Contributions of the Baha’i Faith towards “the universal principle of the equality of men and women”

...the equality of men and women is...a universal spiritual truth—a statement about human nature—that was promulgated by Bahá’u’lláh nearly one hundred and fifty years ago in His native Iran. That women should enjoy equal rights with men is a requirement of justice. It is a principle consonant with the highest standard of purity and sanctity, whose application strengthens family life and is essential to the regeneration and progress of any nation. Indeed, peace in the world and the advancement of civilization depend on its realization. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has explained:

“The world of humanity has two wings—one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be.” 

…Táhirih, that peerless heroine of Iranian history, courageously advocated the emancipation of women in 1848, at a time when efforts to improve the status of women were only beginning to gather momentum in a few parts of the world. From that time on, you [the Baha’is in Iran] have raised generation after generation of your children—both boys and girls—to value this fundamental tenet of the Faith and to express it in every facet of their lives. In 1911, nearly a century ago, you founded the Tarbíyat School for Girls in Tihrán, which provided girls of all backgrounds with an opportunity for education, encouraging, in this way, progressive thinking and making an indelible mark on society. For half a century now, Bahá’í women in Iran have worked shoulder to shoulder with men in administering the affairs of the community at the local, regional and national levels. And long ago you succeeded in eliminating in your community illiteracy among women under the age of forty. 

1997: The Functions of Regional Baha’i Councils

The functions of a Regional Baha’i Council and the degree of authority conferred upon it are within the discretion of a National Spiritual Assembly. However, they should not be limited to those of a national or regional committee for, in such a case, there would be no justification for bringing into being a Regional Baha’i Council rather than appointing a national or regional committee. The functions and responsibilities generally envisaged for a Regional Bahá'í Council are as follows:

• To carry out the policies of the National Spiritual Assembly and to supervise, on behalf of the National Assembly, the smooth and efficient execution of the plans and projects for its region.
• To keep the National Spiritual Assembly regularly informed of the Council’s activities and of the conditions of the Faith throughout the region. Regional Bahá’í Councils are allowed to develop their own strategies and programs, and to carry out their day-to-day work without having to obtain further approval from the National Spiritual Assembly. However, through their frequent reports and the minutes of their meetings, the National Assembly is kept informed of their activities and maintains its overall supervision of the affairs of the Cause in all parts of the country.
• To take initiative in the promotion of the Faith in the region and to carry out its decisions within the range of authority vested in it by the National Assembly. The National Assembly allows the Council a wide latitude for autonomous action, intervening in its work only in matters which the Assembly regards as being of major importance. The main task of a Regional Bahá’í Council is to devise and execute expansion and consolidation plans in close collaboration with the Local Spiritual Assemblies and the believers within its area of jurisdiction. Its goal is to create strong Local Spiritual Assemblies which will be the focal centers of Bahá’í activity, will exercise their vitally important role in the development of the Faith and will demonstrate their ability to regulate the affairs of their local communities.
• To deal with both teaching and administrative matters within the region including the appointment of committees for issues within its terms of reference, such as external affairs and the translation, publication and distribution of Baha’i literature.

The “devotional character” of the community: - Increasing our awareness of its broad role and significance

House of Worship- Papua New Guinea

…in the enhancement of the devotional character of the community through regular gatherings for worship

- The Universal House of Justice (Ridvan 2016 message)

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Responding to the inmost longing of every heart to commune with its Maker, they carry out

• acts of collective worship in diverse settings,
• uniting with others in prayer,
• awakening spiritual susceptibilities, and
• shaping a pattern of life distinguished for its devotional character.

