The Baha'i Faith: A Guide For The Perplexed

Robert H. Stockman

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781441192011
• eBook ISBN: 9781441187819
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Asian Religions

Founded by Bahá'u'llah in Iran in the 19th century, the Bahá'í Faith is one of the youngest of the world's major religions. Though it has over 5 million followers worldwide, it is still little understood outside of its own community. The Bahá'í Faith: A Guide for the Perplexed explores the utopian vision of the Bahá'í Faith including its principles for personal spiritual transformation and for the construction of spiritualized marriages, families, Bahá'í communities, and, ultimately, a spiritual world civilization.
Aimed at students seeking a thorough understanding of this increasingly studied religion, this book is the ideal companion to studying and understanding the Bahá'í Faith, its teachings and the history of its development.

CHAPTER ONE

A religion of the word

The Bahá’í Faith^* started in Iran a century and a half ago and soon became an independent religion that spread around the globe. Arising out of the matrix of Shi’ite Islam, within half a century its membership had expanded to include Sunni Muslims, Jews, Zoroastrians, Burmese Buddhists, Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Protestants and Hindus. Parts of its sacred scripture have been translated into over 800 languages. Its teachings of world unity, equality of all peoples and a life of prayer and service have, at this writing (2012), attracted some five or six million followers, residing in almost every nation and significant territory in the world.

Any study of the Bahá’í Faith must begin with its founding figures and the prodigious writings they produced in order to express their teachings. There are three of them: the Báb, Bahá’ u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (their birth names and the details of their lives and ministries will be covered in later chapters). The Báb (1819–50) started a religion, the Bábí Faith, in 1844. He claimed to be a Manifestation (messenger) of God, succeeding Muhammad, Jesus and a series of earlier divine teachers. His claim was extremely controversial and resulted in his execution. Many of his writings were lost but 2,000 unique works – in Arabic and Persian – many of which are lengthy treatises, have survived, comprising at least five million words. They are considered scripture by Bahá’í s. Because many of his teachings were intended to be replaced or modified by He whom God shall make manifest (the Promised One of the Bábí Faith, whom Bahá’ u’lláh claimed to be), relatively few of his writings have been translated into English. The Báb’s remarkable life, his short and dramatic ministry, the surprising events surrounding his execution by firing squad and the turbulent movement he started, constitute one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of the nineteenth century.^** The vast majority of his followers, if they survived the pogroms against them, accepted Bahá’ u’lláh and became Bahá’í s in the 1860s and 1870s.

Bahá’u’lláh^*** (1817–92) became a follower of the Báb in 1844 and was the founder of the Bahá’í Faith. His life was one of exile and great suffering for his teachings. The Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, has some 18,000 unique works by him, in Arabic and Persian, comprising over six million words. Approximately 8 per cent has been translated into English.¹ The texts as a whole identify themselves as divine revelation and the Word of God. Bahá’ u’lláh used many genres: poetry, the treatise, the book and the epistle. The bulk of his writings are letters, some private missives to individuals, some public ones to rulers or enemies of the Faith. His teachings, elaborated in writing over a 40-year period (1853–92), focused initially on the mystic relation of the individual with God and on the nature of God and religion, then expanded to include the laws and ordinances for creating a religious community (the Bahá’í community) and principles for constructing a unified world civilization.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1844–1921) was Bahá’ u’lláh’s son and chief assistant, and succeeded him as head of the Faith in 1892, upon Bahá’ u’lláh’s passing. He was also remarkably prolific; 30,000 unique works by him are extant, in Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish, comprising over five million words. All but four are letters. Since ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not a Manifestation, his writings are not considered the Word of God, but as the ‘Mystery of God’ (as Bahá’ u’lláh called him) they are considered a part of Bahá’í scripture. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá oversaw the expansion of the Bahá’í Faith beyond the Middle East, North Africa and Central and South Asia, to North America, Europe, Latin America, East Asia and Australia. His travels to Europe and North America (1911–13) brought the Bahá’í Faith to western audiences.^****

