Constructive Resilience
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Constructive                                   together. Who, then, can do this work
and how will Bahá'u'lláh's exalted
Resilience1                                    purpose for humankind be realized?
Bahá'u'lláh says that if it be God's
pleasure, God Himself could render
FIRAYDOUN JAVAHERI                             the Cause victorious through the pow-
er of a single divine Word. Should
The purpose of Divine Revelation, as-          this be His intention, individuals of
serts Bahá'u'lláh, is "to effect a trans-      indomitable strength could appear to
formation in the whole character of            achieve victory. However, due to God's
mankind, a transformation that shall           loving providence and wisdom, it has
manifest itself both outwardly and in-         been ordained that complete victory
wardly" (Kitáb-i-Íqán 240). Thus, Rev-         can only be achieved through speech
elation has a twofold purpose: the first,      and utterance, and by the endeav-
to liberate humanity from the darkness         ors of His ordinary servants here on
of ignorance and guide it to the light         earth. One of the early believers, who
of true understanding; the second, to          was deeply affected by the majesty and
ensure the peace and tranquility of            power of Bahá'u'lláh, writes that once,
mankind. One without the other will            when in His presence:
not work. The Universal House of
Justice has expounded upon the inter-            I said to myself: What a pity! If
connectedness of this twofold purpose            only the kings of the world could
of God. First, individuals recognize             recognize Him and arise to serve
the station of Bahá'u'lláh. They then            Him, both the Cause and the be-
arise to serve the Cause of God and              lievers would be exalted in this
by doing so, their own transformation            day. The following day when we
takes effect as they develop the capac-          attained His presence, Bahá'u'lláh
ities latent within them. They also              turned His face to me and ad-
develop habits and attitudes that make           dressed the following words to
them able to persevere and be more               me with infinite charm and lov-
effective in contributing their share to         ing-kindness. He said "If the
an ever-advancing civilization.                  kings and rulers of the world had
Bringing together material and               embraced the Faith in this day, you
spiritual civilization is not an easy job.       people could never have found an
It is a task that lies beyond the com-           entry into this exalted Court. You
prehension and ability of any ordinary           could never have had the oppor-
human being, whether acting alone or             tunity to attain Our presence, nor
1 Edited transcript of a keynote ad-           could you ever have acquired the
dress at the 42nd Annual Conference of           privilege of hearing the words of
the Association for Bahá'í Studies, Atlanta,     the Lord of Mankind. Of course,
Georgia, August 2018.                            the time will come when the kings
8                    The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.4 2018

and rulers of the world will be-        humanity. The Covenant is a means to
come believers, and the Cause of        protect and advance the process of cre-
God will be glorified outward-          ating a just and peaceful global society.
ly. But this will happen after the      An inseparable part of His Covenant is
meek and lowly ones of the earth        His Administrative Order, which pro-
have won this inestimable boun-         vides a pattern of governance that is
ty." (Taherzadeh, Revelation 160)       unfailingly coherent with His purpose:
"Indeed, the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh, in His emphatic prom-          has been and will continue to be the in-
ise of ultimate triumph, also states        violable guarantor of the invincibility
that God will "provide all the means        of the Cause and its divinely-ordained
by which" His purpose "can be es-           institutions and the means of the ful-
tablished" (Gleanings 34:5). What are       filment of Bahá'u'lláh's Words" (Ta-
these means? I will mention a few.          herzadeh, Child 41).
First is the spiritual energy needed         In addition, Bahá'u'lláh has provid-
to create a renewed civilization. Just as   ed for the continuation of Divine guid-
the animating energies of the spring-       ance to humanity throughout His Dis-
time penetrate the core of all mate-        pensation—an indispensable means by
rial things and create the conditions       which the fulfillment of His purpose
for new life, the creative Words of         is ensured. To this end, Bahá'u'lláh has
the Manifestations of God influence         given us two divinely-guided Cen-
hearts and souls and revolutionize hu-      ters of Authority: One is the "Book,"
man society. The irresistible spiritual     which comprises the Writings of the
forces of integration released by the       Manifestations of God for this day
Manifestations break down manmade           (the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh) and the in-
barriers to progress, and thereby bring     terpretations of His two authorized
forth new potentialities for creating a     Interpreters ('Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi
new race of humanity and establish-         Effendi); the other is the Universal
ing a new civilization. The workings        House of Justice. This unique institu-
of these spiritual energies can be dis-     tion—which, in a world where human
cerned in both integrative and disinte-     knowledge is mutable and progressive,
grative processes.                          is invested with the sacred authority
Bahá'u'lláh has also revealed teach-     to decide on whatever is not in the
ings, principles, concepts, and methods     Book—has also been charged, among
that shape the framework for building       other duties, with the responsibili-
that divine civilization, which is the      ty for maintaining the integrity and
integrative process. At the core of         flexibility of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings,
His Revelation, He has established          managing the affairs of the Faith, and
His Covenant, a line of succession and      guiding the Bahá'í community.
spiritual guidance that preserves the           Divine assistance, Bahá'u'lláh as-
unity of the Faith and ultimately of        sures us, will also enable human beings
Constructive Resilience                              9

