deliberately fails to educate his children then he would lose
his paternity rights or, as we call it today, loss of custodial rights. Bahá’ú’lláh
has also stated that, in cases if intestacy, teachers would inherit a small part
of the state of a person thus giving them the status of spiritual members of
a family.6
‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1844-1921), Bahá’u’lláh’s eldest son and successor, also
wrote extensively on education.7 His progressive ideals dealt with a diver-
sity of forward-looking educational issues such as instruction based on child’s
individual needs8, the standardization of training and teaching standards9,
and formal education from infancy for both boys and girls10, arts, drama11,
music12, and physical education13 in addition to inter-faith learning14, knowl-
edge of modern languages15 and acquisition of skills beneficial to mankind.16
In addition, the Bahá’í teachings advocated innovative learning prac-
tices such as learning in groups through consultation17, interactive learning
through play for nursery children18, the abandonment of physical chastise-
ment practices19, character building as the most important objective of
schooling20, service to humanity21 and world-embracing instruction empha-
sizing education for peace.22 These educational provisions were all consid-
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 51
ered to be indispensable parts of the school curriculum as early as the turn
of the 19th century. Bahá’u’lláh also indicated that the principles of religion
should be taught in schools “… but this is such a measure that it may not
injure the children by resulting in ignorant fanaticism and bigotry”.23
It is noteworthy that the Bahá’i teachings do not pretend presenting a
detailed and definite system of education. Rather, they provide scholars and
educational practitioners with a set of articulated ideas and ideals to guide
them in designing educational models around such principles. Generating
such a system is a process that will obviously require more planning, action,
reflection and further refining over longer periods of practical experience
and conceptualization.24 However, this process has already started in many
countries and it is evolving such as initiatives in the United States, Australia,
India and Africa, as outlined further in this paper.
Education in the 19th Century
During the time Bahá’u’lláh’s writings were expounded, Iran, the birth-
place of the Bahá’í Faith, was sunk in a state of utmost intellectual and
spiritual obscurity. Governed by the corrupt Qajar dynasty, there was no
formal education system for children and the only establishment available
was the madreseh. The madresehs were religious seminars to prepare young
people for the clergy with emphasis on theology, history and Islamic law. In
a church-state country where the intellectual life was controlled by an
intolerant religious hierarchy, the only scholarly exercise was for the divines
to indulge themselves on lengthy metaphysical arguments and profitless
orthodox debates. Any attempt to modernization from overseas was averted
in the name of religious uncleanliness.25 Only children from wealthy fami-
lies, like Bahá’u’lláh, were fortunate enough to receive some basic literacy
and numeracy instruction, and the rudiments of commerce from home tu-
tors.26
By the middle of the 19th century, the condition of education in the
western world was also deficient, particularly in Europe which was held in
a state of continuous warfare. Only Denmark, Switzerland, Prussia and
Holland had accepted responsibility for providing compulsory and free edu-
cation.27 In many countries such as Victorian Britain and the United States,
child labour was institutionalized with many children working in factories
sometimes under inhuman conditions.28 In industrialized cities, working class
children attending fee paying schools still followed a differentiated curricu-
lum, one which would reproduce their production role within a burgeoning
industrial revolution driven society.29 Child slavery continued to be institu-
tionalized in several southern states of the Union until its total abrogation in
52 Religion & Education
1865 with the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment.30 although the seg-
regationist sequel in public schools remained in place under the “separate
but equal” legal injunction till the early 1950s.
In the absence of strong public education systems parochial schools
became common. While retaining the power to accommodate their curricu-
lum to their peculiar religious beliefs such as the teaching of their own
catechism, these denominational schools were under varying degrees of
government support, regulation and funding according to each country. For
example, by the middle of the century, German schools were totally in hands
of the government, the French had abolished the teaching of religion in
schools after the establishment of the Third Republic while England having
a state-supported church avoided government intervention on educational
issues.31 In other countries, both Reformation Protestants and Roman Catho-
lics were competing in creating they own parochial schools for having a
share in the spiritual and intellectual lives of their societies. In the United
States, the massive Irish Catholic immigration in the 19th century, reluctant
to be assimilated into the traditionally oriented Protestant school system,
opted for creating their own schools within an atmosphere of continuous
and very often violent religious conflict. The issue was finally was put to an
end when free public education, non-denominational by nature, became fully
institutionalized in all states by the turn of the century.32
Education was also introduced to impoverished indigenous populations
by European missionaries in the form of religious instruction and cultural
dominance, thus becoming an instrument of colonization that very often
accompanied various forms of oppression33, such as the case of the stolen
generation of Aboriginal children in Australia34 or in several African, Latin
American and Asian dependencies.
