# The Baha'i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: William S. Hatcher, The Baha'i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion, Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1985/2011, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
> 
> _____________________________________________________________
> _________
> 
> Emerging Global Religion
> 
> William S. Hatcher
> and
> J. Douglas Martin
> THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH: EMERGING GLOBAL RELIGION Copyright © 1985, 1989, 1998, 2002,
> 
> 2011 by William S. Hatcher and J. Douglas Martin. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
> used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
> 
> quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
> 
> The Bahá’í Faith was first published in 1985 by Harper and Row. An extensively revised edition,
> 
> with a new preface and additional content, was issued by Bahá’í Publishing, Wilmette, Illinois in
> 
> 2002.
> This digital edition is made possible by the kind permission of the copyright owners, Mrs. Judith
> Hatcher and Mr. Douglas Martin. This edition provided the copyright owners with the welcome
> 
> opportunity to correct the book’s title.
> 
> eBook version 1.0
> 
> Cover image
> © Michael G. Dawes
> Dedicated to the men and women who have given their lives for the Bahá’í
> Faith in Iran, 1844 to the present.
> 
> This people have passed beyond the narrow straits of names, and
> pitched their tents upon the shores of the sea of renunciation.
> —BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
> Contents
> 
> Preface
> Note on the Transliteration of Persian and Arabic Names
> 
> Introduction
> 
> 1. The Historical Background
> 2. The Bábí Faith
> 
> 3. Bahá’u’lláh
> 4. The Succession to Leadership
> 
> 5. Basic Teachings
> 6. God, His Manifestations, and Humankind
> 
> 7. The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> 8. Administration and Laws
> 
> 9. The Bahá’í Community
> 10. On into a New Century
> 
> Epilogue: The Challenges of Success
> 
> Appendix: Edward Granville Browne
> Bibliography
> Preface
> 
> In 1974, with the encouragement of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
> Bahá’ís of Canada, a group of scholars and students created an association
> to promote the systematic study of the Bahá’í Faith at the university level.
> The group flourished, producing lectures, conferences, and a series of
> publications. Today the North American Association for Bahá’í Studies,
> with headquarters in Ottawa, Canada, boasts national affiliates in countries
> around the world.
> 
> As the organization grew, it was recognized that none of the existing
> sources would meet the need for a textbook on which courses of
> undergraduate study could be based. The outcome was the commissioning
> of the present work. Consequently, the authors feel a particular sense of
> gratitude to the Association not only for the initiative that launched the
> project, but also for the consistent support given to its realization.
> Developments over the years since the book’s appearance in 1985 have lent
> considerable weight to the Bahá’í interpretation of the historical process.
> The accelerating changes taking place in both human consciousness and
> human society as the twentieth century drew to its close were as irresistible
> as they were unprecedented: on the one hand, incalculable loss of human
> life, vast damage to the environment, and a debasement of moral and
> spiritual standards previously unthinkable; on the other, dazzling scientific
> breakthroughs, the development of immense new resources for human well-
> being, and a steady proliferation of democratic institutions across the face
> of the planet. Given the ever-increasing convergence between Bahá’u’lláh’s
> prophetic vision and the course of world events, we felt it wise, in 1997, to
> prepare a revised, updated and enlarged second edition of the original work,
> thus taking the opportunity also to correct errors, oversights, and
> unfortunate phrasings that had escaped the original editing process.
> 
> Throughout the successive editions and reprintings, we have benefited more
> than we can say from the professional advice and support of Terry
> Cassiday, Betty Fisher, and Larry Bucknell. The decision of Bahá’í
> Publishing to produce the present edition is most gratifying.
> 
> The original edition benefited greatly from the contributions of Todd
> Lawson of McGill University, who reviewed the chapter on historical
> background, and Marion Finley at Université Laval, who handled the
> transliteration of Persian and Arabic terms. Our deepest gratitude—for their
> unfailing support and understanding—goes to our wives, Judith and
> Elizabeth.
> 
> W. S. H., J. D. M.
> 
> Haifa, Israel
> 6 June 2002
> Note on the Transliteration of Persian and Arabic Names
> 
> The system of transliterating Persian and Arabic names used in this work is
> one of several such systems currently in use. It differs from the Cambridge
> system primarily by its use of accents (“á” and “í”) instead of overlining
> ("ā" and "ī”), though there are some other differences as well
> 
> Generally speaking, we have avoided transliterating geographical names
> which have either current or well-established English language forms. We
> have applied this same principle to the names of persons of Oriental origin
> who subsequently established themselves in the West under a particular
> English language form of their name, and to names of historical figures
> (e.g., Muhammad) with established English language forms. Also, names of
> titles (“Shah” or “Imam”) with established English equivalents are not
> transliterated unless they occur as part of a transliterated name (“Náṣiri’d-
> Dín Shah”).
> Two particular cases should be mentioned. First, we have avoided use of the
> common “Koran” and used instead the transliterated “Qur’án,” which
> appears to us a more dignified form to designate the holy book of the
> Muslim faith. Second, we have used the established form “Shiah”
> throughout to designate the Twelver (Imami) branch of Islam, consistently
> avoiding such other hybrid forms as “Shiite” which are in current use.
> 
> In all, we have tried to achieve the greatest possible simplicity consistent
> with clarity and accuracy.
> Introduction
> 
> The Bahá’í Faith is the youngest of the world’s independent religions. From
> its obscure beginnings in Iran during the mid-nineteenth century, it has now
> spread to virtually every part of the world, has established its administrative
> institutions in well over two hundred independent states and major
> territories, and has embraced believers from virtually every cultural, racial,
> social, and religious background.
> 
> The new faith is a distinct religion, based entirely on the teachings of its
> founder, Bahá’u’lláh. It is not a cult, a reform movement or sect within any
> other faith, nor merely a philosophical system. Neither does it represent an
> attempt to create a new religion syncretistically by bringing together
> different teachings chosen from other religions. In the words of Arnold
> Toynbee:
> 
> Bahaism is an independent religion on a par with Islam, Christianity,
> and the other recognized world religions. Bahaism is not a sect of some
> other religion; it is a separate religion, and it has the same status as the
> other recognized religions.1
> 
> This text attempts to examine a wide range of Bahá’í teachings. It will be
> helpful at the outset to note the pivotal concept of the Bahá’í Faith: the
> oneness of humankind. Bahá’u’lláh’s central message is that the day has
> come for the unification of humanity into one global family. He asserts that
> God has set in motion historical forces that are to bring about worldwide
> recognition that the entire human race is a unified, distinct species. This
> historical process in which, Bahá’ís believe, their faith has a central role to
> play, will involve the emergence of a global civilization.
> 
> Entirely separate from this breathtaking vision, the Bahá’í Faith holds a
> particular interest for students of the history of religion. This is because the
> empirical data are so accessible. It would be difficult or perhaps impossible
> to establish precisely the generating impulses that gave rise to the birth and
> development of any of the earlier major religions of the world. An
> explanation of the nature of the teachings of the Buddha, the actual events
> of the life of Jesus, the era in which Zoroaster lived and the nature of his
> influence, even substantiating the historical existence of “Krishna”–all
> remain seemingly insoluble problems. The life and person of Muhammad
> are more accessible, but even here controversy exists on many matters of
> vital detail.
> 
> One of the earliest Western historians to become interested in Baha’i history
> was Edward Granville Browne, a noted Cambridge orientalist.2 It was
> Browne’s view that the then little-known faith afforded a unique
> opportunity to examine in detail how a new and independent religion comes
> into existence. He said:
> 
> for here he [the student of religion] may contemplate such personalities
> as by lapse of time pass into heroes and demi-gods still unobscured by
> myth and fable; he may examine by the light of concurrent and
> independent testimony one of those strange outbursts of enthusiasm,
> faith, fervent devotion, and indomitable heroism—or fanaticism, if you
> will—which we are accustomed to associate with the earlier history of
> the human race; he may witness, in a. word, the birth of a faith which
> may not impossibly win a place amidst the great religions of the
> world.3
> 
> The same point has been made by modern observers from outside the
> Bahá’í community:
> The Bábí-Bahá’í movement provides the historian of religion with
> invaluable sources for studying its origin and development as with no
> other religion. There are at least two reasons for this. First, the Bahá’í
> Faith is the most recent religion. Other religions began hundreds or
> thousands of years ago. Of the so-called eleven major, living religions
> of the world, only Islam (seventh century A.D.) and Sikhism (sixteenth
> century A.D.) are centuries old; the others—Hinduism, Buddhism,
> Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and
> Christianity—date back thousands of years. The Bahá’í Faith
> originated only in the last century (1844 A.D.), and only since 1963
> has it reached possibly the last phase of its formative development,
> which incidentally makes the present time most appropriate for making
> a study of that development. The Bahá’í Faith is, therefore, a religion
> of modern times and is naturally more accessible for study and
> understanding than the older religions.4
> 
> Most recently, the intensification of the persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís by
> the Islamic regime in their country has attracted international attention.
> Since it is principally the religious affiliation of the victims which has
> occasioned the attacks, interest has increasingly focused on the Bahá’í Faith
> itself. The beliefs that distinguish Bahá’ís from Muslims, particularly, and
> the sequence of historical events that has led up to the current outbreak,
> have been the subject of considerable discussion in Western information
> media.
> 
> The present text covers four main areas of study: (1) the history of the Bábí
> and Bahá’í Faiths; (2) Bahá’u’lláh’s basic teachings; (3) the institutional
> structure of the Bahá’í Faith; and (4) the development of the Bahá’í
> community. An epilogue suggests some of the new challenges facing the
> young religion as a consequence of the dramatic success it has enjoyed
> during the more than 150 years of its growth.
> 
> The study of any religion poses special challenges. Unlike most of the
> phenomena science studies, religion claims to comprehend human beings
> themselves. Religion demands not only attention, but ultimately devotion
> and commitment. So it is that many religious thinkers have insisted that
> there is a fundamental conflict between faith and science and that the realm
> of the former lies essentially beyond the explorations of the latter.
> 
> Here the Bahá’í Faith comes to the aid of those who undertake to study it.
> One of the teachings of its founder, Bahá’u’lláh, is that God’s greatest gift
> to humankind is reason. Bahá’ís accept that reason must be applied to all
> the phenomena of existence, including those which are spiritual, and the
> instrument to be used in this effort is the scientific method.5 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> the son of Bahá’u’lláh and the appointed interpreter of his writings, asserted
> that: ‘‘Any religion that contradicts science or that is opposed to it is only
> ignorance—for ignorance is the opposite of knowledge.” 6
> 
> To an unusual degree, therefore, one who studies the Bahá’í Faith finds the
> subject laid open to examination. The mysteries one encounters, like those
> in the physical universe, reflect no more than the recognized limitations of
> human knowledge. That is to say, they do not represent assertions about the
> natural world which contradict science and reason. The minimum of ritual
> and the absence of a priestly elite endowed with special powers or
> knowledge also afford relatively easy access to the central features of the
> Bahá’í Faith.
> 
> Nevertheless, the study of religion is not paleontology. It is an examination
> of living phenomena which must be penetrated, to the fullest extent
> possible, not only by the mind but also by the heart, if a clear understanding
> is to result. The Bahá’í Faith is a subject which represents the deepest
> beliefs of some five million people, beliefs which govern the most
> important decisions in human life, and for which many thousands of
> Bahá’ís have accepted and are today accepting persecution and death.
> The authors of the present work have sought to balance these demands of
> mind and heart which the study of religion imposes on those who pursue it.
> 1. The Historical Background
> 
> To assert that a religion is independent of other faiths is not to argue that it
> began in a religious vacuum. Buddhism emerged from a traditional Hindu
> background, and only after it had crossed the Himalayas did it assume its
> full character as a separate faith destined to become a major cultural force
> in China, Japan, and the lands of Southeast Asia. Similarly, Jesus Christ and
> his immediate followers began their mission within the context of Judaism,
> and for some two centuries the movement was regarded by neighboring
> peoples as a reformed branch of the parent religion. Christianity did not
> appear as a separate religion with its own scriptures, laws, and institutional
> and ritual forms until it had begun to attract large numbers of adherents
> from the many non-Semitic races in the Mediterranean world.
> 
> The religious matrix of the Bahá’í Faith was Islam. Much as Christianity
> was born out of the messianic expectations of Judaism, the religion that was
> to become the Bahá’í Faith arose from eschatological tensions within Islam.
> In the same way, however, the Bahá’í Faith is entirely independent of its
> parent religion. The validity of this view has most recently again been
> acknowledged by one of the most prolific scholars of modern Islam.
> ‘Allámah (an honorific meaning “very learned”) Siyyid Ṭabáṭabá’í states
> categorically, “the Bábí and Bahá’í sects . . . should not in any sense be
> considered as branches of Shi’ism.”7
> 
> The new faith first appeared in Persia, a predominantly Muslim country.8 It
> then spread to neighboring Muslim lands in the Ottoman and Russian
> Empires and to northern India. Though some early followers were of
> Jewish, Christian, or Zoroastrian background, the vast majority had been
> followers of Islam. Their religious ideas were drawn from the Qur’án, and
> they were primarily interested in those aspects of their new belief system
> that represented the fulfillment of Islamic prophecies and the interpretation
> of Muslim teaching. Similarly, the Islamic clergy initially saw those who
> followed the new faith as Muslim heretics.
> 
> Because of the Bahá’í Faith’s Islamic background, it is important to begin
> with a consideration of the Islamic matrix out of which the Baha’i Faith
> arose. Such an examination is important for a second reason as well: Islam
> fits into a concept of both religious history and the relationship between
> religions which is central to Bahá’í teaching. The Bahá’í Faith is perhaps
> unique in that it unreservedly accepts the validity of the other great faiths.
> Bahá’ís believe that Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, the Buddha, Jesus, and
> Muhammad are all equally authentic messengers of one God. The teachings
> of these divine messengers are seen as paths to salvation which contribute
> to the “carrying forward of an ever-advancing civilization.”9 But Bahá’ís
> believe that this series of interventions by God in human history has been
> progressive, each revelation from God more complete than those which
> preceded it, and each preparing the way for the next. In this view, Islam, as
> the most recent of the prior religions, constituted the immediate historical
> preparation for the Bahá’í Faith. Not surprisingly, therefore, one finds in the
> Bahá’í writings a great many Quranic terms and concepts.
> 
> Some tenets of Islam are especially important to a clear understanding of
> the Bahá’í Faith. Like Muslims, Bahá’ís believe that God is One and utterly
> transcendent in his essence. He “manifests” his will to humanity through the
> series of messengers whom Bahá’ís call “Manifestations of God.” The
> purpose of the Manifestation is to provide perfect guidance not only for the
> spiritual progress of the individual believer, but also to mold society as a
> whole. An important difference between the two faiths in this respect is that
> while, among the existing religions, the Qur’án designates only Judaism,
> Christianity, and Islam itself as divinely inspired, Bahá’ís believe that all
> religions are integral parts of one divine plan:
> There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of
> whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly
> Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the
> ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying
> requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed.
> All of them, except a few which are the outcome of human perversity,
> were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. 10
> 
> There is yet another aspect of Islam which influenced the development of
> the new religion and which dictated Muslim reaction to it. Like Christianity
> before it, Islam gradually divided into a number of major sects. One of the
> most significant of these is the Shiah sect, which believes that it was
> Muhammad’s intention that his descendants inherit the spiritual and
> temporal leadership of the faithful. These chosen ones, called Imams, or
> “leaders,” were believed to be endowed with unqualified infallibility in the
> discharge of their related responsibilities. However, the great majority of
> Muslims rejected such claims, believing that the sunna—the “way” or mode
> of conduct attributed by tradition to the Prophet Muhammad—was a
> sufficient guide. Those who subscribed to this latter belief became known
> as Sunni. Although Sunni Muslims vastly outnumber the Shiah today, and
> are usually referred to by Western scholars as “orthodox” as opposed to the
> “heterodoxy” of the Shiah, Shiah Islam has a long and respected tradition, a
> tradition that only recently has become the object of serious study among a
> growing group of non-Muslim scholars.11
> 
> By A.D. 661, only twenty-nine years after Muhammad’s death, power in the
> Muslim world fell into the hands of the first of a series of dynastic rulers,
> theoretically elected by the faithful, but in fact representing the dominance
> of various powerful families. The first two of these Sunni dynasties, the
> Umayyads and the Abbasids, saw the Imams as a challenge to their own
> legitimacy. Consequently, according to Shiah accounts, one Imam after
> another was put to death, beginning with Ḥasan and Ḥusayn, grandsons of
> Muhammad. These Imams, or descendants of the Prophet, came in time to
> be regarded by Shiah Islam as saints and martyrs.
> 
> Although Shiah Islam began among the Arabs, it reached its greatest
> influence in Persia. From the beginning, the Persian converts to Islam were
> attracted by the idea of the Imam as a divinely appointed leader. Unlike the
> Arabs, the Persians possessed a long heritage of government by a divinely
> appointed monarch, and the devotion that gathered around this figure in
> time came to focus on the person of the Prophet’s descendants and
> appointed successors.12 After centuries of oppression by Sunni caliphs, the
> tradition of the Imamate eventually triumphed in Persia through the rise in
> the sixteenth century of a strongly Shiah dynasty, the Safavids.
> 
> By this time, however, the line of Imams had ended. One of the features of
> Iranian Shiah tradition is that, in the year 873, the twelfth and last appointed
> Imam—only a child at the time—withdrew into “concealment” in order to
> escape the fate of his predecessors. It is believed that he will emerge “at the
> time of the end” to usher in a reign of justice throughout the world. This
> eschatological tradition (doctrine of “last things”) has much in common
> with the Christian expectation of the return of Christ and Mahayana
> Buddhism’s promise of the advent of Maitreya Buddha, “the Buddha of
> universal righteousness.” Among other titles Muslims have assigned to this
> promised deliverer, the “Hidden Imam,” are Mahdi (the Guided One) and
> Qá’im (He Who Will Arise–i.e., from the family of the Prophet).
> 
> For a period of sixty-nine years following his disappearance, the twelfth or
> Hidden Imam was said to have communicated with his followers through a
> series of deputies. These intermediaries took the title báb (gate), because
> they were the only way to the Hidden Imam. There had been four bábs up to
> the year 941, when the fourth one died without naming a successor.
> The refusal of either the Imam or the final báb to name a successor implied
> that the matter was to be left by the faithful entirely in the hands of God. In
> time, a messenger or messengers of God would appear, one of whom would
> be the Imam Mahdi, or Qá’im, and who would again provide a direct
> channel for the Divine Will to human affairs. It was out of this tradition that
> the Bahá’í religion and its forerunner, the Bábí Faith, appeared in the mid-
> nineteenth century.
> 2. The Bábí Faith
> 
> The early nineteenth century was a period of messianic expectation in the
> Islamic world as well as in the Christian world. In Persia, two influential
> theologians, Shaykh Aḥmad-i-Aḥsá’í and his disciple and successor, Siyyid
> Káẓim-i-Rashtí, taught a doctrine that departed radically from orthodox
> Shiah belief. In addition to interpreting the Qur’án in an allegorical rather
> than a literal manner, the “Shaykhís,” as their followers were known,
> proclaimed that the return of the Imam Mahdi, the appointed deliverer and
> successor of Muhammad, was imminent.13 Their teachings attracted
> widespread interest and aroused an air of expectancy reminiscent of
> contemporary Christian groups like the Millerites14 in Europe and America,
> which at the same time were eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus Christ.
> 
> Before Siyyid Káẓim died in 1843, he urged his disciples to scatter in
> search of the Promised One who would shortly be revealed. He pointed out
> that the year, according to the Islamic calendar, was 1260 A.H., or exactly
> one thousand lunar years since the disappearance of the Hidden Imam.
> For one of the leading Shaykhís, a man called Mullá Ḥusayn, the search
> ended abruptly in the city of Shiraz on the evening of May 23, 1844, when
> he encountered a young man named Siyyid (a title referring to the
> descendants of Muhammad) ‘Alí-Muḥammad, who announced that he was
> the Promised One whom the Shaykhís were seeking. The claim was set
> forth in a lengthy document titled Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’, which the young
> Siyyid began that same night, and which became the foundation stone of the
> Bábí Faith. The document identifies its author as a Messenger of God, in
> the line of Jesus, Muhammad, and those who had preceded them. In
> subsequent statements, Siyyid ‘Alí-Muḥammad also referred to himself by
> the traditional Muslim title “Báb” (Gate), although it was apparent from the
> context that he intended by this term a spiritual claim very different from
> any which had previously been associated with it.15
> 
> The charm and force of the Báb’s personality, together with his
> extraordinary capacity to reveal the meaning of the most abstruse passages
> in the Qur’án, prompted Mullá Ḥusayn to declare his faith.16 He became the
> first believer of the Bábí Faith. Within a few weeks, seventeen other seekers
> accepted the Báb’s claim to be the promised messenger. He appointed these
> first eighteen believers as the “Letters of the Living” and dispatched them
> throughout Persia to announce that the Day of God heralded in the Qur’án
> and all earlier religious scriptures had dawned.
> 
> Siyyid ‘Ali-Muhammad, who became known to history as the Báb, was
> born in Shiraz on October 20, 1819, to a family of merchants.17 Both his
> father and his mother were descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. The
> Báb’s father died while his son was still a child and the Báb was raised by a
> maternal uncle, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí, who in later years became one of
> the Báb’s most devoted followers and one of the early martyrs of the new
> faith. All surviving accounts agree that the Báb was an extraordinary child.
> Although he received only elementary training in reading and writing, as
> was customary for the minority of Persian children who received any
> education at all, he exhibited an innate wisdom that astonished both his
> teacher and other adults with whom he came in contact. To these qualities
> of mind was added a profoundly spiritual nature. Even as a young boy he
> spent long periods in meditation and prayer. On one occasion, when his
> teacher protested that such lengthy devotions were not required of a child,
> the Báb is reported to have said that he had been in the house of his
> “Grandfather,” whom he was trying to emulate. The reference was to the
> Prophet Muhammad, who was occasionally spoken of in this fashion by
> those who could claim direct descent from him.
> The Báb left school sometime before his thirteenth birthday, and at fifteen
> years of age he joined his uncle in the family business in Shiraz. Shortly
> thereafter he was sent to take over the management of the family trading
> house in Búshihr. While pursuing a business career that won him a
> reputation for integrity and ability, he continued his meditations, some of
> which he wrote down. In the spring of 1841, he left Búshihr to undertake a
> series of extended visits to various Muslim holy cities associated with the
> shrines of the martyred Imams. During his visit to Karbilá, the Báb met
> Siyyid Káẓim, who greeted him with a reverence and enthusiasm which the
> Siyyid did not choose to explain to others, and which greatly surprised his
> students. The Báb stayed briefly with the group around Siyyid Káẓim and
> then returned to Iran where he married Khadíjih, the daughter of another
> merchant family, to whom he was distantly related. Less than two years
> later, his declaration to Mullá Ḥusayn in Shiraz took place.
> 
> The next step was publicly to proclaim the new faith. This began with a
> visit by the Báb to the center of pilgrimage for the Muslim world, the twin
> cities of Mecca and Medina in Arabia. On Friday, December 20, 1844,
> standing with his hand on the door-ring of the Kaaba, the holiest shrine in
> all the Islamic world, the Báb publicly declared: “I am that Qá’im Whose
> advent you have been awaiting.” He also addressed a special “tablet,” or
> letter, to the Sharíf of Mecca, guardian of the shrines, in which he made the
> same claim. On neither occasion, although he was treated with respect, was
> any serious attention given to his claims by the authorities of Sunni Islam.
> Undeterred, the Báb set sail for Persia, where the teaching activities of the
> Letters of the Living were beginning to raise a storm of excitement among
> both the clergy and the general public.
> 
> To the Shiah Muslim clergy, the claims made by the Báb were not merely
> heretical, but a threat to the foundations of Islam. Orthodox Islam holds that
> Muhammad was the “Seal of the Prophets” and thus the bearer of God’s
> final revelation to humankind until the “Day of Judgment.” Only Islam has
> remained pure and undiminished because its repository, the Qur’án,
> represents the authentic words uttered by the Prophet himself. From this
> baseline, Muslim theology had gone on to assert that Islam contains all that
> humanity will ever need until the Day of Judgment and that no further
> revelation of the divine purpose could or would occur.
> 
> The Báb’s declaration of his mission was, therefore, a challenge to the
> central pillar of this theological system. For the Shiah, the dominant branch
> of Islam in Persia, the challenge was especially acute. Over the centuries,
> Shiah dogma had accorded unlimited authority over all human affairs to the
> person of the “Hidden Imam,” whose advent was to signal the Judgment
> Day. Indeed, it had been argued that the shahs themselves reigned merely as
> the Imam’s trustees. Accordingly, throughout Persia, mullas arose in violent
> opposition to the Báb almost as soon as they heard his claim. This
> opposition was greatly intensified by the Báb’s denunciation of the
> prevailing ignorance and degeneracy of the clergy, which he saw as the
> principal obstacle to the progress of the Persian people.
> 
> The mullas’ opposition went far beyond denunciations from the pulpit. In
> nineteenth-century Persia the Shiah clergy represented a system of power
> and authority parallel to that of the shah. Much of daily life was regulated
> by Islamic religious law under the jurisdiction of mujtahids or doctors of
> theology. In theory, the judgments of these ecclesiastical courts depended
> on the support of the secular government for their enforcement. In practice,
> the Shiah clergy had resources of their own by which they could compel
> submission to their decrees. A leading modern authority on the subject
> describes the conditions prevailing in Persia at the time the Báb announced
> his mission:
> 
> Throughout most of the Qájár period, we encounter cases of mujtahids,
> particularly in Isfahan and Tabriz, surrounded by what can only be
> called private armies. Initially they consisted more of straightforward
> brigands (lúṭí’s) than of mullas. The lúṭís, who originally formed
> chivalrous brotherhoods similar to those of their counterparts, the fatí’s
> in Anatolia and the Arab lands, acted to support clerical power by
> defying the state and by enforcing fatvás. In return they were permitted
> to engage in plunder and robbery, taking sanctuary, when threatened
> with pursuit, in the refuge known as bast which mosques and
> residences of the ‘ulamá provided.18
> 
> These private armies served as the spearhead of an even more powerful
> resource available to the mullas. By declaring an enemy to be an infidel, the
> clergy could arouse mobs of the fanatical and largely ignorant population of
> towns and villages to stream into the streets in defense of what was
> regarded as the one true faith. Not only heterodox groups, but even the state
> itself had frequently felt the power of this clerical weapon.
> 
> Despite the growing threat from this source, the period from 1845 to 1847
> witnessed a great expansion in the number of people who declared
> themselves to be “Bábís,” or followers of the Báb. Indeed, this number
> included many people drawn from the clergy. One of the new believers was
> a brilliant and extremely influential theologian named Siyyid Yaḥyáy-i-
> Dárábí, later given the name “Vaḥíd” (Unique). The Báb had been placed
> under house arrest by the governor of Shiraz at the instigation of the
> Muslim clergy in the area. Vaḥíd had been sent to interrogate him on behalf
> of Muhammad Shah, the ruler of Persia, who had heard rumors of the new
> movement and wished to secure reliable firsthand information. Not
> surprisingly, upon learning of Vaḥíd’s conversion, the shah sent orders that
> the Báb be brought immediately to the capital—Tehran—under escort, but
> treated as an honored guest. The Báb had earlier indicated his own desire to
> meet the ruler and fully explain his mission.
> 
> Unfortunately, the plan miscarried. Muhammad Shah was a weak and
> vacillating man, already experiencing the later stages of an illness that
> would kill him within the year. Moreover, he was completely dominated by
> his prime minister, Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí, one of the most bizarre figures in
> Iranian history.19 The prime minister had been the shah’s childhood tutor
> and was implicitly trusted by him. Fearing that his own influence might be
> fatally undermined should the shah meet the Báb, the prime minister
> ordered that the Báb be taken in great secrecy to the fortress of Máh-Kú, in
> the northern province of Ádhirbayján, on the Russian frontier. The excuse
> given to the shah was that the Báb’s arrival in the capital might produce a
> confrontation between his followers and those of the orthodox clergy, and
> could possibly lead to public disorder of the kind which was common to
> this period.20
> 
> However, the prime minister, who came from Ádhirbayján, almost certainly
> chose that area because he hoped that its wild Kurdish mountain people
> would be totally unsympathetic to the Báb and his message. To his chagrin,
> the contrary proved true. The new faith spread even to Ádhirbayján, and the
> governor and other officials of the fortress of Máh-Kú were disarmed by the
> captivating sincerity of their prisoner. In a final effort to contain what he
> saw to be a mounting threat, Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí had the Báb transferred from
> Máh-Kú to the equally remote castle of Chihríq. The same process was
> repeated and the Kurdish chieftain in charge of the fortress, Yaḥyá Khan,
> became another of the Báb’s devoted admirers.
> 
> Realizing that the shah was about to die and fearing the antagonisms which
> his own misrule had aroused among influential groups in Persia, Ḥájí Mírzá
> Áqásí attempted to ingratiate himself with the powerful Muslim clergy who
> were bitterly opposed to the Báb and who had urged a formal condemnation
> of the new movement. At their urging, the prime minister ordered that the
> Báb be taken to the city of Tabriz and tried before a panel of leading
> ecclesiastics.
> 
> The trial took place in the summer of 1848 and by all accounts proved a
> farcical event. Its only purpose, it was clear, was to humiliate the prisoner.21
> The meeting ended with a decision to inflict corporal punishment on the
> Báb, and he was subsequently subjected to the bastinado.22 The resulting
> injuries had an unexpected result: they put the Báb in contact with the only
> Westerner who has left an account of meeting him. During the course of the
> infliction of the bastinado, one of the mullas struck the Báb across the face,
> and an English physician, Dr. William Cormick, was asked to provide
> treatment. The following is his account:
> 
> [The Báb] was a very mild and delicate-looking man, rather small in
> stature and very fair for a Persian, with a melodious soft voice, which
> struck me much.... In fact his whole look and deportment went far to
> dispose one in his favour. Of his doctrine I heard nothing from his own
> lips, although the idea was that there existed in his religion a certain
> approach to Christianity. . . . Most assuredly the Musselman [sic]
> fanaticism does not exist in his religion, as applied to Christians, nor is
> there that restraint of females that now exists [in Islam].23
> 
> While the Báb was being held in prison his followers were experiencing
> growing attacks from mobs instigated by the Shiah mullas. This raised for
> them the question of self-defense. Islam, unlike Christianity, contains a
> much-misunderstood doctrine of jihád (holy war), which permits the
> conversion of pagan populations by force of arms. It also allows Muslims to
> defend themselves when attacked, but forbids any form of aggressive
> warfare and the forced conversion of other “Peoples of the Book” (i.e.,
> followers of another revealed religion, generally interpreted as Jews and
> Christians).24 Raised in this Muslim value system, the Bábís felt fully
> justified in defending themselves and their families against the attacks of
> the mullas. Some may even have expected that the Báb would reveal his
> own doctrine of jihád.
> 
> If so, they were disappointed. In the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’ the Báb reviewed in
> detail the basic principles of the Quranic concept of jihád and called on his
> followers to observe this governing order of the society in which they lived.
> The Báb made any form of aggressive jihád contingent upon his own
> approval, an approval which was not given despite the increasingly violent
> character of the conflict with the Shiah clergy.
> 
> These restrictions proved to be the first step in the gradual dismantling of a
> concept which had been one of the fundamental doctrines of the Islamic
> religion. When the Bayán (the Exposition), the book containing the laws of
> the Báb’s faith, was subsequently revealed, no jihád doctrine was included.
> The Bábís were thus left free to defend themselves if attacked, but were
> precluded from proclaiming the Bábí dispensation through the use of the
> sword, as the Prophet Muhammad had permitted his followers to do under
> the barbaric conditions prevailing in pre-Islamic Arabia. The protection and
> ultimate triumph of his faith, the Báb said, were in the hands of God.
> While the Báb was undergoing imprisonment and trial in northern Iran, his
> following continued to grow in other parts of the country. At about the time
> of his public declaration at Tabriz, a large group of leading Bábís met in the
> village of Badasht. This conference proved of great significance to the
> development of the Bábí Faith. One of the most prominent Bábís present
> was an extraordinary woman named Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, known to Bahá’í
> history as Ṭáhirih (the Pure One).
> 
> Born into a family of scholars and theologians, Ṭáhirih had become
> recognized as one of the most gifted poets of Persia. To appreciate the
> magnitude of this achievement, it is necessary to consider how secluded and
> restricted Muslim women of this period were. Through the influence of an
> uncle and a cousin who had become disciples of Shaykh Aḥmad, Ṭáhirih
> came in contact with some of the early Bábís. Although she never met the
> Báb, she corresponded with him, declared her faith, and was named by him
> one of the Letters of the Living.
> 
> One of the primary reasons for holding the Badasht conference was to
> decide on what steps might be taken to free the Báb from the castle of
> Chihríq. However, the gathering was unexpectedly electrified by a daring
> exposition by Ṭáhirih of some of the implications of the Báb’s message.
> Some of the Bábís may have regarded the founder of their faith as a
> religious reformer; others may have been confused by traditional
> connotations of the term báb. Ṭáhirih explicitly clarified the implications of
> the Báb’s own statements about his mission, uttered first on the night he had
> declared himself to Mullá Ḥusayn: he was the long-awaited Imam Mahdi,
> he who was to arise from the house of Muhammad. Thus he was a
> messenger of God, the founder of a new and independent religious
> dispensation. Just as early Christians had to free themselves from the laws
> and ordinances of the Torah, so were the Bábís called upon to free
> themselves from the requirements of the Islamic Sharí‘ah (canon law). New
> social teachings had been revealed by the Báb, and it was these to which
> Bábís should look for guidance.
> 
> To dramatize this exposition, Ṭáhirih appeared at one of the sessions of the
> conference without the veil required by Muslim tradition. Her action, and
> others like it, proved a severe test of faith for many of the more
> conservative Bábís and further aroused the antagonism of orthodox
> Muslims. Wild stories that the Bábís were atheists who believed in sexual
> promiscuity and community of property were eagerly spread by mullas
> determined to portray the movement as the enemy of both decency and
> public order.25
> The situation was made even more unstable in September 1848, when
> Muhammad Shah finally succumbed to his many illnesses. His death
> precipitated the usual period of political upheaval while the question of the
> succession was being settled.26 Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí was overthrown by his
> political enemies, and the mullas took advantage of the ensuing disorder to
> intensify their campaign for eradication of the Bábí heresy.
> 
> In the province of Mázindarán, a group of some three hundred Bábís, under
> the leadership of Mullá Ḥusayn and the Báb’s leading disciple, a young man
> named Quddús (who had accompanied the Báb on the Báb’s pilgrimage to
> Mecca), found themselves besieged in a small fortress which they had
> hastily erected at the isolated shrine dedicated to a Muslim saint, Shaykh
> Ṭabarsí. They had enthusiastically swept through the province proclaiming
> that the promised Qá’im had appeared, and called on all who heard them to
> arise and follow. The local Shiah clergy had denounced them as heretics and
> aroused the population of several villages to attack them. No sooner were
> the Bábís penned up behind the palisade they had put together at Shaykh
> Ṭabarsí than the mullas accused them of responsibility for the civil disorder
> which the clergy’s own fulminations against heresy and apostasy had
> aroused. In the highly charged atmosphere surrounding the struggle for
> power among Muhammad Shah’s heirs, this reckless new accusation served
> as a spark to gunpowder. Mírzá Taqí Khán, a man of great ability, but
> ruthless and intensely suspicious, had replaced Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí as grand
> vizier. Deciding that the Bábí movement must be crushed, the new vizier
> dispatched an armed force to support the efforts of the mullas and their
> partisans.
> 
> The siege at Shaykh Ṭabarsí turned, however, into an occasion of
> humiliation for the opponents of the Bábís. Over the following year, one
> army after another, numbering finally thousands of men, was sent to
> overcome the few hundred defenders of the fort, and all in turn suffered
> decisive defeat. Eventually, the small garrison, which had already lost a
> large percentage of its members—including Mullá Ḥusayn—was enticed to
> surrender under a solemn promise, witnessed on a copy of the Qur’án, that
> they would be freed. However, no sooner did they leave the protection of
> the fortress than they were set upon by the besiegers. Many were killed
> outright, others were tortured to death, and the remainder were stripped of
> their possessions and sold into slavery. Quddús was given over into the
> hands of a leading ecclesiastic of the area who had him dragged through the
> streets, mutilated, and finally killed.
> 
> Similar events took place in two other major centers, Nayríz and Zanján. In
> both places, armed forces of the Qájár princes came to the support of mobs
> that had been stirred into a state of fanatic frenzy by the Shiah clergy, who
> were determined to exterminate all the followers of the new religion. In
> Nayríz, not even the fact that the Bábís were led by so prominent a figure as
> Vaḥíd succeeded in calming the rage of local authorities and the aroused
> and angry mob. Vaḥíd perished in the massacre that followed the capture of
> the small fort in which the beleaguered Bábís had taken refuge. At Zanján,
> as at Fort Shaykh Ṭabarsí, the surrender of the Bábí defenders was secured
> by false pledges of peace and friendship signed and sealed on a copy of the
> Qur’án, following which the prisoners were similarly massacred.
> 
> Despite some transparent attempts by various political and religious
> authorities to suppress or limit public knowledge of these three
> confrontations with the Bábís (Shaykh Ṭabarsí, Nayríz, and Zanján), there
> were survivors of each incident who were able to give eyewitness accounts
> of events. The written transcriptions of these firsthand narratives have
> formed the primary sources for the historical work written several years
> later by Nabíl-i-A‘ẓam.27
> 
> Scenes of violence occurred throughout the country. Advised by the mullas
> that the property of the “apostates” was forfeit, many local authorities
> joined in hunting down Bábís. Social position offered no protection. In the
> capital of Tehran, at about the time of the massacre of Zanján, seven
> prominent and highly respected leaders of the merchant and academic
> communities were publicly put to death with great cruelty when they
> refused to recant their newly proclaimed faith. It is indicative of the public
> fury which had been aroused that one of these murdered men, Mírzá
> Qurbán-‘Alí, regarded as a person of unusual saintliness, had served as
> spiritual mentor to the royal family as well as to several members of the
> government.28
> 
> Responsibility for the majority of these atrocities and those that were to
> follow must be attributed not only to the Shiah clergy, but also to the new
> prime minister, Mírzá Taqí Khán. The new ruler, Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh, was
> still a boy of sixteen; thus, once again, the monarch’s authority fell into the
> hands of a chief minister. Mírzá Taqí Khán had been head of the faction that
> had installed the new ruler after overcoming the partisans of two other heirs
> to the throne. Concluding that his own power as well as the general stability
> of the regime could be best assured by suppressing the Bábí movement, he
> had collaborated in the horrors of Fort Shaykh Ṭabarsí, Nayríz and Zanján,
> and also in the deaths of the “Seven Martyrs of Tehran,” as they became
> known. Now he determined to strike the movement at its heart.
> 
> While the siege of Zanján was still in progress, Mírzá Taqí Khán ordered
> the governor of Ádhirbayján to take the Báb to Tabriz and there conduct a
> public execution.29 Mírzá Taqí Khán had no personal authority to issue such
> an order, nor did he consult the other members of the government. Because
> of this, the governor of Ádhirbayján, who had come to respect his captive,
> refused Mírzá Taqí Khán’s order. The latter was therefore finally compelled
> to send his own brother, Mírzá Ḥasan Khán, to execute the task. The Báb
> was hastily taken to Tabriz, where the leading mujtahids were asked to
> decide the case as a matter of religious rather than civil law. As Mírzá Taqí
> Khán had anticipated, the clergy readily cooperated in signing a formal
> death warrant on a charge of heresy. On July 9, 1850, in the presence of a
> crowd of thousands who thronged rooftops and windows of a public square,
> arrangements were made to carry out the sentence. What followed was a
> most extraordinary event.
> 
> The Báb and one of his disciples were suspended by ropes against the wall
> of a military barracks, and a regiment of 750 Armenian Christian troops
> were drawn up to form a firing squad. The colonel of the regiment, a certain
> Sám Khán, was reluctant to carry out the order of execution, which he
> feared would bring down on his head the wrath of God. The Báb is reported
> to have given him the following assurance: “Follow your instructions, and if
> your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you of your
> perplexity.”30
> Many eyewitnesses testified to what followed.31 The regiment was drawn
> up and 750 rifles were discharged. The smoke from these muzzle-loading
> rifles shrouded the square in darkness. When the smoke cleared,
> incredulous onlookers saw the Báb’s companion standing unscathed beside
> the wall; the Báb had vanished from sight! The ropes by which the pair had
> hung had been severed by the bullets. A frenzied search ensued, and the
> Báb was found unhurt in the room he had occupied the night before. He was
> calmly engaged in completing his final instructions to his secretary.
> 
> The crowd was in a state of near pandemonium, and the Armenian regiment
> refused to take any further part in the proceedings. Mírzá Ḥasan Khán was
> faced with the real possibility that the fickle mob, which had first hailed the
> Báb and then denounced him, might view his deliverance as a sign from
> God and rise up in his support. A Muslim regiment was thus hastily
> assembled, the Báb and his companion were once again suspended from the
> wall, and a second volley was discharged. This time the bodies of the two
> prisoners were riddled with bullets. The last words of the Báb to the crowd
> were:
> 
> O wayward generation! Had you believed in Me every one of you
> would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank
> above most of you, and would have willingly sacrificed himself in My
> path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I
> shall have ceased to be with you.32
> 
> The extraordinary circumstances of the Báb’s death provided a focal point
> for a new wave of interest in his message. The story spread like wildfire,
> not only among the Persians, but also among the diplomats, merchants,
> military advisers, and journalists who made up the substantial European
> community in Persia at the time. The words of a French consular official, A.
> L. M. Nicolas, suggest the impact the drama in Persia made on educated
> Westerners:
> 
> This is one of the most magnificent examples of courage which
> mankind has ever been able to witness, and it is also an admirable
> proof of the love which our hero had for his fellow countrymen. He
> sacrificed himself for mankind; he gave for it his body and his soul, he
> suffered for it hardships, insults, indignities, torture and martyrdom. He
> sealed with his blood the pact of universal brotherhood, and like Jesus
> he gave his life in order to herald the reign of concord, justice and love
> for one’s fellow men.33
> 
> For the Bábí community, however, the effect of the Báb’s death, occurring
> so soon after the extermination of most of the faith’s leaders, including the
> majority of the Letters of the Living, was a devastating blow. It deprived the
> community of the leadership it needed, not only to endure the intensifying
> persecutions it was experiencing, but also to maintain the integrity of the
> standards of behavior taught by the Báb.
> 
> The Bábís had continuously emphasized that their sole concern was to
> proclaim the new spiritual and social teachings revealed by the Báb. At the
> same time, because their basic religious attitudes and ideas were built upon
> the foundations of their Islamic background, they believed they had every
> right to defend themselves and their families, provided they did not engage
> in aggression to secure their religious ends. Once the guiding hands of those
> who understood the Báb’s message were withdrawn by the brutal repression
> exercised by Mírzá Taqí Khán, it was predictable that volatile elements
> among the Bábís might prove unable to maintain the original discipline.
> 
> This proved to be the case when on August 15, 1852, two Bábí youths,
> obsessed by the sufferings they had witnessed and driven to despair by the
> attitude of the authorities, fired a pistol at the shah. The king escaped
> serious injury because the pistol was loaded only with birdshot, but the
> attempt on the monarch’s life triggered a new wave of persecutions on a
> scale far surpassing anything the country had yet witnessed. A reign of
> terror ensued.
> One account has been left by Captain Alfred von Goumöens, an Austrian
> military attaché in the shah’s employ. Horrified by the cruelties he was
> compelled to witness, he tendered his resignation and subsequently wrote in
> a letter published in a Viennese newspaper, the following:
> 
> Follow me, my friend, you who lay claim to a heart and European
> ethics, follow me to the unhappy ones who, with gouged-out eyes,
> must eat, on the scene of the deed, without any sauce, their own
> amputated ears; or whose teeth are torn out with inhuman violence by
> the hand of the executioner; or whose bare skulls are simply crushed
> by blows from a hammer; or where the bazaar is illuminated with
> unhappy victims, because on right and left the people dig deep holes in
> their breasts and shoulders, and insert burning wicks in the wounds. I
> saw some dragged in chains through the bazaar, preceded by a military
> band, in whom these wicks had burned so deep that now the fat
> flickered convulsively in the wound like a newly extinguished lamp.
> Not seldom it happens that the unwearying ingenuity of the Oriental
> leads to fresh tortures. They will skin the soles of the Bábí’s feet, soak
> the wounds in boiling oil, shoe the foot like the hoof of a horse, and
> compel the victim to run. No cry escaped from the victim’s breast; the
> torment is endured in dark silence by the numbed sensation of the
> fanatic; now he must run; the body cannot endure what the soul has
> endured; he falls. Give him the coup de grȃce! Put him out of his pain!
> No! The executioner swings the whip, and—I myself have had to
> witness it—the unhappy victim of hundredfold tortures runs! This is
> the beginning of the end. As for the end itself, they hang the scorched
> and perforated bodies by their hands and feet to a tree head
> downwards, and now every Persian may try his marksmanship to his
> heart’s content from a fixed but not too proximate distance on the
> noble quarry placed at his disposal. I saw corpses torn by nearly one
> hundred and fifty bullets.34
> 
> The most prominent victim of the new persecutions was the poetess Ṭáhirih,
> who for some time had been kept under house arrest. One of the features of
> the new age, which she proclaimed the revelation of the Báb would bring
> about, was the removal of the restrictions that kept women in a position of
> inferiority. Advised that she had been condemned to death, Ṭáhirih said to
> her jailer: “You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the
> emancipation of women.”35
> 
> Thus ended what Bahá’ís call “the Dispensation of the Báb,” the first phase
> of Bahá’í history. For a brief period, the whole of Persia had hovered on the
> brink of sweeping social change. Had the Báb entertained designs to seize
> political power, as his enemies imputed, few doubted that he could have
> established himself as master of the country. The extraordinary ability of his
> leading followers, the demonstrated susceptibility of the public to a new
> religious message, the demoralization and factionalism rife amongst both
> civil and ecclesiastical leadership, and the temporary period of civil
> disorder which accompanied the final illness and death of Muhammad
> Shah, combined to create a situation in which the Báb would have merely
> had to take advantage of the offers of help so urgently pressed upon him.
> 
> Late in 1846, the governor-general of Isfahan, Manúchihr Khán, one of the
> most powerful men in the kingdom, had offered the Báb the full resources
> of his army and vast wealth, urging a march on Tehran and confrontation
> with both the clergy and the shah. Such an action would have been entirely
> justified under Shiah belief. The fundamental principle underlying the
> Persian monarchy was that the shah served merely as a regent who held the
> kingdom in trust for the Imam Mahdi. Since the central claim of the Báb
> was that he was this long-awaited spiritual authority, and since some of the
> finest minds and spirits of the kingdom accepted him as such, fidelity to
> Shiah teaching would have required that Muhammad Shah and Náṣiri’d-Dín
> Sháh examine his claims with utmost respect and care. That they did not do
> so was the result only of the intervention of religious and political leaders,
> who feared that the Báb would threaten the authority which their positions
> conferred upon them.
> 
> By refusing to force the issue, even at the cost of his own life, the Báb gave
> conclusive evidence of the peaceable character of his mission and his
> complete reliance on the spiritual forces which he had said from the
> beginning were his sole support.
> 
> What were the teachings which provoked so violent a reaction and for
> which the Báb and so many thousands of others willingly gave their lives?
> The answer is far from simple. Because the Báb’s message related so
> specifically to the theological concerns of Shiah Islam, it is very difficult
> for Western minds to grasp many of the issues with which his writings deal.
> Indeed, an important reason for the success which the Báb experienced in
> converting distinguished theologians and a host of young seminarians was
> his apparently effortless mastery of the most abstruse and controversial
> questions of Islamic jurisprudence, prophecy, and belief.
> 
> It seemed to his hearers extraordinary that a young man, little versed in
> fields of learning which were the primary preoccupation of the Persian
> intellectual class, should so easily be able to confound venerable
> theologians who spent their lives at this study and established their public
> careers on it. Early historical accounts by Bábís draw extensively on the
> details of these elucidations and the effects which they produced on
> listeners. For the European or North American reader, these subjects often
> appear quite obscure.36
> 
> Despite this mastery, the Báb did not encourage the pursuit of such learning
> by the scholars, clergy, and seminarians who joined his cause. His reasons
> can perhaps best be appreciated by noting the assessment of Shiah
> theological studies expressed by the British orientalist Edward Granville
> Browne. Browne has described the treatises, commentaries, super-
> commentaries, and notes that passed for intellectual activity in nineteenth-
> century Persia as unreadable “rubbish,” whose very existence serious
> scholars “must deplore,” adding that his opinion was shared by leading
> thinkers in Islam:
> 
> Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Abduh late Grand Muftí of Egypt and Chancellor
> of the University of al-Azhar, than whom perhaps no more enlightened
> thinker and no more enthusiastic lover of the Arabic language and
> literature has been produced by Islam in modern times, used to say that
> all this stuff should be burned, since it merely cumbered book shelves,
> bred maggots and obscured sound knowledge. This was the view of a
> great and learned Muhammadan theologian, so we need not scruple to
> adopt it....37
> 
> These views had already been strongly expressed by the Báb. His principal
> book, the Bayán, envisioned a time when Persia’s accumulated legacy of
> misspent energy would be entirely destroyed and the intellectual capacities
> of its people liberated from superstition. He spoke of a coming age in which
> entirely new fields of scholarship and science would emerge and in which
> the knowledge of even young children would far surpass the learning
> current in his own time.38
> 
> Far more interesting than his extensive theological commentaries, therefore,
> was the Báb’s social message. Among the important differences between
> Islam and Christianity is the emphasis the former places on revelation as the
> guide to the detailed organization of society. The Qur’án envisioned the
> establishment of a fully Muslim society. Muhammad took the first step in
> this direction when he established the first Muslim state in the city of
> Medina. It is no doubt significant that, whereas the Christian calendar
> begins with the supposed date of the birth of Jesus, the Islamic calendar
> dates from the Hijrah and the establishment of the Muslim state in Medina.
> Far from rendering unto Caesar “the things that are Caesar’s,” Islamic
> teaching contains a wide range of moral instruction relating to the state’s
> administration of human affairs. Shiah Muslims fully expected that, when
> the Imam Mahdi appeared, he would not only open the way to salvation for
> the individual soul, but would reaffirm the concept of a “nation summoning
> mankind unto righteousness.”39
> 
> It is against this background that the Báb’s message must be understood.
> The minds and hearts of his hearers were locked in a mental world that had
> changed little from medieval times, except to become more obscurantist,
> isolated, and fatalistic.40 The Báb’s way of overcoming this problem was to
> create the concept of an entirely new society, one that retained a large
> measure of cultural and religious elements familiar to his hearers, but
> which, as events were to show, could arouse powerful new motivation. He
> called upon the shah and the people of Persia to follow him in the
> establishment of this society. During the brief period still left him, he
> elaborated a system of laws for the conduct of public affairs; for the
> maintenance of peace and public order; for the direction of economic
> activity; for such social institutions as marriage, divorce, and inheritance;
> and for the relationship between the Bábí state and other nations. Prayers,
> meditations, moral precepts, and prophetic guidance were revealed for the
> individual believer. These teachings have been described by a Bahá’í
> historian as intentionally “rigid, complex and severe.” Their aim was to
> effect a break with the believers’ Muslim frame of reference and to
> mobilize them for a unique role in human history.41
> 
> This role was the theme that runs through every chapter of the Bayán and
> for which the spiritual and social transformation of Persia was intended to
> serve as a prelude. The Báb proclaimed that the central purpose of his
> mission was to prepare for the coming of the universal Manifestation of
> God. The Báb referred to this promised deliverer as “He Whom God Will
> Make Manifest.” The Báb himself, although an independent messenger of
> God in the line of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, was the herald of the one
> whom all the religions of the world were awaiting. The term Báb had far
> greater implications in the new revelation than any it held in Islam; the Báb
> was the “gateway” to the Manifestation of God whose message would be
> carried throughout the world.
> 
> Passages of the Bayán and other writings of the Báb deal at length with this
> central subject. They make it clear that the Báb saw his religious
> dispensation as a purely transitional one. When the Promised One appeared,
> he would reveal the teachings for the coming age and would decide what, if
> any, part of the Bábí system was to be retained:
> A thousand perusals of the Bayán cannot equal the perusal of a single
> verse to be revealed by “Him Whom God shall make manifest.” ...
> Today the Bayán is in the stage of seed; at the beginning of the
> manifestation of “Him Whom God shall make manifest” its ultimate
> perfection will become apparent. ... The Bayán deriveth all its glory
> from “Him Whom God shall make manifest.”42
> 
> The Báb refused to state precisely when the Promised One would appear,
> but indicated that it would be very soon. Several of his followers were
> informed that they would see with their own eyes him whom God shall
> make manifest and have the privilege of serving him. The Bayán and other
> writings contain cryptic references to “the year nine” and “the year
> nineteen.” Moreover, the Báb categorically stated that no one could falsely
> claim to be he whom God shall make manifest, and succeed in such a
> pretension. The Bábís were warned not to oppose anyone who advanced
> such a claim, but rather to hold their peace so that God might accomplish
> his own will in the matter. To the faithful and distinguished Vaḥíd, for
> example, the Báb wrote:
> 
> By the righteousness of Him Whose power causeth the seed to
> germinate and Who breatheth the spirit of Life into all things, were I to
> be assured that in the day of His manifestation thou wilt deny Him, I
> would unhesitatingly disown thee and repudiate thy faith. . . . If, on the
> other hand, I be told that a Christian, who beareth no allegiance to My
> Faith, will believe in Him, the same will I regard as the apple of Mine
> Eye.”43
> 
> The Bábí state, therefore, had it come into existence, was to have served
> chiefly as a receptive agent for the message of the Promised One to come
> and for its rapid diffusion throughout the world. The martyrdoms of the Báb
> and the majority of his closest disciples, together with the massacre of
> several thousands of his followers, aborted this vision before it could be
> realized. Indeed, by 1852, the Báb’s mission appeared to have ended in
> failure, and his faith hovered on the verge of extinction.44
> 3. Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> Prominent among the handful of Bábí leaders who escaped the massacres of
> 1848-1853 was a nobleman named Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí.45 His family, from
> among Persia’s oldest landed gentry, held extensive estates in the area of
> Núr in the province of Mázindarán.46 Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Ali was one of the
> first of those to declare his faith in the Báb, in 1844, when Mullá Ḥusayn
> delivered a message from the Báb at the family’s mansion in Tehran. From
> Mullá Ḥusayn’s account of the incident, it is clear that he had sought out
> Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Ali on special instructions from the Báb. Indeed, the Báb
> delayed a long-planned pilgrimage to Mecca, where he publicly announced
> his mission for the first time, until he received Mullá Ḥusayn’s letter
> advising him of the outcome of his visit to Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Ali. Four
> brothers of the convert followed him into the new faith, including a younger
> half-brother named Mírzá Yaḥyá. Since the vast majority of the Báb’s
> followers were drawn from the ecclesiastical, merchant, and peasant
> classes, the conversion of members of an influential family from the
> governing caste was a significant development.