The Bahá’í authoritative texts also include the writings of Shoghi Effendi Rabbani (1897–1957), ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ s grandson, whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá designated as his successor and Guardian of the Cause of God. Shoghi Effendi mastered English and French and studied for a time at Oxford University. He wrote over 34,000 unique works – in Arabic, Persian, English and French – comprising over five million words. All are letters, some of book length, except one, a history. Shoghi Effendi’s station is less than ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ s; his writings are considered authoritative interpretation of the Word, but are not referred to as ‘revealed’, nor are they are part of Bahá’í scripture. During his 36 year ministry (1921–57) he built the Bahá’í organizational system – the Administrative Order – elaborated the principles on which it was to function, oversaw its establishment across the globe and laid the foundation for the election of the Universal House of Justice, the current coordinating institution for the Bahá’í Faith. He also translated Bahá’ u’lláh’s most important works into elegant English, began to build up the world centre of the Faith in Palestine (now Israel) and coordinated the expansion of the Bahá’í community to Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific islands.^*****

The nine-member Universal House of Justice, whose authority and mode of election were defined in detail in the writings of Bahá’ u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, was first elected in 1963. It is re-elected every 5 years and is the head of the Bahá’í Faith today. It has an extensive staff to answer questions, which are often reviewed and approved by part or all of the House’s membership, and as a body it produces various messages, some of considerable length. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi described it to be infallible in matters of protecting the Bahá’í Faith, ensuring its unity and in legislating on matters not previously covered in Bahá’í authoritative texts. Its writings are thus authoritative as well, though they are not scripture. In the nearly 50 years since its establishment, it has overseen a 10 to 15-fold increase in the number of Bahá’í s worldwide (from about 400,000 to 5–6 million) and a huge expansion of Bahá’í efforts in external relations, use of the media, social and economic development, translation of Bahá’í scripture, scholarship and the arts.^******

The chain of authority and the requirement of declared Bahá’í s to accept it is an aspect of the Bahá’í Covenant, about which more will be said later. No writings by a theologian or prominent Bahá’í can ever become a part of the authoritative texts; the texts themselves preclude this. Even oral transmissions of words attributed to the Báb, Bahá’ u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi can never be added to the authoritative texts, unless they were approved by one of them (e.g. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá read and corrected transcripts of many talks he had given, and Shoghi Effendi quoted words attributed to Bahá’ u’lláh by an English scholar, Edward Granville Browne).

The extensive body of authoritative texts – excluding the output of the Universal House of Justice, 84,000 documents comprising at least 21 million words – has profound implications for the development of the Bahá’í community. One might say that the Bahá’í Faith is not a ‘Religion of the Book’, but a Religion of the Books (and increasingly of the scripture website and the app). One can find an authoritative statement on almost anything, from the nature of God to the raising of children, from the importance of music to the setting of interest rates, from the study of languages to the use of birth control. Because the Universal House of Justice is authorized to legislate, new problems and issues may eventually be the subject of authoritative guidance as well. Lest this slip into a detailed body of law, like the Islamic shari’ah, the texts also stress consulting ones conscience and relevant experts, leaving the final decision on many matters to the person or persons concerned. When individuals write to the head of the Faith seeking guidance about a specific issue, sometimes they are told they should resolve the matter personally after prayer, meditation and study of the texts.

In spite of the detailed nature of the Bahá’í teachings, however, they demonstrate a logic of their own with an internal unity and consistency, as Part 1 of this work strives to show. ‘One might liken Bahá’ u’lláh’s teachings to a sphere’, noted a secretary of Shoghi Effendi, writing on his behalf. ‘There are points poles apart, and in between the thoughts and doctrines that unite them’.² Central to understanding the Bahá’í teachings are the related concepts of oneness and unity. The oneness of humankind and the achievement of human unity is the subject of the next chapter. The unity and oneness of God, the nature of divine revelation and the world religions are the collective focus of Chapter Three. Chapters Four and Five explore the relationship of the individual with God and human beings, the latter in progressively larger circles: marriage, family and society. Part 2 of the book explores the history of the development of the worldwide Bahá’í community, starting with the ministry of the Báb, continuing through the ministries of Bahá’ u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and culminating in the current era of the Universal House of Justice. The book concludes with a survey of the worldwide Bahá’í community today and its prospects for the future.

Notes

*Bahá’í s use Bahá’í Faith (with a capital F) as the proper name of their religion. The term Bahá’í is pronounced ba-HA-ee or ba-HIGH. Academics increasingly have adopted it. Bahá’í s dislike the term Bahaism as demeaning.