Philosophies on schooling revolved on themes like patriotism, milita-
rism, the industry or the church.35 Generally speaking, girls had limited ac-
cess to education, and what little instruction they had access to was based
on house chore duties and perpetuating other traditional roles. The institu-
tion of the kindergarten was virtually unknown while schools still prescribed
corporal punishment.36 Teaching and learning methods were embedded within
a mechanicist view of instruction. Rote learning was the norm, the child
being considered as a vessel to be passively filled in with information37, and
teacher training was scarce and rudimentary.38 Cooperative learning was
an embryonic concept while the only didactical tool used in the classroom
was the chalkboard. The child was taught to blindly accept the tenants
espoused by the textbook.39 School curricula was encyclopedically oriented,
lacked diversity and study of ancient languages such as Greek and Latin
were lauded following the Renaissance educational tradition.40
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 53
Pedagogy and psychology were still unborn sciences as such. Philoso-
phers and well-wishers such as Pestalozzi, Russeau, Herbart, and Froeber
had formulated or were developing their own views on education. As re-
search methods were unknown, some of these views were more subjective
appreciations rather than the product of experimentation or systematic ob-
servation. This led to a variety of ideas such as those expressed by Jean
Jacques Rousseau, the father of the French Revolution and author of the
famous Émile, who asserted that women should be educated to please the
men.41 In all of these, the 19th century was a century moving towards
secularization and rejection of the divine. Darwin had totally denied the
Bible as divine revelation and himself gave up Christianity at the age of
forty42, Freud called religion a “universal obsession neurosis of humanity”43,
Marx regarded it as the “opium of the people”44 while Nietzsche declared
that “God is dead”.45
The trend towards secularized education became more prominent in
the last century. “The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every
land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it.” ob-
served Bahá’u’lláh in 1873, “The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the
vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation
can cleanse and revive it?”46 Educational programs were also caught in this
secularizing tendency and consequently the design and delivery of schools
and teacher training programs were influenced. For example, most of these
20th century educational theories were based on materialistic assumptions
of the human being. Pavlov compared children’s learning to animal behaviour
through his theory of classical conditioning, Skinner in his behaviorism asso-
ciated cognitive processes with black boxes, while Piaget related these pro-
cesses to vegetal functioning, probably due to his training as a biologist.47
Other 20th century learning models such as the information-processing ap-
proach equated thought processes to computers components or like cogni-
tive psychologists that explained these thought processes in terms of the
interaction of chemical and physical neural reactions. Constructivism, con-
sidered by many as a more thorough approach to understanding how people
comprehend the world, still partook of the idea of human beings as social
animals, contrasting with the Bahá’í belief that humankind is not only a
distinctive realm of creation but the supreme one.48
A New Conception of the Child
It is in this disoriented spiritual and intellectual landscape of the 19th
century that Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed that a human being is a Supreme Tal-
isman and stated that “Lack of proper education hath, however, deprived
54 Religion & Education
him of that which he doth inherently possess.”49 He emphasized that it is
mainly through both the development of spiritual capabilities and formal
instruction that men and women will develop and accomplish their highest
destiny. The talisman metaphor inspires us to believe in the fathomless
spiritual powers of each individual to solve problems, a capacity that goes
beyond his or her material nature. In the same paragraph, Bahá’u’lláh also
compared human beings to mines “rich in gems of inestimable value”50
whose treasures can be revealed only through education for the benefit of
all mankind.