> For the first three to four years, the social position of Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Ali,
> who became an active teacher of the new faith, shielded him to some extent
> from the physical attacks his coreligionists were experiencing. His
> activities were also protected by a reputation for personal integrity highly
> unusual in government circles of his day, where bribery was a national
> institution and all advancement depended upon it. For several generations,
> members of his family had held positions of considerable political
> influence. His father, Mírzá ‘Abbás, had been chief minister for the
> province of Mázindarán. Born on November 12, 1817, Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Ali
> was only twenty-two at the time of his father’s death in 1839, but had
> nonetheless been offered his father’s post in the government. To the
> astonishment of his family and associates, he declined this lucrative
> appointment. Instead, for the next several years he devoted his efforts to
> management of the family’s estates, raising and training the younger
> members of the family, and to a wide range of charities, which earned him
> the popular title of “Father of the Poor” from the people of the region.
> 
> Upon becoming a follower of the Báb at the age of twenty-seven, Mírzá
> Ḥusayn ‘Ali threw himself energetically into the affairs of the young faith,
> which was beginning to experience the first tremors of the persecutions that
> were to follow. He traveled widely, was responsible for the conversion of a
> significant number of people of ability, including some of his own relatives,
> and provided financial support for much of the Bábí teaching activity in
> various parts of the country.
> 
> Very early after his declaration of faith, Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Ali entered into a
> correspondence with the Báb, which lasted until the Báb’s execution in
> 1850. Through this correspondence and through intimate association with
> such leading Bábís as Vaḥíd, Quddús, Mullá Ḥusayn, and Ṭáhirih, he was
> increasingly looked to by his fellow believers as a guide in their
> understanding of their faith’s teachings. Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Ali’s influence as a
> Bábí leader culminated with the conference of Badasht in 1848, which he
> personally organized and indirectly guided. The conference dramatically
> revealed the revolutionary scope of the Báb’s teachings.47
> 
> A second occurrence that took place at Badasht would also have far-
> reaching significance. In recognition of the new Day of God that had
> dawned, Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí conferred upon each of the eighty-one
> participants a new name related to that individual’s particular spiritual
> qualities. It was at Badasht that the great poetess of Qazvín, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn,
> was given the name Ṭáhirih (the Pure One), an act which silenced those
> who objected to her appearing in the meeting unveiled. For himself, Mírzá
> Ḥusayn ‘Alí chose the title Bahá (Splendor, or Glory). Shortly after the
> conference ended, his authority to confer such designations was endorsed
> when the Báb wrote a series of letters to the Badasht participants, in which
> he formally addressed each by the name given by Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí at the
> conference. To Bahá, the Báb sent an extraordinary document penned by his
> own hand in the form of a star. It contained over three hundred brief verses,
> all consisting of derivatives of the word “Bahá,” including the title
> Bahá’u’lláh, “Glory of God.”
> 
> The art of calligraphy was a particularly prized cultural attainment of
> Persian men of letters, and the manuscript in question was regarded as a
> masterpiece which no trained calligraphist could equal—“so fine and
> intricate,” in the words of one writer, “that viewed at a distance, the writing
> appeared as a single wash of ink on the paper.”48 It was by the name
> Bahá’u’lláh that Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí became known to his Bábí associates
> and to history.
> 
> New waves of violence were aroused as a result of the conference at
> Badasht, and its aftermath created a situation in which no member of the
> new faith was immune from attack. When Bahá’u’lláh intervened to protect
> Ṭáhirih and some of her companions who had been arrested following the
> conference, he was himself imprisoned and bastinadoed. He suffered the
> same abuse some time later, when he was again arrested while en route to
> meet Quddús and Mullá Ḥusayn at Shaykh Ṭabarsí. While at liberty, he
> made repeated efforts to convince friends and relatives in positions of
> authority (who remonstrated with him concerning his activities) that the
> Bábís were both peaceful and law-abiding. He warned these officials that if
> the government did not carry out its responsibility to check the persecutions
> the clergy were inciting, the kingdom would find itself thrown into mass
> violence and public disorder.
> 
> The warning proved all too accurate with the attempt on the life of the shah
> by two young Bábís in the summer of 1852. Along with other prominent
> Bábís, Bahá’u’lláh was arrested, taken to Tehran, and incarcerated in a
> notorious prison known as the “Síyáh-Chál” (Black Pit). It is described as
> “a subterranean dungeon in Tehran—an abominable pit that had once
> served as a reservoir of water for one of the public baths of the city.”49
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh spent four months in the Síyáh-Chál, during which time the
> anti-Bábí conflagration raged throughout Persia. The prisoners in the Síyáh-
> Chál lived under threat of imminent death. Each day the executioners would
> descend the steps, select a victim, and conduct him to execution. Several of
> the condemned were murdered on the spot. In some instances, a hammer
> and peg were used to drive a heavy wooden gag down the throat of the
> victim, whose body might then be left lying for hours or days, chained to
> those still alive.
> 
> One of the victims from the Síyáh-Chál, whose stories have become
> immortalized in Bahá’í history, was a young man named Sulaymán Khán, a
> former cavalier in the imperial army. Fearing no danger, Sulaymán Khán
> had already risked his life to recover the remains of the Báb, which had
> been left on the edge of a moat following his execution in Tabriz. When his
> own turn came to die, the executioners dug a number of holes in Sulaymán
> Khán’s body with sharp knives and inserted in each a lighted candle. In this
> manner he was led through the streets to his death. Persian culture prized
> nothing so highly as style, and it is a testimony to the combination of
> spiritual exaltation and a sense of drama that Sulaymán Khán strode
> through the streets of the capital, smiling at acquaintances and reciting
> passages from the great Persian classical poets. When asked why, if he was
> so happy, did he not dance, he obliged his tormentors by twirling slowly
> through the stately movements of a dance created by the Mawlaví
> mystics.50
> 
> Such dramatic displays in death exercised an irresistible attraction on the
> imaginations of Western scholars and artists. People as different as the
> Comte de Gobineau, Sarah Bernhardt, Leo Tolstoy, and Ernest Renan were
> captivated by the tragic history of the youthful Báb and his band of heroes.
> Edward Browne first encountered the story in the writings of the Comte de
> Gobineau and subsequently devoted a large part of his life to a study of the
> Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths. Browne described the young martyrs in this way:
> 
> It is the lives and deaths of these, their hope which knows no despair,
> their love which knows no cooling, their steadfastness which knows no
> wavering, which stamp this wonderful movement with a character
> entirely on its own. For whatever may be the merits or demerits of the
> doctrines for which these scores and hundreds of our fellow-men died,
> they have at least found something which made them ready to
> 
> “leave all things under the sky,
> And go forth naked under sun and rain,
> And work and wait and watch out all their years.”
> 
> It is not a small or easy thing to endure what these have endured, and
> surely what they deemed worth life itself is worth trying to understand.
> I say nothing of the mighty influence which, as I believe, the Bábí faith
> will exert in the future, nor of the new life it may perchance breathe
> into a dead people; for, whether it succeed or fail, the splendid heroism
> of the Bábí martyrs is a thing eternal and indestructible....
> But what I cannot hope to have conveyed to you is the terrible
> earnestness of these men, and the indescribable influence which this
> earnestness, combined with other qualities, exerts on anyone who has
> actually been brought into contact with them. That you must take my
> word for....51
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh miraculously survived this worst of the successive waves of
> persecution. The civil authorities were loath to release him because they
> were aware of the influential role he played in the Bábí community. Yet,
> because of his family’s social position and a personal intervention by the
> Russian ambassador, Prince Dolgorukov, it would have been extremely
> unwise to have executed him without a trial. A trial was impossible. The
> would-be assassin of the shah had confessed at his own arraignment, in the
> presence of a representative sent by the Russian government, and had
> completely exonerated the Bábí leaders, including Bahá’u’lláh, of
> complicity in his act.52
> 
> The new prime minister, a relative of Bahá’u’lláh, was eventually able,
> therefore, to persuade the members of the royal family who wished to
> execute their prisoner that it would be preferable to banish him from
> Persia.53 The banishment was pronounced, but not before Bahá’u’lláh’s
> properties had been confiscated by the shah, his mansion in Tehran looted,
> his country home razed to the ground, and the works of art and manuscripts
> he owned had found their way into the hands of Persian government
> officials (including the prime minister himself).
> 
> In this state, despoiled of his possessions, weakened and permanently
> scarred by the physical abuse he had experienced in the Síyáh-Chál,
> Bahá’u’lláh was exiled from his native land without trial and without
> recourse. Those who saw him were astonished that so devastating an
> experience appeared rather to have left him with renewed assurance and
> power. In fact, it was there, in the dark pit of the Síyáh-Chál, that the most
> significant event in Bábí and Bahá’í history had occurred. It was there that
> Bahá’u’lláh received the mantle of “Him Whom God Will Make Manifest.”
> Bahá’u’lláh described the experience in the dungeon of the prison which
> conveyed to him the first intimation of his mission:
> 
> One night in a dream, these exalted words were heard on every side:
> “Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy pen.
> Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou
> afraid, for Thou art in safety. Ere long will God raise up the treasures
> of the earth-men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy
> Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have
> recognized Him.” ... During the days I lay in the prison of Ṭihrán,
> though the galling weight of the chain and the stench-filled air allowed
> Me but little sleep, still in those infrequent moments of slumber I felt
> as if something flowed from the crown of My head over My breast,
> even as a mighty torrent that precipitateth itself upon the earth from the
> summit of a lofty mountain. Every limb of My body would, as a result,
> be set afire. At such moments My tongue recited what no man could
> bear to hear.54
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh was thus the object of the Báb’s revelation and the center of
> truth for those who had followed him. There is considerable evidence that
> the Báb had, from the beginning, regarded Bahá’u’lláh as the one for whom
> he himself had come to prepare the way. He had strongly intimated this to a
> few of his closest disciples, and stated in a remarkable passage in the
> Bayán:
> 
> Well is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> and rendereth thanks unto his Lord! For he will assuredly be made
> manifest. God hath indeed irrevocably ordained it in the Bayán.55
> 
> After four months of confinement in the Síyáh-Chál, Bahá’u’lláh was
> released in the same arbitrary fashion in which he had originally been
> confined and was informed that, by a formal decree of the shah, he was to
> be sent into exile with his family and any who wished to accompany him. It
> is significant that he did not choose this occasion to announce his mission to
> his followers. Offered a refuge in Russia, he instead chose as his place of
> exile the city of Baghdad in what is now Iraq, then a province of the
> neighboring Ottoman Turkish Empire. Gradually, over the next three years,
> a small colony of Bábís gathered around him as well as the members of his
> family who accompanied him into exile. One of these was his younger half-
> brother, Mírzá Yaḥyá, who fled Persia in disguise and joined the family
> shortly after their arrival in Iraq in 1853. It was from this unexpected source
> that a new form of hardship and opposition arose.
> 
> The story of Mírzá Yaḥyá is at once intriguing and pathetic. Yaḥyá’s
> activities posed a grave threat to Bahá’u’lláh’s mission, and the effects have
> continued to provide fuel for attacks on the Bahá’í community to the
> present day.
> 
> Mírzá Yaḥyá was thirteen years younger than Bahá’u’lláh, and his
> education was largely supervised by the latter. Being a talented
> calligraphist, he served for a time as Bahá’u’lláh’s personal secretary. He
> was described by those who knew him as a timorous and impressionable
> individual, easily swayed by stronger personalities. He eagerly followed his
> brother into the Bábí Faith and even accompanied him on some of his early
> travels on its behalf.
> 
> Mírzá Yaḥyá, amiable by nature, was respected by the Bábí community
> because of this close relationship to Bahá’u’lláh and also because of his
> family’s social position. At about the time of the conference at Badasht, the
> Báb, after consultation with Bahá’u’lláh and another leading Bábí, wrote a
> statement nominating Yaḥyá as the titular head of the Bábí community in
> the event of the Báb’s death. In retrospect, it is apparent that the aim of the
> nomination was to create a channel though which Bahá’u’lláh could
> continue to guide the affairs of the new faith, while avoiding the risk of
> adding a formal designation to the personal prominence he had gained.56
> Yaḥyá, at the time of the nominal appointment, was in little personal danger,
> as he remained for the most part in seclusion on family estates in the north
> and fled when the troubles reached that area.57
> 
> Hardly had the group of exiles settled in Iraq, however, than Yaḥyá
> succumbed to a proposal urged on him by a persuasive personality, a
> student of Muslim theology named Siyyid Muḥammad. Siyyid Muḥammad,
> who appears to have wanted to make himself a doctrinal authority in the
> Bábí community, urged Yaḥyá to throw off his brother’s tutelage and
> assume the leadership of the Bábí religion for himself.58 Yaḥyá wavered for
> a period of time; but, encouraged by Siyyid Muḥammad, he eventually
> separated himself from Bahá’u’lláh and claimed the powers and
> prerogatives of a successor to the martyred Báb.
> 
> The response of Bahá’u’lláh to Yaḥyá’s action provides an illuminating
> insight into his character. Rather than enter into a dispute that would
> endanger the unity and survival of the already demoralized Bábí
> community, Bahá’u’lláh left without warning for the mountains near
> Sulaymáníyyih in neighboring Kurdistán. For nearly two years he remained
> totally out of touch with the Bábí community. This self-imposed exile in the
> wilderness of Kurdistán is reminiscent of similar periods in the lives of the
> founders of other great religions. As later became apparent, it was a time of
> great creativity for him. His mission began to take definite form in his
> mind, and to be articulated in meditations, prayers, and poems, which he
> composed during the months of isolation. A few of these early intimations
> of his message to the world have survived in the original Persian.
> 
> While Bahá’u’lláh was in Sulaymáníyyih, the affairs of the Bábí religion
> were left entirely in the hands of Yaḥyá, who was assisted by his new
> mentor, Siyyid Muḥammad. The result was near anarchy in the small
> community of Bábí exiles. Within less than twenty-four months, nearly a
> score of desperate souls advanced various claims of their own in attempts to
> usurp the unstable leadership, and Mírzá Yaḥyá withdrew into seclusion,
> leaving Siyyid Muḥammad to settle the theological questions that arose as
> best he could. The would-be leader had demonstrated his incapacity for the
> position he had sought so vigorously. The lesson was not lost on the
> majority of his fellow Bábís.
> 
> As conditions rapidly deteriorated, several of the exiles made energetic
> efforts to locate Bahá’u’lláh and induce him to return. Eventually, one of
> the more zealous found Bahá’u’lláh as a result of rumors he had heard
> regarding a “saint” living in the mountains. Even Yaḥyá joined with the
> family and other Bábís in an appeal to Bahá’u’lláh to return and assume the
> direction of the community. On March 19, 1856, he acceded to these
> requests.
> 
> The next seven years witnessed a startling transformation in the fortunes of
> the Bábí community. Through example, exhortation, and a vigorous
> discipline, Bahá’u’lláh restored the community to the moral and spiritual
> level it had attained during the Báb’s lifetime. Mírzá Yaḥyá remained
> entirely withdrawn, and Bahá’u’lláh’s reputation as a spiritual teacher
> spread throughout Baghdad and the neighboring regions. Princes, scholars,
> mystics, and government officials came to meet with him, including many
> individuals prominent in Persian public life.
> In Baghdad, Bahá’u’lláh composed the Kitáb-i-Íqán, or Book of Certitude,
> in which he laid out the panorama of God’s redemptive plan for humankind.
> The book contains a detailed presentation of Bahá’u’lláh’s teaching on the
> nature of God, the function of the sequence of divine Manifestations, and
> the spiritual evolution of humankind. It concludes with a demonstration of
> the truth of his own mission. In subsequent years the “Íqán” became the
> most influential of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings and the foundation for much of
> the work of disseminating Bahá’í belief.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh’s growing influence, however, excited intense fear and
> suspicion in the minds of the shah and his government, who in turn made
> representations to the Ottoman government. Suddenly, without warning, in
> April 1863, Bahá’u’lláh and his family were advised that the Ottoman
> government had acceded to the Persian demands that the refugees be moved
> further from the borders of their native land. They were to be moved to and
> settled in Constantinople (now Istanbul).
> 
> As preparations for departure were being made, Bahá’u’lláh temporarily
> transferred his residence to a garden on an island in the Tigris River, since
> known to Bahá’ís by the name he gave it at that time, the Garden of Riḍván
> (Paradise). It was in the garden that he announced to a selected handful of
> his closest followers that he was “He Whom God Will Make Manifest,” the
> universal messenger of God promised by the Báb and by scriptures of
> earlier religions. Bahá’í history refers to Bahá’u’lláh’s experience in the
> Síyáh-Chál as the dawning of his revelation. In the Riḍván declaration, his
> claim was explicitly stated to others and the course of Bábí history thereby
> permanently altered. The event is today celebrated around the world as the
> chief festival of the Bahá’í Faith, although the impact of the declaration was
> to be felt only after the public declaration of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission four
> years later.59
> 
> On August 16, 1863, the party of exiles arrived in the Ottoman capital of
> Constantinople after a journey of over three months; their stay there was to
> be very brief. Relations between the Ottoman and Persian Empires had long
> been strained and were marked by frequent minor wars, endless intrigues,
> and the constant annexation of territories. Fearing that the Bábí exiles,
> through their connections in Persia, might become an instrument of Turkish
> policy, the shah’s government became increasingly uneasy over the decision
> to settle the group in the Ottoman capital. The Persian ambassador, Mírzá
> Ḥusayn Khán, thus began a campaign to pressure the Turkish authorities to
> move the Bábís to a more remote part of the empire.60 He coupled this
> pressure with a warning that Bábís were enemies of all established order
> and a special menace to a society as cosmopolitan and unstable as the
> Ottoman Empire. His efforts succeeded. Early in
> December 1863, Bahá’u’lláh, his family, and his companions were suddenly
> banished, again without prior warning, to Adrianople (now known as
> Edirne) in European Turkey.61
> 
> In Adrianople a new stage in Bahá’í history began. Already the impact of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s personality on a constant stream of visitors who sought him
> out, the seemingly miraculous transformations he accomplished in the
> Baghdad community, and his wide-ranging correspondence and influence
> with and among persecuted groups of Bábís throughout Persia made him
> the focal point of the Bábí Faith. Intimations of his declaration in the
> Garden of Riḍván were openly discussed among the Bábís. With the
> community in a state of receptivity, Bahá’u’lláh decided that the time had
> come for the public declaration of his mission.
> 
> The first step in this proclamation was to acquaint Mírzá Yaḥyá, as nominal
> trustee of the Bábí Faith, with the nature of his mission. Accordingly, in a
> statement known as the Súriy-i-Amr,62 Bahá’u’lláh announced his claim to
> be “He Whom God Will Make Manifest” and called upon Yaḥyá to
> recognize and support him as the Báb had explicitly instructed him to do.
> Such a response, however, was not forthcoming. Shortly after the exiles
> reached Adrianople, Yaḥyá, encouraged again by Siyyid Muḥammad, began
> a series of machinations designed to restore his lost prominence. When
> these failed, Yaḥyá made two attempts to have his brother assassinated. It
> was shortly after the second of these two attempts that Bahá’u’lláh’s
> announcement was read to him.
> 
> Yaḥyá wavered briefly, and then astonished the Bábí community by
> proclaiming that he, rather than Bahá’u’lláh, was the Manifestation of God
> promised by the Báb. His reaction at least clarified a situation that his
> previous behavior had made a source of confusion and distress. Yaḥyá was
> abandoned almost overnight by virtually all of the Bábís in Adrianople, and
> by the vast majority of those in Persia and Iraq, including the surviving
> members of the Báb’s family who were believers.
> 
> Edward Browne estimated that no more than three or four in every hundred
> clung to Yaḥyá, all the remainder acknowledging Bahá’u’lláh’s claim. It is
> from this point on that Bábís began to describe themselves as “Bahá’ís,”
> and the Bahá’í Faith emerged as a distinct religion.63
> 
> Having established his authority among the Báb’s followers, Bahá’u’lláh
> turned his attention to his mission. Beginning in September 1867, he wrote
> a series of letters which rank among the most remarkable documents in
> religious history. They were addressed collectively to the “Kings of the
> earth” and individually to specific monarchs. In them he declared himself to
> be the One promised in the Torah, the Gospels, and the Qur’án, and he
> called on the kings to arise and champion his faith. The letters contained
> dramatic warnings that the nineteenth-century world would be torn apart,
> that a world civilization was to be born. The keynote of the new age was the
> oneness of the entire human race. Bahá’u’lláh called specifically upon the
> powerful rulers of Europe to subordinate all other aims to the task of
> achieving world unity:
> 
> The time must come when the imperative necessity for the holding of a
> vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized.
> The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and,
> participating in its deliberations, must consider such ways and means
> as will lay the foundations of the world’s Great Peace amongst men. ...
> It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his country, but rather for
> him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and
> mankind its citizens.64
> 
> The letters asserted that God had set in motion historical forces which no
> human schemes could resist. The rulers were told that power was entrusted
> to them by God in order to serve the needs of humankind and to establish
> international peace, social justice, and world unity. Governments that
> attempted to use their powers to resist the process of the unification of
> humankind would bring disaster on themselves and on their nations.
> 
> Hardly did the public proclamation begin when the new faith received
> another serious blow whose effects linger even today. It again came from
> Mírzá Yaḥyá. Yaḥyá’s rejection of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission had ended his
> influence among the followers of the Báb. Yaḥyá later told Professor
> Browne that he had been so abandoned by the other exiles that he was
> compelled on occasion to go himself to the marketplace in order to shop for
> food. However, he still maintained the support of Siyyid Muḥammad and
> two other exiles in Adrianople. This small group appears to have cast about
> for some means to interfere with the complete conversion of the Báb’s
> followers, which was taking place throughout Persia and the Ottoman
> territories. Bahá’u’lláh’s letters to the kings suggested a means for serving
> this end.
> 
> At this point in history, the ramshackle Ottoman Empire was on the brink of
> disintegration. Pressure from the many minorities that comprised the empire
> was particularly acute and unremitting in the European territories beyond
> Adrianople, where such new states as Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and
> Montenegro were breaking away from it. The Persian ambassador to
> Constantinople, Mírzá Ḥusayn Khán, was exerting every effort to convince
> the Turkish authorities that the group of Bahá’í exiles constituted a political
> as well as a religious danger. Mírzá Yaḥyá and Siyyid Muḥammad therefore
> sought to picture Bahá’u’lláh’s messages to the kings in this light.
> Anonymous letters warning of a political conspiracy were forwarded to
> Constantinople. The stories no doubt gained credence from the fact that a
> constant stream of visitors from all parts of the empire sought out
> Bahá’u’lláh in Adrianople, and the authorities there seemed equally under
> his spell.65
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh was known to have been offered the protection of both the
> British and Russian governments at earlier stages of the Bábí persecutions,
> and this may have added to the fears of the Ottoman government that
> Yaḥyá’s accusations held some validity. It was decided to resolve the
> question of the exiled community once and for all. Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-Azíz
> issued an imperial order, without recourse, committing the exiles in
> Adrianople to perpetual imprisonment in the penal colony at Acre in
> Palestine. On the morning of August 21, 1868, Bahá’u’lláh and some
> seventy to eighty members of his family and close companions boarded a
> steamer at Gallipoli and, after a harrowing journey of ten days, were put
> ashore under heavy guard at the Sea Gate leading to the grim fortress of
> Acre.
> Ironically, Mírzá Yaḥyá and Siyyid Muḥammad were caught in the net they
> themselves had prepared. Suspecting that Yaḥyá might himself be engaged
> in conspiracy, the Turkish authorities sent him as a prisoner to the island of
> Cyprus, together with three Bahá’í prisoners who, it was hoped, would
> hinder his activities.66 Siyyid Muḥammad and a companion were sent with
> the party of Bahá’í exiles to Acre for much the same reason.
> 
> Acre was chosen because it was confidently believed that Bahá’u’lláh could
> not survive the experience. In the 1860s the prison city was a pestilential
> place, a home for criminals from all parts of the empire, a warren of
> labyrinthine alleys and damp, crumbling buildings. Prevailing winds and
> tides washed the refuse of the Mediterranean onto its shores, creating a
> climate so unhealthy that a popular saying held that a bird which flew over
> Acre would fall dead in the streets.
> 
> The first two years of the Bahá’ís’ imprisonment was a period of intense
> deprivation and hardship. From Constantinople, the Persian ambassador
> issued orders that an agent of his government be installed in Acre to ensure
> that the local Ottoman authorities strictly enforced the harsh terms in the
> formal decree. A number of the exiles died from the treatment to which they
> were subjected, as did Bahá’u’lláh’s second son, Mírzá Mihdí, who lost his
> life in a tragic accident occasioned by the conditions of the prison. A degree
> of relief arrived in 1870, when the fortress was required to serve as a
> military barracks during a period of tension between Turkey and Russia,
> and the prisoners were moved to confinement in rented houses and other
> buildings.
> 
> Gradually, in spite of initial public prejudice, Bahá’u’lláh’s influence began
> to have the same effect it had exerted in Baghdad and Adrianople.
> Sympathetic governors reduced the number of guards, and influential voices
> began expressing admiration and interest. Then a new blow fell. Siyyid
> Muḥammad and two companions, frustrated by the improvement of the
> prisoners’ situation, began to agitate the lower classes of the city in order to
> provoke an attack on Bahá’u’lláh’s house–an attack which, it was hoped,
> might lead to his death.
> 
> The new threat proved too great a provocation for some of the exiles to
> endure. Ignoring the principles of nonviolence and reliance on the will of
> God which they professed, seven of them took matters into their own hands.
> After deliberately instigating a fight, they killed Siyyid Muḥammad and his
> accomplices.
> The effect of these murders was a far greater setback for the new faith than
> anything Siyyid Muḥammad could himself have achieved. It added fuel to
> the dying fire of accusations leveled against the exiles by opponents among
> the Muslim clergy. For Bahá’u’lláh, the shock of the incident struck a blow
> far more severe than physical imprisonment because it tarnished the
> integrity of his work. In a letter written at the time, he said:
> 
> My captivity can bring on Me no shame. Nay, by My life, it conferreth
> on Me glory. That which can make Me ashamed is the conduct of such
> of My followers as profess to love Me, yet in fact follow the Evil
> One.67
> 
> In time, a civil court established that the outburst of violence had been
> countenanced neither by Bahá’u’lláh nor by the majority of the Bahá’ís in
> Acre, and the guilty parties alone were punished. Passions gradually cooled.
> In the meantime, Bahá’u’lláh had again taken up the series of letters to the
> kings and rulers which had been interrupted by his departure from
> Adrianople. Individual letters were addressed to Emperor Louis Napoleon,
> Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm I, Tsar Alexander II, Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh in
> Persia, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, and the Ottoman sultan,
> ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz.
> In these letters Bahá’u’lláh called on the monarchs to join together in the
> creation of an international tribunal that would have the authority to decide
> on disputes between nations. This embryonic world government, he said,
> should be supported by an international police force maintained by the
> member states and used to enforce peaceful resolution of all international
> disputes.
> 
> The letters also contained prescriptions for creating a sense of community
> among the peoples of the world. For example, Bahá’u’lláh called for the
> creation of an international auxiliary language, which would allow every
> society to maintain its own cultural identity while benefiting from the
> ability to communicate with all other races and nations. A compulsory
> educational system would assure worldwide literacy; an international
> system of weights and measures would create common standards for a
> global economic system; military expenditures would be sharply curtailed
> and taxation used for social welfare. The monarchs were urged to accept
> certain basic democratic principles of government in the conduct of their
> internal affairs.
> 
> Owing to the close confinement of the exiles, these extraordinary messages
> were smuggled out of the prison in the clothing of sympathetic visitors. The
> French consul personally delivered Bahá’u’lláh’s first communication to the
> Emperor Louis Napoleon.
> 
> Powerful messages were also addressed to the leaders of the world’s
> religions, including Pope Pius IX. The principal theme of these messages
> was a challenge to ecclesiastical leaders to set aside dogma and attachment
> to their positions of secular leadership, and to examine seriously the claims
> Bahá’u’lláh put forward. It was primarily the clergy, the letters asserted,
> who had been the first to reject and persecute the founders of each of the
> world’s religions.
> 
> The letter to Pope Pius IX is particularly interesting to students of
> institutional history, because it outlines a prescription for actions many of
> which the pope’s successors have since found it impossible to avoid taking.
> The pontiff was called upon to surrender his temporal sovereignty over the
> Papal States to a secular government, to leave the seclusion of the Vatican
> palaces to meet with the leaders of non-Catholic faiths, to present himself
> before the secular rulers of the world and summon them to peace and
> justice, to divest himself of the excessive ceremonialism that had grown
> about his person, and to “be as thy Lord hath been.” Similarly, the Catholic
> clergy were urged to
> Seclude not yourselves in churches and cloisters. Come forth by My
> leave, and occupy yourselves with that which will profit your souls and
> the souls of men. Thus biddeth you the King of the Day of Reckoning.
> Seclude yourselves in the stronghold of My love. This, verily, is a
> befitting seclusion, were ye of them that perceive it.... He that wedded
> not (Jesus) found no place wherein to dwell or lay His head, by reason
> of that which the hands of the treacherous had wrought. His sanctity
> consisteth not in that which ye believe or fancy, but rather in the things
> We possess.68
> 
> None of the letters received any significant response from those to whom
> they were addressed. Among the few recorded reactions was that of Queen
> Victoria, who is reported to have said merely: “If this is of God it will
> endure; if not, it can do no harm.”69
> 
> In time, however, the letters attracted attention because of the startling
> fulfillment of the individual prophecies they contained.70 Emperor Louis
> Napoleon, seemingly the most powerful European ruler of the time, was
> warned that because of his insincerity and the misuse of his power:
> 
> thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall
> pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast
> wrought . . . Hath thy pomp made thee proud? By my life! It shall not
> endure …71
> 
> Within two years the emperor had lost throne and empire in the entirely
> unforeseen debacle at Sedan and was himself an exile from his native
> land.72
> 
> Subsequently, the conqueror of Louis Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm I, who had
> just been made emperor of a united Germany, received a similar warning.
> Pride and desire for earthly domination would bring against Germany
> “swords of retribution” that would leave “the banks of the Rhine covered
> with blood.” Similar warnings were addressed to the tsar of Russia,
> Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, and the Persian shah.
> 
> Particularly explicit were the warning letters to the Turkish Sulṭán
> ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz and his prime minister, ‘Alí Páshá, who held the life of the
> prisoner of Acre in their hands. These letters predicted the deaths of both
> ‘Alí Páshá and his colleague, Fu‘ád Páshá, who was foreign minister, the
> loss of Turkey’s European dominions, and the fall of the sultan himself. The
> fulfillment of all of these predictions significantly enhanced the prestige
> which was steadily growing around Bahá’u’lláh’s name.73
> The ten-year period beginning in 1863, which constituted the formal
> declaration of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission, culminated in the completion of the
> book that today serves as the core of what Bahá’ís regard as the revelation
> of Bahá’u’lláh, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (literally, the Most Holy Book).
> 
> The Kitáb-i-Aqdas provides for the establishment and continuation of the
> authority Bahá’u’lláh called upon humankind to accept. It begins with a
> reiteration of his claim to be “the King of Kings,” whose mission is none
> other than the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. Its two major
> themes are the proclamation of the laws which are to transform individual
> souls and guide humankind collectively, and the creation of institutions
> through which the community of those who recognize him is to be
> governed. A more complete discussion of these two themes may be found
> in chapters 7 and 8. It will be sufficient to note here that the system of the
> Aqdas entirely replaced, for Bahá’ís, both those Islamic laws which the Báb
> had left unabrogated and the strict code which the Báb himself had laid
> down. Jihád, the use of force, was explicitly forbidden, as was any form of
> religious contention.74 With the separation from Islam fully achieved, even
> the Báb’s harsh condemnation of theological studies was rescinded. Bahá’ís
> were encouraged to be open to truth wherever they might encounter it:
> Warn ... the beloved of the one true God not to view with too critical an
> eye the sayings and writings of men. Let them rather approach such
> sayings and writings in a spirit of open-mindedness and loving
> sympathy.75
> 
> The completion of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas opened the final period of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s ministry. The isolation the sultan’s decree of banishment had
> sought to impose crumbled away. There followed nearly two decades of
> creative work devoted chiefly to the revelation of a vast body of writings
> that elaborated Bahá’u’lláh’s vision of humankind’s future. Dignitaries
> throughout Palestine became first warm admirers and later confirmed
> devotees. A leading Muslim ecclesiastic, the Muftí of Acre, became a
> convert to the new faith, and the governor of the city would not enter
> Bahá’u’lláh’s presence without first removing his shoes as a sign of respect.
> The doors of the prison city were opened to a constant stream of pilgrims
> whose recounted experiences and letters from Acre nourished the Bahá’í
> communities in Persia and Iraq. Public works such as the reconstruction, at
> Bahá’u’lláh’s request, of an ancient aqueduct to provide Acre with fresh
> water helped to overcome the antagonism of the general public, which had
> initially greeted the party of exiles on their arrival in 1868.
> In 1877 Bahá’u’lláh agreed to move from Acre to a nearby country estate
> called Mazra‘ih, which had been prepared for his residence by his friends.
> Two years later the exiles obtained, for a nominal sum, the lease of a
> magnificent mansion on the outskirts of the city, because the wealthy owner
> had left the area out of fear of a threatening epidemic.
> 
> It was in this final residence, known as Bahjí (Joy), that Bahá’u’lláh
> received Professor Browne, one of the few Westerners who is known to
> have visited and written of him. Captivated by the story of the Bábí martyrs,
> Browne determined to record the story of the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths. He
> thus describes his meeting at Bahjí with the founder of the Bahá’í Faith:
> 
> I found myself in a large apartment, along the upper end of which ran a
> low divan, while on the side opposite to the door were placed two or
> three chairs. Though I dimly suspected whither I was going and whom
> I was to behold (for no distinct intimation had been given to me), a
> second or two elapsed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, I became
> definitely conscious that the room was not untenanted. In the corner
> where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable figure,
> crowned with a felt head-dress of the kind called táj by dervishes (but
> of unusual height and make), round the base of which was wound a
> small white turban. The face of him on whom I gazed I can never
> forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read
> one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow.... No need
> to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is
> the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and
> emperors sigh for in vain!
> 
> A mild dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued:—
> “Praise be to God that thou hast attained! . . . Thou hast come to see a
> prisoner and an exile. . . . We desire but the good of the world and the
> happiness of the nations; yet they deem us as a stirrer up of strife and
> sedition worthy of bondage and banishment. . . . These strifes and this
> bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and
> one family. . . . Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country;
> let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind. . . .”76
> 
> Later that year, Bahá’u’lláh “pitched his tent” on Mount Carmel, across the
> bay from Acre. There he pointed out the site he had chosen for the
> interment of the remains of the martyred Báb. This site has since become
> the focal point for the extensive shrines, administrative buildings, and the
> monumental terraces and gardens that comprise the international
> headquarters of the Bahá’í Faith.
> During the closing years of his life, Bahá’u’lláh had increasingly withdrawn
> from contact with society so that he could devote himself to his writings
> and to his meetings with Bahá’í pilgrims. The practical affairs of the
> community had been left in the hands of his eldest son, ‘Abbás, called by
> him ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (literally, Servant of Bahá). Late in 1891 Bahá’u’lláh
> told those around him that his work was done and that he wished to “depart
> from this world.” He was being called, he said, to “other dominions
> whereon the eyes of the people of names have never fallen.” Shortly
> thereafter he contracted a fever and, following a brief illness, passed away
> at dawn on May 29, 1892, in his seventy-fifth year.
> 4. The Succession to Leadership
> 
> With the passing of Bahá’u’lláh, the Bahá’í Faith entered a stage in its
> development that marked the emergence of what Bahá’ís regard as the
> distinguishing feature of their religion. This was Bahá’u’lláh’s explicit
> conveyance of authority for the establishment of an institutional system
> designed to guide, protect, and enlarge the emerging Bahá’í community. It
> is principally because of this system that the Bahá’í Faith, alone among the
> independent religions, has escaped division into sects.
> 
> The system was erected on the basis of a body of interrelated documents in
> which Bahá’u’lláh established a “Covenant” or solemn agreement with his
> followers. The Covenant named his eldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as the sole
> authoritative interpreter of his teachings and the source of authority in all
> affairs of the faith. One of the titles he gave to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was Ghuṣn-i-
> A‘ẓam (The Most Mighty Branch). The documents of the Covenant made it
> clear that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was to be regarded not as a prophet or divine
> messenger, but rather as the perfect human example of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> teachings. The conveyance of this authority was explicit and sweeping:
> 
> Whosoever turns to Him hath surely turned unto God, and whosoever
> turneth away from Him hath turned away from My beauty, denied My
> proof and is of those who transgress. Verily, He is the remembrance of
> God amongst you and His trust within you, and His manifestation unto
> you and His appearance among the servants who are nigh. Thus have I
> been commanded to convey to you the message of God, your Creator;
> and I have delivered to you that of which I was commanded.77
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh also took particular care to ensure that the Bahá’í community
> would gradually become accustomed, during his own lifetime, to the role he
> intended ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to play after his passing. Matters between the Bahá’í
> community and the civil authorities, as well as any relations with the
> general population of Palestine, were left almost entirely in the hands of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Pilgrims from Persia were customarily received by “the
> Master” (another title Bahá’u’lláh gave exclusively to his eldest son), and
> meetings with the founder of the faith were arranged under ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
> supervision. The nature of the authority conferred on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the
> demands presented by the growing Bahá’í community provided an
> opportunity for him to exercise his impressive personal capacities. Professor
> Browne, who initially met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1890 and later came to know
> him well, wrote:
> 
> Seldom have I seen one whose appearance impressed me more. A tall
> strongly-built man holding himself straight as an arrow, with white
> turban and raiment, long black locks reaching almost to the shoulder,
> broad powerful forehead indicating a strong intellect combined with an
> unswerving will, eyes keen as a hawk’s, and strongly-marked but
> pleasing features—such was my first impression of ‘Abbás Effendi,
> “the master” (Áqá) [sic] as he par excellence is called by the Bábís.
> Subsequent conversation with him served only to heighten the respect
> with which his appearance had from the first inspired me. One more
> eloquent of speech, more ready of argument, more apt of illustration,
> more intimately acquainted with the sacred books of the Jews, the
> Christians, and the Muhammadans, could, I should think, scarcely be
> found even amongst the eloquent, ready, and subtle race to which he
> belongs. These qualities, combined with a bearing at once majestic and
> genial, made me cease to wonder at the influence and esteem which he
> enjoyed even beyond the circle of his father’s followers. About the
> greatness of this man and his power no one who had seen him could
> entertain a doubt.78
> In retrospect, it is clear that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá saw the task of firmly
> establishing the Bahá’í Faith on a very wide scale throughout Europe and
> North America as one of the most important challenges facing him.79
> Opportunities opened up, encouraged to a significant degree by the
> attention which the Bábí epic had already attracted among intellectual and
> artistic circles, particularly in western Europe. In North America the first
> recorded public reference to the Bahá’í Faith occurred at the “Parliament of
> Religions” held in connection with the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, when a
> Christian spokesman concluded the paper he presented with the words
> Bahá’u’lláh had addressed to Edward Browne three years earlier.
> 
> At about the same time a Syrian merchant, Ibrahim Kheiralla, who had
> enrolled in the Bahá’í Faith in Cairo, Egypt, immigrated to the United
> States and began classes among interested inquirers. The first American
> Bahá’í was an insurance executive named Thornton Chase. By 1897,
> Kheiralla reported that there were Bahá’í believers numbering in the
> hundreds in the Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the Chicago areas. It became
> significant to the later development of the faith that all of these “declarants”
> were encouraged to write directly to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Holy Land,
> expressing their faith in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and seeking the
> Master’s blessing.
> Kheiralla’s activities were important not only because of the large number
> of adherents his efforts attracted, but also because these included several
> individuals who later became some of the faith’s leading exponents in the
> West. One of the new Western believers was a talented and energetic
> woman named Louisa Getsinger, who began traveling throughout the
> United States, lecturing to interested groups in an attempt to extend the
> influence of the new movement beyond the immediate Chicago-Kenosha
> areas.
> 
> During the course of these travels she met with and was responsible for the
> enrollment of the philanthropist millionaire Mrs. Phoebe Hearst. In 1898 the
> latter expressed her desire to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and he agreed to the visit.
> Mrs. Hearst then gathered together a party of fifteen pilgrims, the first
> group of whom arrived in Acre on December 10, 1898. Mrs. Getsinger, her
> husband, Dr. Edward Getsinger, and Ibrahim Kheiralla were among them.
> The meeting was attended with some degree of personal risk owing to the
> continuing political tensions in the Near East. Under those strained
> circumstances, the unexpected arrival of a group of Westerners necessarily
> aroused a good deal of suspicion.
> 
> Despite the handicaps, this brief visit proved critical to the early growth of
> the Bahá’í Faith in the West. The impact of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s mind and
> endearing personality on the first Western followers of Bahá’u’lláh was
> immediate and decisive. In him they believed they saw the spirit of Jesus
> Christ again moving among humanity. Indeed, in their enthusiasm they
> were prepared to put his station well beyond the bounds of that which
> Bahá’u’lláh had assigned to his son. Some, like Mrs. Hearst, believed that
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was himself “The Messiah,” the return of Jesus Christ.80 It is
> revealing, therefore, to note ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s own words on the subject:
> 
> . . . what is meant in the prophecies by the “Lord of Hosts” and the
> “Promised Christ” is the Blessed Perfection (Bahá’u’lláh) and His
> holiness, the Exalted One (the Báb). My name is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> [Servant of Bahá]. My qualification is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. My reality is
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. My praise is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Thraldom to the Blessed
> Perfection is my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to all the
> human race my perpetual religion.... No name, no title, no mention, no
> commendation have I, nor will ever have, except ‘Abdu’l-Bahá .... This
> is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is my everlasting
> glory.81
> 
> The significance of the relationship between ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and his father’s
> followers in the West is outlined in a summary of the first century of Bábí-
> Bahá’í history, published in 1944:
> The pilgrims brought back the sense of the early days of the faith,
> when the Prophet has been seen by human eyes and heard by human
> ears, and the world is filled with ecstasy like the golden light of perfect
> dawn.... All the activities of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh in America
> emanated from the few score souls who attained the goal of all earthly
> seeking in ‘Akká and Haifa between the years 1894 and 1911.82
> 
> The visit of the Hearst party was the beginning of a continuous stream of
> Bahá’í visitors from Europe and North America that spanned a period of
> nearly twenty-three years and continued until ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s death in 1921,
> interrupted only by the duration of World War I.
> 
> Communities were established throughout the United States and Canada.
> Public meetings and informal discussion groups were organized, and a
> modest production of booklet literature on the faith began. These
> publications consisted almost exclusively of excerpts from the Tablets of
> Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, together with accounts given by returning
> North American believers who had undertaken the pilgrimage to ‘Akká
> (Acre). Informally organized groups also circulated carbon copies of
> typewritten manuscripts containing more extensive excerpts from the
> prayers and meditations of Bahá’u’lláh and excerpts from letters ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá had written to individual believers.
> 
> Hardly had this stage in the faith’s development begun when it was
> subjected to a severe shock and setback that had several features of the
> Yaḥyá episode in Bábí history. A younger half-brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> named Muḥammad-‘Alí began to chafe under the authority conferred upon
> the new head of the faith. Unable to challenge the specific terms of his
> father’s covenant, Muḥammad-‘Alí sought first to impose limitations on
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s exercise of his function in the Bahá’í community. When
> this failed, Muḥammad-‘Alí attempted to create a following of his own
> within the Bahá’í community. The resulting rupture occurred shortly before
> the arrival of the first group of Western pilgrims, and it quickly attracted the
> attention of Dr. Kheiralla.
> 
> The latter saw himself as both the most influential teacher of the faith in
> North America, and a leading exponent of its fundamental concepts.
> Browne later published notes from Kheiralla’s lectures, which present a
> rather startling view of the kind of concepts which Kheiralla was
> teaching.83 The only Bahá’í themes that had survived their migration from
> Persia to North America were the station of Bahá’u’lláh and the idea of the
> oneness of humankind. These two concepts were presented by Dr. Kheiralla
> in a mélange of esoteric doctrines that bore no relation to the teachings of
> the founder of the Bahá’í Faith.
> 
> During his visit to Acre in 1898, Kheiralla sought ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
> endorsement of his presentation of the Bahá’í Faith. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at that
> time corrected a number of Kheiralla’s misconceptions and urged him to
> begin a serious study of the Bahá’í writings. He declined and became
> progressively more and more estranged from Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings.
> During the course of this same visit, Muḥammad-‘Alí sought him out; on
> his return to America the following year, Kheiralla stunned his Bahá’í
> friends and students by a rejection of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and an insistence on his
> own role as the arbiter of the faith’s fortunes in the West. However, these
> efforts to usurp Bahá’í leadership failed, and Kheiralla eventually returned
> to Syria, bitterly disappointed. With his departure the danger of a schism
> passed, as Muḥammad-‘Alí was never able to attract a following of his own
> apart from a small handful of relatives and retainers.
> 
> The crisis and its outcome were critical to Bahá’í history. At this important
> juncture, the new faith took the one course that could lead to the realization
> of its claims to represent the birth of an independent world religion. There is
> little doubt that, had Muḥammad-‘Alí and Kheiralla succeeded in their
> efforts to dominate the movement and seize control of its leadership, it
> would have quickly dwindled to the status of a cult.
> 
> Instead, the Bahá’í community in North America, though reduced in
> numbers and suffering from the shock of charges and countercharges,
> turned to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for authoritative guidance on his father’s teachings.
> In response, with more freedom and vigor than before, he expounded on the
> principal features of the Bahá’í revelation. Discouraging metaphysical
> speculation, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá set himself the task of explaining Bahá’u’lláh’s
> social message to the world. In countless letters, table talks with pilgrims,
> and expository writings, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá insisted that not only the individual
> heart but also the entire social order must be transformed. The validity of all
> the world’s religions, the need to abolish racial prejudices, the implications
> of the equality of man and woman, universal education, justice in social and
> economic systems, and a host of similar themes were emphasized. The
> social teachings of Bahá’u’lláh were related to the needs of contemporary
> society as revealed by the recurrent crises gripping the world.84
> 
> In 1908 the Young Turk Revolution freed all political and even religious
> prisoners of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was suddenly
> free to leave Palestine and take a more direct hand in the expansion and
> establishment of his father’s faith in the West. Before doing so, however, he
> was able to realize one of the great desires of his life and fulfill one of the
> major responsibilities given to him by Bahá’u’lláh. On March 20, 1909, in
> the presence of a company of believers from both East and West, he laid the
> small wooden coffin containing the mortal remains of the Báb in a
> magnificent marble sarcophagus supplied by the Bahá’ís of Burma. The
> burial took place in a stone shrine erected on the slopes of Mount Carmel,
> on the spot chosen by Bahá’u’lláh many years earlier, and intended by him
> to serve as the central point for the complex of the various administrative
> institutions comprising the international headquarters of the Bahá’í Faith.
> The Bahá’í community regards the blood of the Bábí martyrs as the “seed”
> of the administrative institutions which Bahá’u’lláh called for and which
> Bahá’ís were beginning to establish around the world under the guidance of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Now, at the heart of the Bahá’í community, the Báb’s
> sacrifice was intimately linked with the central institutions of that religious
> system, and the essential historical unity of the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths was
> given compelling symbolic expression.
> 
> By 1910 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was able to conclude that circumstances in the Holy
> Land would permit the departure for which he had so long yearned. The
> rigors of his long imprisonment had seriously undermined his health, and
> the first stage of the journey was therefore a period of recuperation in
> Egypt. Then, on August 11, 1911, accompanied by a small group of
> attendants, he sailed on the S. S. Corsica for Marseille, to begin a twenty-
> eight month journey throughout the Western world. This journey included
> two trips to London, Paris, and Stuttgart, and briefer visits to other
> European centers, as well as a very demanding trip across North America.
> 
> On April 11, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived in New York City. During this
> North American tour he visited some forty cities and towns in the United
> States, from coast to coast. It was in New York City itself that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> spent more time than in any other North American city and where he first
> took the opportunity to explain to groups of the faith’s followers the
> significance of the Covenant which Bahá’u’lláh had established and of
> which he was himself the appointed “Center.” Among the other important
> American centers visited was Chicago, where he laid the cornerstone of the
> building that was to become the “Mother Temple of the West.” He also
> visited Eliot, Maine, where Sarah Farmer, founder of Green Acre, a center
> for adult education, had become a Bahá’í and opened her facility for the
> systematic presentation of the Bahá’í message.85 In Canada, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> visited Montreal, where he was the guest of the Canadian architect,
> William Sutherland Maxwell, and his wife, May Bolles Maxwell. Mrs.
> Maxwell became a Bahá’í as a very young woman and had been with the
> original Hearst party which visited in Acre in 1898.
> The Montreal visit was in many respects typical of the receptions accorded
> to him in other major centers throughout the West.86 He visited Notre-Dame
> Cathedral, was invited to speak at the Church of the Messiah and St. James
> Church, addressed a large trades union meeting at their hall on St. Lawrence
> Street, and gave a great many informal talks both in his suite at the Windsor
> Hotel and at the Maxwell home on Pine Avenue, where he stayed as the
> family’s houseguest during the first part of his visit. Throughout both North
> America and Europe, major newspapers gave the tour extensive coverage,
> ranging from highly speculative and sensationalist articles to serious reports
> of interviews with the visitor and public addresses by him. Among the
> latter, the Montreal press was particularly attentive; it was in an interview
> with the Montreal Star that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was reported to have made two
> particularly important predictions. The first was that a world war would
> shortly break out in Europe. (“There is nothing in the nature of prophecy
> about such a view,” said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; “It is based on reasoning solely.”)
> The second was that international peace would be established before the
> end of the twentieth century. (“It will be universal in the twentieth century.
> All nations will be forced into it.”)87
> 
> The effects of the tour were far-reaching. Western believers were directly
> exposed to the leader and acknowledged exponent of their faith. They
> flocked to meet him, sought his advice, and were able to clarify and deepen
> their understanding of the faith’s teachings on theological, social, and moral
> issues. The public in the West gained a highly favorable view of the new
> religion, which was to prove of great importance to its followers in their
> subsequent efforts to promote its growth. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke not only to
> church congregations, but to peace societies, trade unions, university
> faculties, and a variety of societies for social reform. At the tour’s end,
> Bahá’u’lláh’s social message had been publicly proclaimed, and a new
> generation of Bahá’ís from every strata of Western society had been
> enlisted.88
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent the years during World War I in relative isolation at his
> home in Haifa in the Holy Land. His associations with the West and the
> interpretation put on them by his half-brother, Muḥammad-‘Alí, had again
> succeeded in arousing the suspicion of the Ottoman authorities. Once more
> threats were made that he would be executed and the small Bahá’í colony in
> the Holy Land dispersed into exile. However, this danger was removed in
> 1918 when the war ended with the defeat of the Central Powers, followed
> by Turkey’s loss of all her possessions in the Arab Near East.
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá again set in motion the highly significant processes begun
> after his release from prison in Acre in 1908 for the building of an
> international community that would reflect the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. A
> major feature of this work was the nurturing of Bahá’í administrative
> institutions. As called on to do under the terms of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant,
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá encouraged the establishment of what he called “spiritual
> assemblies” in both North America and Persia. These elected bodies were
> authorized to supervise activities such as publishing literature, teaching
> programs, and devotional services at both the local and national levels.
> They were to serve as forerunners of what Bahá’u’lláh had termed “Houses
> of Justice.”
> 
> In 1908 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá drafted a Will and Testament in which he outlined in
> considerable detail the nature and functions of the central institutions
> conceived by Bahá’u’lláh for the conduct of the affairs of his cause. The
> two principal institutions so named were the “Guardianship” and the
> “Universal House of Justice.” The Guardianship conferred the sole
> authority for the interpretation of Bahá’í teachings on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s eldest
> grandson, Shoghi Effendi Rabbani. As was the case with the appointment of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant as the Center and designated
> interpreter, the Guardian was designated the one to whom all the believers
> were to submit questions on any matter of Bahá’í belief. The other principal
> institution named in the Will and Testament was the Universal House of
> Justice, designated to be the primary legislative and administrative authority
> of the Bahá’í community. The Guardian of the Faith was to be assisted by a
> group of particularly qualified individuals selected by him and designated
> “Hands of the Cause of God,” and the Universal House of Justice was to
> supervise the international administrative order of the Bahá’í community.
> As the supreme administrative body of the community, its elected
> membership would be chosen from among the adult Bahá’ís of the world at
> an international congress of all the national spiritual assemblies.
> 
> The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Bahá’u’lláh’s Kitáb-i-‘Ahd
> (Book of the Covenant) were the instruments by which Bahá’u’lláh’s
> Covenant gained practical expression, and the provisions therein shaped the
> steadily growing Bahá’í community after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s death.89
> 
> During the course of World War I, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá dictated a series of
> messages to the North American believers. Four of these fourteen letters
> were addressed jointly to the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.
