| ←Issue 1 | Star of the West Volume 18 - Issue 2 |
Issue 3→ |
 Proofread onceReturn to PDF view
|
We are working hard to have proofread and nicely formatted text for you to read. Here is our progress on this section:
|
MAY twenty-third is the anniversary of a blessed event—the anniversary of the message and declaration of His Holiness the Báb.
The appearance of The Báb resembles the dawn, for the dawn holds the promise of the sun. The dawn of The Báb promised the rising of the Sun of Truth that is to envelop the whole world. He said, “O My Glorious Lord! I sacrifice myself entirely to Thee. My only desire is to be martyred for Thy Love. Thou dost suffice Me!” The Báb’s desire was to be realized, for the glorious crown of martyrdom was placed upon His head. The gems light the whole world.
He was imprisoned at Shiraz (Persia), then went to Isfahan, was afterward confined in a fortress at Maku and finally executed in a public square of Tabriz. This supreme martyrdom raised His banner yet higher and heightened the power of Divine Manifestation on earth, for the reality which is reflected is the same from the beginning. . . . The great ones are from all time in their glorious station, their reality is luminous from the beginning, the reality that causes the qualities of God to appear, but the day of their Manifestation is the day when they proclaim themselves on this earth.
The Báb in His writings heralded the advent of Bahá’u’lláh. . . . When some years later, Bahá’u’lláh declared Himself to be the “Glory of God” the Báb’s followers with few exceptions believed in Him.
The Bahá’ís believe that the incarnation of the Word of God, meaning the changing of the nature of Divinity into humanity and the transformation of the Infinite into the finite, can never be. But they believe that the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh are Manifestations of a Universal Order in the world of humanity. It is clear that the Eternal can never be transient, neither the transient Eternal. Transformation of nature is impossible. Perfect Man, the Manifestation, is like a clear mirror in which the Sun of Reality is apparent and evident, reflected in its endless bounties.–
--PHOTO--
Mme. Hainisch, mother of the President of Austria and leading feminist of that country, in her study, where she was interviewed by Miss Martha Root. (See page 44.)
| VOL. 18 | MAY, 1927 | No. 2 |
ONE OF THE tenets of the Bahá’í religion is the essential equality of the sexes. Man and woman, says ’Abdu’l-Bahá, are the two wings upon which humanity must fly. So strongly did Bahá’u’lláh emphasize the importance of woman that He directed His followers to educate their girls in preference to their boys in case all the children could not be educated.
Since the day when Bahá’u’lláh gave forth this message regarding woman, a great change has taken place in the status of woman all over the world. In Anglo-Saxon countries first was won the struggle of women to enter the professions and trades, to mingle freely in the life of the world, and to share in the direction of local and national affairs through the privilege of the ballot.
Gradually the emancipation movement, permeating other countries, has seen results almost as significant. Most amazing of all is the very recent effort of Oriental womanhood for freedom and power. The progress of Asia has been retarded and its whole civilization effected disadvantageously by the segregation, lack of education, and servility of its womanhood. Doubtless great and rapid changes will come about through the emancipation and better education of Oriental women.
So advanced is the feminist movement today in this part of the world that there is now no occasion for arguments as to woman’s native ability as a criterion for enfranchisement or for entrance into professions hitherto considered the monoply of man. Argument concerning this great question is futile, because woman is rapidly proving, point by point, her equal efficiency and practical ability.
IT IS NOT, however, as a matter of justice to woman that the greatest good will come to humanity from her enfranchisement. When to man’s power and ability as expressed in the direction of affairs, is added the potential capacity of the other half of humanity, great benefits to civilization will accrue.
This world has hitherto been a man-made and a man-ruled planet. Industry, commerce, government, have been expressions of the masculine mind and temperament, of which the distinguishing characteristics are courage, energy, and aggressiveness. By means of these masculine traits civilization has arrived at several goals which are of distinct and permanent value, among the most important of which are exploration and discovery, invention, science, the political organization–by means of force—of the planet
into a comparatively few large units, and the refinement of egoism into a legal and social code of “let-me-alone and I’ll-let-you-alone.”
This pioneer work of the planet having now been accomplished, it is highly questionable whether the ultra-masculine qualities and abilities are either capable of or suitable for further progress of civilization, unless balanced and directed by those qualities which pertain to woman.
HAS MASCULINE “kultur” reached its possible ultimate? Events more than theory are demonstrating this question’s answer.
Within this very “kultur” lies its limitations and the seeds of its destruction. Being built upon foundations of egoistic energy, force, and aggressiveness, the superstructure of masculine civilization is always liable to cataclysms due to violence. And when the means of violence have been perfected by man’s ingenuity to the point of human destruction by the wholesale, there, one may say, is the demarcation of the limit beyond which man-made civilization cannot go. Nay, within this limit lies a destructive force which is centrifugal, tending to draw back into a chaos of disorder those proud structures by which man through ingenuity and force of will has advanced from chaos.
WHAT THEN is needed so much as the injection into the directive power of humanity of those qualities which distinguish the feminine personality,—altruism (biologists point to the mammal suckling its young as the first instance of altruism in evolution); conservation; organizing ability along lines of cooperation rather than of force; and those qualities of love, compassion, and service which we call spiritual.
Having brought the planet to as complete an organization as physical force will permit—since any attempt at further organization by force will plainly result in the utter destruction of civilization, if not of humanity itself—man would do well, even if he were not so commanded by God, to permit woman an equal voice in affairs. What is needed now is non-egoistic organizing of those factors of civilization already achieved by man; and a new political arrangement of humanity in terms of sympathy, understanding, cooperation and mutual service.
WAR MUST be abolished. Toward this desideratum woman has already made, and will continue to make, the most distinguished contributions. Already the womanhood of the civilized world are organized into innumerable societies for the outlawing of war and the establishment of universal peace.
That woman is not even more universally pacific in tendency and effort is due not so much to lack of the feminine quality as to the hypnotic obsession cast upon her by the male that war is a necessity for conserving her home and her country. It is through the typical conserving quality of the female, not through aggressiveness, that those wishing war have drawn into their active ranks mothers of children who if war should come must slay and be slain.
BUT THE abolition of war will not be woman’s sole contribution to civilization. It will be but the beginning of the blessings she will bring to humanity when to her achievement through wifehood and motherhood are added achievements more directly affecting humanity in the marts and in the legislatures of the nations.
Into the world of industry and commerce woman will bring a humanitarian quality, a sympathy, a strong spirit of cooperation, which
will eventually see our present competitive system changed to one of co-operation.
Into civic affairs she will bring better organization, more efficiency, more honesty, and more humaneness. Her powers no longer limited simply to the task of binding up the wounds of the fallen, will direct themselves into channels through which she can help abolish the very causes of misery and degradation.
IT IS NOT the place here to go into the matter of woman’s possession of greater spiritual qualities than man. But the future of the world may be divided thereby into three general stages. First, that in which the average male takes no interest in the question of woman’s spiritual qualities because he does not think them of any practical value. Second, the stage in which man awakes to the fact that these spiritual qualities of woman have a practical as well as an altruistic value, and admits the daily need for such qualities in the life of the world. And third, the happy stage at which the male sex shall have acquired also those qualities of love, of sympathy, of altruistic service in which women—if they do not have the monoply—at least have the lead.
Let us thank God that these spiritual qualities are not necessarily limited to women. They are not, no more than are the intellectual qualities, innately a matter of sex. The history of religions has proved that men can, if they will, cultivate those fruits of the spirit which Saint Paul has so perfectly conceived and described: “love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance—against such there is no law.”
WHAT A GLORIOUS civilization will prevail when man sublimates his sex along these spiritual lines and joins with woman in spiritual comradeship for the achievement of the highest humanitarian ideals; when for his greater effectiveness intuition is added to intellectuality, and self-will turns to spiritual guidance; when with all humility he yields due ground to his mate, woman, gladly allowing her full opportunity for the expression of her glowing virtues and her glorious abilities.
And in the home life of our race, when such a final adjustment takes place between the sexes, what a heavenly peace and tranquillity will reign! An atmosphere in which the child-souls called into physical expression will find a perfect medium for the development and flowering of those exquisite qualities inherited from another higher world and inhibited, now and here, through the obtuseness, the disharmonies, and the carnal quality of our present life. One generation of children brought up in such spiritual homes would revolutionize society.
EQUALITY of woman and man, if clearly seen, is not a right to be wrested from man by woman—but a privilege fraught with such blessings for the world that could man but see he would of his own accord strive with heart and soul to open every door of opportunity to woman and to help her to achieve an education which should make her a true mate to him upon every plane of being; and as a mother, gloriously fitted to create and train the children of the coming race.
Let humanity “fly with both wings” and it will reach the Kingdom of Heaven.
TODAY, questions of the utmost importance are facing humanity; questions peculiar to this radiant century. In former centuries there was not even mention of them. Inasmuch as this is the century of illumination, the century of humanity, the century of divine bestowals, these questions are being presented for the expression of public opinion and in all the countries of the world discussion is taking place looking to their solution.
