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WORLD ORDER
JANUARY 1939
PRICE 20c
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
JANUARY 1939 VOLUME 4 NUMBER 10
UNITY TRIUMPHANT • EDITORIAL .............................. 365
SAVIORS ON MT. ZION • ALICE SIMMONS COX ................... 367
RELIGION AS A BASIS FOR WORLD ORDER • CLINTON H. BUGBEE ... 376
TREASURED MEMORIES • LILIAN McNEILL ....................... 383
THE WORLD FEDERAL STATE • LOTHAR VON WURMB ................ 386
DUMB BEASTS AND MEN • OLIVIA KELSEY ....................... 391
ISLAM, IV • ALI-KULI KHAN ................................. 398
CHINESE PROVERBS AND MAXIMS • STANWOOD COBB ............... 402
VIEWING THE WORLD AS AN ORGANISM
Change of address should be reported one month in advance.
WORLD ORDER is published monthly in New York, N. Y., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Stanwood Cobb and Horace Holley. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Alice Simmons Cox, Genevieve L. Coy, G. A. Shook, Dale S. Cole, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, Marzieh Carpenter, Hasan M. Balyusi, Shirin Fozdar, Inez Greeven. BUSINESS MANAGER: C. R. Wood. PUBLICATION OFFICE: 135 East 50th Street, New York, N. Y. EDITORIAL OFFICE: 119 Waverly Place, New York, N. Y.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $2.00 per year, $1.75 to Public Libraries. Rate to addresses outside the United States, $2.25, foreign Library rate, $2.00, Single copies, 20 cents. Checks and money orders should be made payable to World Order Magazine, 135 East 50th Street, New York, N. Y. Entered as second class matter, May 1, 1935, at the post office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1939 by BAHA’I PUBLISHING COMMITTEE. Title Registered at U.S. Patent Office.
January 1939, Volume 4, Number 10
WORLD ORDER
January 1939 Volume 4 No. 10
UNITY TRIUMPHANT
THE disunities of the world have reached a point little short of chaos. And the trend is toward still worse contentions and confusions. This is that world ruin which Bahá’u’lláh predicted, as consequent upon the worldwide neglect of religion and the lapse of spiritual impulses and motivations from the directive force of humanity.
The worst prognostication for the near future is attendant upon the tragic fact that whatever strong unities still inhere in the structures of human society are founded and predicated upon hate and fear. Hence these very unities are a menace rather than an aid to civilization.
What is man, at the bottom, but a beast? Culture and civilization are structures built upon primitive emotional foundations by the aid of moral and spiritual instructions and inspirations which enable man to restrain his animal tendencies and canalize his biologic urges into social achievements. By such means have been produced within historic times stable organizations, unities and cultures over the major part of the planet.
It is the restraints of religion which have given stability to these cultural structures. When the cohesive and directive force of religion is removed from human motivation, the cultural structures disintegrate and perish. Such has been the story of civilizations from the beginning of time, and such it will continue to be as long as life endures upon this planet.
Strange it is that the vast and complicated techniques and machinery for cultural progress, elaborated in modern times with such magical skill and efficiency, should not suffice to save civilization from decline; should not serve to prop it up, as it were, and buttress it against the ravages of those more elemental forces which, emanating from man the brute, attack man the thinker and nullify his great creative victories.
That is the dilemma, the paradox of the midtwentieth century—a century which began with such fair promise to mankind. The amazing fact of today is that man’s Promethean fire of science, of technology, cannot rescue him from the gloom of impending chaos.
[Page 366]
Who would have believed twenty
years ago that humanity could not, by
its power of creative mind and scientific
will, assure stability to its cultural
structures? This is the day of
which Bahá’u’lláh said: “The foundations
of nations trembled, the
learned were bewildered and the
wise men confused, save those who
came near unto Thee.”
If world thinkers do not now realize, they will have ample time and occasion to realize in the near future, that an unspiritual humanity cannot save itself from ruin. Let the leaders of humanity turn not to treaties and attempted aggregations of nations on a motivation of self-interest but to those spiritual forces that can alone save civilization by purging out the evil from men’s hearts. Only the motivation of love, of kindliness, of mutual service, can establish world unity and banish war from the planet.
A superior being from another planet with more advanced social institutions than ours might view with sardonic humor the bristling armaments which today all over the world express belligerency and portend battle. “Yes, they will soon be at it!” he might say. “And they will fight until all humans in whom motives of belligerency preponderate have killed each other off. Then perhaps a new humanity will emerge.” Must it indeed require such a tragedy of war to purge war-fever from our planet? Is it to be a remnant only that survive to build up a new civilization founded upon world brotherhood, world unity, world peace?
It is self-evident that world unity cannot be founded upon world belligerency. What then is to eliminate world belligerency? For world unity must be attained, or the world perishes. This is the problem confronting world rulers and world leaders today—a problem that becomes accentuated with each passing month.
While the forces of idealism remain temporarily ineffective, they need not and must not remain inactive. Spiritual man must assert the will-to-live spiritually, as material man asserts the will-to-live by aggression, greed, and corruption.
The spiritual forces will ultimately prevail, because they are the only forces that endure. The chaotic, self-seeking, martially aggressive forces of the planet are destined to exhaust themselves by the very violence of their operation. In how far can spiritual man upon this planet save material man from the suicidal fate toward which he rushes?
