The ultimate goal of Baha'ism

The ultimate goal of Baha'ism is literal world domination,

"a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united…a world legislature whose members will…ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations…A world executive, backed by an international Force…A world tribunal…A mechanism of world inter-communication…A world metropolis will act as the nerve center of a world civilization….A world language will either be invented or chosen from among the existing languages…A world script, a world literature…currency…weights and measures…A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources"

- Shoghi Effendi quoted in The Bahá'is, A Profile of the Bahá'i Faith and its Worldwide Community (Oakham, Leicestershire, UK: Bahá'í International Community, 1994), p. 75

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Miracle of the Bab

I was blessed to attend a very inspiring talk by Dr. Mark Halabi at North England Summer School last August on the Twin Manifestations. Dr Halabi said that in one tablet Abdu'l-Baha inferred that They did not meet, and in another hinted that They met. He also drew our attention to a very interesting incident that took place during escorting the Bab under tight security from Isfahan to Mah Ku, when the caravan spent a night in the outskirts of Tehran. It was reported that the Bab disappeared for sometime and when he was spotted again His face showed unusual radiance. Here an assumption is made that Baha'u'llah must have come halfway from His residence in Tehran to meet the Bab. (Dawn Breakers was cited as the source of this story). Thanks for raising this fascinating point.

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"Equality of men and women, except in some negligible instances, ..."

The Universal House of Justice wrote on 8 January 1981:

Abdu'l-Bahá asserts: 'In this divine age the bounties of God have encompassed the world of women. Equality of men and women, except in some negligible instances, has been fully and categorically announced. Distinctions have bee utterly removed.' That men and women differ from one another in certain characteristics and functions is an inescapable fact of nature; the important thing is that He regards such inequalities as remain between the sexes as being 'negligible'.

One of these negligible instances is the exclusion of women from the Universal House of Justice—the infallible top-governing body of the Baha'i Faith.

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We will chain a Satan unto him

We conclude Our argument with His words—exalted is He—“And whoso shall withdraw from the remembrance of the Merciful, We will chain a Satan unto him, and he shall be his fast companion.” “And whoso turneth away from My remembrance, truly his shall be a life of misery.”

(Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 257)

Baha'u'llah quotes two verses from the Qur'an to claim that whoever rejects him (i.e. the remembrance of the Merciful) will be chained to Satan and live a life of misery.

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But it is known that the pupil of the eye is black

But it is known that the pupil of the eye is black so as to attract the rays of the sun, for if it were another color—that is, uniformly white—it would not attract the rays of the sun.

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 192-193)

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Christ is Our Word which We communicated unto Mary

Verily, Christ is Our Word which We communicated unto Mary; and let no one say what the Christians term as ‘the third of three’,5 inasmuch as it would amount to slandering the Remembrance Who, as decreed in the Mother Book, is invested with supreme authority. Indeed God is but one God, and far be it from His glory that there should be aught else besides Him.

(Selections from the Writings of the Báb, pp. 60-61)

The phrase, "the third of three", as the fifth footnote states, comes from the Qur'an 5:73:

They have certainly disbelieved who say, "Allah is the third of three." And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.

(Qur'an 5:73)

The Báb accuses the majority of Christians of slandering Christ (i.e. the Remembrance) with their belief in the trinity.

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Declaration of faith of a child

"A Spiritual Assembly may accept the declaration of faith of a child of non-Bahá'í parents, and register him as Bahá'í child, provided the parents give their consent."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom, July 19, 1982)

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Verily, no God is there but Me

Verily, no God is there but Me, the Wronged One, the Exile.

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/TB/tb-29.html

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The glorious Bab forbade association with Covenant-breakers.

The glorious Báb forbade association with Covenant-breakers. Bahá'u'lláh strictly forbade association with the Covenant-breakers, and even warned the friends against entering if possible a city where Covenant-breakers resided, as their poison polluted the entire area. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's teaching with regard to shunning and having no contact whatsoever with the Covenant-breakers is contained in hundreds of Tablets. The beloved Guardian forbade all association with Covenant-breakers and warned that their poison was so deadly, that it was not permissible to have even their literature in one's possession.

(Universal House of Justice, Ministry of the Custodians, pp. 235-236)

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Courageous act of faith...

