# Learned

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Peter Smith, Learned, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Learned
> 
> Peter Smith
> 
> ‘Learned’.
> 
> Many prominent early Baha’is belonged to the Islamic learned class, the ‘ulama, and
> Baha’u’llah specifically blessed them, ‘the learned amongst among the people of Baha’. They
> were his ‘trustees’, ‘the manifestations’ of his commandments, the embodiments of
> steadfastness, ‘the daysprings of Divine Utterance’, ‘the billows of the Most Mighty Ocean’,
> ‘the stars of the firmament of Glory’, and ‘the standards of triumph’ of his cause (KA 82
> k173; TB 221). More generally, he praised those servants who dedicated themselves ‘to the
> education of the world’ and ‘the edification of its peoples’. These brought ‘the life-giving
> water of knowledge’ to the peoples of the world, directing them to ‘the straight path’ and
> acquainting them with what was conducive ‘to human upliftment and exaltation’ (TB 35).
> That there would continue to be Baha’i learned was indicated by Baha’u’llah’s appointment
> of certain followers of HANDS OF THE CAUSE, a position later given institutional status as
> part of the Baha’i ‘Administrative Order’, and the establishment of such other ‘institutions of
> the learned’ as the AUXILIARY BOARDS and the CONTINENTAL BOARDS OF COUNSELLORS.
> These individuals are recorded high rank, but unlike the Shi’i counterparts are denied
> executive power (given instead to the elected ASSEMBLIES) or the right to make
> authoritative interpretations binding on their fellow believers (MUHJ 214-16 no. 111). Nor --
> apart from the Hands -- are their appointments for life. Other eminent Baha’i teachers may
> also be considered ‘learned’, but they have no administrative rank. See also
> ADMINISTRATION’; ‘ULAMA.
> 
> Scholarship.
> 
> Advanced study of a subject; the qualities and attainments of a scholar.
> 
> The need.
> 
> For Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice the development of Baha’i scholarship
> was of great importance. Shoghi Effendi noted in the 1940s that the thinking world had
> already ‘caught up’ with the universal ‘BAHA’I PRINCIPLES’ enunciated by Baha’u’llah, and
> that these no longer seemed new. Yet he reiterated that the Faith had the answer to the
> world’s problems. What was needed was individuals able to present the Baha’i teachings to
> intelligent people. There was a need for more Baha’i scholars, and for ‘a more profound and
> coordinated by scholarship’. The Baha’is needed both to know the Baha’i teachings in depth,
> and to be well educated in general, having a sound knowledge of history, religious history,
> economics, sociology, science and the like. Thus they should be able to correlate the thinking
> of modern thinkers and progressive movements with the Baha’i teachings. Again, the House
> of Justice has referred to the potential importance of Baha’i scholarship in the
> CONSOLIDATION of the Baha’i community as it becomes better known in the wider world; to
> the need for intelligence analysis of current issues of social concern from a Baha’i
> perspective; and the vital role of scholars in defending the Faith from its detractors. CC1:
> 227-31 nos. 501, 506, 510-11, 5i5; Baha’i scholarship 3-8, 11, 15, 42, 44; MUHJ 387 no.
> 217.1, 720 no. 453.13.
> 
> General principles.
> 
> For the House of Justice: [1] There is no conflict between ‘true’ science and ‘true’ religion:
> both are sources of knowledge about reality. Baha’i scholars should combine ‘profound faith’
> with ‘freedom of thought’. They should be both loyal to Baha’u’llah and his teachings, and
> study their religion searchingly and intelligently following the principle of ‘an unfettered
> search after truth’.
> 
> [2] All human knowledge is limited (see KNOWLEDGE), including Baha’is’ understanding of
> their own scriptures and the scientific theories of a particular period in human history. Thus
> there is no one ‘correct’ view of the history and teachings of the Faith.
> 
> [3] Baha’is should not accept uncritically the materialistic theories of much modern thinking
> just because these are fashionable.