Prayer and earnest effort were never so needed as today, on the part of all who possess spiritual vision. But over and above our limited, discouragingly limited, human powers of idealism stands the Divine Power in which all things subsist. If we make sure that our efforts coincide with the Divine Will for humanity today, we can be assured these efforts, however feeble, will not be futile but will operate collectively to initiate an ultimate salvation for a war-weary and disillusioned humanity.
SAVIORS ON MT. ZION
ALICE SIMMONS COX
Do the Jews still look for the Messiah? is a question that appears to be far removed from the interest of most people in the world today. Even the Jew himself, if born and reared in the growing liberal atmosphere of the West, might answer the question in the negative, with perhaps the explanatory preface that such faith belongs to the beauties of a rich cultural past, but has no place in modern thought.
Were we to word the question differently, however (and it will seem before we finish this discussion that we may legitimately do so) more than a little interest might be aroused. Let us phrase it to be: Will the Jews find salvation from the tragic circumstances that in the present decade render life increasingly difficult and unhappy for them? At once we realize, with this transformation in words, that here is involved the problem of an important minority people, who are becoming international refugees in such number that a world commission must be delegated to care for their particular welfare. In this birth-era of world society many leaders are already cognizant that it would not only be inhumane to let such a problem grow without endeavor to solve it, but that also, for the general welfare of humanity, it is imperative that it be solved.
Let us now return to the question as we first expressed it, if for no other reason than its historical significance, remembering if we must that it has a deep humanitarian value, and assuming if we do not yet know, that it implies a profound truth. With these things in mind perhaps we may examine the subject, “Saviors on Mt. Zion,” with at least some shading of belief that we are well using our time.
IT has been written that the
Rabbins of old could point to five hundred
and fifty-eight definite predictions
concerning the advent of a Jewish Messiah,
but that only a few of these carried
any great weight of conviction
based on unquestionable authority
and clarity. We find, however, that
from a few brief but pointed prophecies
recorded in the Pentateuch to
the longer descriptive predictions of
the great religious seers who followed
[Page 368] the reign of King David, faith of the
Jewish people in a distant future of
Davidic splendor, when the “Lords
Anointed” or Messiah would rule the
whole earth, grew and intensified. It
may be true that the ideal of a Prince
of Peace as envisioned by Isaiah became
obscured by military trappings
in the community need that arose
with the failure of the Maccabees to
insure independence, and that it was
further distorted by the increasing
decay of the once-highly spiritual
priesthood. Nevertheless, before the
birth of Jesus, belief in a Messiah,
whatever the divergence of opinion
concerning his attributes, had become
an integral part of the Jewish faith,
even, in fact, the focal center of Jewish
culture and Jewish aspiration. Inextricably
associated for many years
thereafter with this commanding
prophetic vision of a Messiah was the
equally joyous dream of a Messianic
Kingdom of justice, righteousness and
peace on earth.
Christians should be familiar with those brilliantly poetic and inspiring passages from Isaiah which have been interpreted by them to refer to Jesus Christ, but which the Jew has been certain indicated a far more distant era, one characterized by world-wide unity and cooperation, which Christianity has not achieved.
“For unto us a son is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
“Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
And: “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
“And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
“Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.
“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
Or: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”
Familiar to the Jews and to the
Christians of the first to third centuries
of the Christian era were the
unusual verses of the first book of
Enoch, which, written in the first and
second centuries B.C., foretell in
ecstatic phrases the overthrow of
“wicked shepherds” and the coming
of a deliverer who would inaugurate
the Day of Jehovah on earth, when,
after the descent of judgment and
[Page 369] punishment the New Jerusalem and
the Messianic era would begin. The
picture here of the Messiah is unique
and explicit. He is exalted to sit on
the throne of God, and described as
pre-existent with God. It is most interesting
to note that New Testament
writers were acquainted with this
work to such an extent that they
quoted it frequently. A noted Bible
authority has counted such references
to number 7211.
“And in that place mine eyes saw the Elect One,” reads the Similitudes of Enoch, “and how righteousness shall prevail in his days, and the righteous and elect shall be without number before him for ever and ever. And I saw his dwelling-place under the wings of the Lord of Spirits, and all the righteous and elect before him are beautifully resplendent as lights of fire, and their mouth is full of blessing, and their lips extol the name of the Lord of Spirits, and righteousness before Him never faileth. . . . And on that day Mine Elect One will sit on the throne of glory and make choice amongst their (men’s) deeds, and their mansions will be innumerable, and their souls will grow strong within them when they see Mine elect ones and those who have called upon My glorious name. . . . And in those days I saw the Head of Days when He seated Himself on the throne of His glory, and the books of the living were opened before Him, and His whole host which is in heaven above and around Him stood before Him. And the hearts of the holy were filled with joy that the number of righteousness had drawn nigh, and the prayer of the righteous was heard. . . . And in that place I saw a fountain of righteousness which was inexhaustible: around it were many fountains of wisdom, and all the thirsty drank of them and were filled with wisdom, and had their dwellings with the righteous and holy and elect.
“And in those days the kings of the earth, and the strong who possess the earth, will be of downcast countenance because of the works of their hands, for on the day of their anguish and affliction their souls will not be saved. And I will give them over into the hands of mine elect. . . . There mine eyes saw all the hidden things of heaven that shall be, an iron mountain, and one of copper, and one of silver, and one of gold, and one of soft metal, and one of lead. And I asked the angel who went with me saying, ‘What things are these which I have seen in secret?’ And he said unto me, ‘All these things which thou hast seen serve the dominion of His Anointed that he may be potent and mighty on the earth.’”