Addressing the individual, Bahá’u’lláh declared: “Thou art even as a
finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness of its sheath and its value
hidden from the artificer’s knowledge.”51 “Man is even as steel,” Bahá’u’lláh
stated, “the essence of which is hidden: through admonition and explana-
tion, good counsel and education, that essence will be brought to light.”52
Thus Bahá’u’lláh, as far back as the 1850s, was proposing a developmental
view of education, one that must also come from within the individual.53
This innate nobility of human beings proclaimed by Bahá’ú’lláh was distinc-
tive at that time and presented a clear contrast with prevalent theological
conceptions of children as being born sinful.54
‘Abdu’l-Bahá defined education as a holistic activity encompassing
material, human and spiritual aspects of the individual and the society. In
explaining these three broad facets for educating the body, the mind and the
spirit, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated:
Material education is concerned with the progress and de-
velopment of the body, through gaining its sustenance, its
material comfort and ease. This education is common to
animals and man. Human education signifies civilization and
progress— that is to say, government, administration, chari-
table works, trades, arts and handicrafts, sciences, great
inventions and discoveries and elaborate institutions, which
are the activities essential to man as distinguished from the
animal. Divine education is that of the Kingdom of God: It
consists in acquiring divine perfections, and this is true edu-
cation; for in this state man becomes the focus of divine
blessings, the manifestation of the words, “Let Us make
man in Our image, and after Our likeness.” This is the
goal of the world of humanity.55
Great emphasis was placed on the role of schools in developing charac-
ter and ethical values to the extent that it was considered the ultimate goal
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 55
of education. “A child that is cleanly, agreeable, of good character, well-
behaved—even though he be ignorant—,” in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s advice, “is
preferable to a child that is rude, unwashed, ill-natured, and yet becoming
deeply versed in all the sciences and arts…. If, however, the child be trained
to be both learned and good, the result is light upon light.”56 The approach
taken to moral development sought to empower children to develop their
own moral conscience even at the sacrifice of their own immediate inter-
ests. Rather than bearing towards current behaviour modification theories
which differentiate being than doing by inducing rational but moral-free
responses to life choices, the Bahá’i approach focuses on living the virtues
and adopted them permanently as part of people’s spiritual nature regarding
of the circumstantial outcomes of their decisions.57 Personal transformation
was also seen as a powerful factor in achieving social transformation. For
example, raising awareness on world citizenship was considered a prepara-
tion for achieving unity in diversity in a world free from religious, racial or
national prejudices.58 These all-embracing ideals coupled with the acquisi-
tion of virtues and spiritual qualities were seen as indispensable as the aca-
demic component of the school curriculum.
Bahá’i-inspired Education in the 20th Century
Empowered by the copious literature of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
on education, the oppressed Iranian Bahá’í community in the 20th century
positioned itself at the vanguard of educational reform in their own country.
Bahá’u’lláh had exhorted: “Bend your minds and wills to the education of
the peoples and kindreds of the earth”60 while ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had written:
“The primary, the most urgent requirement is the promotion of education. It
is inconceivable that any nation should achieve prosperity and success un-
less this paramount, this fundamental concern is carried forward.”61 The
Iranian Bahá’í community itself managed in an atmosphere of fanaticism
and bigotry to establish a network of fifty progressive schools for boys and
girls, the first one founded in 1898 and the rest in the early part of the 20th
century (see Fig.1). These schools were open to children of all backgrounds;
for example, half of the students in one of the schools in the capital Tehran
came from the broader community. Regrettably, in an act of religious intol-
erance, all Bahá’í schools were banned in the mid-1930s by the government
of Reza Shah. It was also due to this emphasis on education that by 1973
illiteracy among Bahá’í women under forty was almost totally eradicated as
compared to the 15% national literacy rate.62 Likewise, many Bahá’ís went
to higher education and pursued successful professional careers thus ob-
taining positions of prominence in the Iranian society before the 1979 revo-
lution.
56 Religion & Education
Fig. 1: A Bahá’í School for Girls in Iran in 1933
Unfortunately, for the past 26 years, the Iranian Bahá’í youth have
been deprived access to tertiary education and Bahá’í teachers have been
banned from teaching in public schools and universities as part of the cul-
tural cleansing campaign pursued by the Iranian government. In addition,
over 200 Bahá’ís have been executed because of their beliefs, a number of
them after explicitly being charged for teaching Bahá’í children’s classes,
the equivalent of Sunday schools in the West, including the hanging of a
seventeen year old girl.63 The regime has also managed to close down an
institution of higher learning established by the Iranian Bahá’í Community
with an enrollment of over 900 students and a staff of 150 academics.