The Bahá’í Faith adopted an official system for transliterating Persian and Arabic words into the Roman alphabet in 1923. It was based on a system adopted by an Orientalist Congress in the late 1890s. Tens of thousands of books, pamphlets, periodicals and other documents have been published in it, the Worldwide Web has spread it and it is gradually becoming universal.

**The Báb and the Bábís are the subject of Chapter Six.

***Pronounced ba-HA-oo-LA. His life and literary corpus will be described in Chapter Seven. The process of revelation that he experienced is described in Chapter Three.

****Chapter Eight will explore ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ s accomplishments in detail.

*****Chapter Nine will consider Shoghi Effendi’s contributions to the Faith.

******The results of the endeavours of the Universal House of Justice are the subjects of Chapters Ten and Eleven.

PART ONE

The Bahá’í teachings

CHAPTER TWO

The watchword: Unity

The concepts of oneness and unity are important starting points in understanding the Bahá’í Faith. The Faith has often been summarized as teaching three onenesses: the oneness of God, of religion and of humanity. The oneness of humanity is an ancient teaching; the statement that humans have been created in God’s image (Gen. 1.26) is a statement of the oneness of humanity, for it describes an essence common to all. It powerfully unites humans in spite of race or gender and distinguishes them from lesser forms of life. Bahá’ u’lláh describes the distinction between humans and other creatures thus: ‘Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing’, God has ‘shed the light of one of His^* names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes’. On the reality of human beings, however, God has ‘focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self’. He adds that ‘alone of all created things’, humanity has ‘been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty’.¹

To a spiritual definition of human oneness can be added a genetic definition. The Bahá’í authoritative texts note that all human beings come from the same stock² and are members of the same race. Such a concept can also be found in the Bible, which states that all humans are descended from Adam and Eve, ancestors (literally or metaphorically, depending on one’s perspective) of all humanity.

For Bahá’ u’lláh, the oneness of humanity has crucial ethical implications:

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. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light!³

In short, the oneness of humanity implies the need for the unity of all human beings. Shoghi Effendi describes the oneness of humankind as the ‘pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’ u’lláh revolve’.⁴ He refers to the Faith’s ‘watchword’ alternately as ‘unity’ and ‘unity in diversity’.⁵ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá added that the purpose of Bahá’ u’lláh’s life and the reason he endured enormous hardships – for Bahá’ u’lláh was severely persecuted for his teachings – was to ensure that ‘the oneness of humankind become a reality, strife and warfare cease and peace and tranquility be realized by all’.⁶ A study of the Bahá’í notion of unity is a study of the central principle underlying the Bahá’í teachings. Unity is the backbone, to which the other teachings serve as lesser bones, muscles and nerves making up the body of Bahá’í teachings.

Unity as process

The Bahá’í concept of unity is described as an ongoing process with various levels or stages. The idealized form of unity is expressed in the metaphor that the Bahá’í s should be ‘one soul in many bodies’.⁷ This form of spiritual unity is rarely achieved in practice. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes it in these words:

Another unity is the spiritual unity which emanates from the breaths of the Holy Spirit. . . . Human unity or solidarity may be likened to the body, whereas unity from the breaths of the Holy Spirit is the spirit animating the body. This is a perfect unity. It creates such a condition in mankind that each one will make sacrifices for the other, and the utmost desire will be to forfeit life and all that pertains to it in behalf of another’s good. This is the unity which existed among the disciples of Jesus Christ and bound together the Prophets and holy Souls of the past. It is the unity which through the influence of the divine spirit is permeating the Bahá’í s so that each offers his life for the other and strives with all sincerity to attain his good pleasure.⁸

Spiritual unity is a goal behind many efforts of Bahá’í s. Almost every Bahá’í event starts with prayers from the Bahá’í scriptures in order to establish a spiritual atmosphere and invoke a spiritual dynamic that allows the gathering to achieve its true purpose.^** The creation of spiritual unity is a principal purpose of the Nineteen Day Feast, the monthly Bahá’í community gathering for worship, consultation and socializing.⁹ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá composed a prayer to use at the start of meetings of Spiritual Assemblies (local or national Bahá’í coordinating councils) that asks that ‘our thoughts, our views, our fee...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• 1 A religion of the word
• PART ONE The Bahá’ íteachings
• PART TWO Development of the Bahá’ ícommunity
• 12 An evolving faith
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index