Extracts Copyright © Bahá’í International Community Bahá’í Reference Library: https://www.bahai.org/library/ In a small number of cases the source of a quotation is designated as “extract provided.” Publication is with permission from the Universal House of Justice. Copyright © Bahá’í Publications Australia ISBN 978-0-909991-27-2 Revised October 2023, 180 B.E. Edition Creative Commons Attribution: Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License. Compiled by John Davidson Cover Design by Zohreh and Naysan Faizi, Designers Inc. Distributed by Bahá’í Distribution Services 173 Mona Vale Rd, Ingleside NSW 2101 bds@bahai.org.au www.bahaibooks.com.au Body text typeset in 10.5/12.6pt Minion 3 Other text typeset in Avenir Next Bahá’í Publications Australia
CONTENTS Preface to the Revised Edition Update 180 B.E.
11 22
PA RT ONE
THE BAHÁ’Í REVELATION: ITS ORIGIN AND PURPOSE Chapter 1 The Aims of Bahá’u’lláh The Key to a Deeper Understanding of the Bahá’í Faith The Renewal of Religion The Spiritualisation of Human Beings Living as a Global Community Carrying Forward an Ever-Advancing Civilization
27 29 30 33 34 37
Chapter 2 The Origins and Growth of the Bahá’í Faith Overview The Ministry of the Báb The Ministry of Bahá’u’lláh The Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá The Formative Age The Growth of The Bahá’í Faith
39 41 41 60 84 98 105
Chapter 3 The Bahá’í Worldview Basic Concepts of the Bahá’í Faith The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh The Covenant in the Bahá’í Era
109 111 120 123
PA RT T WO
GROWING AS A BAHÁ’Í Chapter 4 The Process of Spiritual Development The Spiritual Reality of Human Beings Relating to God and Developing Our Spiritual Powers The Divine Education Programme
135 137 142 150
Chapter 5 Turning Towards God Requisites for Spiritual Growth Prayer Meditation and Reading of the Sacred Scriptures Fasting Right Speech and Action Teaching the Cause of God Selfless Service in the Work of the Cause and One’s Trade or Profession Voluntary Sharing of Wealth and the Law of Ḥuqúqu’lláh Bahá’í Pilgrimage
157 159 159 166 171 173 175 177 178 190
Chapter 6 Cultivating The Virtues and Emotions of the Kingdom Putting the Teachings into Practice Happiness Purity and Detachment Love and Unity Justice
193 195 196 199 204 210
Chapter 7 Teaching the Bahá’í Faith The Ordinance of Teaching Preparing for Teaching The Practice of Personal Teaching Various Teaching Activities Supporting New Believers
219 221 223 226 232 235
PA RT T H REE
THE BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY AND ITS INSTITUTIONS Chapter 8 Bahá’í Marriage and Family Life Bahá’í Marriage The Marriage Relationship The Bahá’í Family Rearing and Educating Children Work and Wise Financial Management Creating and Maintaining Family Harmony Sexual Relationships Death, Burial and Inheritance Chapter 9 The Bahá’í Administrative Order: The Primary Agency for Spiritual & Social Change The Nature of the Bahá’í Administrative Order The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice The Hands of the Cause of God, Boards of Counsellors and Auxiliary Boards National Institutions of the Faith Regional Agencies The Local Spiritual Assembly The Bahá’í Funds Bahá’í Elections Bahá’í Consultation and Decision Making Re-Visioning Relationships Chapter 10 The Bahá’í Community: The Matrix of Transformation The Flourishing of the Community Fostering Universal Participation Providing Spiritual Education for Children and Youth Appreciating and Encouraging Minorities Preserving Spiritual Relationships The Badíʻ Calendar Bahá’í Holy Days The Nineteen-Day Feast The Institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár National and Local Bahá’í Centres: Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds Gatherings for Deepening
241 243 245 247 251 255 257 263 265
269 271 275 281 289 296 299 302 307 310 315
319 321 322 326 330 333 335 341 343 347 352 353
PA RT FOU R
RELEASING THE SOCIETY-BUILDING POWER OF THE FAITH IN EVER-GREATER MEASURES Chapter 11 Educational Endeavours and Developing Capacity for Service The Context: The Interaction of Dynamic Forces The Institute Process Service Activities Related to the Institute Process Becoming Active Agents of Our Own Learning
