The attitude of the Bahá'ís must be one of complete aloofness

"There is one fundamental point which Shoghi Effendi wishes me to emphasize. By the principle of non-interference in political matters we should not mean that only corrupt politics and partial and sectarian politics are to be avoided, but that any pronouncement on any current system of politics connected with any government must be shunned. We should not only take sides with no political party, group or system actually in use, but we should also refuse to commit ourselves to any statement which may be interpreted as being sympathetic or antagonistic to any existing political organization or philosophy. The attitude of the Bahá'ís must be one of complete aloofness...."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, March 2, 1934, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1468)

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Shoghi Effendi on Gandhi

Just as our selection of causes to support must be made with open eyes, so we must avoid blindly riding on hero-worship bandwagons. From even before the time many North American Bahá'ís naively adopted President Wilson as the knight on a white horse who was God’s tool to inaugurate the Bahá'í millennium, Bahá'ís have tended to look outside the Faith for leaders to follow in social causes (not, of course, that this is surprising if the institutions of the Faith do not provide such leadership). This is reflected in a recent issue of Brilliant Star in which the Bahá'ís children were offered as models Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Of Gandhi himself, Shoghi Effendi said that Bahá'ís should be careful as to how they identified themselves with him as, however we might feel about some of his goals, we could not approve all his means, and such a comment obviously applies also to those who follow Gandhi’s methods. While the stature of Gandhi gave a certain legitimacy to the hunger strike, this is really the political equivalent of the child in the grocery store threatening to hold his breath until he turns blue in the face unless he gets what he wants, and it has achieved singularly little success, and often even less dignity, when essayed by others. The current popularity of “fasts” for peace and the like may have some symbolic validity, but whether it does or not and what they symbolize needs to be carefully considered. Obviously, some of the methods of mass action advocated by Gandhi and his followers, such as civil disobedience, are simply unavailable to Bahá'ís as they constitute illegal acts. Other aspects of his movement, such as the homespun crusade, may indeed have useful lessons for Bahá'ís. Thus, although Gandhi may be superficially seen as a good model of social action for Bahá'ís and their children, at even a cursory glance beyond the twinkling spectacles we find that he is no more completely acceptable than someone like Karl Marx—to pull out of the hat a name that seems a likely theoretical opposite in respect of Bahá'í regard. The philosophies of both of these social thinkers have positive and negative aspects from a Bahá'í point of view, and Bahá'ís should avoid easily swallowing the larger society’s views on such figures.

(Politics, Text, and Context: In Search of the Bahá'í Revolution by R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram, published in dialogue 1:3, pp. 20-23, Los Angeles: 1986)

https://bahai-library.com/armstrong-ingram_politics_bahai_revolution

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Did Rothschild died for want of a piece of bread? Super Human speaks.

Rothschild possessed much wealth. At last he died for want of a piece of bread.

(Vol. 152: Writings and Utterances of Abdu’l-Baha, 1912, part II (Apr-May) ABU0344)

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/p/phelps_inventory_vol_152_Writings-and-Utterances-of-Abdul-Baha-1912-part-II-(Apr-May).pdf

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"it wasn't my cup of tea"

"I was a member of the Baha'i faith when I was young, but for various reasons it wasn't my cup of tea in the end, that's all I would say about it."

-Juan Cole (Nov. 2026)

Timestamp : 02:12:13

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHdXQDBkYNg

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Kawthar of My mouth

I have caused the living waters to issue from the Kawthar of My mouth, even as I have concealed the living sun behind My hair.

(Baha'u'llah - Tablet of the Hair 2)

https://oceanoflights.org/catalog/BH11210_tablet-of-the-hair/

https://afnanlibrary.org/d/inba_v051/?page=590

My hair is My Veil whereby I conceal My beauty, that haply the eyes of the non-believers among My servants may not fall upon it. Thus do We conceal from the sight of the ungodly the glorious and sublime beauty of Our Countenance.

(Baha'u'llah - Tablets of the Hair, published in Bahá'í News 121, p. 11 - 1938-12)

Physical locks of Bahá’u’lláh's hair were preserved following His ascension, notably arranged and cared for by His daughter, the Greatest Holy Leaf, Bahíyyih Khánum. Portions of these sacred locks were sent by Shoghi Effendi to various national Bahá’í communities—including Australia in 1938 and the intercontinental conferences in Kampala, Sydney, and Frankfurt in 1953—to be enshrined in archives or placed within the foundational structures of continental Houses of Worship.

https://notebook.google.com/notebook/5eff8d63-61c9-4a96-80ad-779cbe11d156

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He who hesitates in this Cause hath not attained unto maturity and is recorded in the Mother Book as a suckling babe

Baha'u'llah declares: "Say: Verily, he who hath not believed in God is but a suckling, even though seventy years may have passed over him." (BH07611)

In another tablet, He writes: "Verily he who hesitates in this Cause hath not attained unto maturity and is recorded in the Mother Book as a suckling babe, feeding on the milk of heedlessness from the breast of vain imaginings." (BH10666)

https://notebook.google.com/notebook/5eff8d63-61c9-4a96-80ad-779cbe11d156

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A one-year-old Baha'i child excels the wisest and most venerable men of Bayan

O My Letters! ...The newly born babe of that Day excels the wisest and most venerable men of this time, and the lowliest and most unlearned of that period shall surpass in understanding the most erudite and accomplished divines of this age….