> Eight were written for the specific guidance of the believers in various
> regions of the United States, and two were specifically addressed to the
> Bahá’ís of Canada. The theme of all fourteen was what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> termed “The Divine Plan” for the worldwide proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> message to humankind. The American and Canadian Bahá’ís were called
> upon to take the lead in establishing the faith in every part of the globe.
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá assured them that a befitting response to this challenge would
> confer upon them, in the eyes of a grateful posterity, “spiritual primacy”
> among the Bahá’í communities of the world. The various international
> teaching plans through which the community has subsequently grown and
> by which the message and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have spread to every
> corner of the world represent the response of the North American Bahá’ís to
> the summons contained in these letters.90
> 
> Early in the morning of November 28, 1921, after a brief illness, ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá died in his seventy-eighth year. The circumstances surrounding his
> funeral indicated that sweeping changes had occurred in the status of the
> Bahá’í Faith in the Holy Land in just a few short years. Only thirteen years
> before, as a helpless exile, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had faced the very real possibility
> that he would be publicly executed. By the time of his death, however, he
> had established an unequaled reputation as a sage and philanthropist, indeed
> as a kind of holy man revered by all the religious communities in Palestine.
> The removal of the restraints imposed by Turkish rule permitted this
> reputation to blossom. Honors were heaped on him from all segments of the
> population. A knighthood had been conferred by the British government in
> recognition of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s humanitarian services to the Palestinian
> people during the famine that followed World War I.
> The funeral held on November 29 had probably seen no equal in the history
> of Palestine. A vast crowd, estimated to number over ten thousand people,
> including dignitaries of the Muslim, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox,
> Jewish, and Druze communities, as well as the British High Commissioner
> and the governors of Jerusalem and Phoenicia, made up the cortege. It was
> clear that whatever vicissitudes the new faith might still be obliged to suffer
> in various parts of the world, it had succeeded, during ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
> administration of its affairs, in establishing its international center on an
> impressive foundation of government recognition and public esteem.91
> 
> At this point in history, the Bahá’í community included perhaps 100,000
> believers living more or less on sufferance in Persia, together with small
> groups in a few other countries. Apart from Persia, the primary areas of the
> world in which communities of Bahá’ís were to be found were India and
> North America. Organization and literature were minimal, as were financial
> resources. Widespread publicity had been secured through the efforts of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and some of his immediate disciples, but this had yet to
> produce any significant growth in the size of the community as a whole.
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá himself had received considerable recognition from civil
> authorities, but this, too, had yet to be translated into any formal
> acknowledgment of the Bahá’í Faith as a viable religious system.
> Today, a little more than eighty years later, the situation has dramatically
> changed. The Bahá’í Faith has come to be widely recognized as one of the
> world’s most rapidly growing religions, embracing adherents from almost
> every racial, social, cultural, and national origin, and carrying on a broad
> range of activities in some 235 sovereign states and major territories. An
> integrated administrative system has evolved at the local, national, and
> international levels, and in most instances has won formal recognition from
> the civil authorities.
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the central figures
> of the Bahá’í revelation, have been translated and published in over 800
> languages. Houses of Worship, Bahá’í schools, administrative headquarters,
> and community centers have been erected throughout the world, and
> properties have been acquired for even more ambitious future
> developments. At the United Nations, the Bahá’í International Community
> is accredited as an international Non-Governmental Organization in
> consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. By any standard,
> the achievements have been extraordinary. The guiding spirit of this
> phenomenal expansion was Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, the grandson of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, appointed by him to be the Guardian of the Faith of
> Bahá’u’lláh.
> The institution of the Guardianship was conceived by Bahá’u’lláh, but its
> specific functions and authority were first delineated in the Will and
> Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The two most important functions of the
> Guardianship were the interpretation of Bahá’í teachings and the guidance
> of the Bahá’í community. Mindful of the efforts Muḥammad-‘Alí had made
> to seize control of the community’s leadership, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá used strong
> language to make certain that Shoghi Effendi was fully empowered to act as
> he saw best in all the affairs of the faith. Any opposition to him would
> constitute opposition to the founders of the faith:
> 
> O ye faithful loved ones of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá! It is incumbent upon you to
> take the greatest care of Shoghi Effendi, the twig that hath branched
> from and the fruit given forth by the two hallowed and Divine Lote-
> Trees,92 that no dust of despondency and sorrow may stain his radiant
> nature, that day by day he may wax greater in happiness, in joy and
> spirituality, and may grow to become even as a fruitful tree.
> 
> For he is, after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the guardian of the Cause of God. The
> Afnán, the Hands [pillars] of the Cause and the beloved of the Lord
> must obey him and turn unto him. He that obeyeth him not, hath not
> obeyed God; he that turneth away from him hath turned away from
> God and he that denieth him hath denied the True One. Beware lest
> anyone falsely interpret these words, and like unto them that have
> broken the Covenant after the Day of Ascension [of Bahá’u’lláh]
> advance a pretext, raise the standard of revolt, wax stubborn and open
> wide the door of false interpretation . . . 93
> 
> From the beginning of his Guardianship, Shoghi Effendi made it clear that
> not only had the Bahá’í Faith entered a new stage in its growth, but that the
> authority conveyed by statements such as the above-quoted, involved a
> function quite different from the charismatic leadership of the community
> characterized by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. What he called the “apostolic era” had
> passed, and the “formative age” had begun.94
> 
> In this new period, it was the institution of the Guardianship which should
> command the love and allegiance of the believers. The person of the
> appointed Guardian was entirely subordinate. The faithful were forbidden to
> commemorate any of the events associated with the Guardian’s life;
> photographs were discouraged; appointed representatives carried out any
> public ceremonial functions that were required of the Guardian; and
> onerous administrative, interpretative, and writing tasks left Shoghi Effendi
> no time for speaking tours of the kind ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been able to
> undertake during his lifetime.
> The sole exception to the retirement from a public role was the Guardian’s
> devotion of whatever degree of time he could spare to meeting with the
> steady flow of pilgrims visiting the Bahá’í World Centre from both East and
> West. Even these encounters were limited for the most part to mealtimes at
> the “Pilgrim House” in Haifa.
> 
> The period between 1921 and 1963 in Bahá’í history is most readily
> accessible through consideration of the major projects undertaken by
> Shoghi Effendi in the execution of his role as Guardian. Four areas of
> activity particularly stand out: the development of the Bahá’í World Centre,
> the translation and interpretation of Bahá’í teachings, the expansion of the
> administrative order, and the implementation of the divine plan of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá.
> 
> Immediately after assuming his responsibilities, and continuing throughout
> his life, Shoghi Effendi devoted a great deal of time to the physical
> development of the faith’s international headquarters in the area
> surrounding the Bay of Haifa. During the lifetimes of Bahá’u’lláh and
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, several parcels of land had been gradually acquired by the
> community of exiles. Of these, the two most important were the site of the
> shrine where the body of Bahá’u’lláh was interred (in the vicinity of the
> mansion of Bahjí just outside Acre), and the site of the shrine on the side of
> Mount Carmel above the city of Haifa which contained the remains of the
> Báb. Through the generosity of individual Bahá’ís, bequests, and responses
> to special appeals by Shoghi Effendi, these properties were vastly increased
> during the Guardian’s ministry. Magnificent gardens were laid out, the first
> of a number of monumental buildings were erected, and a master plan was
> created for the development of a spiritual center and administrative complex
> that would meet the needs of a rapidly growing international community
> and which would be able to expand with it, a complex designed to rank
> among the most beautiful in the world. A widely dispersed religious
> community was thus provided with a center of pilgrimage and guidance that
> would greatly contribute to creating a sense of common identity.
> 
> High on the list of priorities of any religious system must be the
> determination of the canon of its scripture and the application of these
> sacred writings to the circumstances of individual and community life.
> Empowered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will as the sole authoritative interpreter of
> the Bahá’í writings, Shoghi Effendi interpreted world events in the light of
> the Bahá’í scriptures and shared with the Bahá’í community the results of
> these analyses in the form of lengthy letters to the Bahá’í world.95
> 
> At the same time, the nascent Bahá’í communities around the world were
> deluging Haifa with questions on an enormous range of subjects in the
> Bahá’í writings, and the Guardian’s answers to these inquiries also formed a
> significant portion of the interpretation of the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. In
> the early 1940s Shoghi Effendi focused his analytical attention on the
> events of Bahá’í history; and in 1944, in commemoration of the centenary
> of the declaration of the Báb, he produced a highly detailed study covering
> the entire century from the Báb’s first announcement of his mission to
> Mullá Ḥusayn to the completion of the first “Seven Year Plan.” 96
> 
> Shoghi Effendi’s program to interpret the Bahá’í writings was considerably
> aided by the fact that he was in a position to serve as the principal translator
> of the writings from Persian and Arabic into English.97 He had studied
> English from early childhood and as a young man was able to continue his
> studies at the American University of Beirut and subsequently at Oxford
> University, where he remained until the time of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s death in
> 1921. Since the major administrative bodies of the Bahá’í Faith during the
> first critical decades of the Guardianship were located in English-speaking
> countries, Shoghi Effendi’s ability to express and interpret Bahá’í concepts
> in the English language provided an invaluable source of guidance to the
> new faith in the Western world.
> 
> His role as an interpreter was also of long-range importance to the
> development of the Bahá’í community. It assured unity of doctrine during
> the early years of the faith’s global expansion and thus greatly reduced the
> threat of schism.
> 
> Parallel with his translation activities and the development of the World
> Centre of the faith, Shoghi Effendi devoted much of his energies to bringing
> into existence the system of administrative institutions as they had been
> conceived by Bahá’u’lláh and established in embryonic form by ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá. Each locality with nine or more adult believers was encouraged to
> elect a “Local Spiritual Assembly” to govern the affairs of the faith in that
> area. As soon as the number of local spiritual assemblies in any given
> country provided a sufficiently broad base, the Guardian urged the election
> of a national spiritual assembly, vested with full jurisdiction over the affairs
> of the faith in that particular country.
> 
> A steady stream of correspondence from Haifa provided these nascent
> institutions with guidance concerning the application of the Bahá’í writings
> to the conduct of community life. More general communications urged all
> believers to give their wholehearted support and obedience to the bodies
> they elected. Bahá’í principles of consultation were identified, and
> assemblies were urged to conscientiously train themselves in group decision
> making.
> In accordance with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will, between the years 1951 and 1957,
> the Guardian appointed a number of distinguished believers as Hands of the
> Cause of God and charged them with special responsibilities for teaching
> the faith and protecting its institutions. The crowning unit of this global
> administrative structure was the institution of the Universal House of
> Justice, conceived and named by Bahá’u’lláh. Shoghi Effendi indicated
> that, as soon as the expansion of the Bahá’í community permitted, a
> Universal House of Justice would be elected by the entire international
> Bahá’í community, acting through their national spiritual assemblies.
> 
> A word should be said about the role that the North American Bahá’í
> community, and particularly the Bahá’ís in the United States, played in this
> building process. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been lavish in his praise of the spiritual
> capacities and the services of its members. He had been generous, too, in
> his recognition of many of the characteristics of the United States as a
> nation. More important, he had indicated that America would serve as the
> “cradle” of the administrative order which Bahá’u’lláh had conceived.
> Because of the importance of this turning point in human history, “the day
> is approaching when ye shall witness how . . . the West will have replaced
> the East, radiating the light of divine guidance.”98
> Accordingly, when Shoghi Effendi began building the administrative order,
> he turned to the American Bahá’ís as his chief collaborators. Already,
> several of them were involved in Bahá’í teaching projects beyond their own
> shores, and one of them, Martha Root, member of a distinguished American
> family, had been successful in bringing into the faith its first crowned head,
> Queen Marie of Rumania.99 The American Bahá’ís were also the “Chief
> Executors” of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá‘s Will. It was principally through this
> correspondence with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the
> United States and Canada100 that Shoghi Effendi gradually molded local
> and national institutions which functioned in conformity with the principles
> in the writings of the faith. Communities in other lands were encouraged to
> follow this lead. While cultural differences would determine secondary
> matters, the administrative order should be uniform in essentials, and for
> this a model was needed.
> 
> The American community was to provide this model, but the members were
> cautioned by Shoghi Effendi that their mandate owed nothing to the
> political system with which they were familiar. On the contrary:
> Bahá’u’lláh had appeared in Persia not because of any cultural superiority
> that nation possessed, but because of its profound moral degradation.
> Similarly, his administrative order would be erected first in a social milieu
> characterized by materialism, lawlessness, and political corruption. There,
> as had already occurred in Persia, Bahá’u’lláh would demonstrate that it is
> only the power of God that can regenerate people and society.101
> 
> Shoghi Effendi’s reasons for devoting so much time and energy to the
> development of the Bahá’í administrative order during the first years of his
> guardianship soon became apparent. The administrative institutions of the
> faith provided the necessary instruments for the implementation of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá’s “Divine Plan” to spread the Bahá’í message around the world.
> Before the widely scattered community could undertake so great a task, it
> was necessary to establish decision-making administrative bodies capable
> of mobilizing the necessary manpower and resources. Moreover, it was
> essential that adequate time be allowed for these institutions to learn the
> rudiments of Bahá’í administration and consultation.
> 
> Accordingly, it was not until 1937, sixteen years after the death of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá, that Shoghi Effendi began systemically working on realizing the
> objectives laid out in the series of letters sent by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the
> Bahá’ís of North America. In April 1937 the first seven-year plan was
> launched with three major goals: (1) to establish at least one local spiritual
> assembly in every state of the United States and every province of Canada;
> (2) to make certain that at least one Bahá’í teacher was residing in each
> Latin American republic; and (3) to complete the exterior design of the first
> Bahá’í house of worship in North America building whose cornerstone had
> been laid by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during his visit in 1912, and which, in many
> ways, symbolized the international Bahá’í community itself. Despite the
> obstacles created by the outbreak of World War II, this plan was
> successfully completed on the centenary of the declaration of the Báb, in
> May 1944.
> 
> Following a two-year interval, a second seven-year plan was launched in
> 1946. The focus of this effort was Europe, which at the time had only two
> national spiritual assemblies: those of Great Britain and Germany. The plan
> also called for the creation of local spiritual assemblies throughout Latin
> America and a great multiplication of those in North America. The
> successful conclusion of this plan in 1953 likewise coincided with a major
> Bahá’í centenary, the one-hundredth anniversary of the inception of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s mission in the Síyáh-Chál. One of the major goals of this
> seven-year plan was the establishment of an independent national spiritual
> assembly in Canada. This was achieved in 1948, and in 1949 was followed
> by its incorporation by a special Act of Parliament, an achievement which
> Shoghi Effendi pointed out was “unique in the annals of the Faith, whether
> of East or West.”102
> The two most impressive single achievements of this second plan had a
> special connection with the North American Bahá’í community. April 1953
> marked the formal dedication of the house of worship at Wilmette, Illinois,
> which was to be the first of similar structures to be built on all five
> continents of the globe. The designer was a French-Canadian architect
> named Jean-Louis Bourgeois. His magnificent conception was hailed by the
> Italian architect Luigi Quaglino as “a new creation which will revolutionize
> architecture in the world. Without doubt,” he added, “it will have a lasting
> page in history.”103 One other major triumph of these years was also a
> building, a magnificent shrine to crown the stone edifice built by ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá to serve as a mausoleum for the Báb. The architect of this shrine was
> another Canadian, William Sutherland Maxwell, with whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> had stayed during his visit to Montreal. The exquisite design, in which a
> golden dome crowns a white marble arcade and rose-colored granite pillars,
> has provided the Bahá’í World Centre on Mount Carmel with one of the
> most beautiful landmarks on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
> 
> In 1953, without any lapse of time, Shoghi Effendi launched the Bahá’í
> community on the most ambitious undertaking in its history-a global plan
> which he termed a “Ten Year World Crusade.” This plan would conclude in
> 1963, the centenary of the declaration of Bahá’u’lláh in the Garden of
> Riḍván. One hundred and thirty-two new countries and major territories
> were to be opened to the faith and the existing communities in 120
> countries and territories were to be expanded. National spiritual assemblies
> were to be established in most countries in Europe and Latin America, and
> vast increases were called for in the number of assemblies, believers, and
> property endowments. This plan, like those before, was achieved on
> schedule (indeed was far exceeded), but under circumstances very different
> from any the Bahá’í community might have anticipated.
> 
> In early November 1957, while on a visit to England to purchase
> furnishings for the Bahá’í archives building on Mount Carmel, Shoghi
> Effendi contracted Asian flu. On November 4, he died of a heart attack,
> leaving the Bahá’í world stunned and temporarily distracted, its ten-year
> plan only half completed.
> 
> The Guardianship was theoretically a continuous one. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will
> and Testament authorized the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith to appoint a
> successor from among the direct descendants of Bahá’u’lláh but indicated
> certain qualities such a successor must possess. Shoghi Effendi died without
> designating a successor, as apparently no other members of the family met
> the demanding spiritual requirements laid down in the Covenant of
> Bahá’u’lláh and in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. There would,
> therefore, be no second Guardian; the only other institution endowed with
> the authority to assume the leadership of the Bahá’í community was the
> Universal House of Justice—a body which had yet to be elected.104
> 
> Three interrelated factors provided an answer to the dilemma facing the
> Bahá’í world: (1) from statements Shoghi Effendi had made, it was
> apparent that he considered that conditions would be ready for the election
> of the Universal House of Justice when the ten-year plan was successfully
> completed; (2) in the meantime, the Bahá’í community would receive the
> basic guidance it required from the detailed plan already laid down by
> Shoghi Effendi; and (3) finally, in one of his last messages to the Bahá’í
> world, he had named the Hands of the Cause as the “Chief Stewards” of the
> faith and called on them to collaborate closely with the national spiritual
> assemblies in assuring that the ten-year plan was carried out and that the
> unity of the faith was protected.105
> 
> Heartened by this last message, the Hands of the Cause organized their
> work around a series of annual “Conclaves.” These consultations produced
> a number of major statements, including the formal declaration that Shoghi
> Effendi had left no will and had appointed no heir to the Guardianship
> (Conclave of 1957), and the announcement that the Universal House of
> Justice would be elected by the membership of all the national spiritual
> assemblies of the Bahá’ís of the world in 1963 (Conclave of 1959).
> By April 1961 twenty-one new national spiritual assemblies were
> established in Latin America, and a year later an additional eleven were
> elected in Europe. The remaining goals of the ten-year plan were likewise
> either accomplished or surpassed. In the spring of 1963, precisely one
> hundred years after Bahá’u’lláh first declared his mission to a handful of
> followers in the Garden of Riḍván, the members of the fifty-six elected
> national spiritual assemblies around the world carried out the first election
> of the Universal House of Justice. In a remarkable gesture of renunciation,
> the Hands of the Cause disqualified themselves from serving as elected
> members of the supreme administrative institution of the Bahá’í
> community.
> 
> For Bahá’ís, the first election of the Universal House of Justice represented
> an event of transcendent importance. After more than a century of struggle,
> persecution, and recurrent internal crises, and through democratic electoral
> processes, the Bahá’í community had succeeded in bringing into existence a
> permanent institution for the guidance of all the affairs of the faith.
> Moreover, its establishment had been conceived by Bahá’u’lláh himself and
> was based strictly on principles laid down in his writings and in those of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The cosmopolitan membership of the first Universal House
> of Justice seemed particularly appropriate to the institution’s nature and
> functions: the nine members from four continents represented three major
> religious backgrounds (Jewish, Christian, and Muslim) as well as several
> ethnic origins.106
> 
> Beyond its institutional importance, the establishment of the Universal
> House of Justice symbolized the element which Bahá’ís regard as the
> essence of their faith: unity. The emergence of the Universal House of
> Justice as the unchallenged authority in all the affairs of the community
> meant that the Bahá’í Faith had remained united through the most critical
> period of a religion’s history, the vulnerable first century during which
> schism almost traditionally takes root.
> 
> As the stories of Mírzá Yaḥyá, Muḥammad-‘Alí, and Ibrahim Kheiralla
> amply demonstrate, many abortive efforts were made to divide the Bahá’í
> community during this critical period. It is an impressive testimony to the
> successive leadership of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi,
> that such efforts failed.107 With the establishment of an accepted permanent
> authoritative body to which all individual believers and administrative
> bodies at the local and national levels within the Bahá’í community were
> subject, the unity of the community assumed an institutional form that
> directly involved every believer.108
> The election of the Universal House of Justice opened the way to the
> resumption of two major activities initially undertaken by the Guardian: (1)
> the creation of new institutions and administrative agencies as the needs of
> a rapidly expanding faith dictated; and (2) the elaboration of new global
> teaching plans for continuing work on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s vision of a “spiritual
> conquest of the planet.”
> 
> In 1964, the year following its first election, the Universal House of Justice
> launched a nine-year plan that was completed on schedule in 1973, the
> centennial anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas or
> Most Holy Book. Since then, six international plans have been successfully
> achieved under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice. The current
> five-year plan, launched in 2001, begins a series of five-year plans that will
> carry the Bahá’í community well into the twenty-first century.
> 5. Basic Teachings
> 
> THREE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
> 
> In discussing the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith, we turn first to an
> examination of three basic principles: (1) the oneness of God; (2) the
> oneness of humankind; and (3) the fundamental unity of religion.
> 
> THE ONENESS OF GOD
> 
> The Bahá’í belief in one God means that the universe and all creatures and
> forces within it have been created by one single superhuman and
> supernatural Being. This Being, whom we call God, has absolute control
> over his creation (omnipotence) as well as perfect and complete knowledge
> of it (omniscience). Although we may have different concepts of God’s
> nature, although we may pray to him in different languages and call him by
> different names—Allah or Yahweh, God or Brahma—nevertheless, we are
> speaking about the same unique Being.
> Extolling God’s act of creation, Bahá’u’lláh said:
> 
> All-praise to the unity of God, and all honor to Him, the sovereign
> Lord, the incomparable and all-glorious Ruler of the universe, Who,
> out of utter nothingness, hath created the reality of all things, Who,
> from naught, hath brought into being the most refined and subtle
> elements of His creation, and Who, rescuing His creatures from the
> abasement of remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath
> received them into His kingdom of incorruptible glory. Nothing short
> of His all-encompassing grace, his all-pervading mercy, could have
> possibly achieved it.109
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh taught that God is too great and too subtle a being for the finite
> mind ever to understand him adequately or to construct an accurate image
> of him:
> 
> How wondrous is the unity of the Living, the Ever-Abiding God–a
> unity which is exalted above all limitations, that transcendeth the
> comprehension of all created things! . . . How lofty hath been His
> incorruptible Essence, how completely independent of the knowledge
> of all created things, and how immensely exalted will it remain above
> the praise of all the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth!110
> THE ONENESS OF HUMANKIND
> 
> The second basic Bahá’í principle is the oneness of humankind. This means
> that the entire human race is one unified, distinct species, an organic unit.
> This one human race is the “apogee of creation,” the highest form of life
> and consciousness which God has created; for among God’s creatures, only
> human beings have the capacity to be aware of God’s existence and to
> commune with his spirit:
> 
> Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He
> [God], through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign
> Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction to know Him
> and to love Him-a capacity that must needs be regarded as the
> generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of
> creation. . . . Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for
> so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.111
> 
> The oneness of humankind also implies that all peoples have the same
> basic, God-given capacities. Physical differences such as skin color or hair
> texture are superficial and have nothing to do with any supposed superiority
> of one ethnic group over another. All theories of racial superiority are
> rejected by Bahá’í teachings as founded on false imagination and
> ignorance.112
> 
> Bahá’ís believe that humankind has always constituted one species, but that
> prejudice, ignorance, power-seeking, and egotism have prevented many
> people from recognizing and accepting this oneness. The essential mission
> of Bahá’u’lláh was to change this situation and to bring about the universal
> consciousness of the oneness of humankind. Bahá’ís believe that the
> organic unit which is humankind has undergone a collective growth process
> under the Fatherhood of God. Much as a single organism attains maturity in
> successive stages of development, so humankind has gradually evolved
> towards its collective maturity.
> 
> The basic expression of man’s social evolution is our capacity to organize
> society on ever higher levels of unity with greater specialization of the
> individual components, and with a consequent increase in the
> interdependence and the need for cooperation among the specialized parts.
> The family, the tribe, the city-state, the nation—these represent some of the
> signal stages in social evolution. The next stage in this collective growth
> process, representing the culmination of human evolution, is world unity:
> the organization of society as a planetary civilization.
> Shoghi Effendi spoke of this Bahá’í teaching in the following way:
> 
> The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all
> the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve—is no mere outburst of ignorant
> emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope.... Its message
> is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily
> with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the
> states and nations as members of one human family.... It implies an
> organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as
> the world has not yet experienced. ... It calls for no less than the
> reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world....
> 
> It represents the consummation of human evolution—an evolution that
> has had its earliest beginnings in the birth of family life, its subsequent
> development in the achievement of tribal solidarity, leading in turn to
> the constitution of the city-state, and expanding later into the institution
> of independent and sovereign nations.
> 
> The principle of the Oneness of Mankind, as proclaimed by
> Bahá’u’lláh, carries with it no more and no less than a solemn assertion
> that attainment to this final stage in this stupendous evolution is not
> only necessary but inevitable, that its realization is fast approaching,
> and that nothing short of a power that is born of God can succeed in
> establishing it.113
> 
> Thus the principle of the oneness of humankind implies not only a new
> individual consciousness, but the establishment of the unity of nations, of
> world government, and ultimately of a planetary civilization. Accordingly,
> it is not sufficient that humankind simply acknowledge its oneness while
> continuing to live in a disunited world full of conflict, prejudice, and hatred.
> We must express unity by building a truly universal and unified social
> system based on spiritual principles. The achievement of such a system
> represents the God-directed goal of human social evolution:
> 
> . . . the object of life to a Bahá’í is to promote the oneness of mankind.
> The whole object of our lives is bound up with the lives of all human
> beings; not a personal salvation we are seeking, but a universal one. . . .
> Our aim is to produce a world civilization which will in turn react on the
> character of the individual. It is, in a way, the inverse of Christianity,
> which started with the individual unit and through it reached out to the
> conglomerate life of man.114
> 
> Thus, from the Bahá’í point of view, the fundamental, spiritual purpose of
> society is to create a milieu favorable to the healthy growth and
> development of all its members.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh proposed a detailed system for the establishment of world
> unity, which is discussed in subsequent chapters of the present work. In a
> general way, what he proposed was the creation of new social structures
> based on participation and consultation. These new structures would serve
> the primary purpose of eliminating conflicts of interest and thus reducing
> the potential for disunity at all levels of society. The new structures
> envisaged include a number of potent international organs of world
> government: a world legislature with genuine representation and authority,
> an international court having final jurisdiction in all disputes between
> nations, and an international police force.
> 
> He taught that the creation of these new social structures must be
> accompanied by the individual and collective consciousness of the
> fundamental oneness of humankind:
> 
> Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one
> with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and
> fellowship.... So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the
> whole earth.115
> And in yet another passage:
> 
> It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather
> for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and
> mankind its citizens.116
> 
> Unity, in the Bahá’í conception, is a unity in diversity rather than
> uniformity. It is not by the suppression of differences that we will arrive at
> unity, but rather by an increased awareness of and respect for the intrinsic
> value of each separate culture, and indeed, of each individual. It is not
> diversity itself which is deemed the cause of conflict, but rather our
> immature attitude towards it, our intolerance and prejudice. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> expressed this viewpoint in the following passage:
> 
> . . . differences are of two kinds. One is the cause of annihilation and is
> like the antipathy existing among warring nations and conflicting tribes
> who seek each other’s destruction, uprooting one another’s families,
> depriving one another of rest and comfort and unleashing carnage. The
> other kind which is a token of diversity is the essence of perfection and
> the cause of the appearance of the bestowals of the Most Glorious
> Lord.
> Consider the flowers of a garden: though differing in kind, color, form
> and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one
> spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of
> one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm, and addeth unto their
> beauty....
> 
> How unpleasing to the eye if all the flowers and plants, the leaves and
> blossoms, the fruits, the branches and the trees of that garden were all
> of the same shape and color! Diversity of hues, form and shape,
> enricheth and adorneth the garden, and heighteneth the effect thereof.
> In like manner, when divers shades of thought, temperament and
> character, are brought together under the power and influence of one
> central agency, the beauty and glory of human perfection will be
> revealed and made manifest. Naught but the celestial potency of the
> Word of God, which ruleth and transcendeth the realities of all things,
> is capable of harmonizing the divergent thoughts, sentiments, ideas,
> and convictions of the children of men.117
> 
> Because the establishment of world unity and a planetary civilization
> represents the consummation of humankind’s development on this planet, it
> represents the “coming of age” of humanity, the maturity of the human race.
> Shoghi Effendi expressed this idea as follows:
> The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, whose supreme mission is none other
> but the achievement of this organic and spiritual unity of the whole
> body of nations, should, if we be faithful to its implications, be
> regarded as signalizing through its advent the coming of age of the
> entire human race. It should be viewed . . . as marking the last and
> highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man’s collective life on
> this planet. The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of
> world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture . . .
> should, by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is
> concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human
> society, though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result
> of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and develop.
> 
> The different stages in humankind’s development are regarded as quite
> similar to the stages in the life of an individual. The current stage is
> described as that of adolescence, the stage immediately preceding full
> maturity:
> 
> The long ages of infancy and childhood, through which the human race
> had to pass, have receded into the background. Humanity is now
> experiencing the commotions invariably associated with the most
> turbulent stage of its evolution, the stage of adolescence, when the
> impetuosity of youth and its vehemence reach their climax, and must
> gradually be superseded by the calmness, the wisdom, and the maturity
> that characterize the stage of manhood. Then will the human race reach
> that stature of ripeness which will enable it to acquire all the powers
> and capacities upon which its ultimate development must depend.119
> 
> Speaking of the age of humankind’s full maturity, Shoghi Effendi said:
> 
> That mystic, all-pervasive, yet indefinable change, which we associate
> with the stage of maturity inevitable in the life of the individual ... must
> ... have its counterpart in the evolution of the organization of human
> society. A similar stage must sooner or later be attained in the
> collective life of mankind, producing an even more striking
> phenomenon in world relations, and endowing the whole human race
> with such potentialities of well-being as shall provide, throughout the
> succeeding ages, the chief incentive required for the eventual
> fulfillment of its high destiny.120
> 
> Of course, the history of humanity that we can observe is the history of our
> collective infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Therefore, affirmed
> Bahá’u’lláh, we tend to underestimate the true capacities of the human race.
> But these latent capacities will become evident as humankind achieves its
> maturity:
> 
> Verily I say, in this most mighty Revelation, all the Dispensations of
> the past have attained their highest ... consummation....
> 
> The potentialities inherent in the station of man, the full measure of his
> destiny on earth, the innate excellence of his reality, must all be
> manifested in this promised Day of God.121
> 
> In summary, the Bahá’í principle of the oneness of humankind means that
> the human race represents an organic unit whose collective social life has
> gradually developed by being reorganized on ever-higher levels of unity
> (the family, the tribe, the city-state, the nation). The specific mission of
> Bahá’u’lláh was to provide the impetus for the next stage of this social
> evolution, namely the organization of human society as a planetary
> civilization. This is to be achieved through the development of new social
> structures which reduce and eliminate conflict of interest and by the
> creation of a new level of human consciousness, that of the basic oneness of
> humanity. Moreover, the unification of humankind represents the attainment
> of the stage of maturity or adulthood in the collective life of humankind.
> The Bahá’í community is seen as both the embryo and the prototype of the
> future world civilization. It also provides the individual with an opportunity
> to begin to live the experience of unity and to develop this new
> consciousness. The subject will be treated in more detail in a later chapter.
> 
> THE ONENESS OF RELIGION
> 
> The third basic Bahá’í principle, the unity of religion, is closely related to
> the principle of the oneness of humankind. Our discussion of the concept of
> the organic unity of the human race has suggested that humanity is engaged
> in a collective growth process quite similar to the growth process of an
> individual: just as the individual begins life as a helpless infant and attains
> maturity in successive stages, so humankind began its collective social life
> in a primitive state, gradually attaining maturity. In the case of the
> individual, it is clear that development takes place as a result of the
> education received from parents, teachers, and society in general. But what
> is the motive force in humankind’s collective evolution?
> 
> The answer the Bahá’í Faith provides to this question is “revealed religion.”
> In one of his major works, the Kitáb-i-Íqán (the Book of Certitude),
> Bahá’u’lláh explained that God, the Creator, has intervened and will
> continue to intervene in human history by means of chosen spokesmen or
> messengers. These messengers, whom Bahá’u’lláh called “Manifestations
> of God,” are principally the founders of the major revealed religions, such
> as Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and so forth. It is the
> spirit released by the coming of these Manifestations, together with the
> influence of their teachings and the social systems established by their laws
> and precepts, that enable humankind to progress in its collective evolution.
> Simply put: the Manifestations of God are the chief educators of humanity.
> 
> With regard to the various religious systems that have appeared in human
> history, Bahá’u’lláh has said:
> 
> These principles and laws, these firmly-established and mighty
> systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one
> Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the
> varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated.122
> 
> Thus the principle of the unity of religion means that all of the great
> religious founders—the Manifestations—have come from God and that all
> of the religious systems established by them are part of a single divine plan
> directed by God.
> In reality, there is only one religion, the religion of God. This one religion is
> continually evolving, and each particular religious system represents a stage
> in the evolution of the whole. The Bahá’í Faith represents the current stage
> in the evolution of religion.
> 
> To emphasize the idea that all of the teachings and actions of the
> Manifestations are directed by God and do not originate from natural,
> human sources, Bahá’u’lláh used the term “revelation” to describe the
> phenomenon that occurs each time a Manifestation appears. In particular,
> the writings of the Manifestation represent the infallible Word of God.
> Because these writings remain long after the earthly life of the
> Manifestation is finished, they constitute an especially important part of the
> phenomenon of revelation. So much is this so, that the term “revelation” is
> sometimes used in a restricted sense to refer to the writings and words of
> the Manifestation.
> 
> Religious history is seen as a succession of revelations from God, and the
> term “progressive revelation” is used to describe this process. Thus,
> according to Bahá’ís, progressive relation is the motive force of human
> progress, and the Manifestation Bahá’u’lláh is the most recent instance of
> revelation.123
> To put the Bahá’í concept of religion more clearly in focus, let us compare
> it with some other ways in which religion has been regarded. On one hand
> is the view that the various religious systems result from human striving
> after truth. In this conception, the founders of the great religions do not
> reveal God to us, but are rather philosophers or thinkers, human beings who
> may have progressed farther than others in the discovery of truth. This
> notion excludes the idea of a basic unity of religion since the various
> religious systems are seen as representing different opinions and beliefs
> arrived at by fallible human beings rather than infallible revelations of truth
> from a single source.
> 
> Many orthodox adherents of various religious traditions, on the other hand,
> argue that the prophet or founder of their particular tradition represents a
> true revelation of God to humanity, but that the other religious founders are
> false prophets, or at least essentially inferior to the founder of the tradition
> in question. For example, many Jews believe that Moses was a true
> messenger of God, but that Jesus was not. Similarly, many Christians
> believe in Jesus’ revelation, but consider that Muhammad was a false
> prophet and hold that Moses was inferior in status to Christ.
> 
> The Bahá’í principle of the oneness of religion differs fundamentally from
> both of these traditional concepts. Bahá’u’lláh attributed the differences in
> some teachings of the great religions not to any human fallibility of the
> founders, but rather to the different requirements of the ages in which the
> revelations occurred. In addition, he maintained that there has been a great
> deal of human error introduced into religion through the corruption of texts
> and the addition of extraneous ideas. Moreover, Bahá’ís consider that no
> one of the founders is superior to another. Shoghi Effendi has summarized
> this view in the following words:
> 
> The fundamental principle enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh, the followers of
> His Faith firmly believe, is that religious truth is not absolute but
> relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive
> process, that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin,
> that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and
> purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of
> one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only
> in the nonessential aspects of their doctrines, and that their missions
> represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human
> society.124
> 
> THE BAHÁ’Í REVELATION – THE SACRED WRITINGS
> Bahá’u’lláh’s writings include over one hundred books and tablets, most of
> which were written under the difficult conditions of imprisonment
> described earlier. This vast body of literature comprises the Bahá’í
> revelation. The writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the interpretations of Shoghi
> Effendi have, for Bahá’ís, a derived but equally binding authority.
> 
> The subject matter of the writings of Bahá’u’lláh falls into several
> categories: (1) In one category are basic concepts, typified by the Kitáb-i-
> Íqán with its explanation of the theme of progressive revelation. (2) In
> another category are principles of human life and conduct, as outlined in the
> exhortations by Bahá’u’lláh speaking as God’s representative on earth. In
> these he explained the nature and purpose of life, described its processes,
> counseled men to act in accordance with the Divine Will, and gave both
> warnings and promises related to human response. (3) A third category
> consists of laws and ordinances which are similar to the counsels except
> that, for Bahá’ís, they are binding and obligatory. (4) Further, Bahá’u’lláh
> established social and administrative institutions, carefully setting the
> limitations of their authority as well as their prerogatives and powers.
> 
> The last two categories, the laws and the institutions, together constitute a
> system called the “Administrative Order of Bahá’u’lláh.” The purpose of
> the Administrative Order is to safeguard the unity of the Bahá’í community
> as well as to serve as an instrument for the establishment of world unity.
> Later chapters of this book deal with the Administrative Order in greater
> depth.
> 
> Other categories of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings that can be readily distinguished
> are the devotional, the mystical, the philosophical, and the
> historiographical. The variety is great and attests to the extraordinary range
> of Bahá’u’lláh’s concern with the needs of the individual and society.
> 
> Most of the major principles to be found in these writings may be regarded
> as auxiliary to the realization of the fundamental Bahá’í goal of achieving a
> unified world order. Their application would serve to reduce conflict
> between groups and between individuals and thus create a social climate
> favorable to the development of unity. Shoghi Effendi provided a summary
> statement of some of the major Bahá’í principles. It is quoted in full to
> serve as a basis for further discussion:
> 
> The Bahá’í Faith recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets,
> upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all
> forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental
> purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go
> hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate
> basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society. It inculcates the
> principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes,
> advocates compulsory education, abolishes extremes of poverty and
> wealth, exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of
> worship, recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international
> language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment
> and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.125
> 
> It is in this context that certain of these principles will now be considered in
> greater detail.
> 
> THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF TRUTH
> 
> One of the main sources of conflict in the world today is the fact that many
> people blindly and uncritically follow various traditions, movements, and
> opinions. God has given each human being a mind and the capacity to
> differentiate truth from falsehood. If one fails to use his reasoning capacity
> and chooses instead to accept without question certain opinions and ideas,
> either out of admiration for or fear of those who hold them, then he is
> neglecting his basic moral responsibility as a human being.
> Moreover, when people act in this way, they often become fanatically
> attached to some particular opinion or tradition and thus intolerant of those
> who do not share it. Such attachments can, in turn, lead to conflict. History
> has witnessed conflict and even bloodshed over slight alterations in
> religious practice, or a minor change in the interpretation of doctrine.
> 
> Personal search for truth enables the individual to know why he adheres to a
> given ideology or doctrine. Bahá’ís believe that, as there is only one reality,
> all people will gradually discover its different facets and will ultimately
> come to mutual understanding and unity, provided they sincerely seek after
> truth. In this connection, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:
> 
> Being one, truth cannot be divided, and the differences that appear to
> exist among the nations only result from their attachment to prejudice.
> If only men would search out truth, they would find themselves united.
> 
> And again:
> 
> The fact that we imagine ourselves to be right and everybody else
> wrong is the greatest of all obstacles in the path towards unity, and
> unity is necessary if we would reach truth, for truth is one.127
> ABANDONING PREJUDICE AND SUPERSTITION
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh gave special attention to the problem of prejudice. A prejudice
> is a strong emotional attachment to an idea, regardless of whether or not the
> idea is reasonable. A common form of prejudice occurs when a person
> strongly identifies with some group to which that person belongs and which
> he or she regards as superior to other groups. Consequently, the person
> maintains a negative image of all those outside of the group, without regard
> for their individual qualities. Group prejudices can be based on racial,
> economic, social, linguistic, or other such criteria. They cause conflict
> because they create disunity between groups. The hatred created by
> prejudice can, and often has, led to social unrest, war, and even genocide.
> Bahá’u’lláh specifically counseled his followers to make an active effort to
> rid themselves of all prejudices and superstitions about human nature which
> breed such aversions.
> 
> In his primary ethical work, the Hidden Words, Bahá’u’lláh incites us to
> reflect on this question:
> 
> O CHILDREN OF MEN!
> Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one
> should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts
> how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same
> substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with
> the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that
> from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of
> oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest.128
> 
> THE UNITY OF RELIGION AND SCIENCE
> 
> A major source of conflict and disunity in the world today is the widespread
> opinion that there is some basic opposition between science and religion,
> that scientific truth contradicts religion on some points, and that one must
> choose between being a religious person, a believer in God, or a scientist, a
> follower of reason.
> 
> The Bahá’í teachings stress the fundamental oneness of science and
> religion. Such a view is implicit in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement, quoted above,
> that truth (or reality) is one. For if truth is indeed one, it is not possible for
> something to be scientifically false and religiously true. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> expressed forcefully this idea in the following passage:
> If religious beliefs and opinions are found contrary to the standards of
> science, they are mere superstitions and imaginations; for the antithesis
> of knowledge is ignorance, and the child of ignorance is superstition.
> Unquestionably there must be agreement between true religion and
> science. If a question be found contrary to reason, faith and belief in it
> are impossible, and there is no outcome but wavering and
> vacillation.129
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh affirmed that human intelligence and reasoning powers are a
> gift from God. Science results from our systematic use of these God-given
> powers. The truths of science are thus discovered truths. The truths of
> prophetic religion are revealed truths, i.e., truths which God has shown to
> us without our having to discover them for ourselves. Bahá’ís consider that
> it is the same unique God who is both the Author of revelation and the
> Creator of the reality which science investigates, and hence there can be no
> contradiction between the two.
> 
> Contradictions between science and traditional religious beliefs are
> attributed to human fallibility and arrogance. Over the centuries, distortions
> have gradually infiltrated the doctrines of various religious systems and
> diluted the pure teachings as originally given by the Manifestations who
> were their respective founders. With time these distortions became
> increasingly difficult to distinguish from the original message. Similarly,
> unsupported speculations of various schools of scientific thought have at
> times become more popular and influential than the results of rigorous
> scientific research and have further blurred the picture.
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá affirmed that religion and science are, in fact,
> complementary:
> 
> Religion and science are the two wings upon which man’s intelligence
> can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is
> not possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with
> the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of
> superstition, whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone
> he would also make no progress, but fall into the despairing slough of
> materialism. All religions of the present day have fallen into
> superstitious practices, out of harmony alike with the true principles of
> the teaching they represent and with the scientific discoveries of the
> time.130
> 
> In another passage from the same work, he affirmed that the result of the
> practice of the unity of science and religion will be a strengthening of
> religion rather than its weakening as is feared by many religious apologists:
> When religion, shorn of its superstitions, traditions, and unintelligent
> dogmas, shows its conformity with science, then will there be a great
> unifying, cleansing force in the world which will sweep before it all
> wars, disagreements, discords and struggles—and then will mankind
> be united in the power of the Love of God.131
> 
> THE EQUALITY OF MEN AND WOMEN
> 
> Whereas many religious and philosophical traditions teach that women
> should be subordinate to men in certain aspects of social life, or even that
> women are naturally inferior to men, the Bahá’í Faith teaches the equality
> of men and women. Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stressed that
> women have all the intellectual abilities of men and will in the future more
> clearly demonstrate their capacity for intellectual and scientific achievement
> in all aspects of human endeavor. The only reason why women have not yet
> reached this level of achievement is because they have not received
> adequate educational and social opportunities. Furthermore, men, because
> of greater physical strength, have physically dominated women through the
> ages and thus have prevented them from developing their true potential:
> The world in the past has been ruled by force and man has dominated
> over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities
> both of body and mind. But the scales are already shifting, force is
> losing its weight, and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual
> qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining
> ascendancy. Hence the new age will be an age less masculine and more
> permeated with the feminine ideals, or, to speak more exactly, will be
> an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization
> will be more properly balanced.132
> 
> An important aspect of world unity will be the attainment of a greater
> balance between feminine and masculine influences on society. In fact, it
> will be largely as a result of this greater feminine influence that war will be
> eliminated and permanent peace attained:
> 
> In past ages humanity has been defective and inefficient because it has
> been incomplete. War and its ravages have blighted the world; the
> education of woman will be a mighty step toward its abolition and
> ending, for she will use her whole influence against war.... In truth, she
> will be the greatest factor in establishing universal peace and
> international arbitration. Assuredly, woman will abolish warfare among
> mankind.133
> UNIVERSAL EDUCATION
> 
> As with many other themes in his teachings, Bahá’u’lláh provided practical
> guidelines to his call for equality of opportunity between the sexes. People
> are urged to assure the education of all children. If, however, financial or
> other family difficulties prevent this in some instances, and if the
> community cannot meet the need, preference must unhesitatingly be given
> to the education of female children. This accomplishes two objectives. It
> assists women to overcome the handicap of past inequalities. It also assures
> that, since mothers are the first teachers in society, the next generation will
> derive the greatest possible benefit from whatever education a family or
> community can provide.
> 
> ECONOMIC JUSTICE: ABOLISHING THE EXTREMES OF POVERTY AND WEALTH
> 
> The unity of humankind foreseen by Bahá’u’lláh is unity based on justice.
> One of the most striking examples of injustice in the world today is the
> grave imbalance in economic and material conditions. A relatively small
> percentage of humankind has immense wealth. This minority maintains
> essential control over the means of production and distribution, while the
> majority of the world’s population lives in dire poverty and misery. This
> imbalance exists both within nations and between nations; some highly
> industrialized nations hold immense wealth, while others remain deprived
> and undeveloped. Moreover, the gap that separates rich and poor continues
> to widen each year, which indicates that existing economic systems are
> incapable of restoring a just balance. Bahá’u’lláh asserted that economic
> injustice is a moral evil and as such is condemned by God. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> wrote, “When we see poverty allowed to reach a condition of starvation, it
> is a sure sign that somewhere we shall find tyranny.”134
> 
> In the Hidden Words, Bahá’u’lláh addressed the perpetrators of tyranny in
> these terms:
> 
> O OPPRESSORS ON EARTH!
> 
> Withdraw your hands from tyranny, for I have pledged Myself not to
> forgive any man’s injustice.135
> 
> Speaking specifically of economic injustice, he said:
> 
> O CHILDREN OF DUST!
> 
> Tell the rich of the midnight sighing of the poor, lest heedlessness lead
> them into the path of destruction, and deprive them of the Tree of
> Wealth.136
> One of the basic causes of economic injustice is excessive and wasteful
> competition. Although limited competition no doubt served as a useful
> stimulus to production during the period of history when means of
> production were less developed, cooperation must now replace it. The
> human and material resources at our disposal must be used for the long-
> term good of all, not for the short-term profit of a few. This can be done
> only if cooperation replaces competition as the basis of organized economic
> activity.
> 
> Cooperation must occur at all levels of the community. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> explained that even a single enterprise should reflect the essential
> partnership of workers and owners. Specifically, the workers in an
> enterprise should all share in the profits of the enterprise: each worker
> should receive his salary plus a fixed percentage of the profits. In this way,
> both the workers and the owners are engaged in a cooperative venture in
> which conflict of interest is eliminated. The present system in which all
> profit goes to the owners creates conflict between owners and workers,
> leading to economic imbalance, injustice, and often exploitation.
> 
> Concerning competition and power-seeking, Bahá’u’lláh wrote that:
> Ever since the seeking of preference and distinction came into play, the
> world hath been laid waste. It hath become desolate.... Indeed, man is
> noble, inasmuch as each one is a repository of the signs of God.
> Nevertheless to regard oneself as superior in knowledge, learning or
> virtue, or to exalt oneself or seek preference, is a grievous
> transgression.137
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that cooperation gives life to society just as the life of an
> organism is maintained by the cooperation of the various elements of which
> it is composed:
> 
> the base of life is this mutual aid and helpfulness, and the cause of
> destruction and non-existence would be the interruption of this mutual
> assistance. The more the world aspires to civilization the more this
> important matter of cooperation becomes manifest.138
> 
> Within the framework of an economic system based on cooperation, the
> Bahá’í teachings accept the idea of private ownership of property and the
> need for private economic initiative. Moreover, the economic principles
> taught by Bahá’u’lláh do not imply that all individuals should receive the
> same income. There are natural differences in human needs and capacities,
> and some categories of service to society (education, for example) merit
> greater recompense than others.
> 
> However, all degrees should be established within absolute limits. There
> must be, on the one hand, a minimum income level that meets the basic
> needs for human well-being and of which all are assured. If, for whatever
> reason (incapacity or other misfortune), the revenue of a given individual is
> inadequate to meet his recognized needs, he would be compensated from
> the public treasury. On the other hand, there should be an absolute
> maximum income level. Through progressive taxation and other measures,
> an individual would be prevented from accumulating wealth beyond this
> level. According to explicit statements of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “millionaires”
> would not exist in a society based on Bahá’í principles because it would be
> impossible to accumulate vast and unnecessary wealth.
> 
> Certain differences in salaries would continue to exist in order to enable
> society to encourage the efforts of those (such as doctors or farmers) whose
> services are especially vital to the welfare of the community; but these
> differences would be established within well-defined absolute limits in
> order to guarantee that no one would suffer deprivation and that no one
> would accumulate excessive wealth. Thus Bahá’í economic teachings
> contain some elements in common with the various existing systems, but
> they envision a new and unique economic order based on a just distribution
> of goods and services and which, in its global scope, has no known
> equivalent.139
> 
> THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION OF SOCIETY
> 
> In discussing economic and social questions, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> stressed that the reorganization of economic activity to reduce conflict of
> interest is only part of the solution. The ultimate root of economic injustice
> is human greed. Thus attitudes must also change in a fundamental way. If
> individuals remain selfish, immature, greedy, and unspiritual, even the most
> perfect economic scheme will not work. A satisfactory solution to the
> world’s present economic calamity lies in a profound change of heart and
> mind which only religion can produce: “The fundamentals of the whole
> economic condition are divine in nature and are associated with the world
> of the heart and spirit.”140
> 
> This principle is seen as valid not only for economics, but for the whole
> range of human activities and problems. The Bahá’í teachings insist that
> man’s fundamental nature is spiritual, and that there can be no lasting
> solution to any human problem that does not take this fact into account.
> Everything is ultimately related to the spiritual purpose of human existence,
> which is the knowledge and love of God, and the development of spiritual
> qualities and virtues.
> 
> This is why Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá provided guidance covering
> such a broad scope of human activities. There can be no sharp division
> drawn between the secular and the religious aspects of life. All of life must
> be lived from the spiritual perspective if it is to be lived successfully.
> 
> Since religion, represented by the progressive revelation of God to
> humankind, has humanity’s spiritual dimension as its special focus, it
> follows that only true religion can form the basis of society, and that all
> purely human attempts to solve the world’s problems without reference to
> religion and the will of God for humanity are doomed to failure. In this
> connection, Shoghi Effendi wrote:
> 
> Humanity ... has, alas, strayed too far and suffered too great a decline
> to be redeemed through the unaided efforts of the best among its
> recognized rulers and statesmen—however disinterested their motives,
> however concerted their action.... No scheme which the calculations of
> the highest statesmanship may yet devise; no doctrine which the most
> distinguished exponents of economic theory may hope to advance; no
> principle which the most ardent of moralists may strive to inculcate,
> can provide, in the last resort, adequate foundations upon which the
> future of a distracted world can be built.141
> 
> AN AUXILIARY INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
> 
> The multiplicity of languages that characterizes the modern world is a
> major impediment to world unity. On the level of practical communications,
> the existence of so many different language groups cuts the free flow of
> information and makes it difficult for the average unilingual individual to
> obtain a universal perspective on world events. There is also the tendency
> on the part of a given group or nation to be attached to its language and
> literature and subsequently to consider its own as superior to that of other
> peoples. This linguistic chauvinism frequently leads to conflict.
> 
> It is therefore not surprising that Bahá’u’lláh’s prescription for the
> unification of humankind included the adoption of a universal auxiliary
> language. He urged that one single language be taught as a second language
> in all the school systems of the world. Thus, in one generation, everyone
> would learn his or her mother tongue plus the universal language. This
> world language could either be an invented one, such as Esperanto, or an
> existing natural language. The advantage of a natural language is that a
> certain portion of the world’s people may already have learned to speak it.
> However, an invented language would have the advantage of being
> emotionally neutral and of allowing for a more simplified and regular
> grammar.142
> 
> Bahá’ís are committed to the principle of establishing such a universal
> auxiliary language, but not to one specific language over any other, whether
> natural or invented. The choice of the language to be used would be made
> by an international committee of experts and ratified by the nations of the
> world.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh stressed that the universal language would be an auxiliary one,
> i.e., that it would not suppress existing natural languages. The concept of
> unity in diversity must be applied to differences of language in the same
> way as it is applied to other differences. Since the pressures for the
> assimilation of minority linguistic groups come from the natural
> aggrandizement of majority language groups, the existence of a universal
> auxiliary language would help to preserve minority languages and thus
> minority cultural patterns.143
> 
> THE TWO ASPECTS OF REVELATION
> Fundamental to an understanding of all Bahá’í teachings is a grasp of the
> role that revelation plays in human history. In their discussion of the
> concept of progressive revelation, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained
> that each revelation has two fundamental purposes. First, each serves in a
> general way to increase our knowledge of God and of God’s Will for us, our
> knowledge of others, and our knowledge of ourselves. But each revelation
> comes at a particular time and place in social evolution, a time when
> humanity is confronted with particular problems and has specific needs.
> Thus each revelation has the secondary purpose of providing humankind
> with practical guidance and the knowledge necessary to meet current
> challenges.
> 
> The only real difference between the two purposes is that one is general and
> the other specific. In the first instance, the Manifestation addresses
> humankind on such universal themes and perennial aspects of life as
> suffering, birth, death, fear, and love. Experiences in these areas are the
> elements of every human life, in whatever time or place it is lived. In the
> second instance, the Manifestation addresses humankind within the
> dimensions of a given time and place.