to undertake tasks that would other-        of civilization-building? The lives of
wise require superhuman effort and          the Twin Manifestations of God for
therefore seem impossible to attain.        this age, the life of the Center of the
The history of our Faith abounds with       Covenant, and of the beloved Guard-
stories of victories that can only be at-   ian, comprise sources of inspiration
tributed to the operation of Divine as-     for us all. The spirit of determination
sistance: from the undaunted courage        demonstrated by the early believers in
exhibited by the believers in the ear-      both the East and the West are also in-
liest days of the Cause in Persia, the      valuable in this regard. We witness this
land of its birth; to the intrepid spirit   spirit in over 5,000 clusters worldwide
of the pioneers from East and West,         and the efforts of many individuals
who spread the Faith's teachings to         and groups of Bahá'ís who are trying
the farthest corners of the globe; to       to contribute to a more just and united
the exuberant community-building ef-        society. Through community-building,
forts we witness in this very day.          we are learning how to translate the
In reviewing the factors ensuring        teachings of the Faith into reality, a
ultimate success, the nature of the         process which requires individual and
Cause of God itself must be examined.       collective acts of service and sacrifice.
Bahá'u'lláh asserts that His Revelation     A review of the history of the Bahá'í
is established upon an unassailable         community of Iran where, over the
foundation that the storms of human         past 175 years, the believers have been
strife are powerless to undermine, and      subjected to injustice and oppression,
whose structure the fanciful theories       can also prove instructive. I will fo-
of human beings cannot succeed in           cus on this review, but first we need to
damaging. We all know these words           dedicate a few words to the nature of
with which Bahá'u'lláh, referring to        opposition to the Faith in that country.
Himself, proclaims: "Should they cast          For centuries, the Shi'a mullahs
Him into a fire kindled on the conti-       had been struggling to gain power in
nent, He will assuredly rear His head       Iran. Depending on the strength of
in the midmost heart of the ocean...        the central government of the day,
and if they cast Him into a dark-           they played different roles in running
some pit, they will find Him seated         the country and in shaping Iranian
on earth's loftiest heights" (Summons       culture. Many were also interested in
160). In other words, the DNA of the        advancing their own personal power
Cause of God is such that it cannot         and authority. From the rise of the
be destroyed; it cannot be derailed; it     Báb to the present day, the clerical
cannot be stopped from achieving its        establishment has viewed the Faith as
objectives.                                 a challenge to essential Shi'a doctrines
What, then, should be our attitude,      and to their own interests. As Shoghi
mindset, and approach to our individ-       Effendi noted about the early days
ual and collective services in the path     of the Báb's Dispensation: "Fearful,
10                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.4 2018

envious, thoroughly angered, the          efforts to contribute to its advance-
mullahs were beginning to perceive        ment and, instead, propagated slander
the seriousness of their position" (God   against them.
Passes By 11) as they foresaw not only        During the Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-
the waning of their influence, but also   1979), the government purported-
the end of their power. The House of      ly followed a system in accord with
Justice has explained that the clergy     secular ideas of freedom of worship,
recognized in Bahá'u'lláh the Voice       and the Bahá'ís were able to exercise
of a coming society of justice and        a few of their basic rights. However,
enlightenment in which they will have     as the power struggle between the
no place, and this is the fundamental     Shah and the mullahs went on, Bahá'ís
reason why they so desperately            were often used as a scapegoat, suffer-
opposed Bahá'u'lláh (26 November          ing a great deal of discrimination and
2003).                                    injustice.
As self-proclaimed enemies of the          In 1979, with the Islamic Revo-
Faith, the mullahs have used not only     lution, Ayatollah Khomeini and his
their pulpits and assumed moral au-       clergy came to power with specific
thority over their congregations, but     political, social and religious goals.
also, whenever they could, the ma-        Key among these goals was (and is)
chinery of government to implement        systemic opposition to the Bahá'í com-
their plans to persecute the Bahá'ís.     munity. This makes Iran, at present,
Across various periods of history,        the only country in the world with a
they have employed diverse approach-      government-sponsored plan against
es in their efforts against the Bahá'í    the Faith. So extensive is this plan
community. During the rule of the         that it would be difficult, in this short
Qajar Dynasty (1794-1925), the cler-      space, to make even a cursory review
ical establishment had significant in-    of all the repressive activities in which
fluence. It therefore comes as no sur-    the government is engaged. Suffice it
prise that in the decades following the   to say that the overall aim of the gov-
proclamation of the Báb (1844), until     ernment, as blatantly stated in its of-
the overthrow of the Qajar Dynasty        ficial documents, is the eradication of
in 1925, the mullahs instigated viru-     the Bahá'í community in Iran and dis-
lent and ongoing attacks on Bahá'ís in    crediting of the Bahá'ís outside Iran
cities and villages across the nation.    (Dugal). This aim is being pursued
They spread disinformation and dis-       vigorously through a multidimension-
torted the facts of history, playing on   al plan, notwithstanding, among other
an ill-informed population's ingrained    things, its high cost to the nation in
prejudices and widespread enslave-        both material and moral terms.
ment to conspiracy theories. They             The first decade of the revolu-
deliberately ignored the Bahá'ís' loy-    tion witnessed hundreds of killings
alty to their country and their sincere   and thousands of arrests within the
Constructive Resilience                            11

