HAIFA NOTES of Shoghi Effendi’s Word Taken at Pilgrim House during the Pilgrimage of Mrs. May Maxwell and Miss Mary Maxwell January, February, March. 1937 Volume I. (The classifying under headings was done by me in order to keep the subjects often referred to together.) R.R.
One woman was always singled out in every religion.
Sarah Abrahamic Asiyih — Mosaic Maryam — Christian Fáṭimih — Muḥammadan Ṭáhirih — Bábí Bahíyyih — Bahá’í
The Greatest Holy Leaf’s name will be added by Shoghi Effendi, The Virgin Mary (Maryam) did not recognize the full station of Christ till after His Crucifixion.
All things proceed from God. God is the origin of all things, including human characteristics.
Why did God allow evil to exist in the world? A satisfactory explanation has never, and can never be given. Surely God could have created some other scheme that would have allowed less evil. His motives, the way He works, are beyond us. It would cease to be a Revelation if Americans could resolve all these mysteries — it would be a product of the American mind.
The Protestant movement is a protest against the abuses of the Catholic Church and, being a protest, it is negative.
Social reform is of great value, but its area is very limited. It is the influence of religion on the individual that can bring about the results. Any philosophy that is based on materialism is fundamentally defective. This does not mean social reform has no value. Its value is restricted.
REVELATION has three aspects. God its Revealer, the Prophet, and then His successor appointed by Him.
Every religion has its mysteries — it must, because it is perfect from God and we are human, hence mysteries must exist for us because we cannot encompass religion, it not being man-made.
There are two Covenants; the Greater and the Lesser. The Greater Covenant of which God is the Author. The Manifestation the object, and the people of the world the ones covenanted with. The Lesser Covenant the Manifestation is the Author, His successor the object and the believers are the covenanted with group. Page 255, paragraph 527, of the Bahá’í Scriptures refers to the Greater Covenant.
Krishna was the Prophet of Hinduism; Buddha of Buddhism. The religion of the Sabians exists but we do not know the name of its Prophet.
Confucius and Lao-Tzu were reformers, not Prophets. The remnants of Sabianism are the idolaters of Africa, it appeared in Mesopotamia. The religion of Abraham was revealed among the Sabians just as Jesus appeared among the Jews. All prophets have had followers; Húd, for instance, but the followers have ceased to exist.
There was a time when they not only existed but flourished. All these Prophets are within historic times. The followers of Húd lived in Petra, Transjordan. The religion of Abraham was revealed among the Sabians, whose original Prophet is unknown.
Buddha and Krishna were the Prophets of Buddhism and Hinduism, but all their authentic teachings have been lost. In the case of Sabianism, we do not even have the name of the Prophet. Sabianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Muḥammadanism, the Bábí religion, and now the Bahá’ís. These are the nine great religions, whose followers still exist. This does not mean that there were not many other religions. These 9 great religions are one of the significances of 9. Another is the name of Bahá’, symbolic of the name of Bahá’u’lláh; the third meaning is that it symbolizes perfection. 9 is symbolic, as it symbolizes the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, which is the culmination of all religions, even as 9 is the culmination of all numbers.
The Prophets retain their identity and authority in the next world. The Letters of the Living retain their identity, their position, in the next world, but we cannot tell in what way or manner these function. (See page 141 of Íqán.) There are three worlds. God lives in a world of His Own, but who can picture, who can conceive of that world; then the world of the Prophets and the world of Creation. God is immeasurably exalted above the comprehension of all the Prophets and Messengers. Words he is translating on meditation of Bahá’u’lláh. We retain in the next world our identity and self-consciousness, but our self-consciousness is greatly increased.
Prophets, “endowed with constancy,” means that They are the bearers of a new law and that, having revealed the Law of God, they can endure every persecution. They are determined to uphold the Revelation of God against every opposition.
Christ’s Words; “Why has Thou forsaken Me?” Bahá’u’lláh says Jesus was overwhelmed and the human element in Him became impatient. Jesus has His moments of fear and agitation, and this sentence reveals it. The Prophets have their moments of fear and agitation; the human element is always there in the Prophet.