357 359 365 368 374
Chapter 12 Community Building in Clusters Clusters and Cluster Development The Continuum of Cluster Development Key Requirements for Growth The Vital Role of Youth Enhancing Institutional Capacity
381 383 385 394 397 401
Chapter 13 Contributing to Society-Building by Social Action Approaching Social Action Engaging in Social Action Areas of Social Action
409 411 419 428
Chapter 14 Contributing to the Discourses of Society The Importance of Contributing to Social Discourses Guidance on Contributing to Social Discourses Contributions Based on a Deeper Study of the Bahá’í Revelation
437 439 441 452
Chapter 15 The Nine Year Plan 2022–2031 The Nine Year Plan Entering the Sixth Epoch of the Formative Age Excerpts from Further Messages
459 461 477 478
PA RT FI V E
THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVILIZATION Chapter 16 Ending the Curse of War and Its Miseries Universal Peace: The Most Critical Stage in Global Development Creating Unity: The Foundation of World Peace Steps Towards a Peaceful World Federal System The Bahá’í Approach to National and Regional Governance
485 487 492 498 505
Chapter 17 Contributing to an Ever-Advancing Civilization Many Fields of Endeavour We are All Contributing to the Future World Civilization
515 517 522
Afterword
527
References Writings of Bahá’u’lláh Writings of the Báb Writings and Talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Writings of or on behalf of Shoghi Effendi Writings of or on behalf of The Universal House of Justice Compilations Journals, Newsletters and Yearbooks Sacred Writings of Other Faiths Other Sources
531 531 531 531 532 532 532 533 534 534 534
Index
537
The Key to a Deeper Understanding of the Bahá’í Faith 1.1 Meditating on Bahá’u’lláh’s Purpose for the Human Race Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power. To this beareth witness that which the Pen of Revelation hath revealed. Meditate upon this, O men of insight! Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), para. 5.
The Blessed Perfection was a prisoner twenty-five years. During all this time He was subjected to the indignities and revilement of the people. He was persecuted, mocked and put in chains. In Persia His properties were pillaged and His possessions confiscated. First, there was banishment from Persia to Baghdád, then to Constantinople, then Adrianople, finally from Roumelia to the prison fortress of ‘Akká. During His lifetime He was intensely active. His energy was unlimited. Scarcely one night was passed in restful sleep. He bore these ordeals, suffered these calamities and difficulties in order that a manifestation of selflessness and service might become apparent in the world of humanity; that the Most Great Peace should become a reality; that human souls might appear as the angels of heaven; that heavenly miracles would be wrought among men; that human faith should be strengthened and perfected; that the precious, priceless bestowal of God—the human mind—might be developed to its fullest capacity in the temple of the body; and that man might become the reflection and likeness of God, even as it hath been revealed in the Bible, “Let us make man in our image”. Public talk of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 18 April 1912, The Promulgation of Universal Peace.
Dearly loved friends, this is the theme we must pursue in our efforts to deepen in the Cause. What is Bahá’u’lláh’s purpose for the human race? For what ends did He submit to the appalling cruelties and indignities heaped upon Him? What does He mean by “a new race of men”? What are the profound changes which He will bring about? The answers are to be found in the Sacred Writings of our Faith and in their interpretation by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and our beloved Guardian. Let the friends immerse themselves in this ocean, let them organize regular study classes for its constant consideration, and as reinforcement to their effort, let them remember conscientiously the requirements of daily prayer and reading of the Word of God enjoined upon all Bahá’ís by Bahá’u’lláh. The Universal House of Justice, Riḍván 1967, Messages 1963–1986, para. 42.24, pp. 107–108.