> 
> Therefore, in order to fill the requirements of each new age, the guiding
> ordinances of each revelation have two aspects: (1) the universal (or
> eternal); and (2) the social (or temporary). ‘Abdu’l-Bahá described these
> two aspects of religion as follows:
> 
> The divine religions embody two kinds of ordinances. First, there are
> those which constitute essential, or spiritual, teachings of the Word of
> God. These are faith in God, the acquirement of the virtues which
> characterize perfect manhood, praiseworthy moralities, the acquisition
> of the bestowals and bounties emanating from the divine effulgences—
> in brief, the ordinances which concern the realm of morals and ethics.
> This is the fundamental aspect of the religion of God, and this is of the
> highest importance because knowledge of God is the fundamental
> requirement of man.... This is the essential foundation of all the divine
> religions, the reality itself, common to all....
> 
> Second, there are laws and ordinances which are temporary and
> nonessential. These concern human transactions and relations. They are
> accidental and subject to change according to the exigencies of time
> and place. These ordinances are neither permanent nor fundamental. ...
> 
> The accidental or nonessential laws which regulate the transactions of
> the social body and everyday affairs of life are changeable and subject
> to abrogation.144
> One of the major sources of conflict between different religious systems is
> the failure of their followers to distinguish between the two aspects of
> revelation. Since social laws are subject to change as humanity evolves,
> believers are bound to become upset if they regard these laws as
> unchanging absolutes. Jesus, for example, changed a number of Jewish
> social laws, to the great distress of the orthodox followers of the Mosaic
> dispensation.
> 
> Some of the Bahá’í principles discussed in the preceding sections of this
> chapter fall into the category of social teachings. According to Baha’i
> belief, the single most important social problem of our age is disunity.
> Principles such as the establishment of a universal auxiliary language are
> clearly intended as practical aids to the establishment of world unity.
> 
> However, unity is an expression of love, while disunity is a form of hatred.
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said that love is the fundamental teaching given by God
> to humanity and is a universal principle common to all religions. Thus the
> many social problems related to disunity derive, in the final analysis, from a
> lack of spirituality. Bahá’ís therefore regard many of the principles taught
> by Bahá’u’lláh (e.g., the equality of men and women) both as expressions
> of universal spiritual truths and also as essential factors in the solution of
> current social problems.
> 6. God, His Manifestations, and Humankind
> 
> On the basis of the discussion of the Bahá’í teachings in the previous
> chapter, the present chapter will look more deeply at what Bahá’u’lláh
> taught about the great concerns that lie at the heart of all religions: What
> does the Bahá’í Faith see as the purpose of human existence? What is the
> true nature of humankind, and what role does religion play in our spiritual
> development? What is “good” and what is “evil”? What are our
> responsibilities to God, and what is the spiritual meaning of life? Finally,
> what is really meant by the term “Manifestation of God,” and how does this
> Bahá’í concept relate to ideas of divine revelation with which one may be
> familiar from the teachings of other major faiths?
> 
> THE BAHÁ’Í CONCEPTION OF HUMAN NATURE
> 
> Many people live their lives without ever reflecting on life itself or its
> meaning for them. Their lives may be full of activities. They may marry,
> have children, run a business, or become scientists or musicians, without
> ever obtaining any degree of understanding of why they do these things.
> Their lives have no overall purpose to give meaning to separate events, and
> they may have no clear idea of their own nature or identity, of who they
> really are.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh taught that only true religion can give purpose to human
> existence. If there were no Creator, if human life were simply the chance
> product of a thermodynamic system, as many in the world today assert,
> there would be no purpose in life. Each individual human being would
> represent the temporary material existence of a conscious animal who tries
> to move through his or her brief life with as much pleasure and as little pain
> and suffering as possible. It is only in relation to the Creator, and the
> purpose which that Creator has fixed for his creatures, that human existence
> has any meaning. Bahá’u’lláh described God’s purpose for humankind in
> the following way:
> 
> The purpose of God in creating man hath been, and will ever be, to
> enable him to know his Creator and to attain His Presence. To this
> most excellent aim, this supreme objective, all the heavenly Books and
> the divinely-revealed and weighty Scriptures unequivocally bear
> witness.145
> Life should be seen as an eternal process of joyous spiritual discovery and
> growth: in the beginning stages of earthly life, the individual undergoes a
> period of training and education which, if it is successful, furnishes the
> basic intellectual and spiritual tools necessary for continued growth. When
> one attains physical maturity in adulthood, he becomes responsible for his
> further progress, which now depends entirely on the efforts he himself
> makes. Through the daily struggles of material existence, we gradually
> deepen our understanding of the spiritual principles underlying reality, and
> this understanding enables us to relate more effectively to ourselves, to
> others, and to God. After physical death, the individual continues to grow
> and develop in the spiritual world, which is greater than the physical world,
> just as the physical world is greater than the world we inhabit while in our
> mother’s womb.
> 
> This last statement is based on the Bahá’í concept of the soul and of life
> after physical death. According to the Bahá’í teachings, our true nature is
> spiritual. Beyond the physical body, each human being has a rational soul,
> created by God. This soul is a nonmaterial entity, which does not depend on
> the body. Rather, the body serves as its vehicle in the physical world. The
> soul of an individual comes into being at the moment the physical body is
> conceived and continues to exist after the death of the physical body. The
> soul (also called the spirit) of the individual is the seat or locus of his or her
> personality, self, and consciousness.
> 
> The evolution or development of the soul and its capacities is the basic
> purpose of human existence. This evolution is towards God, and its motive
> force is knowledge of God and love for him. As we learn about God, our
> love for him increases, and this, in turn, enables us to attain a closer
> communion with our Creator. Also, as we draw closer to God, our character
> becomes more refined and our actions reflect more and more the attributes
> and qualities of God.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh taught that this potential to reflect the attributes of God is the
> soul’s essential reality. It is the meaning of humanity’s being created “in the
> image of God.” The divine qualities are not external to the soul. They are
> latent within it, just as the color, the fragrance, and the vitality of a flower
> are latent within the seed. They need only to be developed. In the words of
> Bahá’u’lláh:
> 
> Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He [God] hath
> shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory
> of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath
> focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a
> mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been
> singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.146
> 
> The Bahá’í writings refer to the gradual evolution or development of the
> individual soul as “spiritual progress.” Spiritual progress means acquiring
> the capacity to act in conformity with the Will of God and to express the
> attributes and spirit of God in our dealings with ourselves and others.
> Bahá’u’lláh teaches that the only true and enduring happiness for us lies in
> the pursuit of spiritual development.
> 
> A person who has become aware of his or her spiritual nature and who
> consciously strives to progress spiritually is called a “seeker” by
> Bahá’u’lláh. Bahá’u’lláh described some of the qualities of the true seeker:
> 
> That seeker must, at all times, put his trust in God, must renounce the
> peoples of the earth, must detach himself from the world of dust, and
> cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords. He must never seek to exalt
> himself above anyone, must wash away from the tablet of his heart
> every trace of pride and vain-glory, must cling unto patience and
> resignation, observe silence and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is
> a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. Material fire
> consumeth the body, whereas the fire of the tongue devoureth both
> heart and soul. The force of the former lasteth but for a time, whilst the
> effects of the latter endure a century.
> 
> That seeker should, also, regard backbiting as grievous error, and keep
> himself aloof from its dominion, inasmuch as backbiting quencheth the
> light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul. He should be
> content with little, and be freed from all inordinate desire. He should
> treasure the companionship of them that have renounced the world, and
> regard avoidance of boastful and worldly people a precious benefit. At
> the dawn of every day he should commune with God, and with all his
> soul, persevere in the quest of his Beloved.... He should not wish for
> others that which he doth not wish for himself, nor promise that which
> he doth not fulfil. . . . He should forgive the sinful, and never despise
> his low estate, for none knoweth what his own end shall be. How often
> hath a sinner attained, at the hour of death, to the essence of faith, and,
> quaffing the immortal draught, hath taken his flight unto the Concourse
> on high! And how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul’s
> ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire!
> 
> Our purpose in revealing these convincing and weighty utterances is to
> impress upon the seeker that he should regard all else beside God as
> transient, and count all things save Him, Who is the Object of all
> adoration, as utter nothingness.
> 
> These are among the attributes of the exalted, and constitute the hall-
> mark of the spiritually-minded.... When the detached wayfarer and
> sincere seeker hath fulfilled these essential conditions, then and only
> then can he be called a true seeker.147
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh explained that the fundamental, spiritual role of religion is to
> enable us to achieve a true understanding of our own nature and of God’s
> Will and purpose for us. The spiritual teachings sent down to us by God
> through the Manifestations serve to guide us to a proper comprehension of
> the spiritual dynamics of life. These principles enable us to understand the
> laws of existence. Moreover, the very efforts we must make to conform to
> the teachings of the Manifestations serve to develop our spiritual capacities.
> For example, when one makes an effort to rid oneself of prejudice and
> superstition in response to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, the result is an
> increased knowledge of and love for other human beings, and this, in turn,
> helps the individual to live life more effectively.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh stressed that, without the coming of the Manifestations and
> their revelation of God’s laws and teachings, we would not be able to grow
> and develop spiritually. The spiritual meaning of life would remain hidden
> from us, even if we made great efforts to discover it. This is why revealed
> religion is seen by Bahá’ís as the necessary key to successful spiritual
> living.
> 
> Speaking of the Manifestations and their influence on human spiritual
> development, Bahá’u’lláh said:
> 
> Through the Teachings of this Day Star of Truth [i.e., the
> Manifestation] every man will advance and develop until he attaineth
> the station at which he can manifest all the potential forces with which
> his inmost true self hath been endowed. It is for this very purpose that
> in every age and dispensation the Prophets of God and His chosen
> Ones have appeared amongst men, and have evinced such power as is
> born of God and such might as only the Eternal can reveal.148
> 
> Since religion has a social dimension, Bahá’ís feel that prolonged
> withdrawal from the world and from contact with society and one’s fellow
> human beings is usually neither necessary nor helpful to spiritual growth
> (although a temporary withdrawal from time to time may be legitimate and
> healthy). Because we are social beings, our greatest progress is made
> through living in association with others. Indeed, close association with
> others in the spirit of loving service and cooperation is essential to the
> process of spiritual growth. Bahá’u’lláh related God’s purpose for humanity
> to the two aspects of religion, the spiritual and the social:
> 
> God’s purpose in sending His Prophets unto men is twofold. The first
> is to liberate the children of men from the darkness of ignorance, and
> guide them to the light of true understanding. The second is to ensure
> the peace and tranquillity of mankind, and provide all the means by
> which they can be established.149
> 
> In other words, humankind’s social development, if properly carried out,
> should be a collective expression of our spiritual development:
> 
> All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing
> civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts
> of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are
> forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the
> peoples and kindreds of the earth.150
> 
> Concerning the soul or spirit of man and its relationship to the physical
> body, Bahá’u’lláh explained:
> Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is independent of
> all infirmities of body or mind. That a sick person showeth signs of
> weakness is due to the hindrances that interpose themselves between
> his soul and his body, for the soul itself remaineth unaffected by any
> bodily ailments.... When it leaveth the body, however, it will evince
> such ascendancy, and reveal such influence as no force on earth can
> equal.
> 
> ... consider the sun which hath been obscured by the clouds. Observe
> how its splendor appeareth to have diminished, when in reality the
> source of that light hath remained unchanged. The soul of man should
> be likened unto this sun, and all things on earth should be regarded as
> his body. So long as no external impediment interveneth between them,
> the body will, in its entirety, continue to reflect the light of the soul,
> and to be sustained by its power. As soon as, however, a veil
> interposeth itself between them, the brightness of that light seemeth to
> lessen.
> 
> . . . The soul of man is the sun by which his body is illumined, and
> from which it draweth its sustenance, and should be so regarded.151
> The soul not only continues to live after the physical death of the human
> body, but is, in fact, immortal. Bahá’u’lláh wrote:
> 
> Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body,
> will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God, in a
> state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries,
> nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter. It will endure as
> long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power
> will endure.152
> 
> In commenting on the immortality of the rational soul, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> explained that everything in creation which is composed of elements is
> subject to decomposition:
> 
> The soul is not a combination of elements, it is not composed of many
> atoms, it is of one indivisible substance and therefore eternal. It is
> entirely out of the order of the physical creation; it is immortal! 153
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh taught that humans have no existence previous to our life here
> on earth. Neither is the soul reborn several times in different bodies. He
> explained, rather, that the soul’s evolution is always towards God and away
> from the material world. A human being spends nine months in the womb
> in preparation for entry into this physical life. During that nine-month
> period, the fetus acquires the physical tools (e.g., eyes, limbs, and so forth)
> necessary for existence in this world. Similarly, this physical world is like a
> womb for entry into the spiritual world. Our time here is thus a period of
> preparation during which we are to acquire the spiritual and intellectual
> tools necessary for life in the next world.
> 
> The crucial difference is that, whereas physical development in the mother’s
> womb is involuntary, spiritual and intellectual development in this world
> depend strictly on conscious individual effort:
> 
> The incomparable Creator hath created all men from one same
> substance, and hath exalted their reality above the rest of His creatures.
> Success or failure, gain or loss, must, therefore, depend upon man’s
> own exertions. The more he striveth, the greater will be his progress.154
> 
> The Bahá’í writings often speak of the bounty or grace of God towards
> humanity, but explain that an appropriate human response is always
> necessary for God’s grace and mercy to penetrate the human soul and bring
> about any genuine change within us: “No matter how strong the measure of
> Divine grace, unless supplemented by personal, sustained and intelligent
> effort, it cannot become fully effective and be of any real and abiding
> advantage.”155 Thus, in the Bahá’í conception, salvation is not simply a
> unidirectional gift from God to us, but is rather a dialogue, a collaborative
> venture initiated by God but requiring vigorous and intelligent human
> participation.
> 
> Since our basic nature is spiritual, our essential capacities are the capacities
> of our souls. In other words, one’s personality, one’s basic intellectual and
> spiritual faculties, reside in the soul, even though they are expressed
> through the instrumentality of the body for the short duration of earthly life.
> Some of the faculties that Bahá’u’lláh mentioned as capacities of the soul
> are (1) the mind, which represents the capacity for rational thought and
> intellectual investigation; (2) the will, which represents the capacity for
> self-initiated action; and (3) the “heart,” or the capacity for conscious,
> deliberate, self-sacrificing love (sometimes called altruism).
> 
> These faculties are unique to the human species. Animal and other forms of
> life do not have a rational soul. Animal life expresses a form of intelligence
> and affectivity, but it does not express the consciousness or the self-
> awareness of humans. Animals are bound to act in certain ways because of
> the instincts that form part of their physical makeup, but they do not have
> the capacities of conscious thought, of rational investigation, or of will that
> characterize a human being. An animal does not have a conscious sense of
> the purpose of its existence.
> 
> The Bahá’í Faith explicitly teaches, however, that the physical human race
> has indeed gradually evolved, passing from lower to higher forms until it
> attained the present, mature human form. The earth has been the matrix for
> the formation of the human race, just as the mother’s womb is the matrix
> for the formation of the individual human being. In the words of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá:
> 
> ... man, in the beginning of his existence and in the womb of the earth,
> like the embryo in the womb of the mother, gradually grew and
> developed, and passed from one form to another, from one shape to
> another, until he appeared with this beauty and perfection, this force
> and this power. It is certain that in the beginning he had not this
> loveliness and grace and elegance, and that he only by degrees attained
> this shape, this form, this beauty and this grace.156
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá nevertheless stressed that, throughout its long process of
> physical evolution, the human race has always been a species distinct from
> animal species:
> ... the embryo passes through different states and traverses numerous
> degrees . . . until the signs of reason and maturity appear. And in the
> same way, man’s existence on this earth, from the beginning until it
> reaches this state, form and condition, necessarily lasts a long time, and
> goes through many degrees.... But from the beginning of man’s
> existence he is a distinct species. In the same way, the embryo of man
> in the womb of the mother was at first in a strange form; then his body
> passes from shape to shape, from state to state, from form to form,
> until it appears in utmost beauty and perfection. But even when in the
> womb of the mother and in this strange form, entirely different from
> his present form and figure, he is the embryo of the superior species,
> and not of the animal; his species and essence undergo no change.157
> 
> Thus, even in our lower form of physical existence when we resembled
> some animals in superficial ways, humans were a distinct and superior
> physical species, as well as being distinguished by the existence of the
> nonmaterial rational soul which, as has been explained, is unique to
> humankind.
> 
> However, the physical human body is composed of elements and functions
> according to the same physiological principles as does that of an animal.
> During our earthly life we are subject to much the same physical desires
> and sufferings as an animal: hunger, sexual drive, fear, pain, anger, physical
> and mental illness, and so forth. This produces a creative tension within us:
> our physical needs and desires push us at times to act like animals, while
> our spiritual nature draws us towards very different goals. Bahá’u’lláh
> explained that the struggle to gain control of physical desires and to channel
> them creatively is a necessary part of our growth process. It is by
> harmonizing our spiritual and physical natures that we achieve
> completeness.
> 
> If we do not make the effort to adapt our physical resources to our spiritual
> nature, we can be taken over and dominated by physical passions. We can
> become slaves to one or another of our appetites and thereby lose much of
> our capacity to act in accordance with our spiritual nature. For example, a
> person who is addicted to morphine or alcohol is not really able to develop
> his spiritual capacities until he frees himself from his addiction. Similarly,
> intense devotion to purely materialistic pursuits can rob us of the energy
> and time needed to cultivate our essential, spiritual nature.
> 
> In contrast to a number of other religious doctrines and philosophies, the
> Bahá’í Faith does not teach that man’s physical desires are “evil” or “bad.”
> Everything in God’s creation is regarded as essentially and fundamentally
> good. In fact, the very purpose of the human body and its physical faculties
> is to serve as a proper vehicle for the development of the soul. As the
> energies of the body are gradually brought under the conscious control of
> the soul, they become instruments for the expression of spiritual qualities. It
> is only undisciplined physical passions that become causes of harm and
> hinder spiritual progress.
> 
> For example, the human sexual urge is considered to be a gift from God. Its
> disciplined expression within the legitimate bonds of marriage can be a
> powerful expression of the spiritual quality of love. However, the same
> sexual urge, if misused, can lead one into perverse, wasteful, and even
> destructive actions.
> 
> Since the body is the vehicle of the rational soul in this life on earth, it is
> important to maintain and care for it. Bahá’u’lláh strongly discouraged any
> form of asceticism or extreme self-denial. His emphasis was on healthy
> discipline. Therefore the Bahá’í writings contain a number of practical laws
> relating to the care of the human body: proper nutrition, regular bathing,
> and so forth. Underlying these, as with many other aspects of Bahá’í belief,
> is the principle of moderation: things that are beneficial when kept within
> the limits of moderation become harmful when taken to extremes.
> The Bahá’í writings acknowledge explicitly that certain physical factors
> beyond the control of the individual, such as genetic weaknesses, or
> inadequate childhood nutrition, can have a significant effect on one’s
> development during his or her earthly life. But such material influences are
> not permanent, and they have no power in themselves to harm or damage
> the soul. At most, they can only retard temporarily the spiritual growth
> process, and even this effect can be counterbalanced by a subsequent burst
> of more rapid development. Indeed, the Bahá’í writings explain that it is
> often in the individual’s determined and courageous struggle against
> physical, emotional, and mental handicaps that the greatest spiritual growth
> occurs, and the individual may come to view such handicaps as blessings in
> disguise that have, ultimately, helped him or her grow spiritually. Thus,
> admitting that physical conditions can affect, temporarily but significantly,
> the spiritual growth process is far from believing, as many philosophical
> materialists do, that we are totally determined by some combination of
> genetic and environmental physical factors:
> 
> . . . movement is essential to all existence. All material things progress
> to a certain point, then begin to decline. This is the law which governs
> the whole physical creation.
> . . . But with the human soul, there is no decline. Its only movement is
> towards perfection; growth and progress alone constitute the motion of
> the soul.
> 
> . . . The world of mortality is a world of contradictions, of opposites;
> motion being compulsory everything must either go forward or retreat.
> In the realm of spirit there is no retreat possible, all movement is bound
> to be towards a perfect state.158
> 
> The theme of growth through struggle and suffering occurs at several places
> in the Bahá’í writings. Although many of our sufferings result from careless
> living and are therefore potentially avoidable, a certain amount of suffering
> is necessary in any growth process. Indeed, we understand and accept that
> suffering and self-sacrifice are essential components of achieving material
> or intellectual success. Thus, we should not be surprised that the even more
> important endeavor of achieving spiritual growth might also involve those
> same elements:
> 
> Everything of importance in this world demands the close attention of
> its seeker. The one in pursuit of anything must undergo difficulties and
> hardships until the object in view is attained and the great success is
> obtained. This is the case of things pertaining to the world. How much
> higher is that which concerns the Supreme Concourse!159
> 
> This brings us to the Bahá’í concept of the relationship between good and
> evil in man. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes it thus:
> 
> In creation there is no evil; all is good. Certain qualities and natures
> innate in some men and apparently blameworthy are not so in reality.
> For example, from the beginning of his life you can see in a nursing
> child the signs of greed, of anger, and of temper. Then, it may be said,
> good and evil are innate in the reality of man, and this is contrary to the
> pure goodness of nature and creation. The answer to this is that greed,
> which is to ask for something more, is a praiseworthy quality provided
> that it is used suitably. So, if a man is greedy to acquire science and
> knowledge, or to become compassionate, generous and just, it is most
> praiseworthy. If he exercises his anger and wrath against the
> bloodthirsty tyrants who are like ferocious beasts, it is very
> praiseworthy; but if he does not use these qualities in a right way, they
> are blameworthy.
> 
> ... It is the same with all the natural qualities of man, which constitute
> the capital of life; if they be used and displayed in an unlawful way,
> they become blameworthy. Therefore, it is clear that creation is purely
> good.160
> 
> The Bahá’í Faith does not, therefore, accept the concept of “original sin” or
> any related doctrine which considers that people are basically evil or have
> intrinsically evil elements in their nature. All the forces and faculties within
> us are God-given and thus potentially beneficial to our spiritual
> development. In the same way, the Bahá’í teachings deny the existence of
> Satan, a devil, or an “evil force.” Evil, it is explained, is the absence of
> good; darkness is the absence of light; cold is the absence of heat.161 Just as
> the sun is the unique source of all life in a solar system, so ultimately is
> there only one force or power in the universe, the force we call God.
> 
> However, if we, through our own God-given free will, turn away from this
> force or fail to make the necessary effort to develop our spiritual capacities,
> the result is imperfection. Both within ourselves and in society, there will be
> what one might term “dark spots.” These dark spots are imperfections, and
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said that “evil is imperfection.”
> 
> If a tiger kills and eats another animal, this is not evil, because it is an
> expression of the tiger’s natural instinct for survival. But if a person kills
> and eats a fellow human being, this same act may be considered evil
> because we are capable of doing otherwise. Such an act is not an expression
> of our true nature.
> 
> As relatively undeveloped creatures, we have certain intrinsic needs that
> demand satisfaction. These needs are partly physical and tangible and partly
> spiritual and intangible. It is God who has created us in this manner and
> placed us in this situation. Because God truly loves us, he has provided for
> the legitimate satisfaction of all our needs. But if, whether through simple
> ignorance or willful rebellion, we try to satisfy some of our needs in an
> illegitimate or unhealthy way, then we may distort our true nature and
> generate within ourselves new appetites incapable of genuine satisfaction:
> 
> ... capacity is of two kinds: natural capacity and acquired capacity. The
> first, which is the creation of God, is purely good–in the creation of
> God there is no evil; but the acquired capacity has become the cause of
> the appearance of evil. For example, God has created all men in such a
> manner and has given them such a constitution and such capacities that
> they are benefited by sugar and honey and harmed and destroyed by
> poison. This nature and constitution is innate, and God has given it
> equally to all mankind. But man begins little by little to accustom
> himself to poison by taking a small quantity each day, and gradually
> increasing it, until he reaches such a point that he cannot live without a
> gram of opium every day. The natural capacities are thus completely
> perverted. Observe how much the natural capacity and constitution can
> be changed, until by different habits and training they become entirely
> perverted. One does not criticize vicious people because of their innate
> capacities and nature, but rather for their acquired capacities and
> nature. 162
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh said that pride, or self-centeredness, is one of the greatest
> hindrances to spiritual progress. Pride represents an exaggerated sense of
> one’s own importance in the universe and leads to an attitude of superiority
> over others. The prideful person feels as though he is or ought to be in
> absolute control of his life and the circumstances surrounding it, and he
> seeks power and dominance over others because such power helps him
> maintain this illusion of superiority. Thus, pride is such a hindrance to
> spiritual growth because it impels the prideful individual on an endless
> quest to fulfill the expectations of a vainly conceived and illusory self-
> concept.
> 
> In other words, the key to understanding Bahá’í morality and ethics is to be
> found in the Bahá’í notion of spiritual progress: that which is conducive to
> spiritual progress is good, and whatever tends to hinder spiritual progress is
> bad. Thus, from the Bahá’í viewpoint, learning “good” from “bad” (or
> “right” from “wrong”) means attaining a degree of self-knowledge that
> permits us to know when something is helpful to our spiritual growth and
> when it is not.163 And this knowledge can only be obtained through the
> teachings of the Manifestations.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh repeatedly stressed that only revealed religion can save us from
> our imperfections. It is because God has sent his Manifestations to show us
> the path to spiritual development and to touch our hearts with the spirit of
> God’s love that we are able to realize our true potential and make the effort
> to be united with God. This is the “salvation” that religion brings. It does
> not save us from the stain of some “original sin,” nor does it protect us from
> some external evil force or devil. Rather, it delivers us from captivity to our
> own lower nature, a captivity that breeds private despair and threatens
> social destruction, and it shows us the path to a deep and satisfying
> happiness.
> 
> Indeed, the essential reason for such widespread unhappiness and terrible
> social conflict and crises in the world today is that humankind has turned
> away from true religion and spiritual principles. The only salvation in any
> age, Bahá’ís believe, is to turn again towards God, to accept his
> Manifestation for that day, and to follow his teachings. Bahá’u’lláh pointed
> out that, if we reflect deeply on the conditions of our existence, we must
> eventually realize and admit to ourselves that, in absolute terms, we possess
> nothing. Everything we are or have—our physical body and our rational
> soul—all comes from our Creator. Since God has freely given us so much,
> we have, in turn, an obligation to God. Bahá’u’lláh stated that we have two
> basic duties towards God:
> 
> The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of
> Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His
> laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His
> Cause and the world of creation [i.e., the Manifestation] .... It
> behooveth everyone who reacheth this most sublime station, this
> summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who
> is the Desire of the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is
> acceptable without the other.164
> 
> In another passage, Bahá’u’lláh reminded his followers that the duties
> which God has given to us are only for our benefit: God himself has no
> need of our worship or allegiance, for God is entirely self-sufficient and
> independent of all his creation. We can therefore be certain that everything
> God does is motivated uniquely by his pure love for us. There is no “self-
> interest” on the part of God:
> Whatever duty Thou [God] hast prescribed unto Thy servants of
> extolling to the utmost Thy majesty and glory is but a token of Thy
> grace unto them, that they may be enabled to ascend unto the station
> conferred upon their own inmost being, the station of the knowledge of
> their own selves.165
> 
> In summary, the spiritual reason for our life on earth is to provide us with a
> training ground; our life is a period of growth during which we focus on the
> development of our innate spiritual and intellectual capacities. Because
> these capacities are faculties of our immortal soul, they are eternal, and we
> must make great efforts to develop them. But such efforts are worthwhile,
> since the soul is the only part of us which endures. Whatever promotes our
> spiritual development is good, and whatever hinders it is bad.
> 
> God has sent the Manifestations to teach us the true principles that govern
> our spiritual nature. In order to grow successfully, we must turn to revealed
> religion and accept the teachings of the Manifestations. The result of this
> growth process is that the individual is able to reflect more completely the
> attributes of God and draw close to him. At the same time, the social
> principles taught by the Manifestations, if truly applied, help create a social
> milieu favorable to the spiritual growth process. Creating such a milieu is,
> from the spiritual viewpoint, the very purpose of society.
> Bahá’u’lláh sets before us the highest standard of morality and urges us to
> strive with all our might to attain it. Since God has given us a free will, we
> are, in the last analysis, responsible to God for our actions. God is just and
> does not require of any of us that of which we are not capable. At the same
> time, God is merciful and will always forgive any soul who is sincerely
> sorry for past misdeeds or errors.
> 
> In a poetic passage, Bahá’u’lláh describes the actions of the moral
> individual and urges his followers to live accordingly:
> 
> Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the
> trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly
> face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer
> of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair
> in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and
> show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in
> darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the
> distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let
> integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the
> stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be
> eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an
> ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a
> pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of
> mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the
> horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the
> ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the
> diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a
> fruit upon the tree of humility.166
> 
> THE MANIFESTATIONS
> 
> As we have already noted, the Bahá’í teachings hold that the motive force
> in all human development is the coming of the Manifestations or Prophets
> of God. There can be little disagreement that human history is strongly
> influenced by the founders of the world’s great religions. The powerful
> impact on civilization of Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Moses, or Muhammad is
> seen not only in the cultural forms and value systems which arise from their
> works and teachings, but is reflected in the effects that the example of their
> lives has on humankind. Even those who have not been believers or
> followers have nevertheless acknowledged the profound influence of these
> figures on humanity’s individual and collective life.
> The realization of the extraordinary impact on human history of the
> founders of the major religions naturally leads to the philosophical question
> of their exact nature. This is one of the most controversial of all questions in
> the philosophy of religion, and many different answers have been given. On
> the one hand, the religious founders have been viewed as human
> philosophers or great thinkers who have perhaps gone further or studied
> more profoundly than other philosophers of their age. On the other hand,
> they have been declared to be God or the incarnation of God. There have
> also been a multitude of theories that fall somewhere between these two
> extremes.167
> 
> It is thus not surprising that the Bahá’í writings deal extensively with this
> subject, which lies so close to the heart of religion. One of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> major works, the Kitáb-i-Íqán, (Book of Certitude), sets out in some detail
> the Bahá’í concept of the nature of the Manifestations of God.
> 
> According to Bahá’u’lláh, all of the Manifestations of God have the same
> metaphysical nature and the same spiritual stature. There is absolute equity
> among them. No one of them is superior to another. Speaking of the
> Manifestations, he wrote:
> These sanctified Mirrors, these Day Springs of ancient glory, are, one
> and all, the Exponents on earth of Him Who is the central Orb of the
> universe, its Essence and ultimate Purpose. From Him proceed their
> knowledge and power; from Him is derived their sovereignty.... By the
> revelation of these Gems of Divine virtue all the names and attributes
> of God, such as knowledge and power, sovereignty and dominion,
> mercy and wisdom, glory, bounty, and grace, are made manifest.
> 
> These attributes of God are not, and have never been, vouchsafed
> specially unto certain Prophets, and withheld from others....
> 
> . . . That a certain attribute of God hath not been outwardly manifested
> by these Essences of Detachment doth in no wise imply that they who
> are the Day Springs of God’s attributes and the Treasuries of His holy
> names did not actually possess it.168
> 
> As mentioned in the discussion of the principle of the oneness of religion in
> chapter 5, Bahá’u’lláh explained that the differences which exist between
> the teachings of the various Manifestations of God are not due to any
> differences in stature or level of importance, but only to the varying needs
> and capacities of the civilizations to which they appeared:
> These ... mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the
> rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed
> to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were
> promulgated.169
> 
> In the strongest terms, he warned people not to take the variations in the
> teachings and personalities of the Manifestations to imply a difference in
> their statures:
> 
> Beware, O believers in the Unity of God, lest ye be tempted to make
> any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to
> discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed
> their Revelation. This indeed is the true meaning of Divine Unity.... Be
> ye assured, moreover, that the works and acts of each and every one of
> these Manifestations of God . . . are all ordained by God, and are a
> reflection of His Will and Purpose. Whoso maketh the slightest
> possible difference between their persons, their words, their messages,
> their acts and manners, hath indeed disbelieved in God, hath repudiated
> His signs, and betrayed the Cause of His Messengers.170
> 
> However, the Bahá’í doctrine of the oneness of the Manifestations does not
> mean that the same individual soul is born again in different physical
> bodies. Moses, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and Bahá’u’lláh were all different
> personalities, separate individual realities. Their oneness lies in the fact that
> each manifested and revealed the qualities and attributes of God to the same
> degree: the spirit of God which dwelled within any one of them was
> identical to that which dwelled in the others.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh offered an analogy to explain the relationship between the
> different Manifestations and the relationship between each Manifestation
> and God. In this analogy, God is likened to the sun because he is the unique
> source of life in the universe in the same way that the physical sun is the
> unique source of all physical life on earth. The spirit and attributes of God
> are the rays of this sun, and the individual Manifestation is like a perfect
> mirror. If there are several mirrors all turned toward the same sun, that
> unique sun is reflected in each mirror. Yet the individual mirrors are
> different, each having been made in its own form and distinct from any
> other.
> 
> In the same way, each Manifestation is a distinct individual being, but the
> spirit and attributes of God reflected in each are the same.171
> 
> The Manifestations represent a level of existence intermediate between God
> and humankind. Just as humans are superior to animals because they
> possess capacities that animals do not (i.e., the capacities of the nonmaterial
> human soul), so the Manifestations possess capacities which ordinary
> humans lack. It is not a difference in degree, but rather a difference in kind
> which distinguishes a Manifestation from other humans. The Manifestations
> are not simply great human thinkers, or philosophers, with a greater
> understanding or knowledge than others. They are, by their very nature,
> superior to those who do not possess a similar capacity.
> 
> It has been noted that human beings have a dual nature: the physical body,
> which is composed of elements and which functions according to the same
> principles as an animal’s body; and the nonmaterial rational and immortal
> human soul. The Manifestations, Bahá’u’lláh taught, also have these two
> natures, but in addition they possess a third nature unique to their station:
> the capacity to receive divine revelation and to transmit it infallibly to
> humanity.
> 
> Know that the Holy manifestations, though they have the degrees of
> endless perfections, yet, speaking generally, have only three stations.
> The first station is the physical; the second station is the human, which
> is that of the rational soul; the third is that of the divine appearance and
> the heavenly splendor.
> The physical station is phenomenal; it is composed of elements, and
> necessarily everything that is composed is subject to decomposition....
> 
> The second is the station of the rational soul, which is the human
> reality. This also is phenomenal, and the Holy Manifestations share it
> with all mankind.
> 
> . . . The spirit of man has a beginning, but it has no end; it continues
> eternally.
> 
> . . . The third station is that of the divine appearance and heavenly
> splendor: it is the Word of God, the Eternal Bounty, the Holy Spirit. It
> has neither beginning nor end.... the reality of prophethood, which is
> the Word of God and the perfect state of manifestation, did not have
> any beginning and will not have any end; its rising is different from all
> others and is like that of the sun.172
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained that even the individual soul of the Manifestation is
> different from that of ordinary people:
> 
> But the individual reality of the Manifestations of God is a holy reality, and
> for that reason it is sanctified and, in that which concerns its nature and
> quality, is distinguished from all other things. It is like the sun, which by its
> essential nature produces light and cannot be compared to the moon.... So
> other human realities are those souls who, like the moon, take light from the
> sun; but that Holy Reality is luminous in Himself.173
> 
> The Manifestation then, is not simply an ordinary person whom God
> chooses at some point in his natural lifetime to be his messenger. Rather, the
> Manifestation is a special being, having a unique relationship to God and
> sent by him from the spiritual world as an instrument of divine revelation.
> Even though the individual soul of the Manifestation had a phenomenal
> beginning, it nevertheless existed in the spiritual world prior to physical
> birth in this life. The immortal souls of ordinary humans, on the other hand,
> have no such preexistence, but come into existence at the moment of human
> conception. Of the preexistence of the souls of the Manifestations, Shoghi
> Effendi said:
> 
> The Prophets, unlike us, are pre-existent. The soul of Christ existed in
> the spiritual world before His birth in this world. We cannot imagine
> what that world is like, so words are inadequate to picture His state of
> being.174
> The Manifestation has the awareness of his reality and identity even from
> childhood, though he may not begin his mission of openly teaching and
> instructing others until later in life. Because they are the direct recipients of
> revelation from God, the Manifestations possess absolute knowledge of the
> realities of life. This innate, divinely revealed knowledge alone enables
> them to formulate teachings and laws that correspond to human needs and
> conditions at a given time in history:
> 
> Since the Sanctified Realities, the supreme Manifestations of God,
> surround the essence and qualities of the creatures, transcend and
> contain existing realities and understand all things, therefore, Their
> knowledge is divine knowledge, and not acquired—that is to say, it is a
> holy bounty, it is a divine revelation.
> 
> . . . the supreme Manifestations of God are aware of the reality of the
> mysteries of beings. Therefore, They establish laws which are suitable
> and adapted to the state of the world of man, for religion is the
> essential connection which proceeds from the realities of things.
> 
> . . . the supreme Manifestations of God . . . understand this essential
> connection, and by this knowledge establish the Law of God.175
> No man can “become” a Manifestation of God. Each individual soul is
> capable of being touched by the spirit of God and may therefore make
> spiritual progress, as has been explained above. But the Manifestation
> remains on an ideal level beyond that which even the most perfect man is
> capable of attaining.
> 
> Extending the mirror analogy, the souls of ordinary people may also be
> likened to mirrors—but, unlike the Manifestations, they are imperfect. In
> other words, each human being can reflect something of God’s attributes,
> but only in an imperfect and limited way. For ordinary human beings,
> spiritual progress implies perfecting, cleansing, and polishing the mirror of
> the soul so that it may reflect ever more clearly the attributes of God. In
> several passages, Bahá’u’lláh explicitly used this example of “cleansing the
> mirror” as an analogy for spiritual progress. The analogy emphasizes the
> belief that we are created imperfect, but with an endless potential for
> perfection; whereas the Manifestation is already in a perfected state of
> being.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught that there are no levels of conscious
> existence other than the three discussed above: human beings, the
> Manifestations, and God. There is no hierarchy of demons, angels, and
> archangels. Insofar as these terms have any significant meaning, they are
> and archangels. Insofar as these terms have any significant meaning, they
> are seen as symbolic of varying stages of human development, imperfection
> being demonic and spirituality being angelic. The Manifestations are
> already in a state of perfection, while other human beings are potentially
> perfect in that each human soul has the potential to reflect the attributes of
> its Creator. The ultimate state of perfection for us, as explained below by
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is one of absolute servitude to God:
> 
> Know that the conditions of existence are limited to the conditions of
> servitude, of prophethood and of Deity, but the divine and the
> contingent perfections are unlimited.... As the divine bounties are
> endless, so human perfections are endless. If it were possible to reach a
> limit of perfection, then one of the realities of the beings might reach
> the condition of being independent of God, and the contingent might
> attain to the condition of the absolute. But for every being there is a
> point which it cannot overpass . . . he who is in the condition of
> servitude, however far he may progress in gaining limitless perfections,
> will never reach the condition of Deity....
> 
> . . . Peter cannot become Christ. All that he can do is, in the condition
> of servitude, to attain endless perfections....176
> However, because we are capable of entering into communion with God
> and thereby becoming aware of the spirit of God, we are also capable of
> “inspiration.” The Bahá’í writings distinguish between inspiration and
> revelation. Revelation is that infallible and direct perception of God’s
> creative Word that is accessible only to the Manifestations, who transmit it
> to humankind. Inspiration is the indirect and relative perception of spiritual
> truth which is available to every human soul. It arises out of the context of
> the spiritual life of a culture influenced by a Manifestation of God. Any
> human is capable of being inspired by the spirit of God. But the experience
> of inspiration is available to us because the spirit of God is mediated to us
> through the Manifestations. In short: inspiration depends upon revelation.
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh explained that the Divine Will of God does sometimes choose
> ordinary people as “prophets” and inspires them to play certain roles in
> human affairs. Examples include the Hebrew prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah.
> Still others have been inspired as “seers” or “saints.” Not even the prophets,
> however, are anywhere close to the station of the Manifestations, who
> provide humankind with God’s infallible revelation. The prophets are still
> ordinary men and women whose powers of inspiration have been developed
> and used by God. They are referred to as “minor prophets” or “dependent
> prophets” in the Bahá’í writings. When this terminology is used, the
> Manifestations are called “universal” or “independent” Prophets:
> Universally, the Prophets are of two kinds. One are the independent
> Prophets Who are followed; the other kind are not independent and are
> themselves followers.
> 
> The independent Prophets are the lawgivers and the founders of a new
> cycle.... Without an intermediary They receive bounty from the Reality
> of the Divinity, and Their illumination is an essential illumination.
> They are like the sun which is luminous in itself....
> 
> The other Prophets are followers and promoters, for they are branches
> and not independent; they receive the bounty of the independent
> Prophets, and they profit by the light of the Guidance of the universal
> Prophets. They are like the moon, which is not luminous and radiant in
> itself, but receives its light from the sun.177
> 
> Consequently, Bahá’ís consider philosophers, reformers, saints, mystics,
> and founders of humanitarian movements as ordinary people. In many cases
> they may have been inspired by God. Revelation, however, is the
> endowment of the Manifestations alone, and it is the ultimate generating
> force of all human progress.
> THE BAHÁ’Í CONCEPT OF GOD
> 
> Who is the God thus revealed by the succession of Manifestations?
> According to Bahá’í teachings, God is so far beyond his creation that,
> throughout all eternity, man will never be able to formulate any clear image
> of him or attain to anything but the most remote appreciation of his superior
> nature. Even if we say that God is the All-Powerful, the All-Loving, the
> Infinitely Just, such terms are derived from a very limited human
> experience of power, love, or justice. Indeed, our knowledge of anything is
> limited to our knowledge of those attributes or qualities perceptible to us:
> 
> Know that there are two kinds of knowledge: the knowledge of the
> essence of a thing and the knowledge of its qualities. The essence of a
> thing is known through its qualities; otherwise, it is unknown and
> hidden.
> 
> As our knowledge of things, even of created and limited things, is
> knowledge of their qualities and not of their essence, how is it possible
> to comprehend in its essence the Divine Reality, which is unlimited? ...
> 
> . . . Knowing God, therefore, means the comprehension and the
> knowledge of His attributes, and not of His Reality. This knowledge of
> the attributes is also proportioned to the capacity and power of man; it
> is not absolute.178
> 
> Thus for human beings the knowledge of God means the knowledge of the
> attributes and qualities of God, not a direct knowledge of his essence. But
> how are we to attain the knowledge of the attributes of God? Bahá’u’lláh
> wrote that everything in creation is God’s handiwork and therefore reflects
> something of his attributes. For example, even in the intimate structure of a
> rock or a crystal can be seen the order of God’s creation. However, the more
> refined the object, the more completely it is capable of reflecting God’s
> attributes. Since the Manifestation is the highest form of creation known to
> us, the Manifestation affords the most complete knowledge of God
> available to us:
> 
> Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct
> evidence of the revelation within it of the attributes and names of God,
> inasmuch as within every atom are enshrined the signs that bear
> eloquent testimony to the revelation of that Most Great Light. . . . To a
> supreme degree is this true of man.... For in him are potentially
> revealed all the attributes and names of God to a degree that no other
> created being hath excelled or surpassed. . . .
> . . . And of all men, the most accomplished, the most distinguished, and
> the most excellent are the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth. Nay, all
> else besides those Manifestations, live by the operation of Their Will,
> and move and have their being through the outpourings of their
> grace.179
> 
> Although a rock or a tree reveals something of the subtlety of its Creator,
> only a conscious being such as man can dramatize God’s attributes in his
> life and actions. Since the Manifestations are already in a perfected state, it
> is in their lives that the deeper meaning of God’s attributes can be most
> perfectly understood. God is not limited by a physical body, and so we
> cannot see him directly or observe his personality. Hence our knowledge of
> the Manifestation is, in fact, the closest we can come to the knowledge of
> God.
> 
> Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His
> Essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been, immensely
> exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived. . . . He
> Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known
> except through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce
> no greater proof of the truth of His Mission than the proof of His own
> Person.180
> And in another similar passage:
> 
> The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being hath ever been, and
> will continue for ever to be, closed in the face of men. No man’s
> understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As a token of
> His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath
> manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the
> Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these
> sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own
> Self.181
> 
> Of course, only those who live during the time of the Manifestation have
> the opportunity of observing him directly. It is for this reason, Bahá’u’lláh
> explained, that the essential connection between the individual and God is
> maintained through the writings and words of each Manifestation. For
> Bahá’ís, the word of the Manifestation is the Word of God, and it is to this
> Word that the individual can turn in his or her daily life in order to grow
> closer to God and to acquire a deeper knowledge of him. The written Word
> of God is the instrument that creates a consciousness of God’s presence in
> one’s daily life:
> Say: The first and foremost testimony establishing His truth is His own
> Self. Next to this testimony is His Revelation. For whoso faileth to
> recognize either the one or the other He hath established the words He
> hath revealed as proof of His reality and truth. . . . He hath endowed
> every soul with the capacity to recognize the signs of God.182
> 
> It is for this reason that the discipline of daily prayer, meditation, and study
> of the holy writings constitutes an important part of the individual spiritual
> practice of Bahá’ís. They feel that this discipline is one of the most
> important ways of growing closer to their Creator.
> 
> Let us sum up: the Bahá’í view of God is that his essence is eternally
> transcendent but that his attributes and qualities are completely immanent in
> the Manifestations.183 Since our knowledge of anything is limited to our
> knowledge of the perceptible attributes of that thing, knowledge of the
> Manifestations is (for ordinary humans) equivalent to knowledge of God.184
> In practical terms, this knowledge is gained through study, prayer,
> meditation, and practical application based on the revealed Word of God
> (i.e., the sacred scriptures of the Manifestations).
> 7. The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> Many people have doubts about the existence of God because they are
> unable to discover anything that proves to them that he does exist. How we
> can know about God and be sure of his existence is certainly one of the
> greatest philosophical and religious questions. In chapter 6, the Bahá’í
> response to this question was discussed in some depth. The Bahá’í Faith
> teaches that God has given us a clear sign of his existence and his love for
> us: the Manifestations whom he sends from time to time to make his Will
> known to humankind.
> 
> According to Bahá’u’lláh, God has promised that he will send a succession
> of Manifestations to guide and instruct humankind. In the Bahá’í writings,
> this promise is called “the Great Covenant.” The succession of
> Manifestations or Messengers of God extends back to the dawn of time:
> Moses succeeded Abraham; Jesus followed Moses; and Muhammad
> appeared after Jesus. In this age, the promised succession has been fulfilled
> by the advent of Bahá’u’lláh. Each of the other divine messengers, both
> those known to recorded history and those the memory of whom has been
> lost, has had an important role to play in the divine scheme of things.185
> 
> A covenant is an agreement or contract involving obligations by both
> parties. God’s part in the Great Covenant is his promise of a succession of
> Manifestations. Bahá’u’lláh taught that people, in response to this divine
> undertaking, have a twofold obligation towards God: they must recognize
> and accept the Manifestation when he comes, and obey and strive to put
> into practice the teachings which the Manifestation gives. Bahá’u’lláh said,
> “These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the
> other.”186
> 
> It is for this reason that Bahá’ís of Jewish, Christian, or other religious
> backgrounds do not consider that they have abandoned their former faiths in
> becoming Bahá’ís. They believe they are responding to their obligations as
> believers in and followers of whichever Manifestation of God founded their
> own religious traditions. They have, so to speak, “kept the Covenant” in
> recognizing the succession of God’s Manifestations instead of following
> only one and holding onto his teachings as superior to all others. They
> regard themselves as fulfilling the spiritual obligations they inherited from
> their parent faith.
> One other point about the Bahá’í concept of the Great Covenant should be
> stressed. As the succession of the Manifestations had no beginning, neither
> will it have an end. The Bahá’í revelation does not claim to be the final
> stage in God’s direction of the course of human spiritual evolution. In the
> words of Bahá’u’lláh: “God hath sent down His Messengers to succeed
> Moses and Jesus, and He will continue to do so till the ‘end that hath no
> end’....”187 The Bahá’í writings contain the assurance that, after “the
> expiration of a full thousand years,” another Messenger or Manifestation of
> God will appear to carry forward the never-ending evolutionary process.188
> 
> Within this all-embracing covenant there are other ties between God and
> humanity which relate to specific stages in the evolution of humankind and
> in the unfoldment of civilization. Both have gone through many stages, and
> Bahá’ís believe that each one of the revealed religions has served to attain a
> particular goal in the total process. Much as a growing child gradually and
> progressively learns different skills (eating, walking, reading, working with
> others, and so forth) in order to mature, so has humankind grown slowly
> towards spiritual maturity by successively focusing attention on the
> development of different spiritual capacities.
> 
> For example, through the revelation of Abraham, the Hebrews became
> aware of the oneness of God and were able to explore the potentialities of
> human development which this great truth revealed. In time the concept
> came to influence profoundly the whole of the Western and Islamic
> civilizations. Similarly, Moses revealed the “Law of God” to humankind,
> the Buddha showed the way to achieve detachment from self, and Jesus
> Christ taught the love of God and the love of one’s fellows. Bahá’u’lláh
> explained that this gradual development of human spiritual consciousness is
> both natural and necessary. The child must learn to walk before he can learn
> to run and jump.
> 
> To accomplish a particular task, one needs to learn the appropriate means to
> do so. According to Bahá’í belief, each Manifestation has provided those
> who recognized his station with these essential means by making a
> covenant between his followers and himself. In the Bahá’í teachings, this
> covenant is referred to as the “Lesser Covenant.” It is reformulated by each
> Messenger of God according to the changing needs of an evolving human
> race. It is “lesser” not because it is unimportant, but because it functions
> within the framework of the goals and purposes of the Great Covenant. The
> Lesser Covenant might be called an “auxiliary covenant” or a “subsidiary
> covenant,” since it serves as an aid to the larger, eternal purposes of God.189
> 
> As has been noted, Bahá’ís consider the specific mission of the Bahá’í
> revelation to be the establishment of world unity. The Covenant of
> Bahá’u’lláh, therefore, is directed toward this end. For Bahá’ís, world unity
> must involve not only the emergence of a strong sentiment of fraternity and
> love among all peoples, but it must also involve the creation of global
> institutions necessary for the establishment of a harmonious and unified
> social life for the planet. War must be permanently eliminated and universal
> peace firmly established among all the nations and communities of the
> earth.
> 
> In the Bahá’í writings, this vision of the future of humankind is called the
> “World Order” of Bahá’u’lláh. Such a vision is breathtaking in its scope.
> While most people would probably agree that this Bahá’í goal is a worthy
> one, many would regard it as utopian to believe that such an ideal society
> could ever be actually achieved. Moreover, many people feel that religion
> should be concerned exclusively with the inner development of the
> individual, and they are surprised to find a faith that places so great an
> emphasis on humankind’s collective life, on forms of social organization,
> and on the achievement of social goals.
> 
> The reason for the Bahá’ís’ confidence that the time for the unification of
> humanity has come lies in their belief that world unity is the Will of God: it
> is God who wants humankind to be united; he has created us with the
> potential for unity and provided us the means to develop this potential. The
> Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh is regarded as the primary God-given instrument
> for releasing this spiritual potential and for the subsequent achievement of
> world unity. This Covenant provides us with a spiritual power that creates
> hope, changes hearts, and dissolves prejudices. It also provides a system of
> social laws and institutions which operates on the basis of spiritual
> principles and which relates them to the practical affairs of human life.
> Through this system, Bahá’ís feel, humankind can create a global society
> based on justice:
> 
> The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating
> influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered
> life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this
> wondrous System—the like of which mortal eyes have never
> witnessed.190
> 
> The principal role in laying the foundations of Bahá’u’lláh’s system was
> played by his son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The part which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá played in
> Bahá’í history was discussed earlier; the importance of his role in the
> mission of Bahá’u’lláh is reflected in the fact that Bahá’u’lláh designated
> him the “Center of My Covenant.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was given the authority to
> interpret the Bahá’í revelation and was assured that his interpretation would
> be infallibly guided by God.191 Bahá’u’lláh also left the direction of the
> application of his teachings to his son, together with the responsibility of
> making all decisions related to the founding of the institutions of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order. It was acting on this designated authority that
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá produced the vast range of writings that are now included in
> the basic literature of the Bahá’í Faith.
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in turn appointed Shoghi Effendi Rabbani as the Guardian of
> the Bahá’í community and the interpreter of the sacred writings after him,
> and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá supervised the creation of the first local spiritual
> assemblies, destined to evolve into the fundamental institutions of the
> World Order. The work of Shoghi Effendi made possible the establishment
> of the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> The example of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s life demonstrated the practicality and
> validity of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings on individual spiritual life and
> development. However, he is not regarded as another Manifestation or
> Messenger of the station of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. While the authority of
> a Manifestation comes directly from God and is part of his very spiritual
> nature, the authority of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was conferred on him by Bahá’u’lláh.
> However, Bahá’ís consider ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to have been uniquely qualified to
> serve as the perfect exemplar of the Bahá’í teachings, and Shoghi Effendi
> described him in these terms:
> He is, and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as the
> Center and Pivot of Bahá’u’lláh’s peerless and all-enfolding Covenant,
> His most exalted handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His light, the
> perfect Exemplar of His teachings, the unerring Interpreter of His
> Word, the embodiment of every Bahá’í ideal. ... in the person of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and
> superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are
> completely harmonized.192
> 
> The conviction of the practicability of world unity, coupled with a
> dedication and willingness to work toward this goal, is probably the single
> most distinguishing characteristic of the Bahá’í community. It is the most
> obvious difference between the Bahá’í Faith and earlier revealed religions.