One of these questions concerns the rights of woman and her equality with man. In past ages it was held that woman and man were not equal; that is to say, woman was considered inferior to man even from the stand-point of her anatomy and creation. She was considered especially inferior in intelligence and the idea prevailed universally that it was not allowable for her to step into the arena of important affairs. In some countries man went so far as to believe and teach that woman belonged to a sphere lower than human. But in this century which is the century of light and the revelation of mysteries God is proving to the satisfaction of humanity that all this is ignorance and error; nay, rather, it is well established that mankind and womankind as factors of composite humanity are co-equal and that no difference in estimate is allowable; for all are human. The conditions in past centuries were due to woman’s lack of opportunity. She was denied the right and privilege of education and left in her undeveloped state. Naturally, she could not and did not advance.
*All quotations in this compilation, unless otherwise noted, are from the Addresses of ’Abdu’l-Bahá in America, published under the title, “The Promulgation of Universal Peace.”
In reality God has created all mankind and in the estimation of God there is no distinction as to male and female. The one whose heart is pure is acceptable in His sight, be that one man or woman. God does not inquire “Art thou woman or art thou man?” He judges human actions. If these are acceptable in the threshold of the Glorious One, man and woman will be equally recognized and rewarded.
Furthermore, the education of woman is more necessary and important than that of man, for woman is the trainer of the child from its infancy. If she be defective and imperfect herself the child will necessarily be deficient; therefore imperfection of woman implies a condition of imperfection in all mankind, for it is the mother who rears, nurtures and guides the growth of the child. This is not the function of the father. If the educator be incompetent the educated will be correspondingly lacking. This is evident and incontrovertible. Could the student be brilliant and accomplished if the teacher is illiterate and ignorant? The mothers are the first educators of mankind; if they be imperfect, alas for the condition and future of the race.
WHEN WE CONSIDER the kingdoms of existence below man we find no distinction or estimate of superiority and inferiority male and female. Among the myriad organisms of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, sex exists, but there is no differentiation whatever as to relative importance and value in the equation of life. If we investigate impartially we may even find species in which the female is superior or preferable to the male. For instance, there are
trees such as the fig, the male of which is fruitless while the female is fruitful. The male of the date palm is valueless while the female bears abundantly. Inasmuch as we find no ground for distinction or superiority according to the creative wisdom in the lower kingdoms, is it logical or becoming of man to make such distinction in regard to himself? The male of the animal kingdom does not glory in its being male and superior to the female. In fact equality exists and is recognized. Why should man, a higher and more intelligent creature, deny and deprive himself of this equality the animals enjoy? His surest index and guide as to the creative intention concerning himself are the conditions and analogies of the kingdoms below him where equality of the sexes is fundamental.
The truth is that all mankind are the creatures and servants of one God, and in His estimate all are human. “Man” is a generic term applying to all humanity. The biblical statement “Let us make man in our image; after our likeness” does not mean that woman was not created. The “image” and “likeness” of God applies to her as well. In Persian and Arabic there are two distinct words translated “man” into English; one meaning man and woman collectively, the other distinguishing man as male from woman the female. The first word and its pronoun are generic, collective; the other is restricted to the male. This is the same in Hebrew.
To accept and observe a distinction which God has not intended in creation, is ignorance and superstition. The fact which is to be considered, however, is that woman having formerly been deprived must now be allowed equal opportunities with man for education and training. There must be no difference in their education. Until the reality of equality between man and woman is fully established and attained, the highest social development of mankind is not possible.
THE OUTER SUN is a sign or symbol of the inner and ideal Sun of Truth, the Word of God. Inasmuch as this is the century of light, it is evident that the Sun of Reality, the Word has revealed itself to all humankind. . . . Among those revealed realities was the great principle of the equality of man and woman which is now finding recognition throughout the whole world—America, Europe and the Orient.
History records the appearance in the world of women who have been signs of guidance, power and accomplishment. Some were notable poets, some philosophers and scientists, others courageous upon the field of battle. Qurratu’l-’Ayn, a Bahá’í, was a poetess. She discomfited the learned men of Persia by her brilliancy and fervor. When she entered a meeting even the learned were silent. She was so well versed in philosophy and science that those in her presence always considered and consulted her first. Her courage was unparalleled; she faced her enemies fearlessly until she was killed. She withstood a despotic king, the Shah of Persia, who had the power to decree the death of any of his subjects. There was not a day during which he did not command the execution of some. This woman singly and alone withstood such a despot until her last breath; then gave her life for her faith.
WHY SHOULD man who is endowed with the sense of justice and sensibilities of conscience be willing that one of the members of the human family should be rated and considered as subordinate? Such differentiation is neither intelligent nor
conscientious; therefore the principle of religion has been revealed by Bahá’u’lláh that woman must be given the privilege of equal education with man and full right to his prerogatives. That is to say, there must be no difference in the education of male and female, in order that womankind may develop equal capacity and importance with man in the social and economic equation. Then the world will attain unity and harmony. In past ages humanity has been defective and inefficient because incomplete. War and its ravages have blighted the world. The education of woman will be a mighty step toward its abolition and ending for she will use her whole influence against war. Woman rears the child and educates the youth to maturity. She will refuse to give her sons for sacrifice upon the field of battle. In truth she will be the greatest factor in establishing Universal Peace and international arbitration. Assuredly woman will abolish warfare among mankind. Inasmuch as human society consists of two factors, the male and female, each the complement of the other, the happiness and stability of humanity cannot be assured unless both are perfected. Therefore the standard and status of man and woman must become equalized.
Again, it is well established in history that where woman has not participated in human affairs the outcomes have never attained a state of completion and perfection. On the other hand, every influential undertaking of the human world wherein woman has been a participant has attained importance. This is historically true and beyond disproof even in religion. His Holiness Jesus Christ had twelve disciples and among His followers a woman known as Mary Magdalene. Judas Iscariot had become a traitor and hypocrite, and after the crucifixion the remaining eleven disciples were wavering and undecided. It is certain from the evidence of the Gospels that the one who comforted them and re-established their faith was Mary Magdalene.
THE WORLD of humanity consists of two factors—male and female. Each is the complement of the other. Therefore if one is defective the other will necessarily be incomplete and perfection cannot be attained. There is a right-hand and a left-hand in the human body, functionally equal in service and administration. If either proves defective, the defect will naturally extend to the other by involving the completeness of the whole; for accomplishment is not normal unless both are perfect. If we say one hand is deficient we prove the inability and incapacity of the other; for single-handed there is no full accomplishment. Just as physical accomplishment is complete with two hands, so man and woman, the two factors of the social body, must be perfect. It is not natural that either should remain undeveloped; and until both are perfected happiness of the human world will not be realized.
THE MOST momentous question of this day is international peace and arbitration; and Universal Peace is impossible without universal suffrage. Children are educated by the women. The mother bears the troubles and anxieties of rearing the child; undergoes the ordeal of its birth and training. Therefore it is most difficult for mothers to send those upon whom they have lavished such love and care, to the battle field. Consider a son reared and trained twenty years by a devoted mother. What sleepless nights and restless,
anxious days she has spent! Having brought him through dangers and difficulties to the age of maturity, how agonizing then to sacrifice him upon the battle field! Therefore the mothers will not sanction war nor be satisfied with it. So it will come to pass that when women participate fully and equally in the affairs of the world, enter confidently and capably the great arena of laws and politics, war will cease; for woman will be the obstacle and hindrance to it. This is true and without doubt.
LACK OF EQUALITY between man and woman is likewise a cause of human dissension. Bahá’u’lláh has named this as an important factor of discord and separation, for so long as humankind remains unequally divided, male and female in right and importance, no unity can be established. In a perfect human body it is not possible for one organ to be complete and another defective. In the great body of human society it is impossible to establish unity and co-ordination if one factor is considered perfect and the other imperfect. When the perfect functions of both factors are in operation harmony will prevail. God has created man and woman equal as to faculties. He has made no distinction between them. Woman has not reached the level of man in human accomplishment because of the lack of opportunity and education. If educational apportunities were made equal and similar the two factors man and woman would equalize in attainment. God has intended no difference between them that should be productive of discord. He has endowed all with human faculties and all are manifestations of his mercy. If we say man and woman differ in creational endowment it is contrary to divine justice and intention. Both are human. If God has created one perfect and the other defective he is unjust. But God is just; all are perfect in his intention and creative endowment. To assume imperfection in the creature is to presuppose imperfection in the Almighty Creator. The soul that excels in attainment of his attributes and graces is most acceptable before God.
THE SEX DISTINCTION which exists in the human world is due to the lack of education for woman, who has been denied equal opportunity for development and advancement. Equality of the sexes will be established in proportion to the increased opportunities afforded woman in this age; for man and woman are equally the recipients of powers and endowments from God the Creator. God has not ordained distinction between them in His consummate purpose.
THE WORLD OF humanity is possessed of two wings—the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength the bird will not fly. Until woman- kind reaches the same degree as man, until she enjoys the same arena of activity, extraordinary attainment for humanity will not be realized; humanity cannot wing its way to heights of real attainment. When the two wings or factors become equivalent in strength, enjoying the same prerogatives, the flight of man will be exceedingly lofty and extraordinary. Therefore woman must receive the same education as man and all inequality be adjusted. Thus imbued with the same virtues as man, rising through all the degrees of human attainment, women will become the peers of men, and until this equality is established, true progress and attainment for the human race will not be facilitated.
