Bahá’í World/Volume 4/Aims and Purposes of the Bahá’í Faith

The Bahá’í World
Volume 4

AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH

BY HORACE HOLLEY

A GENERATION before modern science and industry had forged strong links of physical unity between the nations, a movement based upon the spiritual principle of human oneness had been established in Persia and the Near East by Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith. Considered by contemporary historians of Europe as merely a Movement confined to Muḥammadanism, and eventually to subside after the manner of countless periodical reform programs, the universal character of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh has been gradually revealed throughout eighty years of bitter persecution, until today it enjoys the status of an independent religion throughout practically the entire Muslim world. Its vitality in Christian and other non-Muslim societies also serves to call attention to the fact that the Bahá’í teachings correspond to a fundamental need of humanity in the present era.

The aims and purposes of the Bahá’í Cause can never be fully understood merely by comparison with other religions or ethical systems in their present form. The unique contribution made by Bahá’u’lláh to the cause of world brotherhood and peace consists in the fact that He restored the spirit of religion at its very source. His aim and purpose was not to remedy minor evils of modern society but to create a new and positive world outlook.

The Bahá’í teachings, in fact, meet the needs of humanity today for the reason that Bahá’u’lláh stands in that line of mighty prophetic beings who alone have been able to see into the depths of the human heart and by the power of their lives and gospel supply a new impulse to civilization as a whole. The Bahá’ís begin, therefore, by accepting the spiritual oneness of all the prophets and their mutual consecration to the same task of leading men from darkness to light. The fact that every civilization has emanated from the sources of spiritual energy and knowledge revealed by a prophet, and that all the prophets came to the world at the hour when a once glorious civilization was at the point of decay, is the proof vindicating the supreme power of religion as manifested by its great Founders from age to age.

The mission of Bahá’u’lláh, likewise, was to renew man’s faith in the universality of God at a time when unfaith and moral and political decadence are running their full course not in one part of the world, or among one race alone, but equally in East and West. The sign of decadence is conflict and strife among human beings—religious strife, class strife and racial strife no less than military or economic conflict on an international scale. That present—day civilization, for all its mental activity and its scientific marvels, cannot survive its own forces of disunity without reinforcement by a new, world-wide faith, expressive of a regenerated mankind and a higher type of social organism, is the Bahá’í claim in explaining the significance of this Cause.

From Bahá’u’lláh has been reflected once more the rays of that Holy Spirit by which Christianity and other divinely revealed religions came into being to sustain the burden of a collapsing age. Partaking of this spiritual reality in the form of the inspired teachings of Bahá’u’lláh—man’s privilege of approach to the will of God—the individual soul is healed of the disease of prejudice, fear and hate, and transformed from petty concerns and local loyalties into a consciousness of an underlying brotherhood swiftly replacing the antagonisms inherited from the dead past.

The wars and strifes shaking the world today, according to the Bahá’í view, serve[Page 16] to awaken people to the unreality of manmade dogmas and crecds, the source of all antagonistic institutions and destructive customs, and quicken in them a hunger for a reality raised above human will in the realms of the divine. Thus the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have spread not merely because they renew hope and inspire enthusiasm, but because also they uphold a world order as the end and aim of human evolution in this new age. The sciences and arts they bring back into the heart of human experience by showing them to be the true modes of religious worship; the functions of government are ennobled as the union of morality and social usefulness; and democracy is vitalized by the realization that all men are children of the one God.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Mr. Milburn’s Church, Chicago. May 5, 1912.

The Bahá’í Principles

The public education which fills the mind with facts, however true and useful, but leaves old, destructive prejudices in the heart, must be augmented by the addition of spiritual principles if the peril of world failure through international war and class revolution is ever to be removed.

In the principles of individual and social regeneration laid down by Bahá’u’lláh over eighty years ago, this spiritual element exists in a form so pure, so complete and so positively forceful that devoted groups of students assemble in cities and villages in Europe, the Orient and America at the present time for the sole purpose of reinforcing their intellectual education with the moral power and nobility emanating from the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. American Bahá’ís who have traveled extensively and visited these groups in various parts of the world state that the result of this new spiritual knowledge has been to eliminate, among large numbers of believers, the evils of the caste system in India, religious prejudice in Persia and the Near East, racial and national antagonisms in Europe, while in the United States and Canada the Bahá’í teachings have been fruitful in removing prejudice between the white and colored peoples.

To summarize and outline the spiritual verities revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, one may[Page 17] begin by quoting the following words uttered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the great Exemplar of the Bahá’í Faith: "This is a new cycle of human power. . . . The gift of God to this enlightened age is knowledge of the oneness of mankind and of the fundamental unity of religions.”