> With regard to its spiritual teachings and basic doctrines, the Bahá’í Faith
> has many points of contact with traditional religions, especially those of the
> Semitic group (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). But the Bahá’í focus on
> achieving world unity and a world civilization, arising out of a faith in
> Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant with them, is both contemporary and unique. In a
> widely read survey on the possibilities for world unity and global
> civilization, American social scientist Professor Warren Wagar said: “. . . of
> all the positive religions on the contemporary scene claiming divine
> authority, the only one unambiguously and almost single-mindedly
> consecrated to the job of unifying mankind is the Bahá’í Faith.”193
> 
> The special Covenant Bahá’u’lláh has made with humankind operates
> through a system called the Administrative Order. We have already seen
> that the teachings and writings of Bahá’u’lláh fall into a number of different
> categories. Among the themes with which Bahá’u’lláh dealt are certain
> basic concepts and doctrines, principles and exhortations for the guidance
> of humankind, laws and ordinances regarded as essential to personal
> development and social organization, and specific institutions that form an
> integral part of the Bahá’í revelation and that cannot be dissociated from the
> spiritual teachings.
> 
> The laws and ordinances on one hand, and the institutions of the Bahá’í
> community on the other, together constitute the system called the
> “Administrative Order” of the Bahá’í Faith. It is this Administrative Order
> which provides the essential expression of Bahá’u’lláh’s Lesser Covenant
> with humankind.194 The distinctive feature of the Lesser Covenant is the
> fact that the founder specified the laws and institutions that are to govern
> the community of his followers through history. Moreover, he explained in
> his own writings, over his personal seal and signature, the exact nature of
> each of these institutions: its limitations, its prerogatives, its function and its
> role. The foundations of the system were laid by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and by the
> Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, both acting on the authority
> explicitly conferred upon them by Bahá’u’lláh and in accordance with
> Bahá’u’lláh’s written directives.
> 
> The two principal institutions of the Administrative Order, described by
> Shoghi Effendi as its “pillars,” are the Guardianship and the Universal
> House of Justice. The role that the Guardian performed and the nature of the
> authority conferred upon him in the Covenant were considered earlier.
> Although he is no longer living, his interpretations of the Bahá’í teachings
> continue to hold the same degree of authority for the Bahá’í community as
> they did during his Guardianship. The Universal House of Justice was
> instituted by Bahá’u’lláh himself as the supreme legislative organ of the
> Bahá’í Administrative Order. Regarding the relationship between the
> Universal House of Justice and the Guardianship, the former has written:
> 
> It should be understood ... that before legislating upon any matter the
> Universal House of Justice studies carefully and exhaustively both the
> Sacred Texts and the Writings of Shoghi Effendi on the subject. The
> interpretations written by the beloved Guardian cover a vast range of
> subjects and are equally as binding as the Text itself.195
> Bahá’u’lláh gave the name “Houses of Justice” to the central legislative
> institutions of his faith. A House of Justice is comprised of nine adults
> elected periodically by all adult believers in the community. Houses of
> Justice will eventually be established on three levels: (1) local (a
> municipality or distinct settlement); (2) secondary (usually national); and
> (3) international. To date, this institution has emerged only at the
> international level, through the first election of the Universal House of
> Justice at an international convention held in 1963. It is this body which
> today governs the Bahá’ís around the world. It is the sole legislative agency
> of the faith and, according to explicit texts of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá, its enactments have the same authority for Bahá’ís as do the texts
> themselves. The difference is that the House of Justice has the right to
> repeal and alter any of its enactments as the Bahá’í community evolves and
> new conditions emerge, whereas the laws enshrined in the Bahá’í texts will
> remain unchanged.
> 
> The administration of the Bahá’í Faith on the national and local levels is
> presently handled through national and local “spiritual assemblies.” These
> institutions are elected and function in a manner similar to the House of
> Justice and will eventually be called secondary and local “Houses of
> Justice.”
> Bahá’ís believe that, while local and secondary Houses of Justice will be
> under the guidance of God, the decisions of the Universal House of Justice
> are uniquely inspired and authoritative. For them this institution represents
> humankind’s supreme effort to reach up to God in a spirit of unity and
> harmony. Bahá’u’lláh stated that God himself has made this possible and
> will preserve the enactments of the Universal House of Justice from
> error.196
> 
> There are also Bahá’í institutions at the continental, national, regional, and
> local levels, some of them elective and functioning through corporate
> consultation and decision making, others appointive and operating
> principally through services performed by their individual members. This
> system will be examined in greater detail in the chapter which follows.
> 
> The system of institutions forms an integral part of the Bahá’í Faith which
> cannot be separated from the purely spiritual principles and teachings.
> Bahá’ís believe that their Administrative Order represents the “nucleus” and
> “pattern” of a new social order destined to bring about the unification of
> humankind. Shoghi Effendi said of it:
> 
> . . . this Administrative Order is fundamentally different from anything
> that any Prophet has previously established, inasmuch as Bahá’u’lláh
> has Himself revealed its principles, established its institutions,
> appointed the person to interpret His Word and conferred the necessary
> authority on the body [the Universal House of Justice] designed to
> supplement and apply His legislative ordinances.197
> 
> It is important to make a clear distinction between the Administrative Order
> of the Bahá’í Faith and the future World Order conceived by Bahá’u’lláh. In
> speaking of the World Order, Bahá’ís refer to the full effect which they
> believe the teachings of the founder of their faith will eventually have on
> the establishment of a world government, a lasting peace and a united
> planetary civilization. This World Order obviously does not yet exist; rather,
> it is the goal towards which the Bahá’í community is striving. But the
> principal institutions of the Administrative Order already exist and function
> as an integral part of the international community of Bahá’ís.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi gave a summary of Bahá’u’lláh’s vision of the future World
> Order which we quote here in part:
> 
> The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies the
> establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races,
> creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which
> the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and
> initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and
> completely safeguarded. This commonwealth must, as far as we can
> visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose members will, as the
> trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire
> resources of all the component nations, and will enact such laws as
> shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the
> relationships of all races and peoples. A world executive, backed by an
> international Force, will carry out the decisions arrived at, and apply
> the laws enacted by, this world legislature, and will safeguard the
> organic unity of the whole commonwealth. A world tribunal will
> adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and final verdict in all and any
> disputes that may arise between the various elements constituting this
> universal system. . . . A world script, a world literature, a uniform and
> universal system of currency, of weights and measures, will simplify
> and facilitate intercourse and understanding among the nations and
> races of mankind....
> 
> National rivalries, hatred, and intrigues will cease, and racial animosity
> and prejudice will be replaced by racial amity, understanding and
> cooperation. The causes of religious strife will be permanently
> removed, economic barriers and restrictions will be completely
> abolished, and the inordinate distinction between classes will be
> obliterated....198
> 
> Bahá’ís do not believe that the World Order will be brought into being
> solely through their efforts or through their faith. They believe that the Will
> of God operates in many different ways and at various levels, in all corners
> of the world and through all peoples, to bring about this great
> consummation. The League of Nations and the United Nations are seen as
> particularly important steps along the road to unification. Therefore many
> Bahá’ís are active participants in United Nations activities and agencies as
> well as in many other nonpolitical international movements. They do
> maintain, however, that their faith and its Administrative Order have a
> central and vital role to play in the process of the creation of a united world.
> 
> To understand how Bahá’ís view the relationship between their faith and its
> Administrative Order on the one hand, and the goal of attaining world peace
> and establishing a World Order on the other, it is helpful to remember that
> they associate the future world civilization with the millennium or the
> coming of the “Kingdom of God” mentioned in the sacred scriptures of
> other religions. They believe that the establishment of world peace and
> unity represents the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth, the ultimate
> triumph of good over evil as anticipated in symbolic terms in past religions.
> They believe that it is God’s Will to bring about this World Order and that
> such has been his intention throughout human history.
> 
> In some religious traditions, the establishment of the Kingdom of God is
> associated solely with an act of God. It is assumed that humanity’s role in
> the process will be essentially passive and that the advent of the Kingdom
> will occur instantly, magically, and supernaturally.199
> 
> Bahá’ís believe that God is all-powerful and that he could certainly impose
> his Kingdom on earth instantly if this were in fact his will. But Bahá’u’lláh
> explained that God seeks to teach us certain lessons by the manner in which
> the Kingdom is brought into being. Bahá’ís consider that present-day
> societies fail to meet our real needs because they are founded on attitudes
> and practices that are contrary to Divine Law. Thus, at the same time that
> God is establishing his promised Kingdom on earth, he is also allowing us
> to learn through experience—the experience of living with the
> consequences of our own acts—the true nature of our capacities and
> limitations. Bahá’u’lláh warned that it is only through our profound
> realization and acceptance of past errors that we will be protected from
> repeating the same tragic mistakes that have led to the present world
> situation, with its perpetual menace of war and its suffering, exploitation,
> and despair.200
> Bahá’u’lláh envisioned the establishment of a World Order as occurring in
> three successive stages. The first stage is a period of social breakdown and
> widespread suffering, suffering greater in scope and intensity than any
> previously known. Bahá’ís believe that this first stage is already well
> advanced and that the turmoil presently afflicting the world will, in time,
> test every human life and all existing social institutions. In his work The
> Promised Day Is Come, Shoghi Effendi described this human suffering as
> both “a retributory calamity” and “an act of holy and supreme discipline”
> on the part of God:
> 
> It is at once a visitation from God and a cleansing process for all
> mankind. Its fires punish the perversity of the human race, and weld its
> component parts into one organic, indivisible, world-embracing
> community. Mankind, in these fateful years ... is ... being
> simultaneously called upon to give account of its past actions, and is
> being purged and prepared for its future mission. It can neither escape
> the responsibilities of the past, nor shirk those of the future.201
> 
> According to Bahá’í belief, the present period of suffering and difficulties
> will culminate in a worldwide spiritual, physical, and social convulsion.
> That crisis will mark the end of the first stage and the transition into the
> second stage of God’s plan. Bahá’u’lláh referred to this crisis as follows:
> 
> “We have a fixed time for you, a people! If ye fail, at the appointed
> hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and
> will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction. How
> severe indeed is the chastisement with which your Lord will then
> chastise you!”202
> 
> The second stage in humanity’s progress towards the World Order will see
> the accomplishment of the “Lesser Peace.” In the light of various statements
> in the Bahá’í writings, it would probably be accurate to say that this second
> stage is seen as the permanent cessation of war rather than as a positive and
> complete global peace. The Lesser Peace is a term used to describe a
> political peace, which would be concluded by the nations of the world
> through international agreement. The fundamental feature of the Lesser
> Peace is the establishment of international security safeguards to prevent the
> recurrence of war among nations. These safeguards would be explicitly
> outlined in a formal agreement supported by all the nations of the earth, and
> based on the principle of “collective security” according to which all the
> nations should arise collectively to suppress any aggressor nation.
> Bahá’u’lláh has said: “Should anyone among you take up arms against
> another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice.”203
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá elaborated on this theme in the following passage:
> 
> They [the sovereigns of the world] must conclude a binding treaty and
> establish a covenant, the provisions of which shall be sound, inviolable
> and definite. They must proclaim it to all the world and obtain for it the
> sanction of all the human race.... All the forces of humanity must be
> mobilized to ensure the stability and permanence of this Most Great
> Covenant. In this all-embracing Pact the limits and frontiers of each
> and every nation should be clearly fixed, the principles underlying the
> relations of governments towards one another definitely laid down, and
> all international agreements and obligations ascertained.... The
> fundamental principle underlying this solemn Pact should be so fixed
> that if any government later violate anyone of its provisions, all the
> governments on earth should arise to reduce it to utter submission, nay
> the human race as a whole should resolve, with every power at its
> disposal, to destroy that government. Should this greatest of all
> remedies be applied to the sick body of the world, it will assuredly
> recover from its ills and will remain eternally safe and secure.204
> Bahá’ís believe that the Lesser Peace will follow very soon after the end of
> the present period of suffering and social upheaval. Indeed, they maintain
> that these latter tragedies will be the chief influence in driving peoples and
> nations to put an end to war at whatever cost. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá predicted that
> the foundations of the Lesser Peace would be securely established in the
> twentieth century.205
> 
> The Lesser Peace is seen as the necessary prelude to a third stage in the
> emergence of a World Order, a stage which will come about far more
> gradually. Bahá’u’lláh called this final stage the “Most Great Peace.” Its
> advent, he said, will coincide with the emergence of the Bahá’í World
> Order. Shoghi Effendi’s description of this future World Order has already
> been quoted in part earlier in this chapter. In another passage, he spoke of it
> as the “ultimate fusion of all races, creeds, classes, and nations.” Whereas
> the Lesser Peace will be achieved by the “nations of the earth, as yet
> unconscious of [Bahá’u’lláh’s] Revelation and yet unwittingly enforcing
> [its] general principles,” the Most Great Peace can come only “consequent
> to the recognition of the character, and the acknowledgment of the claims,
> of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.”206 Bahá’ís believe that it is during the
> evolution from the Lesser Peace to the Most Great Peace that Bahá’u’lláh’s
> mission will be fully recognized by the peoples of the earth and its
> principles consciously accepted and applied by the generality of
> humankind.
> 
> The Administrative Order of the Bahá’í Faith is seen as the “embryonic
> form” of the future World Order. According to Shoghi Effendi, the
> institutions and laws of the Bahá’í Administrative Order “are destined to be
> a pattern for future society, a supreme instrument for the establishment of
> the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification of the world,
> and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the
> earth.”207
> 
> The vision of the Most Great Peace corresponds to a similar vision of
> Habakkuk of the time when “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of
> the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk, 2:14). It will
> mark the “healing of the nations” promised in the Christian apocalypse
> (Revelation 22:2). It will bring not only a world civilization, but also the
> “spiritualization of the masses.” It represents the “coming of age of the
> entire human race.”208
> 
> Speaking of the Most Great Peace, Shoghi Effendi said:
> Then will a world civilization be born, flourish, and perpetuate itself, a
> civilization with a fullness of life such as the world has never seen nor
> can as yet conceive. Then will the Everlasting Covenant be fulfilled in
> its completeness. Then will the promise enshrined in all the Books of
> God be redeemed, and all the prophecies uttered by the Prophets of old
> come to pass, and the vision of seers and poets be realized. Then will
> the planet, galvanized through the universal belief of its dwellers in
> one God, and their allegiance to one common Revelation, mirror,
> within the limitations imposed upon it, the effulgent glories of the
> sovereignty of Bahá’u’lláh ... and [be] acclaimed as the earthly heaven,
> capable of fulfilling that ineffable destiny fixed for it, from time
> immemorial, by the love and wisdom of its Creator.209
> 
> Bahá’ís perceive the Will of God to be working in two ways or on two
> levels. On the one hand, there is the general Will of God which pervades
> everything and which moves at the heart of every event in human history,
> however apparently insignificant. All things, in the long run, serve God’s
> goal of unifying humankind. For this reason, Bahá’ís warmly support many
> universal and humanitarian causes and try to appreciate the positive
> elements in other causes with whose philosophies they may not be in
> complete accord.
> On the other hand, Bahá’ís believe that their faith and its Administrative
> Order represent a specific articulation of God’s Will for this age. Through
> it, the spirit and pattern of unity have entered human affairs. Bahá’ís see
> their primary task as the perfection of this God-given instrument. As the
> influences of the new revelation begin to penetrate society as a whole, the
> process of the evolution from the Lesser Peace to the Most Great Peace will
> take place. People will come to recognize the Will of God for humankind
> and will witness the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth.
> 8. Administration and Laws
> 
> Bahá’ís consider one of the distinguishing features of their religion to be the
> special Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh through which a future world order and
> world civilization will come into being. They believe that the nucleus and
> pattern of this future global system already exist in the laws and
> Administrative Order conceived by the founder of their faith and
> implemented and developed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. For this
> reason, Bahá’ís devote a great deal of time and energy to developing the
> institutions of their community. These agencies of the Bahá’í administrative
> order are not used only to solve problems and make collective decisions
> within the community of believers; they are also steadily exercised and
> refined so that their divinely endowed administrative potentials will slowly
> emerge, just as human capacities emerge with instruction and continuous
> effort.
> 
> This accounts for the great concern with administrative processes on which
> many observers of the Bahá’í community have remarked. Bahá’ís believe
> that God has redeemed one of the most humanly corrupted and abused
> activities of modern-day civilization for divine purposes. They consider that
> God intends that administrative service should become a spiritual pursuit,
> blessing not only those who contribute directly to it, but the entire society
> which depends upon it.210
> 
> INSTITUTIONS OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
> 
> Under the direction of the writings of the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith and
> the authority of the legislative and executive role of the Universal House of
> Justice, the organization of the Bahá’í community is structured around two
> basic types of institutions: (1) those designed to make decisions with
> respect to life and goals of the community; and (2) those which function to
> protect the community and to contribute in special ways to the propagation
> of the faith. The decision-making institutions are, essentially, the Universal
> House of Justice, operating on the international level, and the spiritual
> assemblies, which exist at both national and local levels. The
> protection/propagation institutions are derived from the powers conferred
> by the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh on the Hands of the Cause of God and
> expanded by the Guardian and then by the Universal House of Justice to
> include boards of counselors and auxiliary boards. They advise, counsel,
> encourage, and stimulate both the spiritual assemblies and individual
> believers. These two branches of the Bahá’í administrative order are
> hereafter discussed.
> 
> THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE AND THE SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES
> 
> In preparation for the eventual establishment in every city of a House of
> Justice, as called for in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated
> that as soon as the number of adult Bahá’ís in any locality reaches nine or
> more, an election should be held for the creation of a “Local Spiritual
> Assembly” to serve as the governing body of the faith in that locality. Each
> spiritual assembly consists of nine persons elected from among the full
> adult membership in that local community. The tasks of the spiritual
> assemblies include the supervision of all local Bahá’í activities, such as
> propagation (teaching) of the faith, the conduct of educational programs, the
> handling of local publicity and publishing, the conduct of devotional
> services, the use of Bahá’í funds, the counseling of believers on the specific
> requirements of the Bahá’í laws and teachings, and a range of other related
> responsibilities.211
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá supervised the establishment of the first spiritual assemblies
> in Persia and in the West, and he guided them in their initial efforts. A great
> deal of Shoghi Effendi’s time as Guardian of the Bahá’í community was
> devoted to this same task. The body of administrative principles outlined in
> the voluminous correspondence of these two designated interpreters has
> been published in a series of books and manuals used throughout the Bahá’í
> world. The guidance provided therein covers an extraordinary range of
> subjects, and guarantees that the development of the Bahá’í community
> over the coming centuries will be molded in the precise pattern conceived
> by Bahá’u’lláh and those appointed by his Covenant to be its
> interpreters.212
> 
> Spiritual assemblies have also been created on the national (or occasionally
> on the regional) level. Their responsibilities are analogous to those of the
> local spiritual assemblies, though far greater in scope and complexity. In
> addition, they have the responsibility of supervising the work of the local
> spiritual assemblies and of determining what concerns are the responsibility
> of the local bodies and which ones must be handled at the national or
> regional level.
> 
> While the membership of each local spiritual assembly is directly elected by
> the members of its own local community, the national spiritual assembly
> membership is chosen by means of a two-stage balloting system. All the
> adult members of the Bahá’í community in a given district elect a specified
> number of delegates. The number is dependent on the size and scope of the
> Bahá’í community in that particular part of the country. Then the delegates
> from the entire country meet at an annual national convention and elect the
> nine-person membership of the national spiritual assembly from among all
> the adults of the national Bahá’í community, regardless of whether or not
> they are delegates to the national convention.
> 
> The electoral process by which Bahá’í spiritual assemblies come into being
> contains a number of interesting and perhaps unique features. All voting is
> done by secret ballot. Moreover, the Bahá’í teachings forbid any form of
> electioneering, including the nomination of candidates. Each voter lists nine
> different names on the ballot. After the votes are counted, those nine
> individuals having the greatest number of votes are declared to be elected.
> Any tie vote for the ninth member is broken by a subsequent ballot between
> the tied individuals. This system removes the necessity for the nomination
> and presentation of candidates, thereby giving maximum freedom of choice
> to each elector and avoiding the power-seeking behavior inherent in many
> other forms of election. It is assumed that all adult believers, once chosen
> by the electorate, will be able and prepared to take up their duties as
> members of the national or local spiritual assembly.
> 
> Elections occur each year in late April and coincide with the Bahá’í festival
> of Riḍván. Then the elected spiritual assembly serves for one full year,
> beginning immediately following its election or as soon there-after as is
> feasible.
> 
> The spirit and form this process takes is perhaps best illustrated by the
> following words of Shoghi Effendi:
> 
> If we but turn our gaze to the high qualifications of the members of
> Bahá’í Assemblies, as enumerated in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets, we are
> filled with feelings of unworthiness and dismay, and would feel truly
> disheartened but for the comforting thought that if we rise to play
> nobly our part every deficiency in our lives will be more than
> compensated by the all-conquering spirit of His grace and power.
> Hence it is incumbent upon the chosen delegates to consider without
> the least trace of passion and prejudice, and irrespective of any
> material consideration, the names of only those who can best combine
> the necessary qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless devotion, of
> a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience.213
> 
> One other important aspect of Bahá’í elections should be noted: As in many
> other areas of his teachings (see, for example, the discussion on the equality
> of the sexes in chapter 5), Bahá’u’lláh gave practical expression to a
> spiritual command. He pointed out that minority races and ethnic groups
> have been greatly disadvantaged by discrimination in many parts of the
> world. Members of these minorities have never had the opportunity to
> develop the qualities of mind which they nevertheless possess in equal
> measure with more fortunate peoples. The Bahá’í community must
> deliberately arrange its affairs so that, to the extent possible, these injustices
> and handicaps are eliminated. In the electoral process, therefore, wherever
> the qualifications for a particular office are balanced between a person
> representing a minority group and some other individual, the elector is
> bound by his or her conscience to vote for the person representing the
> minority group. Similarly, if a tie vote occurs in a Bahá’í election and one
> of the persons involved represents a minority, preference should be given to
> him or her in the vote which breaks the tie.
> 
> The same basic electoral principles apply to the election of the membership
> of the Universal House of Justice. In this case, the electors are the members
> of the national spiritual assemblies of the Bahá’í world. Unlike the local and
> national spiritual assemblies, however, the Universal House of Justice is
> elected only once in five years, at an international convention held at the
> World Centre of the Bahá’í Faith in Haifa, Israel.214
> 
> THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE, THE BOARDS OF COUNSELORS, AND THEIR DEPUTIES
> This system of group decision making is supplemented by a number of
> advisory bodies. During their lifetimes both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> appointed distinguished believers to serve as Hands of the Cause in
> propagating and protecting the Bahá’í Faith. The Will and Testament of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá provided that these functions should continue throughout the
> Bahá’í dispensation; therefore Shoghi Effendi also appointed Hands of the
> Cause, twenty-seven of whom were still living at the time of his death in
> November 1957. The Will and Testament reads in part:
> 
> O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and
> appointed by the guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under his
> shadow and obey his command....
> 
> The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to diffuse the
> Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote learning, to
> improve the character of men and to be, at all times and under all
> conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly things. They must
> manifest the fear of God by their conduct, their manners, their deeds
> and their words.215
> 
> In the absence of a Guardian of the faith, there was no way in which other
> Hands of the Cause could be appointed following the death of Shoghi
> Effendi. The Universal House of Justice, however, is fully empowered by
> the explicit terms of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh to create whatever
> institutions it feels the evolution of the Bahá’í community requires. Since
> the Will and Testament called for the functions performed by the Hands of
> the Cause to be carried on as an integral part of the Administrative Order,
> the Universal House of Justice created a specialized institution for this
> purpose, an institution entirely separate from the elective system of spiritual
> assemblies. This institution is known as the “Boards of Counselors,”216 and
> its members serve on a continental level. The counselors are distinguished
> believers who are appointed to terms of five years, and each continental
> board has from eleven to nineteen members.
> 
> The Hands of the Cause, encouraged by Shoghi Effendi, had already
> appointed groups of deputies on each continent, designated as auxiliary
> boards by the Guardian. These subsidiary boards have been attached to the
> boards of counselors by the Universal House of Justice, and they serve them
> in the same way as they did the Hands of the Cause previously. Further, as
> the Bahá’í Faith has grown very rapidly in recent years, the Universal
> House of Justice has authorized each auxiliary board member to appoint
> “assistants” to help him or her in carrying on the work at the local level.
> Thus, parallel with the system of national and local spiritual assemblies, a
> separate branch of the administrative order now exists to carry out
> specialized functions at the continental, regional, and local levels.
> 
> THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE COUNSELORS TO THE SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES
> 
> There are two principal differences between the institutions that make up
> the two branches of the Bahá’í administrative order. These differences
> relate to their modes of operation and to the powers conferred upon them.
> The spiritual assemblies are corporate bodies which come into being
> through election by the Bahá’í community as a whole, and they function
> through the normal process of majority decision. The counselors and their
> deputies are individually appointed by the Universal House of Justice and
> the boards of counselors, respectively, and they continue to function
> primarily as individual servants of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Although
> spiritual assembly members may occasionally perform individual duties, as
> elected officers for example, and though there is consultation between the
> counselors and auxiliary boards, the assemblies remain essentially corporate
> agencies, while the other institutions represent teams of individual
> coworkers.
> 
> The second difference lies in the nature of the authority conferred upon
> each one of the branches of the Bahá’í administration. The power to make
> decisions concerning the life of the community resides solely with the
> spiritual assemblies and ultimately with the Universal House of Justice. The
> counselors and auxiliary board members advise the spiritual assemblies,
> comment on their plans and do whatever is deemed necessary to stimulate
> them, but their role is limited to these activities. The ultimate responsibility
> and decision-making authority rest with the spiritual assemblies, as they are
> the elected representatives of the Bahá’í community. It is this, perhaps more
> than any other factor, which distinguishes the role of the Hands, the
> counselors, and the auxiliary board members in the Bahá’í Faith from that
> of a “clergy” (as it is commonly defined by other faiths). The Hands and
> their successors, the counselors and auxiliary boards, have neither decision-
> making authority nor sacerdotal functions; nor do they have a right to
> interpret the sacred writings.217 Moreover, the counselors serve only for the
> specified period of their appointment rather than for life.
> 
> Their role is, nevertheless, very significant. As individuals, they are chosen
> because each has demonstrated a high degree of spiritual maturity and the
> capacity to make valuable contributions to the life of the community. The
> Bahá’í writings accord them a high rank in the membership of the
> community, and both spiritual assemblies and individual believers are
> expected to take advantage of the assistance which their experience can
> provide.
> THE INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE
> 
> In 1973 the counselors and auxiliary boards were brought together under
> the direction of a single international institution functioning at the World
> Centre of the Bahá’í Faith in Haifa, Israel.218 This institution is known as
> the International Teaching Centre. Its membership consists of the surviving
> Hands and a number of counselors appointed for this purpose by the
> Universal House of Justice. In time, when all the Hands will have passed
> away, the full membership of the Centre will consist of appointees of the
> Universal House of Justice, and the institution of the Teaching Centre will
> continue to function under the supervision of the House of Justice.
> 
> The principal duties of the International Teaching Centre are to coordinate
> the activities of the various boards of counselors and to assist the Universal
> House of Justice in developing the global plans through which the faith
> expands. It may be helpful to note the distinction the Bahá’í writings make
> between the spiritual station of individual believers and the rank which they
> may hold or the function which they may perform in the Bahá’í community.
> The Universal House of Justice has said:
> Courtesy, reverence, dignity, respect for the rank and achievements of
> others are virtues which contribute to the harmony and well-being of
> every community, but pride and self-aggrandizement are among the
> most deadly of sins.
> 
> . . . the ultimate aim in the life of every soul should be to attain
> spiritual excellence—to win the good pleasure of God. The true
> spiritual station of any soul is known only to God. It is quite a different
> thing from the ranks and stations that men and women occupy in the
> various sectors of society. 219
> 
> COMMUNITY LIFE AND THE “NINETEEN-DAY FEAST”
> 
> At the local level the activities of the Bahá’í community are centered on a
> periodic all-community meeting called a “feast.” The dates for these
> gatherings are the same for the entire Bahá’í world, and they are based on
> the Bahá’í solar calendar, which originated with the Báb. This calendar
> consists of nineteen months, each having nineteen days, making a total of
> 361 days.220 The four extra days of the solar year (five in leap years) are
> designated as “Intercalary Days,” and they constitute a period of gift-giving,
> hospitality, and festivity.221 The feast is held on the first day of each Bahá’í
> month; thus there are nineteen feasts in the Bahá’í year.
> The feast has three basic parts. The first is devotional and consists of the
> reading of prayers and meditations, which may be taken not only from the
> Bahá’í holy writings, but also from the scriptures of other revealed
> religions. The second portion is administrative: the business of the
> community is consulted upon by all those present, including youth and
> children. The local spiritual assembly reports on those decisions it has made
> that are relevant to the general life of the community; a treasurer’s report is
> given; and the members of the community are encouraged to offer
> suggestions, raise questions, or express their concerns in consultation with
> the representatives of the local spiritual assembly. The spiritual assembly is
> not bound to accept the recommendations put forward at the feast, but it
> must consider them and report back to the community on the action taken in
> each instance. The third portion of the feast is a social gathering. Together
> with refreshments and informal fellowship, this portion may include
> musical or other artistic presentations, games, and entertainment. All three
> parts are necessary to the feast, and Bahá’ís are encouraged to see the
> spiritual possibilities not only of the devotional, but also of the consultative
> and social portions.
> 
> In most Bahá’í communities the feast takes place in private homes or in
> small community centers. This is because these communities are not yet
> large enough to warrant the investment in more elaborate facilities. The
> pattern of community development envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh is capable of
> accommodating communities of much larger size. It is intended that, in
> time, each village or other locality will have its own “House of Worship”
> (Mashriqu’l-Adhkár or “Dawning-place of the praises of God”). This house
> of worship will become the center of Bahá’í community life, and around it
> will be built a variety of supportive service agencies.222
> 
> BAHÁ’Í LAW: SPIRITUAL LIBERTY THROUGH DISCIPLINE
> 
> All of the Bahá’í institutions we have been discussing operate in
> conjunction with a pattern of revealed law. Law, Bahá’u’lláh asserted, is the
> foundation of all human society.223 Without it, order is impossible, and
> without order, there is no framework within which the spiritual, cultural,
> technological, and intellectual activities that depend on human interactions
> can develop. Even personal freedom depends upon law. By surrendering a
> degree of personal freedom to a commonly accepted system of laws, the
> individual assists in the creation of an environment that returns far greater
> benefits in terms of freedom than the personal investment it requires.
> 
> It is primarily the animal aspects of human nature that sound laws seek to
> discipline. Earlier this subject was examined in some depth. It is necessary
> here merely to note again the Bahá’í belief that our intrinsic spiritual,
> intellectual, and moral capacities are liberated only when our physical
> nature has been disciplined and refined as a reliable instrument. Whenever
> the demands of the physical body prevail, our true nature remains hobbled
> and imprisoned by our physical, animal nature.
> 
> The ultimate source of all law beneficial to spiritual development is the
> successive revelations of the Manifestations of God.224 The laws revealed
> by Moses, Jesus, or Muhammad are not merely regulations or moral
> precepts. Because the Manifestation’s love for us touches our hearts, the
> laws he gives are capable of remolding the human conscience. The
> standards of right and wrong change in ways dictated by each successive
> revelation, and upon this foundation society itself constructs new systems of
> laws. “Think not,” Bahá’u’lláh stated, “that We have revealed unto you a
> mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the
> fingers of might and power.”225
> 
> THE KITÁB-I-AQDAS, THE BOOK OF LAWS
> 
> In the light of this view of the importance of Divine Law, it is not surprising
> to find Shoghi Effendi referring to Bahá’u’lláh’s book of laws, the Kitáb-i-
> Aqdas (literally, the Most Holy Book) as “the most signal act” of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s life, “the brightest emanation of the mind of Bahá’u’lláh” and
> “the Charter of His New World Order.”226 The Kitáb-i-Aqdas lays down the
> basic laws for the spiritual life of the individual and the membership of the
> Bahá’í community. By any standards, it is an extraordinary document. A
> thorough discussion on the subject is beyond the scope of the present work,
> but three features in particular stand out: its comprehensiveness, its
> progressive application, and the manner of its publication.
> 
> The laws of Bahá’u’lláh deal with a very wide range of individual and
> community concerns. Among the subjects considered are prayer, fasting,
> marriage, divorce, inheritance, education, burial, wills and testaments,
> hunting, tithing, sexual relationships, care of the body, work, and eating
> habits.
> 
> Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá emphasized that the application of laws
> of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas was to occur gradually, as people develop the capacity
> to respond to the requisite responsibilities. Training in certain of the laws
> accelerates the process of spiritual maturity and makes possible the
> application of still other provisions. Bahá’u’lláh explained this progressive
> principle:
> Know of a certainty that in every Dispensation the light of Divine
> Revelation hath been vouchsafed to men in direct proportion to their
> spiritual capacity. Consider the sun. How feeble its rays the moment it
> appeareth above the horizon. How gradually its warmth and potency
> increase as it approacheth its zenith, enabling meanwhile all created
> things to adapt themselves to the growing intensity of its light. . . .
> Were it all of a sudden to manifest the energies latent within it, it would
> no doubt cause injury to all created things.... In like manner, if the Sun
> of Truth were suddenly to reveal, at the earliest stages of its
> manifestation, the full measure of the potencies which the providence
> of the Almighty hath bestowed upon it, the earth of human
> understanding would waste away and be consumed; for men’s hearts
> would neither sustain the intensity of its revelation, nor be able to
> mirror forth the radiance of its light.227
> 
> Guided by this, both the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice have
> gradually introduced provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas as the Bahá’í
> community grows and matures. Clearly, the process will be a lengthy one.
> Certain laws, Shoghi Effendi pointed out, have been “formulated in
> anticipation of a state of society destined to emerge from the chaotic
> conditions that prevail today.”228
> The Kitáb-i-Aqdas is only nominally a “book.” More precisely, it is the core
> of a vast body of literature in which the laws of the Bahá’í Faith are stated
> and explained. The original volume in Arabic is a very small work.
> Bahá’u’lláh supplemented it with a large number of writings which
> elaborated the statements it contained, and he wrote commentaries on
> certain questions advanced by nineteenth-century Persian Bahá’í scholars
> who had read the work. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá added to these secondary materials
> and provided further extensive interpretations and commentaries on the
> provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, just as Bahá’u’lláh had indicated would be
> necessary. The entire corpus was then greatly increased by the detailed
> interpretation of Shoghi Effendi, functioning in his role as the Guardian of
> the Bahá’í community.
> 
> Therefore the specific provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas can only be
> determined by tracing their individual development through the entire
> process of codification. Shoghi Effendi indicated that, ultimately, a
> codification of the laws and ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas would be
> completed and published. He himself worked extensively on it, translating
> several passages of the original work, and leaving an outline of the Synopsis
> and Codification with supplementary notes. In 1973, on the one-hundredth
> anniversary of the completion of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas by Bahá’u’lláh, the
> Universal House of Justice published the collected passages, as they had
> been translated by the Guardian, together with a complete summary of the
> topics dealt with in the original work, under the title Synopsis and
> Codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Then, in
> 1992, the Universal House of Justice published an extensively annotated
> English translation of the entire text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, together with
> some of the supplementary commentaries of Bahá’u’lláh and the previously
> published Synopsis and Codification.229
> 
> SPECIFIC LAWS OF THE KITÁB-I-AQDAS
> 
> A survey of some of the specific areas of human conduct to which the
> provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas have already been applied by the Bahá’í
> community will indicate the general outline of Bahá’u’lláh’s instructions
> and will illustrate the three features just mentioned.
> 
> PRAYER AND MEDITATION
> 
> One of the most important of the laws Bahá’u’lláh prescribed for individual
> discipline is daily prayer and meditation. Compilations of the prayers of
> Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have been published in a great many
> languages, and there exists in English a three-hundred-page volume
> consisting entirely of Bahá’u’lláh’s meditations. These books serve as
> resources for Bahá’ís in their devotional life.
> 
> Beyond the general injunction to pray and meditate, Bahá’u’lláh also
> ordained an obligatory prayer to be said each day by every believer who has
> attained the “age of maturity.”230 This obligatory prayer has three different
> forms, and the individual is free to choose whichever form he prefers on
> any given day. The so-called “Short Obligatory Prayer,” for example, is to
> be said sometime between noon and sunset each day:
> 
> I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and
> to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to
> Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God
> but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.231
> 
> ABSTENTION FROM ALCOHOL AND NARCOTIC DRUGS
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh taught that the use of alcohol and narcotic or hallucinogenic
> drugs does harm to the higher physical and mental faculties, thereby
> hampering spiritual development. Bahá’ís are forbidden to use them in any
> form. The only exception to this is the right of a physician to prescribe
> alcohol or drugs for conditions for which there is no known alternative
> mode of treatment. There are no other prohibitions concerning food or drink
> in the Bahá’í teachings. Smoking tobacco, for example, is not forbidden,
> though it is strongly condemned as harmful to physical health and often
> socially repellent.232
> 
> FASTING
> 
> As has been the case with other revealed religions, the Bahá’í Faith sees
> great value in the practice of fasting as a discipline for the soul. Bahá’u’lláh
> designated a nineteen-day period each year when adult Bahá’ís fast from
> sunrise to sunset each day. This period coincides with the Bahá’í month of
> ‘Alá (meaning Loftiness), from March 2 to 21, inclusive. This is the month
> immediately preceding the Bahá’í Naw-Rúz, or New Year, which occurs the
> day of the vernal equinox, and the period of fasting is therefore viewed as a
> time of spiritual preparation and regeneration for a new year’s activities.
> However, according to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, women who are nursing or
> pregnant, the aged, the sick, the traveler, those engaged in heavy labor, as
> well as children under the age of fifteen, are exempt from observance of the
> Fast.233
> 
> ABSTENTION FROM BACKBITING
> Besides the laws for the individual believer, Bahá’u’lláh laid down a
> number of other social laws and principles. For example, backbiting and
> criticism of others are condemned by him as extremely injurious to spiritual
> health: “backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the
> life of the soul.”234 Backbiting is considered to be criticism of others to
> third parties, whether or not the criticism is maliciously intended. Members
> of the Bahá’í community may take a concern about another’s actions, in
> confidence, to their local spiritual assembly, but they must then leave the
> matter in the hands of the spiritual assembly and refrain from further
> discussion of it.
> 
> MARRIAGE
> 
> Marriage is regarded in Bahá’í law as both a spiritual and a social
> institution. It affects not only the couple and their children, but also the
> parents, grandparents, grandchildren, and other collateral relations. Indeed,
> it affects (or in a healthy society should affect) all other community
> associations that surround it. Consequently, Bahá’u’lláh placed great
> emphasis on the education of the couple to learn to recognize the capacities
> and limitations of one another, thereby providing them with a reasonable
> amount of protection from making frivolous mistakes in their relations with
> each other. A Bahá’í who wishes to marry must obtain the consent of his or
> her living natural parents as well as those of the prospective spouse
> (whether or not the latter is a Bahá’í). Unlike the tradition which long
> prevailed in the East, parents do not have the right to choose a mate for their
> sons or daughters. But unlike the conditions which presently exist in the
> West, the couple is not free, by themselves and without the consideration of
> their parents (who may be directly affected by the consequences of their
> decision to marry), to make a decision which will intimately concern many
> others.235
> 
> The Bahá’í teachings enjoin chastity before marriage, as the sexual instinct
> is an endowment related to the procreation of children and the strengthening
> of the marriage bond. For this reason, absolute faithfulness between the
> partners within a marriage is another law to which the Bahá’í writings
> attach great importance. While marriage is by no means compulsory for
> Bahá’ís, it is strongly recommended as “a fortress for well-being.” Far from
> being regarded as a special virtue, celibacy is viewed by the Bahá’í writings
> as an undesirable limitation.236
> 
> The Bahá’í marriage service has no set form and may be extremely simple.
> All that is strictly required is an exchange of the vow: “We will all, verily,
> abide by the will of God.” The service must be authorized by a spiritual
> assembly which has verified the parental consent and appointed witnesses.
> Prayers and devotions chosen by the bride and groom, as well as music,
> often complete the event.
> 
> PROVISIONS FOR DIVORCE
> 
> Divorce is permitted in the Bahá’í Faith, but it is strongly discouraged. The
> normal difficulties of married life are designed to “purify the characters” of
> the married couple and strengthen their union as the elementary building-
> block of society itself. Nevertheless, the Bahá’í teachings recognize that
> insoluble problems can develop in marital relationships where the couple
> may be entirely unsuited to one another. Therefore, if an estrangement
> between the Bahá’í husband and wife grows to the point where they are
> seriously considering divorce, Bahá’í law provides an institution called the
> “year of waiting”: the parties live separately for one year’s time, which
> provides them the opportunity to obtain counseling and undertake efforts to
> overcome the difficulties that have led to the marriage breakdown. Either of
> the parties may take the problem to the local spiritual assembly, which then
> meets with each of them and determines whether or not there is a
> willingness to attempt a reconciliation. Should that possibility not be
> apparent, the spiritual assembly will set the date of the beginning of the year
> of waiting as the date on which the couple establishes separate residences.
> During the course of the year of waiting, the spiritual assembly will, often
> with professional assistance, attempt to help the couple to overcome their
> difficulties. A Bahá’í divorce can be obtained only after the full year of
> waiting is ended.
> 
> In a sense, one might consider this institution as a kind of “marriage
> hospital” where ailing marital relations are treated and by means of which
> the immediate pressures are temporarily removed and healing processes
> introduced, until such time as the healthy forces in the union are able to
> reassert themselves.
> 
> ABSTENTION FROM POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT
> 
> Yet another law upon which Bahá’u’lláh placed great emphasis is the
> requirement that his followers strictly abstain from political involvement of
> any kind. At a first glance, one might expect to find the members of the
> Bahá’í community actively engaged in a wide range of political pursuits in
> furtherance of its universal ideals. The opposite is in fact the case. Bahá’ís
> are permitted to vote for any candidate who, in the privacy of their
> conscience, they believe would make the most valuable contribution to the
> society in which they live. Bahá’ís may also accept nonpolitical government
> appointments. But they may not identify themselves with or campaign for
> any political party or partisan movement.237
> 
> ‘The reason for this is the basic Bahá’í belief that the fundamental challenge
> to all people and nations today is the attainment of the unification of
> humankind. Real social progress, Bahá’u’lláh taught, waits upon attainment
> of this new level in the development of human civilization: “The well-being
> of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity
> is firmly established.”238 Bahá’u’lláh held that political action, which is
> necessarily partisan and divisive in nature, cannot hold the answers to
> problems that are universal in their very essence. All political instruments,
> he pointed out, are limited and particular, whether they be national, racial,
> cultural, or ideological.
> 
> The Bahá’í principle of noninvolvement in politics does not prevent Bahá’ís
> from taking public positions on purely social and moral issues when these
> issues are not part of any partisan political debate. Indeed, over the years
> Bahá’ís have been at the forefront of action on several social issues such as
> racial equality and nondiscrimination.
> 
> The principle of noninvolvement in politics is closely related, both in belief
> and practice, to the Bahá’í teaching of loyalty to government. Bahá’u’lláh
> called upon his followers to obey the government in power at a given time,
> and to refrain strictly from any attempts to subvert or to undermine it.
> Should the government of a nation change, the Baha’i community must, in
> the same spirit of faithfulness, give its loyalty to the new administration, in
> every fashion consistent with the principle of political noninvolvement.239
> 
> THE UNDERLYING REQUISITE OF BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY LIFE: CONSULTATION
> 
> Underlying all the laws and community structures in the Bahá’í Faith is a
> group decision-making process called “consultation.” Essentially, Bahá’í
> consultation involves a frank but loving exchange of opinions by members
> of a group with a view towards the determination of the truth of some
> matter and the establishment of a genuine group consensus. It is no
> exaggeration to say that virtually every member of the Bahá’í Faith is a
> student of the process of consultation. Shoghi Effendi said on this subject:
> 
> The principle of consultation, which constitutes one of the basic laws
> of the Administration, should be applied to all Bahá’í activities which
> affect the collective interests of the Faith, for it is through co-operation
> and continued exchange of thoughts and views that the Cause can best
> safeguard and foster its interests. Individual initiative, personal ability
> and resourcefulness, though indispensable, are, unless supported and
> enriched by the collective experiences and wisdom of the group, utterly
> incapable of achieving such a tremendous task.240
> 
> Similar emphasis is placed on this principle in Bahá’í family life, and
> particularly in the relationship between husband and wife. Even in purely
> personal concerns, Bahá’ís are encouraged to seek consultation with others,
> wherever the circumstances seem so to indicate. The Universal House of
> Justice cautions, however, that:
> 
> It should be borne in mind that all consultation is aimed at arriving at a
> solution to a problem and is quite different from the sort of group
> baring of the soul that is popular in some circles these days and which
> borders on the kind of confession that is forbidden in the Faith.... “We
> are forbidden to confess to any person ... our sins and shortcomings, or
> to do so in public, as some religious sects do. However, if we
> spontaneously desire to acknowledge we have been wrong in
> something, or that we have some fault of character, and ask another
> person’s forgiveness or pardon, we are quite free to do so.”241
> 
> One of the best-known summaries of the Bahá’í pattern of consultation is to
> be found in a passage from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s writings which has become a
> working document for the Bahá’í national and local spiritual assemblies:
> The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members
> of the assembly. They must be wholly free from estrangement and
> must manifest in themselves the Unity of God, for they are the waves
> of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of one heaven. . . . They
> must when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on High
> and ask aid from the Realm of Glory. They must then proceed with the
> utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and moderation to express their
> views. They must in every matter search out the truth and not insist
> upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one’s
> views will lead ultimately to discord and wrangling and the truth will
> remain hidden. The honored members must with all freedom express
> their own thoughts, and it is in no wise permissible for one to belittle
> the thought of another, nay, he must with moderation set forth the truth,
> and should differences of opinion arise a majority of voices must
> prevail, and all must obey and submit to the majority. It is again not
> permitted that anyone of the honored members object to or censure,
> whether in or out of the meeting, any decision arrived at previously,
> though that decision be not right, for such criticism would prevent any
> decision from being enforced.... Should they endeavor to fulfill these
> conditions the Grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them,
> and that assembly shall become the center of the Divine blessings, the
> hosts of Divine confirmation shall come to their aid, and they shall day
> by day receive a new effusion of Spirit.242
> 
> One other interesting feature of the consultation of Bahá’í spiritual
> assemblies is the deliberate aim of achieving unanimity of view. Majority
> decision making is, therefore, regarded as a minimal requirement of Bahá’í
> administrative consultation:
> 
> The ideal of Bahá’í consultation is to arrive at a unanimous decision.
> When this is not possible a vote must be taken....
> 
> As soon as a decision is reached it becomes the decision of the whole
> Assembly, not merely of those members who happened to be among
> the majority.243
> 
> CONCLUSIONS
> 
> The laws we have discussed above and other fundamental laws and
> governing procedures of the Bahá’í Faith represent a fiber of “tough-
> mindedness” which runs through the entire fabric of the new religion.
> Superficially, one might expect to find a preference for vagueness and
> perhaps a lack of realism among the members of a faith focused on the goal
> of the unification of humankind and the creation of a new global society
> based on justice. Certainly the Bahá’í message is a visionary one, and
> certainly members of the Bahá’í community are caught up in this vision. On
> the other hand, they do not believe that the goal can be achieved without
> very great sacrifice and effort, both by individuals and by entire societies.
> 
> They believe that the achievement of a world order and a world civilization
> involves the creation of a new way of life which will discipline human
> nature to the larger purposes of God. This discipline must affect the most
> homely circumstances of life as well as the larger concerns of society. The
> institution of marriage must be restored to its position as the foundation on
> which civilization can flourish. Personal life must be spiritualized through
> the disciplines of prayer, meditation, and service to others. Social habits
> such as backbiting, which strike at the very roots of human association,
> must be eliminated, and people must give up their fascination for such
> barren pursuits as partisan politics in favor of learning cooperation and the
> art of true consultation. New social structures involving a much greater
> degree of individual participation must be implemented. It is the
> contemporary failure to submit to these necessary (and inevitable)
> disciplines, and to implement these new structures, that Bahá’ís regard as
> surrender to wishful thinking and reliance on magical solutions for the
> world’s critical problems. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh:
> They whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize that
> the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the
> maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples. He
> that turneth away from them is accounted among the abject and
> foolish. We, verily, have commanded you to refuse the dictates of your
> evil passions and corrupt desires, and not to transgress the bounds
> which the Pen of the Most High hath fixed, for these are the breath of
> life to all created things....
> 
> O ye peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments
> are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the
> keys of My mercy for My creatures.... Were any man to taste the
> sweetness of the words which the lips of the All-Merciful have willed
> to utter, he would, though the treasures of the earth be in his
> possession, renounce them one and all, that he might vindicate the truth
> of even one of His commandments, shining above the dayspring of His
> bountiful care and loving-kindness.244
> 9. The Bahá’í Community
> 
> From earliest times, communities have been created around religious
> beliefs. The early responses to the teachings of the Buddha, Jesus Christ,
> and Muhammad are particularly dramatic examples of how many thousands
> of persons were drawn into communities bound together by their faith, each
> organized on the basis of principles and priorities laid down by the founder.
> As these communities grew and proved themselves able to meet the needs
> of the members, they came to embrace millions of adherents and eventually
> gave rise to new states and cultures.
> 
> This has been the role of religion at even the most primitive stages of
> human civilization. In his widely read study, The City in History, the social
> philosopher Lewis Mumford said of the earliest forms of human settlement:
> 
> [They] have to do with sacred things, not just with physical survival:
> they relate to a more valuable and meaningful kind of life, with a
> consciousness that entertains past and future, apprehending the primal
> mystery of sexual generation and the ultimate mystery of death and
> what may lie beyond death. As the city takes form, much more will be
> added: but these central concerns abide as the very reason for the city’s
> existence, inseparable from the economic substance that makes it
> possible. In the earliest gathering about a grave or a painted symbol, a
> great stone or a sacred grove, one has the beginning of a succession of
> civic institutions that range from the temple to the astronomical
> observatory, from the theater to the university.245
> 
> The process of community-building is well advanced in the Bahá’í Faith.
> During the first century of its existence, the Bahá’í community was
> primarily concentrated in Persia where, as a proscribed and much
> persecuted minority, it had little opportunity to experiment with the
> teachings of its founder. Once the teaching plans were implemented under
> the direction of Shoghi Effendi, however, and particularly as these plans
> became global in scope, the collective life of the believers began to
> manifest some of the “society-building” potentialities. Whether the Bahá’í
> Faith will ultimately become the inspiration and guiding force of a new
> advance in world civilization, as have other revealed religions, is something
> only time will demonstrate. The important fact to note is that, as a result of
> the activities of the faith since its inception in 1844, a global Bahá’í
> community has come into existence and is now rapidly expanding. An
> understanding of the Bahá’í Faith must include an appreciation of this
> important development.
> 
> As we have already seen, the spiritual inheritance of the members of the
> Bahá’í community is impressive. The history of the community since 1844,
> with its martyrs, its sacrifices, its achievements, and its drama, can
> genuinely be called heroic. The Bahá’í message is equally powerful:
> Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings deal with a vast range of human concerns and
> explore many of the most vexing issues in modern human thought. Few
> would deny, either, that the Bahá’í administrative order is a remarkable
> achievement, both in the way its principles are attuned to the faith’s aims
> and in the success with which its institutions have been established in the
> precise form planned by the founder. If one considers the history, the
> teachings, and the Bahá’í administration as Bahá’u’lláh’s legacy to his
> followers, the new faith has begun its life with great advantages.
> 
> What have the heirs of Bahá’u’lláh done with this inheritance? What kind
> of community have they thus far been able to create as the result of their
> efforts to emulate the heroes of their faith, to understand the founder’s
> purpose and message, and to organize their collective life on the
> administrative pattern laid down by him and by his appointed successors?
> It may be helpful to begin with an examination of the physical size of the
> community and the kind of expansion that has occurred since its inception.
> While precise statistics are not available, there appear to be some five
> million Bahá’ís around the world, of whom nearly half live in one or other
> of the two largest national communities: India and Iran. The total figure is
> not large when one considers the size of other religious movements that are
> roughly contemporary with the Bahá’í Faith.246
> 
> The significance of the growth emerges only as one examines the nature of
> the expansion that has occurred. It has been widespread. Today there are
> over 11,000 elected local spiritual assemblies functioning in well over two
> hundred independent states and major territories, and there are more than
> 127,000 centers where Bahá’ís, or Bahá’í groups, reside. It is estimated by
> the Bahá’í International Community that this membership represents over
> two thousand different ethnic and tribal minorities, many of whom live in
> remote areas of the world: Pacific Islands, Arctic settlements, jungle
> villages, and the Andean highlands. In their efforts to educate and organize
> the highly diversified communities entrusted to their care, the more than
> 180 national or regional spiritual assemblies that have so far been
> established have translated and published Bahá’í prayers and literature in
> over eight hundred languages.
> That a relatively small religious community should be cosmopolitan,
> widespread, and highly organized at so early a stage in its history is an
> extraordinary accomplishment. The same may be said of the community’s
> success in establishing its credentials in the eyes of civil authorities. Far
> from rejecting “the world” and the institutions that govern it, the Bahá’í
> community has deliberately pursued a close relationship with civil
> authorities as an integral part of its development. Through continuous
> efforts in a series of global development plans, Bahá’í spiritual assemblies
> at both the local and national levels have become legally incorporated in the
> majority of countries where the faith has been established. The Bahá’í
> marriage ceremony has secured formal recognition under a great many civil
> jurisdictions, and, in various parts of the world, Bahá’í holy days are
> beginning to gain similar status to that which is accorded those of other
> major faiths in businesses, schools, and government offices.
