# Role of the Scholar: Scholarship and the Covenant

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 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: John S. Hatcher, Role of the Scholar: Scholarship and the Covenant, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Role of the Scholar:
> 
> Scholarship and the Covenant
> 
> John S. Hatcher
> Abdu'l-Missagh Ghadirian
> 
> Mark Towfiq, compiler
> 
> 1996-03-31
> 
> 1. Scholarship and the Covenant
> by Abdu'l-Missagh Ghadirian
> 
> This is a vital topic; the Counsellors have suggested it as the theme for next
> year's ABS Conference and the next Journal of Bahá'í Studies.
> 
> The Old World Order influences our perceptions of the world around us. There is
> a hierarchy all over the world: economic, etc. Artificial hierarchies give
> people a misleading perception of themselves. Although scholarship is
> important, the perception of scholars is far from reality. This is a
> by-product of the Old World Order.
> 
> The religion of Bahá'u'lláh is not a religion of scholars ...it is for all
> mankind. However Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian praised scholars
> and scholarly activities. Note that a person could be a scholar in his
> spiritual perception and understanding and yet not write one paper, while on
> the other hand, not all authors are scholars. Intelligence does not
> automatically bring wisdom; one cannot equate intelligence with wisdom. Many
> intelligent people were not able to make wise decisions. Many illiterates made
> fantastic contributions.
> 
> A story from the early days of the Faith: a prisoner one day was asked to come
> out and go before the Ulama, who of course knew the Qur'an and Hadith
> thoroughly. They asked him: "We have been waiting for the Promised One, and
> couldn't find him. Do you know that we are the mujtahids, and know so much?
> How can an illiterate farmer know more than us?" He replied: "Imagine this:
> when we have a gift like a diamond, they wrap it in silk, put it in a box, and
> lock the box. We might get suspicious later about its safety, and put it in
> another box, and then hide that in a house." They agreed. He continued: "When
> the sun comes up, will the rays touch the unworthy sands of the desert, or hit
> the diamond hidden within the boxes in the house?" They agreed it would hit the
> desert, not the diamond. He said: "I am the desert, with open soul: you are
> imprisoned with your own ideas in your boxes and veils."
> 
> In the Seven Valleys, there is the Valley of Knowledge. The "knowledge" here
> is the knowledge of God; this word can be misleading...in Persian it is
> "ma'arifat": understanding, recognition, knowledge. This Valley is so
> penetrating; with this knowledge the traveler sees "the end in the beginning",
> and finds in everything a wisdom. He "seeth war as peace, and findeth in death
> the secrets of everlasting life. With inward and outward eyes he witnesseth
> the mysteries of resurrection in the realms of creation and the souls of men,
> and with a pure heart apprehendeth the divine wisdom in the endless
> Manifestations of God. In the ocean he findeth a drop, in a drop he beholdeth
> the secrets of the sea." This is quite different from conventional
> knowledge.
> 
> A metaphor: a scholar is like a gardener. The gardener studies gardening &
> plants, works on the garden, etc. When the flowers grow, there are two types
> of gardeners: one attuned to nature, who feels the pleasure, and thanks God for
> the ability to raise it. The other type ignores the energy from the sun and
> soil, the capacity given to the seed, and feels that it all comes from his own
> productivity. One of the gardeners is selfish, the other selfless. In a
> Universal House of Justice letter on scholarship, we read that the emergence of
> the Bahá'í cause from obscurity and increasing attention of the public demands
> that we put an emphasis on Bahá'í scholarship, so we can deliver the Message
> clearly. ("The Universal House of Justice ... regards Bahá'í scholarship as of
> great potential importance for the development and consolidation of the Bahá'í
> community as it emerges from obscurity....", from a letter dated 3 January 1979
> to participants in an academic seminar.) Teaching is linked to community
> development and plays an important role in consolidation.
> 
> We need to deepen on the Covenant, as it gives insight and inspiration as well
> as protection. The Tablets of the Divine Plan challenge the North American
> Bahá'ís to become apostles of Bahá'u'lláh, which requires not only
> determination, but also knowledge, patience, and humility. Don't discount
> covenant in examining scholarship.
> 
> A word of caution: The Bahá'í Faith is not against scholarship or scholars.
> The writings shower them with praise. What is scholarship? We don't want
> enemies of the faith to say we are anti-intellectual.
> 
> Definition of Materialistic scholarship: knowledge becomes a way, a liability.
