It is not enough to
bring people into the Faith, one must educate them and deepen their love for it
and their knowledge of its teachings, after they declare themselves. 
Equally important as a factor in the evolution of the
Administrative Order has been the remarkable progress achieved, particularly in
the United States of America, by the institution of the summer schools designed
to foster the spirit of fellowship in a distinctly Bahá'í atmosphere, to afford
the necessary training for Bahá'í teachers, and to provide facilities for the
study of the history and teachings of the Faith, and for a better understanding
of its relation to other religions and to human society in general.
We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment
outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be
improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment
and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every
abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.
Technocracy, as well as the other movements now existing in
the world, every one of them, has some wonderful point that connects it very
closely to the teachings of the Faith. But all these see the light partially.
The spirit of the Cause pulsates in their veins but they have to become
conscious of the center of inspiration and light if they desire to reform fully
our corrupted and despairing society. Our troubles are not purely economic.
There are also basic spiritual reforms that have to set in. There is the human
heart that has to be changed.
May the memory of the Greatest Holy Leaf, who through her
life of heroic self- sacrifice has left to us "a legacy that time can
never dim," inspire the friends in every country of the continent [of
Africa] to rededicate themselves to the Cause of God, not to allow any
opportunity for mentioning the Faith to slip by un-utilized, and not to permit one
day of their lives to pass without a noble effort to draw nearer to the good
pleasure of the Blessed Beauty.
"The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day
by day. ... Such shall be its plight,
that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly." The shattering
blows dealt to the old, divisive system of the planet and the constantly
accelerating decline in civilized life since that dire warning was uttered by
Baha'u'llah a hundred years ago, have brought mankind to its present appalling
condition.
A little over four years had elapsed since the birth of the
Báb’s Revelation when the trumpet-blast announcing the formal extinction of the
old, and the inauguration of the new Dispensation was sounded. No pomp, no pageantry marked so great a turning-point in the world’s
religious history. Nor was its modest setting commensurate with such a sudden,
startling, complete emancipation from the dark and embattled forces of
fanaticism, of priestcraft, of religious orthodoxy and superstition. The
assembled host consisted of no more than a single woman and a handful of men,
mostly recruited from the very ranks they were attacking, and devoid, with few
exceptions, of wealth, prestige and power. The Captain of the host was Himself
an absentee, a captive in the grip of His foes. The arena was a tiny hamlet in
the plain of Badasht on the border of Mázindarán. The trumpeter was a lone
woman, the noblest of her sex in that Dispensation, whom even some of her
co-religionists pronounced a heretic. The call she sounded was the death-knell
of the twelve hundred year old law of Islám.
Bahá'u'lláh has clearly stated the consent of all living
parents is required for Bahá'í marriage... This great law He has laid down to
strengthen the social fabric, to knit closer the ties of the home, to place a
certain gratitude and respect in the hearts of children for those who have
given them life and sent their souls out on the eternal journey towards their
Creator.
…in the Bahá'í Faith the spiritual and administrative
aspects are complementary and… the social laws of the Faith are as binding as
the purely spiritual ones.
Bahá'í teachings on sexual morality center on marriage and
the family as the bedrock of the whole structure of human society and are
designed to protect and strengthen that divine institution. Thus Bahá'í Law
restricts permissible sexual intercourse to that between a man and the woman to
whom he is married.
The exercise of self-control in… so very many… aspects of
life, has a beneficial effect on the progress of the soul.
It may help the friends to understand this relationship if
they are aware of some of the processes that the Universal House of Justice
follows when legislating. First, of course, it observes the greatest care in
studying the Sacred Texts and the interpretations of the Guardian as well as considering
the views of all the members. After long consultation the process of drafting a
pronouncement is put into effect. During this process the whole matter may well
be reconsidered. As a result of such reconsideration the final judgement may be
significantly different from the conclusion earlier favoured, or possibly it
may be decided not to legislate at all on that subject at that time...
Care must be taken that the purpose of earmarking is not
defeated. Thus the use of earmarked funds to defray the expense of particular
items in your budget has the effect of reducing, pro tanto, the amount of
general contributions needed to be applied to the budget. In effect, this
practice may result in there being no difference between an earmarked
contribution and one not earmarked. For example: A friend may earmark a
contribution for the Baha'i International Fund. To apply this to the
contribution to the Baha'i International Fund from your National Fund would be
wrong unless the earmarking so specifies. Funds earmarked merely to the Baha'i
International Fund should be sent to the World Centre in addition to whatever
contribution is made from the National Fund.