The Bahá’í Revelation
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The Renewal of Religion 1.2 Recognition of the Re-appearance of Divine Revelation O King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.
The Divine Springtime is come, O Most Exalted Pen, for the Festival of the AllMerciful is fast approaching. Bestir thyself, and magnify, before the entire creation, the name of God, and celebrate His praise, in such wise that all created things may be regenerated and made new.
Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XIV.
If it be your wish, O people, to know God and to discover the greatness of His might, look, then, upon Me with Mine own eyes, and not with the eyes of any one besides Me. Ye will, otherwise, be never capable of recognizing Me, though ye ponder My Cause as long as My Kingdom endureth, and meditate upon all created things throughout the eternity of God, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Omnipotent, the Ever-Abiding, the All-Wise. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, CXXVII.
The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), para. 1.
Know thou, verily, there are many veils in which the Truth is enveloped: gloomy veils; then delicate and transparent veils; then the envelopment of Light, the sight of which dazzles the eyes, as doth the sun which is enveloped only in its own light and, as we look at it, the sight is blinded and eyes are dazzled. I beg of God to remove all the veilings and familiarize the light with all eyes, so that man may not be veiled from witnessing the Sun of Truth. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas, Vol. 1.
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Pathways to Transformation
1.3 The Restatement of Spiritual Truths This is that which hath descended from the realm of glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the Prophets of old. We have taken the inner essence thereof and clothed it in the garment of brevity, as a token of grace unto the righteous, that they may stand faithful unto the Covenant of God, may fulfill in their lives His trust, and in the realm of spirit obtain the gem of Divine virtue. Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, preface.
Every true Prophet hath regarded His Message as fundamentally the same as the Revelation of every other Prophet gone before Him. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XXXIV.
There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, CXI.
The fundamental principle enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh, the followers of His Faith firmly believe, is that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process, that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only in the non-essential aspects of their doctrines, and that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society. Shoghi Effendi, The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, Guidance for Today and Tomorrow, p. 2.
1.4 Adaptation to the Needs of the Age Every Divine Revelation hath been sent down in a manner that befitted the circumstances of the age in which it hath appeared. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XXXIV.
The distinguishing feature that marketh the pre-eminent character of this Supreme Revelation consisteth in that We have, on the one hand, blotted out from the pages of God’s holy Book whatsoever hath been the cause of strife, of malice and mischief amongst the children of men, and have, on the other, laid down the essential prerequisites of concord, of understanding, of complete and enduring unity. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XLIII.
The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves. That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems The Bahá’í Revelation
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of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men, is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion. These principles and laws, these firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated. …Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench… …Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, CXXXII.
1.5 The Fulfillment of Past Religions The Revelation which, from time immemorial, hath been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and the most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue of the pervasive Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been revealed unto men. The advent of such a Revelation hath been heralded in all the sacred Scriptures. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, III.
In this most mighty Revelation all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest and final consummation. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, CXV.
How vast is the tabernacle of the Cause of God! It hath overshadowed all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and will, erelong, gather together the whole of mankind beneath its shelter. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XLIII.
The aim of Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet of this new and great age which humanity has entered upon—He whose advent fulfills the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments as well as those of the Qur’án regarding the coming of the Promised One in the end of time, on the Day of Judgment—is not to destroy but to fulfill the Revelations of the past, to reconcile rather than accentuate the divergencies of the conflicting creeds which disrupt present-day society… His mission is to proclaim that the ages of the infancy and of the childhood of the human race are past, that the convulsions associated with the present stage of its adolescence are slowly and painfully preparing it to attain the stage of manhood, and are heralding the approach of that Age of Ages when swords will be beaten into plowshares, when the Kingdom promised by Jesus Christ will have been established, and the peace of the planet definitely and permanently ensured. Nor does Bahá’u’lláh claim finality for His own Revelation, but rather stipulates that a fuller measure of the truth He has been commissioned by the Almighty to vouchsafe 32
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Pathways to Transformation
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