- The Universal House of Justice (Ridvan 2008 message)

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...the Local Assembly to begin...to consult as a body on…how the devotional character of the village is being enhanced through the efforts of individuals who have completed the first institute course;…

- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated December 2010)

“One of the signs of the maturity of the world”: - “no one will accept to bear the weight of kingship”

Indeed, He even goes further, and states in His Tablet addressed to Shaykh Salmán: “One of the signs of the maturity of the world is that no one will accept to bear the weight of kingship. Kingship will remain with none willing to bear alone its weight. That day will be the day whereon wisdom will be manifested among mankind. Only in order to proclaim the Cause of God and spread abroad His Faith will anyone be willing to bear this grievous weight. Well is it with him who, for love of God and His Cause, and for the sake of God and for the purpose of proclaiming His Faith, will expose himself unto this great danger, and will accept this toil and trouble.” 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

“Badí’ (Unique) language”: During the early years in Baghdád, on one occasion, Bahá’u’lláh chanted in the “language used by the denizens of one of the worlds of God”

Mirza Áqá Ján [Bahá’u’ll’áh’s amanuensis] related to Nabil that, one day in Kázimayn, when both he and Aqá Muhammad-Hasan-i-Isfahání [a merchant] were in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, in the house of Hájí ‘Abdu'l-Majid-i-Shirázi, He asked the host whether he wished to hear the Badí’ (Unique) language, which, He said, was the language used by the denizens of one of the worlds of God. He then proceeded to chant in that language. Mirzá Áqá Ján said that hearing this language had a wonderful effect on the listener. 

One day, Mirzá Áqá Ján related, Bahá'u'lláh said to Haji ‘Abdu’l-Majid: ‘Haji, you have heard the Badí’ language, and witnessed God's supremacy over His worlds. Render thanks for this bounty and appreciate its worth.’” "

- Hand of the Cause Hasan Balyuzi (‘Bahá’u’lláh King of Glory’)

The amazing way in which “most of those who surrounded Bahá’u’lláh” in Baghdád decided to help each other to maintain strict spiritual discipline

“Most of those who surrounded Bahá’u’lláh,” wrote Nabíl, describing the spirit that animated the reformed Bábí community in Baghdád, “exercised such care in sanctifying and purifying their souls, that they would suffer no word to cross their lips that might not conform to the will of God, nor would they take a single step that might be contrary to His good-pleasure.” “Each one,” he relates, “had entered into a pact with one of his fellow-disciples, in which they agreed to admonish one another, and, if necessary, chastise one another with a number of blows on the soles of the feet, proportioning the number of strokes to the gravity of the offense against the lofty standards they had sworn to observe.” Describing the fervor of their zeal, he states that “not until the offender had suffered the punishment he had solicited, would he consent to either eat or drink.” 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)

The amazing station of a “just king”

A just king enjoyeth nearer access unto God than anyone. Unto this testifieth He Who speaketh in His Most Great Prison. 

- Bahá’u’lláh (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

Concerning the law of the ninety-five day period of engagement before marriage

The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of … U.S.A.

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

Your email letter dated 4 December 2011 seeking clarification of the law of engagement for the Persian believers in your community has been received by the Universal House of Justice, which has asked us to respond as follows.

To assist you in your efforts to educate the friends about the law of engagement, the following comments may be helpful. Bahá’u’lláh states in the “Questions and Answers” section of The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book, number 43, that “it is unlawful to announce a marriage earlier than ninety-five days before the wedding.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has provided further explanation:

“Following the agreement for marriage and its official public announcement, that is, when all the friends, relatives, and kindred have been informed that the two parties have been betrothed, the period of engagement must not exceed ninety-five days, during which marriage should take place, and the verses be recited, and the dowry paid. Although it is forbidden to exceed the ninety-five days as this is an act of disobedience to the Law of God, the marriage contract should not be revoked on this account.”

Thus, the period of ninety-five days begins when the couple have agreed to marry, the consent of the parents has been obtained, and the intent to marry has been officially announced, that is to say, made known to members of the families and friends of the couple.