> The individual seeks entitlement: a means for a name and fame. When that is
> challenged, the person becomes frustrated. The personality profile becomes
> self-satisfaction, and the ego very active; it dominates the person and
> humility, submission etc. are lost. `Abdu'l-Bahá speaks of the dual nature of
> human beings. The higher nature effects high-quality behavior +
> characteristics. The lower nature is jealousy + selfishness. Some individuals
> may let the lower nature take over; materialistic scholars are power-oriented
> and have a dislike of authority, with liberty of thought. They think that they
> are indispensable, and merit special status, class, deserve special privileges.
> They emphasize personal freedom and don't believe in collective
> consciousness.
> 
> What should be our approach?
> First is the knowledge of God, putting emphasis on the Bahá'í Faith and
> Bahá'u'lláh. Everything else comes next.
> A deep knowledge of the Faith, and a strong desire to share it. Willingness to relate teachings to present-day concerns; make it
> relevant to today's ailments.
> Should be quite aware of the Covenant. The International Teaching
> Centre warned the community that a scholar should not be in a special class
> with special privileges.
> The purpose of education is to help the scholar to become a better
> servant, which is the highest expression of personality.
> 
> Universal House of Justice states there is no objection to expressing spiritual
> truth or logical ways or using the scientific method. We must avoid distortion
> of religious truth to conform to perceptions of society.
> 
> The impact of intuition and inspiration vs. intellectual knowledge. Mulla
> Husayn and Quddus had entirely different approaches. Mulla Husayn invited to
> the Bab's home, and started to question Bab's station. He took hours to be
> convinced. Do you see the signs of Islam in me? Mulla Husayn had nothing to
> say. Quddus came to Shiraz...didn't know where Qa'im was, but walking in the
> street saw Mulla Husayn, and said you are different. Mulla Husayn told him he
> was tired and should go and wash up. But Quddus responded: "No, you didn't
> answer! What has happened to you?" Once again Mulla Husayn told him he was
> tired. Quddus then saw a majestic figure, and asked Mulla Husayn "Who is
> that?" Mulla Husayn said, "I can't tell you about people in the street."
> Quddus knew it was the Qa'im. Mulla Husayn went to the Bab and told him what
> happened, and asked him what to do. The Bab said he called Quddus in the world
> of dreams, and when Quddus came to the presence of the Bab he was joyous.
> Mulla Husayn later said if the mosques taught me to recognize the Bab that way,
> I should burn them down, because my friend recognized him with no argument.
> 
> 2. The New Role of Scholars in Bahá'í Society
> by John Hatcher
> 
> 1. The Concept of the Divine
> 
> The first thing to notice is that a Bahá'í scholar's "Bahá'íness" is never
> separate from them. Essential to the Bahá'í scholar is the concept of the
> "Divine". Nothing you can discuss or study in the physical world can be
> separated from the Divine; the physical world is an outer expression of the
> spiritual world. Example: when you drop an object to the floor, if you don't
> understand gravity you can make up strange explanations for its behavior. It
> is no less specious when our scholars attribute development of the Faith to the
> "ripeness of the time".
> 
> Example from a Bahá'í scholar's book:
> The Bab's abilities and acquaintance with general knowledge of his
> time. His knowledge of tafsir was not as Sufi as one would expect. At the
> same time He began to realize His divine mission. If Mulla Husayn had not
> met him his course would have been very different. His interpretation of
> events were forced into the definition of the Shaykhi prophecies. [quotation from Resurrection and Renewal by Abbas
> Amanat]
> 
> This is not heresy; it is bad scholarship, because it cannot accept that an
> unseen force may have been operating. Why does he not state this? Because he
> would be laughed at!
> 
> Quote from Universal House of Justice compilation on scholarship:
> The principal concern of the House of Justice is over a methodological
> bias and discordant tone which seem to inform the work of certain of the
> authors. The impression given is that, in attempting to achieve what they
> understand to be academic objectivity, they have inadvertently cast the
> Faith into a mould which is essentially foreign to its nature, taking no
> account of the spiritual forces which Bahá'ís see as its foundation.
> Presumably the justification offered for this approach would be that most
> scholars of comparative religion are essentially concerned with discernable
> phenomena, observable events and practical affairs and are used to treating
> their subject from a western, if not a Christian, viewpoint. This
> approach, although understandable, is quite impossible for a Bahá'í, for it
> ignores the fact that our world-view includes the spiritual dimension as
> an indispensable component for consistency and coherence, and it does not
> beseem a Bahá'í to write ... about his Faith as if he looked upon it from
> the norm of humanism or materialism.