(The Báb, quoted in ‘The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation’ trans. and ed. Shoghi Effendi, p. 65​)

https://oceanoflights.org/bahai-education-001-en/

In the Kitab-i-Badi' and numerous tablets from 'Akka, Baha'u'llah quotes the Bab's declaration that "a one-year-old child in the time of Him Whom God shall make manifest is mightier than all who are in the Bayan" (BH01637, BH07611)

https://notebook.google.com/notebook/5eff8d63-61c9-4a96-80ad-779cbe11d156

He had, moreover, declared that He was the “first servant to believe in Him,” that He bore Him allegiance “before all things were created,” that “no allusion” of His “could allude unto Him,” that “the year-old germ that holdeth within itself the potentialities of the Revelation that is to come is endowed with a potency superior to the combined forces of the whole of the Bayán.” He had, moreover, clearly asserted that He had “covenanted with all created things” concerning Him Whom God shall make manifest ere the covenant concerning His own mission had been established. He had readily acknowledged that He was but “a letter” of that “Most Mighty Book,” “a dew-drop” from that “Limitless Ocean,” that His Revelation was “only a leaf amongst the leaves of His Paradise,”

(The Bab, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in God Passes By)

https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/god-passes-by.xhtml?9835d5b8

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The Bab declared that a one-year-old child of the Baha'i faith is mightier than all who are in the Bayan.

O thou child in the school of ignorance, thou art not yet mature, for wert thou mature, thou wouldst not occupy thyself with such words. Fie upon thee and what thou possessest, and what thou hast used as proof, and that wherein thou takest delight! The truly mature ones today are they who have recognized the Manifestation of the Lord of all worlds and are established upon the thrones of certitude and dignity. For thee and thy like, it is most difficult to rend these veils, yet God, exalted be His praise, hath souls who, through His breaths, shall rend all veils. These are they whose very beings hold sway over all who are in the Bayan, as do their words, their deeds, and their knowledge. Even as the Point of the Bayan hath declared that a one-year-old child of the next Revelation is mightier than all who are in the Bayan.

(Vol. 35: The Kitab-i-Badi’ (1866) BH00004)

https://bahai-library.com/pdf/p/phelps_inventory_vol_35_The-Kitab-i-Badi-(1866).pdf

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After Bahá’u’lláh many Prophets will, no doubt, appear, but they will be all under His shadow.

Bahá’í scholars and writers will, no doubt, gradually appear, and will as promised by Bahá’u’lláh lend a unique support to the Faith. But in the meantime, we should note tarry, or slacken in our efforts.

Concerning your question relative to the duration of the Bahá’í Dispensation. There is no contradiction between, Bahá’u’lláh’s statement in the Iqán about the renewal of the City of God once every thousand years, and that of the Guardian in the “Dispensation” to the effect that the Bahá’í cycle will extend over a period of at least 500,000 years. The apparent contradiction is due to the confusion of the terms cycle and dispensation. For while the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh will last for at least one thousand years, His Cycle will extend still farther, to at least 500,000.

The Bahá’í cycle is, indeed, incomparable in its greatness. It includes not only the Prophets that will appear after Bahá’u’lláh but all those who have preceded Him ever since Adam. These should, indeed, be viewed as constituting but preliminary stages leading gradually to the appearance of this supreme Manifestation of God.

After Bahá’u’lláh many Prophets will, no doubt, appear, but they will be all under His shadow. Although they may abrogate the laws of this Dispensation in accordance with the needs and requirements of the age in which they appear, they nevertheless draw their spiritual force from this mighty Revelation. The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh constitutes, indeed, the stage of maturity in the development of mankind. His appearance has released such spiritual forces which will continue to animate, for many long years to come, the world in its development. Whatever progress may be achieved in later ages, after the unification of the whole human race is achieved, will be but improvement in the machinery of the world. For the machinery itself has been already created by Bahá’u’lláh. The task of continually improving and perfecting this machinery is one which later Prophets will be called upon to achieve. They will thus move and work within the orbit of the Bahá’í cycle.

(LETTERS FROM THE GUARDIAN, To Leroy Ioas, November 14, 1935 Published in Bahá'í News, No. 102, August 1936, pp. 2-3)

https://bahai.works/Bahá’í_News/Issue_102/Text

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For the next two hundred years, the thoughts of the friends must be limited only to teaching the Cause and guiding souls.