The body of the Manifestation and His Soul have a beginning — because this part of them is human. But the spark of God in them partakes of the pre-existence of God.
The human element in the Prophets is human, but the power working through their atoms is from God, is stronger than in other humans. The soul works through our bodies... the Spirit of God through Theirs. If the Prophets were apart from us entirely how could we know them? They have something in common with us, in other words, Their human bodies, which are subject to sickness, etc.
The soul will see the Prophets in the next world. They have always existed as themselves.
Any specified science, etc, is outside of the province of the Prophet in the sense that He does not wish to pronounce upon it. We must always disassociate the human part of the Manifestation from His Spirit. It is the rule that the powers of the Manifestation are stronger; His sense of beauty; his memory; His power of endurance and strength. It is the Spirit in Him that is more powerful. This does not mean that the body of the Manifestation is of a different stuff — no, keen is the word, everything in Him is keener. This is due to His unique Spirit, but does not mean His atoms are different. His body is not of a different order than that of human beings, they are all the same. Although the body is the same the soul is not the same.
It is not a more intense reality, it is of a different order, quite different. If the body shows a keener perception it is due to this soul. The Master, the Guardian, the Saints, all else apart from the Prophets belong to the human order.
A The Báb
B Bahá’u’lláh
C ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
D Administrative Order
( I. Guardianship
( a. Hands of Cause
BAHÁ’Í ( b. Other Hands
(
DISPENSATION ( II. Universal House of Justice
( a. National Houses.
( b. Local Houses.
(As drawn by Shoghi Effendi.)
The Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the administrative order are the correct way of mentioning the Cause. The administration was conceived by Bahá’u’lláh, but matured in the womb of the Master’s mind. Bahá’u’lláh is its Father, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, its Mother. The Guardian is the interpreter, the House of Justice the legislator. Formerly all other Faiths had one person as these two things; the Caliphate, the Primate and the Pope. Revelation has three aspects: God the Revealer, the Prophet, and His successor appointed by Him. The Guardian may be the heart, but the heart is part of the body, the Administrative Order is the body.
The World Order was anticipated as announced by the Báb, conceived by Bahá’u’lláh and formulated by the Master, and is now being built by the Bahá’ís.
Bahá’u’lláh abrogates, modifies and augments the Báb’s laws. The laws of the Báb went into effect for about 19 years. Bahá’u’lláh revealed His laws only after His arrival in ‘Akká. The interval must be short between a fore-runner and a Manifestation. It happened the fore-runner was a Prophet — a law-giver. Years are not of much importance. God can cause the fruit to ripen very fast. The first intimation was in the dungeon in Ṭihrán. 19 years after the Báb’s declaration He declared Himself in Baghdád. The most stirring, the most fiery of Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets were revealed in Adrianople (not yet translated.)
Christianity advocated union, Bahá’u’lláh unity. The world is ready for unity today.
In 1844 the Báb released the forces which were destined to enable mankind to attain maturity. (See “Gleanings” page 77, where Bahá’u’lláh refers to year 60.)
The Báb prophesied that His religion would spread to the whole world. One of the chief causes why this will be possible is because schism has been made impossible in the Cause due to the appointment of a successor in the “Book of the Covenant” and “Will and Testament” therefore there will be no opposition to its spread, such as Protestantism and Catholicism, Shí’ah and Sunní.
Previous religions have been more for the individual than society, whereas this religion is primarily for society.
The “Golden Age” is the maturity of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh and it will start with the unification of the world; that marks its beginning. We have passed the period of infancy and are now in the formative period. As far as this planet is concerned, there is nothing beyond this Golden Age (i.e. unification of entire world.) Thence its endurance for five hundred thousand years, just as the individual States in the U.S.A. united to form one federal government, so the nations of the world will unite to form one federal international government, which is the highest thing for this planet. Every five hundred thousand years a Revelation equal to that of Bahá’u’lláh will appear. The Prophet who next comes has the right to abrogate the whole of the Aqdas if He wishes to, but all Prophets will be under the shadow of Bahá’u’lláh. It is the spiritual influence of Bahá’u’lláh that will over-shadow for five hundred thousand years.
