April 30

It is my firm conviction which I now express with all sincerity and candour, that the dignity and unity of the Cause urgently demands—particularly throughout the American continent—that the friends should in their words and conduct emphasise and give absolute prominence to the constructive dynamic principles of Bahá’u’lláh, rather than attach undue importance to His negative Teachings. With hearts cleansed from the least trace of suspicion and filled with hope and faith in what the spirit of love can achieve, we must one and all endeavour at this moment to forget past impressions, and with absolute goodwill and genuine co-operation unite in deepening and diffusing the spirit of love and service that the Cause has thus far so remarkably shown to the world. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 5 March 1922)

April 29

…the friends must respect the prerogatives of political leaders in this matter and allow them the latitude to exercise the initiative that only they can effectively take towards the establishment of the Lesser Peace. The fact that Bahá'í institutions will not be directly involved in the eventual convocation of the world leaders and in effecting the political unity of nations does not mean that the Bahá'ís are standing aside and waiting for the Lesser Peace to come before they do something about the peace of humanity. Indeed, by promoting the principles of the Faith, which are indispensable to the maintenance of peace, by living the Teachings, and by fashioning the instruments of the Bahá'í Administrative Order, which we are told by the beloved Guardian is the pattern for future society, the Bahá'ís are constantly engaged in laying the foundation for world peace, the Most Great Peace being their ultimate goal. The Bahá'ís should do whatever they can within the context of their Bahá'í teachings and consolidation plans and also through their professional and other regular activities to promulgate universal peace. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated June 17, 1987 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

April 28

Now with regard to your questions concerning Bahá'í economic teachings: the writings of Bahá'u'lláh do not contain any technical teachings on the subject of economics, and on such specific financial questions as gold standardization, monetary standards and exchanges, etc. -- what they provide however are certain general principles in the light of which future Bahá'í economists will have to evolve the Bahá'í Economic System of the future. These principles contribute the basis of all future economic schemes, but at present it would certainly be premature to foretell what definite economic system will be evolved and established by the Cause. The Bahá'ís, therefore, cannot claim to possess at present an economic order or system which they can officially associate with the Faith, nor should they now attempt to establish any such economic scheme, which would obviously be beyond their present-day capacity and resources. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 22 April 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi  to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Redistribution of Wealth’, by the Research department of the Universal House of Justice’)

April 27

A Bahá’í may not vote in a primary election if in order to do so he or she must declare membership or affiliation with, or support for, a particular political party. But if the ballot is secret, a Bahá’í is free to vote in any political election provided that he does not, by doing so, identify himself with any political party and bears in mind that he is voting on the merits of the individual rather than because he belongs to one party or another. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 4 February 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

April 26

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 non-essential aspects of their doctrines and that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Faith of Baha’u’llah: A World Religion’, a brief document prepared by Shoghi Effendi and accompanied his Statement to the Special UN Commission on Palestine, 14 July 1947)

April 25

In the name He [Baha’u’llah] bore He combined those of the Imám Ḥusayn, the most illustrious of the successors of the Apostle of God—the brightest “star” shining in the “crown” mentioned in the Revelation of St. John—and of the Imám ‘Alí, the Commander of the Faithful, the second of the two “witnesses” extolled in that same Book. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 24

To Him Jesus Christ had referred as the “Prince of this world,” as the “Comforter” Who will “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment,” as the “Spirit of Truth” Who “will guide you into all truth,” Who “shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak,” as the “Lord of the Vineyard,” and as the “Son of Man” Who “shall come in the glory of His Father” “in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” with “all the holy angels” about Him, and “all nations” gathered before His throne. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 23

He [Baha’u’llah] alone is meant by the prophecy attributed to Gautama Buddha Himself, that “a Buddha named Maitreye, the Buddha of universal fellowship” should, in the fullness of time, arise and reveal “His boundless glory.” To Him the Bhagavad-Gita of the Hindus had referred as the “Most Great Spirit,” the “Tenth Avatar,” the “Immaculate Manifestation of Krishna.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 22

Leaving for the last time, amidst weeping and lamentation, His “Most Holy Habitation,” out of which had “gone forth the breath of the All-Glorious,” and from which had poured forth, in “ceaseless strains,” the “melody of the All-Merciful,” and dispensing on His way with a lavish hand a last alms to the poor He had so faithfully befriended, and uttering words of comfort to the disconsolate who besought Him on every side, He, at length, reached the banks of the river, and was ferried across, accompanied by His sons and amanuensis, to the Najíbíyyih Garden, situated on the opposite shore. “O My companions,” He thus addressed the faithful band that surrounded Him before He embarked, “I entrust to your keeping this city of Baghdád, in the state ye now behold it, when from the eyes of friends and strangers alike, crowding its housetops, its streets and markets, tears like the rain of spring are flowing down, and I depart. With you it now rests to watch lest your deeds and conduct dim the flame of love that gloweth within the breasts of its inhabitants.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 21

