First there is the principle that any believer may sell
personal services or property to anyone and do with the proceeds as he wishes,
including giving any or all of them to Bahá'í purposes. Thus if a Bahá'í
concert artist gives a concert to which admission is charged, he is free, if he
so wishes, to give the money so earned to the Fund or to any charity of his
choice. In giving the concert, however, he should not represent to non-Bahá'ís
that the concert is for the benefit of the Bahá'í Fund or is given on behalf of
Bahá'ís for a charity, which brings us to the second principle: that it is
improper for Bahá'ís to solicit funds from non-Bahá'ís in the name of the Faith
for any purpose. If a non-Bahá'í insists on making a monetary contribution it
may be accepted with the express understanding that it will be used only for
charitable or philanthropic purposes, but such contributions should be
discouraged, not encouraged.
The third principle concerns contributions made to charity
by Bahá'ís themselves. Spiritual Assemblies are, of course, permitted to make
contributions to charity -- indeed care of the poor and needy is one of the
duties assigned to them in the Bahá'í Writings - but they must weigh their
responsibilities very carefully and remember that in a highly organized country
like the United Kingdom the poor are helped by a multitude of agencies, both
governmental and private, whereas only the Bahá'ís can contribute towards the
building of the Kingdom of God on earth. This, clearly, is a matter for wise
moderation. Assemblies, moreover, should perform their charitable works with a
pure motive, and not with the thought of propagandizing for the Faith.
An individual Bahá'í is, of course, free to contribute to
charity from his own resources if he wishes, but as a Bahá'í he should bear in
mind the needs of the Bahá'í Fund, which only believers can support.
- The
Universal House of Justice (From a letter to a Local Spiritual Assembly, March
19, 1973; compilations: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