Iranian Bahá'í community. Bahá'í in-       citizens while suffering at the hands
stitutions were banned. A massive          of an oppressive regime. Instead, con-
and ever-expanding anti-Bahá'í pro-        structive resilience refers to how the
paganda machine began demonizing           Bahá'ís in Iran have continued to grow
the Bahá'ís, and it continues to this      community life and stay empowered,
very day, some forty years later. Bahá'í   even while being deprived of funda-
holy places and cemeteries have been       mental civil liberties and human rights.
destroyed across Iran. Efforts aimed           The Iranian Bahá'ís are systemat-
at the economic strangulation of the       ically modeling community-building
Bahá'ís were initiated from the outset     at the grassroots level, a response
and still continue. The believers are      demonstrated by Bahá'u'lláh during
prevented from teaching or studying        His exile to Baghdad. Little by little,
in any university or other institution     He guided the believers in exemplify-
of higher learning in the country. A       ing such kindness and virtuous com-
large amount of wealth belonging           portment that they won the hearts of
to both the Bahá'í community, as           the citizenry, even to the point of gain-
well as individual Bahá'ís, has been       ing the trust of the official representa-
confiscated.                               tives of the Ottoman government.
The manner in which the believers           In light of this background, let me
in the Cradle of the Faith have re-        begin by first simply defining resil-
sponded to this opposition has been        ience itself. According to the common
described by the Universal House of        understandings of the term, resilience
Justice as "constructive resilience."      is the capacity to recover from difficul-
A letter written on its behalf to the      ties; elasticity and toughness are often
friends in Iran praises them for striv-    mentioned in this regard. In psycho-
ing to transcend the opposition "with      logical terms, resilience is the process
that same constructive resilience that     of adapting well in the face of adver-
characterized" the actions of the ear-     sity, trauma, tragedy, or significant
ly believers when responding "to the       sources of stress.
duplicity of their detractors" (9 Sep-         Many among the survivors of in-
tember 2007).                              justice, who number in the millions
The term "constructive resilience"      today, demonstrate resilience and
was first used by the Universal House      achieve positive results. But the re-
of Justice with a specific meaning in      sponse to injustice and oppression also
mind, and I would like to share with       varies considerably among peoples. It
you my personal understanding of that      ranges from submission and accep-
meaning. Before I do so, let me provide    tance, to protest, resistance, open con-
a brief caveat. Members of the Bahá'í      frontation, and, at times, even violence.
Faith do not claim to be the first group   In some cases, those affected lose con-
or community to have responded be-         fidence in their perception of them-
nignly to injustice or to remain loyal     selves and their own strength. They
12                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.4 2018

become drained of that spirit of initia-    deviate, even slightly, from the essence
tive so integral to human nature, and       of the Faith's spirit. It implies that
can be reduced to the level of objects      they remain undisturbed by the pre-
and passive victims of their rulers'        vailing chaos in the world but rather
decree. Indeed, some who are exposed        that they see in it great opportunities
to sustained oppression can become so       to promote the Divine Teachings, and
conditioned that, in their turn, should     labor with steadfastness within this
the opportunity offer itself, they ac-      disorder, with the aim of growing
cept the prevailing norms and take          their spiritual capacity, serving others,
actions that are not in harmony with        and promoting human oneness. Such
the very reasons for which they were        a spirit of constructive resilience fos-
persecuted. If they eventually come         ters a process through which individ-
to power, these oppressed groups can        uals and communities are preserved
easily fall into the same behaviors as      from spiritual corrosion. It provides
their former oppressors. And the cycle      resources that enable the friends to
goes on.                                    free their hearts from resentment and
Constructive resilience is different.    to act with magnanimity toward those
In the case of the Bahá'ís of Iran, it      who have taken part in their mistreat-
does not consist of submission or pas-      ment. Promoting constructive resil-
sive and patient acceptance of injus-       ience certainly does not constitute a
tice. Neither does it rely on believing     criticism or belittlement of those who
in some mysterious power that—dis-          fight injustice using confrontation and
connected from their actions—will           other means. Rather, it is an approach
free them from the chains of oppres-        that the Bahá'ís are committed to, in-
sion. Instead, constructive resilience is   spired by Divine Teachings and hav-
an energetic and purposeful response        ing positive and practical results. The
that is coherent with the very aim of       spirit of constructive resilience can be
the Faith: unity. For the Bahá'ís of        discerned in every aspect of the Bahá'í
Iran, it constitutes a non-adversarial,     community in Iran.
violence-free, but dynamic approach            One such example concerns the
to creating patterns of social engage-      Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education
ment that move away from contention.        (BIHE). Immediately following the
At the same time, community members         1979 Revolution, the doors of Iran's
are vigorously pursuing every possible      institutions of higher education were
legal avenue available to correct and       utterly closed to Bahá'í students and
remedy the prevailing injustice.            professors. Over several years, exten-
Acting within the central tenets of      sive efforts to explore possible solu-
the Faith, constructive resilience re-      tions with Muslim officials proved fu-
quires that members of the Faith avoid      tile. By the late 1980s, it had become
compromising their beliefs and adher-       obvious that Bahá'ís would not be al-
ence to the Teachings. They must not        lowed to enroll in Iranian universities
Constructive Resilience                              13