The conviction that humanity has entered upon a new era, when the latent possibilities of men and women are to be fully expressed by the gradual development of a world community reflecting the ideals of all the prophets, and the sciences and arts shall flower gloriously under the inspiration of mutual fellowship and trust, is a distinguishing characteristic of the Bahá’í message. Since every child is born without innate prejudice, the organized hates and fears of mankind are acquired from the attitudes of those who control youth. By replacing the present mental environment with a psychology upholding the power of love, a new generation will come into being free of the baneful influence of hostility and antagonism. The decisive point in spiritual education, according to followers of Bahá’u’lláh, consists in realizing that the founders of all the revealed religions were actuated by the same purpose and reflected the same divine power. When agreement exists on this principle, the very roots of prejudice are destroyed, for aside from the influence of the prophets there is no social force able to overcome the animal status of man by connecting him with the providence of God.

Bahá’ís, therefore, practise the lesson of regarding all others, irrespective of race, class, nation or creed, as expressions of the one creative, universal love. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh reinforce this truth by proving from recorded history that faith in a prophet has ever produced the social community out of which nations and races are afterward derived, and that it is the inhumanity caused by religious hostility which later gives destructive force to national, racial and class divisions. A new and worldwide spiritual movement is needed at this time, every social student is aware, in order to give men the sense of community in obedience to the divine Will and raise them above the destructive darkness lingering in traditional views.

Upon the basis of this new and broader outlook, the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh raise a mighty edifice of social regeneration, the pillars of which are the following organic principles: the harmony of true science and religion; the spiritual equality of man and woman; the education of all people in terms of the complete personality—including adequate training in a trade or profession and moral culture, as well as mental discipline and knowledge; the continuance of education throughout life by unceasing open-minded search for truth; social responsibility for every individual’s economic well-being; the addition of a universal secondary language to school curriculums; the spiritual obligation of every government to make world peace its first and most important concern; and the organization of an international tribunal capable of maintaining world order based upon equal justice to the various nations and peoples.

The Bahá’í teachings differ from the liberal philosophies of the day by making personal development absolutely contingent upon social usefulness and cooperation. They meet the egoistic longing for an independent, individual “perfection” or “blessedness” by enunciating the sound psychological principle that, because all human beings are interdependent, fulfilment comes only to him who seeks satisfaction in mutual rather than selfish good. Bahá’u’lláh has revivified the teaching of love revealed by all the prophets, and supplemented this doctrine by new teachings which reveal the nature of the world order which humanity needs supremely at this time.

Outline of Bahá’í History

The beginnings of the “modern” age—marked by industrialism in the West and the stirrings of political reform in the East —can be completely explained only by reference to the spiritual enlightenment which dawned upon the world over eighty years ago through the universal message of Bahá’u’lláh. In this message, which Bahá’ís feel is only now being fully understood and appreciated, a program for true human progress was laid down by which the aspirations and hopes of Christians, Jews and other [Page 18]religionists for world peace and righteousness will be vindicated and fulfilled.

The history of the Bahá’í Cause is the outward and visible evidence that humanity in this age has been stirred by a new spirit, the effect of which is to break the bonds and limitations of the past and remold the world in a universal civilization based upon knowledge of divine reality.

On May 23, 1844, a radiant youth of Persia known as the Báb (“The Gate”) proclaimed His mission of heralding a mighty Educator who would quicken the souls, illumine the minds, harmonize the consciences and exalt the habits and customs of mankind. After six years of heroic steadfastness and ardent teaching, in the face of the combined opposition of Church and State in His native land, the Báb fell a victim of fanatical persecution and was publicly martyred by a military firing squad at Tabríz, Persia, July 9, 1850, leaving behind Him among the Persian people such loyalty and faith that thousands of His followers underwent martyrdom rather than recant and forsake their devotion to the Báb’s assurance that the day of the Promised One had at last dawned.

Upon this preparation the foundation of the Cause was laid by Bahá’u’lláh ("Glory of God”), whose enlightened principles of personal and social regeneration were revealed under conditions of cruel oppression, extending through a period of more than forty years, unequalled in the annals of religion.

Bahá’u’lláh, a majestic personage whose greatness was felt and admitted even by His bitterest foes, gave the glad-tidings to East and West that the Holy Spirit was once again manifest in the image of man to revivify humanity in its hour of supreme need, that a new and greater cycle of human power had begun—the age of brotherhood, of peace, of spiritual love. All peoples He summoned to partake of the knowledge of reality uttered through Him. The dire sufferings to fall upon mankind through international war and rebellious unrest until the lessons of unity had been learned, were clearly foretold. The message of Bahá’u’lláh was revealed in the form of books dictated to secretaries during days of exile and imprisonment, and in letters addressed to kings and rulers, and to the heads of religions, in Europe, the Orient and the United States.

As the desperate forces of reaction gathered against Him, the ecclesiastical and civil authorities of Persia realizing that their influence would be destroyed by the spread of the enlightened teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, He and His little band of faithful followers were imprisoned in Tihrán, stripped of property and rights, exiled to Baghdád, to Constantinople, to Adrianople, and at last, as the supreme affliction, in 1868, confined for life in the desolate barracks of ‘Akká, a Turkish penal colony, near Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. Scarcely fifty years later, as the Bahá’ís point out, those responsible for the exile and imprisonment of Bahá’u’lláh ——the Sháh of Persia, and the Sultan and Caliph in Constantinople—were themselves abjectly hurled from power.

