recognize as friends your enemies

You must praise all the individuals amongst mankind. You must even recognize as friends your enemies; you must consider your evil-wishers as your well-wishers. You must not see evil as evil and then compromise, for to so compromise with the one upon whom you look as an enemy, is hypocrisy, and this is not allowable. For one to treat one's enemy in a smooth way, this is hypocrisy. You must consider your enemies as your friends and your evil-wishers as your well-wishers and then treat them accordingly. You must act in such a way that your hearts may be free from hatred of anyone.

(Abdul Baha. Star of the West, Vol. 5, p. 7.)

Read More

Baha'i faith is a world religion not a Babi sect, Asiatic cult or offshoot of Shia Islam

Ceasing to designate to itself a movement, a fellowship and the like—designations that did grave injustice to its ever-unfolding system—dissociating itself from such appellations as Bábí sect, Asiatic cult, and offshoot of Shí‘ih Islám, with which the ignorant and the malicious were wont to describe it, refusing to be labeled as a mere philosophy of life, or as an eclectic code of ethical conduct, or even as a new religion, the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is now visibly succeeding in demonstrating its claim and title to be regarded as a World Religion, destined to attain, in the fullness of time, the status of a world-embracing Commonwealth, which would be at once the instrument and the guardian of the Most Great Peace announced by its Author.

https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/11#088291543

Read More

The Lesser Peace - "It will be universal in the twentieth century."

The Lesser Peace in the Bahá’í Faith is a prophecy of political peace to be established by the nations of the world in order to bring about an end to war. Its establishment will prepare the way for the Most Great Peace, a condition of permanent peace and world unity to be founded on the spiritual principles and institutions of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh and signalizing humanity's coming of age.

'Abdul-Bahá stated in 1912:

“Question: 'Are there any signs that the permanent peace of the world will be established in anything like a reasonable period?' ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was asked.

'It will be established in this century,' he answered, ‘It will be universal in the twentieth century. All nations will be forced into it.'"

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Canada” [Thornhill: Bahá’í Canada Publications, 1987])

In January 23, 1985, the Universal House of Justice sent a letter addressed "To all National Spiritual Assemblies" concerning Bahá’í activities for the International Year of Peace declared by the United Nations, in anticipation of the permanent peace of the world:

"Dear Bahá’í Friends,

1986 has been named the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Considering the dangers surrounding mankind and the remedial prospects of the Lesser Peace to which Bahá’u’lláh has summoned the nations, we embrace this God-sent opportunity to proclaim ever more widely and convincingly the vitalizing principles upon which, as our Teachings emphatically assert, a lasting peace must be founded."

So the 20th century has gone and the prophecy failed miserably. Now they just do mental gymnastic to twist all these information saying the Lesser Peace is ongoing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/txprju/oops_something_went_wrong_with_your_prophecy/

https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/10hflg3/universal_peace_quotes_by_20th_century/

Read More

Violent upheaval and agony because of great failure to respond to Baha'u'llah's instructions

Shoghi Effendi:

"No doubt to the degree we Baha'is the world over strive to spread the Cause and live up to its teachings, there will be some mitigation of the suffering of the peoples of the world. But it seems apparent that the great failure to respond to Baha'u'llah's instructions, appeals and warnings issued in the 19th century, has now sent the world along a path, or released forces, which must culminate in a still more violent upheaval and agony. The thing is out of hand, so to speak, and it is too late to avert catastrophic trials."

- Unfolding Destiny, p.454

Read More

Waging a war for righteous purpose can be a praiseworthy thing!

Abdul Baha says :

“A conquest can be a praiseworthy thing, and there are times when war becomes the powerful basis of peace, and ruin the very means of reconstruction. If, for example, a high-minded sovereign marshals his troops to block the onset of the insurgent and the aggressor, or again, if he takes the field and distinguishes himself in a struggle to unify a divided state and people, if, in brief, he is waging war for a righteous purpose, then this seeming wrath is mercy itself, and this apparent tyranny the very substance of justice and this warfare the cornerstone of peace,”

J. E. Esslemont, Bahā’u’llāh and the New Era, p. 172
http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/o/BNE/bne-140.html

Read More

Best way to serve ones country is to convert it to Baha'ism.

The best way for a Bahá'í to serve his country and the world is to work for the establishment of Bahá'u'lláh's World Order, which will gradually unite all men and do away with divisive political systems and religious creeds.

(Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance, Vol. 1, p. 124)

Read More

The solution given to the world's problems by Baha'u'llah

...the solution given to the world's problems by Bahá'u'lláh is the only solution -- being Divine in origin -- and most desperately needed; therefore we, the few who have caught the vision, should not waste our energies beating up and down the paths pursued by humanity, and which are not solving its ghastly present-day problems. We should concentrate on the Cause, because it is what is needed to cure the world. This is a sound attitude, for if we don't devote ourselves to the Bahá'í work and teaching, who will?