without denying their faith. There-          House of Justice writes: "Perhaps the
fore, the community made informal            most compelling and clear example of
arrangements to use the volunteer            your constructive resilience is evident
services of dismissed Bahá'í profes-         currently in your earnest striving for
sors who would teach Bahá'í youth de-        knowledge, in your commitment to
prived of university coursework. Indi-       the loftiest values of faith and reason
vidual families offered their homes for      which the Cause inculcates, and in
classes and laboratories. The Bahá'ís        your perseverance in pursuit of higher
did not seek to publicize this initiative,   education." In that same letter, it attri-
so as to avoid provoking the authori-        butes this success to the friends being
ties. The BIHE was not presented as          "well aware of [their] mission" (29
a "win" over the oppressor nor was           January 2014).
it portrayed as retaliation. Rather, it         In addition to educational repres-
was a thoughtful and quiet act of col-       sion, the Bahá'ís of Iran have also
lective self-empowerment and moral           faced tremendous difficulties as a re-
imagination.                                 sult of the government's banning of
The aim of the BIHE was and re-           the Bahá'í leadership and community
mains to nurture the intellectual facul-     institutions. Some politicians imag-
ties of youth and to prepare them for        ined that the imposition of such a
service to their society. Despite enor-      ban in 1983 and the imprisonment of
mous political pressure, the Bahá'ís of      the Yárán2 in 2008 would cause the
Iran took fate into their own hands.         believers to lose direction and hope,
Their youth did not accede to being          and that it would eventually cause
deprived of higher education and the         the general weakening of the Bahá'í
community found resources, knowl-            community. But the Bahá'ís trusted
edge, and space to cultivate their in-       the Divine Will and held firm to the
nate gifts. The BIHE has withstood the       belief that all that transpires serves
Iranian government's ongoing efforts         the Cause of God, as long as they
to shut it down, and continues to oper-      adhere to Bahá'í principles. The com-
ate under harsh, fearful conditions. It      munity stood firm and did not allow
has produced thousands of graduates             2 This term refers to seven Bahá'í
in a number of fields, some of whom          leaders, six of whom were arrested on 14
have been able to continue their edu-        May 2008 at their homes in Tehran. The
cation in more than ninety accredited        seventh, Mahvash Sabet, was arrested on
universities around the world.               5 March 2008 while on a trip to Mashhad.
This year marks the 30th anni-            The seven formed the entire membership
versary of the establishment of the          of the now-disbanded group known as
BIHE and Bahá'ís around the world            the "Yárán" or "Friends in Iran," tending
are proud of what the believers in           to the spiritual and social needs of the
Iran have achieved. Expressing its           300,000-member Bahá'í community of
joy at the operation of the BIHE, the        that country.
14                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.4 2018