Already Avarih, the well-known Persian teacher, whom Shoghi Effendi had sent to Europe after the Master's passing to strengthen the faith of the believers, and whom he was later forced to call a "shameless apostate", had left the Cause and begun writing books (and continued for years to write books) against it, attacking not only the Guardian but in the end the Master and Bahá'u'lláh himself in the foulest terms. It is significant that his wife, unlike Mr white, entirely severed herself from him and remained a devoted and much-praised Bahá'í because of her courageous act of faith.

(Mary Maxwell, The Priceless Pearl, p. 120)

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Guardian should appoint another Branch...

As to the appointment of a successor, the Master had stated in His Will and Testament that should the ‘first-born’ of the Guardian not inherit his spiritual qualities, he should appoint another Ghusn (Branch). The word Ghusn has been used by Bahá’u'lláh to signify His male descendants exclusively. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was designated as Ghusn-i-A’zam (The Most Great Branch) and Shoghi Effendi as Ghusn-i-Mumtaz (The Chosen Branch). Shoghi Effendi was not in a position to appoint a successor to himself because he had no son and there was not a single Ghusn who was faithful to the Cause of God. Every one of the descendants of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been declared a Covenant-breaker.

The Covenant of Baha'u'llah, p. 378, Adib Taherzdeh

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Baha'u'llah is born !!!

"This is the Dawn whereat was born He Who begetteth not and Who is not begotten."

~Baha'u'llah ( Lawḥ-i-Mawlúd)

1. Say, “He is God, the One. 2. God, the Absolute. 3. He begets not, nor was He begotten.

Quran : 112

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There is no one in the kingdom but Me !

My outer being addresses my inner being and my inner being addresses my outer being uttering: "There is no one in the kingdom but Me, the One True God the Omniscient knower of all things."

- Inscribed in one of Baha'u'llah's many seals.

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Abdul Baha on Bigamy

`Abdu'l-Bahá on bigamy, Tablets:

I don't know the dates of these Tablets, perhaps Sen McGlinn can help (he translated Tablets 2, 3 and 4)

Tablet 1:
"Know thou that polygamy is not permitted under the law of God, for contentment with one wife hath been clearly stipulated. Taking a second wife is made dependent upon equity and justice being upheld between the two wives, under all conditions. However, observance of justice and equity towards two wives is utterly impossible. The fact that bigamy has been made dependent upon an impossible condition is clear proof of its absolute prohibition. Therefore it is not permissible for a man to have more than one wife". (in Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, note 89, pp. 205-206)

Tablet 2:
"You asked about polygamy. According to the text (nass) of the Divine Book the right of having two wives is lawful and legal (ja'iz). This was never (abadan) prohibited, but it is legitimate and allowed (halal wa mubah). You should therefore not be unhappy, but take justice into your consideration so that you may be as just as possible. What has been said was that since justice is very difficult [to achieve], therefore tranquillity [calls for] one wife. But in your case, you should not be unhappy".(From Amr va Khalq 4:173)

Tablet 3:
"Concerning bigamy [the number of wives], this has been promulgated, and no one must abrogate it (masusast nasikhi nadarad). 'Abdu'l-Bahá has not abrogated this law. These are false accusations and lies (muftariyat-i rufaqast) [spread by] the friends [i.e., Covenant- breakers?]. What I have said is that He [Bahá'u'lláh] has made bigamy bound on a precondition. As long as someone does not attain certitude regarding the capability to practice justice and his heart is not at rest that he can practice justice, he should not be intent upon a second marriage. But if he should be sure and attain certitude that he would practice justice on all levels [and conditions] (dar jami'-i maratib), then a second marriage is lawful. Just as has been the case in the Holy Land (Ardi-i Maqsud): the Bahá'í friends wished to marry a second wife, accepting this pre- condition, and this Servant [i.e., 'Abdu'l-Bahá] never refrained [from giving permission], but insisted that justice should be considered, and justice actually means here self-restraint (daraji-i imtina'). But they said that they will practice justice and wished to marry a second wife. Such false accusations [concerning 'Abdu'l-Bahá's prohibition of bigamy] are the slanderous whisperings (zamzamih) of those who wish to spread doubts [in people's hearts]. And to what degree they already succeed in making matters ambiguous! [Our] purpose was to state that bigamy without justice is not lawful and that justice is very difficult [to achieve]. (Amr va Khalq 4:175-76).