In America, for instance, I associated with all groups and denominations. When I entered their gatherings, if they were members of the clergy, I spoke to them about the functioning of the spirit. If they were philosophers, I spoke of philosophy. If they were Esperantists, I discussed the benefits of a universal language. If they were devout, I cited the fulfillment of religious prophecies in this Most Great Dispensation. If they were unaware of this Cause, I would enumerate for them its teachings and historical events. If they were Theosophists, I would speak of matters relevant to their creed.

[...]

For the next two hundred years, the thoughts of the friends must be limited only to teaching the Cause and guiding souls.

[...]

For the next two hundred years, all thoughts must be limited to the thought of teaching the Cause. It is certainly true that ministering to the weak, educating children, caring for the poor, and tending to the internal affairs of the Faith must all be done, but these matters should not be deemed so important that the task of teaching the Cause is forgotten and discarded. The needs of such teachers, and the obligation of teaching the Cause itself, must first be met. Once trained, these teachers should be sent to the various corners of the world into the midst of every people. Books and treatises which demonstrate the truth of this Cause, as well as holy thoughts that shall make it widely known, should also be promoted and disseminated. After the world has entered beneath the shade of the Word of God, the time will have come to attend to other matters. For example, should one wish to build a place of worship or other edifice, one first prepares the stones, the lumber, the metals, the bricks, and the like; then begins the construction; and last of all undertakes the decoration and gathering of furnishings. If, however, that one should wish to engage, at the very beginning, in decorating and gathering furnishings, it will yield no result; the edifice must be built first.

(A talk given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the original text of which is published in Manáhiju’l-Aḥkám, vol. 2 (also known as INBA, vol. 6), pp. 629–632))

https://adibmasumian.com/translations/abu0992/

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The next morning the owner of the plot himself came to Abdul Baha, apologized and begged him to purchase his property.

Bahá’u’lláh could trust ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with the most difficult of tasks as He knew He would never waver. One such task was that of building a Shrine for the Báb on Mount Carmel, above what was then the small town of Haifa, facing the Mediterranean Sea. One of many obstacles which developed was the owner of the plot, influenced by scheming Covenant-breakers, would not readily consent to sell the land.

‘”Every stone of that building, every stone of the road leading to it,”

He, many a time was heard to remark, “I have with infinite tears and at tremendous cost, raised and placed in position.”

“One night,” He, according to an eye-witness, once observed, “I was so hemmed in by My anxieties that I had no other recourse than to recite and repeat over and over again a prayer of the Báb which I had in My possession, the recital of which greatly calmed Me. The next morning the owner of the plot himself came to Me, apologized and begged Me to purchase his property.”’

Source: https://www.bahaistories.com/subject/anxiety

(Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá)

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UHJ will never infringe upon the sacred domain of the Guardian

Shoghi Effendi has given categorical assurances that neither the Guardian nor the Universal House of Justice “can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other.” Therefore, the friends can be sure that the Universal House of Justice will not engage in interpreting the Holy Writings....

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986)

https://bahai.works/MUHJ63-86/412/The_Universal_House_of_Justice’s_Power_of_Elucidation

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The believers should be careful not to deviate, even a hair-breadth, from the Teachings. Next principle is complete, and immediate obedience to the Assemblies

“The believers should be careful not to deviate, even a hair-breadth, from the Teachings. Their supreme consideration should be to safeguard the purity of the principles, tenets and laws of the Faith. It is only by this means that they can hope to maintain the organic unity of the Cause. There can and should be no liberals or conservatives, no moderates or extremes in the Cause. For they are all subject to the one and the same law which is the Law of God. This law transcends all differences, all personal or local tendencies, moods and aspirations.

Next is the principle of complete, and immediate obedience to the Assemblies, both local and national. It is the responsibility of these Bahá’í administrative bodies to enable the community to acquire, and increasingly deepen in the knowledge and understanding of the Cause. Doctrinal unity and administrative unity, these are the two chief pillars that sustain the edifice of the Cause, and protect it from the storms of opposition which so severely rage against it.”

Shoghi Effendi, September 5, 1936, Dawn of a New Day, p. 60.

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According to an Israeli Newspaper, Baha'is are being persecuted in Iran because their religion is in conflict with almost every dogma promulgated by the Iranian clerics.

According to the Jerusalem Post, one reason Baha'is are being persecuted in Iran is,

The religion's credo is in conflict with almost every dogma promulgated by the Iranian clerics.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/op-ed-contributors/article-137003

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According to ex-Baha'i, Karen Bacquet, Baha'i faith can perhaps be called cult-like

Paradoxically, despite their liberal scriptures, Bahai has been accused of fundamentalism and extremism, especially in the US, where ex-Bahai Karen Bacquet claims the belief in unity led to "severe limits" being placed on followers' freedom of expression. "It would be wrong to regard the Bahai faith entirely as a cult," she writes, but it "can perhaps be called cult-like".

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jul/27/religion.davidkelly

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