> 
> In other words, we are presented in such articles with the spectacle of
> Bahá'ís trying to write as if they were non-Bahá'ís.
> 
> How do you explain the origin of the Bahá'í faith without getting into the God
> stuff?
> 
> To describe history without describing the forces behind it is like describing
> a falling object without describing gravity.
> 
> Note that it is not that _scholarship_ is evil and bad...scholarship is
> learning, and learning is good.
> 
> This first section was on the pervasive nature of the Divine. A Bahá'í would
> do well to talk about this not because it's a polemic, but because it's true.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh, in the Lawh-i-Hikmat mentions that all of the thinkers of the past
> presume that progress derives from singular great individuals. On page 144:
> "The sages aforetime acquired their knowledge from the Prophets, inasmuch as
> the latter were the Exponents of divine philosophy and the Revealers of
> heavenly mysteries." Would you assert this in a history of philosophy?
> 
> Page 146: "Verily, the philosophers have not denied the Ancient of Days."
> 
> Page 147: "Plato...acknowledged his belief in God and in His signs which
> pervade all that hath been and shall be.... These men who stand out as leaders
> of the people and are pre-eminent among them, one and all acknowledged their
> belief in the immortal Being Who holdeth in His grasp the reins of all
> sciences.... Balinus...surpassed everyone else in the diffusion of arts and
> sciences and soared unto the loftiest heights of humility and supplication.
> Give ear unto that which he hath said, entreating the All-Possessing, the Most
> Exalted: `I stand in the presence of my Lord, extolling His gifts and bounties
> and praising Him with that wherewith He praiseth His Own Self, that I may
> become a source of blessing and guidance unto such men as acknowledge my
> words.' And further he saith: `O Lord! Thou art God and no God is there but
> Thee."
> 
> Page 151: Bahá'u'lláh says a true philosophers would never deny God: "We are
> quit of those ignorant ones who fondly imagine that Wisdom is to give vent to
> one's idle imaginings and to repudiate God, the Lord of all men."
> 
> 2. The Concept of Authority
> 
> In the Bahá'í Faith the concept of infallibility says there are two types:
> essential + conferred.
> 
> The Manifestations of God have the essential one from birth. They are
> pre-existent, knowledgeable of all. Note, however, that infallible does not
> equal authoritative. `Abdu'l-Bahá says infallible means "without error".
> 
> Conferred infallibility does not mean it is less so. You can't be less
> infallible! So if we attribute ideas to Shoghi Effendi because of environment,
> Oxford, the Middle East, forget it. And `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote well about
> evolution etc.; how did He know this? `Abdu'l-Bahá's answer: "I know what I
> need to know." The Hands of the Cause have recounted stories of the Guardian
> saying what it felt like to experience infallibility. Leroy Ioas said the
> Guardian would get facts about a situation and then get a feeling "which no
> power on earth can shake."
> 
> How do we accept infallibility of an institution like the Universal House of
> Justice elected by a fallible populace? How do you deduce the infallibility of
> the Universal House of Justice? Answer: you don't, because it is an unseen
> force that works that way. It is "infused with divine assistance"; that's what
> makes it infallible.
> 
> Quoting an e-mail letter by a Bahá'í scholar dated 3 May 1996:
> I therefore hereby declare and state that I am not any longer a Bahá'í,
> that I do not believe that the Bahá'í administration in its current form is
> divinely inspired or guided. And since I accept, as well, that Bahá'u'lláh
> did create these institutions and gave us to understand that they would in
> fact receive divine guidance, I renounce belief in him as the Manifestation
> of God for this day.
> The individual has wonderful credentials...what's the problem in this
> reasoning? Answer: it is illogical, because if you accept Bahá'u'lláh, then
> "He doeth what He willeth" and His promise is: "I will perplex you". If you
> judge the infallibility of an institution by its decisions, this is backwards.
> It presumes that the individual is infallible and can make such a judgment!
> 
> The logic _should_ go like this: first establish Bahá'u'lláh is who He says He
> is; after that you do not question `Abdu'l-Bahá's infallibility. Without the
> links of the Covenant it all comes crashing down.
> 
> Please note that we are not to worship mysteries; we should try to unravel them
> and try to understand them.
> 
> Faith is a process of investigation to corroborate Bahá'u'lláh's claim. We can
> test it: "when I read the Writings, am I changed?" Look for confirmation of
> this; it is an unending process.
> 
> Think of an arch in an old European building: if you remove one stone from the
> arch it comes crashing down. The Covenant is like that. Nevertheless, things
> come up, e.g. Women on the House of Justice, and we don't know the answer.