(5 July 1949 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)
(The Compilation of Compilations Vol II, p.273)

Read More

All men will adhere to one religion, will have one common faith.

One of the great events which is to occur in the Day of the manifestation of that Incomparable Branch is the hoisting of the Standard of God among all nations. By this is meant that all nations and kindreds will be gathered together under the shadow of this Divine Banner, which is no other than the Lordly Branch itself, and will become a single nation. Religious and sectarian antagonism, the hostility of races and peoples, and differences among nations will be eliminated. All men will adhere to one religion, will have one common faith, will be blended into one race and become a single people. All will dwell in one common fatherland, which is the planet itself. Universal peace and concord will be established among all nations.

('Abdu'l-Bahá. Some Answered Questions. On the Influence of the Prophets. 12. Commentary of the Eleventh Chapter of Isaiah. Paragraphs. 4-7. Pgs. 73-75)

Read More

Baha'i Faith is the sole panacea for the innumerable ills afflicting our present-day world.

“In connection with your teaching work: What the Guardian wishes you to particularly emphasize in all your talks is the supreme necessity for all individuals and nations in this day to adopt in its entirety the social program given by Bahá’u’lláh for the reconstruction of the religious, economic and political life of mankind. He wishes you to explain and analyze the elements that help in raising this Divine World Order in the light of the present-day events and conditions in the world. Special stress, he feels, should be laid on the impending necessity of establishing a super-national, and sovereign world state, as the one described by Bahá’u’lláh. With the world becoming increasingly subject to tumults and convulsions never experienced before, the realization of such a necessity is entering into the consciousness of not only the wise and learned, but of the common people as well. The believers should, therefore, seize this opportunity to make a supreme effort to present, in convincing and eloquent language, those social and humanitarian teachings of the Faith which we believe to constitute the sole panacea for the innumerable ills afflicting our present-day world.”

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/DG/dg-196.html

Read More

Fundamentalism in the Baha'i Faith

We are accustomed to religious fundamentalists saying, incessantly and even stridently, that the only solution to the problems that the individual person will encounter, or, for that matter, that the family, the neighborhood and municipality, the province, the nation, the world will face, can only be solved by God, and by a particular faith tradition – God's religion. Most Bahá’ís are accustomed to thinking of themselves as progressives, liberals, and not fundamentalists of any kind. How astonishing it may be then, for Bahá’ís and their friends to discover that this doctrine is found in the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.

(Peter Terry, The Sovereign Remedy: A Study of Bahá'í Sources)

Read More

Soon will all that dwell on earth be enlisted under these banners.

‘Soon will all that dwell on earth be enlisted under these banners.’

- God Passes By

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/gpb-12.html

Read More

Universal permanent Peace will be established in the twentieth century.

September 11. On this date in 1912, The Montreal Daily Star reported the following exchange:

"“Are there any signs that the permanent peace of the world will be established in anything like a reasonable period?” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was asked. “It will be established in this century,” he answered, ‘It will be universal in the twentieth century. All nations will be forced into it.”"

http://centenary.bahai.us/news/canada-should-prepare-great-war-coming-says-apostle-peace

Read More

The House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them.

This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the executive (Baha'i Guardian), the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces (The "Twin Pillars"), the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.

- Will and Testament of Abdul Baha

https://bahai.works/Bah%C3%A1%E2%80%99%C3%AD_World/Volume_6/Part_2/Excerpts_from_the_Will_and_Testament_of_%E2%80%98Abdu%E2%80%99l-Bah%C3%A1

Read More

Unity of nations will be established in twentieth century.

On 29th July 1974, the Universal House of Justice admitted "It is true that Abdu'l-Bahá made statements linking the establishment of the unity of nations to the twentieth century."

Peace Will Come

"It is true that Abdu'l-Bahá made statements linking the establishment of the unity of nations to the twentieth century. For example: '...The fifth candle is the unity of nations--a unity which, in this century, will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland....' And, in 'The Promised Day is Come', following a similar statement quoted from 'Some Answered Questions', Shoghi Effendi makes this comment: 'This is the stage which the world is now approaching, the stage of world unity, which, as Abdu'l-Bahá assures us, will, in this century, be securely established.'

"There is also this statement from a letter written in 1946 to an individual believer on behalf of the beloved Guardian by his secretary:

'...All we know is that the Lesser and the Most Great Peace will come--their exact dates we do not know. The same is true as regards the possibility of a future war; we cannot state dogmatically it will or will not take place--all we know is that mankind must suffer and be punished sufficiently to make it turn to God.'"