[In the margin of the next paragraph is the typed notation “A. / See / B.” — ed].
He is not sure all the American Bahá’ís recognize that Bahá’u’lláh is the coming of the Father, they identify Him with the coming of Jesus and think the Father is God and cannot appear. When we say Bahá’u’lláh is a final Revelation of God to mankind, when the Father appears, it means the fullest Revelation has appeared. The followers in every Revelation believe it is the final one. The Bahá’ís must not believe this, there is no finality: “From the beginning that has had no beginning to the end that has no end.” In the Gospel is only a reference to the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. The Qur’án refers to both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.
He strongly feels we must safeguard the integrity of the Cause, its purity, in presenting it to the public. Not to make compromises, not to dilute the teachings to please the public. When you compromise you undermine the integrity of the Cause. Everything is being compromised in these days. In teaching we must start with the spiritual principles of the Cause, as the Master did. The laws are not mild, they are hard bread, we must wait until they have teeth for it.
In the Aqdas the House of Bahá’u’lláh, and the House of the Báb in Shíráz are established as the pilgrimage — the friends can choose one or the other. This is a law, obligatory for men, optional for women; this is a rule in favour of women. The institution of pilgrimage is to these two Houses. We visit Haifa and the Shrines. The House of Bahá’u’lláh takes precedence over that of the Báb. The Qiblih and the pilgrimage are the same in Islám, but in the Cause they are separate.
This is a stage in the evolution of the Cause, being persecuted by the politicians. They are afraid of the Administration. The reason why the German Government does not oppose the Cause is because their numbers are negligible. He does not think the Cause in the West will reach the stage of sufficient numbers and importance to be opposed by the Government before the next war. The fall of Western Civilization is really the destruction of the whole fabric of civilization, East and West. There will be a mass reaction in favour of the Cause — entering the Cause in troops. The Cause is now being consolidated, but not yet proclaimed. It will be proclaimed after the next war. This teaching work and construction of the Administration is only the first step to enable the Spirit to function in the body; it is more than a new religion, it is a new type of civilization. He prefers Bahá’í Faith to Bahá’ísm. It is all so simply expressed by Bahá’u’lláh and the Master, that the friends have failed to realize its greatness.
Bahá’u’lláh has come primarily to organize humanity and this cannot be done without Justice.
The Cause is impelled forward through crises. The spread of the Cause precipitates crises, and the crises gives the spread of the Cause a chance to overcome it, and the solution of the crisis through the operation of the Cause facilitates the spread of the Cause.
Growth, crisis, and the manifestation of the spirit of the Cause; and then it starts again, further growth, crisis, triumph, etc.
The Báb’s Revelation released the forces required to bring about the maturity of the human race. When we enter the Golden Age of this Cause, then this maturity becomes a fact. The Golden Age is when it yields its fruit. The culmination of a process, the consummation of a cycle, is what is meant by “Knowledge was contained in 27 Letters, two of which have been revealed before the coming of the Báb.” When the world is unified it marks the beginning of a development, which is world civilization. The coming of age of humanity marks the beginning of the unfoldment of world civilization. How could the whole world be unified by the coming of Jesus? — America was not yet discovered. It was too early — premature. In the prayers of Bahá’u’lláh there is reference to: “His Sovereignty” and “His Government.” This passage refers to the last stage in the Bahá’í evolution, when all nations are unified as a Bahá’í Commonwealth. Evil will almost disappear. There is nothing in the Teachings to make us believe there will be a decline. In previous Revelations there was the rise and fall, previous Revelations were preliminary. The character of this Revelation being fundamentally different, its results must be different — there was corruption in other Revelations, there cannot be any in this one, owing to the Administrative Order. Evil will cease to be the force it is at present, it will become negligible.