Tablet 4:
"In the Qur'an the word has been revealed "and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice [to so many] then one [only] . . .', indicating that in the presence of God the acceptable judgment is monogamy". (Amr va Khalq 174f.)

If you ask Baha'is : In the Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh allowed bigamy but now Bahá'ís practice monogamy, why?

They answer that `Abdu'l-Bahá interpreted that this law refers only to monogamy because the condition of justice is impossible.

But then you find two tablets where `Abdu'l-Bahá says that bigamy is legal and He did not change the law of Bahá'u'lláh!!

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overdose of opium...

Azal states in an 1890 letter to Edgard Blochet, keeper of the Oriental Manuscripts section of the Bibliotheque National in Paris:

"I simply wanted him [Baha'u'llah] to keep his silence and not compel me to denounce him. In the end he could not contain himself, and by taking an overdose of opium, he threw down the gauntlet, lured thereunto by the temptations of the bald soap-seller [i.e. Mírzá Aqá Ján of Káshán], and by his brother [Mírzá Músá Kalím]."

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The murder of Dayyan

"Mírzá Huseyn 'Alí [Bahá'u'lláh], after a protracted discussion with him [Dayyan], instructed his servant Mírzá Muhammad of Mázandarán to slay him, which was accordingly done"

(Hasht Bihisht, p. 302-303).

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Who poisoned Baha'u'llah?

Baha'u'llah himself attempted to poison his rival (and his own half-brother) Subh-i-Azal. We have an account of this event from multiple sources:

"It was in fact the Mírzá [i.e. Baha’u’llah] who had sought to poison His Holiness [Azal]. [On the day in question] Sultán Khánúm (entitled the Greatest Holy Leaf), who at the time was still a believer in her most august uncle [i.e. Azal], with blinks and glances, [when the food was brought out by the servants] indicated that that he [Azal] should not partake of the meal placed before him. When the Mírzá [i.e. Bahá’u’llah] insisted that His Holiness should eat, His Holiness refused, thereupon the aforementioned saw that His Holiness had become appraised of their evil intentions [i.e. to kill him], and therefore, in order to deflect attention [from the deed], he proceeded to eat a few portions from that plate of food himself. Immediately his [i.e. Baha’u’llah’s] state was overturned [i.e. he became violently ill]. He then threw the plate of food in the courtyard outside. In that yard there was a dog who immediately began to eat [the discarded food] and thereupon fell dead shortly thereafter. When the Mírzá beheld this scene, he was immediately embarrassed, and so sought out a physician. After regaining his health, he proceeded to spread rumours that His Holiness [Azal] had attempted to poison him." (The True Acccount of Takur of Nur, p. 43-44).

"The first juggle and trick of sorcery which he [i.e. Baha] outlined was this, that he brought to Hazrat-i Azal [i.e. Subh-i Azal] a dish of plain food, with one side of which he had mixed with some poison, intending to poison His Holiness. For hitherto the apportioned breakfast and supper of His Holiness the Fruit [Hazrat-i Thamara, one of the titles conferred on Subh-i Azal by the Point] had been from the house of Mirza Husayn Ali [i.e. Baha]. When that poisoned dish was placed before His Holiness, Mirza Husayn Ali pressed him to partake of it. By a fortunate chance the smell of onions was perceptible in the food, and His Holiness, being averse to taste it. Mirza Husayn Ali continued to press him urgently to eat. He replied, “it smells of onions, I will not eat it; if it is so good, eat it yourself. From this answer Mirza Husayn Ali supposed that His Holiness had divined his evil design, and, simply put the view of disguising the truth and putting a better appearance on the matter, ate a little from the other side [i.e. the unpoisoned side] of the dish, in order that the suspicion of His Holiness might perhaps be dispelled and he might eat the poisoned side. But His Holiness, because of the smell of onion would not eat." (Hasht Bihisht, p. 304-305).

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he that loveth Me not is indeed of the poor and needy.