ALTHOUGH for many centuries
the Hebrew people had venerated
Moses as the chief of their
Prophets and the Torah as the source
of spiritual guidance, acceptance of
the instruction of lesser prophets or
teachers of the law who arose from
time to time to stimulate and purify
the stream of national progress was
not at all inconsistent with the fundamentals
of faith. Although the ordinances
of Moses may have in every
instance been held sacred for all time,
any teacher however humble, who
might follow, was granted the right
of interpretation and amplification
[Page 370] and was revered according to the usefulness
of his message. Thus it was
that to the Jewish mind the concept
of a line of spiritual educators, each
arising in time of national need, was
neither foreign nor incongruous. It
was part of the national life.
“And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants, the prophets, rising early and sending them.”
This belief in the rightness of progressive change made possible the flexibility of Jewish law and its quick and easy adaptation to community conditions. It fostered the development of initiative, perhaps, and of independent thinking. On the other hand, abused as it came to be by those of spiritual stature who failed to distinguish between the perfect pronouncements of Revelation, and the less authoritative messages of inspiration, it gave opportunity for incorrect interpretations which furthered disunity. Neglect of this point in the spiritual evolution of the nation, after the days of Solomon especially, was fraught with serious consequences that became quite evident when Jesus appeared. The words of Deuteronomy no longer were a torch of guidance: “And there arose not a prophet like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” Yet there was nowhere in religious literature a more perfectly wrought phrase descriptive of the true Messenger or Manifestation of God—He who reflects in His own Being, as a clear and shining mirror, the totality of Divine attributes.
This befogging of the true meaning of Prophethood deprived the Jews of the ability to discriminate in matters of authority for many centuries to come in much the same manner that a similar decadence has always affected other religious peoples. It opened the way for blind leadership and broke the contact with the divine spirit, which in the creative power it pours out upon men is more powerful than human ambition and human initiative in the promotion of progress. For the Holy Spirit tempers ambition with love and gives to desire the vigor and impetus of Divine Will. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.”
The true situation in respect to the
Jewish attitude toward religious
teachers has been expertly summarized
by the Rev. Morris Joseph as follows:
“The religious ideas of one generation
became the traditions and the
rule of the next. Nay, all such later
teachings may be regarded as adding
to the stream of the Divine revelation
which began with the inspired writings
of the Bible. For God has never
been without His messengers. They
may have been men of diverse spiritual
powers, and their utterances may
be of unequal value. Now it is an
Isaiah that is chosen, one whose
mouth a seraph touches with the live
coal upon the altar, and whose words
are made to burn and glow with
sacred fire; now it is only a placid
soul, such as was to be found among
the medieval teachers, setting down
his saintly thoughts in the quietude
of his study. At one time it is an
eloquent prophecy that calls to us, at
another only an utterance of stammering
[Page 371] lips. But all alike are of God;
all are manifestations of His truth;
all tell some message that the age has
especial need to hear. All go to the
making of that complex, that changeful
product which we call Judaism.”[1]
With this made clear it need not seem strange to the Christian, then, that the Jew of old heard with receptive mind the words of Obadiah: “And saviours shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the Kingdom shall be the Lord’s.”
Nor is it strange that the Hebrew heart might rejoice in the definite prophecy of Malachi: “Behold, I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”
A little harder to understand was the hidden prophecy of Isaiah concerning the seven women (religions) who would take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat of our own bread, and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.”
THE belief of the early Jews that the Prophets brought divine and hence superhuman assistance was not, as the modern religious mind might infer, a demoralizing influence. In the first place this belief dominated at the time of greatest splendor for the Jewish civilization. None knew better than the followers of Moses and Joshua the rigors of divine ordinance or the degree of heart purity and human effort of will and intelligence required before the spiritual law of the Prophet could be understood and then put into actual practise. When this practise had become community-wide then it was the privilege of Solomon to rule as the greatest King of Israel, to build the temple of the Lord in which was enshrined the ancient ark of the covenant, symbol of the covenant of the spirit which the Lord had made with the children of Israel through Moses when they first began the long journey of spiritual striving toward the Promised Land. The backsliders were not those who obeyed divine counsel, but those who forgot the potent authority in the Prophet’s words. The understanding ones were those who, seeing with the aid of God’s Messenger, knew the sovereign station which He held, and believed in the plan of progressive Revelation whereby God motivates and guides human evolution. This was belief in the specific Revelation of God’s Word at periods in history approximately one thousand years apart. It was not the theory that accepts every inspirational utterance as the direct command of God, no matter who spoke the word.
The lesser prophets who spoke
through inspiration were at time
granted vision, in more or less clear
perspective, of the future unfoldment
of evolution on this planet. Enabled
they were through meditation to
predict, not alone such material developments
as the automobile and
[Page 372] planes of the air, but in part the glories
of an entire world united religiously,
economically, politically—and
enjoying the blessings of peace. The
future kingdom of righteousness was
to them no mere dream, but the coming
of the maturity of the human race,
the very Day of God on earth.