Voluntarily sharing these ordeals from very childhood was the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá' (“Servant of Bahá”), whose confinement at ‘Akká, lasting forty years, was terminated in 1908 by the Turkish Revolution initiated by the Young Turk Party.

Bahá’u’lláh left this life in 1892. From then until His own ascension in 1921, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá served the Cause as its appointed Exemplar and Interpreter, and through His unique devotion, purity of life, tireless effort, and unfailing wisdom, the Bahá’í message slowly but surely penetrated to all parts of the world. Today, Bahá’í centers exist in most countries, and the membership of the movement embraces practically every nationality, class and creed. At the present time the unity of the Bahá’ís and the integrity of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is maintained by Shoghi Effendi, grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and in His Will and Testament appointed Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith.

The Bahá’í Teachings and Universal Peace

The secret of universal peace has not only been found but made to work in actual practice, followers of Bahá’u’lláh assert,

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Monument to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá erected in Spa Mergentheim, southern Germany, in memory of His visit, April 1913.

[Page 20]throughout a large and rapidly growing spiritual community with established centers in every part of the world. The universal peace obtaining among the Bahá’ís of the Orient, Europe and America, establishes the perfect model by which the various nations and peoples can raise the true world peace on enduring foundations. In the application of the principles enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh, world peace is reinforced by spiritual truths and given religious sanction without disregarding the part that must be played by political and economic considerations.

The Bahá’í Cause, in fact, made the question of peace the supreme issue more than sixty years ago, before the subject had been seriously considered by existing rulers and churches. In a series of letters addressed to kings and heads of government in Europe, Asia and the United States, written in 1868, 1869 and 1870, Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed that the era of international order had dawned, and called upon the reigning rulers to assemble and take steps to eliminate the possibilities of future war. He expressed the profound truth that service to the ideal of peace was not merely an attitude of political wisdom, but obedience to God, and continued irresponsibility and unfaithfulness to the right of the peoples to live in peace would produce international strife and anarchy so widespread that every reactionary régime would be destroyed.

Following in the footsteps of Bahá’u’lláh, his son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Exemplar of the new Faith, consecrated his life to the ideal of unity, and from 1911 to 1913, on the eve of the great war, traveled throughout Europe and America in order to bring the principles of peace directly to the people. Speaking at Stanford University, California, in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá definitely predicted the outbreak of international conflict in the imminent future, calling upon the American people to arise as pioneers of universal peace.

In the Bahá’í teachings, universal peace is far more than absence of military conflict. It embodies also peace between the religions, peace between the races and peace between the classes of mankind. Universal peace, according to these teachings, can only come into being as the roots of all antagonism, prejudice, strife and competition are removed from the hearts of men, and this transformation of attitude and action in turn depends upon devotion to the divine Will. The development of believers in so many parts of the world, who accept the equality and fundamental unity of all religions and races, stands as the most vital proof that the spirit of religion has been renewed in this age.

But the Bahá’í Cause represents far more than merely a new attitude of friendliness and amity among groups of people; Bahá’u’lláh also created an organic and structural unity capable of relating the religious and humanitarian activities of Bahá’ís throughout the world. The Bahá’í Cause is today functioning as a body in accordance with this organic unity, which coordinates local, national and international units in one harmonious whole. Stressing above all the spiritual character of this Cause, and its rigid and uncompromising insistence upon loyalty of all believers to their own civil government, the Bahá’í Cause at the same time provides order and purpose for that sphere of effort and action wherein all individuals are left legitimately free to cooperate with others for spiritual and ideal ends. A movement which can thus unify Christians, Muḥammadans, Jews, Zoroastrians and other religionists-—which in its own membership can subdue racial and class prejudice, and applies the principles of democracy to the election of local, national and international assemblies—is, its members believe, a true application of the ideal of universal peace meriting the study of all who realize that peace cannot be attained merely by treaty and pact between armed governments all subject to conflicting influences from their own citizens. The “moral equivalent” of a true League of Nations and a World Court has been created by the power of love manifest in Bahá’u’lláh and made evident in teachings accepted as prophetic by His followers in all lands.

The warning uttered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Haifa in 1921, His last year on earth, was that class dissension would continue to develop in all countries, and become a sinister menace to civilization, until the nations sincerely sought to establish universal[Page 21] peace. The Bahá’í peace program was defined by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a letter written to the members of the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, The Hague, in 1919. Many years earlier he wrote the following significant words: "True civilization will unfurl its banner in the midmost heart of the world whenever a certain number of distinguished Sovereign: of lofty aims—the shining exemplars of devotion and determination—shall, for the good and happiness of all mankind, arise with a firm resolve and clear vision to establish the cause of Universal Peace. . . . The fundamental principle underlying this solemn Agreement should he so fixed that if one of the governments of the world should later violate any of its provisions, all the governments on earth would arise to reduce it to utter submission.”