A certain Muhammad Karím, a native of Shíráz, who had been a witness to the rapidity and the manner in which the Báb had penned the verses with which He was inspired, has left the following testimony to posterity, after attaining, during those days [in Baghdad], the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, and beholding with his own eyes what he himself had considered to be the only proof of the mission of the Promised One: “I bear witness that the verses revealed by Bahá’u’lláh were superior, in the rapidity with which they were penned, in the ease with which they flowed, in their lucidity, their profundity and sweetness to those which I, myself saw pour from the pen of the Báb when in His presence. Had Bahá’u’lláh no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient, in the eyes of the world and its people, that He produced such verses as have streamed this day from His pen.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 20

“So intoxicated were those who had quaffed from the cup of Bahá’u’lláh’s presence,” is yet another testimony from the pen of Nabíl, who was himself an eye-witness of most of these stirring episodes, “that in their eyes the palaces of kings appeared more ephemeral than a spider’s web.... The celebrations and festivities that were theirs were such as the kings of the earth had never dreamt of.” “I, myself with two others,” he relates, “lived in a room which was devoid of furniture. Bahá’u’lláh entered it one day, and, looking about Him, remarked: ‘Its emptiness pleases Me. In My estimation it is preferable to many a spacious palace, inasmuch as the beloved of God are occupied in it with the remembrance of the Incomparable Friend, with hearts that are wholly emptied of the dross of this world.’” His own life was characterized by that same austerity, and evinced that same simplicity which marked the lives of His beloved companions. “There was a time in ‘Iráq,” He Himself affirms, in one of His Tablets, “when the Ancient Beauty ... had no change of linen. The one shirt He possessed would be washed, dried and worn again.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 19

The attempt on the life of Násiri’d-Dín Sháh, as stated in a previous chapter, was made on the 28th of the month of Shavval, 1268 A.H., corresponding to the 15th of August, 1852. Immediately after, Bahá’u’lláh was arrested in Níyávarán, was conducted with the greatest ignominy to Tihrán and cast into the Síyáh-Chál. His imprisonment lasted for a period of no less than four months, in the middle of which the “year nine” (1269), anticipated in such glowing terms by the Báb, and alluded to as the year “after Hin” by Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í, was ushered in, endowing with undreamt-of potentialities the whole world. Two months after that year was born, Bahá’u’lláh, the purpose of His imprisonment now accomplished, was released from His confinement, and set out, a month later, for Baghdád, on the first stage of a memorable and life-long exile which was to carry Him, in the course of years, as far as Adrianople in European Turkey, and which was to end with His twenty-four years’ incarceration in Akká. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 18

Regarding your questions concerning the Bahá'í attitude on various economic problems, such as the problem of ownership, control and distribution of capital, and of other means of production, the problem of trusts and monopolies, and such economic experiments as social co-operatives: the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá do not provide specific and detailed solutions to all such economic questions, which mostly pertain to the domain of technical economics, and as such do not concern directly the Cause. True, there are certain guiding principles in Bahá'í Sacred Writings on the subject of economics, but these do by no means cover the whole field of theoretical and applied economics, and are mostly intended to guide future Bahá'í economic writers and technicians to evolve an economic system which would function in full conformity with the spirit, and the exact provisions of the Cause on this and similar subjects. The International House of Justice will have, in consultation with economic experts, to assist in the formulation and evolution of the Bahá'í economic system of the future. One thing, however, is certain: that the Cause neither accepts the theories of the Capitalistic economics in full, nor can it agree with the Marxists and Communists in their repudiation of the principle of private ownership and of this vital sacred right of the individual. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 10 June 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi  to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Redistribution of Wealth’, by the Research department of the Universal House of Justice’)

April 17

Pure souls, such as Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl, upon him be the Glory of God, spend their nights and days in demonstrating the truth of the Revelation, by adducing conclusive and brilliant proofs and expanding the verities of the Faith, by lifting the veils, promoting the religion of God and spreading His fragrances.

