In the Bayán the Báb allowed the use of gold and silver
utensils, thus abrogating the Islamic condemnation of their use which stems not
from an explicit injunction of the Qur’án but from Muslim traditions.
Bahá’u’lláh… confirms the Báb’s ruling. 
“Shave not your heads; God hath adorned them with hair, and in this there are signs from the Lord of creation to those who reflect upon the requirements of nature. He, verily, is the God of strength and wisdom. Notwithstanding, it is not seemly to let the hair pass beyond the limit of the ears. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds.”(Baha’u’llah, ‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
Bahá’u’lláh provides for the possibility that the line of
Aghsán would terminate prior to the establishment of the Universal House of
Justice. He designated that in such a situation “endowments shall revert to the
people of Bahá”. The term “people of Bahá” is used with a number of different
meanings in the Bahá’í Writings. In this instance, they are described as those
“who speak not except by His leave and judge not save in accordance with what
God hath decreed in this Tablet”. Following the passing of Shoghi Effendi in
1957, the Hands of the Cause of God directed the affairs of the Cause until the
election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963.
The Laws of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and indeed all the Teachings
of the Faith, form a coherent whole; therefore in order to understand their
implications they must be considered in their own context. For example, in the case of intestacy, as you
have noted, the eldest son receives preferential treatment in certain respects
but, as 'Abdu'l-Baha has explained in one of His Tablets, he should take into
consideration the needs of the other heirs.
It is clear from a study of the Text that infallibility is
an essential attribute of the Manifestation of God. Bahá’u’lláh wrote: “…the
Most Great Infallibility is confined to the One Whose station is immeasurably
exalted beyond ordinances or prohibitions and is sanctified from errors and
omission…Were He to pronounce right to be wrong or denial to be belief, He
speaketh the truth as bidden by God. This is a station wherein sins or
trespasses neither exist nor are mentioned.” (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed
after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas)
…it is clear…that among the members of the Bahá’í community
the celebrations of former religious dispensations should be abandoned.
However, Bahá’ís are encouraged to "consort with the followers of all
religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship," and there is no
harm in Bahá’ís sharing Christmas with Christian relatives or friends. Indeed, families may contain both Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís, and the
participation by Bahá’ís at celebrations of Christmas or of other religious
observances, should not be made into a source of conflict but rather be used as
an opportunity for demonstrating the honor due to other religions and also as
an incentive for developing the celebration of Bahá’í Holy Days and
anniversaries.
He feels that, although literature and publicity are
important, and help publicize the Faith and bring it to the attention of a
wider group of people, nothing will take the place of individual teaching. The
thing we need at present is not only a wider knowledge of the Faith, but
particularly a larger membership; and this only comes through consecrated
individual effort to create friends, to attract the hearts of these friends to ourselves as Baha'is, to
create in them an admiration for our character and our way of life, and then to
confirm them in the Faith of Baha'u'llah.
Bahia has special associations for us, being the first
Center, established in the days of 'Abdu'l-Baha, in Latin America, and having a
name so very significant from the Baha'i standpoint.
Noting that you and your husband have consulted about your
family problems with your Spiritual Assembly but did not receive any advice,
and also discussed your situation with a family counsellor without success, the
House of Justice feels it most essential for your husband and you to understand
that marriage can be a source of well-being, conveying a sense of security and
spiritual happiness. However, it is not something that just happens. For
marriage to become a haven of contentment it requires the cooperation of the
marriage partners themselves, and the assistance of their families....
Know thou that the Messianic Spirit and the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit is always manifest, but capacity and ability (to receive it) is
more in some and less in others. After the crucifixion the apostles had not in
the beginning the capacity and ability of witnessing the Messianic reality. For
they were agitated. But when they found firmness and steadfastness, their inner
sight became opened, and they saw the reality of the Messiah as manifest. For
the body of Christ was crucified and vanished, but the Spirit of Christ is
always pouring upon the contingent world, and is manifest before the insight of
the people of assurance.
It was a Canadian, of French extraction, who through his
vision and skill was instrumental in conceiving the design, and delineating the
features, of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West, marking the first
attempt, however rudimentary, to express the beauty which Bahá’í art will, in
its plenitude, unfold to the eyes of the world.
The Laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, and indeed all the Teachings
of the Faith, form a coherent whole; therefore in order to understand their
implications they must be considered in their own context. For example, in the
case of intestacy, as you have noted, the eldest son receives preferential
treatment in certain respects but, as ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá
has explained in one of His Tablets, he should take into consideration the
needs of the other heirs.