> 
> [4] The harmony of the Baha’i community is important. Baha’is should avoid the
> antagonisms that have divided other religious groups into those who blindly hold to the
> letter of their scriptures and those who question everything (i.e. the
> ‘fundamentalist’/‘liberal’ divide). Both extremes are destructive. Baha’i scholars should
> therefore phrase their findings with tact, moderation, humility and wisdom, whilst the
> general community, in particular those who hold positions of responsibility in the Baha’i
> administration, should be tolerant of the views of others, accept a diversity of opinions, and
> avoid the censoriousness that could stifle the development of scholarship.
> 
> [5] REVIEW remains an important means of protecting the Faith at what is still an early stage
> in its development, where it is both severely persecuted in IRAN and not widely understood.
> Baha’i Scholarship 9-28; UHRD, Scholarship. See also BABI AND BAHA’I STUDIES.
> Review.
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Baha initiated a policy of pre-publication approval of Baha’i TRANSLATIONS by
> ASSEMBLIES, and this was formalized by Shoghi Effendi, who directed that, whilst the Faith
> was still ‘in its infancy’, all Baha’i publications -- including magazine articles -- should be
> supervised by the relevant local or national assembly, to provide for ‘a dignified and
> accurate’ presentation of the Faith (BA 23, 38; LG 101 no. 349). Literature review was
> temporary and would be abolished in the future (WOB 9). The Universal House of Justice has
> continued this policy, extending it to all forms of media presentation (books, poems, radio
> scripts, films) and directing that national assemblies appoint reviewing committees for this
> purpose (MUHJ 185-9 no. 94). This concern is to guard against ‘misrepresentations’ of the
> Faith by Baha’is when it is still relatively unknown (LG 102 no. 353).
> 
> Babe and Baha’i Studies.
> 
> Academic study of the Babi and Baha’i religions. The term ‘Baha’i Studies has also come to
> have a wider usage (see below. See also SCHOLARSHIP).
> 
> Traditional Baha’i scholarship.
> 
> Many of the prominent early Iranian Baha’is were former Shi’i ‘ULAMA. As part of their
> service to the Baha’i Faith, several of these men wrote apologies for their religion and made
> compilations of Baha’i writings and historical documents which were widely circulated
> amongst the Baha’is. Although school and enormously erudite, their work differs from the
> modern Western field of religious studies in its unambiguous faith commitment: the
> underlying purpose of their scholarship was to help advance the Baha’i religion. The only
> early Baha’i scholar whose work has been translated into English is MIRZA ABU’L-FADL
> GULPAYGANI. Others whose work is highly regarded include FADIL MAZANDARANI and
> ‘Abdu’l-Hamid ISHRAQ-KHAVARI. The more recent work of Muhammad ‘Ali Faizi, ‘Azizu’llah
> Sulaymani, and (in English) of Hassan BALYUZI continue this tradition.
> 
> Early academic studies.
> 
> Critical academic studies of Babi and Baha’i texts, doctrines and history began with the work
> of European orientalists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most important of
> these scholars was E.G. BROWNE. Others of note were A.L.M. NICOLAS, Victor ROSEN,
> Alexander TUMANSKI and Hermann Roemer. The work of the Comte de GOBINEAU must
> also be mentioned, not for its scholarship, but because of its early date (1865) and its
> inspiration of subsequent studies. The major works of Browne on the subject date from
> 1889 to 1910. MBBR 17-52.
> 
> The modern period.
> 
> A new phase in Babi and Baha’i studies began in the 1970s. Although overlapping, two
> distinct trends may be identified.
> 
> Institutional.
> 
> There have been a number of developments sponsored by the Baha’i community.