This golden thread of prophecy runs all through the Old Testament and the apocryphal books. Its most amazing and difficult-to-believe characteristic is the picture of the Supreme Teacher, one of the pure stature of Moses, yet of greater mission, a Manifestation upon whose shoulders would rest the full realization of this grand and cosmic vision! But the ways of God are amazing to the human mind:
“Behold, how many are the mysteries that lie as yet unraveled within the tabernacle of the knowledge of God, and how numerous the gems of His wisdom that are still concealed in His inviolable treasuries! Shouldst thou ponder this in thine heart, thou wouldst realize that His handiwork knoweth neither beginning nor end. The domain of His decree is too vast for the tongue of mortals to describe, or for the bird of the human mind to traverse; and the dispensations of His providence are too mysterious for the mind of man to comprehend. His creation no end hath overtaken, and it hath ever existed from the ‘Beginning that hath no beginning’; and the Manifestations of His Beauty no beginning hath beheld, and they will continue to the ‘End that knoweth no end.’ Ponder this utterance in thine heart, and reflect how it is applicable unto all these holy Souls.”[2]
The triple vision of a world Savior, a future world commonwealth, and the redemption of the Jews as a people, was so powerful in its influence that it survived the failure of the Jews to recognize in Jesus and in Muhammad the signs of spiritual Messengership. While Peter was already launched on a preaching mission, no little part of which was to give the message of Christ’s second advent, while Paul was bearing the vivifying Word of the last Jewish Prophet through all the Roman domain, even almost unto this day when Christianity and Muhammedanism are the leading religions of civilization, the Jews on the whole clung to an ancient guidance, continuing to remember the vision of their leaders of old. Their vision, shorn though it may have been of its original creative spirit, served as the hope and the driving impulse which caused Israel to retain some degree of unity in the tragic vicissitudes of exile and to preserve some faith in the ultimate establishment upon earth of a human brotherhood. It is true that such late prophecies as those in the Book of Enoch probably received their challenging and brilliant detail from the new impact of God’s Word upon the world, that regeneration and illumination which came with the dawn of the Christian era. In this way Jewish prophecy was reinvigorated to supply the needs of a longer exile. Such has been God’s will to preserve this chosen people for the restoration time of the future.
ORIENTAL Jews in large
numbers still look for the Messiah
[Page 373] of prophecy. Untouched as they are
by the religious rationalism of the
West, they find alleviation from suffering
in the ancient vision of a Messianic
millenium for which they must
be always prepared.
In Safed, the northernmost city of Palestine, where Spanish Jews and Polish Jews commingle, a distinct colony awaits with eager expectation the approach of this climactic event in history. In the nineteenth century Russian Jews were attracted to the Holy Land not alone by the need of economic opportunity, but also by the belief that in the homeland they might participate in the happenings attendant on the coming of the world King. The city of Hamadan, Persia, once an exile sanctuary for Judaism within the Moslem realm, has almost to a man become a Bahá’í community where faith in the Messiah has been fulfilled in the divine Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.
Through Bahá’u’lláh these Jews of Hamadan have once more heard the Word of God. In Him have they seen, as in Moses, the face of God revealed. Through Him they have accepted the Christ as the Savior prophesied in the ninth chapter of Daniel.
To these Jews Bahá’u’lláh could speak of the glad-tidings that Carmel and Zion rejoice together and that the Promised One has come. He could speak to them in terms of fulfillment for they had kept the heart of their faith in the Great Michael. “This is the King of Days,” He exclaimed, “the Day that hath seen the coming of the Best Beloved, Him Who, through all eternity, hath been acclaimed the Desire of the World.” “Well is with him that hath lived to see this Day and hath recognized its station.”
But to the Jews of the West the
Bahá’í approach is not so simple.
The intellectual reform which began
with the emancipation of the Jews
following the French Revolution
nearly destroyed the Messianic hope.
Reform Jews have rejected the expectation
of a personal Messiah, they
no longer see in the restoration of
Palestine the fulfillment of prophecy,
but they do still agree that Judaism
must keep burning one flame of the
ancient covenant: the conviction that
human progress moves ever onward
toward an ultimate day of universal
rejoicing when justice, righteousness
and peace shall girdle the earth. Disassociated
as this hope has become
from faith in ancient prophecies of a
Divine Redeemer who through superhuman
though natural means would
inaugurate the golden age, it is still
the soul of Israel in the West. This
one tradition rationalism has failed
to destroy, not because in the mind of
the liberated Jew lingers belief in
prophecies, but because in the heart
of all Jews is the eternal cry for
brotherhood. Strengthened by the
hope of the emancipation which
everywhere has failed of its real goal,
fanned into new brilliance by the
ideals of statesmen and educators who
likewise approach agreement that a
new day of brotherhood is dawning,
this ideal gives promise to the Jews of
being the one means of salvation.
Formerly it was the spirit which
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Daniel
touched in inspired communion with
[Page 374] God; now it becomes one with the
spirit of this age, reaching finger-tips
back to the moving advance-guard of
modern civilization. On this point it
is that Bahá’u’lláh speaks to the Jew
of the West, calling out to him
through His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who
voiced the following words in Temple
Emmanu-El in San Francisco: “The
age has dawned when human fellowship
will become a reality. The century
has come when all religions shall
be unified. The dispensation is at
hand when all nations shall enjoy the
blessings of International Peace. The
cycle has arrived when racial prejudice
will be abandoned by tribes and
peoples of the world. The epoch has
begun wherein all nativities will be
conjoined in one great human family.