This is the Law of God. The Prophet appears amongst the most backward of people, they become the greatest. A Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh states that the Government of His land will become the most honored. He feels Persians are quite wrong when they claim, some of them, if not all of them, that it was their capacity that made them worthy of having Bahá’u’lláh appear in their midst; quite the opposite. They should be proud because Bahá’u’lláh has brought about such a change. He has no sympathy with the attitude, in fact very much resents it, that they admire the Cause, love the Cause, because of what it will mean to Persia; in other words a nationalistic viewpoint. The Orthodox standpoint is the Cause first, be ready to sacrifice the interests of Persia to those of the Cause. Not Bahá’u’lláh for Persia, but Persia for Bahá’u’lláh. The national interests must be subordinated to the interests of the Cause.
There is a Bahá’í standard to which everyone must make sacrifices. It is not an American thing. It is God’s Will that America should happen to be the first to build up this new civilization (Bahá’í), it is not that America happens to be superior. The prejudice and corruption prevailing in America is responsible for the initiation of the Bahá’í Civilization in that country first, as the Faith first dawned in the darkness of Persia. Although the Cause was born in the East its proclamation was in the West. There is a Tablet of the Master where He says the mysteries of the Cause will be made manifest in America, etc. What they are establishing is not American, it is Bahá’í, and the Americans themselves must make concessions to it. Is it American that nine people should conduct things and not be responsible to anyone? This is anything but American.
The friends of Persia do not realize it was Persia who lead in the Heroic Age, and now it is America’s turn to make its contribution in the formative period. In the Golden Age they will all be merged into a mysterious entity.
The Báb had His first intimation of His Revelation when He had the dream of drinking the drops of blood that fell from the severed head of the Imám Ḥusayn. The Báb was a descendant of Fáṭimih through Imám Ḥusayn.
The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh were constantly in communication by letter. The first chapters of the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’ were those papers which the Báb sent to Bahá’u’lláh by Mullá Ḥusayn.
In the Name of Bahá’u’lláh the name of Ḥusayn has precedence over the name of ‘Alí. This precedence establishes the greatness of Ḥusayn. Ḥusayn was the 3rd Imám; ‘Alí the first.
It is the worse form of heresy to identify Bahá’u’lláh with God, and when we say He is God, we must be careful to explain the relationship.
Bahá’u’lláh has come primarily to organize humanity and this cannot be done without Justice.
Sinlessness is like the rays of the Sun, inherent. It can be compared to the light of the Sun. Sinlessness means free from error, which is infallibility. There are two kinds of infallibility, one derived, the other inherent. In the case of the Sun, the Manifestation, it is inherent; the other, derived, is like the Moon and its Satellites. The Satellites revolve around the Moon. (Moon is like the Master; the Satellites, the Guardian and International House of Justice) but they receive their light from the Sun. The Master’s statement in His Will makes it clear that they are under the direct guidance of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb. In this connection we must not think of the Báb as part of the Bahá’í dispensation, but the Báb’s Dispensation. As They are both Manifestations the infallibility is derived from two independent Sources. Because infallibility is of two kinds it does not necessarily imply being a Manifestation. The Master is all-knowing, but not the Satellites, the Guardian and the International House of Justice, they are neither all-knowing nor perfect as the Master was. Perfection and omniscience are the attributes of the Master and these are not inherent but derived.
The Master is essentially human, the Prophet essentially divine. The Prophet must assume human form, the human shape in order to reach us. Divinity is not incarnation. Divinity means manifestation, revelation, the mirror. The Master is essentially human but had the attributes of the Prophet. This is the thing that makes Him a mystery.
How can you believe a human being is perfect and all-knowing, this is the paradox — when one starts by saying the Master is human not divine and has the attributes of the Prophet. This is a mystery. The Guardian and the International House of Justice are also human, no divinity should be associated with them. Although they are human, as the Master is, they cannot claim to have the attributes of divinity as He had. They are fundamentally different from the Master as He was from the Manifestation.
The Guardianship and the International House of Justice are the two pillars that support the edifice of the Administrative Order. It is not supported by the members (or their calibre) of the International House of Justice; it has nothing to do with their being representative of the believers, of the National Assemblies, etc., it is the fact that they have been given this derived infallibility. Each of these two pillars has its Satellites; the International House of Justice has its local and national Houses of Justice. The Hands of the Cause are a corporate body, an organized body, these are the Satellites of the Guardian.