> 
> In the United Nations, the Bahá’í International Community has steadily
> expanded the status accorded to it by the Economic and Social Council
> (ECOSOC). Its representatives participate in the wide range of international
> conferences called by the various organs and agencies of the UN family,
> thus helping lay the foundations of international accord and gaining an
> opportunity for the Bahá’í community to share the faith’s universal
> ideals.247
> Much attention is given to ensuring that, to the extent circumstances permit,
> the general public in all parts of the world is made aware of the existence of
> the faith and the nature of its teachings. Publishing trusts in various
> countries print and distribute a great variety of Bahá’í literature, ranging
> from compilations of the writings of Bahá’u’lláh to scholarly commentaries,
> popular books, newsletters, and magazines. Other media are also
> extensively utilized: films, television programs and spot announcements,
> radio broadcasts, newspaper articles and advertisements, pamphlets, posters
> and manuals, correspondence courses, exhibitions, lecture series, and winter
> and summer schools. In the spring of 1996, with electronic technology
> opening up a new world of possibilities for the communication of
> information and ideas, the Bahá’í International Community launched its
> official Web site, THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD.              The objective of all this
> activity is to ensure that, in time, every person on earth will come in contact
> with the message of Bahá’u’lláh.
> 
> One Bahá’í institution that has played a particularly prominent role in this
> program of public education is the house of worship. Today there are Bahá’í
> houses of worship on every continent, and a great many additional sites
> have been purchased around the world for future construction of these
> edifices, which are intended to play a central role in Bahá’í community life.
> Around each, in time, will be constructed other agencies such as schools or
> colleges, hostels, homes for the aged, and administrative centers. At the
> present time, the houses of worship are not principally used for Bahá’í
> community services. Rather, they are opened as places where individuals of
> all religious backgrounds (or those professing no particular faith) meet in
> the worship of the one God. Services are nondenominational and consist of
> readings and prayers from the scriptures of the world’s faiths, with no
> sermons or other attempts to cast these teachings in a mold of specifically
> Bahá’í interpretation. Selections are often set to music and sung by trained a
> capella choirs. The only requisite architectural features of a house of
> worship are that it have nine sides and a dome, symbolic of Bahá’í
> acceptance of all religious traditions and representative of the fact that,
> although the participants may enter by different doors, they assemble
> together in recognition of one Creator.
> 
> In many ways, the houses of worship are expressive of the attitude the
> Bahá’í Faith takes towards its relationship with the rest of society. The
> temples are open structures, filled with light. They are designed to express
> the Bahá’í commitment to unity in diversity and to demonstrate the
> practicality of the principle. In the case of the “Mother Temple of the West”
> located in Wilmette, Illinois, the architect integrated several major
> architectural traditions and wove together in his design the symbols of
> several of the major revealed religions. In his own words:
> 
> When man-made beliefs are rooted out of all religions, we find only
> harmony. Today, however, religion is foundering so much in
> superstitions and human theories that it has to be defined in a new form
> in order to become pure and spotless once more. It is the same in
> architecture.... Now, in this new concept of the Temple is woven, in a
> symbolical form, the great Bahá’í teaching of unity-unity of all
> religions and of all mankind. We find there combinations of
> mathematical lines, symbolizing those of the universe and in their
> complex merging of overlapping circles, circles within circles, we can
> describe the merging of all religions into one.249
> 
> In the architecture of the houses of worship can also be seen the Bahá’í
> community’s optimism. Bahá’ís confidently expect that the generality of
> humankind will eventually become followers of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings.
> They believe that, as the crises of the present age deepen, men and women
> everywhere will be moved to search more seriously for truth; and if the
> message of Bahá’u’lláh is properly presented, those who seek will respond
> to its precepts in ever-increasing numbers. In their openness of design, their
> integration of various architectural traditions, and their services free from
> sermons and ritual, the Bahá’í houses of worship powerfully express this
> spirit of optimism.
> 
> Thus far the optimism of the Bahá’í community seems fully justified. The
> Bahá’í Faith is now one of the world’s most rapidly growing religious
> systems. In April 1979 the Universal House of Justice announced that the
> latest in the series of international teaching plans, the five-year plan
> launched in 1974, had been successfully completed. Many of its goals were
> surpassed, particularly with respect to the number of spiritual assemblies to
> be formed and the number of localities to be opened. It was estimated that
> the number of believers rose by over 40 percent during that five-year
> period.
> 
> Whereas the most rapid growth during the previous nine-year plan had
> occurred in Africa and Latin America, a marked lead had now been taken
> by Bahá’í communities in Asia and the Pacific islands. Encouraged by these
> results, the Universal House of Justice announced the immediate launching
> of a new seven-year plan to be completed by spring 1986.250 By the time
> Bahá’í delegates from around the world gathered in Haifa for the 1983
> international convention, this new under-taking was also exceeding its
> objectives.
> The scope of the international Bahá’í community and the nature of the
> expansion that has characterized it have been briefly surveyed. More
> difficult is an examination of the internal life of the community. The most
> direct approach is to attempt to view it through the experiences of its
> members. How does one become a Bahá’í? What features particularly stand
> out in the experience of a person who joins the Bahá’í Faith at this time in
> its history?
> 
> Obviously, the answers will vary from individual to individual. Moreover,
> there are likely to be significant differences of emphasis and priority in the
> various regions of the world, causing relative differences in the experiences
> of the membership. Nevertheless, the history of the Bahá’í Faith, its
> teachings, and the unfolding administrative order represent a total context
> that is essentially the same throughout the world, and this must inevitably
> evoke certain consistent responses from those who embrace it, whatever
> their ethnic origins.
> 
> With respect to the qualifications for Bahá’í membership, the Universal
> House of Justice has written:
> 
> The prime motive should always be the response of man to God’s
> message, and the recognition of His Messenger. Those who declare
> themselves as Bahá’ís should become enchanted with the beauty of the
> Teachings; and touched by the love of Bahá’u’lláh. The declarants
> need not know all the proofs, history, laws, and principles of the Faith,
> but in the process of declaring themselves they must, in addition to
> catching the spark of faith, become basically informed about the
> Central Figures of the Faith, as well as the existence of laws they must
> follow and an administration they must obey.251
> 
> For those born into and raised by a Bahá’í family, the process of formal
> enrollment is fairly direct. While the Bahá’í teachings condemn dogmatism
> in child-raising, Bahá’í children are raised as members of the community.
> They participate in most of the events of the Bahá’í calendar, study Bahá’í
> history and the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh as well as the other great world
> religions, and are encouraged to live by the standards of Bahá’í life
> appropriate to their age.252 The emphasis the Baha’i teachings place on
> contemporary social issues no doubt contributes to encouraging Bahá’í
> youth to continue their spiritual and intellectual search within the Bahá’í
> Faith. Nevertheless, they are free to reject such membership if they wish.
> On reaching the “age of consent,” which in the Bahá’í community is fifteen
> years of age, youths assume responsibility for their own individual spiritual
> development. At approximately this age, youths indicate whether or not
> they regard themselves as Bahá’ís and will continue to participate in the
> Bahá’í community life.
> 
> In the case of those who come into the faith as adults, the decision to join
> the community is most frequently reached as a result of informal
> associations with believers. The community’s wide range of information
> activities regularly attract thousands of interested inquirers to contact
> members of the faith. Through small study group meetings or more
> formally arranged presentations, inquirers are given the teachings and
> objectives of the Bahá’í Faith as closely as their inclinations prompt them.
> At some point, they may either spontaneously inquire about membership or
> they may be invited by Bahá’ís to consider it. Should they request
> membership, application is made to the local spiritual assembly of the area;
> if that institution is satisfied that the applicants understand the implications
> of membership and are prepared to assume the responsibility of living
> according to Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, they are enrolled. There are no rituals
> or pledges, but the event may be the occasion for an informal celebration.
> 
> Once enrolled as a member of the Bahá’í community, the new believer is
> caught up in two simultaneous processes: personal spiritual development
> and the struggle of a very young community to understand and express the
> ideals expounded in the teachings of its founder.
> Prayer, meditation, fasting during the designated period of the year,
> abstention from the use of drugs and alcohol, and the struggle to avoid
> criticism and backbiting are the major elements of an explicit pattern of
> individual discipline. Likewise, the Bahá’í community is embarked on a
> long-term program of growth and expansion which demands concerted
> effort and an attention to priorities and goals. The thrust of Baha’i belief
> and practice emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between the individual
> believer and the Bahá’í community.
> 
> The two challenges come together because of the emphasis the Baha’i Faith
> places on service. Bahá’u’lláh taught that the highest expression of human
> nature is “service.” Inner growth, “becoming one’s true self,” occurs as one
> serves the ideal of the unification of humankind. The aim of all personal
> spiritual discipline is to free the soul from a preoccupation with itself,
> deepen the sense of identification with the whole of humanity, and focus
> energy on discovering ways to serve the needs of others. The activities of
> the Bahá’í community provide the individual a broad scope for such
> service. In the absence of a clergy, the affairs of the community are
> organized so as to encourage maximum participation by its entire
> membership.
> Participation is particularly encouraged in efforts to promote the expansion
> of the faith. Bahá’u’lláh said that the greatest service which anyone can
> render in this day is to “teach the Cause of God.”253 Each individual Bahá’í
> is encouraged to share the task of taking the message of Bahá’u’lláh to the
> many people who, Bahá’ís believe, can be receptive to it. The time,
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá warned, is short. The crises that grip present-day society will
> deepen and bring steadily more suffering and eventual destruction to
> existing institutions. An alternative way of life must be developed within
> Bahá’í communities, and this can only be done by vastly increasing the
> numbers in all lands who have responded to the call of Bahá’u’lláh and
> committed themselves to putting his teachings into effect.254
> 
> Not surprisingly, most newly enrolled members are eager to respond in
> whatever way they can to this appeal. They have found something which
> has given them great reassurance and purpose and they want to share it with
> others. Despite the strong emphasis on teaching, however, proselytism is
> explicitly forbidden.255 Bahá’ís, therefore, face a challenge to find ways of
> sharing their beliefs that do not infringe on the privacy of others or offend
> the customs of the society in which they reside. The result has been to
> generate a great deal of experimentation, varying widely from one part of
> the world to another and from individual to individual.
> It is difficult to generalize regarding the nature of Bahá’í teaching activities.
> In most Western countries, Bahá’ís teach as individuals or as families,
> through the normal associations of daily life: conversations with neighbors,
> friends, and fellow workers; acquaintanceships that arise out of shared
> interests in public service projects; study courses or recreational activities;
> and encounters at Bahá’í events that are open to the public. In many other
> areas of the world, religion is the focus of much greater general interest, and
> entire communities may become involved in discussing the new spiritual
> teachings. Large-scale enrollments in the Bahá’í Faith have occurred in
> Central Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia through visits by teams
> of Bahá’ís who combine musical and dramatic presentations with talks or
> study courses on the faith. In some social settings, the initiative may come
> from the prospective listeners. North American Bahá’ís have found
> themselves invited to speak to the congregations of black churches in the
> southern states or to “share the Bahá’í message” in presentations made at
> Native American powwows in the Canadian prairies. Bahá’í academics in
> North America, in India, in the emerging nations of the Pacific, or in the
> Caribbean may find themselves invited to lecture in colleges and
> universities on the teachings of their faith.
> 
> The most common method used in spreading the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh,
> however, is the “fireside.” The term originated with the early Bahá’í group
> in Montreal, Canada, although the activity was already going on in a
> number of centers.256 It describes small study groups held at regular
> intervals in private homes, to which friends and acquaintances are invited.
> This informal activity has been a prolific source of new members. It allows
> inquirers to explore the Bahá’í concepts, laws, and teachings at their own
> pace, free from the concern that their private spiritual search may be “on
> display,” as might be the case in an open meeting. The arrangement also
> strengthens ties that continue after a new member has joined the Bahá’í
> community and permits the Bahá’í teacher to assist his or her integration
> into the community.
> 
> A special form of teaching is the service Bahá’ís call “pioneering.” As there
> is no clergy, neither are there professional missionaries who carry the
> Bahá’í teachings to new localities. Rather, the Bahá’í Faith expands as a
> result of the initiative taken by thousands of its followers who, individually
> or in families, leave their homes to settle in new places. Pioneers are
> expected to support themselves through their trade or profession and to
> perform their Bahá’í services in their free time. Jobs are changed, houses
> are sold and new ones found, second languages are learned, and many other
> aspects of day-to-day life are reordered for the sole purpose of introducing
> the Bahá’í Faith to some new town, district, or territory.
> Pioneering may also involve moving to an entirely different country where
> the faith is not yet firmly established. In each global teaching plan, the
> Universal House of Justice identifies a list of countries which need the
> assistance of community workers from elsewhere and specifies the number
> required. In many of the plans, specific goals are assigned to the various
> national Bahá’í communities; not infrequently three or four different
> countries may be called upon to send pioneers to the same country or
> region. As a result, a goal center in Finland or Haiti may have received
> pioneers from Iran, France, Japan, and the United States. Entirely apart
> from the resources these new arrivals represent, the host community’s
> experience of the Bahá’í principle of “unity in diversity” is greatly enriched
> (as is, no doubt, the experience of the pioneers arriving from abroad).
> 
> In this as in all its activities, therefore, the Bahá’í community depends
> directly on the initiative and responsibility undertaken by individual
> believers. No agency monitors the extent to which any person discharges
> his or her obligation to teach the faith. While a spiritual assembly may
> intervene if a particular individual’s teaching activities seem inappropriate
> in some way, the response to the call of teaching is decided upon by the
> believer in his or her own conscience. This is equally true of pioneering, a
> service considered to be a great privilege. Each month, the pioneering and
> teaching needs are shared with the members of each local Bahá’í
> community at the nineteen-day feast, as well as at conferences and through
> the community’s various publications. The initiative must come from within
> the heart of the individual believer and from the consultation of the Bahá’í
> family. The pioneer or pioneer family then approaches the administrative
> agencies of the faith to consult on specific projects and goals.
> 
> Voluntary participation is also the key to the financing of the Baha’i Faith’s
> many programs. At the beginning of the Bahá’í year, each local or national
> spiritual assembly decides on the budget required to carry out the projects
> for that particular year, whether related to teaching goals, property purchase
> and development projects, administrative expenses, or community services.
> These needs are then announced to the Bahá’í community in the same
> manner as are the teaching and pioneering needs. The professional “fund-
> raising” often associated with religious and charitable organizations is not
> permitted in a Bahá’í community. Only general appeals may be made;
> individual canvassing is prohibited. All contributions are voluntary, and
> Shoghi Effendi strongly condemned anything suggestive of psychological
> manipulation.257 Moreover, the contributions are kept confidential between
> the individual or family and the treasurer of the institution to whom the
> contribution is made.
> Bahá’ís consider the opportunity of contributing to the Bahá’í Fund as a
> spiritual privilege reserved for those who have recognized Bahá’u’lláh.
> Consequently, no contributions in any form for the advancement of the
> Bahá’í Faith can be accepted from persons who are not registered Bahá’ís.
> Not infrequently, Bahá’í assemblies have donations pressed on them by
> non-Bahá’ís who are appreciative of one or another of the community’s
> programs. In such instances, the donors are urged to divert the funds to a
> public charity. In the case of anonymous donations, the Bahá’í
> administration puts the contributions into a public charity. Only with regard
> to programs that serve the social, economic, or educational needs of society
> in general can Bahá’í agencies accept and use funds from non-Bahá’í
> sources. This policy heightens the individual members’ feeling of
> identification with and personal responsibility for the work undertaken by
> the community.258
> 
> The administration of the affairs of the Bahá’í community also offers many
> opportunities for the individual’s response to the Bahá’í ideal of service.
> The fact that the Bahá’í Faith is a layman’s religion impresses itself on new
> members very soon after enrollment. They realize that they have joined a
> community, not a congregation. The members of the community perform
> not only the more humble tasks of “service functions,” but are also fully
> responsible for the decision-making process, for planning, and for serving
> as formal representatives of the community.
> 
> New members of the community quickly come to realize that their adopted
> faith is in its formative stages. There is not only a great deal of room for
> experimentation within the broad outlines laid down by the Bahá’í writings
> and under the ongoing guidance of the Universal House of Justice, but there
> is also an acute need for this experimentation in order to assure that the
> rapidly evolving community can achieve its ambitious goals. If the new
> believer has specific talents, these may soon be put to use. He or she may be
> asked to teach a children’s class, to design newspaper advertising, to serve
> on a delegation to the mayor of the city or to a government commission, to
> host a nineteen-day feast, to assist in planning a regional conference, to take
> part in a musical or dramatic event, to run a project, build a display, type
> correspondence, assist with bookkeeping, set up a small library, or any one
> of a variety of other community activities. To respond to the question:
> “Why are we not doing such-and-such?” the answer more often than not is:
> “Because up until now there’s been no one with the time or ability required
> to undertake it.”
> 
> An active social life is a prominent feature of the Bahá’í community.
> Reference was made in chapter 8 to the nineteen-day feast that forms the
> basis of Bahá’í social community life at the local level and to the
> importance which the Bahá’í writings attach to all aspects of this gathering.
> The regional and national conventions are also occasions for consultation
> on the affairs of the community and at the same time involve a great deal of
> socializing among the believers of the region or the country.
> 
> In addition, the community regularly holds conferences of all kinds. Each
> global teaching plan includes arrangements for a number of international
> conferences in major centers. These are well-attended events, with Bahá’ís
> coming in from many parts of the world to spend three to five days
> celebrating recent teaching achievements, studying current trends and
> needs, and acquainting themselves with new literature, audio-visual
> resources, and other aids to community development. The Continental
> Counselors (see chapter 8) are often featured speakers at these events, as are
> leading Bahá’í scholars in various fields. The conferences also provide an
> opportunity for Bahá’ís to experience firsthand the range of cultures
> represented in the worldwide Bahá’í community through dramatic, musical,
> and other artistic presentations. 259
> 
> This pattern is followed, to the extent resources permit, at the national and
> regional levels as well. As a result, Bahá’ís generally benefit from an
> unusual opportunity to get to know one another. The amount of traveling
> these events entail tends to further provide members with an increased
> exposure to the customs and social patterns of other societies than would
> otherwise be the case. For many, no doubt, it also provides the occasion for
> informal teaching of the faith and makes the possibility of an eventual
> pioneer project both more attractive and less intimidating to the individual
> or family who may be considering it.
> 
> No Bahá’í institution contributes more intensely to the spiritual and social
> enrichment of the believers’ experience than pilgrimage. The Bahá’í
> teachings encourage each believer to try, at least once during a lifetime, to
> undertake a nine-day pilgrimage to the World Centre of the Bahá’í Faith in
> Haifa, Israel. Increasing numbers of believers respond to this injunction, so
> many in fact that there is now a significant waiting period.
> 
> The pilgrimage is considered one of the high points of any Bahá’í’s life. He
> or she arrives in Haifa as one of a group of one hundred fifty or so believers
> from all parts of the world. For nine days the group visits the holy places in
> and around Haifa and Acre. Alone or in small groups they spend time in the
> shrines of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. They may visit the
> homes inhabited by the founder of their faith during his exile and
> imprisonment in the Holy Land and devote part of a day to touring the
> magnificent Archives Building, where the original Bahá’í writings may be
> examined and articles sacred to the memory of the central figures of the
> faith and its early heroes and martyrs may be viewed. Portraits of the Báb
> and Bahá’u’lláh, not otherwise on display, are also available for viewing.260
> The close and still relatively informal bonds that unite the Bahá’í
> community at this early stage in its growth are enhanced by a reception
> given by the Universal House of Justice to each group of pilgrims and by
> the opportunity the individual believers may have for an informal
> association with the members of this supreme institution of their faith.
> 
> For the pilgrims, the experience is usually intense. Bahá’ís believe that in
> many respects the pilgrimage represents one’s nearest approach in this life
> to the World of God. In the words of a highly respected Bahá’í writer, the
> former Anglican archdeacon George Townshend: “God has passed by” in
> the revelations of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. At Haifa and Acre, the believer
> is in contact with the most intimate traces of this divine passing, and the
> experience brings his or her mind and heart to intensely concentrate on the
> fundamental truths of the Bahá’í revelation.
> 
> The pilgrimage also provides individuals with an opportunity to further
> enrich their social understanding of the global community of which they are
> members. To spend nine days in close association with people from many
> different cultures is a chance that is available only to a relatively small
> number in modern society. To do so in an environment reminiscent of a
> shared history of tragedy, sacrifice, and achievement is to intensely
> experience the “global family” the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh has brought
> into being. In addition, the pilgrimage is often an occasion for Bahá’ís to
> undertake travel-teaching projects in other parts of the world, to visit friends
> who are pioneering overseas, and to explore firsthand the possibilities of
> undertaking such a project themselves.
> 
> Along with moral and spiritual training of this kind, Bahá’u’lláh placed
> great emphasis on education in the arts and sciences. Bahá’ís are urged not
> only to assure the best possible education for their children, but also to take
> advantage of educational opportunities in society for their own continuing
> development.
> 
> Knowledge is as wings to man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its
> acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. The knowledge of such
> sciences, however, should be acquired as can profit the peoples of the
> earth, and not those which begin with words and end with words. Great
> indeed is the claim of scientists and craftsmen on the peoples of the
> world.261
> From its earliest days, the Bahá’í community in Persia took this injunction
> very seriously. As a result, after the passage of three or four generations, the
> community has reached a point where its members represent an important
> percentage of the educated class in present-day Iran, although they number
> only about 300,000 in that country.262 In a country where the literacy rate
> has hovered under 40 percent, the Bahá’í community has enjoyed a literacy
> rate of over 90 percent.
> 
> The Iranian example is being followed by Bahá’ís around the world, to
> whatever extent local facilities make possible. One of the specific tasks that
> recent international teaching plans have assigned to local and national
> spiritual assemblies has been the provision of counseling for Bahá’í youth
> to assist them in planning their education so as to be of maximum service
> not only to their faith, but to humankind.263 Many Bahá’í summer and
> winter schools offer programs of this type. They also take advantage of
> whatever time qualified speakers can make available to conduct courses
> relating to contemporary knowledge in the various disciplines to the
> teachings of the Bahá’í writings. The example of mature scholars who have
> successfully integrated science and faith in their own intellectual lives no
> doubt serves as a strong stimulant to young believers to follow their
> example.264
> Where public schooling is inadequate or unavailable, local Bahá’í
> communities begin educational programs of their own, particularly at the
> elementary level. In India, the National Spiritual Assembly operates several
> full-time Bahá’í schools offering courses at the primary, secondary, and
> technical training levels. Correspondence courses for adults as well as for
> children and youth are a major activity in many other national Bahá’í
> communities. During the last international Plan thirty-seven different
> national spiritual assemblies indicated that they had instituted similar
> programs.
> 
> An aspect of education that has received marked attention from the earliest
> days of Bahá’í history is the aesthetic. Bahá’u’lláh designated art a form of
> worship to God, and the physical beauty of Bahá’í shrines, temples, and
> gardens is one of the dominant impressions observers carry away from their
> contacts with the Faith. Shoghi Effendi emphasized that it will be a matter
> of centuries before anything that might be called “Bahá’í art” may be
> expected to appear. It is only when a revelation has fully blossomed into a
> new civilization that new art forms emerge which may be specifically
> identified with it. At the same time, there is no doubt that the work of
> contemporary artists who are Bahá’ís have been affected by Bahá’u’lláh’s
> appeals for unity, harmony, openness, and optimism. The American Bahá’í
> artist Mark Tobey—one of the most renowned painters of the twentieth
> century—said of this influence on his work:
> 
> This universal Cause of Bahá’u’lláh which brings the fruition of man’s
> development, challenges him and attracts him to see the light of this
> day as the unity of all life; [it] dislodges him from a great deal of
> automatic and environmental inheritance; [it] seeks to create in him a
> vision which is absolutely necessary for existence. The teachings of
> Bahá’u’lláh are themselves the light with which we can see how to
> move forward on the road of evolution.265
> 
> Regarding the relationship of art to the future world civilization, Tobey
> added:
> 
> Of course we talk about international styles today, but I think later on
> we’ll talk about universal styles ... the future of the world must be this
> realization of its oneness, which is the basic teaching as I understand it
> in the Bahá’í Faith, and from that oneness, will naturally develop a
> new spirit in art, because that’s what it is. It’s a spirit and it’s not new
> words and it’s not new ideas only.266
> Bahá’í musicians have been similarly influenced. Indeed, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> devoted a great deal of attention to encouraging the Bahá’í communities to
> make good use of those individuals possessing musical talents:
> 
> The art of music is divine and effective. It is the food of the soul and
> spirit. Through the power and charm of music the spirit of man is
> uplifted. It has wonderful sway and effect in the hearts of children, for
> their hearts are pure and melodies have great influence in them. The
> latent talents with which the hearts of these children are endowed will
> find expression through the medium of music. Therefore you must
> exert yourselves to make them proficient; teach them to sing with
> excellence and effect. It is incumbent upon each child to know
> something of music....267
> 
> Such, then, are some of the features of the life of the Bahá’í community
> which has taken up the legacy of the history, the teachings, and the
> administrative institutions bequeathed to it by Bahá’u’lláh. It has been
> established in virtually every country and territory on earth; it is
> representative of a cross-section of humanity; and it remains devoted to the
> mission entrusted to it by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “the spiritual conquest of the
> planet.” The process of its expansion involves its individual members in
> various types of participation, social interaction, and personal development.
> This interaction and subsequent spiritual growth produce a sense of “global
> family” and provide the community with a new identity distinct from that of
> other religious traditions.
> 
> Bahá’ís see this community as not merely a collective, but as an organic
> whole. The writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi are studded with
> the language of biological analogy: “efflorescence,” “evolution,” “germ,”
> “seed,” “organic development,” “nucleus,” “generating influence,”
> “assimilation.” Bahá’ís are encouraged to see themselves individually as
> parts of a living, growing organism whose life systems are the laws,
> teachings, and institutions created by Bahá’u’lláh. The Universal House of
> Justice has emphasized that the development of the individual’s capacities
> and sense of identification with the Bahá’í teachings depends upon his or
> her ability to fully participate in the life of the community:
> 
> In the human body, every cell, every organ, every nerve has its part to
> play. When all do so the body is healthy, vigorous, radiant, ready for
> every call made upon it. No cell, however humble, lives apart from the
> body, whether in serving it or receiving from it. This is true of the body
> of mankind in which God “hast endowed each and all with talents and
> faculties,” and is supremely true of the body of the Bahá’í World
> Community, for this body is already an organism, united in its
> aspirations, unified in its methods, seeking assistance and confirmation
> from the same Source, and illumined with the conscious knowledge of
> its unity.... The Bahá’í World Community, growing like a healthy new
> body, develops new cells, new organs, new functions and powers as it
> presses on to its maturity, when every soul, living for the Cause of
> God, will receive from that Cause, health, assurance and the
> overflowing bounties of Bahá’u’lláh which are diffused through His
> divinely ordained order.268
> 10. On into a New Century
> 
> On May 29, 1992, the centenary of Bahá’u’lláh’s passing, the Brazilian
> Chamber of Deputies convened in a special two-hour session to pay tribute
> to his life and work. The Speaker read a message from the Universal House
> of Justice, and spokespersons from all political groups represented in the
> Chamber contributed appreciations. For Bahá’ís around the world, the event
> provided another encouraging illustration of the extent to which their faith
> is gaining recognition as an independent and respected religious voice on
> the contemporary scene. What will likely prove to be more important still is
> the fact that, in the process, the person of the faith’s founder is steadily
> emerging from the obscurity which shrouded the first century of his
> influence.
> 
> This had always been the case so far as efforts of individual believers to
> introduce their religion to friends and inquirers had been concerned. From
> the moment of the new faith’s inception, the prophetic claim of Bahá’u’lláh
> had been the focus of most personal teaching activity. Bahá’í literature, too,
> had concerned itself chiefly with presenting the mission of the faith’s two
> founders in the context of the succession of divine revelations that had
> prepared the way for them.
> 
> A parallel effort, however, had early been undertaken by organized
> communities, in the West particularly, to provide a broader public with
> more general information. As Bahá’í institutions consolidated themselves
> throughout the world during the second half of the twentieth century, the
> community’s official discourse had turned increasingly to the task of
> demonstrating the applicability of the Bahá’í teachings to the problems
> facing humankind: racial conflict, social and economic disparities, the
> inequities handicapping women’s role in society, and the consequences of
> religious and cultural prejudices.
> 
> The most developed expression of this social message appeared in October
> 1985, when, for the first time in its history, the Universal House of Justice
> addressed a statement “to the peoples of the world,” under the title The
> Promise of World Peace.269 Given the political circumstances of the
> moment in history in which it was issued, its thesis was startlingly
> optimistic; in the light of subsequent events on the world scene, it was also
> to prove extraordinarily prescient. The establishment of international peace
> was declared to be “not only possible but inevitable,” indeed “the next stage
> in the evolution of this planet.” The challenge faced by the leaders of
> humanity, the statement said, is to free themselves from the crippling view
> that aggression and conflict represent behavior “intrinsic to human nature
> and therefore ineradicable.” To turn away from this deeply rooted illusion
> about human nature and to choose the course of peace “is not to deny
> humanity’s past, but to understand it.”270 The statement argued that:
> 
> A candid acknowledgement that prejudice, war and exploitation have
> been the expression of immature stages in a vast historical process and
> that the human race is today experiencing the unavoidable tumult
> which marks its collective coming of age is not a reason for despair but
> a prerequisite to undertaking the stupendous enterprise of building a
> peaceful world. That such an enterprise is possible, that the necessary
> constructive forces do exist, that unifying social structures can be
> erected, is the theme we urge you to examine.271
> 
> The document was distributed in many languages and hundreds of
> thousands of copies to government officials and leaders of thought in
> diverse fields of human endeavor, a dramatic demonstration of the
> worldwide network the faith had developed. During the decade that
> followed, the concepts it advanced became major themes in Bahá’í
> discussion and public information activity. While explicit in identifying
> Bahá’u’lláh as the author of the principles and concepts being advanced and
> as the “Founder of the Bahá’í Faith,”272 the document made no attempt to
> discuss the nature of either his mission or the divine authority he claims.
> 
> Since then, as the tribute paid by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies
> reflects, Bahá’í public discourse has come to focus much more directly on
> the figure of Bahá’u’lláh, not only as the religion’s founder but as the author
> of a trenchant body of thought on the nature of humankind and the
> organization of human society. It is no doubt a sign of the Bahá’í
> community’s growing confidence in its audience that its public discussion
> of global issues and the teaching efforts of its individual members seem
> now to be converging. In commemorating the centenary of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> passing, the Bahá’í International Community produced a brief but widely
> published introduction to his life and work, which opened with the
> following words:
> 
> As the new millennium approaches, the crucial need of the human race
> is to find a unifying vision of the nature of man and society. . . . For,
> without a common conviction about the course and direction of human
> history, it is inconceivable that foundations can be laid for a global
> society to which the mass of humankind can commit themselves.
> Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the nineteenth-
> century prophetic figure whose growing influence is the most
> remarkable development of contemporary religious history.... The
> phenomenon is one that has no reference points in the contemporary
> world, but is associated rather with climactic changes of direction in
> the collective past of the human race. For Bahá’u’lláh claimed to be no
> less than the Messenger of God to the age of human maturity.... 273
> 
> The term “Holy Year” had been used by Shoghi Effendi in 1953 to
> designate the centenary of the inception of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission in the
> darkness of the Síyáh-Chál. Now, following this example, the Universal
> House of Justice declared the period from April 1992 to April 1993 the
> “second Bahá’í Holy Year” to mark both the hundred-year anniversary of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s passing on May 29, 1892, and the inauguration of his
> covenant in November of the same year. Several thousand believers
> nominated from among the many hundreds of ethnic and national
> backgrounds represented in the Bahá’í community came together at the
> Bahá’í World Centre to pay tribute to the founder of their faith at the first of
> these two commemorative events.
> 
> Six months later, a “World Congress” attracted to the Javits Center in New
> York, “City of the Covenant,”274 the largest and most diverse gathering of
> Bahá’ís ever to assemble, for a four-day celebration of the global expansion
> which the unifying power of Bahá’u’lláh’s covenant is seen as having made
> possible. Broadcasting links to subsidiary conferences in Buenos Aires,
> Sydney, New Delhi, Nairobi, Panama City, Bucharest, Moscow, Singapore,
> and Western Samoa were provided by a state-of-the-art network of eight
> satellites.
> 
> An electrifying moment was that when the New York Congress was
> addressed from across the globe by the conference of Bahá’ís assembled in
> Moscow, who were participating for the first time in an international Bahá’í
> event. On the final day, a video satellite link permitted the members of the
> Universal House of Justice to speak directly to the gathering in New York
> from their institution’s seat on Mount Carmel. In the words of a Canadian
> Broadcasting Corporation executive who had helped put the program
> together, “It opened up a new world of possibilities for a religion whose
> basic principle is oneness.”
> 
> * * *
> 
> A parallel development that same year served further to concentrate
> attention on the role of Bahá’u’lláh as the source of authority behind the
> faith’s message. Reference has been made to the appearance in 1973 of a
> synopsis and codification of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh’s book of laws,
> preliminary work on which had been done by Shoghi Effendi.275 Over the
> years that followed, work had slowly progressed on the complex and
> demanding task of translating, codifying, and annotating the body of
> material that would eventually constitute the published text. The conclusion
> of the project, which had been eagerly awaited by the Bahá’í world for
> many years, coincided with the events of the Holy Year.
> 
> Approximately two-thirds of the book had been translated into English by
> the Guardian of the faith and published during his own lifetime, and the
> remainder of the task was completed by a committee acting under the
> supervision of the House of Justice. More demanding still, however, had
> been the translation of supplementary and related texts by Bahá’u’lláh and
> of further commentary by him on the original text, written in response to
> questions put to him. This entire body of work had then to be “copiously
> annotated,” in the words of Shoghi Effendi, with commentary on specific
> passages, that derived its authority from explicit statements of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá and Shoghi Effendi as the book’s appointed interpreters. The result is
> that, although the central document is only sixty-nine pages in its English
> translation, the full text of the book, including both supplementary materials
> and notes, runs to 251 pages.
> It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance to the mission of the
> Bahá’í Faith of this book, which Shoghi Effendi termed “the most signal
> act” of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission and “the Charter of His New World Order.”276
> While reiterating the truths of the great religions of the past, the Kitáb-i-
> Aqdas is seen by Bahá’ís as laying the spiritual and moral foundation for
> the age of humanity’s collective maturity, providing a system of laws, moral
> precepts, and institutions designed to help bring into existence a global
> commonwealth ordered by spiritual and moral principle.277
> 
> In this central text of his revelation, Bahá’u’lláh reasserts the sovereignty of
> God as the sole authority governing moral life. God is the Source of all that
> is; through his messengers in all ages he has revealed those laws and
> principles that have been essentially responsible for the civilizing of human
> nature. The autonomy of the individual is thus conditioned not only by the
> limitations of the natural world he or she inhabits, but also by the spiritual
> universe that transcends and animates it. Today, the human race is
> witnessing the dawn of the age of justice promised in all the revelations of
> the past. Through travail and suffering the peoples of the world are being
> awakened to the possibilities that their common humanity confers. They are
> being prepared to accept both their own oneness and their ultimate
> dependence on the justice of a loving and unfailing Creator.
> The Kitáb-i-Aqdas is the expression of this divine justice. “The purpose of
> justice,” Bahá’u’lláh asserts, “is the appearance of unity among men.”278
> Love, mercy, and forgiveness are qualities that must distinguish human
> beings in their personal relationships one with another. For these qualities to
> flourish as the distinguishing features of civilization, however, each
> member of society and each component group must be able to trust that
> they are protected by standards that apply equally to all. The concepts, laws,
> and principles enunciated in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are intended to provide the
> spiritual bedrock of this assurance for the collective life of humankind.
> 
> In the introduction to the published text, the Universal House of Justice
> explains:
> 
> As to the laws themselves, a careful scrutiny discloses that they govern
> three areas: the individual’s relationship to God, physical and spiritual
> matters which benefit the individual directly, and relations among
> individuals and between the individual and society. They can be
> grouped under the following headings: prayer and fasting; laws of
> personal status governing marriage, divorce and inheritance; a range of
> other laws, ordinances and prohibitions, as well as exhortations; and
> the abrogation of specific laws and ordinances of previous
> Dispensations.279
> The introduction also provides an interesting word of explanation about the
> style of language in which the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has been rendered into
> English:
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh enjoyed a superb mastery of Arabic, and preferred to use it
> in those Tablets and other Writings where its precision of meaning was
> particularly appropriate to the exposition of basic principle. Beyond the
> choice of language itself, however, the style employed is of an exalted
> and emotive character, immensely compelling, particularly to those
> familiar with the great literary tradition out of which it arose. In taking
> up his task of translation, Shoghi Effendi faced the challenge of finding
> an English style which would not only faithfully convey the exactness
> of the text’s meaning, but would also evoke in the reader the spirit of
> meditative reverence which is a distinguishing feature of response to
> the original. The form of expression he selected, reminiscent of the
> style used by the seventeenth century translators of the Bible, captures
> the elevated mode of Bahá’u’lláh’s Arabic, while remaining accessible
> to the contemporary reader.280
> 
> A discussion of the subject lies beyond the scope of this brief survey. It is
> important to note, however, that only a relatively small part of the moral
> and spiritual laws contained have so far been applied to the life of the
> present-day Bahá’í community. Reference has already been made to the fact
> that Bahá’u’lláh emphasized that the same progressive principle which has
> governed the series of divine revelations throughout history guides also the
> gradual application to the life of humankind of the requirements of the
> revelation he has brought, comparing the process to the advent of spring.281
> As those who recognize the new divine messenger begin putting into
> practice the laws and principles he teaches, they develop the capacity to
> understand and exemplify still other dimensions of the will of God. In the
> case of the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, as the House of Justice has
> emphasized in the “Synopsis and Codification,” many of the laws of the
> Kitáb-i-Aqdas are intended for a society which will emerge from the age of
> turmoil and suffering through which the human race is now passing.
> 
> For Bahá’ís, the long-awaited appearance of “The Most Holy Book”
> signaled a new stage in the evolution of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission, a stage in
> which the concept of the messenger of God as lawgiver will assume
> increasing importance in Bahá’í experience. Coming as it did at the moment
> when the entire community was commemorating both the passing of the
> founder of their faith and the inauguration of his covenant, the publication
> of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas gave added impetus to the decision to direct attention
> more explicitly to the one who is both the source of Bahá’í belief and the
> reason for the deep sense of confidence in the future which characterizes the
> faith’s adherents.
> 
> * * *
> 
> By the time the centenary took place, too, Bahá’ís throughout the world
> were becoming aware of another important dimension of the spiritual
> authority embodied in the cause to which they were committed. This was
> the extension to all Bahá’í communities282 of the operation of the “Right of
> God” (Ḥuqúqu’lláh), a form of monetary payment by all Bahá’ís to the
> central authority of their faith and a strikingly imaginative means for the
> achievement of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission at the global level. As was earlier
> noted, the principle central to the financing of the work of Bahá’í
> communities is voluntary participation.283 Each individual must decide in
> the privacy of his or her conscience on contributions to be made to the
> various Bahá’í funds. The apparatus of fund-raising which has become all
> too familiar a feature of religious life in many lands is entirely forbidden in
> the Bahá’í scriptures themselves. Solicitations or other forms of direct or
> indirect pressure are excluded by the Bahá’í writings, nor can contributions
> be received from persons who are not registered members of the Bahá’í
> community.
> Despite these scriptural constraints, the approach has proved highly
> successful in meeting the needs of Bahá’í communities at national and local
> levels. Similar contributions are made by Bahá’ís the world over to the
> international funds of the faith. In an age which, he said, will witness the
> working out of the inequities and divisions that have fractured the human
> race, however, Bahá’u’lláh was at pains to ensure that the international
> governing authority of his religion would have directly available to it the
> material means needed to pursue the global tasks he had set for it, free of
> dependence on national or local channels. It is this need that the Right of
> God addresses.
> 
> It does this by supplementing the spiritual links that connect the individual
> believer to the faith’s central authority, with an explicitly material one.
> Drawing attention to Bahá’u’lláh’s analogy between the “body of
> humanity” and the body of the individual human being, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> explains,
> 
> In surveying the vast range of creation thou shalt perceive that the
> higher a kingdom of created things is on the arc of ascent, the more
> conspicuous are the signs and evidences of the truth that co-operation
> and reciprocity at the level of a higher order are greater than those that
> exist at the level of a lower order....
> . . . The more this interrelationship is strengthened and expanded, the
> more will human society advance in progress and prosperity. Indeed
> without these vital ties it would be wholly impossible for the world of
> humanity to attain true felicity and success.
> 
> Now consider, if among the people who are merely the manifestations
> of the world of being this significant matter is of such importance, how
> much greater must be the spirit of co-operation and mutual assistance
> among those [who have recognized the Revelation of God].... Thus
> there can be no doubt that they must be willing even to offer up their
> lives for each other.
> 
> This is the basic principle on which the institution of Ḥuqúqu’lláh is
> established, inasmuch as its proceeds are dedicated to the furtherance
> of these ends. 284
> 
> Today, the proceeds of the Right of God represent a major part of the
> revenues financing the work of the Universal House of Justice and the
> Bahá’í World Centre. They are expended, on the one hand, for the
> promotion of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings and the development of the faith’s
> international institutions and, on the other, for the financing of an ever-
> expanding program of development projects around the world.
> 
> As the name implies, the Right of God is not a contribution or donation.
> Rather, for Bahá’ís, it represents a claim which God makes on everyone
> who believes in his revelation, for the support of work that serves the
> interests of the entire human race. It is tied not to income, but to
> accumulated capital, and its operation will ensure a gradual equalizing of
> the benefits of the possession of material wealth between Bahá’í activities
> in richer parts of the world and those conducted in regions less
> economically developed. Essentially, it calls on each believer to return to
> God nineteen percent of whatever capital he or she has accumulated, after
> all living expenses have been met and all debts settled. Such assets as the
> residence, furnishings, and personal possessions of an individual or family
> are not included in the calculation of capital wealth, and the determination
> of the amount, the timing of the payment, and related issues are left to the
> private conscience of the individual.
> 
> Even with respect to the obligation itself, as in other financial affairs of the
> faith, Bahá’u’lláh forbade any form of solicitation by Bahá’í institutions;
> nor does one individual become aware of what another has done. The law is
> a summons to personal maturity and to identification of oneself with
> humankind. “The Right of God is an obligation upon everyone,”
> Bahá’u’lláh states, “however, it is not permissible to solicit or demand it. If
> one is privileged to pay the Ḥuqúq, and doeth so in a spirit of joy and
> radiance, such an act is acceptable, and not otherwise.” Further, “payment
> of the Right of God is conditional upon one’s financial ability. If a person is
> unable to meet his obligation, God will verily excuse him. He is the All-
> Forgiving, the All-Generous.” By participating in this unique institution, an
> individual believer, in the words of the founder of the faith, “purifies”
> whatever wealth his or her personal circumstances have made possible and
> contributes directly to the immense enterprise that Bahá’u’lláh has set as his
> faith’s goal, the transformation of both the spiritual and the material life of
> the planet.285
> 
> At this early stage in its operation, when the institution is just beginning to
> become a familiar feature of the personal life of most Bahá’ís, it is likely
> experienced chiefly as a spiritual principle disciplining personal attitudes to
> the use of wealth. The long range implications, however, are breathtaking.
> Shoghi Effendi envisioned the day when the trustees of the institution,
> operating under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice, will
> administer a complex of development agencies and investment funds which
> will give practical effect to the principles of justice that lie at the heart of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s mission. By making possible the direct participation of every
> Bahá’í on earth—over and above any impulses of charity as well as any
> national and cultural constraints—a process has been set in motion that
> represents an entirely new approach to serving international development
> needs.
> 
> * * *
> 
> The Holy Year satellite broadcast that had linked the World Congress with
> simultaneous conferences in Bucharest and Moscow underlined the
> importance of another development in the closing decade of the twentieth
> century, a development which few Bahá’ís had expected to see in their
> lifetimes. This was the dramatic restoration and efflorescence of Bahá’í
> communities throughout Russia, central Asia, and eastern Europe which
> had followed on the heels of the collapse of the Soviet Bloc. Prior to World
> War II, through the energetic teaching efforts of Western Bahá’í travelers,
> small communities of believers had been established in most of the eastern
> European countries. Tattered remnants of these had survived both Nazi
> occupation and Soviet repression. Indeed, in the years before the war, one
> of the most distinguished and articulate voices in promoting Bahá’u’lláh’s
> vision on the international scene had been Queen Marie of Romania.
> Converted to the faith in the 1920s by the efforts of the indefatigable
> American itinerant teacher Martha Root,286 Queen Marie had taken the
> unusual step of arranging for her testimonies to the power of the Bahá’í
> revelation to be published in newspapers in several parts of the world. One
> such statement in 1926 read:
> 
> It is a wondrous Message that Bahá’u’lláh and his son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> have given us.... It is Christ’s Message taken up anew, in the same
> words almost, but adapted to the thousand years and more difference
> that lies between the year one and today. . . .
> 
> I commend it to you all. If ever the name of Bahá’u’lláh or ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá comes to your attention, do not put their writings from you.287
> 
> No other country apart from Persia itself, however, had enjoyed so intimate
> an association with the early history of the Bahá’í Faith, and indeed with the
> person of its founder, as had Russia. Particularly outspoken among the
> diplomatic representatives of several Western governments who in 1850
> protested to Ṇáṣiri’d-Dín Sháh against the barbaric treatment of innocent
> Bábí victims was Prince Dmitri Dolgorukov, ambassador of the Russian
> imperial government. Dolgorukov, indeed, was credited by Bahá’u’lláh
> with direct intervention on his own behalf when he lay facing death in the
> Síyáh-Chál. Writing years later to Tsar Alexander II, the author of the
> Bahá’í revelation called to memory this humanitarian act, assuring the
> monarch that it would come to be seen as a spiritual treasure for the nation
> and people in whose name it had been undertaken.
> 
> As already noted,288 Russian scholars had been among the earliest to
> interest themselves in the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths, their published works
> contributing in no small way to attracting serious attention to the events
> taking place in Persia. Proximity to the cradle of the Bahá’í Faith in Persia
> had also assisted the early establishment in southern Russia of local Bahá’í
> communities. In 1902, with the encouragement of the Russian government
> and in the presence of the provincial governor, the first Bahá’í temple ever
> erected was dedicated to worship in the city of ‘Ishqábád, in Ádhirbayján.
> Russian Bahá’ís take justifiable pride, too, in the fact that their country was
> the first to intervene directly to protect the civil rights of members of the
> faith living under its jurisdiction. When Muslim fanatics murdered a
> prominent Bahá’í in ‘Ishqábád, Russian authorities suppressed the attack
> and a civil court condemned the murderers to death, a sentence that was
> commuted to imprisonment only on the appeal of the local Bahá’í
> community.289
> 
> With the collapse of Soviet rule, under which the faith’s activities had been
> severely repressed,290 local Bahá’í assemblies proliferated throughout
> Russia and the neighboring republics, consolidation of these reanimated
> communities eventually adding some twenty new national assemblies in
> this region of the globe. Hand of the Cause of God ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan, who
> was born and grew up in Russia, had the satisfaction, at the advanced age of
> eighty-six, of returning to Moscow for the election of Russia’s first national
> spiritual assembly in April 1991. Today, Bahá’í literature is available in
> most languages of the region, and Bahá’í institutions are engaged in an
> energetic pursuit of the same forms of civil recognition that their
> counterparts elsewhere have successfully achieved.
> 
> * * *
> 
> The last decade of the twentieth century tended to throw into sharp relief
> the relevance of Bahá’u’lláh’s diagnosis of the ills of humankind and his
> prescription for the healing of those ills. At a series of international
> conferences organized by the United Nations, several of which were
> designated “summits” because they were attended by heads of state,
> national governments were urged to address crucial issues facing
> humankind. These included the needs of the world’s children, the
> environmental crisis, human rights, population issues, sustainable
> development, the advancement of women, and the problem of human
> settlements. The media gave the series wide attention, and several thousand
> non-governmental organizations also took part. The Bahá’í International
> Community was heavily involved in the majority of the events.
> 
> The willingness of the world’s decision-makers to focus attention on
> precisely those themes that lay at the heart of Bahá’u’lláh’s message gave
> the series of conferences a significance for Bahá’ís beyond the immediate
> results. In effect, however feeble the international will to change and
> however insubstantial some of the resolutions, the United Nations system
> had determined—just one century after Bahá’u’lláh’s passing—that the
> themes of his message do indeed represent the paramount realities facing
> humanity. Many of the writings in which Bahá’u’lláh had laid out these
> concepts had originally been addressed to such of his nineteenth-century
> contemporaries as Queen Victoria, the German Kaiser, and the tsar of
> Russia—whose world now seemed as remote as that of Agamemnon or
> Mithridates.
> 
> By the time the series of meetings terminated in 1996, it had become
> apparent to the faith’s leadership that a new initiative was called for to
> explore more systematically the implications of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings for
> issues of social transformation, as well as to interpret the findings in the
> language of contemporary international discourse. Accordingly, toward the
> end of that year, the Universal House of Justice gave approval to a proposal
> for the creation of a new Bahá’í International Community agency, the
> “Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity.” Designed to provide a platform
> for exchanges between Bahá’í scholars and specialists, on the one hand, and
> their counterparts in a wide range of non-governmental organizations and
> academic bodies, on the other, the new Institute took its cue from The
> Prosperity of Humankind, a document that had been prepared by the Bahá’í
> International Community in 1995 for the United Nations conference series.
> Because the document spells out so explicitly the Bahá’í prescription for the
> international community’s efforts to address the crisis confronting humanity
> at century’s end, its contents merit particular attention.291
> 
> The statement notes in opening that, with the physical unification of the
> planet in this century, “the history of humanity as one people is now
> beginning.” This fact calls for “a searching reexamination of the attitudes
> and assumptions that currently underlie approaches to social and economic
> development.”292 Such reconsideration must begin, it is argued, with the
> abandonment of two erroneous assumptions crippling all efforts to devise a
> realistic development strategy, however well intentioned, however
> generously funded. The first is faith in the ideology of dogmatic
> materialism which the statement sees as having essentially disempowered
> the vast majority of the earth’s peoples. The second is the related belief that
> the generality of humankind cannot learn to assume the responsibility for
> their collective future, but must resign such decision making to the hands of
> elite groups committed to precisely the world view that has led humanity to
> the brink of disaster. The statement is uncompromising in discussing both
> issues. Of the prevailing doctrines of materialism, it says:
> 
> As the twentieth century draws to a close, it is no longer possible to
> maintain the belief that the approach to social and economic
> development to which the materialistic conception of life has given rise
> is capable of meeting humanity’s needs. Optimistic forecasts about the
> changes it would generate have vanished into the ever-widening abyss
> that separates the living standards of a small and relatively diminishing
> minority of the world’s inhabitants from the poverty experienced by
> the vast majority of the globe’s population.293
> 
> With respect to the largely unstated assumption that the masses of humanity
> should be viewed as essentially recipients of benefits from aid and training
> originating from outside their world, rather than as conscious protagonists
> in the struggle for global development, the statement points out:
> 
> Such an attitude misses the significance of what is likely the most
> important social phenomenon of our time. If it is true that the
> governments of the world are striving through the medium of the
> United Nations system to construct a new global order, it is equally
> true that the peoples of the world are galvanized by this same vision.
> Their response has taken the form of a sudden efflorescence of
> countless movements and organizations of social change at local,
> regional, and international levels....
> 
> This response of the world’s people themselves to the crying needs of
> the age echoes the call that Bahá’u’lláh raised over a hundred years
> ago: “Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and
> center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.” The
> transformation in the way that great numbers of ordinary people are
> coming to see themselves—a change that is dramatically abrupt in the
> perspective of the history of civilization—raises fundamental questions
> about the role assigned to the general body of humanity in the planning
> of our planet’s future.294
> 
> The Prosperity of Humankind will no doubt be seen in time as the spearhead
> of a series of studies through which the Bahá’í community strives to apply
> Bahá’u’lláh’s prescriptions ever more directly to the issues facing human
> society. Various of its theses suggest the course that this endeavor may
> follow. Urging, for example, that intellectual capacity must and can be
> raised to levels far beyond anything the human race has so far attained, the
> statement devotes particular attention to the role of knowledge, adding that
> development strategy must take as a major goal the task of making it
> possible for people of all cultures and nations “to approach on an equal
> basis the processes of science and technology which are their common
> birthright.” In view of the contempt in which spiritual truth of any kind is
> held by many in the forefront of formulating development strategy, the
> statement asks: “How much weight can be placed on a professed devotion
> to the principle of universal participation that denies the validity of the
> participants’ defining cultural experience?”295
> 
> With respect to economic issues, the statement sees a cause-effect
> relationship between the emancipation of women and solutions to the
> deepening economic crisis. It calls not merely for equality of access for
> both sexes to employment, the ownership of wealth, and education, but for
> “a fundamental rethinking of economic issues” that will draw on a far
> deeper understanding of human relationships than that which currently
> informs economic discourse. The approach needed, it says, is one that is
> “strongly altruistic rather than self-centered in focus,” one in which
> “millennia of experience have prepared women to make crucial
> contributions.”296
> * * *
> 
> Throughout history, great architecture has played a vital role in mobilizing
> the social energy and commitment required for the accomplishment of
> ambitious public goals. From civilization’s earliest stages, human societies
> have felt it important to erect imposing edifices designed to exemplify the
> ideals animating them as well as to serve as seats of the authority thus
> projected. This has been particularly true of civil government, but the
> phenomenon has in no way been limited to the political realm. This
> perspective offers an insight into the importance that the founders of the
> Bahá’í Faith have, from the outset of Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival in the Holy Land,
> attached to the development of the religion’s World Centre. Envisioning the
> emergence of institutions that would play a vital role in the process of the
> unification of humankind, Bahá’u’lláh spoke in exalted terms of Mount
> Carmel, which he termed “the Mountain of God,” addressing it in words
> now familiar to Bahá’ís throughout the world:
> 
> “Render thanks unto thy Lord, O Carmel. ... Rejoice, for God hath in this
> Day established upon thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of
> His signs and the day spring of the evidences of His Revelation....
> “... Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice at this
> announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things which
> God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart, hath
> destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and
> will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the
> Book of Names.”297
> 
> The Bahá’í Faith enjoys an important advantage among the world’s
> independent religions in that its spiritual and administrative centers are
> located in the same spot on earth, the extensive properties bordering the
> Bay of Haifa in the Holy Land and dominated by the Carmel heights rising
> over the southern shore. Their focal point is the shrine at Bahjí, just outside
> the ancient city of Acre, where the mortal remains of Bahá’u’lláh were laid
> to rest in 1892. Title to locations associated with the founder’s life and
> ministry has been painstakingly acquired by the Bahá’í community over the
> years, and a program of meticulous historical restoration has further
> enriched the experience of the thousands of Bahá’í pilgrims who are drawn
> each year to the World Centre of their faith.