For all mankind shall dwell in peace
and security beneath the shelter of the
great tabernacle of the one living
God.”
Of the importance of the ideal of a millennial day to the vitality of the Jewish nation Joseph has written: “The question whether a Messiah is to be one of the figures of the Messianic Age, or whether Israel is to be a nation once more and the Temple in Jerusalem the religious center of the whole world, is not a vital question. We can be equally good Jews whatever view we hold on these points. They are details on which freedom of thought can be tolerated without injury to the Faith. But the same cannot be said of the Messianic Idea. That is one of the essentials of our creed, without which Judaism would have neither meaning nor life. If there is no Golden Age in store for the world, which the Jew is to bring nearer by his belief and his example, if Israel is never to behold the triumph of the great principles to which he had borne such pathetic witness, then Judaism is in vain.”[3]
RECENT European events are assaulting this last stronghold of Judaism. Confusion and despair for the Jews increase (unless it be the Jew of the sunnier atmosphere of America). No longer can the liberal Jew find comfort in the belief that he is the martyr of the world in order that God’s religion be promulgated, for no longer does he believe this ever to have been a fact. So he suffers, not with spiritual heroism, but with broken spirit, unless he is one of the fortunate few who can see into the meaning of events and know that a better day is at hand. He may even cry out with the great Bialik,
- “They say that there is youth in the world.
- Where is mine?
- “To one more secret I confess
- And my soul burns its flame,
- They say there is love in the world.
- What is love?”[4]
Of this travail Milton Steinberg has written: “Torn by yearning for a peace that has vanished (with ghetto) without sure abode for his spirit, the modern Jew moved restlessly from one thing to another, finding surcease nowhere.”[5]
Poignantly, Moses Hess wrote of Jewish suffering, words that apply most appropriately in this decade:
“So long as the Jew bore persecution
and humiliation as God’s punishment
and trusted in the eventual reconciliation
of his nation, his pride
[Page 375] could not be wounded. . . . This faith
and hope enlightened Jews have lost.
Hence to them every false accusation
is at once an injury done them as citizens
and an insult offered them as men
of honor. . . .”[6]
Troubled deeply by the plight of his race in the closing days of the last century, and sensitive to the spirit of love and beauty and peace which seeks expression through the soul of man; not yet conscious, but who can say how nearly so, of the dawn of a new age of brotherhood even then beginning, another Jew, Mordecai Freierburg, called out a pleading challenge to his people. As an Eastern European he grew up in the shadows of the ghetto from which he emerged in early youth to try the promises of liberty offered by nations at that time. The promises turned to gall in his heart, false promises in part, and he returned to the shadows where he died at twenty-five years. He speaks appealingly. His words still symbolize, perhaps, more than he knew they could, the Jewish problem, the Jewish faith, the Jewish despair:
“Again I am among the shadows, enveloped in darkness. My soul desires some outlet into a broader, larger world. Indeed, I love the shadows, but more than that, I love the sun. But it must be the sun which shines over and illumines everything. . . . The sun of righteousness which will arise over all, small and great alike. When that sun appears, I will go forth from my academy, I shall flee from the shadows. . . . The Messiah has not come . . . and our generation has grown weary of waiting. The men of faith dismay. . . The ancient holiness has left the world.”[7]
WE have tried to suggest that at the root of both introductory questions is one fundamental reality as ancient in essence as the creative plan of God: the amazing truth that human progress is primarily motivated by Manifestations of the Word of God, Bearers of the spirit of grace, who appear from age to age precisely at those moments when the winter of unbelief has run its course and a new springtime of spiritual power is due to rule the earth. Through them,—an Abraham, a Moses, a Buddha, a Christ,—life is resuscitated and renewed. In this Day of Days, foretold as the culmination of social evolution on this planet, the promised world Messiah becomes the focal point between God and man. His mission is to educate humanity in things of the spirit, to release anew the fountains of inspiration in all hearts.
Those Jews who have recognized this Messiah in Bahá’u’lláh have gained an indomitable conviction that the glorious civilization for which they have through centuries dreamed is now going to be established. Freed from despair, spiritually immune to whatever further hardships there may be before universal order can quiet the present international tempests, strong in assurance and illumined by the light of the world’s latter day spiritual Sun, such Jews are becoming a mighty force in the promulgation of universal brotherhood. Verily, they have come out from the shadows to proclaim with all who have found this Light on Zion, “Behold, your God.”
RELIGION AS A BASIS FOR WORLD ORDER
CLINTON H. BUGBEE
THE foundation of religion is recognition of God, the Father Omnipotent, Supreme, and without this recognition man cannot approximate the value of his own latent reality.
Religion is the inner urge that comprehends the efforts and expressions and dreams through which we approach “Him” in whose image we are made.
In the Scriptures we find this statement, “I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have none other gods before me.”
Jesus said, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God.”
The Qur’án reads, “Allah! There is no God save Him. In Allah, therefore let believers put their trust.”
Bahá’u’lláh says in Hidden Words, “O Son of Man! I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.”
In the process of the evolution of man there has been no single line in the growth of objective culture, because obliged to develop within bounds set by heredity and environmental conditions, that is, bound by organic evolution on one hand and social on the other. The direction or trend in civilizations is accordingly predicated on the general principles of the evolution of culture. Religion is perhaps the most vital element in culture for culture is a matter of values and religion is a supreme attempt to evaluate these values. What reason does for man’s intellectual conceptions, religion does for feeling and will, it universalizes and harmonizes them with the whole.
