(From an earlier discussion)
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 97
From: "Ahang Rabbani"
Subject: Re: resalah-yi-hezar masa'lah
Susan jan wrote:
I don't know about the text in question, but every major mujtahid had a book of questions and answers written on their interpretation of Islamic law. Baha'u'llah's Questions and Answers seems to follow this pattern.The difficulty is that there are two schools of thought as how our Risalih Su'al va Javab (Q&A) came into being:
1. Zayn made a compilation of existing Tablets;I for one have never been able to get to the bottom of this issue, and when some years ago when I was hot on the trail of Aqdas I asked the Research Dept, their response was less than conclusive.2. Baha'u'llah told Zayn to ask questions and then offered responses.
If I had to bet, I would bet on the first option, namely that Zayn sat down, read bunch of previously revealed Tablets in response to questions on the laws of Aqdas, made a compilation which he then showed to Baha'u'llah Who OK-ed it. As evidence I offer the Q&A104 (or is it 103?) which is addressed to Badi's father. Also if Zayn, a well-trained jurist, was going to query Baha'u'llah on laws, he would have asked a lot more important ones as some of the present questions are a bit silly and must of have been asked by folks that weren't thinking systematically.
Therefore, I don't think that Baha'u'llah ever wanted a Q&A piece à la what every Muslim mujtahid had written, and it just so happen that Zayn was very interested in this sort of thing (being a mujtahid himself), and as he was copying all the Tablets therefore Baha'u'llah let him make this compilation.
Besides, as Juan and I have mentioned in the past, one can't find two identical copies of Risalih Su'al va Javab, so this suggests that it was not a firm document for many years -- and actually may not have been firmed up until a few years ago, and what criteria was used to finalize it, is not clear to me.
Sorry, this is my long-winded way of saying that I don't believe Baha'u'llah had any real interest in seeing a Q&A produced and the present Q&A is more a reflection of what Zayn was interested to collate than what Baha'u'llah thought humanity needed to have.
love, Ahang.