> 
> Across the bay and spreading over the slopes of Mount Carmel, there has
> unfolded a breathtaking complex of monumental buildings, broad terraces,
> running streams, fountains and luxuriant gardens which annually attracts
> hundreds of thousands of visitors from all parts of the world. The buildings,
> classical Greek in design,298 clad in gleaming marble and enhanced by
> soaring corinthian pillars, house the Universal House of Justice and the
> Bahá’í community’s other central administrative institutions.
> 
> Dominating the complex is the golden-domed shrine of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> forerunner, the Báb, set in its own gardens and facing across the bay to
> Acre.299 Referring to the ancient adage that the blood of martyrs is “the
> seed of faith,” Shoghi Effendi has written that, in this day, the blood of the
> Bábí martyrs is the seed not only of the faith of individual believers but of
> the institutions of a new social order. Not surprisingly, therefore, the sites of
> the international governing institutions of Bahá’u’lláh’s system have been
> oriented on the last resting-place of the figure whom Bahá’ís regard as their
> faith’s supreme martyr. The Báb’s remains had been rescued by his
> followers immediately after his execution and brought with infinite risk and
> difficulty from Persia to the Holy Land. On one of the several visits which
> Bahá’u’lláh made to Mount Carmel in the closing two years of his life, he
> himself chose the site for the tomb of his illustrious predecessor, and it was
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who, a few years later, erected the simple stone structure that
> still serves as an inner shrine.
> Because Shoghi Effendi insisted on the principle that Bahá’í construction
> programs should proceed only as the necessary funds are accumulated, the
> process of building not only the Báb’s shrine, but the structures designed for
> the administrative institutions of the faith proceeded painfully slowly, over
> a period of several decades. The international archives had been built during
> Shoghi Effendi’s lifetime, in 1957, and the seat of the Universal House of
> Justice in 1983. By 1987, the Universal House of Justice concluded that the
> way was open for the erection of the remaining edifices in the
> administrative complex. At the same time, it approved a parallel project for
> the construction of sweeping flights of stone and marble staircases
> envisioned by Shoghi Effendi, ascending through nine garden terraces from
> the foot of the mountain to the precincts of the shrine of the Báb, and, from
> there, rising on through an additional nine terraces to the summit of the
> mountain. This vast undertaking was completed at the century’s end, and a
> series of celebratory inaugural events in 2001 marked this achievement.
> 
> Simultaneously with the completion of the construction work on Mount
> Carmel the community has pressed forward with its ambitious teaching
> activities and with a worldwide program of social and economic
> development projects. The effort called for great financial sacrifice from a
> still small community, the majority of whose members live in economically
> underdeveloped lands. That this outpouring was readily elicited is a telling
> demonstration of the understanding which the rank and file of believers
> everywhere have of the significance of what was accomplished. For the
> contemporary observer with a historical consciousness, the parallel with the
> similarly motivated collective undertakings that raised the great cathedrals,
> mosques, and temples of earlier eras is immensely compelling.
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá confidently anticipated the day when the character of even
> the surrounding region would undergo transformation. The twin cities of
> Haifa and Acre, then situated at the two outer ends of the bay, would, he
> said, merge in a single metropolis and would attract the establishment of
> international institutions dedicated to the betterment of humankind.
> Speaking of the majestic stairway destined to rise up the slopes of Mt.
> Carmel, Shoghi Effendi spoke in equally visionary terms of the moral
> influence that the faith’s World Centre would progressively exercise in the
> conduct of international affairs. The day will come, he said, when world
> leaders will reverently ascend the terraces leading to the shrine of the Báb
> and lay the symbols of their power at its threshold.300
> 
> Today, Acre and Haifa have, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá foresaw, merged into one
> unbroken urban complex and appear at night, from the Mediterranean, as a
> single carpet of light encircling the bay. Small contingents of heads of
> government and other figures influential in human affairs have already
> begun to make their way to Haifa for consultations with the governing
> institution of a religious community which is demonstrating persuasively
> the unifying potentialities inherent in Bahá’u’lláh’s message. Whatever the
> immediate future holds, there is nothing in the vision of the founders of the
> Bahá’í Faith that today seems any more improbable than what has already
> been achieved. No observer of the historic moment when Bahá’u’lláh set
> foot in the then remote Turkish penal colony of Acre over a hundred and
> thirty years ago could have conceived the worldwide developments that
> were to be inspired by the words of a despised exile condemned to
> perpetual imprisonment and helpless to relieve even the thirst and hunger of
> the members of his own family. It would be a bold observer who would
> venture at this stage to dismiss the possibility that the enterprise thus begun
> will eventually accomplish all of the other objectives which its founder has
> set for it.
> 
> * * *
> 
> The global breakdown which Bahá’u’lláh foresaw has kept pace with the
> progress of the undertaking he launched. In the face of what has already
> occurred, it would seem rash, too, to discount his warnings about the course
> that world events will follow in the years ahead. Suffering and social chaos
> on a scale as yet inconceivable to humanity will, he said, finally bring the
> peoples of the world to abandon inherited prejudices and hostilities out of a
> common concern for simple survival. Speaking of the consolidation of the
> “Lesser Peace,” he foresaw the time coming when all national governments
> will find themselves forced by circumstances beyond their control to
> surrender a substantial measure of state sovereignty to the process of
> collective security. Should any government then take up arms against
> another, it would be the obligation and right of the international community
> not only to counter the aggression but to remove from power those
> responsible for it. In the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
> 
> They [i.e., the heads of national governments] must conclude a binding
> treaty and establish a covenant, the provisions of which shall be sound,
> inviolable and definite. They must proclaim it to all the world and
> obtain for it the sanction of all the human race. ….The fundamental
> principle underlying this solemn Pact should be so fixed that if any
> government later violate anyone of its provisions, all the governments
> on earth should arise to reduce it to utter submission, nay the human
> race as a whole should resolve, with every power at its disposal, to
> destroy that government.301
> The foundations of the Lesser Peace will have clearly emerged as a feature
> of humanity’s collective life, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, by the end of this
> century.302 If this does indeed prove to be the case, historians of the future
> may well trace the inception of the process to the establishment of the
> United Nations, whose Security Council was granted the vital peace-
> keeping powers stubbornly denied to the abortive League of Nations. As the
> century progressed, these powers were tentatively tested in various of the
> world’s trouble spots; as it draws to a close, they have begun to express
> themselves in the form of armed intervention against particularly blatant
> instances of aggression. However uncertain some of the initiatives and
> however unsatisfying some of the results, a historic corner in the relations
> of national states to one another has already clearly been turned.303
> 
> Even this breakthrough, however, falls far short of the binding and
> unconditioned global pact envisioned by Bahá’u’lláh and which, he said,
> only a profound change in human consciousness will make possible. For
> anyone familiar with the historical events which followed explicit warnings
> delivered by him to individual nineteenth-century monarchs,304
> Bahá’u’lláh’s description of world conditions that will drive humanity
> across this threshold in the opening years of the next century, make sober
> reading:
> “The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have
> surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying ‘Taste ye what
> your hands have wrought!”‘305
> 
> The civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and
> sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring
> great evil upon men.... Meditate on this, O people, and be not of them
> that wander distraught in the wilderness of error. The day is
> approaching when its flame will devour the cities, when the Tongue of
> Grandeur will proclaim: “The Kingdom is God’s, the Almighty, the
> All-Praised!”306
> 
> Equally emphatic, however, is Bahá’u’lláh’s assurance that humanity will
> emerge from this greatest testing experience of its collective life, purged of
> anachronistic habits and attitudes and welded into a single people,
> committed to the arduous task of constructing a global commonwealth:
> 
> He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful, cherisheth in His heart the desire
> of beholding the entire human race as one soul and one body. Haste ye to
> win your share of God’s good grace and mercy in this Day that eclipseth
> all other created Days. How great the felicity that awaiteth the man that
> forsaketh all he hath in a desire to obtain the things of God! Such a man,
> We testify, is among God’s blessed ones.307
> 
> This is the Day in which God’s most excellent favors have been poured
> out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been
> infused into all created things….
> 
> …. Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread
> out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth, and is the Knower
> of things unseen.308
> 
> * * *
> 
> Ultimately, as with all the revelations of the divine throughout history,
> Bahá’u’lláh’s message addresses itself to the individual heart and mind. In
> its own words: “This is the changeless faith of God, eternal in the past,
> eternal in the future.”309 It calls the individual to a more mature relationship
> with his or her Creator, a relationship appropriate to a human race which
> has entered on its collective coming-of-age. All of the spiritual issues with
> which human consciousness struggles—the purpose of life, the discovery of
> self, the development of one’s capacities—are recast in this new
> perspective:
> 
> ... O my brother, when a true seeker determineth to take the step of
> search in the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he
> must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart, which is the seat of
> the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of
> all acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of
> satanic fancy. He must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the
> abiding love of the Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul
> from all that pertaineth to water and clay, from all shadowy and
> ephemeral attachments....
> 
> Only when the lamp of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of
> passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture, and ecstasy, is kindled
> within the seeker’s heart, and the breeze of His loving kindness is
> wafted upon his soul, will the darkness of error be dispelled, the mists
> of doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the lights of knowledge
> and certitude envelop his being. At that hour will the mystic Herald,
> bearing the joyful tidings of the Spirit, shine forth from the City of God
> resplendent as the morn, and, through the trumpet-blast of knowledge,
> will awaken the heart, the soul, and the spirit from the slumber of
> negligence....
> 
> . .. That city is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age
> and dispensation.310
> Epilogue:
> The Challenges of Success
> 
> In the introduction, we noted an opinion tentatively advanced by Edward
> Granville Browne, one of the first Western scholars to encounter the Bahá’í
> Faith in Persia in the nineteenth century. Browne expressed his belief that
> the young faith probably represented the beginnings of a new world
> religion. It appeared to him to offer a unique opportunity for scholars to
> examine in detail just how a new religion comes into being.311 As a result
> of his initial investigations, Browne devoted much of his time over the next
> three decades to a careful study of Bahá’í origins; he produced several
> critical commentaries and published some English translations of major
> pieces of Bábí and Bahá’í literature.
> 
> These efforts were not universally appreciated by Browne’s contemporaries.
> Although his work attracted the sympathetic support of some of his
> colleagues, others felt that he was giving disproportionate attention to what
> they saw as merely a reform movement within the Islamic religion.312 In the
> influential scholarly journal The Oxford Magazine, one reviewer went so far
> as to denounce Browne’s Bahá’í studies as an “absurd violation of historical
> perspective.”313
> 
> The history of the hundred years since Browne took up his study of the
> Bahá’í Faith has vindicated his initial judgment. Slowly but certainly, a new
> and independent religious system has taken shape and become established
> in virtually every part of the world, a system distinct from the Islamic
> milieu from which it emerged. It is no longer surprising to find modern
> authorities on comparative religion, such as historian Arnold Toynbee,
> including the Bahá’í Faith with Islam and Christianity as one of the world’s
> independent religions.314 The same opinion has been expressed, although in
> a rather different spirit, by official spokesmen for Islamic institutions. As
> early as 1924, a Sunni Appellate Court sitting in Beba, Egypt, concluded in
> a test case submitted to it for judgment, that: “The Bahá’í Faith is a new
> religion, entirely independent [of Islam].... No Bahá’í, therefore, can be
> regarded as a Muslim or vice versa, even as no Buddhist, Brahmin, or
> Christian can be regarded a Muslim.”315
> 
> Bahá’ís believe that this new independent faith has the capacity to unite the
> peoples of the world and will, in the distant future, make possible the birth
> of a global civilization. It will do so, they emphasize, as their community is
> able to respond to the tests created by its own success. The question of tests,
> in the Bahá’í meaning of the term, needs special comment.
> 
> Tests, Bahá’u’lláh taught, are essential to human growth. If we are not
> tested, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, the capacities latent within us, and which are our
> eternal endowment, will never develop:
> 
> Were it not for tests, genuine gold could not be distinguished from the
> counterfeit. Were it not for tests, the courageous could not be known
> from the coward.... Were it not for tests, the intellects and faculties of
> the scholars in the great colleges could not be developed.316
> 
> This concept applies also to the development of the Bahá’í community
> itself. Shoghi Effendi wrote:
> 
> Indeed, the history of the first hundred years of its evolution resolves
> itself into a series of internal and external crises, of varying severity,
> devastating in their immediate effects, but each mysteriously releasing
> a corresponding measure of divine power, lending thereby a fresh
> impulse to its unfoldment, this further unfoldment engendering in its
> turn a still graver calamity, followed by a still more liberal effusion of
> celestial grace enabling its upholders to accelerate still further its
> march and win in its service still more compelling victories.317
> 
> It will be helpful, therefore, to consider the new kinds of tests the Bahá’í
> Faith is now beginning to encounter as an established religion with growing
> recognition. The principal challenges facing the Bahá’í community include
> (1) maintaining a unified community; (2) achieving universal participation;
> (3) coping with increasing opposition; and (4) establishing a Bahá’í way of
> life as a model that will serve the emergence of world civilization.
> 
> The single most important endowment of the Bahá’í Faith is its unity. One
> of the primary goals of the Bahá’í community is to help bring about the
> unification of the human race. In the eyes of a highly skeptical age,
> therefore, the faith’s most interesting credential is the fact that it has passed
> safely through the first critical century of its history with the unity of its
> community firmly intact (i.e., it has not divided into sects).318 Alone, this
> achievement distinguishes it among the religions of the world, as there is no
> other significant religious movement of which the same can be said. Time
> and again, in all forms of religious association, the process of schism has
> taken hold in the early, most vulnerable stages, and the originating impulse
> has had to continue its work through the efforts of often contending sects
> and denominations.
> For earlier world religions, the problem was somewhat less critical. Other
> concerns had first claim on the energy and attention of the believers. In the
> case of the Bahá’í Faith, however, unity is the hallmark of its claim to
> divine origins. Bahá’u’lláh condemned in the strongest terms any attempt to
> introduce the virus of party or factionalism into the community.319 There
> are no sects or denominations in the Bahá’í Faith, whether “liberal,”
> “orthodox,” or “reformed.” Diversity of view is seen as a function of the
> individuality of consciousness. It is inhibited, not encouraged, by
> factionalism. Thus, throughout the world, Bahá’ís are members of a single,
> organically unified community.
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made it clear that he was not speaking here of differences of
> opinion or failures in personal behavior, but rather of deliberate efforts to
> create a schism by denying the authority established in the Bahá’í writings.
> He termed one who does this a “covenant-breaker” and asserted that such a
> person could no longer claim to be a Bahá’í or to have any connection with
> the Bahá’í community.
> 
> What will happen now that the faith has begun very rapidly to expand its
> membership around the world, among cultures and peoples radically
> different from one another? Will it be able to maintain the same degree of
> unity when some regional communities are decades ahead of others in the
> integration of some of the faith’s teachings into their social structure, while
> remaining decades behind others in terms of available resources and
> administrative sophistication? Today we live in an era of bitterly intense
> political pressures. Will the Bahá’í communities in countries currently
> being torn apart by ethnic and cultural rivalries be able to continue to
> expand their membership by attracting people from these numerous
> contending backgrounds? The authority of the Universal House of Justice is
> vital to the faith’s unity. Will it be able to maintain Bahá’í discipline in a
> highly diversified and rapidly growing religious community during a time
> of such widespread social break-down? For that matter, will the Bahá’í
> community be able to maintain unity of belief by focusing on the
> interpretations of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh which have been provided by
> the central figures of the Bahá’í revelation, including the Guardian, Shoghi
> Effendi? 320
> 
> In one respect, the Bahá’í community is obviously far better equipped to
> meet these challenges today than was ever the case in the past. No one with
> a reasonably good understanding of the Bahá’í teachings and history could
> plead confusion regarding the position of the Universal House of Justice as
> the sole legislative authority for the community. The documentation is
> complete and has been widely published; the entire body of believers
> participates in the election of this institution along the lines laid down by
> Bahá’u’lláh; and the Universal House of Justice itself has guided the
> development of the global community through successive global teaching
> plans in which all of the other agencies of the community have carried out
> the roles assigned to them by the House of Justice.
> 
> Any vulnerability the faith may have at this point in its history is related
> rather to the Bahá’í community’s rapid expansion and to the uncertain
> world situation. In recent years, scores of thousands of new believers have
> joined the faith annually, and this continuous increase in membership now
> seems to be further accelerating. This is particularly true in the Third World.
> Large sections of the global community consist of new members who have
> come into the faith because of an “intuitive” recognition of Bahá’u’lláh as
> the Messenger of God and because of the attraction exerted by the spirit and
> the practical example of Bahá’í unity.
> 
> Many of these new believers are illiterate, and consequently the
> consolidation of the growing community depends heavily on a network of
> travel and communications which becomes daily more disrupted through
> uncontrollable world events. Both ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi
> predicted that a time would come when, owing to the effects of a general
> social disruption and eventual complete breakdown, communications with
> the World Centre of the faith would be temporarily interrupted (as, indeed,
> they were during World War I and World War II), from time to time and
> perhaps over significant periods of time. Will the infant Bahá’í
> administration be able to maintain the present unity of belief and action
> during such periods?
> 
> The Bahá’ís are confident that it will. For them, the Covenant of
> Bahá’u’lláh holds an absolute assurance that God will continue to preserve
> the unity of his community as he has done through the vicissitudes of the
> past years. Certainly, the agencies of the faith possess the scriptural
> authority required to revoke the membership of any individual or group of
> individuals who, after counseling and warning, attempt to create a schism.
> Nevertheless, one thing is evident: the Bahá’í community is now moving
> into a stage in its development where its painstakingly preserved unity will
> be further subjected to powerful stresses.
> 
> A second challenge facing the community today is to secure the
> participation of the mass of its members in the work of the faith. At first
> glance, the issue hardly seems one which should preoccupy the members of
> this faith. The Bahá’í community is a lay organization (i.e., without a
> clergy); one of its distinguishing characteristics is the extent to which its
> members, from the highly placed to the most humble, are already involved
> in the conduct of its affairs.
> 
> This feature is not, however, merely a gratifying adjunct to its life. It is
> essential to its survival and growth. The raison d’être of the Bahá’í Faith is
> to build a new kind of society that can become the model for a global
> civilization. It will succeed, at least in the eyes of its founder and its
> adherents, only as it moves steadily along the path to the accomplishment of
> this mission. Such progress depends on the mobilization of enormous
> human and material resources. For a community so small, relatively
> speaking, these resources can be made available only through the
> willingness of all or the vast majority of the membership to take an active
> part in the community’s programs. It was no doubt with such considerations
> in view that the Universal House of Justice set “universal participation” as
> one of the twin goals of its first global plans, the first of which was
> launched in April 1964, a year after its first election.321 Elaborating on this
> theme, the Universal House of Justice published the following statement:
> 
> . . . the participation of every believer is of the utmost importance, and
> is a source of power and vitality as yet unknown to us...
> . . . If every believer will carry out these sacred duties, we shall be
> astonished at the accession of power which will result to the whole
> body, and which in its turn will give rise to further growth and the
> showering of greater blessings on all of us.
> 
> The real secret of universal participation lies in the Master’s [i.e.,
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s] oft expressed wish that the friends should love each
> other, constantly encourage each other, work together, be as one soul in
> one body, and in so doing become a true, organic, healthy body
> animated and illumined by the spirit.322
> 
> This appeal has obvious applications to the life of the Bahá’í community in
> the Western world. In the younger communities of Africa, South America,
> Asia, and the Pacific, where the faith was introduced primarily by pioneers
> and teachers from Iran and North America, the call for universal
> participation has still another dimension: in these lands, the challenge is for
> the large indigenous memberships of the Bahá’í community to assume full
> responsibility for the administration of the faith in their countries, and for
> its development along lines appropriate to the particular cultural
> environment.
> The Bahá’í community, as a whole, has already made impressive progress
> in this direction. Early photographs of the national spiritual assemblies from
> a number of these areas (indeed, even from some of the smaller European
> nations) showed a high percentage of foreign pioneers. This has now
> completely changed. There are few, if any, national communities where the
> affairs of the faith are not fully in the hands of believers indigenous to those
> parts of the world. Control of the administration of the Bahá’í community
> is, however, only the first step. The challenge now is for the indigenous
> membership of these large Bahá’í communities to assume full responsibility
> for the many detailed activities required by the global plans devised by the
> Universal House of Justice creating schools and community centers,
> organizing economic development projects, and pressing ahead with the
> establishment of closer ties with civil government authorities at all levels.
> 
> Nowhere is the challenge to participation greater than in the work of
> spreading the Bahá’í message. Although the present rate of membership
> growth would be considered impressive by most religious bodies, it falls far
> short of generating the millions of supporters needed to realize
> Bahá’u’lláh’s vision for his community. Clearly, this is because only a small
> minority of the Bahá’ís are as yet directly engaged in teaching the faith to
> others. In part, this may be an effect of the Bahá’í prohibition against
> aggressive proselytism, a principle whose value few observers would wish
> to dispute. Since many Bahá’ís are successfully attracting others without
> violating this principle, however, it seems evident that much greater
> participation is the real issue.
> 
> In short, the present situation opens up opportunities for the increased active
> participation by thousands of Bahá’ís who might otherwise have remained
> mere passive members of the community. Will this actually occur? Or will
> the attractions and pressures of political and economic issues divert the
> energies of the more able believers from the faith’s programs, as has
> happened with the membership of a number of other religious
> organizations? Can the indigenous members of the larger national
> communities adapt the pattern of Bahá’í life imported by foreign pioneers
> in a way that meets their regional needs while remaining faithful to
> Bahá’u’lláh’s vision? Can they generate the human resources which the
> international Bahá’í community so urgently requires to carry out its
> ambitious programs?
> 
> Such challenges as those discussed above are the kind of positive
> stimulation on which healthy organisms tend to thrive. Other challenges are
> less attractive. There are people who are deeply opposed to the expansion of
> the Bahá’í Faith and, in some cases, bent on its destruction. Bahá’ís,
> generally, are disinclined to dwell on the subject, but it is one which is
> addressed vigorously in the writings of their faith. Shoghi Effendi, for
> example, said:
> 
> How can the beginnings of a world upheaval, unleashing forces that
> are so gravely deranging the social, the religious, the political, and the
> economic equilibrium of organized society . . . fail to produce any
> repercussions on the institutions of a Faith of such tender age whose
> teachings have a direct and vital bearing on each of these spheres of
> human life and conduct?
> 
> Little wonder, therefore, if they [the Bahá’ís] ... find that in the midst
> of this whirlpool of contending passions their freedom has been
> curtailed, their tenets contemned, their institutions assaulted, their
> motives maligned, their authority jeopardized, their claim rejected.323
> 
> Such attacks, to one degree or another, have marked the twentieth century
> and a third of the young religion’s life. Recently, they have begun to grow
> in seriousness and to demand an energetic and unified response from the
> international Bahá’í community. In several Muslim countries, opposition
> has taken the form of overt campaigns of suppression, and in Iran, the land
> of the Bahá’í Faith’s birth, the result has been human suffering on a vast
> scale.
> The principal offense of the Bahá’í Faith in the eyes of the Shiah Muslim
> clergy in Iran is its very existence. Fundamentalist Muslim theology regards
> Muhammad as the last messenger whom God will send and Islam as the
> final religion for all humankind. In this view, therefore, it is literally
> impossible for any new religion to come into existence. Forced to deal with
> the fact that the Bahá’í Faith not only exists but is rapidly expanding,
> fanatical Muslims, particularly in Shiah Iran, have sought to picture it
> variously as a “heresy,” “a political movement,” or “a conspiracy against
> Islam” and regard the extirpation of the faith as a service to God.
> 
> Under the regime of the shahs, and in response to this pressure from the
> clergy, the Bahá’í Faith was denied the civil recognition accorded to the
> beliefs of the other three religious minorities in the country: Jews,
> Christians, and Zoroastrians. Since civil rights in Iran were dependent on
> the formal recognition accorded to one’s religious faith, this meant that the
> more than 300,000 Bahá’ís, who outnumber the other three minorities
> combined, had no recourse to the protections of civil law.
> 
> The result was to expose Bahá’ís to whatever injuries the ill-disposed
> among the Muslim majority decided to visit upon them. Bahá’í cemeteries
> were frequently desecrated by organized mobs, Bahá’í children were
> commonly humiliated in class as “dirty Bábís,” Bahá’ís were denied
> employment in several branches of the civil service, and many members of
> the Faith were beaten, raped, and even killed in occasional outbursts of
> fanaticism aroused by the Shiah Muslim clergy. Occasionally, in order to
> distract public attention from political or economic concerns, the shah’s
> regime would itself initiate persecution of the Bahá’ís as scapegoats. In
> 1955 one such organized persecution required the intervention of the United
> Nations.324
> 
> Following the Islamic revolution in early 1979, the situation worsened.325
> Under the direction of Shiah clergy now in control of the new government,
> Bahá’í properties were seized, Bahá’í shrines were occupied by armed
> Muslim bands and largely destroyed, the faith’s cemeteries were bulldozed,
> members of the community were driven from their jobs and had their
> pensions canceled and their savings expropriated, and Bahá’í children
> throughout Iran were expelled from school. The new Islamic constitution
> adopted in the fall of 1979 made the exclusion of the Bahá’ís from any civil
> rights even more explicit than had the old imperial constitution.
> 
> In the summer of 1980 revolutionary committees began arresting the
> members of the local and national Bahá’í Assemblies, as well as other
> prominent believers, and sentencing them to death. Although an effort was
> made by the regime’s spokesmen outside Iran to represent these killings as
> the execution of “spies,” the indictments were explicit in identifying the
> victims’ Bahá’í beliefs and memberships as the “crimes” for which they had
> been sentenced, and each was offered his or her life in return for conversion
> to Islam. The executions and other acts of persecution against Bahá’ís were
> openly reported in the government-controlled press in Iran as the
> suppression of “the Bahá’í heresy.”326 Finally, in August 1983, the Islamic
> regime formally banned all Bahá’í religious, educational, and charitable
> institutions in Iran. In obedience to the Bahá’í principle of submission to
> civil authority in such matters, the National Spiritual Assembly of the
> Bahá’ís of Iran disbanded all local spiritual assemblies and then announced
> its own dissolution. Despite this compliance, the authorities began
> imprisoning all former members of the disbanded assemblies, in effect
> making the decree retroactive. The United States Congress heard firsthand
> evidence that the prisoners were systematically tortured to secure
> recantations and confessions of “espionage.”
> 
> The Bahá’í response to these attacks has taken two forms. When repeated
> appeals to the successive Iranian revolutionary regimes met with no
> response, a concerted effort was made to secure international intervention.
> Beginning with a unanimous resolution in the summer of 1980 by the
> Canadian Parliament, several national governments began pressing Iran to
> halt the campaign of terror. The European Parliament followed suit in the
> fall of 1980, and a succession of hearings by agencies of the United Nations
> led to a series of annual resolutions, one of which, in March 1984,
> established a mandate for investigation by the Secretary General. The
> Congress of the United States twice denounced the persecution in
> particularly strong terms.327
> 
> International pressure increased with each passing year, leading to growing
> denunciation of the Iranian regime in the media and vigorous criticism by
> successive United Nations rapporteurs. By 1994, it appeared that the central
> authorities in Tehran were coming to regard the more gross abuses of the
> human rights of Bahá’ís as unacceptably costly in terms of the political and
> economic price entailed. The execution of members of the community and
> imprisonments dropped off dramatically in favor of the continuing
> campaign of harassment in the circumstances of everyday life. That the
> regime had not changed its basic intent was exposed in 1993, when the
> United Nations special rapporteur, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, revealed to
> the Human Rights Commission the text of a secret Iranian government
> document outlining a program which it was hoped might suffocate the
> Bahá’í minority while attracting minimal international attention.
> An interesting aspect of the case of the Iranian Bahá’í minority is the
> illustration it provides of the surprising effectiveness of the United Nations’
> human rights system. While admittedly cumbersome and slow, the pressure
> of unceasingly negative UNHRC evaluations and resolutions can have the
> effect of isolating an uncooperative government and rendering its economy
> and foreign policy vulnerable to a host of undesired consequences.328
> 
> In the long run, the most significant response will likely be that of the
> Iranian Bahá’í community itself. Despite the attacks of the mullas, the
> Iranian Bahá’ís have maintained their attitude of respect for Islam. To them,
> the criticism that their faith might be antagonistic to Islam appears to be
> particularly unjustified. They have pointed out that, in becoming Bahá’ís,
> great numbers of believers from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or Hindu
> backgrounds have also accepted the divine character of Islam and its
> Prophet.
> 
> The community has also given conclusive evidence of its adherence to the
> Bahá’í principle of respect for civil government and avoidance of
> involvement in partisan politics. Although the most abused minority in
> present-day Iran, Bahá’ís have refused to take part in the various civil
> upheavals by which the political enemies of the Islamic regime have sought
> to bring about its demise. Indeed, they initially refrained from appealing for
> international intervention during the first year of the current persecution out
> of a willingness to give the regime a chance to correct the abuses that were
> occurring. The same policy, which Bahá’ís believe will be a long-term
> protection for their Faith, had consistently been followed under the Pahlavi
> dynasty.
> 
> From a purely objective point of view, the current ordeal in Iran may be
> said to have had important benefits for the religion, however agonizing the
> cost. The worldwide attention given to efforts to alleviate the suffering of
> Bahá’ís has entailed a massive education of government officials,
> academics, the media, and the general public in many lands about the nature
> of the Bahá’í Faith and its aims and teachings. The very nature of the issues
> involved has tended to throw into clear relief the peaceful and progressive
> character of the Bahá’í community. For Bahá’ís outside Iran, the experience
> of arising together to defend their fellow believers against an unprovoked
> and barbarous assault has no doubt had a powerful consolidating effect on
> the faith of its highly diverse membership. Above all, the heroic capacity
> for self-sacrifice demonstrated by the Iranian believers has served as
> convincing proof that the faith’s original spiritual impulse has in no way
> abated. Once again, the ancient adage that “the blood of the martyrs is the
> seed of the faith” is being demonstrated, this time before the television
> cameras of the world.
> Persecution of Bahá’ís has not been limited to Muslim societies. Like many
> other religions, the Bahá’ís have also encountered hostility from totalitarian
> regimes. In Nazi Germany the faith was officially banned and its activities
> forbidden. This was primarily because of the Bahá’í teachings of racial
> oneness. In communist countries, suppression was almost as complete.
> Marxist theory, which denies the existence of God and of a rational soul,
> and which seeks to account for all of humankind’s social history through a
> philosophy of materialism, “defined” the Bahá’í Faith out of existence
> without examination. There was no more room for a new revelation from
> God in the Marxist cosmography than for earlier ones. In Soviet Russia, a
> great many Bahá’ís were arrested and eventually exiled to Siberia; the
> institutions of the faith were dissolved; its literature and archives were
> seized; and a ban was placed on all of its teaching activities. The Bahá’í
> house of worship in ‘Ishqábád, the first ever erected, was confiscated for
> government use.329 The degree of suppression varied from one communist
> country to another, but in all cases there were severe restrictions imposed on
> the Bahá’í community’s continued existence.330
> 
> As with all other aspects of life in the East Bloc countries, the situation
> changed dramatically with the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Since 1990, new
> national spiritual assemblies have been formed in countries throughout that
> region of the world, local spiritual assemblies are proliferating, and
> energetic programs of translation and publishing are making Bahá’í
> literature available in a wide range of languages.
> 
> Finally, the Bahá’í Faith has sustained a persistent onslaught from various
> representatives of traditional Christianity, particularly from returning
> missionaries.331 No area of Christian missionary work has been so barren
> and so discouraging as the Islamic Near and Middle East. Over seventy
> years ago Edward Granville Browne pointed out that a number of Christian
> missionaries who had witnessed the failures of their efforts had begun to
> resent the successes of the Bahá’í teachers who were working in the same
> areas. This antagonism was exacerbated as the Bahá’í Faith began to make
> significant progress in Western countries as well among persons of
> Christian background. The response of the missionaries was to join with
> their Muslim counterparts in publishing bitter attacks on Bahá’í motives and
> practices. A faith which had been the object of barbarous persecutions in
> the East now found itself subject in the West to gross distortions of its
> history and teachings and efforts to represent it as hostile to Christianity.332
> 
> Organized attacks on the Bahá’í Faith by Christian churches have been
> particularly severe in Germany. In 1953, the German Bahá’í community
> applied for a parcel of land in Frankfurt for the erection of the first Bahá’í
> house of worship on the European continent. Protestant churches in the area
> organized a series of protest meetings, a campaign later joined by the local
> Roman Catholic authorities. This pressure led to a six-year struggle merely
> to procure a site and permission for construction.
> 
> Ultimately, the opposition proved not only ineffective but counter-
> productive. The building permits were secured in 1959 for a design
> submitted by the award-winning architect Teuto Rocholi, and in 1963
> several thousand European Bahá’ís attended the formal dedication of the
> building. Not surprisingly, the display of prejudice had the effect of
> generating many newspaper articles and radio presentations sympathetic to
> the Bahá’í community, eventually producing the most widespread public
> education on the nature and teachings of the Bahá’í Faith that Germany had
> so far experienced.
> 
> In 1981, Dr. Kurt Hutten, director of the Protestant publicity agency
> Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungssragen and author of
> several anti-Bahá’í articles, seized upon an extraordinary monograph
> produced by one Francesco Ficicchia, whose behavior had led to his
> expulsion from the faith and who had made clear his intent to damage its
> public reputation. Although the Ficicchia monograph was clearly malicious
> and self-serving, and although its author lacked any relevant scholarly
> credentials, the Zentralstelle’s publishing house produced an edition which
> they widely distributed and represented as a piece of serious academic
> research.
> 
> Eventually, three German Bahá’í scholars undertook the laborious task of
> responding to the mass of polemic and misrepresentation in which the book
> had freely indulged. Published by the respected independent house Olms
> Verlag, their reply, Desinformation als Methode, constitutes a massively
> detailed and documented work running over six hundred pages in length
> and an invaluable source work for the Bahá’í community.333 As with the
> crisis over the construction of the house of worship, the publishing attacks
> appear to have benefited primarily the victims by accomplishing in a short
> time what Bahá’í efforts alone could not have achieved for many years. The
> debate has effectively focused German scholarly attention on the major
> themes and primary sources of Bahá’í history and belief and cast grave
> doubt on the credit of those who have gratuitously sought to injure it.
> 
> A recent crisis in another area has further reinforced the Bahá’í position in
> Germany. In Tubingen, the legal administrator of the District Court denied
> incorporation to the local Bahá’í assembly on the grounds that the three-tier
> system of Bahá’í elected institutions was somehow incompatible with the
> requirements of German law. The national spiritual assembly appealed the
> decision to the federal constitutional High Court. In a landmark decision by
> the latter body, it was held that the Bahá’í administrative order is an integral
> part of the religion itself and thus not subject to the legal restrictions cited.
> 
> In a land where ecclesiastical opponents were seeking to cast doubt on the
> faith’s status as a recognized religion, the wording of the judgment was
> particularly significant:
> 
> In the present case it is not necessary to go more deeply into this, as the
> character of the Bahá’í Faith as a religion and the Bahá’í Community
> as a religious community is evident, in actual every day life, in cultural
> tradition, and in the understanding of both the general public and the
> science of comparative religion.334
> 
> However gratifying these victories have doubtless been for the Bahá’í
> community in Germany and elsewhere, the intensity of the campaign
> carried on against their religion by church organizations is a troubling
> insight into deep-seated animosities that may well find other forms of
> expression in the future.
> 
> Opposition represents a challenge that will assume new forms and
> dimensions as the activities of the Bahá’í community expand and attract
> greater public attention. The spirit in which the Bahá’ís meet these new
> attacks and their response to the issues will have a profound effect on the
> emerging international image of their faith and on the quality of life within
> their own membership.
> 
> The maintenance of unity, the response to opposition, and the involvement
> of the great majority of the members of the community in its work of
> expansion would not, in themselves, fulfill Bahá’u’lláh’s purpose. Nor
> would they be likely to convince humankind in general that the Bahá’í
> revelation holds the answers to humanity’s future. This will happen only if
> an increasingly skeptical age observes among Bahá’ís the features of a new
> and more attractive way of life. In an often-quoted statement, Shoghi
> Effendi said:
> 
> One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the
> undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which
> our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold
> aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by
> Bahá’u’lláh.335
> 
> There is little doubt that the Bahá’í community provides an attractive
> alternative to much of what imposes itself on the attention of modern
> society. From its earliest days, the character of the members of the faith has
> generally won admiration and praise from observers. Edward Granville
> Browne made the following observation in the late nineteenth century:
> 
> I have often heard wonder expressed by Christian ministers at the
> extraordinary success of Bábí [i.e., Bahá’í] missionaries, as contrasted
> with the almost complete failure of their own.... The answer, to my
> mind, is plain as the sun at midday. [There follow some comments
> critical of certain aspects of Christian sectarianism]....
> 
> To the Western observer, however, it is the complete sincerity of the
> Bábís, their fearless disregard of death and torture undergone for the
> sake of their religion, their certain conviction as to the truth of their
> faith, their generally admirable conduct towards mankind, and
> especially toward their fellow-believers, which constitute their
> strongest claim on his attention.336
> 
> Present-day observers tend to be equally complimentary about the
> community. A practical demonstration of full racial integration, a consistent
> avoidance of religious controversy or criticism of other faiths, a freedom
> from the taint of moral and financial scandal too often associated with
> modern-day religious movements, the spread of the Bahá’í message without
> recourse to aggressive proselytism, and a general reputation for hospitality
> which the community has gained—each of these has helped to lay the
> foundations of widespread respect.
> 
> Again, however, the augmenting crises in human affairs today present
> awesome challenges to the Bahá’í community’s claim to represent a model
> for radical social change. In Western countries, the public will be watching
> to see whether, for example, Bahá’í family life represents a new beginning,
> and the extent to which Bahá’u’lláh’s precepts are reflected in the lives and
> attitudes of rising generations of Bahá’í youth and children. In Africa,
> tribalism continues to frustrate the efforts of political and religious
> movements alike to provide an appropriate identity around which a different
> type of society can be organized. Do the Bahá’í communities in those
> countries show signs of meeting this challenge? In many Asian cultures,
> despite concerted programs of education, women remain in the essentially
> inferior social position they have occupied throughout the centuries. While
> Bahá’í communities have made great strides in breaking this pattern, can
> Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings on the equality of the sexes so permeate these
> communities as to open up to Bahá’í women the transformational role in
> society which he envisioned for them?
> Finally, can the Bahá’í community demonstrate the relevance of its beliefs
> to the economic problems that are crippling the social and spiritual life of
> humankind? Already, in several Third World countries, there are areas
> where Bahá’ís are becoming a majority of the local inhabitants and where
> their local assemblies are directly facing this challenge. At the 1983
> international convention, the Universal House of Justice announced the
> creation of a new Office of Social and Economic Development. Bahá’í
> communities have been encouraged to begin “at the grassroots level” a host
> of projects that will draw on the social and economic principles to be found
> in Bahá’u’lláh’s writings. The Bahá’í International Community’s award-
> winning periodical One Country, which regularly surveys these activities—
> and which appears in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and
> German editions—enjoys a wide readership in the nongovernmental
> community. Clearly, the community sees itself engaged in a process of
> learning through experimentation in economic affairs, rather than as
> offering an ideological system. These efforts will be an aspect of Bahá’í life
> that will attract particularly sharp scrutiny in the difficult years that lie
> ahead.
> 
> Such challenges will test to the utmost Bahá’í heroism and enthusiasm as
> we move into the twenty-first century. Particularly will they test the
> potential of the global Bahá’í community as a new social model. In the
> years immediately ahead the followers of Bahá’u’lláh will have ample
> cause to ponder deeply the statement in which the founder of their faith
> drew the distinction between his mission and that of an earlier
> Manifestation of God:
> 
> Verily, He [Jesus] said: “Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become
> fishers of men.” In this day, however, We say: “Come ye after Me, that We
> may make you to become the quickeners of mankind.”337
> Appendix:
> Edward Granville Browne
> 
> The name of Edward Granville Browne has a special place in the history of
> the Bahá’í Faith’s first century. While studying medicine at Cambridge in
> the 1880s, Browne became attracted to a field of research which he was to
> make his life’s work: the literature and history of Persia. This in turn led
> him to investigate the Bábí movement, which he first encountered in the
> influential study by Joseph Arthur de Gobineau, Les Religions et les
> Philosophies dans l’Asie Centrale. A trip to Persia followed in 1887-1888,
> in consequence of which Browne set about the compilation and translation
> of major pieces of Bábí and Bahá’í literature and the preparation of a
> number of scholarly studies in the field. Several of these were published
> under the auspices of the Royal Asiatic Society.
> 
> Browne’s researches eventually took him to Palestine where, in 1890, he
> had the privilege of a series of four interviews with Bahá’u’lláh, two years
> before the latter’s death. As idealistic as he was brilliant, Browne found
> himself irresistibly attracted by the heroic story of the new faith. The effects
> can be seen in reading the introduction to his translation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
> Traveller’s Narrative338 and the lengthy paper entitled “Babism” published
> in Religious Systems of the World.339
> 
> Unhappily, as time passed, Browne’s scholarly work became intertwined
> with late Victorian political preoccupations. Because of his great admiration
> for the Persian people, he longed to see them freed from the ignorance and
> despotism under which the dual regime of the Shiah clergy and the Qájár
> dynasty kept them. Consequently, he became an advocate of the so-called
> “Constitutional Movement” in Persia.340 Browne raised money for the
> movement in Europe, spoke widely on its behalf, and made his home at
> Cambridge a way-station for Persian exiles. His liberal political sympathies
> were greatly intensified by nationalistic ones: the Constitutionalists were
> viewed in British imperialist circles as natural allies against tsarist Russia,
> which supported the Qájár shahs.
> 
> Because Browne believed that the Bahá’í community (or “Bábí”
> community, as he continued to call it) was the most cohesive progressive
> force in Persia, he looked to it to take the lead in bringing about political, as
> well as social, change. To his intense disappointment, the Bahá’ís refused to
> be drawn into either domestic or international conflicts. The reason was
> Bahá’u’lláh’s assumption of the prophetic role for which the Báb had
> prepared the way and his refusal to compromise the universal nature of his
> message for partisan political ends. Browne’s unhappiness is apparent in
> words he wrote about Bahá’u’lláh’s statement on the oneness of
> humankind:
> 
> Bahá’ism, in my opinion, is too cosmopolitan in its aim to render much
> direct service to that revival [i.e., of Persian political life]. “Pride is not
> for him who loves his country,” says Bahá’u’lláh, “but for him who
> loves the world.” This is a fine statement, but just now it is men who
> love their country above all else that Persia needs. [italics added]341
> 
> Only one small handful of Bábís were prepared, indeed eager, to assume the
> political role which Browne had envisioned for them. They were the Azalís,
> who had by this time abandoned their erstwhile leader, Mírzá Yaḥyá, to his
> lonely exile on Cyprus and had suddenly metamorphosed into political
> ideologists, journalists, and underground agents.342 In the process, they
> entered into intimate correspondence with Browne and became, as he said,
> his most trusted collaborators. It was these men, intensely ambitious for
> political careers and blocked by Bahá’u’lláh from using the Báb’s legacy to
> this end, who provided Browne with the documents on which he based most
> of his later research.343
> 
> The effect was unfortunate from the point of view of scholarship. The Azalí
> episode was of only passing significance in Bahá’í history, and key
> documents on which Browne placed great reliance proved, in time, to be
> spurious.344 Particularly regrettable was the importance which Browne was
> induced to give to a strange document that he purportedly discovered in
> 1892 among the papers of the late Comte de Gobineau and that he later
> published under its esoteric Persian title Kitáb-i-Nuqṭatu’l-Káf (“Book of
> the Point of K”). The full story is beyond the scope of this note, but the
> subject deserves a brief glance because of the effect which Browne’s
> decision had in temporarily derailing the study of Bahá’í origins.
> 
> Ostensibly a history of the Bábí movement, the Nuqṭatu’l-Káf was
> attributed by Browne to a respected Bábí martyr, Ḥájí Mírzá Jání, who had
> been executed forty years earlier in 1852 and was known to have written a
> personal memoir of some of the events in which he was involved. Browne’s
> sole authority for this attribution was Mírzá Yaḥyá, already discredited
> among most of his former associates; the manuscript itself bore no author’s
> name.
> Although excerpts from Jání’s lost record do indeed seem to have been
> included, it should have been readily apparent to Browne that the martyr
> could not have been the author of the Nuqṭatu’l-Káf. Apart from other
> internal evidence, references are made in it to events which occurred in
> 1853-1854, over a year after Jání’s death. Moreover, there is considerable
> reason to believe that the final version was put together sometime in the late
> 1860s and that a copy was forwarded anonymously to Paris, either to
> Gobineau himself, or, after his death, to the Bibliothèque Nationale, which
> had secured his collection of books. The collection is not mentioned in
> Gobineau’s own book, Les Religions et les Philosophies dans l’Asie
> Centrale (published 1865), where it certainly would have been treated as a
> key source.345 A prominent Bahá’í scholar who at one point had worked
> with a copy of the original Jání memoirs, Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl Gulpaygani,
> denied flatly that the Nuqṭatu’l-Káf was the document in question.
> 
> Since the text of the Nuqṭatu’l-Káf contains extravagant praise of Mírzá
> Yaḥyá and seeks to deprecate the leadership which Bahá’u’lláh is known to
> have exercised in events the book purports to describe, the manuscript may
> represent an attempt by partisans of Yaḥyá to reinforce the latter’s fading
> role in the late 1860s. The bizarre character of some of the theological
> content, faithfully reflecting Yaḥyá’s known views, lends further credence
> to this notion. Considerably more research will be required in order to
> unravel the mystery of the document’s origins.
> 
> Browne, however, seized upon the Nuqṭatu’l-Káf as an authentic history of
> the events which so deeply interested him. Against all of the objective
> evidence, he appears to have been persuaded by his Azalí collaborators that
> the Bahá’í community had deliberately suppressed this early account
> because they wished to rewrite Bábí history in order to reinforce
> Bahá’u’lláh’s claim. It is apparent from some of Browne’s own references
> to the subject that he saw himself in the position of his contemporaries
> among spokesmen for the so-called “Higher Criticism,” biblical scholars
> who were simultaneously finding in the various Synoptic Gospels traces of
> sectarian rivalries among the early Christians.346
> 
> Whatever the reason, the effect was to divert attention from critical
> developments in the rise of the new religion. Perhaps sensing this, Browne
> retained an association with the Bahá’í community to the last,
> corresponding with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, meeting him in both London and Paris
> during his Western trip in 1911, and eventually contributing an obituary to
> the January 1922 issue of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. The
> latter described the late leader of the Bahá’í Faith as one “who has probably
> exercised a greater influence not only in the Orient but in the Occident, than
> any Asiatic thinker and teacher in recent times.”
> 
> A valuable first step in assessing Browne’s contribution to Bahá’í history
> was taken in 1970 by the British-Iranian scholar Hasan Balyuzi, under the
> title Edward Granville Browne and the Bahá’í Faith. A full appreciation
> must await future studies which will distinguish Browne’s enduring
> scholarly achievements from the more ephemeral political activities of his
> time. Whatever these researchers reveal, the study of Bahá’í origins has
> been immensely enriched by the balance of scholarship and sympathy
> which led a distinguished Western authority to record so meticulously his
> firsthand experiences with the founders of the new faith.
> Bibliography
> 
> BOOKS
> 
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> ___. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-
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> ___. Some Answered Questions. Compiled and translated by Laura Clifford
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> Balyuzi, H. M. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.
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> ___. Edward Granville Browne and the Bahá’í Faith. Oxford: George
> Ronald, 1970.
> Bourgeois, L. Un Homme et Son Oeuvre. Toronto: Bahá’í Centre
> Publication, 1973.
> ___. The Bahá’í Temple: Press Comments, Symbolism. Chicago: Louis J.
> Bourgeois, 1921.
> Brown, Ira V. “Watchers for the Second Coming, the Millenial Tradition in
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> ___. A Literary History of Persia. Vol. 4, 1500-1924. Cambridge:
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> ___. A Traveller’s Narrative Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Báb.
> Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1891.
> Cole, Juan Ricardo. The Concept of Manifestation in the Bahá’í Writings.
> Bahá’í Studies, vol. 9. Ottawa, Ont.: Association for Bahá’í Studies, 1982.
> Collins, William P. Bibliography of English-Language Works on the Bábí
> and Bahá’í Faiths, 1844-1985. Oxford: George Ronald, 1990.
> A Compilation of Bahá’í Writings on Music. Compiled by the Research
> Department of the Universal House of Justice. 2d ed. Oakham, England:
> Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1983. No.4 of a series issued by the Universal
> House of Justice. (Cover title: Bahá’í Writings on Music)
> Consultation, A Compilation: Extracts from the Writings and Utterances of
> Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and The Universal House of
> Justice. Compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of
> Justice. Thornhill, Ont.: Bahá’í Community of Canada, 1980.
> The Continental Boards of Counselors. Compiled by the National Spiritual
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> Trust, 1981.
> Corbin, H. En Islam iranien; aspects spirituels et philosophiques. Vol. 4.
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> Centre, 1978.
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> A Fortress for Well-Being: Bahá’í Teachings on Marriage. Wilmette:
> Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
> 1973.
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> 1973.
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> Paris: Didier, 1865; Paris: Ernest le Roux, 3d ed., 1900.
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> George Ronald, 1996.
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> (1974), pp. 14-27.
> ___. “The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Causality Principle in the World of Being,”
> The Bahá’í World, 1993-1994. Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1994. pp. 189-
> 236.
> ___. Logic and Logos. Oxford: George Ronald, 1990.
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> Canadian Association for Studies on the Bahá’í Faith, 1980.
> ___. The Concept of Spirituality. Bahá’í Studies, vol. 11. Ottawa, Ont.:
> Association for Bahá’í Studies, 1982.
> Hatcher, W. S., and Afnán, M.: See Afnán, M. and Hatcher, W. S.
> Huddleston, John. The Search for a Just Society. Oxford: George Ronald,
> 1989.
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> 1986.
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> p. 39.
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> 141, p. 4.
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> Centre, 1978.
> ___. “The Bahá’ís of Iran under the Islamic Republic, 1979-1983,” Middle
> East Focus. Toronto, vol. 6, no. 4, 1983.
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> East Focus. Toronto, vol. 4, no. 6, 1981.
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> Miller, W. M., Bahá’ism, Its Origins and Teachings. New York and
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> Nasr, S. H. Ideals and Realities of Islam. London: George Allen and Unwin
> Ltd., 1966; Boston: Beacon Press, 1972.
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> Critique, 1908.
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> Librairie Paul Geuthner. 40 vols. 1911-14.
> Phelps, M. H. Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi. New York and London:
> G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903; New York: Knickerbocker Press. 2d rev. ed.,
> 1912.
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> 1969.
> Ráfatí, Vaḥíd. The Development of Shaykhí Thought in Shí’i Islam. Los
> Angeles: University of California in Los Angeles, 1979.
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> York: Macmillan, 1932.
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> Publishers, 1901.
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> Bahá’ís of Canada, 1965.
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> Justice. Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1972.
> ___. Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1968-1973. Wilmette,
> Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976.
> ___. The Promise of World Peace: A Statement by the Universal House of
> Justice. Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, n.d.
> ___. Wellspring of Guidance: Messages 1963-1968. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 1969; 2d ed. 1976.
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> Twentieth-Century Thought. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1963.
> Ward, A. L. 239 Days: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America. Wilmette, Ill.:
> Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1979.
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> (Macropedia). Vol. 9. 15th ed. 1981.
> Wilson, S. G. Baha’ism and Its Claims. New York: Fleming H. Revell
> Company, 1915.
> 
> PERIODICALS
> British Bahá’í Journal
> The Journal of Bahá’í Studies. Vols. 1-6, 1988-1995
> Middle East Focus
> Mississippi Valley Historical Review
> Open Court
> Seven Days
> Star of the West
> World Order
> To Contact the Bahá’ís Near You
> 
> VISIT
> 
> http://www.bahai.org/
> 
> http://www.us.bahai.org
> 
> 1 From a letter to Dr. N. Kunter, Avakat, Istanbul, Turkey, dated 12 August 1959. Published in
> British Bahá’í Journal, no. 141, (November 1959), p. 4. The correct name of the religion is the
> Bahá’í Faith, not “Bahaism.”
> 2 For a fuller discussion of Brown’s contribution, see Appendix.
> 3 Edward G. Browne, A Traveller’s Narrative Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Báb, p. viii.
> Note: Complete bibliographical information for this book and all other works cited in this text will be
> found in the bibliography.
> 4 Vernon Elvin Johnson, “The Challenge of the Bahá’í Faith” in World Order, vol. 10, no. 3 (1976),
> p. 39.
> 5 “The Revelation proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh, His followers believe is ... scientific in its method ...
> religious truth is not absolute, but relative.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh:
> Selected Letters, p. xi 1938 ed..)
> 6 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, 40.16. For a detailed treatment of the subject of science and religion in
> a Bahá’í context, see William S. Hatcher, The Science of Religion.
> 7 ‘Allámah Siyyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Ṭabáṭabá’í, Shi’ite Islam, p. 76. Sunni Islam has also
> disavowed any connection between itself and the Bahá’í Faith. As early as 1925, the religious court
> of Beba, Egypt, issued the following decision: “The Bahá’í Faith is a new religion, entirely
> independent, with beliefs, principles and laws of its own, which differ from, and are utterly in
> conflict with, the beliefs, principles and laws of Islam. No Bahá’í, therefore, can be regarded a
> Muslim or vice-versa, even as no Buddhist, Brahmin, or Christian can be regarded as Muslim or
> vice-versa.” (Cited by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 365.)