Initially established through Indiana University as a distance education pro-
gram, the Open University later on developed its own courses in the form
of ten undergraduate degrees. Disciplines taught included computer sci-
ence, accounting, psychology, law, literature, applied chemistry, biology, civil
engineering, pharmacology and dental science. Classes were run in private
homes and in rented premises where laboratories, photocopying facilities
and specialized libraries were held. This endeavor came to an end in 1998
when over 500 homes were raided, 36 academics were arrested and all
their equipment was confiscated.64
Despite this bleak background, Bahá’í individuals and institutions have
established a large number of schools, universities, radio stations, centers of
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 57
learning and other grassroots socio-economic projects around the world for
people of all backgrounds. There are currently over 1700 projects operating
mostly in developing countries and running programs on literacy, numeracy,
environment, and agriculture, the advancement of women, health care, drug
prevention and parenting.65 Their endeavours are continually aiming at de-
veloping new curricula by exploring the processes and significance of ap-
plying spiritual values to educational concepts and practices, including a
strong service component to the broader community. Successful examples
of Bahá’í-inspired educational initiatives around the world include among
others: Nur University in Bolivia66, Maxwell International School in Canada67,
the School of the Nations in Macau68, Yerrinbool College in Australia69, the
Banani School in Zambia70, Towshend International School in the Czech
Republic71, Santitham School in Thailand72, the Ocean of Light School in
Tonga 73 , the School of the Nations in Brazil 74 , and the
Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women in India.75 Some of these en-
terprises have had their work publicly acknowledged such as the City
Montessori School in India76 that won in 2002 the UNESCO award for
Peace Education and FUNDAEC (The Foundation for the Application and
Teaching of the Sciences) of Colombia which was qualified by the Bucharest
Club as “the best educatory project of the time.”77
Their activities are guided by the Universal House of Justice, the inter-
national governing body of the Bahá’í Faith located in Israel, through its
Office of Social and Economic Development. In addition, a group-based
and self-directed tutorial system called the “Ruhi Institute” has been imple-
mented at the Bahá’i local level in the past five years. Their aim is to de-
velop human resources within the Bahá’í community. There are currently
over 11000 study circles established around the world. Some of the modules
of this training institute are aimed at the moral education and training of
children and youth while other community-oriented courses such as teacher
training and primary health are being developed at the local level.78 On a
major scale, the Bahá’í International Community has been advocating in
international forums in favour of universal and moral education since 1948
from its position as an international non-governmental organization at the
United Nations, and through it consultative status within the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC).
Conclusions
The Bahá’i Faith brought a new light to the languishing education of the
19th century. It proclaimed that children are born noble, not sinful, with
58 Religion & Education
plenty of latent attributes that need to be patiently developed and nurtured.
Pedagogically, the Baha’i writings advocated for more child-centered ap-
proaches that included many of the innovative practices that are in use
nowadays as outlined earlier in this paper. Curriculum wise, moral educa-
tion and world citizenship were made central to the child’s upbringing. These
ideals also advocated for more diversity in the school curriculum, one that
necessarily should reflect the changing needs of society and prepare the
individual as a world citizen. According to the Bahá’i writings, education
had to be compulsory for both boys and girls, rather than voluntary, and
social mechanisms were put in place to this effect to minimize disadvantage
such as girls education and funding the education of the less privileged in
society.
Last century witnessed the emergence of a number of successful
Bahá’i-inspired educational establishments striving to apply the principles
enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdul-Bahá. Although restricted by mate-
rial resources, these institutions have achieved remarkable results, as seen
above. Such a doctrinarian and historical commitment at the local, national
and international level, within a single century, by a world religious commu-
nity that is still banned and persecuted in its birthplace is indeed extraordi-
nary.
It is certainly encouraging to witness that many of these ideals are now
being unanimously accepted and implemented. However, it should be as-
serted that no enough effort has been rendered in the fields of universal and
spiritual education in response to Bahá’u’lláh’s counsel. On the one hand, a
constant trend towards secularization and value-neutral education has con-
tinued to drive religious values away at least from most public education
systems. Using the lens of history, it can be said that the three generations
of the 20th century, both in the East and the West, has grown up in a world
reverencing nationalism, racialism and communism as virtual deities.79
On the other hand, this year UNICEF has alerted that 121 million chil-
dren of primary-school age do not attend school while two-thirds of the
illiterate adult population are women, mostly from developing countries.80
Such disturbing reality certainly conflicts with our 21st century claims to
modernity and globalization. This lack of progress in the fields of universal
and moral education not only summons all the nations for the worldwide
implementation of these principles but also reminds us of Bahá’u’lláh’s ad-
monitions more than a century-and-a-half ago:
Strain every nerve to acquire both inner and outer perfec-
tions, for the fruit of the human tree hath ever been and
will ever be perfections both within and without. It is not
Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 59
desirable that a man be left without knowledge or skills, for
he is then but a barren tree. Then, so much as capacity and
capability allow, ye needs must deck the tree of being with
fruits such as knowledge, wisdom, spiritual perception and
eloquent speech.81
Notes
1. Bahá’í International Community. Statement on Baha’u’llah: His Life
and Work. (New York: Office of Public Information, 1991), http://
info.bahai.org/bahaullah-introduction.html.
2. W. Hatcher. The Arc of Ascent: The Purpose of Physical Reality.
(Oxford: George Ronald, 1994).
3. E. G. Browne. A Traveller’s Narrative. (New York: Bahá’í Publishing
Committee, 1930), xxxix-xl.
4. Bahá’ú’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. (US Bahá’í Publishing
Trust, 1988), 181.
5. Bahá’ú’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. (Haifa, Bahá’í World Centre, 1992),
90.
6. Bahá’ú’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh. (US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988),
90.