…was it not ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s own pen which, as far back as the
dark years of the first World War, had forecast the splendour of the memorable
achievements which, spiritually and materially, would distinguish and
illuminate its annals in the years to come? “The future of the Dominion of
Canada ... is very great and the events connected with it infinitely
glorious... Again I repeat that the future of Canada is very great, whether
from a material or a spiritual standpoint.”
Bahá’u’lláh gives no right of appeal to the law that both
parents must give permission to the marriage, if they are living. Bahá’í
marriages should be referred to Assemblies to officiate; where there is no
Assembly to officiate your body is free to decide what procedure should be
followed. Whether it is the chairman or secretary or some other person who
actually conducts the marriage is, likewise, a matter for your body to decide.
Regarding your question about contributions: it is up to the
individual to decide; if he wishes to devote a sum to a specific purpose, he is
free to do so; but the friends should recognize the fact that too much
labelling of contributions will tie the hands of the Assembly and prevent it
from meeting its many obligations in various fields of Bahá’í activity.
...The Guardian wishes you to make clear to all the
believers that membership in a Baha’i Assembly or Committee is a sacred
obligation which should be gladly and confidently accepted by every loyal and
conscientious member of the Community, no matter how humble and inexperienced.
Once elected to serve in a given Assembly a believer’s duty is to do his utmost
to attend all Assembly meetings, and cooperate with his fellow-members, unless,
however, he is prevented from doing so by some major reason such as illness,
and even then he should notify the Assembly to this effect. The N.S.A.’s duty
is to urge, and also facilitate attendance at assembly meetings. If a member
has no valid reason to justify his repeated absence from assembly meetings, he
should be advised, and even warned, and if such warning is deliberately ignored
by him, the assembly will then have the right to suspend his rights as a voting
member of the Community. Such administrative sanction would seem to be
absolutely imperative and necessary, and while not tantamount to a complete
expulsion of such a member from the Cause, deprives him of any real
participation in its administrative functions and affairs, and is thus a most
effective corrective measure which the Assembly can use against all such
half-hearted and irresponsible individuals in the Community.
You should…, when studying the Synopsis and Codification of
the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas,…always remember Bahá’u’lláh’s
exhortation to “Weigh not the Book of God with such standards and sciences as
are current amongst you, for the Book itself is the unerring balance
established amongst men. In this most perfect balance whatsoever the peoples
and kindreds of the earth possess must be weighed, while the measure of its
weight should be tested according to its own standard, did ye but know it.”
The reason for the appearance of a Manifestation of God in a
given place is not to honor a particular people or nation. Shoghi Effendi
indicates a quite different reason in The Advent of Divine Justice and, more
concisely, in a letter to an individual written on his behalf on 23 January
1944:
It was a Canadian, of French extraction, who through his
vision and skill, was instrumental in conceiving the design, and delineating
the features, of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the west, marking the first
attempt, however rudimentary, to express the beauty which Bahá'í art will, in
its plenitude, unfold to the eyes of the world.
He feels sure you will understand the reason for the delay
in answering your letters—and, indeed, all the other National Spiritual
Assemblies’ letters—when he explains that not only has this been a terrific
winter of work in connection with the construction of the Shrine, but since the
beginning of April my dear father, Mr. Maxwell, [1] has been dangerously and desperately
ill. The anxiety this caused us all, and the constant coming and going of
doctors, nurses, and two periods in hospital, has necessitated putting aside
all correspondence for months. Now, however, thank God, Mr. Maxwell is slowly
improving, and the threads of normal existence can be taken up again by us all.
...he wishes to call your Assembly's attention to a very
important matter, and that is the Greatest Name. To the western eye, untrained
in the art -- the most highly developed art of the East -- of calligraphy,
nearly every Greatest Name, if it embodies the salient points, is the Greatest
Name. But to an Oriental it may appear a monstrosity.... The exact proportions
are what must be maintained. The Greatest Name must not be stretched out -- or
up -- to fill an oblong space or a circle.
..you raise the question of what will be the source of
inspiration to Bahá'í musicians and composers: the music of the past or the
Word? We cannot possibly foresee, standing as we do on the threshold of Bahá'í
culture, what forms and characteristics the arts of the future, inspired by
this Mighty New Revelation, will have. All we can be sure of is that they will
be wonderful; as every Faith has given rise to a culture which flowered in
different forms, so too our beloved Faith may be expected to do the same thing.