In the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, the nobility inherent to
every human being is unequivocally asserted; it is a fundamental tenet of
Bahá’í belief, upon which hope for the future of humankind is built. The soul’s
capacity to manifest all the names and attributes of God—He Who is the
Compassionate, the Bestower, the Bountiful—is repeatedly affirmed in the
Writings. Economic life is an arena for the expression of honesty, integrity,
trustworthiness, generosity, and other qualities of the spirit. The individual
is not merely a self-interested economic unit, striving to claim an
ever-greater share of the world’s material resources. “Man’s merit lieth in
service and virtue”, Bahá’u’lláh avers, “and not in the pageantry of wealth and
riches.” And further: “Dissipate not the wealth of your precious lives in the
pursuit of evil and corrupt affection, nor let your endeavours be spent in
promoting your personal interest.” By consecrating oneself to the service of
others, one finds meaning and purpose in life and contributes to the upliftment
of society itself.
It should, moreover, be borne in mind that although to be,
married is highly desirable, and Bahá'u'lláh has strongly recommended it, it is
not the central purpose of life. If a person has to wait a considerable period
before finding a spouse, or if ultimately, he or she must remain single, it
does not mean that he or she is thereby unable to fulfil his or her life's
purpose.
We are forbidden to confess to any person, as do the
Catholics to their priests, 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. The
Guardian wants to point out, however, that we are not obliged to do so. It
rests entirely with the individual.
Under no circumstances should Bahá'ís drink. It is
unambiguously forbidden in the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh, that there is no excuse for
them even touching it in the form of a toast, or in a burning plum pudding; in
fact, in any way.
Underlining the importance of education to the actualization
of man's potential, the Guardian concludes: “All depends fundamentally on the
training or education which man receives. Human nature is made up of
possibilities both for good and evil. True religion can enable it to soar in
the highest realm of the spirit, while its absence can, as we already witness
around us, cause it to fall to the lowest depths of degradation and misery.
Your comments concerning poverty emphasize the extent to
which society must change its attitudes before a solution to that social
problem can be found. It is not simply a matter of economics; the solution
deeply involves the adoption of spiritual principles at the grassroots as well
as among governments. It imposes upon the Bahá'ís a clear duty to teach the
Faith with unabating vigour.
... no husband should subject his wife to abuse of any kind,
whether emotional, mental or physical....
To claim to have grasped all the implications of
Bahá'u'lláh's prodigious scheme for world-wide human solidarity, or to have
fathomed its import, would be presumptuous on the part of even the declared
supporters of His Faith. To attempt to visualize it in all its possibilities,
to estimate its future benefits, to picture its glory, would be premature at
even so advanced a stage in the evolution of mankind.
One could postulate two extremes of economic theory: those
who believe that the best solution is to remove all governmental control and
intervention from the operation of the economic system, and those who believe
that the functioning of the economic system should be closely supervised and
adjusted by the State so that society is not at the mercy of the system but has
it under its control. As has become abundantly clear, neither extreme is
workable, and proponents of both have gradually come to adopt more moderate
stances, although there tends to be an oscillation of viewpoints in response to
changing conditions.
As regards your suggestion to write a book on Bahá'í
economics: the Guardian has no objection to your writing such a work, but he
feels that the task is a tremendously difficult one, specially in view of the
fact that there are almost no definite teachings on technical economics as it
is known and taught today. The Bahá'í Writings give us only a few principles
which can guide future Bahá'í economists in their efforts to bring about the
necessary readjustments in the economic and industrial system.
'Abdu'l-Baha observes that should man's “natura1 qualities
... be used and displayed in an unlawful way, they become blameworthy”.
Two Bahá'ís, when getting married, cannot have the religious
ceremony of another Faith.
…one cannot be a Bahá'í and also a member of another
religious organization. This is simply a matter of straight-forwardness and
honesty. A great part of the teaching of Jesus Christ concerned His Second
Coming and the preparation of His followers to be ready for it. The Bahá'ís
believe He has come. No Christian Church believes this; on the contrary, they
either look for Him still, or have ceased to believe that He will come. For a
Bahá'í to be a member of a community which holds such beliefs is disloyalty to
Christ and hypocrisy towards the Christians.