apprehension and anxiety to take root,         organism seeks to maintain its
nor tests to perturb their hearts. They        integrity and compensate for the
realized that the door to attend to their      loss of a part, when the darkness
individual and collective affairs is still     of injustice resulted in the closure
open through consultation amongst              of the Bahá'í administrative insti-
families and in small groups. Relying          tutions in your land, you—both as
on the power of divine assistance,             a community and as individuals,
they remained engaged in the field             the other two protagonists—sus-
of service and managed their affairs           tained by the creative power of
with moral rectitude. They carried             the Covenant, succeeded in com-
out their spiritual obligations with           pensating for this temporary loss.
steadfastness, devotion, and wisdom,           (12 May 2016)
and worked ever harder to maintain a
vibrant community life. So exemplary             In an effort to weaken the communi-
was their response to this persecution       ty, the Iranian government still exerts
that, in 2016, on the occasion of the        every effort to create a gap between
eighth anniversary of the imprison-          the believers and the Universal House
ment of the Yárán, the House of Jus-         of Justice. Many stories tell of their
tice remarked:                               failure. Let me share one. First, I must
mention that the Bahá'í prisoners,
You of course know full well that          when answering their interrogators,
the purpose of Bahá'u'lláh's Rev-          often explain the philosophy behind
elation is to bring about a civili-        their actions as a way to prove their
zation that is neither of the East         innocence. Many of the interrogators
nor of the West, a civilization            apparently become affected by the sin-
based on coherence between the             cerity and the compelling nature of
material and the spiritual needs           these explanations.
of humankind. You also know                    For instance, one Bahá'í was ar-
that recognizing Him marks the             rested for having served as a teacher
commencement of a commit-                  of Bahá'í children's classes and the
ment to dedicate one's personal            interrogator began his questioning
and family life to contributing to         of the believer harshly. But when
the establishment of that civili-          he learned the reasons for educating
zation. You are well aware that            children with spiritual values, he ac-
the fulfilment of this goal is fa-         tually asked if and how he could send
cilitated through the activities           his own children to these classes. At
and the maturation of the three            the same time, there are also those
protagonists in the advancement            interrogators who try to avoid the
of civilization: the individual, the       challenge altogether. They wish to
community, and the institutions.           bypass the inconvenience of convinc-
Even as every living and active            ing their supervisors of the innocence
Constructive Resilience                           15

of Bahá'ís, and ask the detainees not         Economic strangulation is a third
to explain their philosophies during       tactic used by the government of
interrogation. On one occasion, one        Iran as a way to weaken the spirit of
of these interrogators—who did not         the Bahá'í community. It began with
want to be caught in a philosophical       thousands of Bahá'í employees being
discussion with his Bahá'í prisoner—       expelled from all government-relat-
approached his task in this manner:        ed offices and entities. Following this
complete debarment from government
"Respond to my questions with-           or government-related employment,
out any explanation: answer me           the authorities turned their attention
with a yes or no." The Bahá'í            to the private sector, resorting to var-
agreed and the interrogator said:        ious methods aimed at severely limit-
"I have two questions for you. Are       ing the economic activities of Bahá'ís
you a Bahá'í? And do you obey            business owners and entrepreneurs.
the instructions of the House               In recent years, many Bahá'ís have
of Justice?" The Bahá'í said that        faced a new problem: When they close
the answer to both questions was         their shops in observance of a Bahá'í
"no." The interrogator, who was          Holy Day, the authorities seal off their
surprised, asked, "How come?"            businesses and threaten to withdraw
The Bahá'í answered, "So you             their business permits. Efforts local-
want me to explain," and went on         ly, nationally, and internationally to
to say, "To be a true Bahá'í is the      bring this economic apartheid to an
desire of my heart. All my life I        end have been ongoing since the onset
have been striving to be a Bahá'í.       of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. But
I only hope that, by the grace of        in facing this persecution with a spirit
Bahá'u'lláh, I will succeed. But I       of constructive resilience, the Bahá'ís,
do not consider myself worthy            far from resorting to common disrup-
of being called a Bahá'í. As for         tive responses, creatively find ways to
your second question: If I were          continue earning a livelihood. For ex-
obeying fully the guidance of the        ample, an automobile mechanic whose
Universal House of Justice, you          shop was sealed because he closed it
should have been a Bahá'í by now,        for a Bahá'í holy day, began repairing
as that Body continuously empha-         his customers' cars at a lower cost on
sizes the importance of sharing          the street in front of his shop. Nat-
the Message of Bahá'u'lláh as            urally, his business boomed. A few
part of our efforts to build a bet-      weeks later, the government unsealed
ter world."3                             his shop. The Iranian Bahá'í commu-
nity has always found ways and means
3 This and following examples are my     of assisting those in need.
personal recollections from letters that      A fourth strategy of the Iranian
were sent to the Bahá'í World Centre.      government in its efforts to demoralize
16                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.4 2018