IT IS MY HOPE that the banner of equality may be raised throughout the five continents where as yet it is not fully recognized and established. In this enlightened world of the west, woman has advanced an immeasurable degree beyond the women of the Orient. And let it be known once more that until woman and man recognize and realize equality, social and political progress here or anywhere will not be possible. For the world of humanity consists of two parts or members; one is woman, the other is man. Until these two members are equal in strength, the oneness of humanity cannot be established and the happiness and felicity of mankind will not be a reality. God willing, this is to be so.
- Ye Women of the world, Awake! Awake!
- Ye mothers, wives, and daughters, sisters, friends
- Of men who make and men who go to war;
- And all ye women who in Love and Truth,
- Are bound by chords of common sisterhood,—
- Awake ye all! Awake ye now and pray!
- Aye, pray as ye have never prayed before,
- That God may send us Peace.
- In vain we seek to gain the ear of those
- Who over nations hold a stern control,
- They are intoxicated with the blood
- Shed in profusion on the battle fields,
- And drank from out the skull-shaped cup of war,
- And think they thus in their delirium wild
- To quench their thirst of envy, greed and hate,
- Which but the greater grows by being fed.
- It is indeed the time to call a halt
- To man-made laws, and made by man alone,-
Men, who make war and crush out human lives, The flowering of each country, state, and home; And grind the heart of woman neath their feet. But justice will prevail, though long it seem; The balance will in time attained be, And man and woman equal stand at last.
- But now—amid these hours of untold woe;
- These hours of deepest darkness and despair—
- When civilization seems to backward roll,
- And all the laws of Mercy are annulled—
- Now let us turn to God in simple faith
- And pray—for all the Sages of the past
- Have bade us pray—“for prayer availeth much.”
- So to this end, ye women of the world,
- Awake! Come forth! and as a Unit stand!
- Held fast together by the sacred bond,
- Of Universal Sisterhood, and sealed
- With the most Holy Seal of mutual Love,
- Of mutual sorrow, pain and sympathy;
- With every line of difference wiped away;
- No thought of race or creed to enter in;
- And let all hearts be welded into one,
- One Mighty Heart—to form a censer-cup,
- To hold on high—fashioned of rubies rare,
- And filled with the deep-burning fire of pain;
- And with the incense of our daily prayers,
- Which rising, ever rising unto heaven,
- May penetrate the clouds made thick by war,
- And reach at last the very throne of God.
- Then for the sake of her who gives her all
- Who suffers tortures only women know;
- In answer to the incense of her prayers,
- The days of anguish may the sooner end,
- And man be brought to Reason and to Life,
- And stand once more not lower than the beast,
- But clothed in righteousness redeemed from, self;
- A perfect man—the “noblest work of God.”
- So let us as a sisterhood of peace,
- Unite in prayer for these our brother men,
- And for this weary, war-sick stricken earth,
- That God may hear and hearing, send release;
- In Him with faith let each heart firmly trust,
- For down the ages has it ever rung
- “Pray ye! O pray! For prayer availeth much.”
“Amongst the women of our own time is Qurratu'l-’Ayn, the daughter of a Muhammadan priest. At the time of the appearance of the Báb she showed such tremendous courage and power that all who heard her were astonished. She threw aside her veil, despite the immemorial custom of the Persians, and although it was considered impolite to speak with men, this heroic woman carried on controversies with the most learned men, and in every meeting she vanquished them. When imprisoned she said, You can kill me as soon as you like but you cannot stop the emancipation of women."—
THE power of a great life to inspire other lives is vividly typified in the remarkable and dramatic influence of the great Persian feminist and poetess, Qurratu’l-’Ayn, upon the New Woman Movement in Austria. The relation between this heroine of Persia, one of the greatest women the world has ever produced, and Marianne Hainisch, the greatest pioneer and leader in the Woman Movement of Austria for the last fifty years, is indeed dramatic. It came about in this way:
At the time when Mme. Hainisch, now the mother of the President of Austria, was turning toward work for the emancipation of womanhood, she was in the very closest friendship with Marie von Najmajer, who was also devoting herself to the work of womanhood and of humanity. Marie von Najmajer, the most gifted poetess of Austria in the last generation, never married. It was not that she did not have love for man, or that she had any antagonistic thoughts toward marriage, but because she wished to give her entire life to humanity.
Into the life of this poetess came, about 1870, a great inspiration from reading the career of Qurratu’l-’Ayn—the story of whose life and martyrdom in the early days of the Bahá’í Movement is well known to the readers of The Bahá’í Magazine. Marie von Najmajer, as the result of this inspiration, did her greatest creative work—a long narrative poem entitled “Qurratu’l-’Ayn”—based upon the life of this heroine. It is her greatest poem and one of the greatest pieces of poetic work Austria has produced, published in book form in 1874. From this beautiful poem a brief passage may be quoted in translation from the German in order to show both the poetic quality of this author and the character of Qurratu’l-’Ayn in its power to inspire.
- The news of Qurratu’l-’Ayn’s approach
- Was quickly spread to borders of the Caspian
- Sea,
- And to Bedesht came many folk in pilgrimage
- To meet her on the coming day.
- And so one day upon the forest’s edge,
- Where many tents were brightly strechted
- Surrounded by gay carpet spread,
- There streamed the people in, and lo, Qurratu’l-’Ayn
- Appeared, the people of Mazandaran to
- greet.
- They all expected a haughty woman to see
- Masterful, of lordly mien
- And of proud glance.
- And behold there came she from the forest
- Tender-miened and lovely as a sunbeam
- Breaking through a crown of foliage green;
- In the highest simplicity, like an angel,
- Modestly smiling as a beseeching child.
- Yet as she, in clear and simple terms, began
- to speak
- She appeared with every word to grow;
- And continually by inspiration carried forward
- She stood at last before them like a goddess
- And cried inflamed, “Now the time is come
- When God in spirit shall be worshipped and
- in truth.
- There is come to us a New Light, a New
- Law;
- And heart and soul and spirit shall rejoice.
- “Yet such a great event not without
- struggle comes to pass!
- Oh shrink not from a thousand sacrifices,
- You chosen people, you children of this
- epoch!
- There has come to us a Son of Light.
- Arise, you men of Iran, give testimony of
- the truth!
- “And also you—my own poor sex—you
- women, O awake!
- The hour comes when no more in the harem
- Hopeless and imprisoned shall you wait.
- For other safer stiller days keep your innate
- timidity and fear;
- But now prove yourselves companions to
- your husbands
- In the struggle for humanity’s highest good.
- The time is great! Oh friends, be great
- as it!”
- Then rang a thousand-throated cry to greet
- her—
- Inspired, sobbing and in jubilation—
- “Prophetess, behold us ready and prepared
- For all. We swear it to you, by God and
- by the Báb.”
- “Then let us pray for strength and unity,”
- she called.*
It was at the time of the publication of this poem that Marie Von Najmajer and Marianne Hainisch, working in close unity, became the great moulders of thought in Austria for the equality of men and women and for the education of all boys and girls. The life of Qurratu’l-’Ayn, stirring the creative genius and the human soul of the Austrian poetess, reached also Marianne Hainisch and became a great inspiration in the joint lives of these two noble women for the freedom of womanhood in Austria, as Qurratu’l-’Ayn had been the great pioneer and martyr for the freedom of the women in Persia.
It was in 1870, Mme. Hainisch told Miss Martha Root—to whose interview with the Austrian leader we are
--PHOTO--
Miss Marie van Najmajer, author of the great poem “Qurratu’l-’Ayn,” published in Vienna, Austria, in 1874.
indebted for the material for this article—that Mme. Hainisch first met Marie von Najmajer in a great assembly. Marie had been reading a great deal about Qurratu’l-’Ayn and the history of the Báb and she decided to write a poem to portray the wonderful life of Qurratu’l-’Ayn and the teachings of the Báb. This meeting was the beginning of a great friendship between Marianne and Marie. They decided that they would work to get better schools for women. Marianne Hainisch spoke openly and in public, pleading that the Government should furnish schools for girls and that they should have the same privileges as boys in education. They demanded complete rights for women. Marie van Najmajer, blessed with ample means, remained single and devoted all her life and much of her means to this cause of womanhood. Marianne Hainisch, also fortunate in the possession of ample means, used
*Because of her boldness in putting off the veil, and for her public lectures in behalf of the Báb’s teachings—in which she was all too successful to please the Persian Mullahs —Qurratu’l-’Ayn was martyred, being thrown into a well and rocks heaped upon her. It is possible that this entire poem, “Qurratu’l-’Ayn,” may be rendered available for publication in serial form in later issues of The Bahá’í Magazine.
it to aid her in the work so dear to her heart. The day when these two women met in 1870 may be said therefore to be the day when the New Woman Movement was founded in Austria.