Striving to create an environment in the community that would allow “cultivation of those attributes that are to distinguish a Bahá’í life" – responsibilities of individuals and institutions

…a community that serves increasingly as an environment conducive to the cultivation of those attributes that are to distinguish a Bahá’í life—

• an environment in which a spirit of unity animates one and all;
• in which the ties of fellowship bind them;
• in which mistakes are treated with tolerance and fear of failure is diminished;
• in which criticism of others is avoided and backbiting and gossip give way to mutual support and encouragement;
• in which young and old work shoulder to shoulder, studying the Creative Word together and accompanying one another in their efforts to serve;
• in which children are reared through an educational process that strives to sharpen their spiritual faculties and imbue them with the spirit of the Faith;
• in which young people are helped to detect the false messages spread by society, recognize its fruitless preoccupations, and resist its pressures, directing their energies instead towards its betterment.

The institutions of the Faith, for their part,

• strive to ensure that such an environment is fostered.
• They do not pry into the personal lives of individuals.
• Nor are they vindictive and judgemental, eager to punish those who fall short of the Bahá’í standard. Except in extreme cases of blatant and flagrant disregard for the law that could potentially harm the Cause and may require them to administer sanctions,
• their attention is focused on encouragement, assistance, counsel, and education.

- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 19 April 2013; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 2001-2022’)

New Compilation: Ninety-five passages from the Baha'i Writings and literature on a variety of subjects

 

More pdf downloadable compilations

Activities supported by the Baha’i International Fund

The Bahá’í International Fund provides assistance to Bahá’í communities in those countries where the believers lack the means to exploit adequately the opportunities for the expansion of the Faith and for the diffusion of its spirit. As the Cause of God moves irresistibly forward in every sphere of its manifold activities, propelled by the mysterious spiritual forces which are advancing humanity through a turbulent age of transition, the calls made on it can only increase. The Fund will be required to support the development of human resources, an indispensable element of the rapidly advancing process of entry by troops. With the emergence of new opportunities to increase the influence of the Faith on the affairs of humanity, the necessary means must be provided to expand the work of the Bahá’í International Community at the United Nations, the representation of the Faith at international conferences of non-governmental organizations, and the number of social and economic development projects scattered over the surface of the planet.

The work at the World Center, which is carried out with the support of the Bahá’í International Fund, includes the preservation and classification of the Sacred Texts, and the administrative functions performed here to meet the needs of a worldwide community expanding in both the magnitude and scope of its activities. An important aspect of this work is that of restoring and maintaining the Holy Places, providing facilities for pilgrims and an increasing number of visitors, and caring for the gardens which beautify the environs of the Holy Shrines. With the expansion of high-density urban development in the Holy Land, it is essential that properties be acquired close to the Shrines and other Holy Places, to protect them from disturbance; the favorable conditions now developing for such property acquisitions may not recur until the far distant future, and a substantial proportion of the resources of the Fund will be required for this purpose in the years immediately ahead. 

- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 4 February 1997, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice  to National Spiritual Assemblies; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001’)

“the temple of the world hath been fashioned after the image and likeness of the human body”

As preordained by the Fountain-head of Creation, the temple of the world hath been fashioned after the image and likeness of the human body. In fact each mirroreth forth the image of the other, wert thou but to observe with discerning eyes. By this is meant that even as the human body in this world, which is outwardly composed of different limbs and organs, is in reality a closely integrated, coherent entity, similarly the structure of the physical world is like unto a single being whose limbs and members are inseparably linked together.

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet; ‘The Compilation of Compilations, vol. 1’)

City of Baghdád and its pivotal role in Bahá’u’llah’s Revelation

Baghdad circa 1930s

In that city, described in Islamic traditions as “Ẓahru’l-Kúfih,” designated for centuries as the “Abode of Peace,” and immortalized by Bahá’u’lláh as the “City of God,” He, except for His two year retirement to the mountains of Kurdistán and His occasional visits to Najaf, Karbilá and Káẓimayn, continued to reside until His banishment to Constantinople.

