Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Alí Nakhjavání, Teaching the Cause of God: A Two-Edged Sword, bahai-library.com.
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Teaching the Cause of God: A Two-Edged Sword

Ali Nakhjavani

In one of his letters Shoghí Effendí has explained to us that one of
the distinctive features of our Faith is that we cannot separate the
spiritual life of the individual from the spiritual life of the community. Mutual reactions exist between the two. Under the influence of
the divine teachings, the hearts of the individual believers bring into
being and shape the community. In turn, the community provides
an atmosphere where the individual believers develop and grow
spiritually. Our teachings are designed so that the spiritual life
of the individual Bahá’í, and the collective life of the community,
complement each other. Let us look at some examples:

• Bahá’u’lláh calls on Bahá’ís to observe individual obligatory
prayers, but at the same time He ordains that Houses of
Worship for community prayers be established.

• We see that Bahá’u’lláh calls on parents to be the first educators of their children, but at the same time He anticipates
that every local Bahá’í House of Worship will have a school,
and He praises the work of teachers.

• He calls on the individual believer to teach His Cause and
protect Its interests, but simultaneously Bahá’í institutions
are given parallel assignments to provide for the teaching and
protection of His Faith.

Lights of ‘Irfán Book Twelve

In the messages of the Universal House of Justice we read that the
time has come for all Bahá’í communities to develop with greater
confidence and self-reliance a culture of thinking which is fundamentally different from the community activities of other religions.
Unlike other religions, there is no professional clergy in the Faith to
lead the community. Leadership and authority are vested in elected
institutions. Thus leadership is self-generated and home-grown
through democratic methods, and every individual member of the
community should be concerned with its welfare and healthy growth.

In 1996 when the Universal House of Justice was working on the
goals and objectives of its New Plan, which became the Four Year
Plan, it became clear that the percentage of individual Bahá’ís active
in the teaching field was very low; that teaching activities were almost
entirely the work of individuals, and very little resulted from group
collaboration among local Bahá’ís; that opportunities for collective
study of the teachings, apart from summer schools, were too few and
were randomly organized; and that by and large, because of these
facts on the ground, a methodical and workable system of training
and education, especially for collective action, was necessary in order
to meet these needs. Future Teaching Plans issuing from the World
Centre, therefore, had to address these problems progressively, thoroughly and effectively.

In other words, the Bahá’í world had to realize that while the two
duties of studying the Faith and teaching the Cause, as personal
responsibilities, will always remain vital concerns of individual
Bahá’ís, a simple and easy program had also to be adopted by Bahá’í
communities everywhere that would encourage group study of the
teachings as well as joint and collaborative efforts to teach the Cause.

Among the initial directives that the Universal House of Justice
issued was that every National Spiritual Assembly should endeavour,
in consultation with the Counsellors on each Continent, to create a

Teaching the Cause of God: A Two-Edged Sword

Training Institute, which it described as an “engine of growth.” This
was followed by the creation of a new institution, which was named
the Regional Bahá’í Council, to be established, as the Universal
House of Justice deemed it necessary, either as an appointed body or
an elected one, to be an intermediary administrative body between
the National Assembly and Local Assemblies and their communities. Detailed advice from the World Centre was then issued for the
initiation of core activities, such as study circles, devotional meetings,
home visits, children and junior youth activities, as well as the division of each country into clusters, with the aim of raising up Bahá’í
communities soundly and evenly throughout each territory.

Today after over fourteen years what do we see? My purpose is not to
give you statistics. Any observer will testify that it is true that similar
needs continue to exist, but the world-wide community has made
a great deal of progress. A new culture has come into being in the
hearts and minds of the friends. We have become a stronger community, the number of new believers has increased, our Nineteen Day
Feasts are better attended, and the activities of the Faith have become
more consolidated and united. Under the guidance of the Supreme
Body all these activities are being conducted with dignity and in a
spirit of moderation and friendliness.

Bahá’u’lláh makes a clear distinction between methods of teaching and
the obligation to teach. Methods of teaching change with conditions
and circumstances, and such changes are formulated and directed by
the institutions. While such methods are being implemented, the duty
of the individual to teach has not been ignored or under-rated. It has
been supplemented by group activities. The teaching work has been
designed like a two-edged sword. One edge is for individual activity,
and the other edge is for group and collaborative activity.

We need now to consider the guidance we find in the writings on how
we should approach our individual duty to teach the Cause. In one of

Lights of ‘Irfán Book Twelve

his letters to the friends in the East, Shoghí Effendí likens the individual isolated believer to a point, a group less than nine to a letter, a
local Spiritual Assembly to a word, a National Spiritual Assembly to
a sentence, and the Universal House of Justice to the Book.