the Bahá'ís is to evoke prejudice and        a Bahá'í and my heart is illumined
spread slander about them among the          with the light of Bahá'u'lláh. But
masses, hoping to deter Bahá'ís from         I want to be able to say Bahá'í
taking an active role in society. At         prayers in the company of other
times, the authorities openly demand         believers. Please tell me, what can
that the believers not associate with        I do?
their Muslim friends and neighbors.
Their aim is to exclude Iran's largest     A story contained in another letter re-
non-Muslim religious minority from         ports what a cleric shared during one
meaningful social discourse, barring       of his sermons:
Bahá'ís from promoting the wellbeing
of the wider community. Notwith-             One day I noted that a certain
standing these constraints, the Bahá'ís      person (with an Islamic name)
remain determined to live purposeful         who had regularly attended my
lives in their society. In a letter sent     sermons, was no longer coming. I
to the Bahá'í World Centre, a young          waited for a few months and there
Iranian wrote:                               was no sign of him. I asked some-
one to look for him. This person
I am a 24-year-old student. A few          reported to me as follows: One
years ago I had a very bad traffic         day I saw the person in the street.
accident. A man who was not in-            He was very different in his out-
volved in the accident brought me          look. "I called him by the name I
to hospital and stayed patiently           knew him. But he said "I am not
until I was safely in the hands of         so and so. I am now so (a mod-
medical staff. He then left. I was         ern Iranian name)." I asked him,
very impressed with his kindness.          "What has happened to you?" He
Before he left I asked his name so         replied: "Do you remember the
that I could thank him when I left         day when you and I in the compa-
the hospital. He said there was no         ny of the cleric got stuck on the
need to know his name. However,            road outside Tehran because our
he did say "I am a Bahá'í, and we          car had run out of fuel? Do you
are all humans and supposed to as-         remember how many people, all
sist each other." He kissed my face        supposedly Muslim, we stopped
and left and I had no idea who he          and asked for help and nobody re-
was. This shook me and I decid-            sponded? Do you remember that a
ed to study the Bahá'í Faith. No           lady stopped on her own to see if
one was able to give me a book. I          we needed help? Do you remem-
went to the internet and found an          ber that she gave us fuel and did
address. A kind lady from abroad           not accept any payment for it and
sent me materials and accompa-             at the end she gave us her busi-
nied me for two years. I am now            ness card? I followed up with her
Constructive Resilience                              17

and later on learned that she is a           of local culture and conditions. It is
Bahá'í. With her kind behavior I             largely through their actions and com-
was encouraged to investigate her            portment that they defend their Faith
faith and I am a Bahá'í now."                against misrepresentation.
An important characteristic of the
If there is one area of activity that       way the Iranian Bahá'ís are facing all
the government wants to see com-               these tests is a certain spirit of content-
pletely stopped, it is the sharing of          ment and conviction. They painstak-
Bahá'í principles with Muslim people           ingly make ongoing petitions to gov-
and conducting activities related to           ernment institutions at various levels,
the institute process and communi-             as well as to individuals of influence in
ty-building.4 Since the government is          order to end this unjust discrimination
aware that Iranian citizens are more           against them. Not receiving a favor-
eager to learn about the Faith, it tries       able solution, they seek assistance for
to counteract this receptiveness by            the defense of their rights from their
spreading false information about the          spiritual sisters and brothers, as well
Bahá'ís and preventing Bahá'ís from            as Bahá'í institutions in other countries.
openly correcting this misinformation.         Not relying on others to act first,
Likewise, Bahá'ís understand that en-          they patiently and creatively continue
gaging in collective teaching plans and        their efforts to find peaceful solutions
other activities that are part of Bahá'í       at home. Their aim is to live as con-
community life elsewhere in the world          tributing members of their society,
are not appropriate in Iran under the          and to fulfill their spiritual obligations.
present conditions. Nevertheless, the          Furthermore, they pursue these paths
Bahá'ís in Iran do their best to teach         of service with an exemplary spirit of
the Faith while taking into account            love for their country and friendship
local realities.                               for their compatriots. They see in all
Thus, on the one hand, they do not          of this an opportunity for spiritual
accept being deprived of their individ-        growth and the enlightening influence
ual expression of faith or contributing        of the Cause of God.
to the betterment of the world. On the            As one demonstration of this un-
other hand, they do not teach or open-         conquerable spirit, a few years into
ly share Bahá'í ideas in public places, at     their imprisonment, the Yárán sent
school, or at work. Whatever they do           a message to the Universal House of
is done with wisdom and consideration          Justice. They respectfully asked the
4 The institute process includes activi-    Bahá'ís of the world to refrain from
ties aimed at assisting interested individu-   praying for the Yárán's release. Why?
als to enhance their capacities for involve-   Because they could see with their own
ment in community building efforts and         eyes that doors were being opened for
participation in constructive discourses of    the progress of the Faith as a result
society.                                       of their imprisonment. The spirit of
18                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.4 2018