It is, of course, permissible to translate Bahá'í Writings
into other languages and dialects of languages. It is also possible to simplify
or paraphrase the Bahá'í Writings in order to facilitate their translation into
languages and dialects having small vocabularies. However, it is not
permissible to publish simplifications and paraphrases of Bahá'í Writings as
Bahá'í Scripture.
Shoghi Effendi, in a letter dated 25 May 1936, written on
his behalf, identifies man's “true self” with “his soul”. In describing the
nature of "man's inner spiritual self or reality”, he notes that the “two
tendencies for good or evil are but manifestations of a single reality or
self”, and that the self “is capab1e of development in either way·”
…basic to the Baha'i Teachings is the concept that it is
only God Who knows the purpose of human life, and Who can convey this to us
through His Manifestations. A distinguishing feature of human existence is that
we have been given the capacity to know and love God and to consciously obey
Him. Thus we also have the converse: the ability to turn away from God, to fail
to love Him and to disobey Him. Indeed, left to himself, man is naturally
inclined towards evil. Human beings need not only assistance in defining
acceptable behaviour of one person towards another, but also guidance which
will help them to refrain from doing that which is spiritually damaging to
themselves.
This Law [Huqúqu'lláh] of the Aqdas stipulates that nineteen
per cent of one's capital is payable as Huqúqu'lláh when such capital has
reached an amount of at least "nineteen mithqáls in gold".... In
determining the amount a believer should pay, he should first deduct any debts
and expenses he may have, and pay nineteen per cent of the remainder of his
capital if it is equal to at least nineteen mithqáls of gold.
…the Writings of the Faith not only acknowledge that each
individual has a God-given identity, but they also set out the means by which
this identity can achieve its highest development and fulfilment. Baha’u’llah
attests that through the Teachings of the Manifestation of God “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”.
...the most urgent need of human beings is to recognize the
Manifestation of God and thereby to learn how to collaborate constructively.
All over the world tremendous efforts are being made to improve the lot of
mankind -- or of parts of mankind, but most of these efforts are frustrated by
conflicts of aims, by corruption of the morals of those involved, by mistrust,
or by fear. There is no lack of material resources in the world if they are
properly used. The problem is the education of human beings in the ultimate and
most important purpose of life and in how to weld differences of opinion and
outlook into a united constructive effort. Bahá'ís believe that God has
revealed the purpose of life, has shown us how to attain it, has provided the
ways in which we can work together and, beyond that, has given mankind the
assurance both of continuing divine guidance and of divine assistance. As
people learn and follow these teachings their efforts will produce durable
results. In the absence of these teachings, a lifetime of effort only too often
ends in disillusionment and the collapse of all that has been built....
O my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged
one, it is incumbent upon the Aghsán (Branches),the Afnán (Twigs) of the Sacred
Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the
Abhá Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi - the youthful branch branched from the
two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from the union of the
two offshoots of the Tree of Holiness - as he is the sign of God, the chosen
branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the Aghsán, the
Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn. He is the
expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the first-born of his
lineal descendents.
In a Tablet addressed to the American believers, a few days
before He [‘Abdu’l-Baha] passed away, He thus vented His pent-up longing to
depart from this world: “I have renounced the world and the people thereof...
In the cage of this world I flutter even as a frightened bird, and yearn every
day to take My flight unto Thy Kingdom. Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá! Make Me drink of the
cup of sacrifice, and set Me free.”
At 1:15 A.M. He [‘Abdu’l-Baha] arose, and, walking to a
table in His room, drank some water, and returned to bed. Later on, He asked
one of His two daughters who had remained awake to care for Him, to lift up the
net curtains, complaining that He had difficulty in breathing. Some rose-water
was brought to Him, of which He drank, after which He again lay down, and when
offered food, distinctly remarked: “You wish Me to take some food, and I am
going?” A minute later His spirit had winged its flight to its eternal abode,
to be gathered, at long last, to the glory of His beloved Father, and taste the
joy of everlasting reunion with Him.
