The Baha'i Cause
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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 Loftus Hare, The Baha'i Cause, bahai-library.com.
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The Bahá'í Cause

William Loftus Hare

published in The Open Court38:12, pp. 713, 735-737

1924-12

1. Text

pages 712-713

We placed Hinduism first on our program for various reasons
which are apparent. Two hundred and seventeen millions of our
fellow citizens deserved more than one lecture and would have had
more if our time for preparation had been extended.

Islam came second on account of its sixty-seven million adherents in the Empire. Islam is more than a faith; it is theoretically
a polity which includes and excludes the British Empire simultaneously. We did not meet it in its political aspect but in friendly and
tolerant religious attitude of its three notable expositors.

In another way our conference was helped by the power of the
voice. Twice the Arab Mufti of the Woking Mosque recited with
great power Suras from the Quran, and twice the Sufi Raushan Ali,
in lighter tones, chanted from the scriptures and poetry of his faith.
The majority, perhaps, did not understand the words but everyone
was affected in a strange way by this music of the soul.

Other Moslems who graced our assembly were Mr. Yusuf Ali,
once of the Indian Civil Service; Lord Headly who has made the
pilgrimage to Mecca; and Mr. Nazir Ahmad, the Imam of the
Woking Mosque. It was a great disappointment to be robbed of
the presence of the latter gentleman's distinguished father, Khwaja
Kamal-ud-Din who. though absent from the country, had written
a fine paper which was read with eloquent diction by Mr. Yusuf
Alí. The fez, the turban, the kaftan, the golden coat from India
and the quiet robe from Arabia were symbols of variety in unity.

A second group of quiet personalities was provided by the Bahai
Assembly, Mr. Ruhi Afnan, the bright-eyed living link with the
founder of the movement was there a friend to all comers. Dr.
Mountford Mills from Canada, Lady Blomfield and Mr. Simpson
from London circulated freely and brought to our conference a quality no plan could command.

pages 737-738

Some Modern Movements

The Bahá'í Cause

The first paper was read by Mr. Mountford Mills, Bahá'í delegate from Canada. He began by referring to an address given by
Abdu'l-Bahá in the City Temple, London, on September 10, 1911,
in which he said: "There is one God; mankind is one; the foundations of religions are one. Let us worship Him, and give praise for
all His great prophets and messengers who have manifested His
brightness and glory." Thus there is no need to assert the fact that
the Baha's cause seeks no competitive victory among the world's
religions and lays no additional frontiers among the boundaries
already dividing mankind into different creeds but rather its ideal
is unity consciously binding the hearts of men.

The origin of the Bahá'í cause coincided in point of time with
the beginnings of what is considered the opening of a new era in
human development. In Persia between May 23, 1844, and July 9,
1850, occurred that remarkable series of events known to history
as the "Episode of the Bab," though prior to this period the teaching had already spread in that country that a new spiritual leader
would arise. Mirza Ali Muhammad, who took the title of the Gate
(Bab) was this new leader, and within the short six years which
elapsed between his declaration and his martyrdom, he had succeeded in shattering the age-long inertia of Persia and in enlisting
a large following. But he always asserted that he was but the forerunner of a greater than himself. This greater messenger of truth
was Mirza Husayn Ali, a scion of a noble and wealthy Persian
family, who was one of the foremost supporters of the Bab, and
after suffering much in person and possessions at the hands of the
priests of the established religion, was exiled to Baghdad and subsequently to Akka. It was just previous to his departure from
Baghdad that Bahá'u'lláh as he had come to be known, declared
that he was the one foretold by the Bab. His teachings were largely
by letters, as all direct communication with his adherents was cut
off during his forty years' imprisonment. These teachings reflected
no acquired learning, but were the immediate experience in the soul
of one who turned wholly and directly to God. According to them
religion is not one of life's aspects, but the predominant spirit expressing itself through all aspects, and again he teaches that all the
founders of religion are successive, co-related expressions of the
Will of God, identical as to purpose and function, diverse only in
that each founder adapted the one divine teaching to the particular
needs of his time. A brief summary of these teachings is that they
comprise almost equally an interpretation of the fundamentally true
in all religions and encouragement and exhortation to respond with
spirit, mind and soul to the newer and greater possibilities of this
age.

After the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, May 28, 1892, his eldest son,
Abdu'l Baha Abbas succeeded as executive head of the Cause and
expounder of the teachings. These two duties Sir Abdu'l Baha
Abbas. K. B. E., carried out with such success that the Bahá'í Cause
not only continued to progress in the land of its origin, but was carried far and wide over the earth, notably in the United States of
America, and it has been through the words and writings of Abdu'l
Baha that the essential principles of the Cause received their direct
applications to problems peculiar to Western civilization. These
essential principles are twelve, viz., the oneness of the world of
humanity; independent investigation of truth; the foundation of
all religions is one; religion must be the cause of unity among mankind: religion must be in accord with science and reason; equality
of men and women; abandonment of all prejudices; universal peace;
universal education; solution of the economic question; a universal
language, and international tribunal.

The second paper was read by Mr. Ruhi Afnan, grandson of
Abdu'l Baha. This dealt more particularly with the profound
changes wrought by the Bahá'í principles in the lives of their followers. Bahá'u'lláh to reconcile the religions laid it down as a guiding principle that the purpose of religion is to provide a social bond,
to create a new force in mans' life, to infuse in him the love of all
his fellow creatures. In order to eliminate the root cause of all
forms of class hatred he proclaimed, "Do ye know why we have created you from one "clay? That no one should exalt himself over
another." Critics unable to deny the beauty and the force of
Bahá'u'lláh's teachings have yet maintained that they were but lofty
ideals incapable of practical application to mans' everyday life. This
has however been abundantly proved not to be the case, as is evidenced by the progress which has been made in .many directions in
the amelioration of social conditions and the increasing tendency to
consider many questions from an international rather than from
the narrower national point of view. Tn the East, especially in Persia, the achievements of the Bahá'í cause have been great. In all
Bahá'í communities where the means could be found, schools have
been opened for the education not only of boys, but more especially of girls, since Bahá'u'lláh has stated that the latter must receive preferential treatment in the matter of education being the
prospective mothers of future generations and thus the first teachers
of their offspring. In the West, where more progress had already
been made by legislation its influence has been mainly to create the
spirit of international brotherhood and to wipe out religions, social
and economic prejudices. The evidence from all countries where
the Bahá'í cause has gained followers, and they are many, goes to
prove the realization of Abdu'l Baha's words "the spirit of the
Cause is pulsating in the arteries of mankind."

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-- The Baha'i Cause (Used by permission of the curator)