The function of religion is to harmonize
the individual with the larger
life of which he is a part, first with
the community and ultimately with
the universe. It is a many-sided phenomenon.
It is a consecration of the
individual life to the highest social
ends—it is participation in, and universalization
[Page 377] of ideal values in social
life—and finally, an affirmation of
the reality of the spiritual over the
material and the ultimate dominance
and triumph of the spiritual element
in human life.
Religion is the conscious endeavor of man to cultivate and express higher laws of living which bring joy, harmony and a measure of inward satisfaction to him as an individual and to those about him with whom he associates.
The seeming reality in mankind is the animal in him—whose life is measured by a mere duration of time; the true reality has life everlasting as a background.
Religion enables man to transcend himself, in rising above basic inherent traits. If these higher qualities were natural to man, religion would have no purpose as all our original promptings are from our lower nature which help us to fulfill the vital needs which are immediate. Religion has its function in reconciling the contradiction by subordinating brute nature to the highest qualities or spiritual reality of man. Through religion man is made aware of his spiritual potentiality.
The purpose of religion is to refine the baser tendencies, to bring unity and harmony into group relationship thus fostering love and kindness, justice and integrity in our dealing with each other. True religion is conscious cooperation with the divine plan.
All the praiseworthy attributes are the fruits of spirit and religion fosters these in a normal way.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá defined religion as “An attitude toward divinity which is reflected through life. Those necessary bonds which unify the world of humanity.”
THOSE familiar with the great world religions, recognize that they exemplify a sincere spiritual force which has had a wholesome influence upon the lives of countless followers and which has proven functional in the development of humanity.
No people have been deprived of an opportunity to learn of the true values of religion and the spiritual evolution of the human race is as interesting as the majestic march of culture and civilization.
Were it not for the stimulating and instructive power of religion upon human conscience, man would have remained a creature of impulses and instinct and without culture.
In the history of early civilization reconstructed from closed records covered with dust, we find the efforts of humanity to build a chain of uninterrupted memories back through the ages and we ask ourselves the reason of this desire.
We feel intuitively perhaps that in our ideal life we are a part of an organism, which has touched all men at all times, a world of reality established by the Prophets for the enlightenment and uplift of the heart and soul of man.
Religion has touched our human
perceptions as no other vitalizing
force has done. It has been truth and
faith and reason, kindling into flame,
all the fires of the enterprise of living
and reflecting the form that has given
[Page 378] to civilizations that have come and
passed whatever glories they may
have attained.
The civilizations evolved in Egypt, India, Persia, Greece and Rome are but mountain peaks of different altitude along the way, their foundation being the same eternal verities of being.
All belong to a divine unity fostered by the prophets of God.
INFLUENCE OF PROPHETIC GUIDANCE
Thus a unique being, prophet and founder of great religious systems, a collective center of divine inspiration, the Manifestation of God brought peoples with divergent interests together establishing harmony and agreement, in the knowledge of God, praiseworthy morals and the virtues of the human world, the divine basis for advancing material civilization.
These great prophets and founders of religions each contributed to the richness of human life something that carried it across surging centuries and has found expression in the history of man. These Manifestations expressed the consciousness that man is truly representative of God’s highest creation and Bahá’u’lláh says “From among all created things He hath singled out for His special favor, the pure and gem-like reality of man, and invested it with a unique capacity of knowing Him and reflecting the greatness of His glory.”
These Saviors of man voiced a call, which to mankind has a meaning yet to be realized, it appealed to an inner conviction, beyond direct knowledge or analytical logic. To the extent man recognized this inner conviction, new valuations developed, new forms of expression manifested in science, philosophy, arts, in social ethics, and in all things which carry their ultimate values within themselves.
These truly spiritual values represent the ceaseless endeavor of mankind to reach the perfect, glimpsed in great thoughts and deeds and dreams, as portrayed in the immortal symbology of art, music and architecture, in poetry and literature.
Religion has made humanity God-conscious, if not obedient. The Manifestations would teach human beings the value of guidance, the power of prayer, the joy of communion and spirit of unity. As a seeker begins to realize how he can put into practice and with faith utilize spiritual verities he becomes increasingly proficient in growing nearer to spiritual manhood or womanhood.
PRESENT WORLD CONDITIONS
“Who, contemplating the helplessness,
the fears and miseries of humanity
in this day, can any longer question
the necessity for a fresh revelation of
the quickening power of God’s redemptive
love and guidance? Who,
witnessing on one hand the stupendous
advance achieved in the realm of
human knowledge, of power, of skill
and inventiveness, and viewing on
the other the unprecedented character
of the sufferings that afflict, and the
dangers that beset present day society,
can be so blind as to doubt that the
hour has at last struck for the advent
of a new Revelation, for a restatement
of the Divine Purpose, and for
the consequent revival of those spiritual
forces that have, at fixed intervals,
[Page 379] rehabilitated the fortunes of
human society? Does not the very
operation of the world-unifying
forces that are at work in this age
necessitate that He Who is the Bearer
of the Message of God in this day
should not only reaffirm that selfsame
exalted standard of individual
conduct inculcated by the Prophets
gone before Him, but embody in His
appeal, to all governments and peoples,
the essentials of that social code,
that Divine Economy, which must
guide humanity’s concerted efforts in
establishing that all-embracing federation
which is to signalize the advent
of the Kingdom of God on this
earth?”[1]
Dr. Alexis Carrel describes the wretched state of the modern world weakened and crushed by a predominance of material things in our scheme of living, and tells us how we can escape the fate of all great civilizations of the past if we dare to learn how to live.