All the Prophets following Bahá’u’lláh for 500,000 years are Prophets of constancy, but under the shadow of Bahá’u’lláh and derive their authority from Him, and this authority is so great that they can abrogate the laws of the Aqdas in part or in whole. Their authority is not inherent but derived. See “Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, Page 19, par., “Under the Shadow of the Ancient Beauty.”
[In the margin of the next paragraph is the typed notation “B / See / A” — ed]
Bahá’u’lláh is the greatest figure in this planet’s past and future life because He is the supreme figure associated with the coming of age of the human race. They (future Prophets) are supreme over their generation and Bahá’u’lláh is supreme over them all.
The unique greatness of the Cause: that the Founder should have a forerunner who was a Prophet.
If the followers of Muḥammad all repent, it will be the effect of the prayer in the Master’s Will: the prayer was the means of forgiveness, the denouncing of the enemies to point them out for our protection. Purity of heart, of motive, is not sufficient. We must have faith, faith in God, be spiritually-minded, religiously-minded. One can have faith in God and not believe in the Administration and vice versa.
The influence of the believers is as mysterious as the mysterious way the Manifestations Themselves work. The nearer the believer is to the teachings, to the Manifestations, the more mysteriously he will work. The events taking place in the world react on the individual and help mature the seed of the Cause.
The leading Bahá’í countries are, first Palestine, the Qiblih, (point of prayer) of the Faith, the place of Ascension; second ‘Iráq (Baghdád) Center of Pilgrimage, the place of sojourn; third Persia, the birthplace of the Faith. The Báb said the Manifestation, “He whom God will make manifest” should be the Qiblih, not the place He revealed Himself, not as in Islám, where Mecca is the Qiblih and not the resting place of Muḥammad in Medina. These three countries are contiguous, geographically they touch each other.
The Cause of God has always been born in the East. The Administrative center has shifted to the West and then been reflected back into the East. The civilization begotten by the Faith was born in the West. Hence the Sun of Civilization appearing in the West: “O Beauty of God, unveil Thy Face that the Sun may arise from the West,” says Bahá’u’lláh in one of His Odes. The unveiling took place in the East, but the Sun of the Civilization of the Faith arose in the West. There is a Muḥammadan tradition that when the Promised One appears, the Sun will arise in the West.
Five hundred thousand years is an indication of the greatness of this Revelation.
Abraham Lincoln’s vision for the United States is comparable to Bahá’u’lláh’s vision for the whole world. Now it is possible for a man to conceive of a greater destiny for the United States, a destiny incorporating her in the Federation of World States, encompassing the whole world. This is comparable to that Prophet who may appear after 500,000 years, and who would do the same thing for the planets. Inter-planetary, which corresponds to the incorporation of the United States with other nations. A scientist says there can be beings, not human beings, outside this planet. The cosmos includes many universes, as these are infinite and space is infinite, so divine revelation is infinite. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is the biggest thing for this planet, because it has united it and there is nothing beyond unity. Is there anything beyond world unity for this planet? That is the answer. That is why it marks the coming of age of humanity — world unity. If there were at least one more planet, if science had discovered it, gotten in close touch with it, then a greater Revelation than Bahá’u’lláh would be needed to create the unity of these two planets.
Revelation has had no beginning and will have no end. But divine revelation has had a beginning and will have an end on this earth. Isaiah prophesied 3,000 years ago the prophecy of the coming of age of humanity; the lamb and the lion will lie down together, the Kingdom of God on earth is nothing but the stage of maturity — the coming of age of humanity. It has also a political connotation and this will be fulfilled at the Coming of the Golden Age. This is for the German believers to realize (Isaiah being a Jewish Prophet.) Christ’s prophecy of “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done, etc.,” is a vague, hazy statement, compared to the prophecy of Isaiah. This does not mean Jesus did not make more definite prophecies, just that we did not have them. Justice is the hall-mark of the Kingdom. “Justice filleth the earth as the waters cover the sea,” can be a reference to the International House of Justice. World unity cannot be established unless it is founded on Justice. The lamb and the lion lying down together would require Justice. A strong nation might be a lion, and a weak one a lamb.