Miss Martha L. Root, Bahá’í lecturer and writer, recently interviewed Marianne Hainisch in her quiet country home near Vienna. From her own lips she received this story of her work, and that of Marie von Najmajer, for the New Woman Movement in that country. These two women from 1870 on worked with the greatest enthusiasm for the better education of women, for the rights of women to enter the professions. Marianne Hainisch said in the course of this interview: “Men could have their shops and their estates, they could do any work they wished, but women did not have the privilege of going to the universities. Marie von Najmajer and I strove to attain for girls opportunities to study just as boys did. We worked to secure for girls also gymnasium exercises, physical culture, and all other opportunities that were open to the boys of Austria. I was always a liberalist, a liberalist in religious thought as well as in the work of women. I worked, not that the rich alone should have education, but that all other women
--PHOTO--
Marianne Hainisch at the age of eighteen, the beautiful society girl.
of the working classes might enjoy life.”
“Miss Root” she said, “all this that you can speak about so freely, in my day and in the day of Qurratu’l-’Ayn was not so easy to speak about; but we have succeeded, and now women do have privileges and opportunities as do men.”
“Mme. Hainisch lives very simply,” writes Miss Root, “in a most charming small house with lovely gardens. She is very active, and though I arrived one-half hour ahead of time, she was ready to receive me. A man from one of the syndicates from America called while I was there and asked for an interview regarding politics. Mme. Hainisch answered him, ‘I am not a bit interested in politics. I have nothing to say to you. I am only interested in world peace, constructive work for women and for the welfare of humanity.’" From her seventieth birthday until now, when she is eighty-eight, her birthday anniversary has been celebrated so lovingly by her friends in Austria that she now, as she tells Miss Root, goes out of the city on that day so that her friends cannot spend their precious time doing things for her. Her son, who is President of Austria, said to her on the occasion of her last anniversary, “Do you not want more—can I not give you something?” And she
replied, “I only want what is necessary to live.”
Mme. Hainisch, like Qurratu’l-’Ayn, is not a masculine type of woman. As a girl she was very beautiful; as a woman, tender, sympathetic, loving, fulfilling all the duties of womanhood in her home, neglecting none of those in her larger work for women.
From the collection of appreciations published in connection with her seventieth birthday, the following quotation may be of interest: “A womanly ideal for all time is Marianne Hainisch, a real woman in her charm, her tenderness, her joy of life, beautiful also in the loving quality of her heart, daughter, wife, mother, perfect as the Creator willed her to be; yet a champion also of all others, for the rights of a new day, weariless fighter against bigotry and barbarism. For livelihood, for bread the New Woman Movement called, but the competition with the trained intelligence of man could only be undertaken when the intelligence of woman should receive equal training, so she fought step by step on the heated battle field of schools for girls. Quietly and unnoticed she founded, as a private school, the first high school for girls in Vienna. Today this school is flourishing and
--PHOTO--
Marianne Hainisch at the age of thirty-three, champion of Women’s Rights.
sends yearly a group of graduates to the universities. Never complaining, she has through her inspiration and zeal for this goal, won friends and assistance until the ‘Association for Wider Education of Women’ has become a power in our city. For girls she has striven long and earnestly for complete education and professional training, and for the boys also in our schools, with the warm heart of mother and grandmother. She has given her strength and influence to work against antiquated methods and unpedagogic harshness.”
That so energetic and so broad-minded a champion for right should strive not only for the rights of women but also for international friendship of various nations is to be expected. And so Mme. Hainisch has thrown herself into the peace movement with the deepest conviction and the warmest zeal. (Mme. Hainisch was for years President of the League of Austrian Women’s Clubs.) Through her influence this Austrian League joined the world association of women, the International Council of Women. In 1899 Mme. Hainisch attended the second Convention of this Movement in London; later she attended Conventions in Berlin and in Toronto, Canada. Her work for world peace has therefore been as distinguished as her work for women’s rights.
--PHOTO--
Present home of Mme. Hainisch near Vienna in which Miss Root interviewed her.
A glowing tribute to this remarkable woman is a brief poem by her dear friend Marie von Najmajer:
- Oh say not with such a modest mien
- You cannot poetize,
- For to me appears in you
- The purest form of poetry.
- That beautiful quick-kindled fire
- In your eyes and countenance;
- The peculiar charm which ever flows
- From your sweet and gentle soul;
- The lovely grace which unites in you
- The earnest fighting soul of purest woman;
- Your strife, to all the light to bring,—
- Is to me the most inspiring poetry.
That to this noble woman, Mme. Hainisch, mother of a President, founder of the New Woman Movement for Austria, and successful champion of it for over fifty years, who had at the beginning of her career been touched by the life of Qurratu’l-’Ayn and the Báb,—that to this woman in her last and gloriously glowing days should come the message of the Bahá’í Movement, is but fitting and perhaps destined. She had not heard of the Bahá’í Movement and how the message of Bahá’u’lláh was the fulfillment of what the Báb had preached, until Miss Root brought it to her attention. She received the book, “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,” by Dr. J. E. Esslemont, very graciously and informed herself of its contents. Though she could not attend the lectures on the Bahá’í Movement given by Miss Root, she asked her dearest friend to go and report to her every detail of the lectures. Afterwards this friend brought to Miss Root a gift for the Bahá’í Assembly of Vienna—the books of Marie von Najmajer. An extra copy of the poem “Qurratu’l-’Ayn,” given to Miss Root personally has been presented by Miss Root to the Bahá’í Archives of the United States, and it is from this book that we have quoted in this article.
Martha Root says of Mme. Hainisch: “She is the greatest woman I have met in Austria. Studying the Woman’s Movement of Austria we see that Mme. Hainisch and Marie von Najmajer havebeen the great moulders of thought for the equality of men and women and for equal education of the girl and boy in Austria, and now there are thousands of
women in Austria with this great ideal. I pondered in my heart how Qurratu’l-’Ayn, the first woman martyr in Persia for the work of religious freedom of women, for universal education and universal suffrage for women, had influenced these two beautiful young women in Austria so spiritually wide-awake.”
Just as the life of the Persian heroine proved such a great inspiration to these noble women of Austria whose work has been so effective for womanhood and for humanity, so may the life of Marianne Hainisch here presented bring inspiration to all by her noble work and life, blessed with ample means for the gratification of self-interests but rising above the pleasures and charm of society. From an early age throwing her great heart, soul and brilliant mind and charm of personality into the continual struggle that was not without its hardships and persecution; fighting always for the good not only for women but for men,—she stands in her old age like a mountain aglow with the bright light of the rising sun. It is the Light of the New Age which shines upon her brow.
and that which is true must come to the surface. Among these realities is the principle of the equality of man and woman; equal rights and prerogatives in all things appertaining to humanity. His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh declared this reality over fifty years ago. But while this principle of equality is true, it is likewise true that woman must prove her capacity and aptitude, must show forth the evidences of equality. She must become proficient in the arts and sciences and prove by her accomplishments that her abilities and powers have merely been latent. . . . Woman must especially devote her energies and abilities toward the industrial and agricultural sciences, seeking to assist mankind in that which is most needful. By this means she will demonstrate capability and insure recognition of equality in the social and economic equation. Undoubtedly God will confirm her in her efforts and endeavors, for in this century of radiance His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has proclaimed the reality of the oneness of the world of humanity and announced that all nations, peoples and races are one. He has shown that although individuals may differ in development and capacity, they are essentially and intrinsically equal as human beings, just as the waves of the sea are innumerable and different but the reality of the sea is one. The plurality of humanity may be likened to the waves but the reality of humankind is like the sea itself. All the waves are of the same water; all are waves of one ocean.
Therefore strive to show in the human world that women are most capable and efficient; that their hearts are more tender and susceptible than the hearts of men; that they are more philanthropic and responsive toward the needy and suffering; that they are inflexibly opposed to war and lovers of peace. Strive that the idea of international peace may become realized through the efforts of womankind, for man is more inclined to war than woman, and a real evidence of woman’s superiority will be her service and efficiency in the establishment of Universal Peace.
“Do ye not look upon the present conditions; in the not far distant future the world of women will become all-refulgent and all-glorious, for His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh hath willed it so. At the time of elections, the right to vote is the inalienable right of women, and the entrance of women in all the human departments is an irrefutable and uncontrovertible question. No soul can retard or prevent it.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
IN THIS day of universal awakening the sediment of old ideas is brought to the surface, and revealed in ungarnished nudity. It is as if a clarifying prod had stirred to its depths the ocean of life, and brought into view all the debris that human ignorance and misconception have collected for ages.
Placed in bold relief by the sunlight of analysis and reason, the crude barrenness of ancient ideas unfolds. Opinion takes on perspective and vision, understanding becomes more vital, reality more clear.
Humanity being roused from its sleep of stagnation is gradually awakening to the consciousness of a limitless self.
Man and woman are the two component parts of humanity. Each part must find equal development before the human race can reach the heights of progress.
In centuries past woman has been the helpless, uneducated, unhonored part of mankind. As far back as historical records go woman’s chief sphere of activity has been the home. Her time has been so completely taken up with household duties and the rearing of children that her intellectual growth has suffered.
Formerly in the Orient women were not even considered as human beings. Certain Arab tribes counted them in with their live stock. In their language the noun for “woman” also meant “donkey”—that is, the same name applied to both, and a man’s wealth was accounted by the number of these beasts of burden he possessed.