“We realize,” he says “that despite the immense hopes which humanity has placed in modern civilization, such civilization has failed in developing men of sufficient intelligence and audacity to guide it along the dangerous road on which it is stumbling.” This indicates the need of Divine Guidance.
An unrealized ideal is a force of disaster. It gathers its strength in secret, even in the heart of prosperity; it kills the soul, then drives on to utter ruin. When the human will fails to accept the responsibility of its ideal, it breeds an unappeasable greed for human gain which leads to slavery to material things, until, through conflicting interests the tower of ambition falls.
H. A. Overstreet says, “There come times in the history of life when, with changing conditions, old conceptions suddenly reveal themselves as inadequate or misdirected or actually destructive of life values, and when fresh ideas blow in to take their place. In such periods, new civilizations are born. If a civilization is being born, the most interesting thing to do is to put oneself in line with the kind of thinking that is headed toward the future.”
“There are two aspects of religion. One department is concerned with the world of morality and that is essential. It is concerned with the ethical sublimity of human nature. It is concerned with the advancement of the world of humanity in general. It has to do with the knowledge of God. It has to do with the discovery of the verities of existence. This is the ideal aspect, the essential department. It is the foundation of all the religions of God.”
“The second division has to do with social transactions, or human conduct under certain conditions, and is not the essence of reality. This is subject to change and transformation according to the exigency or requirements of the time and place.”[2]
Humanity has ceased to marvel at and to regard with skepticism, that aspect of human thought designated as inspirational and which has motivated art, music, architecture and the many discoveries and wonders of science.
If these scientists and artists receive
their inspiration from sources outside
[Page 380] themselves, then why marvel that
the spiritualized soul of great Prophetic
founders of religions were as
they claim—channels for the Word
of God revealed through them to
guide humanity into higher spiritual
understanding.
Without the inspiration of their teachings and the dynamic power which they released into the world through that creative spiritual force the outpouring of which is designated as the Holy Spirit, humanity would have remained the captive of nature on a moral and mental level with other animals.
The history of spiritual evolution indicates a continuous plan for the development of mankind and that at stated intervals a fresh impulse full of vital hope and promise charged with power to remold and to remake lives replaces the old which has become crystallized.
Just as religions lose their vitality, civilizations as they mature tend to become ritualized. Politically they clothe their functions of State with ceremonial, socially they develop an etiquette of their own, in letters and arts characteristic media are chosen, patterns developed and styles cultivated. Economically, needs for food, clothing and housing conform to accepted patterns. This stagnation is followed by decline.
We have considered the function of religion in its relation to the individual, the community and the state. It is plain that spiritual consciousness the world over has suffered a relapse accentuated perhaps as scientific knowledge has increased until there is a present disintegration of world civilization, and a collapse of long cherished human ideals.
RENEWAL OF BASIC SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES
“A new life,” Bahá’u’lláh proclaims, “is, in this age, stirring within all the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered its course, or perceived its motive.” “O ye children of men,” He thus addresses His generation, “the fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race. This is the straight path, the fixed, and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, not will the revolution of countless centuries underrnine its structure.”
A study of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh promulgated within this glorious century, His followers believe has released all the dynamic forces and spiritual truths necessary for regeneration of crumbling civilization. He has given general moral laws with their definite application to individual and collective living. He has enunciated comprehensive principles upon which a new world order is predicated.
This regeneration lies in the acceptance of the continuity of Divine Revelation, the lack of this realization having been one of the causes of the decadence of thought and expression, the forming of sects within the various religions, the fostering of religious rivalries and hatreds, things far removed from the Divine plan for the advancement of humanity.
[Page 381]
Throughout all prior ages, humanity
lived in many diverse and separate
environments, each a social and economic
world in itself, where the individual
world was limited in area,
social order and local faith, where
neither his physical world or his social
world could survive unless it was
self-contained.
Each of the older religions was established before science brought forth from the realms of the unseen those phenomenal discoveries and inventions which have brought the various peoples and nations closer together, thus creating an interdependence and establishing an economic relationship which is thrown out of balance by any serious political, trade or social disturbance taking place anywhere upon the face of our globe.
Although technological progress linked the entire world within a mechanical framework, each state and nation employed its newly acquired power to develop its own resources or to place its products in competitive world markets, thus fostering the spirit of nationalism and separateness.
Agricultural societies were the basis nations depended on for stability until these were displaced by commercial combinations. In a competitive world commerce is subject to conditions beyond individual or national control.
Each basic interest gradually became specialized, establishing its own values without reference to the needs of the community or nation as an entity. Through competitive efforts for supremacy man has made material civilization unstable and himself a spiritual vagabond not knowing just where to turn for comfort or relief.
The purpose of the trials and afflictions which beset humanity today is to restore man’s yearning for God. This restoration alone will change our vision, rebuild the aim of existence and bring to suffering humanity the New World Order envisioned by Bahá’u’lláh.