The essence of wealth is love for Me; whoso loveth Me is the possessor of all things, and he that loveth Me not is indeed of the poor and needy. This is that which the Finger of Glory and Splendour hath revealed.

The source of all evil is for man to turn away from his Lord and set his heart on things ungodly.

The most burning fire is to question the signs of God, to dispute idly that which He hath revealed, to deny Him and carry one’s self proudly before Him.

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/TB/tb-11.html

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Respect and regard for the Branches is incumbent upon all

545. Respect and regard for the Branches is incumbent upon all for the honoring of the Religion and the exaltation of the Word; and this Command hath been both previously and afterwards recorded and mentioned in the Books of God. Blessed is he who attaineth to that which hath been commanded from the Presence of the Command, the Pre-Existent!

Respect is enjoined also for the ladies of the Household of God, and the Twigs and Relations. I enjoin you to the service of the nations and to the pacification of the world.

(Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 261)

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..brethren in his Faith..

The beginning of magnanimity is when man expendeth his wealth on himself, on his family and on the poor among his brethren in his Faith.

- Baha'u'lláh

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/TB/tb-11.html

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My work is perfect

My work is perfect and My command is binding. Question it not, nor have a doubt thereof.

- Bahá’u’lláh, The Arabic Hidden Words 12

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Miracles of Baha'u'llah

Did you know that there were more than ten assassination attempts on the life of Baha'u'llah in the course of close to fifty years (1844-92), but instead, God meant for this Manifestation of God to live His life and produce some one hundred volumes of Holy Words for posterity in spite of the most severe tortures, imprisonment, deprivations, and exiles?

The first attempt was actually an order to be shot to death by none other than Muhammad Shah, the weakling and corrupt Qajar King, but as fate had it, the man was dead at the age of 40 before his vile edict was carried out and the order was thus repealed.

Several additional attempts were made by Mirza Buzurg Khan, Persia's ambassador to Iraq as well as Sheikho'l-Araghin a vile and powerful mulla in Iraq and the accomplice they chose to carry out their vile intent, Reza Turk. Reza Turk could not carry this out the first time around when he faced Baha'u'llah face-to-face in the public bath. The second time around, Reza Turk came face-to-face with Baha'u'llah while He was walking in a street in the city of Baghdad with His brother, Kalim. But the soonest, Reza Turk came close to Baha'u'llah, he started trembling and the revolver fell off his hand. Baha'u'llah asked Agha Kalim to hand him the revolver and send him on his way!

The last attempt on His life was by a powerful mulla, Sheikh Mahmood, in Akka where Baha'u'llah was still a prisoner. When the guard came to Baha'u'llah and told Him that He has a visitor (the Sheikh), Baha'u'llah told the guard that he can come back to visit Me after he puts his revolver aside. So the Sheikh came a second time without a revolver believing that He can kill Baha'u'llah with His own bare hands. Baha'u'llah told the guard to tell the man to come back for a visit when he can purify his heart... Awhile later, Sheikh Mahmood had a dream remembering what he had intended in this regard. He then goes to visit Baha'u'llah with a pure heart ... and declares his faith in Baha'u'llah after the encounter!!!

Excerpts from "Baha'u'llah, the Promise of All Ages" by Dr. Hooshidar Motlagh, in Farsi, pp 115 -121

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People who are inactive should not automatically be removed

People who are inactive should not automatically be removed from the voting list....

- Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, dated April 25, 1947, to an individual believer

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At the beginning of the Cause, for certain reasons, He smoked a little...

One of these last prohibitions is the smoking of tobacco, which is unclean, malodorous, disagreeable and vulgar and of which the gradual harmfulness is universally recognized. All clever physicians have judged, and have also shown by experiment, that one of the constituents of tobacco is a mortal poison and that smokers are exposed to different indispositions and maladies. That is why cleanly people have a marked aversion for its use.