A man may be devoted to the Cause and not have a good character. A man may sacrifice his whole life to the Cause and yet have a despicable character. Character is different from faith, from devotion. Laxity in morals is as bad as thieving or lying or back-biting. A young Bahá’í may be devoted, sacrificing, but have moral laxity which is just as bad as stealing or lying. Not all the heroes of the heroic age led saintly lives. We must not confuse a hero with a saint. Hero primarily denotes the attitude of a person towards the Cause. We must not confuse loyalty to the Cause with character. A believer who is loyal, who will sacrifice for the Cause, is a tremendous asset and we must recognize it — but it is not enough. We must have character; a Saint who is a man of action becomes a hero too.
Bahá’u’lláh observed the Ramaḍán all His life and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for 25 years. The Master until the end of His life went to the Mosque and when He died the Muslims came and said the Muḥammadan prayer for the dead for Him. But after His death they were forced to change their policy, because of the declaration of the Muḥammadan religious court made in Egypt, that the Bahá’í Faith is independent; A Muslim is not a Bahá’í, a Bahá’í is not a Muslim. There was a difference of opinion among the Muslims as to the position of the Bahá’ís in relation to Islám, some contending we are a sect of Islám. In Egypt they proved we have laws that abrogate the laws of the Qur’án as their justification for our expulsion from Islám, they went too far. They consulted the Aqdas and then in their verdict quoted the laws of the Aqdas; pilgrimaged, Qiblih, fasting, etc. The Jews in their relation to us are neutral. We have sprung from Islám, it is the parent that opposes.
Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation synchronizes with international unity.
Twenty-five people claimed to be the Promised One in Baghdád. This is the Master’s statement. During the most troubled period when Bahá’u’lláh had left for Sulaymáníyyih, the Báb had appointed no successor. It was the most disturbed period in the history of the Cause. The Master was ten years old at that time. Nabíl says he met the Master at this age, and the Master said; “I am a boy, but I feel old.” Bahá’u’lláh sent Muḥammad-‘Alí to India about 5 years before his passing, He knew what was going to happen. The Master was all alone with the Greatest Holy Leaf after the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh. All the brothers sided with Muḥammad-‘Alí. They expelled the Master and His family from the Mansion. There were almost a hundred people in the Mansion. The Master had no son, his daughters were young. It was only when the first American pilgrims came that it was changed.
After the turmoil of the Covenant breakers came the triumph in America of the Cause, its spiritual consequence was the rise of the Cause in the West. Every crisis in the Cause has its spiritual benefit, spiritual consequence. A crisis suffered by the Master or by the Cause has its direct spiritual effect in the Cause. It was a very severe test to the believers when the whole family sided with Muḥammad-‘Alí. The Master had no Sons, no man in His family to send messages by to the believers. His sense of mourning for Bahá’u’lláh was deepened by His family turning against Him. This was dispersed by the arrival of the first pilgrims from the West. The rise of the Armenians in Egypt against the Spiritual Assembly which they tried to undermine by establishing a “Scientific Society” and which they fought against is an example of this law. They sought to fight against the Spiritual Assembly and after this, as a direct spiritual consequence of it, came the first Bahá’í Convention in Egypt, the establishment of the N.S.A., and the pronouncement of the Muslim authorities, of the independence of the Faith. He believes all this was the direct consequence of the affair of the Armenians. Like Herrigal and Mrs. White in Germany; now Germany has been resurrected. But for this bitter experience, this agony, the Administration would not have been established. Khayru’lláh led to the beginning of the establishment of the Administration in America. The turmoil is the cause, and the rise and consolidation of the movement, the effect. Crises, trials and tests are like spiritual food — they feed the body of the Cause — they do not subvert it, because there is a foundation, the tempest does not uproot the Cause it reinforces its roots. The Cause works in a mysterious way. It has its ups and downs, its ups and downs. The Cause is growing and as it grows it must show signs of disorder. If there is no disturbance in the Cause it is a sign of stagnation. The greater the growth of the Cause the greater will be the disturbances which the Cause itself originates. This does not mean that every one of the disturbances is God-sent; the lesser disturbances are due less to the attacks of its enemies than to the unwisdom of its friends. We must not lose heart, get discouraged. The completion of the Temple (in America) will arouse agitation in the Cause. The achievement of such a triumph of the Cause will itself arouse turmoil; it will arouse its watchful enemies. The Muḥammadans are destined to oppose the Cause very fiercely in India, the Hindus in the distant future. The wailing and lamenting of China and India, which the Master referred to — (These allusions are in a Tablet of the Master addressed to the Great Afnán, the cousin of the Báb,) is this opposition of the Hindus and Buddhists to the Cause. Opposition is not yet even born in America. It will spread from America to England. The declaration of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád, His banishment from Persia which preserved His life, were all the direct consequence of the martyrdom of the Báb. His Tablets to the kings and rulers were the result of His banishment to Constantinople and Adrianople just after He had declared Himself and things were better. The fulfillment of all biblical prophecies was again the result of His being exiled to ‘Akká, where no one thought He would ever survive.