> This is Faith of a more traditional sort; we know there is an explanation,
> because `Abdu'l-Bahá told us so.
> 
> The mistake of the scholar's letter is that he no longer has sufficient faith.
> Note, however, that none of us is without the possibility of losing that faith,
> and it is gut-wrenching. A story: on pilgrimage in 1972, one thing Dr. Hatcher
> couldn't understand was how could someone be a Covenant-Breaker. On the third
> day, the group went to Bahji, and seeing Bahá'u'lláh's bed, he thought, "What a
> small man!". His faith was tested by Bahá'u'lláh's being a small man. He
> could accept Bahá'u'lláh's word, but how much more difficult must it have been
> for those of His children who broke the Covenant if He was your father. He ran
> out of the room and into the hall, but at that moment, a pioneer from Transvaal
> appeared, one from Norway, a worker a the World Centre came out, and then he
> realized they had only come to serve and be close to Bahá'u'lláh; there was no
> external influence in 100 years to accomplish this. It had spread all over the
> world with no ulterior motive, with nothing to gain. That feeling of lost
> faith was short, but horrible; he thought to himself, "So that's what it's
> like." It evoked Milton, in Paradise Lost, where Satan says, in effect: "I
> know I would be happy back in heaven, but I'm not going to do it; I'll destroy
> Eden." Goethe said cynicism is the only sin.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh states two contradictory things. If people are saying things
> against the Faith and you don't know what to do, He says: "If any man were to
> arise to defend, in his writings, the Cause of God against its assailants, such
> a man, however inconsiderable his share, shall be so honored in the world to
> come that the Concourse on high would envy his glory." (Gleanings CLIV). But
> on the other hand, He says, "Time and again have We admonished Our beloved ones
> to avoid, nay to flee from, anything whatsoever from which the odor of mischief
> can be detected." (Gleanings XLIII). There are two kinds of questions a child
> may ask: "Where did I come from?", and "Do I have to go to bed now?". The
> second one is rhetorical; we should flee from the odor of mischief. The role
> of a scholar is that of a servant to servants, which is the highest position
> one can achieve. Scholarship is not only valuable; it is essential, as long as
> a scholar doesn't try to think for us or be like a cadre of divines.
> 
> 3. Note and questions
> 
> Concluding Note from Barbara Markert:
> 
> There is a parallel of material wealth and intelligence. It is easy to be
> seduced, and think you are better. The same is true of physical beauty and
> strength. It is fine to enjoy beauty, fitness, and intelligence, but it should
> all be to serve the Faith. The pursuit of scholarship should be with a pure
> heart. That's when we can be useful scholars. It's easy to be led astray, so
> constant vigilance required.
> 
> We must look for the odor of mischief, and pray for protection. Parents must
> raise their children with this knowledge. `Abdu'l-Bahá says it is incumbent
> upon Bahá'í children to surpass other children because they have been cradled
> in the grace of God. ("Thou didst ask as to the education of children. Those
> children who, sheltered by the Blessed Tree, have set foot upon the world,
> those who are cradled in the Faith and are nurtured at the breast of grace --
> such must from the beginning receive spiritual training directly from their
> mothers.") Bahá'í people should be known all over the world, and acquire
> sciences and arts. We need to be balanced spiritually, mentally, and
> physically. We are powerless; the power comes from God.
> 
> Patti Tomarelli: What about schools, reform, etc. What do we
> do?
> 
> Hatcher: There is no good answer. I home school my kids. School should
> reinforce what is taught at home; his parents could make assumptions that
> society is trying to reinforce those values. The reason the Bahá'í child must
> learn faster is because we know the framework. How to protect children against
> society when society should reinforce good morals? Answer: we must build our
> own society. This is the heart of 4-yr plan...don't wait for the need before
> building up our institutions...build them now. There is no solution in
> present-day society; we must create it.
> 
> Ghadirian: I agree, there is no easy solution. We are in a special period of
> transition, and there is a wisdom in it. Children in this environment raised
> strong will be strong later. Institutes are working all over the world;
> example: Mexico has a long waiting list of people to participate in
> institute.
> 
> Markert: some Bahá'í schools are having Bahá'í youth academies...there are high
> standards of learning. This is the chance to deepen in the fundamental
> verities of the Faith.
> Diane Brandon: question about the e-mail lists Talisman and Talisman2. Is
> anyone monitoring this?
> Ghadirian: the whole Talisman process was monitored closely...if there is
> anything that needs to be said concerning the community, we'll let you know.