What a difference exists today! Civilization has advanced, and woman is awake to her identity. She is becoming conscious that she is the equal and complement of the masculine element of humanity—Education is freeing her from the bondage of ignorance—the Feminist Movement has demonstrated that woman is capable of filling a definite place in the world. Her development is necessary to the progress of the human race.
W. L. George in “Woman and Tomorrow” says, “Feminism is broadly the furthering of the interests of woman, philosophically the leveling of the sexes, and specifically the social and political emancipation of woman.”
Modern woman is developing latent talents. As her reality emerges from the obscurity of the past, a better self is finding expression.
As knowledge takes the place of ignorance the despotic barbarian loses his power. Out of the suffering caused by domination, cruelty, injustice, treachery and contempt, has been born a new consciousness—the consciousness of a better self. That better self stands for knowledge, truth, justice, respect, honor, love, co-operation and service.
All true happiness is formed by stimulating that better self into activity. It matters not whether the person be a laborer, a housewife, a
politician, a professional or business man or woman, each is happy in proportion to the innate perfections he or she is expressing.
The Feminist Movement is an effort toward expression where before there has been suppression.
Vance Thompson in his book, “Woman,” finds the explanation of the modern feminist movement in the “sex-specialization” man has imposed upon woman. He says that for ages man has insisted that woman be a “female-being” rather than a “human being.”
Modern woman maintains her individuality, understands and is better understood than were her ancestors. Why? Because experience has taught her an understanding of the problems of life. She expresses her sentiments in the Delineator, “The modern woman wants a share in all her husband’s business, in his failures as well as his successes, in his love as well as his money. The modern woman wants a partner not a master.”
The untrained, uneducated, inexperienced, suppressed half of the body of man has shaken off its paralysis. As woman receives the intellectual stimulus that can only come by contact with other minds, she is developing strength and learning how to fulfill her purpose in life, that of being the equal and complement of man, in fact the mother of all men.
But the fact that woman has not always been conscious of her powers, has not always been the life and inspiration she is today, has not always contributed her intellectual gifts to the intelligence of the race, makes her even more appreciated, now that she is learning how to strengthen that weakened wing of the human bird.
A sweeping survey of woman's activity in the world proves it to be extensive:—A large group of mothers are to be found who are educating themselves, so that they in turn can educate their children.
A second class of women is described by an author in the Living Age, “Although home duties may be the appropriate function for the majority of women, there is in the social life of today a very large class of young women who are perfectly capable of doing what was once considered man’s exclusive work, and doing it well.”
In reply to the opponents of woman’s new activities, Gertrude Atherton in the Yale Review says, “You forget that no woman can hold a man’s job if she is inefficient.”
A third class of women in the business world have been accused of being industrial usurpers. But this idea has been proved faulty by C. P. Neil, Commissioner of Labor, who listed four of the six great divisions of modern industry as woman’s industry, by right of her priority in them. Look at the range of the four:
1. Textile industries—such as cotton, woolen and linen manufacturers.
2. Cloth and serving trades, including all garment manufacturers.
3. Manufacturers of food and kindred products (including beverages, bakeries, pickle factories, candy kitchens, etc.).
4. Domestic Service (supervision of hostelries, apartment houses, restaurants, etc.).
If “usurpation” is the word, it is the men carders and weavers, the men who come to the house with vacuum cleaners, hotel proprietors, men garment cutters and fitters, apartment house superintendents, men bakers, chefs and pickle makers-it is they who are the “usurpers,”
not the women, who are but following their traditional pursuits from home to factory.
A fourth class is made up of women who are demonstrating the dynamic ability to have babies and careers, both—each better for the other. Lady Astor, a member of the British Parliament, also a mother of five children, is an interesting example. Lady Astor says, “The pearl of great price that I am striving for is to take into public life what every man gets from his mother—unselfishness, vision, courage, cleanness,—the real kind, which helps them to live up to the best that is in them. There is so much good in all men, but only good women can bring it out.”
Henry Norman in the Forum says, “Women are among the truly great artists of the world, some of them are great musicians, many of them great fiction writers.” Tonis E. Bisch, M.D., says, “There is nothing requiring brain power that a woman cannot do—providing she is properly trained—without the help of man.”
Every cause that is of lasting benefit to the race is usually watered by the blood of martyrs. The cause of the awakened woman is no exception. Qurratu’l-’Ayn, a beautiful Persian poetess, was the first woman to give her life to help establish freedom for all women. In 1863, in a land where custom demanded thick, protecting veils for all women, at all times, among a people who considered it a disgrace to be the parents of a girl baby, Qurratu’l-’Ayn arose and, throwing aside her veil, fearlessly proclaimed the dawn of a New Day in which superstition, fanatical custom and ignorance would be done away with.
For her action Qurratu’l-’Ayn was killed, her body was thrown into a well, and stones were heaped upon it. Like a seed that human body was buried, so that the spirit of progress that animated it might come forth as a new plant to carry courage, intellectual and spiritual growth to all women.
The most important question of this age is Universal Peace. Since 1888 an International Council of Women, representing forty-two countries and thirty-six million women, has been meeting once every five years to promote unity, and mutual understanding between all associations of women working for the common welfare of humanity. Its watchwords are peace, cooperation and progress.
To him who considers man superior to woman, Professor Burton, late president of the Minnesota and Wisconsin Universities, said, “Both male and female elements are found in all people, the predominance of one determining the sex. The difference between men and women is not a question of inferiority or superiority, but a difference of kind and function.”
Gertrude Atherton in the Yale Review says, “Men and women are one being split in two, differently sexed for the benefit of the race. Men and women are made up of the same ingredients. The predominance of good or bad, weakness or strength, is in the individual not the sex.”
’Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of a World-Wide Movement to establish universal peace, said that this is the “age of woman,” and that there is not a position held at any time by men that some woman will not occupy.
Thus we see woman walking side by side with man on the highway of human progress.
The principle of opposites is the law by which all manifestations of life on this earth plane exist and become known.
Each phenomenon is produced by a varied combination and balance of negative and positive charges of electrone energy. Contrast is the means used to make us appreciate the true worth of all things.
Would we appreciate sunshine if it never rained? If hatred and animosity did not exist, would love be understood? If there were no ignorance, would we be conscious of knowledge? If poverty did not exist would we be able to enjoy wealth? If woman had not suffered from the cave-man, would she be able to appreciate the cooperative man? If woman did not exist, would man be in existence? No! Man and woman are the two component parts of humanity. With either element lacking the human race could not exist, and with either element undeveloped the race as a whole stagnates.
The reality of a human being has two aspects. One aspect attaches him to this material world, its thoughts and affairs. The other directs his attention to the ideals of a spiritual existence.
The fusion of the two opposing elements in man, the material and the spiritual, results in an individuality that is eternal. We say such a man has character.
The radiating light from an incandescent bulb has resulted from the union of negative and positive poles of electricity. Just so the two opposing poles that represent the human race, when equally educated and properly united, will produce an illumined understanding that will become universal.
The thinking man awakens to a new realization of life. All the conflicting forces in the world—negative and positive, male and female, constructive and destructive, material and spiritual are seen to be constantly contributing their individual energy towards the equalization, the realization, of fuller and more perfect life.
A vision appears before my eyes. I see a mysterious valley hidden in the darkness of ignorance and misconception.
From its tangled depths, there rises at dawn of day, a beautiful white bird. Its two well-developed wings glisten in the sunlight, and move with equal strength and rythm.
The bird carries in its mouth a gem of great price—the gem of knowledge.
I hear a voice say, “It is the bird of humanity, which has been educated, trained and developed in the school of life experience. Now that its two wings are equally strong, the equality of men and women is realized—and the bird of humanity, with a free spiritual consciousness, can soar from summit to summit of progress.”
whose thought is pure, whose education is superior, whose scientific attainments are greater, whose deeds of philanthropy excel, be that one man or woman, white or colored, is entitled to full rights and recognition; there is no differentiation whatsoever.”
| IN ALLEGORY AND FABLE | IN TRADITION AND HISTORY |
From time to time down through the ages, even during the long period of the submergence of women, certain members of the sex have, as it were, been selected by God to perform great tasks. The debt of humanity to these women of the past is well brought out in an illuminating article by Mr. Hurlbut, the first installment of which is here published.
IT MAY not be quite beyond the pale of reason to assume that the subject of this essay will agree she has been from the beginning a source of disturbance for man. Indeed, if she shall accept the Bible narrative, she cannot in any wise quarrel with this assumption. Even though she may argue against having ever been a rib in a man’s anatomy, she must assent that she has been a thorn in his side throughout the ages. There had never been any disturbance in Eden until Woman was injected into it.
In order to rightly understand this it is necesary that the reader should be in some measure familiar with the Bahá’í (Glorious) Revelation. This is not being suggested as propaganda: there is no intent of striving to win the reader to belief in and acceptance of the divine station of Bahá’u’lláh, in whose appearance the renaissance of Truth was accomplished. Even in this statement one may observe that no quarrel is presented with Truth by the Revelation, as it is discussed as renascent and not as something new—only a stirring or a revitalization of interest in a subject which has been ever-present in human experience. Indeed, there is no good purpose served in argument to induce anyone to accept Truth. The only right attitude to be assumed by an ardent disciple is to so present the beauty of Truth that it shall warrant recognition; and then if that recognition be not accorded, all the urge which his desire may inject into it will be fruitless. Blindness can be cured only from within.