the members of the Yárán at the time       Divine assistance and to their whole-
of their release, following ten years      hearted obedience to the guidance of
of imprisonment,          the Universal House of Justice.
was a testimony to this magnanimity.           In this process, the Bahá'ís have
One of the Yárán, when discharged          further developed a number of capac-
from prison, said: "I do not remember      ities: the capacity to hold fervently to
during these years talking to anyone       one's faith and to maintain certitude in
about animosity, hate, or grudges….        the Manifestation of God for this age;
I was never thinking of revenge or         the ability to frame events historically
fighting anyone or rising up against       within the processes of integration
any group. I was constantly thinking       and disintegration; the wisdom to cul-
of equipping myself with spiritual         tivate a deeper understanding of the
power and energy" (Sabet).                 vision that Bahá'u'lláh has given to
There are also stories telling of the   the world of the oneness of humanity
spirit of joy that many of the friends     and of a just society; and the courage
try to maintain, even in the harshest      to enact this vision by following an
conditions in prison. In brief, over       all-encompassing, coherent, and prac-
the course of the past 175 years of        tical Plan, a path through which every
unremitting oppression, the Bahá'ís        individual can contribute to the estab-
of Iran have steadily increased their      lishment of that just society. Through
clarity of vision about the mission of     hardship, the Bahá'ís of Iran can per-
Bahá'u'lláh and their role in it. They     ceive the bankruptcy of the material
have retained a confident mastery          world, humbly beseech Him for Divine
of their moral purpose. They have          assistance, place complete reliance on
learned to nourish an abiding love for     Him and endure difficulties in His path
their fellow citizens and for the land     with unfailing and legendary patience.
in which they suffer so greatly. It is,    Through a lack of freedom, they have
therefore, an immense joy to observe       developed the strength to fulfill the
a positive sea change in the attitude of   daily necessities of life, survive op-
many Iranian people toward the Faith       pression, and exhibit courage in the
and the Bahá'ís.                           face of hatred. Their unwavering de-
The spiritual energies released by      termination to seek justice with quiet
so great a number of sacrifices offered    fortitude demonstrates the will and
in the path of God, as well as the ef-     the discipline required to live a pur-
forts of both Bahá'ís and members of       poseful life. Ultimately, the Bahá'ís of
the larger community elsewhere in the      Iran have learned to experience the
world to arise to defend their rights,     deep joy and comfort that arises from
have no doubt significantly contrib-       service to others and to God. Are not
uted to the realization of these signal    all of these among the very capacities
accomplishments. The Bahá'ís of Iran       and abilities that, in our prayers, we
often say that they owe this success to    beseech God to help us develop?
Constructive Resilience                            19

Moving from the spirit of con-              No matter where we live, nurtur-
structive resilience demonstrated by        ing spiritual capacities, approaches,
the Bahá'ís of Iran, let us look at the     and habits of thought is necessary
larger global context. The rest of hu-      to strengthening our own spirit of
manity is also being battered by forc-      constructive resilience. As we strive
es of oppression, whether generated         for the betterment of the world, the
from the depths of religious, racial,       messages of the House of Justice ad-
and gender-based intolerance, or from       dressed to the Bahá'ís of Iran over
the onslaught of rampant materialism.       the past few years identify some such
"What 'oppression' is more grievous,"       capacities. We live at a time when the
Bahá'u'lláh asks, "than that a soul seek-   vision of Bahá'u'lláh challenges many
ing the truth, and wishing to attain        of the assumptions that shape contem-
unto the knowledge of God, should           porary discourse. In a letter addressed
know not where to go for it and from        to the Bahá'ís of the World, the Uni-
whom to seek it?" (Kitáb-i-Íqán 31).        versal House of Justice states:
The fact is that the act of living
in a society engulfed in materialistic        Today the world is assailed by an
philosophies and entangled in outmod-         array of destructive forces. Ma-
ed traditions and assumptions is not          terialism, rooted in the West, has
without its own tests for the Bahá'ís.        now spread to every corner of the
'Abdu'l-Bahá said that the believers          planet, breeding, in the name of
in the West would experience mental           a strong global economy and hu-
tests so as to purify them and enable         man welfare, a culture of consum-
them to achieve their Divinely-con-           erism. It skillfully and ingeniously
ferred potential as a force for change        promotes a habit of consumption
in the world:                                 that seeks to satisfy the vilest and
most selfish desires, while encour-
And yet, how often we seem to               aging the expenditure of wealth
forget the clear and repeated               so as to prolong and exacerbate
warnings of our beloved Mas-                social conflict. How vain and fool-
ter, who, in particular during the          ish a worldview! And meanwhile,
concluding years of His mission             a rising tide of fundamentalism,
on earth, laid stress on the "se-           bringing with it an exceedingly
vere mental tests" that would               narrow understanding of reli-
inevitably sweep over His loved             gion and spirituality, continues
ones of the West—tests that                 to gather strength, threatening
would purge, purify and prepare             to engulf humanity in rigid dog-
them for their noble mission in             matism. In its most extreme form,
life. (Shoghi Effendi, Bahá'í Ad-           it conditions the resolution of
ministration 50)                            the problems of the world upon
the occurrence of events derived
20                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.4 2018