An attempt I strongly feel should now be made to clarify our
minds regarding the station occupied by Abdu'l-Bahá and the significance of His
position in this holy Dispensation. It would be indeed difficult for us, who
stand so close to such a tremendous figure and are drawn by the mysterious
power of so magnetic a personality, to obtain a clear and exact understanding
of the role and character of One Who, not only in the Dispensation of
Bahá'u'lláh but in the entire field of religious history, fulfills a unique
function. Though moving in a sphere of His own and holding a rank radically
different from that of the Author and the Forerunner of the Bahá'í Revelation,
He, by virtue of the station ordained for Him through the Covenant of
Bahá'u'lláh, forms together with them what may be termed the Three Central
Figures of a Faith that stands unapproached in the world's spiritual history.
He towers, in conjunction with them, above the destinies of this infant Faith
of God from a level to which no individual or body ministering to its needs
after Him, and for no less a period than a full thousand years, can ever hope
to rise.
'Abdu'l-Bahá, Who incarnates an institution for which we can
find no parallel whatsoever in any of the world's recognized religious systems,
may be said to have closed the Age to which He Himself belonged and opened the
one in which we are now laboring. His Will and Testament should thus be
regarded as the perpetual, the indissoluble link which the mind of Him Who is
the Mystery of God has conceived in order to insure the continuity of the three
ages that constitute the component parts of the Bahá'í Dispensation.
He [‘Abdu’l-Baha] revealed a prayer less than six months before
His ascension in honor of a kinsman of the Báb, and in it wrote: “‘O Lord! My
bones are weakened, and the hoar hairs glisten on My head ... and I have now
reached old age, failing in My powers.’... No strength is there left in Me
wherewith to arise and serve Thy loved ones... O Lord, My Lord! Hasten My
ascension unto Thy sublime Threshold ... and My arrival at the Door of Thy
grace beneath the shadow of Thy most great mercy...”
…about two weeks before His passing He had spoken to His
faithful gardener in a manner that clearly indicated He knew His end to be
nigh. “I am so fatigued,” He observed to him, “the hour is come when I must
leave everything and take My flight. I am too weary to walk.” He added: “It was
during the closing days of the Blessed Beauty, when I was engaged in gathering
together His papers which were strewn over the sofa in His writing chamber in
Bahjí, that He turned to Me and said: ‘It is of no use to gather them, I must
leave them and flee away.’ I also have finished My work. I can do nothing more.
Therefore must I leave it, and take My departure.”
He [‘Abdu’l-Baha] alone had been accorded the privilege of
being called "the Master," an honor from which His Father had
strictly excluded all His other sons. Upon Him that loving and unerring Father
had chosen to confer the unique title of "Sirru'llah" (the Mystery of
God), a designation so appropriate to One Who, though essentially human and
holding a station radically and fundamentally different from that occupied by
Bahá'u'lláh and His Forerunner, could still claim to be the perfect Exemplar of
His Faith, to be endowed with super-human knowledge, and to be regarded as the
stainless mirror reflecting His light.
Connected to the transformative power of the Revelation,
every soul can draw closer to Baha'u'llah, grow in capacity, find joy in
service, and learn to assist others.
He is delighted to hear you are now fully recovered and
again active in your important work for the Cause. However, you should not
neglect your health, but consider it the means which enables you to serve. It
-- the body -- is like a horse which carries the personality and spirit, and as
such should be well cared for so it can do its work! You should certainly
safeguard your nerves, and force yourself to take time, and not only for prayer
and meditation, but for real rest and relaxation. We don't have to pray and
meditate for hours in order to be spiritual.
Let them perform their services with complete sanctity and
detachment, and on no account defile themselves by receiving bribes, harbouring
unseemly motives, or engaging in noxious practices. Let them be content with
their wages, and seek distinction in truthfulness, straightforwardness, and the
pursuit of virtue and excellence; for vanity in riches is worthy of none but
the base, and pride in possessions beseemeth only the foolish. To attain to
true glory and honour, man should exercise justice and equity, forbear to act
in an oppressive manner, render service to his government, and work for the
good of his fellow-citizens. Were he to seek after aught else but this he would
indeed be in manifest loss.
He thinks it would be wiser for the Bahá'ís to use the
Meditations given by Bahá'u'lláh, and not any set form of meditation
recommended by someone else; but the believers must be left free in these
details and allowed to have personal latitude in finding their own level of
communion with God.