7. H. Balyuzi. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Centre of the Covenant of Baha’u’llah.
(Oxford: George Ronald, 1972).
8. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’i Education. (US Bahá’i Publishing Trust, 1987).
9. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, IX, 9
10. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’i Education, 31.
11. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London. (London Publishing Trust,
1982), 93.
12. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, IX, 8.
13. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, IX9, 89-96.
14. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selection from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. (US
Bahá’i Publishing Trust, 1978), 144.
15. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, XIII:7
16. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, VII:15.
17. Bahá’i World Centre. Consultation: A Compilation. (US Bahá’i Pub-
lishing Trust, 1980).
18. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, VII:15, 141-44; B. Hacker. “Montessori
and the Bahá’í Faith,” Journal of Bahá’í Studies 1 (2) 1988-1989.
19. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selection from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 125.
20. Ibid, 135.
21. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, XI:19, 329-330.
60 Religion & Education
22. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace. (US Bahá’í
Publishing Trust, 1982), 92.
23. Bahá’ú’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, 84.
24. F. Arbab. Lectures in Bahá’í-Inspired Curricula. (Florida, Palabras
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25. S. Effendi. “Introduction” to Nabil’s Narrative. (London: Bahá’i Pub-
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26. H. Balyuzi. Bahá’u’lláh, King of Glory. (Oxford, UK: George Ronald,
2000).
27. L. Cole. A History of Education. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Win-
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28. B. Simon. Studies in the History of Education 1780-1870. (London:
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29. Arbab. Lectures in Bahá’í-Inspired Curricula.
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34. Department of Education and Training. Aboriginal Education. (New
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35. M. Gillet. Readings in the History of Education. (Canada: McGraw-
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41. J.J. Rousseau. Émile, translated by Barbara Foxley. (New York: Dutton,
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Philosophy of Bahá’í Education 61
42. A. Desmond and J. Moore. Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolu-
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47. Handal, “Philosophies and Pedagogies of Mathematics.”
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49. Bahá’ú’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, 161.
50. Ibid.
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52. Bahá’í World Centre. The Compilation of Compilations. (Bahá’í Pub-
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53. Handal. “Metaphors in Education”.
5. M.J. Bunge (ed.). The Child in Christian Thought, (MI: Wm. B.
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55. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions. (US Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
1990), 8.
56. ‘Abdul-Bahá. Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdul-Bahá, 136.
57. W. Langley. “Children, Moral Development, and Global Transforma-
tion,” In World Order US, Bahá’i Publishing Trust 28(27) 2007: 13-24.
58. L. Kavelin-Popov. The Virtues Project Educator’s Guide: Simple
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60. Bahá’ú’lláh. Gleaning from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. (US Bahá’í
Publishing Trust, 1990), 334.
61. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization. (US Bahá’í Publish-
ing Trust, 1990), 116.
62. Bahá’i International Community. Education: A Bahá’i Perspective.
(New York, Bahá’í International Community, 1990).
63. N. Ghanea. Human Rights, the UN and the Bahá’ís in Iran. (UK,
George Ronald, 2002).
64. B. Bollag. “36 Professors Arrested in Iranian Crackdown on Under-
62 Religion & Education
ground Baha’i University.” Chronicle of Higher Education (November
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65. Bahá’i International Community. Bahá’í Development Projects: A Glo-
bal Process of Learning (2006), http://info.bahai.org/article-1-8-1-1.html.
66. Nur University, www.nur.edu.
67. Maxwell International School, www.maxwell.bc.ca.
68. The School of the Nations of Macau, www.schoolofthenations.com.
69. Yerrinbool College, www.ybcl.org.
70. The Banani School, www.banani.sch.zm.
71. Townshend International School, www.townshend.cz.
72. Santitham School, www.thai-bahais.org/Santitham/index.php.
73. Ocean of Light School of Tonga, www.oceanoflight.to.
74. The School of the Nations of Brazil, www.edn.org.br.
75. Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women, www.geocities.com/
RainForest/2519.
76. Montessory City School, www.cmseducation.org.
77. Fundación para la Aplicación y Enseñanza de las Ciencias (The
Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences),
www.fundaec.org and www.clubofbudapest.org/Awards/cw-fundaec.htm.
78. Ruhi Institute. Walking Together on a Path of Service. (Florida,
Palabras Publications, 2001).
79 S. Effendi. The Promised Day is Come. (US Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
1980).
80. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). State of the World’s Chil-
dren 2006 (2006), www.unicef.org.
81. Bahá’í World Centre. The Compilation of Compilations. (Bahá’í Pub-
lications Australia, 1991), 247.
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