In the Bahá’í Revelation there is presented to man the key to unlock the mystical and heretofore unreadable allegories of Holy Writ. And Eden was and is an allegory. In that wonderful allegory of Creation presented in the opening chapter of the Book of Genesis we are given to understand the meaning of “Woman.” Not infrequently it is asked of the Bahá’í: “Do you accept the Bible as the Word of God?” Ordinarily, if it be readily accessible the Bahá’í will turn to a statement penned by ’Abdu’l-Bahá on the fly-leaf of a Bible in the City Temple in London where, by invitation of Doctor Campbell, he addressed a vast congregation. It reads:
“This Book is the Holy Book of God, of celestial inspiration. It is the Bible of Salvation, the noble Gospel. It is the mystery of the Kingdom and its light. It is the Divine Bounty, sign of the guidance of God.”
A second query is: “Must one accord belief in the Bible in order to accomplish soul salvation?” And the understanding Bahá’í will make response: “That is solely dependent upon one’s capacity to grasp the real meaning and purpose of the Bible. If he shall be able to do this and then
reject it he will be in the position of one who seeing the glory of the sun shall deny its light.” Many erroneously insist that the Bible, being of Divine inspiration, must be accepted as free from fault. As a matter of fact and of necessity, it is replete with faults and were it not so it would not be a perfect Book. It is called the “Book of Life,” the intended meaning being that its truths convey spiritual sustenance and life to man. It is not only that—it is the Book of Life in the sense that it portrays human life and methods in every phase, as also it exposes man’s deluded ideas regarding what may be God’s Life in which human attributes are assigned to Deity whereby God performs acts as man in His place would perform them. It is this exposition of innumerable faults which constitutes a necessary factor of its completeness.
Were one inclined to insist in opposition to this that the recitals in all things are really of God’s deeds, it is suggested that he read the seventh chapter of the Book of Joshua from the ninteenth verse to the end of the chapter.
If one shall reject the Bible he must remain entirely ignorant of the meaning of existence. Were it not for the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, mankind would be without means of uncovering the concealed meanings of the Bible, which when incorporated therein were “sealed” to so remain until the “time of the end.” That time opened in Persia in the middle of the last century when the “Door” of attainment was swung wide through which it became possible for all men to approach and to enter in to a knowledge of God. It is through this that we come to the meaning of Eden and the appearance of woman therein. Also, not only has the status of woman in the present day been clearly defined and made mandatory, but there are involved a dozen or more other mandates which are already lamely functioning—lamely, because of man’s failure as yet to grasp their underlying potentials.
In the allegory of Creation, Adam stands as the embodiment of all humanity which ever had been and which was existent upon the earth at the time—a humanity which had never experienced that which is really meant by “misery”—a lack of a knowledge of God—which is the source of all sorrows, and being in this state his condition was edenic. It had ever been so because through the ages he had not been conscious of the fact that he was the possessor of soul. And he would have continued in this intellectual state of spiritual ignorance had it not been for the appearance of the real Adam—the divine Man, the Being of perfect purity who appeared to the race as its educator and Saviour, in whose example of pure living, the human practices which had been pursued under the direction of uninstructed minds were reflected as rude and uncouth attitudes in life, and the concept which the aroused soul brought to him was that thing which acted as the iconoclastic influence in Eden. Wheresoever the term “woman” is employed in Bible allegory, it means soul or religion. That is what is meant by the Woman in Eden. The soul of man being brought out of himself, an intimate and inseparable part of his being. And this Woman—his soul—was to serve merely as a channel through which the theretofore uninstructed intellect of man might travel between the grossness of materiality and the perfect refinement of a divinely spiritual state. Inclined toward the animalistic desires which had always actuated him, rather than to the spiritual beauties revealed by the new instruction, he chose to make the soul a medium for clinging
to the old life and therefore the soul became degraded. That was the “Fall of Man.”
Woman having thus been cleared of any connection whatsoever with the initial punishment of the race according to the traditional reading of it, the intent of the writer is to make plain how greatly in the history of the race woman rendered service in crucial periods of its experience. One cannot read extendedly through religious literature, authentic and otherwise, without being confronted by nine outstanding figures of womanhood, whose importance did not result from social prominence or from individual striving, but apparently from a Divine intent for the accomplishment of a purpose, thus working “in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.”
The station of Hagar is one surrounded by the mysterious processes of the unapproachable Guide:—A bond-woman in the household of Abraham, she lent herself to him, upon the insistence of Sarah, his wife, and became the mother of Ishmael from whose seed were to arise, as promised of God, twelve princes; and “his descendants were to be as the sands of the sea.” Ishmael was a man of the wilds whose descendants were the wild tribes of the Arabian desert. The slave, having accomplished that for Abraham in which his wife had failed, possibly discovered a distinctly feminine trait in treating Sarah with scorn and because of this she was driven out into the wilderness in the fore-running of that special purpose for which she had been launched into the plan of things, as out of this there was to arise two thousand years later one of the most widely disseminated of religious movements—that of Muhammad, the Arabian Prophet, who was direct descendant of Ishmael, His revealment of God’s message for man having been foretold in that very remarkable prophecy in Revelation, chapter 12, verse 6: “And the woman fled into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there one thousand, two hundred and sixty days.” Not “soul,” this time, but “religion” is meant by the term “woman,” and this religion was that of Muhammad, destined to endure unbrokenly through 1,260 days (or years) dating from the Hegira in 622 A.D. and covering 1,260 Muhammadan years to 1844, the year of the dawn of the Bahá’í Movement.
Does it perhaps seem a far cry to connect Hagar and Ishmael with this great spiritual uprising of the desert, destined to leave its indelible impress upon untold millions of souls? Let us for a brief space look upon this bond-woman in the pale light of fable—yonder she runs, bruised in heart, beaten in aspiration, burned by the scorching condemnation of the outraged Sarah, who was responsible for her plight, taking with her the infant Ishmael: “Allah ta ’Ala! Allah ta ’Ala!”—over and over repeating the then Greatest Name of God, thirsting on desert sands, turning no whither in her search for water between those low-lying hills of Merwa and Safa, the child wailing out its misery of need, and she as any mother might be, torn by the agony of witnessing his want, sees at her feet a strange disturbance to develop rapidly into a bursting bubbling spring, its clear water flowing a cool stream across the burning waste. Do you possibly grasp the spiritual significance of the fable? Religion, standing in the midst of the desert wastes of human fallacies and misunderstandings of truth, ever discovering to the thirsting soul the unsullied stream of the Water of Life.
Then, afterward, Abraham, visioning the essential meaning of sacrifice, stayed his uplifted hand, visited this well and built a temple by it wherein to offer up his Worship to the Most High. It was this which came to bear the name of the celebrated Zemzem well and about it and this temple there centered the growing attraction of its bounty to caravans of trade across the desert, and Mecca grew to be a city of note throughout the world.
The story of Sarah’s approaching motherhood is couched in symbology; she laughed derisively when it was suggested that in her advanced age (ninety) she should present Abraham with an heir. Her intense desire that his seed might find fruition was what had prompted her to sacrifice the prerogatives of her station in wifehood and extend her privilege to her slave. Resentment over the scornful attitude assumed by Hagar not only caused her to drive out the bond-woman but it also stirred in her such an intensity of realization of her barrenness that it broke through the barriers of flesh and restored in her the virility of youth. Thus, in fulfillment of the Divine promise to Abraham, came forth Isaac from whose seed was destined to spring the “twelve princes” in whose line through David came Jesus the Christ.
To this one came lasting prominence because, as the daughter of Pharaoh, the Bible narrative accredits her with discovering and saving the infant Moses in the bulrushes of the Nile. This identical experience is associated with the birth of King Sargon I., some hundreds of years earlier, but stories of dramatic virility have ever been seized upon by the Prophet to illustrate a point for human recognition more forcefully than if couched in terms of revelation. It is because a story which is a concept of the human imagination appeals more directly to the average human mentality. This identical practice is followed in several pronounced instances in the Bahá’í Revelation. The Moses story is in its entirety allegorical. The “bulrushes” which grow so thickly on the banks of the Nile are introduced in the narrative to symbolize the fallacies and idolatrous practices of the Egyptians. Moses was for long a favorite at the court of Pharaoh, waiting, as every Divine Messenger must wait, until the time should become ripe for the open declaration of His mission. As to Aseyeh, as opportunity was presented, He made known the beauty of the singleness of God, a single Source whence emanated all beneficences and all law. And in the midst of the misleading concepts of her people she saw at last its truth and her grasp of it was the budding knowledge of the glory of the Christ.