It is premature to try and grasp what they will be at present.
…it should be remembered that, as Shoghi Effendi has
explained (see The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, page 148), Bahá’u’lláh has
deliberately left gaps in the body of His legislative ordinances, to be filled
in due course by the Universal House of Justice.
...The severe laws and injunctions revealed by the Báb can
be properly appreciated and understood only when interpreted in the light of
His own statements regarding the nature, purpose and character of His own
Dispensation. As these statements clearly reveal, the Bábi Dispensation was
essentially in the nature of a religious and indeed social revolution, and its
duration had therefore to be short, but full of tragic events, of sweeping and
drastic reforms. These drastic measures enforced by the Bab and His followers
were taken with the view of undermining the very foundations of Shi’ah
orthodoxy, and thus paving the way for the coming of Baha’u’llah. To assert the
independence of the new Dispensation, and to prepare also the ground for the
approaching Revelation of Baha’u’llah the Báb had therefore to reveal very
severe laws, even though most of them, were never enforced. But the mere fact
that He revealed them was in itself a proof of the independent character of His
Dispensation and was sufficient to create such widespread agitation, and excite
such opposition on the part of the clergy that led them to cause His eventual
martyrdom.
The equality of men and women, as ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá has often explained, is a fundamental principle of Bahá’u’lláh;
therefore the Laws of the Aqdas should be studied in the light of this.
Equality between men and women does not, indeed physiologically it cannot, mean
identity of function. In some things women excel men, in others men are better
than women, while in very many things the difference in sex is of no effect at
all. The differences are most apparent in family life. The capacity for
motherhood has many far-reaching effects. For example, because of this,
daughters receive preference in education over sons. Again, for physiological
reasons, women are granted exemptions from fasting that are not applied to men.
…God, the Almighty Creator, does not have to justify His
choice of a race or nationality from which to raise up a Manifestation. As all
sacred scriptures tell us, He does as He wills and shall not be asked of His
doing, and we bow in humility before Him. Besides, as you must know,
conceptions of race, nation, oriental, occidental, and the like reflect earthly
limitations and are not qualifications attached to the reality of the soul in
the limitless realms of God.
...Although in the “Questions & Answers” Baha’u’llah has
specifically stated that non-Baha’is have no right to inherit from their Baha’i
parents or relatives, yet this restriction applies only to such cases when a
Baha’i dies without leaving a will and when, therefore, his property will have
to be divided in accordance with the rules set forth in the Aqdas. Otherwise, a
Baha’i is free to bequeath his property to any person, irrespective of
religion, provided however he leaves a will, specifying his wishes. As you see
therefore it is always possible for a Baha’i to provide for his non-Baha’i
wife, children or relatives by leaving a will. And it is only fair that he
should do so.
It is apparent from the Guardian’s writings that where
Bahá’u’lláh has expressed a law as between a man and a woman it applies,
mutatis mutandis, between a woman and a man unless the context should make this
impossible. For example, the text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas forbids a man to marry
his father’s wife (i.e., his stepmother), and the Guardian has indicated that
likewise a woman is forbidden to marry her stepfather. In the case you cite,
however, that of a wife who is found by her husband not to have been a virgin,
the dissolution of the marriage can be demanded only “If the marriage has been
conditioned on virginity”; presumably, therefore, if the wife wishes to
exercise such a right in respect to the husband, she would have to include a
condition as to his virginity in the marriage contract, and this would seem to
be one of those matters on which the Universal House of Justice will have to
legislate in due course.
Although the Universal House of Justice has to apply and
supplement the laws of the Aqdas, it has no right at all to change any law that
Bahá’u’lláh has specifically revealed. As clearly stated by the Guardian, the
provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas “remain inviolate” during the entire
Dispensation.…
The Guardian was also pleased to know of your deep interest
in music, and of your desire to serve the Faith along this line. Although now
is only the very beginning of Bahá'í art, yet the friends who feel they are
gifted in such matters should endeavour to develop and cultivate their gifts
and through their works to reflect, however inadequately, the Divine Spirit
which Bahá'u'lláh has breathed into the world.
It is important to realise that the spirit of Bahá'í
consultation is very different from that current in the decision-making
processes of non-Bahá'í bodies.