The Bahai Faith: Thinking Outside The Box

Being married to a physician who is also a 4th generation Bahai purest, is joyful but at times complicated.  I am a Catholic and will always believe in Jesus.  My husband will always believe that Jesus was a manifestation of God for his time and Baha’u’ llah is the manifestation of God in our time.  Neither one of us pressures the other to attend or switch belief’s, but we do try to live each day within the guidance of our faiths:  world unity, equality, peace, healthy living and brotherly love.  We savor the fire side conversations about our faiths and have spent many an analytical evening espousing the merits of each.  Neither of us keep score, we don’t have to.  There is no winner or loser, only a deeper understanding of who we really are and what we stand for and why.

Why Laura Luther, John’s Great-grandmother, became a Bahai.

A Brief Historical Look Into the Bahai Faith

The Bahai faith is the most recent independent world religion.

The Bahai faith has 6-8 million believers.

The Bahai faith is the 2nd most graphically widespread religion in the world.¹

The Gatekeeper

Throughout the years of the 19th century messianic expectations were at a fervor.  With the unheralded scientific advancements and subsequent industrialization, many religious leaders were looking for a reason and heavenly guidance to explain the unprecedented speed of change around them.  There was speculation of a second coming of Christ in Europe and America and that the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Qur’an in the Middle East was imminent.

The most dramatic of the aforementioned movements took place in  Shiraz, Persia and focused on the teachings of a young merchant, Siyyid Ali-Muammad,  or better known to history as “The Bab”  (translated means the Gate).  From 1844 to 1853, Persians of all classes had listened and became mesmerized by The Bab’s bold proclamation: “The Day of God was at hand and that He was himself the One promised in Islamic scripture.  Humanity stood on the threshold of an era that would witness the restructuring of all aspects of life.  New fields of learning, as yet inconceivable, would permit even the children of the new age to surpass the erudite of nineteenth-century scholars.  The human race was called by God to embrace these changes through undertaking a transformation of its moral and spiritual life. His own mission was to prepare humanity for the event that lay at the heart of these developments, the coming of that universal Messenger of God, “He Whom God will make manifest,” awaited by the followers of all religions.”¹

In the beginning of creation, God had made a covenant that he would not leave man alone to himself.  So He created the Manifestation of God whose essence is above our capability to comprehend.  This conduit of God is sent periodically to guide and help man clarify the knowledge God has bestowed throughout each millennium.*

The Bab’s courageous but shocking mission and his exponential number of believers, fueled the hatred of the Muslim clergy.  Divine Revelation had ended with Muhammad, to ascertain otherwise was apostasy, and punishable by death according to their biased edict.  Soon these horrid and fearful Imams persuaded the Persian authorities to eliminate the insulate heretic and his followers.  Horrific massacres ensued and thousands of “Bobi’s” were slaughtered. Eventually, on July 9, 1850, at the young age of 31, The Bob was publicly shot to death by firing squad. His selfless martyrdom had opened the gate for the Second Manifestation of God in this millennium, Baha’u’llah. The sudden upsurge of the Bab’s religious movement  and outrage stemming from his murder by countries outside of the Middle East,  startled and brought down disgrace on the Persian Government.

O God, my God, my Beloved, my heart’s Desire. 

                                                                                                                     __The Bab

The Most Beloved

Baha’u’llah was born into a noble Persian family on  November 12, 1817.  As a young man he declined the ministerial career offered Him through the government. Instead, He chose the righteous path of tending to the needs of his fellow man.  So much so that in 1844 He earned the renown title of “Father of the Poor.”  However, this calm and privileged life was to come to a abrupt halt after 1844 when Baha’u’llah became one of the leading advocates of The Babi Movement, and in doing so changed the course of Persian history forever.

Due to his promulgation in the defense of the Bab’s cause, Baha’u’llah was arrested and dragged through the countryside in chains to Teheran, the capital of Persia (now know as Iran). Because of  his impressive reputation, his familial influence , the protests evoked from the annihilation of The Bab and his followers, Baha’u’llah was not sentenced to death;  rather doomed to the misery of captivity in squalid, rat infested prisons.  He often was chained about the neck, arms and legs like a hardened criminal but never whimpered or complained about his position.  When he refused to die, an attempt to poison him was made, but it too failed.  No matter where they confined him, no matter what the condition, Baha’u’llah continued to  develop his divine plan for the unity and future of mankind.  He included in these writings a description of his early incarceration:

“We were consigned for four months to a place foul beyond comparison.  The dungeon was wrapped in thick darkness and Our fellow-prisoners numbered nearly a hundred and fifty souls: thieves, assassins and highwaymen.  Though crowded, it had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered.  No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell.  Most of these men had neither clothes or bedding to lie on.  God alone knoweth what befell Us in that most foul-smelling and gloomy place!  Each day the guards would descend the three steep flights of stairs of the pit, seize one or more of the prisoners, and drag them out to be executed.  In the streets of Teheran,Western observers were appalled by scene of  Babi victims blown from cannon mouths, hacked to death by axes and swords, and led to their deaths with burning candles inserted into open wounds in their bodies.” ¹ 

Eventually, Baha’u’llah was released from prison but banished from his native land of Iran to the neighboring country of Iraq.  It was to be the beginning of forty years of exile, imprisonment, and brackish persecution; all of his belongings and property confiscated.  Baha’u’llah now needed to reach out and bring together the demoralized community of Babi’s; downtrodden, scattered and  weary from persecution.   He would humbly assume the leadership of the faith.  Two of Baha’u’llah’s most important writings were from his exile and prior to his declaration of his mission in 1863.  The first was entitled The Hidden Words, a tome that represented the ethical and moral basis for his message to the world.   The second was entitled The Book of Certitude, expounding the nature and basis for religion and its Messengers of God: agents of a single, unbroken process flowing through the ages.  It was a soothing assurance that humanity could respond to a different type of teaching that goes beyond parables, beyond accepted traditions; no longer based on steadfast faith but rather conscious knowledge through sincerity and world unity, in a new age of understanding.