Not for us to attempt to define the path by which these two came into that close communion through which the daughter of Pharaoh became a worshipper before the sacred shrine where Moses presented His supplications. He—Osarsiph—a favorite of the court, had every opportunity to instil in her receptive mind the great Truth it was His mission to portray. And as they stood in the cool and clear Egyptian nights looking up on the sparkling glories of the Pleiades, or thrilled by the majesty of unnumbered blazing suns, he may not have found it difficult to convince her that over the vastity of the universe there could be no division of ruling power and that there held sway but one God, yielding no tithe of His supremacy to any other, and when she grasped this was the time
of her allegorical “finding of Moses in the bulrushes” of the Nile.
As she did not discover and preserve a real infant from destruction, wherein, it may be queried, did her service lie? It was in the stirring in the hearts of His own people, as yet blind and deaf to the Word, a desire to understand somewhat of that power which could lead a princess of the blood from her loyalty to the religion of her fathers. They were called upon to witness also the awfulness of her fate. As she could not for long conceal the change in attitude toward life which her new belief brought about, in the discovery by the priesthood of her violation of the faith of her people, Pharaoh had her imprisoned in an iron cage and her living body submerged in the waters of the Nile.
Rahab was of the time of Joshua, a harlot of Jericho, the city of sin. When two emissaries of Joshua entered Jericho secretly to discover the degree of vulnerability to the forces of Joshua, they repaired to the house of Rahab and the King learning of their presence in the city had them sought for. On securing from them a promise of protection should the city fall, Rahab concealed them behind piles of flax on her roof. Reared an idolator, the creed of her people was that each city and country had its own deities; but now, as she had opportunity of extended talks with these emissiaries, there was stirred within her an understanding more profound regarding the greatness of a ruling power and at last she declared to them: “The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and earth beneath.”
And when the soldiers of the King came, her first service under the banner of her new faith was couched in falsehood as she made denial of the presence of the men on her premises. She let the two men down by rope from her window overhanging the city wall and afterward when the city was invested by Joshua the promise made to Rahab was kept, she and all her people being given full protection in the general destruction which was wrought. Following her preservation in this wise, Rahab became the wife of Salmon and was thus projected in the Divine planning as a forebear, many generations removed, of Jesus the Christ. So must Rahab stand in history for what she was, rendering her initial service in falsity, but through it rising to the greater glory as progenitress of a Christ. In such wise hath the Almighty chosen the weak and foolish things of the world to confound all earthly glory.
Zohra was of the time of David, a courtesan of Babylon. Her establishment was one of the centers of the gay life of the city. But, surrounded as she was, by the frivolities and practices of vice, it had been for years her practice whenever holy men (saints) visited Babylon, to invite them to enjoy the hospitality of her house and in every instance to strive to secure from them the magic talisman—the Greatest Name of God, which in that age was “Izme-Azam”—in the mere utterance of which a soul found admission to Paradise. Hers was therefore a continued spiritual striving in the midst of worldliness.
At the time, it is narrated, there were in heaven two of the angels discontented with their lot and complaining to God that in looking over the parapet of heaven they had seen some of the angels who had been permitted to visit earth engaged in reprehensible
practices, but God told them had they been sent they would be doing no differently. This stirred strong protestations of their virtue until at last God consented to their earth visit and on their departure confided to them as a sacred trust the Greatest Name wherewith on their desire to return its utterance would transport them.
On their arrival in Babylon they received from Zohra invitation to come to her house and when they went they were entertained with the other guests and became drunken with wine, grew boisterous and threw her husband into the street. When they were in this condition she plied them with appeals for the Greatest Name and when they communicated it to her she breathed it in the extreme of soul-ecstacy and was immediately transported to Paradise.
The story is told not only for its inner meaning but in demonstration of a great truth that there can be no condition of spiritual deprivation in which the sincerely striving soul shall be denied the light.
For their punishment the “fallen angels” were tied by the heels and left hanging heads downward in two wells of Chegil whence to the present day they engage in the practice of sorceries.
Ambhapalah was of the time of Buddha, a courtesan of Kapilavastu. When she learned of the exalted mission which Prince Siddartha had declared to be his, and the Buddha with his bikshus came in her vicinage, she opened to them her extensive gardens and strove in every way to provide them with comforts, ignoring in doing this the wealthy and influential patrons who sought pleasure with her. In this wise many of these were attracted to a study of his great purpose and became devoted followers in his path.
As the period of service draws nearer to us the characters are made to stand out more clearly. The station accorded to Mary of Magdala is the most exalted to which any woman in the history of the race has attained.
Mary, the wife of Joseph, was the mother of the physical Jesus: Mary of Magdala was the mother of the Christ within Him. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Do not be bitterly antagonistic to a declaration opposed possibly to all the teachings accepted by your forebears, but accord to this wonderful woman the richer consideration to be had in thinking for yourselves.
In order to make clear the unrivaled service of Mary of Magdala, it is necessary to explain the attitudes of the disciples at the time of the Crucifixion. To the very last instant of this dread experience they had remained confident that Jesus through His Divine power would outwit his enemies and find release in a miraculous manner. When nothing of this nature (in a physical sense) took place they were plunged into the deeps of despair and to them there came the stark realization that they had been worshipping one “who was a man like unto themselves.”
By this it was clearly shown to how great an extent they had been adoring a Name without having possessed any real appreciation of the Glory within, by which the Name became celebrated. In other words, they had held the body of Jesus in their hearts! Mary of Magdala alone possessed the clearer discernment of the meaning of the Christ.
’Abdu’l-Bahá has at different times laid great stress upon the need of harmony between the white and colored races in America. He even urged specifically that a Convention be arranged in Washington for unity between the white and colored people which was fulfilled in May, 1921. The Bahá’ís have since held similar conferences in Springfield, Mass, New York City, Philadelphia and Dayton, Ohio. The following is an account of the second Amity Convention held in Washington, D. C., April 8, 9 and 10, 1927.
THERE is something “new under the sun.” It is the frank efforts of numbers of both white and colored persons, in these United States, to establish a common ground upon which both groups, enlightened by contact, may essay to effect a spirit of good will one toward the other. Referring to this fact, Mrs. Kate B. Johnson, Commissioner of Public Welfare in the State of North Carolina, speaking of the social welfare program in that State, has remarked significantly, “The State has awakened to a duty to perform rather than a problem to solve.” It is this advanced and open-minded attitude to which may be attributed much of the success achieved by those who have seriously taken this matter in hand.
Through the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, The Urban League and similar organizations, northern colored people, aided by white sympathizers, have made great headway in securing more just legislation, in obtaining better wages and larger opportunities for employment. In the south, Inter-racial Committees and Social Welfare Commissions have sounded the coming of a New Day by improving educational opportunities, including more and better school buildings and salaries for teachers, better hospital facilities, and housing and sanitation, and all that goes to create an environment wherein character and good citizenship may have emphasis and development.
Now, strange as it may seem, it is none the less true that in 1912 a Great Teacher from the Orient visited this country, and traveling from coast to coast often exhorted groups of Americans to consider this identical sort of work. Addressing a mixed faculty and a throng of students at Howard University in Washington, D. C., He said, “I am pleased to see the white and colored working together. You are all leaves of one tree, fruit of one branch.” Again He was heard to declare:
“But, praise be to God, the American Government is no warlike government; the American democracy is not founded upon warlike doctrines. Hence it becomes this democracy to uphold international peace and spread it throughout the world. Through the promulgation of this doctrine will be distributed the greatest blessings.
“It will eliminate the darkness of prejudice, the darkness of war, the darkness of rancor and hatred, the darkness of racial prejudice, the darkness of political prejudice. May this darkness be blotted out and the light become widespread, universal. May the oneness of humanity become primordial, supreme.”
It should not be surprising then to know that thoughtful students of the teachings of ’Abdu’l-Bahá have sought in various ways to carry out His instructions not simply in theory but in practice. Under such auspices, and with sympathetic assistance from those who, differing perhaps in “creed and rite,” are “one in faith and
hope,” a “Convention for Amity between the Colored and White Races” was held recently in Washington, D. C., continuing three days.
Could any church be found to house such a gathering? No sooner was the need made known than one was generously offered.
Would speakers of worth and distinction be willing to appear upon a program the avowed purpose of which would be to approve a thing so frequently misunderstood, unheeded or tabooed? So few were the declinations, so prompt and generous the acceptances that the Committee made the discovery that what had at first seemed a hard task was turning out to be a thing of joy and pleasure.
The Mt. Pleasant Congregational Church, spacious and pleasing, housed the first two meetings, while the third and last was held in the large auditorium of the Playhouse.
How fitting that the pastor of the church should offer the first prayer for the Assembly and for the Cause. His appeal is for illumination and guidance addressed to the God “who is above all races, all caste and creeds.” There is no hesitation in his manner or words. Instinctively one knows that this man who has chosen to be a spiritual leader has chosen also to be a believer and exponent of that sublime message, “God hath made of one blood all nations of men.”
That prayer has established a feeling of security, of reverence, of anticipation and prepared us for the greeting from the Chairman for the evening, Mr. Horace Holley of New York. His words of welcome are followed by a brief reference to the grave problems confronting the world and the urgent need of harmony between the spiritual and material. Leaders in every department of life are seeking for unity. New and undreamed of possibilities await the application of spiritual brotherhood. America is made up of the blood of all peoples and races. It is therefore for us to apply the moral and spiritual law at home and abroad. Since so many are looking to this land for leadership, we must pursue an idealism capable of expressing universal peace.