Let us each consider ourselves to be a point. Bahá’u’lláh in one of
His Tablets has written that each devoted and sincere believer
should consider himself or herself to be the only and sole believer in
the world. In other words there is no one else, each one of us should
consider himself or herself to be a Mullá Husayn, the only believer
on the planet having embraced God’s Holy Faith for today. What
do we do? How can we become each an instrument in God’s hands?
Where do we find receptive souls and how do we introduce the Faith
to them? With what attitude should we teach the Cause? These are
the points that I will deal with briefly, based on the explicit teachings
of our Faith.

I have gleaned for you from Bahá’í Writings 18 major themes and
subjects which give us guidance in our independent efforts individually to teach the Faith. Group teaching has its own dynamics;
individual teaching also has its own principles. If we allow these
personal guidelines to sink into our hearts and souls, they will
transform our spiritual lives under the shadow of the Covenant.
None of the points I will present to you are my own. They are all
based on exhortations found in the inspired Writings of our Faith.

1. We should teach with detachment and with a pure and radiant heart, and when speak we should do so with tact and
wisdom. When we show our love to others we should do
so because we are true lovers of God and of humanity, not
because we are expecting others to accept the Faith through
us. Our love for others must be pure, true and selfless.

Teaching the Cause of God: A Two-Edged Sword

2. We must remember that God has created all of us, He
loves all of us, and He would want all of humanity to accept
His Cause, but, alas, the inner eyes of a large majority are
at this time veiled and do not see the truth, nor are there
too many ready ears to appreciate His divine melody.

3. We should not deliver the message if we clearly see that
the hearer is uneasy, apprehensive or uncomfortable to
listen to us on the subject of the Faith.

4. When we speak about Bahá’u’lláh and His Cause we
should speak with confidence, courage, enthusiasm and
with a tone which conveys our own convictions.

5. We should associate with people in all walks of life
and mix and mingle with them with sincere love and in
a kindly manner, as such attitudes enable them to have
confidence in us. We should be willing to develop friendly
relationships with our associates, our neighbours, and
acquaintances.

6. We should try to associate with members of societies
which are non-political but are known to be social, cultural,
humanitarian, charitable, and educational associations and
organizations, in order to find among them receptive souls.

7. In our conversation we should encourage the hearer to
express his general thoughts and beliefs, and we should listen carefully and patiently to them before we start expressing gradually our own views and opinions. We should
speak with humility, without giving proudly the impression that the seeker is ignorant and we are the learned.

8. There is a difference between being blindly fanatical and
being faithful to principle. When speaking we should
never appear to be fanatical in any sense of the word. As
Bahá’ís we should be seen as liberal enough to listen to
and consider the other person’s point of view.

Lights of ‘Irfán Book Twelve

9. We should remember that every Bahá’í is a potential
teacher. If we wait until we are fully qualified, the teaching work will stop. We should forget ourselves, and put
our trust and reliance upon God. When we act in this
way, we will see how eloquence and the power to change
human hearts will come to us in a very natural way. We
become like an empty reed, and the Holy Spirit will use
us to quicken and confirm souls.

10. Quoting sentences or brief extracts from the Words of
Bahá’u’lláh that would be useful in teaching has a tremendous effect on the hearers. Therefore it will be very
helpful if we could memorize a few such sentences from
His Writings and use them in our teaching work.

11. There are very few souls who become Bahá’ís immediately, as soon as they hear of the Faith. There are other
precious souls, however, who are seeking after the truths
of our Faith, but for them it may take a little longer to
become Bahá’ís. And then in the majority of cases, we
must remember, conversion to a new Faith is a slow process, and therefore we should not lose heart quickly, but
instead persevere in our efforts.

12. We can of course show the inadequacy and inability
of existing religions in bringing about world unity and
peace, but we should not attack past religions, nor should
we be drawn into hair-splitting and unnecessary discussions and arguments.

13. Devotional meetings with Bahá’ís and their seekers are
important. At such meetings, appropriate extracts from
the Writings could also be shared.

14. We should pray that Bahá’u’lláh may assist and guide us
when teaching the Faith. In addition we should also pray
that God may send us the souls that are ready.

Teaching the Cause of God: A Two-Edged Sword

15. Teaching in the atmosphere of our own homes and offering hospitality has a great effect. Living the Bahá’í way of
life greatly influences the minds and hearts of observers.
We should have such meetings in our homes once every
nineteen days.

16. We should never allow a day to pass without sharing some
aspect of the Faith with some soul. Nor should we allow
a year to pass without guiding at least one soul to accept
the Faith.

17. We should not only engage ourselves in teaching the
Faith, but we should wisely and lovingly be a source of
inspiration to our fellow believers, so that they too would
be encouraged by us radiantly to carry out their spiritual
obligation in the teaching work.

18. Teaching the Cause should become the dominating passion of our lives. We must be aware that if we do not
teach, divine confirmations will be cut off, and we will
be depriving ourselves from seeing the signs of divine
assistance guiding us and enriching our spiritual lives.

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