By 1863,  Baha’u’llah was attracting multitudes of followers including influential Iraq’s to the emerging Bahai Faith, but once again the Muslim Clergy convinced the Persian Government of the eminent danger in allowing Baha’u’llah any latitude within its boarders. Baha’u’llah was banished once again. Eventually Turkey agreed to accept Baha’u’llah as a guest of its country and established his new residence in Constantinople.  Prior to leaving for Turkey, Baha’u’llah gathered a few of his companions and family to the garden of Ridvan where he formally announced his mission as the next Manifestation of God.   The Bab’s prophecy had been fulfilled and the “Day of God” had dawned, “the Day which all the Prophets, and the Chosen Ones, and the holy ones have wished to witness.“¹

 Baha’u’llah espoused that the Manifestations of God in the past, such as Zoroaster, Jesus, and Muhammad, did not differ in any real aspect of their ministry other than the timeline and need of mankind for their divine guidance.   The spirit and dedication of the Manifestations words and examples of how they live their individual lives emulate God’s beloved plan for mankind throughout the ages. The world changes, people change, belief’s change.  God needs divine representatives to capture the importance of this change to insure the unity and equality of all the peoples of the world. Baha’u’llah suffered immeasurable pain and imprisonment for most of his life to bring this noble belief to light.

The Most Beloved  ultimately enjoyed the rest of his life (1879-1892) at the Mansion of Baji near the city of Akka, Israel, where he was able to continue writing in peace; producing directive guidelines; the Kitab-i-Iqdas, the book of laws, and writing copious letters to the leaders of the world explaining the necessity of a united mankind.  Baha’u’llah proclaimed that the Bahai Faith would eventually evolve into the world’s one religion for 1000 years or  until the next Manifestation of God appears to mankind. A sacred covenant was declared for mankind.

Baha’u’llah died quietly on May 29, 1892 at his home, but not before he appointed his successor:  the administrative and spiritual representative of the faith to:  The Most Mighty Branch, his steadfast and loyal son, Abdu’l-baha; The Center of the Covenant.

Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy.

Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion.

Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both this world and the world to come.

Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

                                                                                                                                                                                                 __Baha’u’llah

The Center of the Covenant

Abdu’l-baha was born on May 23, 1844 in Tehran, Iran.  He was only 8 years old when his father was first imprisoned.  He stayed by his father’s side whenever possible and learned great wisdom and knowledge throughout those turbulent years of his father’s imprisonment.  It was ascertained that Abdu’l-baha had emerged as Baha’u’llah’s “deputy, shield, and principle representative to the political and religious leaders of the day.”  Baha’u’llah said of his son:  “Abdu’l-baha was the “Trust of God,” A shelter for all mankind,The Most Great Favor, and God’s Ancient and Immutable Mystery.”³  Baha’u’llah so loved his son and cherished his wisdom, brilliant mind and devotion to his faith.  Abdu’l-baha had purity of intention and reflected a life devoted to God; someone the Bahai community could look up to and emulate in their daily lives upon his passing.

In 1911, Abdu’l’-baha, after enduring nearly 40 years in prison (mirroring his father’s plight), began his ministry: an ambassador of peace, a champion of justice and leader of a new faith.  Abdu’l-baha conducted a series of speeches throughout North America and Europe. His soft spoken manner, gentle eyes, and  engaging smile stirred everyone he came in contact with.  Droves of converted “pioneers” were volunteering to help spread his message around the globe.  Abdu’l-baha’s hypnotic message gave solace to so many.  Calmly and with brilliant simplicity to people of all economic levels, he told of his faith’s prescription for the moral and spiritual renewal of society:

“The independent search after truth, unfettered by superstition or tradition; the oneness of the entire human race, the pivotal principle and fundamental doctrine of the Faith; the basic unity of all religions; the condemnation of all forms of prejudice, whether religious, racial, class or national; the harmony which must exist between religion and science; the equality of men and women, the two wings on which the bird of humankind is able to soar; the introduction of compulsory education; the adoption of a universal auxiliary language; the abolition of the extremes of wealth and poverty; the institution of a world tribunal for the adjudication of disputes between nations; the exaltation of work, performed in the spirit of service, to the rank of worship; the glorification of justice as the ruling principle in human society, and of religion as a bulwark for the protection of all peoples and nations; and the establishment of permanent and universal peace as the supreme goal of all mankind.” He affirmed that “Love is the most great law and the supreme need of humanity is cooperation and reciprocity among it’s people.”³

When Abdu’l-baha died on November 28, 1921, the world wailed.  A sense of sadness and loneliness shrouded the Bahai community.  Their humble leader and dearest friend had shed his earthly body;  his soul joining that of The Bab and Baha’u’llah in the heavenly kingdom of God.

O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit.   Purify my heart.  Illumine my powers.

I lay all my affairs in Thy hand.  Thou art my Guide and my Refuge.

I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy  and joyful being.

O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me.

I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.

O God!  Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself.  I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.

                                                                                                                                                                  __Abdu’l-baha