The first speaker of the Conference is the Rev. Albert R. Vail of Chicago. No higher note of sincerity, of idealism, of truth, was struck during, the series of meetings than was sounded by this man whose power as a speaker it is simply impossible to portray. With the ease and grace of a child he greets his audience. In a voice of a quality so rare, that while it reaches the farthest corner of the auditorium seems soft and low, he portrays, he pleads, he persuades until finally as we look and catch the peculiar light on the speaker’s face we are hushed into silence, as it sinks into our consciousness that the message and the messenger are to be numbered among the never-to-be-forgotten things of life.
Mr. Vail’s subject is “New Proofs of the Oneness of Humanity.” Intently we follow his thoughts such as these: One of the most dramatic speeches in the Bible is that of the Apostle Paul as he addresses the Grecians, members of one of the most highly developed civilizations of the world, he said, “You have an inscription to an unknown God.” With great philosophers and statesmen to guide them these people had not discovered the Divine Unity nor the oneness of humanity. All this now comes to light scientifically—the certain knowledge that all human beings are alike in creation and that there is no such thing as pure race in the sense of no mixing of blood. All races, and all religions are fundamentally one.
Complexion is not significant but the knowledge of God is vital.
War would be impossible if we realized that the Spirit of God is in every heart. No one could kill the temple of God, and that “temple” is man. If God loves all how can we be prejudiced against any of His children?
A shining succession of Holy Teachers have given rise to the recurring civilizations of the world. The aim of each has been the evolution of man’s consciousness into the flow of the divine, so that he would perceive the solidarity of mankind and be able to organize the Federation of the World.
For this meeting Miss Avis Andrews, a student in Howard University, accompanied by one of her teachers, rendered two solos. Slight of build, and modest of manner, she sang with rare sweetness and finish, It requires no gift of prophecy to predict that she will be heard from in the future.
With the exception of the beautiful anthem sung by the quartet of the Mt. Pleasant church at a subsequent meeting and the voluntaries preceding each session, all other music for the Conference was the willing contribution of colored artists.
The Young Women’s Glee Club of Howard University, with a conductor of their own sex, gave pleasing variety to the program. Of their two numbers the first was chosen from the music of the distinguished Anglo-African composer, Coleridge-Taylor; the second being the incomparable “Sorrow Song,” “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.”
When at the concluding program we listened to the singing of Dr. Sumner Wormley, the beauty and power of whose voice was enhanced by his skilled accompanist, we felt that a lesson of inter-racial harmony had been taught by these musicians, gifted men and women of the darker race, that transcends all speech. Like unfettered song birds their voices appeal to the heart of the listener without regard to race or creed, and no “true believer” doubts that their “harmony of sweet sounds” is a special gift from God Himself.
Dr. Vail was followed by Dean O’Connell of Morgan College, Baltimore. Significant is his subject, “Thou Shalt Love,” and significant are the speech and speaker. A tall, dark-brown man with shoulders slightly bent, a deeply furrowed face beneath a thick crop of white hair, he is no mean figure as he faces so benignantly his expectant audience. Whence the sadness of that face? the grave shadows surrounding the eyes? the passion and restraint in that voice? A man of liberal education, of fine impulses, of loving heart, he has lived all his life “behind the veil”—a victim of prejudice. He is to speak of love. What does he say?
Palestine is distinguished among all lands for its spiritual contributions to mankind. From its people come the teachings of the unity of God. In a day when scientific knowledge was lacking, the Jews arrived at that conclusion with clarity and accuracy.
“Thou shalt love” is a divine command. But is it possible to love the unlovely, the vicious, the unkind? It is the glory of the race to have discovered this possibility and power. “Hear O Israel! The Lord thy God is one Lord. Thou shalt love Him and thy neighbor as thyself.”
So far the speaker’s message has been general. From now on it becomes specific and unusual. He does not inveigh against the whites nor does he speak bitter words on behalf of the colored. It is a blessed, an uplifting thing he is saying. Not all may understand. Indeed it is apparent
that all do not understand. But we who are weary of conflict, we who bend under the burden of race hatred, whose lives are blighted by injustice and misunderstanding,—we are like “empty pitchers at a full fountain.” Listen! There are no crosses, no losses for one who fulfills this Law of Love. All are but instruments of discipline in His hands. No matter what discouragements or oppressions are met I will love Thee my Father and my God. I will love all, despite of all, because of Thee!
Oh creative and healing words! Had no others been spoken, the call to the Conference may well be thought justified by their utterance. What if the message had been given to some who “having ears heard not, neither did they understand?” To others it had brought a new vision. Never again will they suffer as heretofore they have suffered. From now on with God’s help they will say, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”
On the following evening under the guidance of Mr. Allen B. McDaniel of Washington, the Conference was continued. Very briefly he alluded to the wisdom and divine inspiration of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, whose teachings inspired the Conference. As an example of the confirmation of the effort, he introduced Dr. S. C. Mitchell of Richmond University, Virginia, who was listened to with profound interest from the beginning to the end of his speech.
“Faith in Friendliness” is his topic, and he draws numerous illustrations in support of his theme. Such faith is essential to the adjustment of inter-racial, industrial and international affairs.
Two men, one black the other white, were toiling in the engine-room of a ship. Suddenly an acicdent filled the place with steam. Both rushed to the man-hole. The colored man was first to reach it, but stepping back he pushed his fellow-laborer forward saying, “You go first, you have a wife and child.” The sacrifice was accepted. The one man went to his family, the other to his Maker. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.”
Writers of Negro history were cited to the action of John Jackson of Virginia who was author of the suggestion whereby no forts or fleets are found today upon the largest inland border in the world separating nations,–that between Canada and the United States. This is a sign of the faith of each in the friendship of the other. Such a spirit pervading the world would soon turn its darkness into universal light.
The presence of Dr. Mitchell is like a benediction and his talk a fitting foreword for the introduction of Mr. Louis G. Gregory, one of the most consistent and loyal of all American Bahá’ís. Again we hear from a man of color a plea for forbearance and good-will. White and colored people have lived side by side in this country for three centuries, yet each would gain much from better acquaintance with the other. The abandonment of unreasonable prejudices and the application of the Golden Rule to race relations will bring a power of unity into American life that will be proof against all antagonistic forces. Decline among nations has always followed forces of inharmony. There is no greater menace to the perpetuity of a nation than internal dissensions on which foes, if such there be, concentrated their attacks.
The modesty of this speaker would preclude his taking to himself any special commendation for these words. In their sincerity, simplicity
and truth they seem, to the writer, quite fit to be incorporated in some State document.
At the third and last session Mr. Vail presided.
A learned and eloquent Rabbi, Dr. Abram Simon, gives a precious hour to the meeting. He chooses as his subject “The Higher Unity” and handles it in masterly manner.
The tenth anniversary of the World War leaves many of us in doubt as to whether the results achieved are worthy of the colossal sacrifice made. A glance at the map of the world creates amazement, doubt and caution. Have we made the world safe for mutual understanding? There is but one unshakable basis for an expanding civilization and that is the reciprocal recognition of each nation’s, each religion’s and each race’s right to its destiny and to understanding of its culture and ideals.
Whatever else we do we must prevent racial conflict. A battle between white and colored races would be the last stage in the tragedy of humanity. Thoughtful men must, therefore, get together, not to talk platitudes about tolerance but to multiply the vehicles for developing healthy national and international sentiment and for creating a program of education that shall begin in the cradle, march through our school systems and not cease until the victory of spiritual unity shall have been attained.
Mr. Mountfort Mills, recently returned from Palestine, made the final address. With that singular forgetfulness of self which characterizes all he says and does, Mr. Mills launched into his own address by expressing deep satisfaction in the one just listened to by Rabbi Simon. Tactfully he expressed regret at the assumption of superiority on the part of Nordics and various religionists.
Yet, this has been the result of men accepting partial truths. Not until recently has the world reached the capacity to know the whole truth. The human race has been passing through its childhood. Now, through acceptance of the oneness and universality of Truth it can attain maturity. The hour for the passing of intolerance has struck! Unity is the great conception but it is difficult of attainment. The superiority complex of western civilization in dealing with peoples of the East is to be deplored. In final application, the one sure foundation upon which inter-racial international and inter-religious harmony can be erected is the Holy Spirit of God. Upon the plane of the spirit Unity already exists. The awakening of all men to this supreme reservoir of power will bring the unity that abides.
And now the Conference is ended. Cui bono? Who shall say? Did one come an unbeliever in the possibility of a better understanding between colored and white people, and listening to the words of wisdom, of tolerance, of forbearance, from men of both groups, arrive at some different conclusion?
Did one come aloof, indifferent, cynical, and go away, awakened, aroused, aglow with the mighty impulse, to accept this teaching of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and henceforth to leave no stone unturned to hasten the glad day of its accomplishment?
Came one, bitter, hating, despairing, who found an instrument for the healing of his deepest wounds?
Neither you nor I may measure the good accomplished by this Amity Convention which was arranged by the National Inter-racial Committee of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.