> ‘[A]nimated by the spirit of inquiry into the limitless meaning of the Divine Teachings’, these
> have sought both to present the Baha’i Faith and its ideals to a wider intellectual audience
> and explore the implications of the Baha’i teachings in all aspects of human life. This
> approach to ‘Baha’i Studies’ was effectively begun with the establishment of the Canadian
> Association for Studies on the Baha’i Faith in 1975 in response to a call by the Universal
> House of Justice. This body aimed to promote lectures and conferences relating to the Baha’i
> Faith at Canadian universities. Reflecting international interest, the organization was
> renamed the Association for Baha’i Studies (ABS) in 1981. It also published a series of Baha’i
> Studies volumes (mostly monographs) and The Journal of Baha’i Studies from 1988 (BW17:
> 197-201; 18:194-200; Danesh). Regarding all Baha’is as potential scholars it has promoted a
> wide range of activities within the Baha’i community, including in the arts and health (A
> Baha’i International Health Agency was formed under its sponsorship in 1982). A large
> number of national or regional affiliate associations have now been established (22 by 1995,
> including eight in the Americas, six in Europe, three each in Africa and Asia, and two in
> Australasia). Activities of these associations range from academic study of aspects of history
> and belief to studies of the possible application of the Baha’i teachings to varied aspects of
> human life (including moral education and the search for a global ethic) and Baha’i
> DEEPENING. Various publications of seminars and the like have been produced, of very
> variable quality. In some places the traditional Baha’i SUMMER SCHOOLS have become more
> rigorous, as in Australia, where a three-year certificate program in Baha’i Studies was
> introduced in 1995 Other institutional developments have included the establishment of the
> first Baha’i University (Universidad Nur) in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in 1984 and of Baha’i-
> sponsored Chairs at the Universities of Maryland in the United States and Indore in India in
> 1990. The UK-based ABS affiliate for English Speaking Europe produces the Baha’i Studies
> Review (from 1990). BWNS 1994-5: 89-95, 321-4.
> 
> Independent.
> At the same time there has been a renewed interest in the more focused academic study of
> the Babi and Baha’i religions. Although most of those involved in this movement have been
> Baha’is or former Baha’is they have sought to employ the tools of modern critical
> scholarship to advance understanding for its own sake rather than to promote particular
> faith positions. This approach has sometimes engendered tensions with more traditional
> Baha’is. Instances of this approach include several series of academic seminars on Baha’i
> Studies in Britain and the United States, including at the University of Lancaster in England
> (1977-1980) and at the American Academy of Religion (from 1984) and Middle East Studies
> Association (from c. 1992); Moojan Momen’s collection of source materials, The Babi and
> Baha’i Religions (MBBR, 1981); new translations of works by Mirza Abu’l-Fadl (1981, 1985);
> the Kalimat Press series Studies in Babi and Baha’i History (from 1982); the scholarly journal
> Baha’i Studies Bulletin (from 1982); the George Ronald series Baha’i Studies (from 1996); the
> internet discussion forum H-Bahai (from 1997; one of the H-Net humanities list sites); and a
> flurry of doctoral and other dissertations on Baha’i-related topics from the mid-1970s
> onwards (Collins, Bibliography, 303-10), some of which have since found their way into print
> (Amanat [ARR], MacEoin [McS], Smith [SBBR]). For a review of English-language sources up
> to 1985 see SBBR 225-38.
> 
> From ‘Ulama.
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s ideal.
> 
> In his anonymously published Secret of Divine Civilization (1875) ‘Abdu’l-Baha held that the
> truly spiritually learned were ‘lamps of guidance among the nations’ and a sanctuary for the
> distressed. Such individuals would be recognized by their SPIRITUAL QUALITIES, intellectual
> power and enlightened knowledge. They should seek to acquire the perfections of spiritual
> and material perfection; defend Islam; oppose their own passions; and obey the divine
> commandments. Only then would they be worthy of emulation (taqlid). Their learning
> should encompass not only the fundamentals of religion and holy law but also the scriptures
> of other religions, political science, history and the natural sciences. As to the attributes of
> perfection, these included ‘learning and the cultural attainments of the mind’; justice and
> selfless impartiality; and dedication to community education. Clerical status of itself was
> number proof of knowledge and moral continence (SDC 34-40, 59). See also ‘LEARNED’.
>
> — *Learned (Used by permission of the curator)*