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá  (From a Tablet; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Scholarship)

April 16

Alike in the claims unequivocally asserted by its author and the general character of the growth of the Bahá'í community in every continent of the globe, it can be regarded in no other light than a world religion, destined to evolve in the course of time into a world-embracing commonwealth, whose advent must signalize the Golden Age of mankind, the age in which the unity of the human race will have been unassailably established, its maturity attained, and its glorious destiny unfolded through the birth and efflorescence of a world-encompassing civilization. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Faith of Baha’u’llah: A World Religion’, a brief document prepared by Shoghi Effendi and accompanied his Statement to the Special UN Commission on Palestine, 14 July 1947) 

April 15

One of the generating powers of this spiritual springtime is tempestuous and soul-stirring in nature; causing lightning and thunder, high winds, torrential rain, and roaring floods. These in turn cause the orchards and fields to become verdant and fruitful. The other is the inherent capacity for growth latent in the blessed seed. It is this capacity that causes the seed to grow as an essential necessity. The rays of the Sun of Truth and the sprinklings of the cloud of bounty help it to grow and become a mighty and fruit-bearing tree, providing a celestial retreat for the guided birds of the field. The overall divine design which leads humanity to spiritual maturity is not within our control; it is well guarded in God’s hidden treasure house and its realization is dependent on His Will. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated March 154 B.E. addressed to the Iranian believers throughout the World)

April 14

You have asked whether it is permissible for the friends to recite prayers other than those revealed by the Central Figures of our Faith, prefacing your query by citing an instance when a prayer from a different source was chanted at a Bahá'í public meeting. No prohibition has been found in the Bahá'í Writings against the recitation at public gatherings of prayers other than those provided in Bahá'í Scriptures. You are no doubt aware that in devotional programs at Bahá'í Houses of Worship it is permissible to include scriptures from other revealed religions, which may include prayers. You did not specifically mention whether your concern was about prayers originating from other sacred scriptures or from compositions by individuals. Bahá'ís are generally encouraged to use the Creative Word, including those prayers and Tablets revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb and 'Abdu'l-Bahá which are authenticated and published in our Bahá'í literature. A letter dated 8 August 1942, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to a National Spiritual Assembly, indicates that while spontaneous prayer is permitted, the revealed verses are preferred because "the revealed Word is endowed with a power of its own". The friends, therefore, must use them in their own supplications with radiant joy. This does not mean, however, that in addition to such prayers, they may not, in private, use their own words whenever they feel the inclination to do so. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 27 June 2001, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Selected Guidance concerning Devotional Gathering’, prepared by the Research department of the Universal House of Justice)

April 13

….the present Four Year Plan… outlines the duties of the people of Baha until the end of the twentieth century and mobilizes them to forge ahead and accelerate the process of the fulfillment of the divine prophecies. These teaching plans, which have successively set the worldwide Bahá'í community on the move and broadened the boundaries of the Faith, are the results of the creative power of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan, which, for more than eighty years, have summoned the followers of the Abha Beauty to the spiritual conquest of the planet. These teaching plans will continue until the Golden Age. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated March 1997, 154 B.E. to Iranian Believers - translated from Persian)

April 12

The child must, from the day of his birth, be provided with whatever is conducive to his health; and know ye this: so far as possible, the mother's milk is best for, more agreeable and better suited to the child, unless she should fall ill or her milk should run entirely dry.... 

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá  (The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. I, Health and Healing)

April 11

As war's inferno was engulfing the world, 'Abdu'l-Bahá turned His attention to the one great task remaining in His ministry, that of ensuring the proclamation to the remotest corners of the Earth of the message which had been neglected -- or opposed -- in Islamic and Western society alike. The instrument He devised for this purpose was the Divine Plan laid out in fourteen great Tablets, four of them addressed to the Bahá'í community of North America and ten subsidiary ones addressed to five specific segments of that community. Together with Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet of Carmel and the Master's Will and Testament, the Tablets of the Divine Plan were described by Shoghi Effendi as three of the "Charters" of the Cause. Revealed during the darkest days of the war, in 1916 and 1917, the Divine Plan summoned the small body of American and Canadian believers to assume the role of leadership in establishing the Cause of God throughout the planet. The implications of the trust were awe-inspiring. 

(‘Century of Light’ document, prepared under the supervision of the Universal House of Justice and published in 2001)

April 10

To attempt to visualize, even in its barest outline, the glory that must envelop these institutions, [1] to essay even a tentative and partial description of their character or the manner of their operation, or to trace however inadequately the course of events leading to their rise and eventual establishment is far beyond my own capacity and power. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a message dated December 21, 1939; ‘Messages to America’)

[1] Institutions on Mount Carmel

April 9

...Your view that the Lesser Peace will come about through the political efforts of the states and nations of the world, and independently of any direct Bahá'í plan or effort, and the Most Great Peace established through the instrumentality of the believers, and by the direct operation of the laws and principles revealed by Bahá'u'lláh and the functioning of the Universal House of Justice as the supreme organ of the Bahá'í super state — your view on this subject is quite correct and in full accord with the pronouncements of the Guardian as embodied in the "Unfoldment of World Civilization". 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 14 March 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; included in a letter dated June 17, 1987 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

