Sexual Immorality and Womanizing (Zan Parastī)
The Covenant-breakers are slaves to lust and devoted to women:
- The Covenant-breakers (Nāqiḍīn) are described as being "enslaved to woman-worship (zan parastī) and led by a "cursed chief (raʼīs-i manḥūs)".
- They are characterized as "enslaved to corruption and immorality (fisq wa fujúr)".
- A powerful poem in the book describes them as having "torn the veil of their honor (pardih-yi nāmūs)" due to their intense doubt (shak).
- One of the core accusations leveled against them is that they regarded sacred prohibitions (muḥarramāt) as permissible (ḥalāl). This context suggests that their engagement in "woman-worship" and "corruption" was a violation of established religious laws.
Alcohol and Wine Consumption (Sharāb / Bink)
The Covenant-breakers are frequently linked to the consumption of forbidden substances, including alcohol:
- They are explicitly identified as "merchants of vice and wine (murīd binuk wa sharāb)", indicating habitual use and a deep attachment to these illicit pleasures.
- The word binuk often translates to "vice" or corruption but, along with sharāb (wine/alcohol), suggests indulgence in intoxicating substances.
- Mírzá Muḥammad ʻAlí was specifically noted for drinking alcohol (ṣarf-i mashrūb) and engaging in "unacceptable (pasandīdah nabūd) actions. This detail suggests that the use of alcohol was associated with prominent figures among the Covenant-breakers.
Contrast with Faithful Believers (followers of Abdul Baha)
These accusations of immorality stand in stark contrast to the spiritual and moral ideals frequently presented in the book regarding the faithful:
- The Covenant-breakers are accused of being "steeped in ignorance and polytheism (shirk wa ḍalāl)" and acting "without fear or caution (bī bīm wa bāk)".
- In contrast, believers are praised, and there is a direct reference to the prohibition of opiate drugs and alcohol for the believers. One passage mentions that in the Baháʼí Faith, opium (afyūn) is forbidden (ḥarám).
- A passage attributed to the faithful explicitly cautions, "If you are wise, avoid three things perpetually: opium, hashish (ḥashīsh), and ripe or unripe wine (bādah pukhtah wa khām)" and states that anyone who uses or sells them is "unquestionably lower than livestock (past tar ast az anʻām)".
- The pure wine associated with the faithful is often metaphorical. For instance, drinking wine of devotion (may-i ʻishq) from the cup of Alast and the "wine of purity (khumr-i ṭahūr)". The Covenant-breakers, however, are accused of indulging in the physical vices of binuk wa sharāb.
(Tarikh Zuhur al-Haqq, Vol. 8, by Mirza Asadu’llah Fazil Mazandarani, edited by Adel Shafi'pour)
0 comentários:
Post a Comment