The scene of such a challenging and far-reaching
proclamation [the independent nature of the Dispensation of the Báb and its
break with the past] was the hamlet of Badasht, where Bahá’u’lláh had rented,
amidst pleasant surroundings, three gardens, one of which He assigned to
Quddús, another to Táhirih, whilst the third He reserved for Himself. The
eighty-one disciples who had gathered from various provinces were His guests
from the day of their arrival to the day they dispersed. On each of the
twenty-two days of His sojourn in that hamlet He revealed a Tablet, which was
chanted in the presence of the assembled believers. On every believer He
conferred a new name, without, however, disclosing the identity of the one who
had bestowed it. He Himself was henceforth designated by the name Bahá. Upon
the Last Letter of the Living was conferred the appellation of Quddús, while
Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was given the title of Táhirih. By these names they were all
subsequently addressed by the Báb in the Tablets He revealed for each one of
them.
With all that transpired, [Bicentenaries celebrations] we
know that everyone of you will wish to reflect on the implications for the
progress of the Cause in your own locality. We urge you to see in each person
who responded to your invitation a potential protagonist in the
community-building process. Consider how conditions may be created that would
enable many to walk this path together.
The community of the Most Great Name in these far-off
islands have lost a great leader, a stalwart upholder of the new World Order of
Bahá’u’lláh. The influence he has exercised will however continue to live, and
the example he has set will inspire the rising generation to perform deeds as
great and brilliant as those which will ever remain associated with his name.
Our dear friend, Mr. Hyde Dunn, will, from his exalted station intercede on
your behalf, and you should, on your part strive to emulate one whom Bahá’í
historians will recognise and acclaim as Australia’s spiritual conqueror. I
will pray for his dear spiritual children from the depths of my heart.
As you point out in your letter, the Universal House of Justice
has stated that, by inference from a number of responsibilities placed upon
him, the father can be regarded as the "head" of the family. However,
this term does not have the same meaning as that used generally. Rather, a new
meaning should be sought in the light of the principle of the equality between
men and women, and of statements of the Universal House of Justice that neither
husband nor wife should ever unjustly dominate the other. The House of Justice
has stated previously, in response to a question from a believer, that use of
the term "head" "does not confer superiority upon the husband,
nor does it give him special rights to undermine the rights of the other
members of the family". It has also stated that if agreement cannot be
reached following loving consultation, "there are times ... when a wife
should defer to her husband, and times when a husband should defer to his wife,
but neither should ever unjustly dominate the other"; this is in marked
contrast to the conventional usage of the term "head" with which is
associated, frequently, the unfettered right of making decisions when agreement
cannot be reached between husband and wife.
It should be noted that the gradual introduction and
application of certain laws which require followers to abandon their
time-honored laws and practices to which they have been accustomed is not new
in this Dispensation. This gradual introduction of laws may be found also in
earlier religions. For example, the consumption of alcohol was common among the
Arabs during the days of Muhammad. The Qur'an decrees prohibition of drinking
alcohol in stages. Muhammad introduced the prohibition of alcohol in a
progressive manner. At first, He said that there are advantages and
disadvantages in drinking, but that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages
(see Qur'an 2:219). Some time later, He counselled His followers not to perform
obligatory prayers if they were intoxicated (see Qur'an 4:43), and finally,
when people became accustomed to these restrictive measures, He forbade
drinking altogether (see Qur'an 5:89).
The Kitab-i-Aqdas appears to allow bigamy. This is explained
in Note 17 on page 59 of the "Synopsis and Codification": "The
text of the `Kitab-i-Aqdas' upholds monogamy, but as it appears also to permit
bigamy, the Guardian was asked for a clarification, and in reply his secretary
wrote on his behalf: `Regarding Bahá'í marriage: in the light of the Master's
Tablet interpreting the provision in the "Aqdas" on the subject of
the plurality of wives, it becomes evident that monogamy alone is permissible,
since, as `Abdu'l-Bahá states, bigamy is conditioned upon justice and as
justice is impossible, it follows that bigamy is not permissible, and monogamy
alone should be practised.'" This is an authoritative interpretation, and
as an interpretation states what is intended by the original text, it is
correct to say that the Kitab-i-Aqdas prohibits plurality of wives. This method
of establishing monogamy as the law of the Faith is one example of the process
referred to in the introduction to the "Synopsis and Codification"
whereby there is a progressive disclosure of the full meaning of the laws of
the Faith as the Dispensation unfolds.