The violation of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh had as its first direct consequence, the establishment of the Cause in the West. As the Master was waiting for the ship to come and take Him away, He wrote the Tablet to the Great Afnán. He does not think the friends realize that the crisis begets the triumph, just as the coming war is the begetter of the Most Great Peace. Every crisis in God’s plan is but the prelude to a triumph.
Luther could have never opposed the pope, nor Paul, Peter, if the terms of the Bible had been at all like this Dispensation. Peter was so simple he divided his food into seven portions and when he arrived at the last one he knew it was the day of rest. Forty days after the death of Muḥammad the schism started in Islám. Sunní means democratic in Arabic: “Majority of the people,” Shí’ah means “Upholding the family of the Prophet.” Umar appealed to the democratic element, “He said the people have to elect the successor.” We must become Shí’ah Muslims before becoming Bahá’ís. No Bahá’í in the West can be called a Bahá’í unless he is first Muslim (believer in Muḥammad’s revelation and teachings and the Imáms) and a Sunní Muḥammadan can never become a Bahá’í unless he becomes first a Shí’ah Muslim. The Sunnís were following a false line, they must recognize their error and accept the Shí’ah truth and then this Revelation. The fact that the Báb is a lineal descendant of Muḥammad is sufficient proof for us that the line of the Imám Ḥusayn (son of ‘Alí, son-in-law of the Prophet) was the authentic one. Could the Báb have descended from a line of usurpers? In the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s tribute to the Imám Ḥusayn could we doubt it? So must the Jews first become Christians, then Shí’ah Muḥammadans, then Bahá’ís. Paul usurped the right of Peter as the Caliphs usurped the right of ‘Alí. The Bahá’ís must sympathize with Peter as they do with ‘Alí, because both had their rights usurped.
In Christianity there are two weak points; There was no right of interpretation given definitely, and it was vague as far as the succession was concerned. Also no administrative Principles in the Gospels, no administrative order has been given. No statement that Peter is the sole successor and interpreter, thus giving a chance for Paul to say He is the co-successor; nor does the succession invest any successors after Him with the same authority. One of the reasons why we consider Islám an improvement on Christianity is because we have the laws, Pilgrimage, Fasting, Marriage, Inheritance; these were all in the Qur’án from the Founder and could not be corrupted by either Sunnís or Shí’ah. This was an improvement of Muḥammadanism over Christianity, because of these administrative institutions and laws. There is not one reference in the Qur’án to succession, but traditions were enough to give the succession to ‘Alí, but as no quotations could be found in the Qur’án to substantiate these, the Sunnís rebelled. Now comes the Bahá’í Revelation.
In the Bahá’í Revelation we have the institutions and laws and succession. The Báb referred to it, but it was vague again. In the Gospel there is a reference to succession, but no administrative principles, institutions or order. In the Qur’án there is reference to administrative principles, laws, etc., but no reference to the succession. The Bábí Revelation referred to both, but vaguely. The Bahá’í Revelation has administrative institutions established by Bahá’u’lláh and made clear in the Master’s Will and Testament. The Master’s Will appointed both the successor and interpreter.