> Patricia Harmsen: about hermeneutics; what are the parameters of knowledge
> of faith? What are the boundaries?
> Hatcher: I'm not sure what you mean.
> 
> Harmsen: There are inaccurate interpretations made, sounding authoritative.
> 
> Hatcher: there is a distinction between studying writings which you are obliged
> to do. Bahá'u'lláh says:
> O My servants! My holy, My divinely ordained Revelation may be likened
> unto an ocean in whose depths are concealed innumerable pearls of great
> price, of surpassing luster. It is the duty of every seeker to bestir
> himself and strive to attain the shores of this ocean, so that he may, in
> proportion to the eagerness of his search and the efforts he hath exerted,
> partake of such benefits as have been pre-ordained in God's irrevocable and
> hidden Tablets. (Gleanings CLIII)
> 
> Don't be afraid of interpretations or reading others. There are only two
> authoritative ones: `Abdu'l-Bahá + Guardian. Does this answer your question?
> Harmsen: What about the individual rights + freedoms letter?
> Hatcher: What line of reasoning are you afraid of? Your own writings or those
> of others? The Íqan says every verse has 70+1 meanings; this necessarily
> means there is no single interpretation. Scholarship is not the enemy; BAD
> scholarship is: ad hominem attacks, no recognition of the Divine, presumes to
> be authoritative. It is a law of the Faith not to read the writings of
> Covenant-breakers. To non-Bahá'í's this seems constricting. A scholar might
> say, "What could they know that I don't?", and approach their writings, to find
> out that yes, they are mindless. This explained the actions of Mirza
> Muhammad-`Ali: it is the act of disobedience which crosses the line. Then you
> are exposed to the disease of cynicism. Scholarship is not the enemy, and
> interpretation is not the enemy. If someone is trying to deliberately
> undermine the Faith, that's different. But in just analyzing a passage, join
> in! Don't be afraid. The Covenant provides logical links between Bahá'u'lláh
> and what you've discovered.
> Charles Cooper: about Dr. Hatcher's presentation, I observed a dichotomous
> framework for faith. Is there a concept of God or faith that is not?
> Hatcher: it is not really a dichotomy; they are two aspects of the same thing.
> There is the logical foundation of belief, and leap of faith. If you accept
> `Abdu'l-Bahá is the Perfect Exemplar because Bahá'u'lláh said so, you did
> investigate the truth of it. If you investigate this issue later, it is
> confirmed.
> Cooper: but different cultures have different systems of logic. The
> dichotomous one thinks everything is black/white, hot/cold etc. Perhaps this
> Western dichotomous mindset prevents people from accepting the Faith?
> Hatcher: when I became a Bahá'í there was a distinction: were you a "heart
> Bahá'í" or "head Bahá'í"? How did you come to join the Faith? Well, it doesn't
> matter how you got here. Some people will never need to analyze it; they had a
> dream or vision. The Dawn-Breakers didn't have the Sacred Writings to go on.
> 
> Eugene Andrews: I wanted to point out that Bahá'u'lláh said that the essence
> of Faith is "fewness of words and abundance of deeds".
> 
> Arash Abizadeh: about Dr. Hatcher's concept of the Divine in explanations of
> history. What role does it play? Example: for me, the Martyrdom of the Bab,
> since childhood, has had great meaning, because it meant the Bab could not be
> stopped. This is a different way of looking from asking natural scientist to
> explain what happened.
> 
> Hatcher: such a scientist would be forced to answer what caused the violation
> of law of probability to make 750 bullets cut the ropes, and not the people.
> The most plausible answer is that it was a force: a spiritual force.
> 
> Abizadeh: so a non-theological social history is not possible?
> Hatcher: No, it's possible, but it's not complete. Newton asked about movement
> of the apple from the tree. Amanat's work is useful for its listing of events,
> but when he delves into explaining why it happened and he ignores the Bab's own
> explanation, he is limiting himself.
> 
> How do we avoid being mindlessly theological? Bahá'u'lláh says here's what
> happens in the Iqan: the people rejected Hud. Why? Because of the divines,
> who didn't understand poetic language. Bahá'u'lláh then gives 100 pages of
> explanation of how to interpret. Dr. Hatcher's brother's synthesizing of pure
> math and faith is so wonderful, because it proves the presence of the Divine
> Force. You don't have to be mindless; Bahá'u'lláh gave you the basis of
> knowledge. You don't need to justify the Faith.
> 
> METADATA
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> — *Role of the Scholar: Scholarship and the Covenant (Used by permission of the curator)*