from illogical and superstitious          it is they who have the responsibility
notions. It professes to uphold           to champion this mighty task.
virtue yet, in practice, perpetuates          The experience of Bahá'ís every-
oppression and greed. Among               where in the past few decades attests
the deplorable results of the op-         that, with the help of Divine assis-
eration of such forces are a deep-        tance and under the guidance of the
ening confusion on the part of            Universal House of Justice, they are
young people everywhere, a sense          indeed capable of initiating, under any
of hopelessness in the ranks of           circumstances, a sustainable and ex-
those who would drive progress,           pandable framework for social change,
and the emergence of a myriad             and of inviting large numbers of peo-
social maladies. (20 October 2008)        ple to contribute to this effort. As part
of our constructive resilience, we need
Growing numbers of people grap-          to further strengthen ourselves to re-
ple with how to advance social change       main unaffected by the negative forces
in the face of political disorder and       of society and to avoid the temptation
mounting injustice. They wonder how         to give into pressures to adopt the pre-
to respond to our global interconnect-      vailing materialistic assumptions.
edness, which demands new approach-             Guided by the House of Justice, we
es that build rather than erode social      must develop a deeper understand-
cohesion. As a result, questioning pre-     ing of the Bahá'í approach to answer
vailing assumptions, established para-      the ills of humanity, firmly adhere to
digms, and common wisdom is, in the         Bahá'í principles, and resist the im-
sight of many, a necessity. In the same     pulse to defend prevailing ideas that
letter, the House of Justice appeals        are popular in the wider society only
to us to be conscious that the contin-      because it seems expedient in the mo-
ued strengthening of our communi-           ment. We must further consolidate our
ty-building efforts will be matched by      capacity to realize that only through
a further decline in the old world order,   sacrificial efforts and collaboration
and to be on our guard lest the devel-      with like-minded people can world
opment of capacity in the community         chaos and confusion be remedied and
not keep pace with the rise in recep-       rebalanced. Bahá'u'lláh's advice to
tivity of a disillusioned humanity. The     one of the believers is profoundly rel-
House of Justice expresses confidence       evant in this respect: "Sharp must be
that such developments in the world         thy sight, O Dhabíh, and adamant thy
will cause the believers in every land      soul and brass-like thy feet, if thou
to reflect on the lamentable condition      wishest to be unshaken by the assaults
of the present order, will reinforce in     of the selfish desires that whisper in
them the conviction that material and       men's breasts. This is the firm injunc-
spiritual civilization must be advanced     tion which the Pen of the Most Great
together, and will remind Bahá'ís that      Name hath, by virtue of the Will of
Constructive Resilience                           21

the Ancient King, been moved to re-          on us and our success or failure.
veal" (Gleanings 115:13).                    All humanity is disturbed and
suffering and confused; we cannot
'Abdu'l-Bahá likewise says:                  expect to not be disturbed and
not to suffer—but we don't have
The beloved of the Lord must               to be confused. On the contrary,
stand fixed as the mountains, firm         confidence and assurance, hope
as impregnable walls. Unmoved              and optimism are our prerogative.
must they remain by even the dir-          The successful carrying out of
est adversities, ungrieved by the          our various Plans is the greatest
worst of disasters. Let them cling         sign we can give of our faith and
to the hem of Almighty God,                inner assurance, and the best way
and put their faith in the Beauty          we can help our fellow-men out
of the Most High; let them lean            of their confusion and difficulties
on the unfailing help that cometh          (Unfolding Destiny 225).
from the Ancient Kingdom, and
depend on the care and protec-
tion of the generous Lord. . . . Let
them rise up to serve their Lord                      WORKS CITED
and do all in their power to scat-
ter His breathings of holiness far       'Abdu'l-Bahá. Selections from the Writ-
and wide. Let them be a mighty                   ings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. US Bahá'í
fortress to defend His Faith, an                 Publishing, 2014.
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Hosts. US Bahá'í Publishing,
And, finally, Shoghi Effendi gives us              2006.
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confusions of today's world:                       Judgement Against an Entire
Religious Community." Bahá'í
We must expect these things: It is               World News Service, 15 Au-
becoming evident that the world                  gust 2010: news.bahai.org/
is not yet through with its labor,               story/789/.
the New Age not yet fully born,          Sabet, Mahvash. Interview on Radio
real Peace not yet right around                  France International, 20 Sep-
the corner. We must have no il-                  tember 2017.
lusions about how much depends
22                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.4 2018

Shoghi Effendi. Bahá'í Administration. US Bahá'í Publishing, 1974.
———. God Passes By. US Bahá'í Publishing, 1979.
———.Unfolding Destiny. UK Bahá'í Publishing, 1981.
Taherzadeh, Adib. The Child of the Covenant. George Ronald Publisher Ltd.,
2000.
———. The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Vol. 3. George Ronald Publisher Ltd, 1996.
The Universal House of Justice. Message to the Bahá'ís of Iran, 29 January 2014:
www.payamha-iran.org/node/228?language=en.
———. Message to the Bahá'ís of Iran, 12 May 2016: payamha-iran.org/
node/153?language=en.
———. Message to the Bahá'ís of Iran, 20 October 2008: www.bahai.
org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/
messages/20081020_001/1#893552861
———. Message to the Bahá'ís of Iran, 26 November 2003. www.bahai.
org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/
messages/20031126_001/1#833102424
-- Constructive Resilience (Used by permission of the curator)