• To that city the Qur’án had alluded as the “Abode of Peace” to which God Himself “calleth.”
• To it, in that same Book, further allusion had been made in the verse “For them is a Dwelling of Peace with their Lord … on the Day whereon God shall gather them all together.”
• From it radiated, wave after wave, a power, a radiance and a glory which insensibly reanimated a languishing Faith, sorely-stricken, sinking into obscurity, threatened with oblivion.
• From it were diffused, day and night, and with ever-increasing energy, the first emanations of a Revelation which, in its scope, its copiousness, its driving force and the volume and variety of its literature, was destined to excel that of the Báb Himself.
• Above its horizon burst forth the rays of the Sun of Truth, Whose rising glory had for ten long years been overshadowed by the inky clouds of a consuming hatred, an ineradicable jealousy, an unrelenting malice.
• In it the Tabernacle of the promised “Lord of Hosts” was first erected, and the foundations of the long-awaited Kingdom of the “Father” unassailably established.
• Out of it went forth the earliest tidings of the Message of Salvation which, as prophesied by Daniel, was to mark, after the lapse of “a thousand two hundred and ninety days” (1280 A.H.), the end of “the abomination that maketh desolate.”

1995: The first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Sicily, with Hand of the Cause of God Dr. ‘Ali-Muhammad Varqá

 

(The Baha'i World 1995-1996)

New compilation: Passages about Bahá’u’lláh from Bahá’í Writings & Literature – vol. 1

Pdf downloadable

Prepared by: Baha’i Multimedia Resources

Bahá’u’lláh defines the characteristics of “the true servant of God”

“He is the true servant of God,” He, in another passage has written, “who, in this day, were he to pass through cities of silver and gold, would not deign to look upon them, and whose heart would remain pure and undefiled from whatever things can be seen in this world, be they its goods or its treasures. I swear by the Sun of Truth! The breath of such a man is endowed with potency, and his words with attraction.” 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

Occasions when during prayer and meditation one’s heart becomes touched by the memory of a departed soul

Someone present asked how it was that in prayer and meditation the heart often turns with instinctive appeal to some friend who has passed into the next life.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered:

“It is a law of God’s creation that the weak should lean upon the strong. Those to whom you turn may be the mediators of God’s power to you, even as when on earth. But it is the One Holy Spirit that strengthens all men.”

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘’Abdu’l-Baha in London’)

Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga

Ways of teaching the Faith - 2009: “two developments are occurring in all parts of the globe”: (1) “the practice of discussing the principles and precepts of the Faith in a general way”; (2) “the habit of conversing with friends and acquaintances on matters of spiritual import”

2009

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

Your email letter of 14 February 2009, in which you describe some concerns felt by members of your community regarding different ways of teaching the Faith, has been received by the Universal House of Justice. We have been asked to convey the following.

In your letter, you raise various questions relating to teaching, with reference to different opinions held by members of the Bahá’í community. As mentioned in the 2008 Ridván message, the friends everywhere are learning how best to apply a range of approaches and methods in sharing Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, in keeping with the receptivity of their listeners. In this context, the House of Justice has been pleased to see that two developments are occurring in all parts of the globe, irrespective of the nature of the society in question.

First, the practice of discussing the principles and precepts of the Faith in a general way, which has resulted in a great many admirers of the Cause but few enrolments, is being complemented by an increasingly direct approach to sharing Bahá’u’lláh’s Message. More often than not, the friends have found the presentation of the Faith outlined in Book 6 of the Ruhi Institute most useful in this respect. It is clear, however, that those making such a presentation need to avoid the trap of reducing it merely to a series of points of information that are enumerated for the listener. Results worldwide leave little doubt that the heart of the listener is touched when the teacher understands the logic underlying the presentation and is prepared to offer it in its fullness. That so many believers who have been taught the Faith in this way have, through study of the courses of the institute, become active supporters of the Cause in their communities stands as ample testimony to the validity of the method. This development represents an important milestone, indeed, in the progress of the Faith.