No other Revelation has this. Forty days after the death of Muḥammad the schism occurred, the Caliph rejected ‘Alí. The split in Christianity was not Luther, but Paul versus Peter. Decline is an inevitable result of schism. There can be no schism in this Cause, hence no decline. Differences are inevitable, but schism is impossible in the Cause. One is inevitable, the other impossible. The Cause is like the body of a man, growing continuously, and crises occur which are a sign of growth. There will always be crises even in the Golden age. The Golden Age will witness no decline. It is a new phase — the Golden Age. The Báb says: “All the world will accept My Revelation.”
After all Peter was the most stupid among the Apostles, and yet he was the successor to Jesus — that is what it amounts to. Umar had more experience, was more powerful, and yet Muḥammad chose ‘Alí. The Bahá’ís must believe in the primacy of Peter as in the primacy of ‘Alí. Many of the traditions quoted by Bahá’u’lláh which He considers as binding in authority as that of Muḥammad (though the station of the Imáms is not the same) are from the Imáms. Peter’s position in relation to Christianity and ‘Alí’s in relation to Islám is represented by two institutions in the Cause: the Guardianship and the International House of Justice.
He considers the mission of the Bahá’ís in the West, more particularly the Americans, is to establish Islám in the West. Even if this Movement had not sprung from Islám, we should establish it, vindicate it, establish its divine origin because it is the later Revelation than Christianity, a step further in Divine Revelation. For its own sake we should do this. Not convert people to its institutions, but to the truth of the Muḥammadan Faith, the Imáms, etc. Now it happens that this fuller Revelation is the parent of the Bahá’í Revelation. A believer can never be considered a believer unless he recognizes the truth of Islám and accepts it as a fuller one than Christianity.
A Bahá’í must first become a Muslim before he becomes a Bahá’í, and how can he do this unless he studies and knows Islám? Not only become a Muḥammadan but a Shí’ah Muḥammadan. We must be wholly detached from our feelings and beliefs, discard them, throw them away. People can appreciate the Cause much better if they are familiar with Islám. Islám is a fuller revelation. It is blasphemy to believe that Islám was not meant to be a universal religion. There is a point of similarity between our Faith and Islám that does not exist with Christianity because every word is a word of God, divinely revealed, this is not true of the Gospels. The Gospel is so fragmentary, so unreliable, we can scarcely trust everything in it. We cannot be sure these are the exact words of Jesus. The Trinity, for example, each a God and all three Gods are One — they call it a mystery, it is nothing but supposition. The “Beloved” is a new word used by Bahá’u’lláh, it is confined to the Bahá’í teachings.
Secularization will increase in Iraq to such an extent that maybe the Holy Tombs of the Imáms may be desecrated.
Islám will greatly suffer. The Jews were punished for two thousand years. The Muslims — Sunnís and Shí’ahs — will suffer for a long time (because of persecuting the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, opposing the Cause, etc.) It is their turn now to suffer, they will suffer in proportion to their crime. Then it will be the role of the Bahá’ís to vindicate the glory of the Imáms, establish their spiritual position and significance. The important thing to remember about the 12th Imám is that he died — not disappeared — died.
We must teach Islám with courage and not mind criticism.
Mustapha Kemal, an avowed Muslim, overthrew the Caliphate. That is very significant. The Temple of Solomon was destroyed by a Roman, but a Muslim, calling himself one, has dealt such a blow to Islám! The Caliphate and the Sulṭánate were both overthrown by him. How humiliating this is to the Faith of Islám. Mustapha Kemal did it; he overthrew the Caliphate and Sulṭánate, the arch-enemy of this Faith. To re-establish Islám from a spiritual point of view, will be one of the tasks of the Bahá’ís in the Golden Age. To vindicate the spiritual position of the Imáms, not to re-establish the machinery of Islám. It is these crises in the world than unfold to us the importance of these events.
return to Pilgrim Accounts Collection