iamimranshaykh wrote:Wrong - In Islam - we are discussing the Shiite point of view here - everything is cut and dried. Our faith is not led by personal judgement or opinion - it is led by what the Prophet and the Imams told us. They told us and we obeyed.
But the Sunnis say your Shi'a hadith are false, fabricated, etc. (like Shi'as say about Sunni hadith), so 85% of Muslims have reason (whether good or bad) to disbelieve in the Imams.
In that same spirit of denial, had the Bab told Joe or Mike that Baha'u'llah would be the Promised One, and had it been written down, then many people would have said "Lies! This is fabricated!" As an expression in Persian goes,
the wall of denial is high!Therefore, humans are good at denying, and justifying their positions, and getting others to believe them sometimes. Religion has always been like this: there is a lot of opposition to the Truth, and there are a lot of reasons to oppose. So:
Q: Why does God not make His ways "clear" (in a layman's understanding of the term) to mankind?
A: Because life is a test, to weed out the spiritually weak, if you will. Spiritually speaking, to seperate the men from the boys. Like the holy Qur'an says, when we die the truth instantaneously becomes obvious to us; that is when it is too late for many, because in the presence of God no one can tell Him that He wasn't "clear." The Words of the Qur'an put it quite nicely:
"Moreover, apostles before thee have been laughed to scorn: but that which they laughed to scorn encompassed the mockers among them!" And further,
"They say, too, 'Unless an angel be sent down to him. . . .' But if we had sent down an angel, their judgment would have come on them at once, and they would have had no respite." Therefore, God does not make the Truth "obvious" because He is testing our spiritual purity. If humans did not have this great capacity to deny, the all the Muslims would have instantly become utter devotees to the Imams. But even within Shi'a Islam you also have people who only believe in a certain number of the Imams. Disunity and waywardness and blindness are abundant everywhere (indeed, it is in no short supply), even among the Commander of the Faithful's adherents themselves concerning the Imams, among the many other sources of disagreement.
iamimranshaykh wrote:Coming back to the question - did the Bab make a formal announcement using the name of Bahaullah and / or Mirza Hussayn Ali Noori as the One Whom God will Manifest? Or is it something that "you believe" as such.
The Bab didn't formally announce Baha'u'llah, or anyone else. Baha'u'llah's station is so high that He does not need others to prophesy Him using His blessed Name, and (for me) when I read Baha'u'llah's Writings, they are the Words of God. It is for each to judge for himself, between him and his Maker. Indeed, this is the only way one can figure out who the Bab meant. Of course, many people look at Baha'u'llah's holy Words and pass the judgement that they are not of God—and God forbid, the Words of an "infidel." That is fine, as we all are given free will. God the fair King does not force anyone to do anything in this life. But hey, we could be wrong—anyone can be wrong technically.
iamimranshaykh wrote:Bahaullah making a claim as such does not really count. There were many people who made the claim of One Whom Allah will Manifest - its just that Bahaullah became more popular than the others.
God can do whatever He so chooses is my conviction.
"BLESSED be He is whose hand is the KINGDOM! and over all things is He potent."iamimranshaykh wrote:So who will be the one who will judge who is the One Whom Allah will Manifest. Not you. Not me. Not Bahaullah. It will have to be the Bab. So lets hear it from him.
God is King over all created things, and He does whatever He pleases, without the permission of or dealings with mortal men, and in total disregard of any of their objections. Baha'u'llah has said He is the Manifestation of God; His Words, indeed, attest to this fact, in my humble opinion. Free will: that is all humans need; that is all humans are given.