> For a study of the relationship of the Bahá’í religion with Islam, see Udo Schaefer, “The Bahá’í
> Faith and Islam,” in The Light Shineth in Darkness: Five Studies in Revelation after Christ, pp. 113-
> 132. As to the question of the Bahá’í Faith being a “sect” (above), see Schaefer’s discussion of this
> question as it pertains to the model of the religious sect constructed by its modern fathers, Weber and
> Troeltsch, in this essay, pp. 113-114.Schaefer, in the course of this discussion, remarks: “The Bahá’í
> Faith, according to its own interpretation, does not aim to be a reform or a restoration of Islam, but
> rather claims its origin in a new act of God, in a new outpouring of the divine spirit and in a new
> divine covenant. The foundation of belief and of law is the new divine word revealed by Bahá’u’lláh.
> This is why the Bahá’í is not a Muslim.” (Ibid., p. 114.)
> 8 Under the Pahlavis (1925-1979), the ancient name Iran replaced the designation Persia. This text
> has used “Persia” in describing events of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and “Iran” in
> reference to more recent ones.
> 9 “All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.” (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Gleanings, p. 215.)
> 10 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 217. For a discussion of this subject, see Juan Ricardo Cole, The
> Concept of Manifestation in the Bahá’í Writings.
> 11 Why this attribution of orthodoxy to the Sunni branch of Islam should have been so fostered by
> non-Muslim authors is itself a question of some significance. The most frequently cited reason for it
> stems from the fact that, for a long time, Shiah Islam was simply unheard of in the West because of
> the geographic remoteness of its major centers from Europe and the European colonies established
> during the Crusades. For the Shiah point of view, see Ṭabáṭabá’í, Shi’ite Islam, pp. 9-16. A more
> complete discussion is in Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Ideals and Realities of Islam.
> 12 For a brief but excellent introduction to the themes of pre-Islamic Iranian religion, see Geo.
> Widengren, “Iranian Religion,” in Encyclopedia Britannica, pp. 867–872.
> 13 For recent scholarship on this doctrine, see Vaḥíd Ráfatí, The Development of Shaykhí Thought in
> Shí‘i Islam, and Henri Corbin, En Islam iranieni aspects spirituels et philosophiques, vol. 4.
> 14 See, for example, Whitney R. Cross, The Burned-over District, and Ira V. Brown, “Watchers for
> the Second Coming, the Millennial Tradition in America” in Mississippi Valley Historical Review,
> vol. 39, no. 3 (1952), pp. 441–458.
> 15 It has been argued, usually by opponents of the Bahá’í Faith, that the Báb’s initial successes
> encouraged him to move from modest claims to more ambitious ones. This clearly is not correct. The
> statement made by the Báb in first disclosing his claim to Mullá Ḥusayn describes himself not only
> as the Messenger of God, but specifically as the “Remembrance of God” and the “Proof of God,”
> titles which unequivocally referred to the long-expected advent of the Hidden Imam. That his
> audacious claim was understood by both his followers and the Muslim clergy was at once made clear.
> One of the first of those to accept the Báb, Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Basṭámí, left Persia almost immediately
> upon accepting the Báb in 1844, taking with him a copy of the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’, and was arrested
> on a charge of heresy shortly after his arrival in neighboring Baghdad. In January 1845, he was
> formally condemned on this charge by an edict (fatvá) of the assembled Shiah and Sunni clergy. The
> condemnation was based on his belief in one who claimed to be the source of a revelation like that of
> the Qur’án, and the Báb as author was also condemned. For a full discussion of the subject, see
> Muḥammad Afnán and William S. Hatcher, “Western Islamic Scholarship and Bahá’í Origins,” in
> Religion, vol. 15 (1985).
> 16 See Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: Selected Letters, pp. 123-128.
> 17 The four principal sources used for the history of the Bábí religion are Shoghi Effendi, God
> Passes By; Hasan Balyuzi, The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days; Nabíl-i-A‘ẓam (Muḥammad-i-
> Zarandí), The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation; and
> Joseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineau, Les Religions et les Philosophies dans l’Asie Centrale.
> 18 Hamid Algar, Religion and State in Iran, 1784-1906, p. 19.
> 19 Gobineau said of Muhammad Shah and his chief minister: “Muhammad Shah, of whom I have
> already spoken, was a prince with quite a special disposition—one which is quite common in Asia
> but which Europeans have hardly seen, let alone understood.... His health had always been
> deplorable; gouty to the last degree, he suffered continual pain and had very little relief from it. His
> character which was naturally weak, had become melancholy and, as he was in great need of
> affection but seldom experienced feelings of this kind within his family among his wives and
> children, he concentrated all his affection on the old mulla, his tutor. He made him his only friend, his
> confidant, then his all-powerful prime minister, and finally, with no exaggeration, his god.... The
> Ḥájí, for his part, was a god of a very special kind. It is not absolutely certain that he did not himself
> believe what Muhammad Shah was convinced of. In all situations, he professed the same general
> principles as the king, and had in good faith instilled them into him.” (Les Religions et les
> Philosophies, pp. 160-162, author’s own translation.)
> 20 Nicolas writes: “An anecdote shows which sentiments the prime minister obeyed when he
> determined the will of the Shah. Prince Farhád Mírzá, still a young man, was the pupil of Ḥájí Mírzá
> Áqásí. He further related: ‘One day as I was strolling with him in the garden and he seemed in a good
> mood, I went so far as to ask him, “Ḥájí, why did you send the Báb to Máh-Kú?” He replied, “you
> are still young and there are certain things you cannot understand, but you should know that if he had
> come to Tehran, you and I would not be walking about at this moment free from all care in these
> shady surroundings.”” (Siyyid ‘Alí-Muḥammad, Dit le Báb, cited in Nabíl-i-A‘ẓam The Dawn-
> Breakers, pp. 231-232.)
> 21 See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 21. Balyuzi provides a detailed description of the trial in
> The Báb, pp. 139-145. See also Browne, A Traveller’s Narrative, pp. 277-290.
> 22 Caning on the soles of the feet as punishment or torture.
> 23 Cited in Balyuzi, The Báb, pp. 146-147.
> 24 For a full discussion of this subject, see Muḥammad Afnán and William S. Hatcher, “Western
> Islamic Scholarship and Bahá’í Origins.”
> 25 Fragmentary early accounts by Western commentators in Persia repeat many of these stories
> gleaned, it must be assumed, from the Muslim contacts on whom these observers were almost
> entirely dependent for their understanding of the Persian language and their interpretation of religious
> issues in the country. Momen has brought together (The Bábí and Bahá’í Religions, pp. 3-17) a
> number of these reports, which include references to rebellion, nihilism, atheism, and community of
> wives and property. It was only after scholarly study by Gobineau, Browne, Nicolas, and others who
> could communicate directly with followers of the new faith, that these impressions were corrected.
> 26 Gobineau wrote: “A change of reign is always a very critical time in Central Asia. In Persia, in
> Turkestan, in the Arab States, a period of anarchy sets in which can last for a long time, which takes
> on a rather violent and turbulent character, but which always manages to keep law enforcement in
> abeyance, according to the principle that the will of the sovereign has, for a greater or lesser period,
> disappeared.... It is a watch which has stopped; the springs are not and should not be changed; but,
> until it is wound up again by hand, it no longer works.
> “Moreover, there are many passions and interests to arouse, stir up, and fan the flame of general
> discord. If there are several claimants to the throne, they want disorder so as to increase their chances
> of success and find themselves active supporters.” (Les Religions et les Philosophies, pp. 175-176,
> author’s own translation.)
> 27 See Nabíl-i-A’ẓam, (Muḥammad-i-Zarandí), The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative of the Early
> Days of the Bahá’í Revelation.
> 28 See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 47.
> 29 Several Western diplomatic representatives sought, unsuccessfully, to dissuade the prime minister
> from his course, arguing that persecution could only further spread the teachings he feared. (See
> Momen, The Bábí and Bahá’í Religions, pp. 71-72, 103.)
> 30 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 52.
> 31 Momen, Bábí and Bahá’í Religions, (pp. 77-82) has brought together a number of eyewitness
> accounts of the event, transmitted by Western commentators.
> 32 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 53.
> 33 A. L. M. Nicolas, Siyyid ‘Alí-Muḥammad, Dit le Báb, cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p.
> 55, author’s own translation.
> 34 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 65. The Russian ambassador, Prince Dolgorukov, who
> likewise witnessed these cruelties, denounced them in a personal interview with the shah as
> “barbarous practices” which “did not even exist among the most savage nations.” The British chargé
> d’affaires likewise protested to the Persian authorities against practices which “Her Majesty’s
> Government had imagined to be confined to the barbarous tribes of ...Africa.” (Momen, Bábí and
> Bahá’í Religions, pp. 100-101).
> 35 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 65.
> 36 A French translation of the Bayán, Le Béyan Persan, was made by A. L. M. Nicolas, consular
> representative of the government of France, who spent considerable time in Persia.
> 37 E. G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia, pp. 415-416.
> 38 Cited in Nabíl, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 92-94. This is the source of the story, circulated by
> Muslim opponents of the new faith, that a Bábí state would destroy all books. Once the separation
> from Shiah Islam had been accomplished, Bahá’u’lláh rescinded bans of this type (see pages 76-77).
> 39 Qur’án, 3:104. See also 2:143.
> 40 The extent of this regression can be seen in the regime established in Iran by the Islamic Republic
> after 1979, in which full effect was given to the Shiah Mullas’ conceptions of human nature and
> human society.
> 41 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, Foreword, p. xvii. See also pp. 24-25.
> 42 Shoghi Effendi, The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 8. For more complete texts of statements the
> Báb made on this subject, see the Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Báb, pp. 3-8 and pp. 153-
> 168.
> 43 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 101.
> 44 For a retrospective view of the significance of the Báb’s mission, see Douglas Martin, “The
> Mission of the Báb,” Bahá’í World, vol. 3 (1994-1995).
> 45 The principal authority used for the events of the life and mission of Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí, known as
> Bahá’u’lláh, is Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, chapters 5-8. A major biography has also been
> written by H. M. Balyuzi, Bahá’u’lláh. Another valuable source is the series of studies of the
> writings of Bahá’u’lláh produced by Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vols. 1-4.
> 46 The family was descended from one of the great dynasties of Persia’s pre-Islamic period of high
> culture, the Sásáníán. Balyuzi, Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 9-11, provides details.
> 47 For a detailed report of the events of the conference see Nabíl-i-A’ẓam, The Dawn-Breakers, pp.
> 292-298.
> 48 Nabíl-i-A’ẓam, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 505.
> 49 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 100.
> 50 See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 77-78.
> 51 Edward G. Browne, “Bábísm” in Religious Systems of the World, pp. 352-353.
> 52 The Persian government’s own account, published in the official gazette, Rúznámiy-i-Vaqáyi‘-i-
> Ittifáqíyyih, naively admits the innocence of Bahá’u’lláh and several other persons who had been
> arbitrarily arrested, but states that they will be punished anyway: “Among the Bábís who have fallen
> into the hands of justice there are six whose culpability not having been well established have been
> condemned to perpetual imprisonment.” Bahá’u’lláh’s name is the second listed in the gazette
> statement. (Momen, Bábí and Bahá’í Religions, p. 141.) Equally representative of conditions in
> nineteenth-century Persia is the satisfaction the statement takes in describing the barbarous tortures
> practiced on those victims who had been executed.
> 53 Mírzá Taqí Khán, the prime minister who had taken the lead in the anti-Bahá’í pogroms, had
> himself been executed in 1853 at the order of the young shah, who was jealous of his growing power.
> This was a not-infrequent fate of able administrators in the Qájár period of Persian history.
> 54 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 101.
> 55 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 146-147.
> 56 Even so, the order banishing Bahá’u’lláh from Persia (the original of which has survived)
> mentions him alone, making no reference to Mírzá Yaḥyá.
> 57 See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, chapters 7 and 10. See also ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, A Traveler’s
> Narrative, p. 53.
> 58 See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, chapter 10; Balyuzi, Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 112-114.
> 59 The Feast of Riḍván lasts twelve days, from April 21 to May 2, with the first, ninth, and twelfth
> days being regarded as Bahá’í holy days. Bahá’í elections are held during this period.
> 60 The Turkish authorities at first resisted this pressure. ‘Alí Páshá, the prime minister, is quoted by
> the Austrian ambassador, Count von Prokesch-Osten, as saying he had “great veneration” for
> Bahá’u’lláh, considering him to be a “man of great distinction, exemplary conduct, great moderation
> and a most dignified figure” (Momen, Bábí and Bahá’í Religions, p. 187).
> 61 For examples of the correspondence on the Bahá’í exiles between the Persian Foreign Office and
> their ambassador in Istanbul, see Edward G. Browne, Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion,
> pp. 278-287.
> 62 See Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 2, pp. 161-162.
> 63 See Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 1. Those who followed Mírzá Yaḥyá became
> known as “Azalís” after a designation given to Yaḥyá by the Báb, Ṣubḥ-i-Azal.
> 64 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 249. Bahá’u’lláh’s letters to the secular and religious leaders of the
> world, both collectively and individually, have been compiled by the Universal House of Justice as
> The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 2002).
> 65 Momen, Bábí and Bahá’í Religions (pp. 198-200) lists a number of documents in the Ottoman
> State Archives which relate to this campaign by Mírzá Yaḥyá. One of them is a report to the central
> authorities from Khurshíd Páshá, the governor of Adrianople, who expresses the view that
> Bahá’u’lláh had just cause to complain of the activities of Yaḥyá and his supporters.
> 66 Yaḥyá died in 1912, still an exile in Cyprus. The complete extinction of his fortunes is reflected in
> a letter written to Professor Browne by one of Yaḥyá’s sons. Describing his father as bitterly
> deploring the oblivion into which he had fallen, the son complained that it had been necessary to
> arrange for Yaḥyá the customary Muslim burial under the direction of a local mulla, as “none were to
> be found there of witnesses to the Bayán” (i.e., followers of the Báb). This same son subsequently
> indicated his interest in selling the originals of a number of his father’s writings, but Browne declined
> because “the prices demanded were, in my opinion, excessive…” (E. G. Browne, Materials, pp. 314-
> 315.)
> 67 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 190.
> 68 Cited in Bahá’u’lláh, Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 95-96.
> 69 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, ¶163.
> 70 In 1870, the year after the above-mentioned letter to Pope Pius IX was delivered, the pontiff found
> himself stripped of his role as an independent monarch. The forces of the Italian national revolution
> compelled him to surrender the Papal States to King Victor Emmanuel. The pope then withdrew into
> self-imposed retirement as the “prisoner of the Vatican.”
> 71 Cited in Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 50.
> 72 Alistair Horne, a leading scholarly authority on the events referred to, said, “History knows of
> perhaps no more startling instance of what the Greeks called peripateia, the terrible fall from prideful
> heights. Certainly, no nation in modern times, so replete with apparent grandeur and opulent in
> material achievement, has ever been subjected to a worse humiliation in so short a time.” (The Fall of
> Paris London: Macmillan, 1965, p. 34.)
> 73 Shoghi Effendi devoted an entire book to this subject, The Promised Day Is Come. A prominent
> Muslim academic who was to become the greatest scholar of the Bahá’í Faith in the Near East, Mírzá
> Abu’l-Faḍl, was converted on seeing the fulfillment of these predictions.
> 74 See Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 303. For a brief résumé of the contents of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, see
> Bahá’u’lláh, A Synopsis and Codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
> 75 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 330.
> 76 Browne, A Traveller’s Narrative, pp. xxxix-xl.
> 77 For the full text of the documents involved, see Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World
> Faith: Selected Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 204-210. This quotation is on p. 205.
> 78 Browne, A Traveller’s Narrative, p. xxxvi.
> 79 The details of the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are taken from Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, chapters
> 14-21, and also from a biography by H. M. Balyuzi titled ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant
> of Bahá’u’lláh.
> 80 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 258.
> 81 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 139.
> 82 The Bahá’í Centenary, 1844-1944, p. 139.
> 83 Browne, Materials, pp. 115-150.
> 84 See ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, sections 1 and 5 in particular. Christian
> missionaries opposed to the Bahá’í Faith sought to argue that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had added these social
> teachings in consequence of his contact with the West. Browne, however, had already identified most
> of them in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh as early as the 1880s (see Browne, “Bábísm,” pp. 351-352).
> Since then, the translation and publication of major sections of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings have
> demonstrated convincingly that it was from this source that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá drew his themes.
> 85 Green Acre served as the principal center of the Bahá’í Faith in North America until the election
> of the first national spiritual assembly in 1925. The assembly established its headquarters at
> Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago and site of the house of worship which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had
> inaugurated.
> 86 For a more complete description of his visit to Canada and the United States and the collected
> addresses and interviews given there, see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Canada; Balyuzi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; and Allan
> L. Ward, 239 Days: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America.
> 87 Montreal Star, September 11, 1912. See pp. 142-143.
> 88 The public addresses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in North America are compiled under the title The
> Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United
> States and Canada in 1912.
> 89 An English translation of this document is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
> 90 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan: Revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the North American
> Bahá’ís.
> 91 For a complete description, see the special commemorative issue of World Order, vol. 6, no. 1
> (1971). The outpouring of love from the Palestinian people is especially significant. The Shiah
> regime in present-day Iran has sought to picture ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s knighting by the British authorities
> as having a political meaning. In fact, it was a belated and formal recognition by the British
> authorities of a philanthropy that had already received its principal acknowledgment from the mass of
> the public who were its beneficiaries.
> 92 Shoghi Effendi was a direct descendant of Bahá’u’lláh through his mother and of the family of the
> Báb through his father.
> 93 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 25-26.
> 94 For a detailed study of the work of Shoghi Effendi, see Rúḥíyyih Rabbaní, The Priceless Pearl.
> See also Ugo Giachery, Shoghi Effendi: Recollections. Dr. Giachery worked closely with Shoghi
> Effendi on the physical development of the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa.
> 95 See Bahá’í Administration; The Advent of Divine Justice; The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh:
> Selected Letters; Messages to the Bahá’í World, 1950-1957; The Promised Day Is Come; Messages
> to Canada; and Citadel of Faith: Messages to America, 1947-1957.
> 96 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By. For a description of Plans, see below.
> 97 His translations include Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh; The Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book
> of Certitude; The Hidden Words; The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys; Epistle to the Son of the
> Wolf; and Prayers and Meditations.
> 98 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 30.
> 99 For an account of the queen’s conversion, see Rúḥíyyih Rabbaní, Priceless Pearl, Chapter IV.
> 100 The two communities separated in 1948 when Canada formed its own national spiritual
> assembly, incorporated the following year by a special act of Parliament.
> 101 See Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 14-16.
> 102 Shoghi Effendi, Messages to Canada, pp. 12-13.
> 103 Louis J. Bourgeois, The Bahá’í Temple: Press Comments, Symbolism, p. 7.
> 104 See the Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986,
> nos. 23 and 25.
> 105 A summary of the actions taken by the Hands of the Cause during the period of their
> stewardship, 1957-1963, together with the full text of statements made at their annual Conclaves, is
> provided in The Bahá’í World: An International Record, vol. 13, 1954-1963, pp. 333-378.
> 106 Subsequent elections of the Universal House of Justice have been held at five-year intervals
> since 1963. The election is held during the period of the Riḍván celebrations.
> 107 A further attempt to create a schism occurred in 1960, before the first election of the Universal
> House of Justice. One of the Hands, Charles Mason Remey, an American over eighty years of age,
> suddenly advanced the claim that he was, in some fashion not explained, “the hereditary successor”
> of Shoghi Effendi. Acting on the authority given them in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament, his
> fellow Hands expelled him from the Faith. Remey’s claim aroused little interest and he died in 1974,
> ignored even by the small handful of people whom he had originally attracted.
> 108 In 1973, at the same time as the publication of the initial Synopsis and Codification of the Kitáb-
> i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book of Bahá’u’lláh, the Universal House of Justice promulgated its
> constitution: The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice.
> 109 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 64-65.
> 110 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 261-262.
> 111 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 65.
> 112 According to Bahá’í precepts, apparent differences between ethnic groups in certain areas of
> cultural achievement are attributable to long-term differences in educational and cultural
> opportunities as well as to the cumulative effects of racial prejudice and oppression.
> 113 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 42-43.
> 114 Shoghi Effendi, quoted in William Hatcher, The Concept of Spirituality, p. 29.
> 115 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 288.
> 116 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 250.
> 117 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 225.23-225.25.
> 118 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 163.
> 119 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 202.
> 120 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 163-164.
> 121 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 340.
> 122 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 287-288.
> 123 Bahá’u’lláh taught that the time interval between two Manifestations may be about one thousand
> years. He also taught that the process of revelation will not stop with his revelation and that another
> Manifestation will come after him, though not before the expiration of one thousand years from
> Bahá’u’lláh’s coming. According to the Bahá’í writings, the process of revelation will continue
> indefinitely into the future, and humankind will see the coming of a great many more Manifestations.
> 124 Shoghi Effendi, “The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,” in World Order, vol. 7, no. 2 (1972-1973), p. 7.
> 125 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh (1944), pp. xi-xii.
> 126 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, 40.9.
> 127 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, 41.7.
> 128 Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words, Arabic, no. 68.
> 129 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 181.
> 130 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, 44.14.
> 131 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, 44.26.
> 132 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, cited in Star of the West, vol. 9, no. 7, p. 87.
> 133 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 108.
> 134 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, 46.11.
> 135 Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words, Persian, no. 64.
> 136 Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words, Persian, no. 49.
> 137 Bahá’u’lláh, cited in a letter from the Universal House of Justice dated March 27, 1978, The
> Continental Boards of Counselors, p. 60.
> 138 Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Divine Art of Living, p. 108.
> 139 A detailed discussion of the Bahá’í position on economic questions is beyond the scope of the
> present work. The interested reader is referred to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statements on the subject. See
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 107, 216-217, 238-239; Paris Talks, no. 46;
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Canada, pp. 31-36; Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 288;
> Gregory C. Dahl, “Economics & the Bahá’í Teachings” in World Order, vol. 10, no. 1 (1975), p. 19;
> W. S. Hatcher, “Economics and Moral Values” in World Order, vol. 9, no. 2 (1974), pp. 14-27.
> 140 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 238.
> 141 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 33-34.
> 142 There is an interesting historical connection between the Bahá’í Faith and Esperanto, the
> language invented by Dr. Zamenhof. Dr. Zamenhof’s daughter, Lydia, was an active member of the
> Bahá’í Faith, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá praised her father for his accomplishment. While never stating that
> Esperanto would become the universal language, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did say it would significantly aid the
> cause of world unity. At the very least, the successful invention of a viable language like Esperanto
> shows that such a thing is possible, and thus that humankind is not limited to making a choice from
> among the existing natural languages alone. This fact may serve to decrease resistance to the idea of
> a universal language, regardless of what language, natural or constructed, may ultimately be chosen
> by the nations of the world.
> 143 In this way, Bahá’ís feel that a universal auxiliary language will foster unity by facilitating
> communication, while, at the same time, it will give universal access to the cultural wealth of
> minority cultures—and, in fact, will preserve and protect them. This is a typical example of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s way of promoting unity in diversity rather than mere uniformity for the sake of
> convenience.
> 144 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 403, 404, 405.
> 145 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 70.
> 146 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 65.
> 147 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 264-265, 266.
> 148 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 68.
> 149 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 79-80.
> 150 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 215
> 151 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 153-155.
> 152 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 155-156.
> 153 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, 29.13.
> 154 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 81-82.
> 155 Shoghi Effendi, quoted in William Hatcher, The Concept of Spirituality, p. 9.
> 156 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 183.
> 157 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 183-184.
> 158 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, 29.4, 29.5, 29.10. However, there are inherent limits to human
> spiritual development, whether in this world or the next. The Bahá’í writings affirm that we can
> approach but never attain a state of absolute perfection. See our discussion below, in particular the
> passage from the Bahá’í writings cited in note 32 of this chapter.
> 159 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Divine Art of Living, p. 92.
> 160 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 215.
> 161 Bahá’u’lláh explained that references to Satan in the scriptures of earlier religions are symbolic
> and should not be taken literally. Satan is the personification of our lower nature which can destroy
> us if it is not brought into harmony with our spiritual nature. There is, in fact, a well-known
> philosophical problem concerning God’s goodness and omnipotence and the possible existence of a
> Satan. This problem is discussed in some detail in both the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá.
> In the same way, heaven and hell are, Bahá’u’lláh taught, not literal places. Rather, they
> symbolize the psychological and spiritual states of being close to God or far from him. Heaven is the
> natural consequence of spiritual progress, while hell represents the results of failure to progress
> spiritually.
> 162 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 214-215.
> 163 In this connection, Bahá’u’lláh has said: “... man should know his own self and recognize that
> which leadeth into loftiness or lowliness, glory or abasement, wealth or poverty.” (Bahá’u’lláh,
> Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 35.)
> 164 Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, ¶1.
> 165 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 4-5.
> 166 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 285.
> 167 An objective discussion of this fundamental question of the nature of what Bahá’ís refer to as the
> Manifestation of God is made more difficult by traditional loyalties. Orthodox followers of each
> Manifestation have tended to claim some kind of uniqueness or superiority for the founder of their
> faith. For example, many Christians view Jesus Christ as God incarnate, consider Moses to be
> inferior to him in some way, and regard Muhammad as an impostor. A majority of orthodox Jews see
> Moses as the revelation of God to humanity and consider Jesus Christ to be a false prophet. Muslims
> consider both Moses and Jesus Christ to be valid prophets, but the majority reject the Buddha and the
> founders of other major faiths. For them, Muhammad was the last prophet whom God will send to
> humanity, and revelation of the Divine Will ended with the Qur’án.
> 168 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 47-48. For a detailed discussion of this subject, see Juan R. Cole,
> The Concept of Manifestation in the Bahá’í Writings.
> 169 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 287-288.
> 170 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 59.
> 171 The analogy of the sun and the mirrors enables us to understand the Bahá’í interpretation of the
> traditional notion of the “return” or “reappearance” of former Manifestations. The theme of return is
> found in the sacred scriptures of all the major religions, often couched in highly symbolic language.
> Western readers will be most familiar with the Christian expectation of the return or “Second
> Coming” of Christ, based on certain passages of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
> Bahá’u’lláh explains that the return alluded to in former scriptures is the return of the attributes and
> spirit of God in the mirror of another Manifestation, not the return of the same human personality: “It
> is clear and evident ... that all the Prophets are the Temples of the Cause of God, Who have appeared
> clothed in divers attire. If thou wilt observe with discriminating eyes, thou wilt behold Them all
> abiding in the same tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven, seated upon the same throne, uttering the
> same speech, and proclaiming the same Faith…. Wherefore, should one of these Manifestations of
> Holiness proclaim saying: ‘I am the return of all the Prophets,’ He, verily, speaketh the truth. In like
> manner, in every subsequent Revelation, the return of the former Revelation is a fact, the truth of
> which is firmly established....” (Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 52) In this way, Bahá’ís consider that the
> Manifestation Bahá’u’lláh fulfills the promise of the return of Christ, even though Bahá’u’lláh and
> Jesus have distinct individual souls and, therefore, distinct human personalities.
> 172 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 151-152.
> 173 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 154.
> 174 Shoghi Effendi, High Endeavours: Messages to Alaska, p. 71.
> 175 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 157-159. This passage makes clear that God’s
> laws are inherent in the structure of reality: the Manifestation understands these laws but did not
> create them. Man can therefore discover some of these laws for himself, but other statements in the
> Bahá’í writings indicate that we would destroy ourselves if left unaided (i.e., without Divine
> Revelation) to discover all of them.
> 176 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 230, 231.
> 177 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 164.
> 178 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 220-221.
> 179 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 177, 179.
> 180 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 49.
> 181 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 49-50.
> 182 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 105-106.
> 183 In this connection, Shoghi Effendi spoke of the Manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh as the “complete
> incarnation of the names and attributes of God.” (See World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 112.)
> 184 In this regard, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said. “The knowledge of the Reality of the Divinity is impossible
> and unattainable, but the knowledge of the Manifestations of God is the knowledge of God, for the
> bounties, splendors and divine attributes are apparent in Them. Therefore, if man attains to the
> knowledge of the Manifestations of God, he will attain to the knowledge of God; and if he be
> neglectful of the knowledge of the Holy Manifestations, he will be bereft of the knowledge of God.”
> (See Some Answered Questions, p. 222.)
> 185 The subject of the succession of the Manifestations is the principal theme of the Kitáb-i-Íqán
> (Book of Certitude). The concept of a covenant can be found in the scriptures of many religions. For
> example, in the Bible, Genesis 17 describes God’s covenant with Abraham, saying that the latter
> would become “the father of a multitude of nations.” The passage continues: “I will make you
> exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you and kings shall come forth from you. And I will
> establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their
> generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you”
> (Genesis 17:6-7).
> It is now evident that the covenant in question was not for the Jews and Christians alone (i.e., the
> descendants of Abraham through his son, Isaac, by his first wife, Sarah), but was also for the
> descendants of Abraham’s marriages to Hagar (see Genesis 16:15-16) and Keturah (see Genesis
> 25:1-2). As the Prophet Muhammad was descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar
> (see Genesis 25:5-6), Muslims regard themselves co-heirs of the covenant of Abraham. Bahá’u’lláh
> was descended from Abraham by the patriarch’s third wife, Keturah (see Shoghi Effendi, God Passes
> By, p. 94). Thus Bahá’ís regard the covenant of Abraham as the motive force in the appearance of at
> least five major Messengers of God: Moses and Jesus Christ (through Sarah, by Isaac), Muhammad
> and the Báb (through Hagar, by Ishmael), and Bahá’u’lláh (through Keturah).
> 186 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 331.
> 187 Bahá’u’lláh, cited by Shoghi Effendi in World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 116.
> 188 Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, ¶37.
> 189 Bahá’í scholars note that there are also references to the “Lesser Covenant” in the scriptures of
> other faiths. In Deuteronomy 29:10-13, Moses made a “sworn covenant” with his followers, the
> people of Israel, that God would be their protector and defender if they in turn would be “his people”
> and obey his laws. An analogous pattern exists in the New Testament, evidenced in the promises
> which Jesus gave to his followers that, if they obeyed his teachings, they would receive certain
> powers and blessings. Christians were commanded, for example, to “go forth and teach all nations,”
> “to observe all that I have commanded you.” In return, they were promised: “Ask, and it will be
> given to you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (see Matthew 7:7-8 and
> 28:19-20).
> 190 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 136.
> 191 Bahá’u’lláh said that: “When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My
> Revelation is ended, turn your faces towards Him ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Whom God hath purposed, Who
> hath branched from this Ancient Root.” “... refer ye whatsoever ye understand not in the Book to
> Him....” “The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch (‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá).” (Cited by Shoghi Effendi in World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 134.)
> 192 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 134.
> 193 Warren Wagar, The City of Man, p. 117.
> 194 Shoghi Effendi summarized the principal features of the Administrative Order in World Order of
> Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 143-157.
> 195 The Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986,
> 23.19.
> 196 In his Will and Testament, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn
> and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That
> which this body, whether unanimously or by majority doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the
> Purpose of God Himself…. Whatsoever they decide has the same effect as the Text itself. And
> inasmuch as this House of Justice hath power to enact laws that are not expressly recorded in the
> Book and bear upon daily transactions, so also it hath power to repeal the same” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will
> and Testament, pp. 19, 20).
> 197 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 145.
> 198 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 203-204.
> 199 This traditional view has created some difficulty for modern exponents of what is termed “social
> Christianity.” Beginning early in the twentieth century, a number of prominent Christian thinkers
> developed the outlines of what they referred to as a “social Gospel,” in which the coming of the
> Kingdom of God was interpreted as the creation of a just and peaceful society on earth. The effort
> foundered on the opposing argument of traditional Christian thinkers that the Kingdom could be
> established only through the return of Christ himself. Efforts toward social reform, in their view,
> however beneficial, could not claim to represent anything more than humankind’s imperfect striving
> after improvement. The controversy has been reawakened in our time through the controversy
> between orthodox circles in the Christian Church and liberal elements influenced by the Marxist
> diagnosis of the contemporary social condition.
> Bahá’ís feel that the conflict is the result of a misunderstanding – on both sides. Since, according
> to Bahá’í belief, Christ has returned in the Manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh, the worldwide movement
> toward the building of a new society founded on humanitarian pursuits of improving the social
> condition for humanity as a whole does represent the gradual establishment of the Kingdom of God
> on earth through the active participation of its inhabitants.
> 200 See Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, ¶6.
> 201 Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, ¶6.
> 202 Quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, ¶7.
> 203 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 254.
> 204 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Secret of Divine Civilization, pp. 64-65.
> 205 See ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 15.7. The Universal House of
> Justice explains, in a letter of 29 July 1996 written on its behalf, that “the emergence of the Lesser
> Peace will be a gradual process.”
> 206 Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, ¶301.
> 207 Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 19.
> 208 Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, ¶301, 302.
> 209 Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, ¶302.
> 210 For example, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that “These Spiritual Assemblies are shining lamps and
> heavenly gardens from which the fragrances of holiness are diffused over all regions.... From them
> the spirit of light streameth in every direction. They, indeed, are the potent sources of the progress of
> man….” (Cited by Shoghi Effendi in God Passes By, p. 332.)
> 211 For an introduction to the subject of the nature and function of Bahá’í spiritual assemblies, see
> Adib Taherzadeh, Trustees of the Merciful.
> 212 For a more detailed examination, see the various compilations of the writings of Shoghi Effendi
> on the subject of Bahá’í administration, including Principles of Bahá’í, Administration: A
> Compilation; Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration: Selected Messages, 1922-32; The Local
> Spiritual Assembly; and The National Spiritual Assembly.
> 213 Shoghi Effendi, Principles of Bahá’í Administration, p. 64.
> 214 The first election of the Universal House of Justice was held in April 1963.
> 215 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament, pp. 12-13; also cited in Bahá’í World Faith, p. 444.
> 216 See a general statement by the Universal House of Justice dated June 24, 1968, and published in
> Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986, no. 59.
> 217 “Authority and direction flow from the Assemblies, whereas the power to accomplish the tasks
> resides primarily in the entire body of the believers. It is the principal task of the Auxiliary Boards to
> assist in arousing and releasing this power.” (Quoted from a letter of the Universal House of Justice
> dated October 1, 1969, in The Continental Boards of Counselors, p. 37.)
> 218 See Continental Boards of Counselors, pp. 45-48.
> 219 Continental Boards of Counselors, p. 60.
> 220 See Bahá’í World, vol. 13, p. 751.
> 221 The four or five Intercalary Days are inserted into the Bahá’í calendar just prior to the final
> month of the year, the month of the Fast, which begins on March 2 of each Gregorian-calendar year.
> Besides the Feast days and the Intercalary Days, there are special Bahá’í holy days throughout the
> year, on some of which work is suspended. Many of these holy days commemorate cardinal events in
> the Faith’s early history, such as the birthdays of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.
> 222 See also chapter 9.
> 223 See Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 330-333, and pp. 335-336.
> 224 See ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Secret of Divine Civilization, pp. 94-99.
> 225 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 332.
> 226 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 213.
> 227 Bahá’u’lláh, Synopsis and Codification of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 5.
> 228 Cited in Bahá’u’lláh, Synopsis and Codification, p. 7.
> 229 Opponents of the Bahá’í Faith, particularly those among Muslim and Christian clergy, have
> attempted to suggest that by failing simply to translate and publish the text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the
> leadership of the Bahá’í community had denied to the members of the community the opportunity to
> follow Bahá’u’lláh’s injunction to “turn unto the Most Holy Book.” However, as has been noted,
> Bahá’u’lláh was explicit in insisting that the only way in which his followers could turn to and follow
> his teachings was through the interpretations of his authorized successor, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá was equally explicit in conferring the sole interpretative authority after him upon Shoghi
> Effendi. Throughout their respective ministries, for a period totaling sixty-five years, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> and Shoghi Effendi provided exhaustive interpretation of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings for the guidance of
> the Bahá’í community. Indeed, without this interpretation, it is impossible to imagine how the
> principles and laws outlined in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas could have had so pervasive and widespread an
> effect as has been achieved in only a few decades.
> 230 The Kitáb-i-Aqdas fixes the age of maturity at fifteen. It is upon reaching fifteen that the
> individual believer assumes the full responsibility for his own spiritual life and development.
> 231 Bahá’í Prayers, p. 4.
> 232 See also Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, pp. 333-336, for a statement of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on this subject.
> 233 During the Fast, Bahá’ís rise and eat breakfast before dawn. They then refrain from food or drink
> until sunset of each day. The day often begins with family prayers, and the times which would
> normally be spent preparing and eating meals during the daylight hours are frequently used for prayer
> and meditation.
> 234 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 265.
> 235 See A Fortress for Well-Being: Bahá’í Teachings on Marriage for a complete study of the Bahá’í
> teachings related to marriage.
> 236 In his summons to the Christian clergy, Bahá’u’lláh said: “Say: O concourse of monks! Seclude
> not yourselves in churches and cloisters. Come forth by My leave, and occupy yourselves with that
> which will profit your souls and the souls of men…. Enter ye into wedlock, that after you someone
> may fill your place. We have forbidden you perfidious acts, and not that which will demonstrate
> fidelity. Have ye clung to the standards fixed by your own selves, and cast the standards of God
> behind your backs? Fear God, and be not of the foolish. But for man, who would make mention of
> Me on My earth, and how could My attributes and My name have been revealed?” (Cited by Shoghi
> Effendi in Promised Day Is Come, ¶256.)
> 237 There are a number of statements in the Bahá’í writings on the subject of obedience to
> government and of avoiding politics. See, for example, the Universal House of Justice, Messages
> from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986, nos. 55, 77, and 173.
> 238 Cited by Shoghi Effendi in World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 203.
> 239 “In every country where any of this people reside, they must behave towards the government of
> that country with loyalty, honesty and truthfulness.” (Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh revealed
> after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pp. 22-23.)
> 240 Consultation: A Compilation, Extracts from the Writings and Utterances of Bahá’u’lláh,
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice, p. 15.
> 241 Consultation, pp. 22-23.
> 242 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration, pp. 22-23.
> 243 The Universal House of Justice, in Consultation, p. 21.
> 244 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 331-332.
> 245 Lewis Mumford, The City in History, p. 9.
> 246 The details of the expansion can be traced in The Bahá’í Faith, 1844-1952; as well as in The
> Bahá’í World: A Biennial Record, vol. 7, 1936-1938; The Bahá’í World: A Biennial International
> Record, vol. 8, 1938-1940; The Bahá’í World: A Biennial International Record, vol. 9, 1940-1944;
> The Bahá’í World: A Biennial International Record, vol. 10, 1944-1946; The Bahá’í World: A
> Biennial International Record, vol. 11, 1946-1950; The Bahá’í World: A Biennial International
> Record, vol. 12, 1950-1954; The Bahá’í World: An International Record, vol. 13, 1954-1963; The
> Bahá’í World: An International Record, vol. 14, 1963-1968; The Bahá’í World: An International
> Record, vol. 15, 1968-1973; The Bahá’í World: An International Record, vol. 16, 1973-1976; The
> Bahá’í World: An International Record, vol. 17, 1976-1979; The Bahá’í World: An International
> Record, vol. 18, 1979-1983; The Bahá’í World: An International Record, vol. 19, 1983-1986; The
> Bahá’í Faith, Statistical Information, 1844-1968; The Bahá’í World: An International Record, 1992-
> 1993; The Bahá’í World: An International Record, 1993-1994; The Bahá’í World: An International
> Record, 1994-1995.
> 247 During the Seven-Year Plan (1979-1986), for example, the Bahá’í International Community
> participated in well over 200 United Nations conferences, seminars, and meetings around the world.
> 248 THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD http://www.bahai.org
> 249 Cited in Louis Bourgeois, Un Homme et Son Oeuvre.
> 250 The details of the achievements of the five-year plan are outlined in The Five Year Plan, 1974-
> 1979: Statistical Report. Three successive plans covering the periods 1979 to 1986, 1986 to 1992,
> and 1993 to 1996 were similarly successful in achieving the goals set out in them.
> 251 The Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986, 18.4.
> 252 See Bahá’í Education: A Compilation, Extracts from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> and Shoghi Effendi.
> 253 See the compilation titled The Individual and Teaching: Raising the Divine Call, Extracts from
> the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi.
> 254 See Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 277.
> 255 “If ye be aware of a certain truth, if ye possess a jewel, of which others are deprived, share it
> with them in a language of utmost kindliness and good-will. If it be accepted, if it fulfil its purpose,
> your object is attained. If anyone should refuse it, leave him unto himself, and beseech God to guide
> him. Beware lest ye deal unkindly with him.” (Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 289.)
> 256 The authors are indebted for this information to Mrs. Rúḥíyyih Rabbaní, widow of the late
> Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, whose mother organized the original firesides in Montreal. The
> widespread use of the term no doubt owes much to its incorporation in the Guardian’s
> correspondence.
> 257 See Bahá’í Funds and Contributions, p. 11.
> 258 The Bahá’í approach to financing the faith is summed up by the following passage in a letter
> from Shoghi Effendi sent to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States in
> 1942: “We must be like the fountain or spring that is continually emptying itself of all that it has and
> is continually being refilled from an invisible source. To be continually giving out for the good of our
> fellows undeterred by the fear of poverty and reliant on the unfailing bounty of the Source of all
> wealth and all good: this is the secret of right living.” (Cited in Bahá’í Funds and Contributions, p.
> 16. See also pp. 196-199.)
> 259 During the seven-year plan, international conferences were held in Montreal, Canada; Quito,
> Ecuador; Lagos, Nigeria; Canberra, Australia; and Dublin, Ireland.
> 260 Shoghi Effendi discouraged the display of portraits of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, except during the
> brief pilgrimage viewings, so as to avoid their becoming objects of veneration.
> 261 Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, pp. 26-27.
> 262The achievement has had unexpected and unwelcome consequences during the political
> upheavals in Iran. Representing so significant a segment of the educated classes, many Bahá’í
> families had built successful careers in the civil service, the professions, and in business and industry.
> This very prominence, however, attracted the hostility of revolutionary elements. With cruel irony,
> the Bahá’ís found themselves accused of “profiting” from the former regime, despite the systematic
> discrimination against them under the two Pahlavi shahs and despite their record of total abstention
> from partisan politics.
> 263 The Iranian Bahá’ís have set an example for other communities with heavy pioneering
> responsibilities by encouraging their youth to pursue courses of study which will make it especially
> easy for them to find work in developing countries: in medicine, in nursing, in engineering, in
> technical education, in agricultural sciences, and so forth.
> 264 In 1974 a group of Bahá’í students and university professors formed the Association for Bahá’í
> Studies (ABS). It has since established the Centre for Bahá’í Studies in Ottawa, Canada, with
> national affiliates around the world. The principal aim of the association is to develop courses and
> resource materials for the study of the Bahá’í Faith in institutions of higher learning.
> 265 Cited by Arthur Dahl in “The Fragrance of Spirituality: An Appreciation of the Art of Mark
> Tobey,” in The Bahá’í World, vol. 16, 1973-76, pp. 638-645. Tobey attracted another internationally
> famous artist to the Faith, the British potter Bernard Leach.
> 266 Ibid., p. 644.
> 267 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, cited in Bahá’í Writings on Music, p. 7.
> 268 The Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 19.4.
> 269 The Promise of World Peace: A Statement by The Universal House of Justice (Haifa: Bahá’í
> World Centre, n.d.).
> 270 Promise of World Peace, pp. 1, 2, 3.
> 271 Promise of World Peace, pp. 3-4.
> 272 Promise of World Peace, p. 2.
> 273 Bahá’í International Community, Office of Public Information, Bahá’u’lláh, p. 1.
> 274 That is, where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had proclaimed the Covenant during his 1912 visit. See p. 57
> 275 See pp. 156-164.
> 276 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 213.
> 277 Comments here are based on articles by Douglas Martin, “The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Its Place in Bahá’í
> Literature,” and William Hatcher, “The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, The Causality Principle in the World of
> Being,” in volumes 1 and 2, respectively, of the new Bahá’í World series.
> 278 Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 67.
> 279 Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pp. 4-5.
> 280 Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 10.
> 281 See pp. 157-158.
> 282 The law had been applied from the time of the faith’s inception to members of Bahá’í
> communities in the Middle East.
> 283 See pp. 180-181.
> 284 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Ḥuqúqu’lláh: The Right of God, no. 61.
> 285 Ḥuqúqu’lláh, nos. 38 and 24.
> 286 See p. 67.
> 287 Toronto Daily Star, May 4, 1926.
> 288 See pp. 32-33.
> 289 See The Bahá’í Yearbook, vol. 1 (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1980), p. 79.
> 290 See p. 226.
> 291 The Prosperity of Humankind, (New York: Bahá’í International Community, 1995).
> 292 Prosperity of Humankind, p. 2.
> 293 Prosperity of Humankind, p. 2.
> 294 Prosperity of Humankind, pp. 4-5.
> 295 Prosperity of Humankind, pp. 15, 16.
> 296 Prosperity of Humankind, pp. 16, 22.
> 297 Gleanings, pp. 15-16.
> 298 Shoghi Effendi selected the classical Greek style simply because of its Mediterranean origins and
> because, he said, it had stood the test of time.
> 299 See p. 69.
> 300 Shoghi Effendi, Naw-Rúz message to the Bahá’ís of Persia, 1951, translated and published in
> Mountain of the Lord: The Terraces and the Arc (Oakham, U.K: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1989).
> 301 Secret of Divine Civilization, pp. 64-65.
> 302 See pp. 142-144.
> 303 To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, the Bahá’í International Community
> published a document titled Turning Point for All Nations (New York: Bahá’í International
> Community, October 1995), setting out the Bahá’í prescription for the next stage in the organization’s
> development.
> 304 Napoleon III, Kaiser Wilhelm I, Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-‘Aziz, Pope Pius IX. See pp. 40-46.
> 305 Quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, ¶3.
> 306 Gleanings, pp. 342-343.
> 307 Gleanings, p. 214.
> 308 Gleanings, pp. 6-7.
> 309 Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, ¶182.
> 310 Bahá’u’lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 192, 195-196, 199.
> 311 E. G. Browne, A Traveller’s Narrative, p. viii.
> 312 See, for example, E. Denison Ross, “Bábísm.” in Great Religions of the World, pp. 189-216.
> Ross was a British orientalist and an academic friend of Browne.
> 313 Cited by E. G. Browne in his introduction to Myron H. Phelps, Life and Teachings of Abbas
> Effendi, p. xiii, footnote 1.
> 314 See Introduction, footnote 1.
> 315 Cited in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 365.
> 316 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Divine Art of Living, p. 91.
> 317 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. xiii.
> 318 As the stories of Muhammad-‘Alí and Ibrahim Kheiralla (see chapter 4) indicate, the success of
> the Bahá’í community in avoiding schism has not been due to any lack of attacks on its fundamental
> unity. In addition to these two contemporaries of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the history of the Bahá’í Faith since
> the death of Bahá’u’lláh in 1892 has seen several attempts by prominent members of the Bahá’í
> community to detach segments from it and set up factions loyal to themselves. None of these efforts,
> however, attracted the support of any significant number of Bahá’ís, and most perished with the
> deaths of those individuals who initiated them.
> 319 In his Will and Testament, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (pp. 12-13) called upon the Hands of the Cause to
> immediately expel from the faith any individual who was deemed to be deliberately attempting to
> subvert the unity of the community. The test is to determine the individual’s attitude toward the
> central institutions established in the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh: “The sacred and youthful branch, the
> guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected and
> established, are both under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty i.e., Bahá’u’lláh, under the
> shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One i.e., the Báb....Whatsoever they
> decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him not, neither obeyeth them, hath not obeyed God. ...”
> 320 The question is not hypothetical. In 1994, a small group of individuals, nominally members of
> the United States Bahá’í community, conceived a plan to entirely recast the Bahá’í Faith into a kind
> of sociopolitical ideology, with themselves as its interpreters. This agenda was to have been achieved
> by dismantling the legacy of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi and imposing on Bahá’u’lláh’s
> writings a secular interpretation foreign to their obvious intent. Although aggressively pursued
> through electronic network lists, the initiative failed signally to influence those Bahá’ís who became
> aware of it. Its proponents eventually resigned from Bahá’í membership when their activities were
> challenged by the faith’s institutions.
> 321 Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986, 14.8.
> 322 Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986, 19.4-
> 19.6.
> 323 Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 2-3.
> 324 For a full discussion of the persecutions during the Pahlavi period, see Douglas Martin, “The
> Bahá’ís of Iran under the Pahlavi Regime, 1921-1979,” in Middle East Focus, vol. 4, no. 6, 1982, pp.
> 7-17.
> 325 The new regime’s views were expressed by Ayatollah Khomeini in an interview with Professor
> James Cockroft of Rutgers University in December 1978, published in the U.S. journal of public
> affairs, Seven Days, 23 February 1979, p. 20. The transcript of the interview was approved by the
> Ayatollah and his aide, Dr. Ibrahim Yazdi:
> Question: “Will there be either religious or political freedom for the Bahá’ís under an Islamic
> government?”
> Answer: “They are a political faction; they are harmful; they will not be accepted.”
> Question: “How about their freedom of religion—religious practice?”
> Answer: “No.”
> 326 In an interview with the government-controlled newspaper, Khabar-i-Junúb, Shiraz, Feb. 22,
> 1993, the Islamic religious judge who sent ten Bahá’í women and teenage girls to the gallows in that
> city said: “Before it is too late Bahá’ís must recant Baha’ism. Otherwise the Islamic Nation will soon
> ... fulfill the prayer mentioned in the Qur’án: ‘Lord, leave not on earth a single family of infidels.’”‘
> For a documented examination of the persecution, see The Bahá’ís in Iran: A Report on the
> Persecution of a Religious Minority.
> 327 For a fuller discussion of both the persecution under the Islamic regime and the Bahá’í response
> to it, see Douglas Martin, “The Bahá’ís of Iran under the Islamic Republic, 1979-1983,” in Middle
> East Focus, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 17-27, 30-31.
> 328 See Douglas Martin, “The Case of the Bahá’í Minority in Iran,” Bahá’í World, Series II, vol. 1,
> (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1993) pp. 247-271.
> 329 It had been built in the late nineteenth century. The Soviet authorities eventually demolished it.
> 330 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 361-362, summarizes the experience of the Bahá’í
> community under Nazi and communist regimes.
> 331 See, for example, S. G. Wilson, Bahá’ism and Its Claims; J. R. Richards, The Religion of the
> Bahá’ís; W. M. Miller, Baha’ism: Its Origins and Teachings (New York, Chicago: Fleming H. Revell
> Company, 1931); R. P. Richardson, numerous articles, including “The Persian Rival to Jesus ...”
> (August 1915) and “The Precursor, The Prophet and The Pope” (October 1915), in Open Court, a
> journal of comparative religion.
> 332 Robert Richardson, “The Precursor, The Prophet and The Pope,” in Open Court, vol. 30
> (November 1916), p. 626, says, for example, of the Bahá’í belief that the Manifestation of God is
> infallible: “This doctrine, which can be characterized only as the most pernicious religious principle
> that any human being has ever dared to set forth—the very principle which actuated the religious sect
> known as the Assassins—had been consistently adhered to by Bábís and Bahá’ís through thick and
> thin.”
> 333 1995; authors Udo Schaefer, Ulrich Gollmer, Nichola Towfigh.
> 334 Federal Constitutional Court, 5 February, 1991; 2 BvR-263/86.
> 335 Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration, p. 66.
> 336 E. G. Browne, in his introduction to Myron H. Phelps, Life and Teachings of ‘Abbás Effendi, pp.
> xv-xx.
> 337 Bahá’u’lláh, cited in Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day Is Come, ¶293.
> 338 Edward G. Browne, A Traveller’s Narrative.
> 339 Edward G. Browne, “Babism” in Religious Systems of the World.
> 340 The Constitutionalists, a strange alliance of obscurantist Shiah mullas and radical secular
> politicians, were the forerunners of the revolutionary movement that eventually brought the Ayatollah
> Khomeini to power in 1979.
> 341 English introduction to Nuqṭatu’l-Káf cited by Hasan Balyuzi in Edward Granville Browne, p.
> 88.
> 342 The Azalís had refused to accept Bahá’u’lláh and continued to refer to themselves as “Bábís.”
> Most of them appear, however, to have abandoned all religious attachments in favor of radical
> political action in which their closest allies were, ironically, the same Shiah Muslim clergy who had
> instigated the earlier massacres of Bábís.
> 343 The two who took the lead in this were Aḥmad-i-Rúhí and Áqá Khán-i-Kirmání, who had each
> married a daughter of Mírzá Yaḥyá. They appear to have regarded Browne’s interest in Bahá’u’lláh
> as a threat to their political agenda. Thus the aim of the documents they generated was to represent
> Bahá’u’lláh as having usurped an authority that belonged in right to Yaḥyá. The extent of their
> influence can be seen in Browne’s persistence in using the term “Bábí” to designate the community
> that had long since adopted the name Bahá’í.
> 344 See, for example, Hasan Balyuzi’s discussion of two Azalí contributions in Edward Granville
> Browne: “Hasht Bihisht,” pp. 19-21, 33-34, 80-84; and the Persian introduction to the Kitáb-i-
> Nuqṭatu’l-Káf, pp. 70, 73-88.
> 345 Precisely how the manuscript eventually entered the Gobineau collection remains mysterious; no
> evidence has yet come to light which would show that Gobineau himself ever had the item in his
> possession or was familiar with its contents.
> 346 In this connection, Browne mentions the suggestion of one of his close friends in the British
> Foreign Service, Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, that the relationship between Bahá’u’lláh and Yaḥyá was
> perhaps like that between Saint Paul and Saint Peter (with reference to the former’s usurpation of the
> primacy of the latter). In fact, as Browne had earlier noted, the only meaningful analogy between the
> events of Christian and Bahá’í history was that the Báb fulfilled a role for Bahá’u’lláh not unlike that
> which John the Baptist had fulfilled in preparing the way for Jesus Christ. The only part which a
> pursuit of this insight would have suggested for Mírzá Yaḥyá was that played in Christian history by
> Judas Iscariot, an idea which would have had little appeal for either Browne or his Azalí
> correspondents.
>
> — *The Baha'i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion (Used by permission of the curator)*