(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice, July 29, 1974: Ibid.)

http://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance_2.html&chapter=4#n1425

Read More

Universal House of Justice and the world’s future super-state

...recognition of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. ...will the Universal House of Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Bahá’í Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world’s future super-state. 

- Shoghi Effendi

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/WOB/wob-3.html

Read More

Baha’is ultimately seek for the world to become a single super-state with Baha’ism as its religion.

In keeping with their emphasis on unity, Baha’is ultimately seek for the world to become a single super-state with Baha’i as its religion. Shoghi Effendi portrayed this as a commonwealth in which all the peoples of the world would be subject to a single global authority. Nations would wave national sovereignty and relinquish rights to the Baha’i world super-state.” Then there would be cooperation, peace, and sharing among the peoples of the world. Baha’i literature proclaims,

National rivalries, hatreds and intrigues will cease, and racial animosity and prejudice will be replaced by racial amity, understanding and co-operation. The causes of religious strife will be permanently removed, economic barriers and restrictions will be completely abolished, and the inordinate distinction between classes will be obliterated. Destitution on the one hand, and gross accumulation of ownership on the other, will disappear. (Shoghi Effendi)

The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions, Page 217, By Ron Rhodes

Read More

The children of men are being chastised for their refusal of Baha'u'llah

Shoghi Effendi in his letter addressed to the North American Bahá'ís titled "The Anger of God and His Correction" states that the World Wars are God's "direct interposition" being "the rod of both the anger of God and of His correction. The fierceness of its devastating power chastens the children of men for their refusal to acclaim the century-old Message of their promised, their Heaven-sent Redeemer."

http://bahai-library.com/shoghieffendi_this_decisive_hour#s82

Read More

Baha'is await an hour when 'mass conversion' will occur and all nations and races will accept Baha'ism.

This flow (of reinforcements), moreover, will presage and hasten the advent of the day which, as prophesied by `Abdu'l-Bahá, will witness the entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the Bahá'í world--a day which, viewed in its proper perspective, will be the prelude to that long-awaited hour when a mass conversion on the part of these same nations and races, and as a direct result of a chain of events, momentous and possibly catastrophic in nature, and which cannot as yet be even dimly visualized, will suddenly revolutionize the fortunes of the Faith, derange the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.

(Citadel of Faith. A collection of messages from Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'ís of the United States, written between 1947 and 1957)

http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/CF/CF-103.html

Read More

All nations will become one in faith !

"We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; that all nations shall become one in faith (Baha'i) and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men shall be strengthened, that diversity of religion shall cease and differences of race be annulled. So it shall be; these fruitless strifes; these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the 'Most Great Peace' (Establishment of a Baha'i Superstate) shall come."

— Baha'u'llah

https://bahai.works/Star_of_the_West/Volume_8/Issue_19

Read More

What is the aim of all Bahá’í activities?

The achievement of this unity is Bahá’u’lláh’s declared mission and the aim of all Bahá’í activity. Its outline and structure are indicated in the following passage from the writings of Shoghi Effendi, great-grandson of Bahá’u’lláh and Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith:

The unity of the human race (converting everyone to Baha'ism), as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth (Baha'i Superstate) in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, and will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples. A world (Baha'i) executive, backed by an international (Baha'i) Force, will carry out the decisions arrived at, and apply the laws enacted by, this world legislature, and will safeguard the organic unity of the whole (Baha'i) commonwealth. A world (Baha'i) tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and final verdict in all and any disputes that may arise between the various elements constituting this universal system. A mechanism of world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hinderances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect regularity. A world metropolis will act as the nerve centre of a world civilization, the focus towards which the unifying forces of life will converge and from which its energizing influences will radiate. A world language (Esperanto!!!) will either be invented or chosen from among the existing languages and will be taught in the schools of all the federated nations as an auxiliary to their mother tongue. A world script, a world literature, a uniform and universal system of currency, of weights and measures, will simplify and facilitate intercourse and understanding among the nations and races of mankind. In such a world society, science and religion, the two most potent forces in human life, will be reconciled, will co-operate, and will harmoniously develop. The press will, under such a system, while giving full scope to the expression of the diversified views and convictions of mankind, cease to be mischievously manipulated by vested interests, whether private or public, and will be liberated from the influence of contending governments and peoples (Baha'i Censorship is already an open secret!). The economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw materials will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be co-ordinated and developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably regulated.

A world federal system (i.e. Baha'i Superstate), ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority (of UHJ) over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God (Baha'u'llah!?) and by its allegiance to one common Revelation (Baha'i) — such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving.

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/PB/pb-1.html

Read More