# Teaching the Cause of God: A Two-Edged Sword

*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: 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.
>
> — *Teaching the Cause of God: A Two-Edged Sword (Used by permission of the curator)*