April 8

It was the Guardian himself, the beloved "sign of God", who, through his exposition and interpretation of the Revelation, through his discipline and education of the Bahá'í community and through a series of national plans assigned to the various units of that community, forged the Administrative Order of the Faith and made it an instrument for the carrying out of this great Charter [Tablets of the Divine Plan], and he himself designed and launched the first global plan, the unique, brilliant and spiritually glorious Ten Year Crusade. The victories of that crusade implanted the banner of Bahá'u'lláh throughout the planet and the following Nine Year Plan reinforced and extended the bastions of the Faith and raised the number of National Spiritual Assemblies the - supporting pillars of the Universal House of Justice -- to one hundred and thirteen, a number increased to one hundred and fifteen by the formation at this Ridvan of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Hong Kong and South East Arabia. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (Ridvan 131, 1974)

April 7

As you are no doubt aware, the Tablets of the Divine Plan, which were revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during the First World War, are the Charter for the teaching of the Faith. All the teaching plans launched by the beloved Guardian, as well as those subsequently directed by the Universal House of Justice, are stages in the implementation of this master plan conceived by the Centre of the Covenant for the diffusion of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, September 29, 1977; compilation: Lights of Guidance)

April 6

May this community, the leaven placed by the hands of Providence in the midst of a people belonging to a nation, likewise young, dynamic, richly endowed with material resources, and assured of a great material prosperity by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, play its part not only in lending a notable impetus to the world-wide propagation of the Faith it has espoused, but contribute, as its resources multiply and as it gains in stature, to the spiritualization and material progress of the nation of which it forms so vital a part. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a message dated March 1, 1951 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Canada; ‘Messages to Canada’)

April 5

Although the reality of God's continuous relationship with His creation and His intervention in human life and history are the very essence of the teachings of the Founders of the revealed religions, dogmatic materialism today insists that even the nature of religion itself can be adequately understood only through the use of an academic methodology designed to ignore the truths that make religion what it is. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter date 7 April 1999 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies) 

April 4

Active support. . . of an individual who has announced his candidacy for political office is not permissible to Bahá'ís. Even if the person is not attached to a political party, the very fact of promoting his candidacy over that of other competitors is an act of partisanship, which is inimical to the principles of the Faith. As you well know, campaigning and nominations are forbidden in Bahá'í elections. The friends should endeavor to keep in mind the non-partisan character of the Faith and to employ the attitude of non partisanship, to the greatest extent possible, in the exercise of their civic responsibilities as voters. Bahá'ís are, of course, free to vote except, in primaries, but should not express support for any candidate. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 25 May 1992, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice)

April 3

It is true that should a believer read the writings of Covenant-breakers or enemies of the Cause and permit these words to instill doubts about the truth of Bahá'u'lláh's Cause such a believer would then be considered as having been infected by the poison of Covenant-breaking. However, since you returned the book to your local library upon being informed of the true nature of its contents and told your District Teaching Committee and your National Spiritual Assembly about the matter, it is clear that you took the correct steps and should therefore, with complete confidence, turn to Bahá'u'lláh for protection and guidance, fully assured that His promise to assist those who turn to Him will be fulfilled. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 29 March 1977 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly; Compilation: ‘Writings of the Covenant-breakers and other Enemies of the Faith’, prepared by the Research department of the Universal House of Justice)

April 2

By becoming involved in political disputes, the Bahá'ís instead of changing the world or helping it, would themselves be lost and destroyed. The world situation is so confused and moral issues which were once clear have become so mixed up with selfish and battling factions, that the best way Bahá'ís can serve the highest interests of their country and the cause of true salvation for the world, is to sacrifice their political pursuits and affiliations and wholeheartedly and fully support the divine system of Bahá'u'lláh. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 8 February 1970 to a National Spiritual Assembly; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963 to 1986)

April 1

In one of His Tablets 'Abdu'l-Baha describes the motivation for punishment exacted by society on those who commit serious crimes. "Far from being an act of vengeance", He affirms, the punishment “is like the requital by a father who punisheth his son for the son's wrongdoing: seemingly inflection, but truly benediction .... [It] proceedeth from the father's tender and pitying heart, warding off from his child all that is base, driving him on to all excellence; and from it, step by step, will the cherished son be led into perfections and all good ways of life.  

(Memorandum from the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice dated 16 October 1994)