His supreme Highness the Báb—may my soul be His sacrifice! —in the beginning of His Cause, openly forbade it and all the friends abandoned its use. But, as it was a time for caution and he who abstained from smoking was ill treated, persecuted and even killed, therefore the friends were obliged, as a matter of prudence, to smoke. Later, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas was revealed and as the prohibition of tobacco was not clearly stated in it, the friends did not renounce it. But the Blessed Perfection had always a marked aversion for its use. At the beginning of the Cause, for certain reasons, He smoked a little, but later He abandoned it completely, and the holy souls who obeyed Him in all circumstances, also entirely gave up smoking. I wish to say that, in the sight of God, the smoking of tobacco is a thing which is blamed and condemned, very unclean, and of which the result is by degrees injurious. Besides it is a cause of expense and of loss of time and it is a harmful habit. So, for those who are firm in the Covenant, it is a thing reprobated by the reason and by tradition, the renouncement of which giveth gradual repose and tranquility, permitteth one to have stainless hands and a clean mouth, and hair which is not pervaded by a bad odor.


- Abdul Baha

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/c/BWF/bwf-36.html

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Shoghi Effendi about Africa

In passage below he says [referring to Africa], "DARK SPIRITUALLY DECADENT CONTINENT", "BRIGHTEN ITS JUNGLE FASTNESSES", "WORLD'S BACKWARD RACES". In next passage he also states, "child-like members of some of these primitive races"

...TOILING TRIUMPHANT VALOROUS HIGH MINDED COMMUNITY RECRUIT FORCES WITNESSED UNEXPECTED DISPLAY VIGOROUS ACTIVITY RESULTING FIRST VICTORIES AFRICAN FIELD PRESERVATION LABORIOUSLY ESTABLISHED ASSEMBLIES LENGTH BREADTH BRITISH ISLES. TWO YEAR PLAN NOW OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED DEMANDS CONTINUOUS UNSTINTED SYSTEMATIC SUPPORT NATIONAL ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES ALL LOCAL ASSEMBLIES RANK FILE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. AUSPICIOUS RAYS GOD'S DAWNING REVELATION WHICH FIRST STRUCK CORNER VAST DARK SPIRITUALLY DECADENT CONTINENT COURSE BAHÁ'U'LLÁH'S MINISTRY WHICH WARMED ILLUMINATED ITS NORTHERN SOUTHERN FRINGES CONCLUDING YEARS HEROIC AGE FAITH MUST NOW PENETRATE ITS HEART BRIGHTEN ITS JUNGLE FASTNESSES ENVELOP IT WITH SPLENDOUR THEIR RADIANCE COURSE PRESENT SUCCEEDING EPOCHS FORMATIVE AGE BAHÁ'Í DISPENSATION. CONFIDENT BRITISH BAHÁ'Í COMMUNITY WILL ARISE BEFITTINGLY MEET CHALLENGE NOW CONFRONTING IT ACHIEVE THREEFOLD PURPOSE PLAN. PRAYING ENERGETIC COLLABORATION PROSECUTORS `ABDU'L-BAHÁ'S DIVINE PLAN WITH COMMUNITY BELIEVERS BELONGING NATION WHOSE DESTINY BEEN LINKED FORTUNES WORLD'S BACKWARD RACES REINFORCED ASSISTANCE SISTER COMMUNITY CRADLE FAITH NATIONAL ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES LEADING COMMUNITY AFRICAN CONTINENT MAY ENSURE SUCCESS CRUSADE CONSTITUTING SPIRITUAL LANDMARK PROCESS AWAKENING AFRICAN PEOPLES MARKING OPENING GLORIOUS CHAPTER EVOLUTION WORLD FAITH BAHÁ'U'LLÁH

Shoghi Effendi, Unfolding Destiny, p. 263

In one of your letters you mentioned some ... who have visited the London Centre and their attitude: great patience must be used in dealing with the child-like members of some of these primitive races. They are innocent in heart and have certainly had a very bad example, in many Christians, of a purely mercenary approach to religion, but if their hearts and minds once become illumined with the Faith they could make very fine believers.

Shoghi Effendi, The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha'i Community, p. 212

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...but only Baha’is can do the work which God !

There are many well-wishers of mankind who devote their efforts to relief work and charity and to the material well-being of man, but only Bahá’ís can do the work which God most wants done. When we devote ourselves to the work of the Faith we are doing a work which is the greatest aid and only refuge for a needy and divided world.

- UHJ's Letter dated 8 February 1970 – To National Spiritual Assemblies in Africa

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