FOUNDATION OF A NEW WORLD ORDER
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said on May 5, 1912 at Chicago, “Until the heavenly civilization is founded, no result will be forthcoming from material civilization, even as you observe. See what catastrophes overwhelm mankind. Consider the wars which disturb the world. Consider the enmity and hatred. The existence of these wars and conditions indicate and prove that the heavenly civilizations have not yet been established. If the civilization of the Kingdom be spread to all the nations, this dust of disagreement will be dispelled, these clouds will pass away and the Sun of Reality in its greatest effulgence and glory will shine upon mankind.”
Mitchell in his book entitled “Past in the Present,” in his summary asks this question, “Is it possible that this faith of humanity may some day become universal among men and that the fruit of it will be a union of unions, combinations and coalescences of great empires—till there is on the whole earth but one people worshiping one God in one tongue?”
Today throughout the world the
formation of a New World Order
based upon the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh
is in progress, in more than forty
[Page 382] different nations it has taken root, a
thousand communities have been established
and hundreds of thousands
of adherents are the leaven, assisted
by Divine grace and sustained by Divine
power, working for its establishment.
“Who else can be the blissful if not the community of the Most Great Name, whose world-embracing, continually consolidating activities constitute the one integrating process in a world whose institutions, secular as well as religious, are for the most part dissolving? . . . Conscious of their high calling, confident in the society-building power which their Faith possesses, they press forward, undeterred and undismayed, in their efforts to fashion and perfect the necessary instruments wherein the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh can mature and develop. It is this building process, slow and unobtrusive, to which the life of the world-wide Bahá’í Community is wholly consecrated, that constitutes the one hope of a stricken society.”[3]
Knowing the principles underlying the faith, its aims and purposes, conscious individual effort towards growth is necessary for fulfillment. Each individual has a part to play, a glorious part, in the process of realization. As civilizations are made up of ideas and ways of thinking which work out into objective form, we must with full faith in the final destiny of the human race, with the spiritual, political and economic patterns projected by Bahá’u’lláh always before us, press on to accomplishment sustained and quickened by the fire of the Love of God.
Just as the thoughts and hypotheses of past ages are fruitless today, likewise dogmas and codes of human invention are obsolete and barren of product in religion. Nay, it is true that they are the cause of enmity and conducive to strife in the world of humanity; war and bloodshed proceed from them and the oneness of mankind finds no recognition in their observance. Therefore it is our duty in this radiant century to investigate the essentials of divine religion, seek the realities underlying the oneness of the world of humanity and discover the source of fellowship and agreement which will unite mankind in the heavenly bond of love. This unity is the radiance of eternity, the divine spirituality, the effulgence of God and the bounty of the Kingdom. We must investigate the divine source of these heavenly bestowals and adhere unto them steadfastly. For if we remain fettered and restricted by human inventions and dogmas, day by day the world of mankind will be degraded, day by day warfare and strife will increase and satanic forces converge toward the destruction of the human race.—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
TREASURED MEMORIES
LILIAN McNEILL
IN an article written by Martha L. Root in World Order, June, 1936, giving an account of various visits to Her (late) Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania, I found the following passage: “What a memorable visit it was! She told me she has a friend in Akka, Palestine, who knows Shoghi Effendi, and this friend has recently sent her Bahá’í pictures of Akka and Haifa. The two were playfellows when they were children and met in Malta.”
I have the great happiness of being that friend and I would like Bahá’ís all over the world to share with me some treasured memories.
In the winter of 1888-89, five happy little girls played together in the lovely, sunlit orange gardens of the palace of San Antonio, Malta. They were the four daughters of H. R. H. the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, afterwards Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was at that time the Commander in Chief of the British fleet in the Mediterranean; and myself, daughter of Major Harry Barron, Royal Artillery, in later years Major General Harry Barron, Governor of Malta for a short period, and then successively Governor of Tasmania and of Western Australia.
Our ages ranged from thirteen years to five. I was youngest but one, and being rather delicate, due to a fall from a pony, could not indulge in the wildest of the games and was taken great care of by the elder sisters, and always called “little” Lilian, a name used ever afterward by Queen Marie.
When in due course we all left Malta, our games were renewed in the gardens of Buckingham Palace and at Clarendon House, their home in London. But we all always treasured those Malta days in our memories as a dream of happiness unforgettable. Those times are fully described in Queen Marie’s book, “Story of My Life.” We all married very young and our ways lay apart for many years, though we kept in touch. Queen Marie and I were reunited in close affection through the Bahá’í teachings, with which we both became acquainted about the same time, she in Rumania, I in Palestine.
Nearly ten years ago, making a
voyage of discovery in this neighborhood,
[Page 384] across country where then only
the roughest of tracks existed, I came
upon an old house, neglected, some
parts almost ruinous. Two gigantic
cypress trees, said to be hundreds of
years old, stand sentinel beside it. An
inside courtyard surrounded by a
thick, high wall. Outside a little
paved terrace through which flows
the aqueduct which supplies the
orange gardens and the town of Akka,
and steps leading down to further
terraces of gardens. There was a
Bedouin family living in a tent in the
garden, and the olive pickers from a
village near Carmel had been allowed
to live in the lower floor of the house
three winters running during the
olive harvest, so the state of the place
can be imagined!
Nevertheless I saw the possibilities and the poor old house with its vaulted lower rooms had an intense and almost weird fascination for me.
This is how I found the house which in Dr. Esslemont’s book, “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,” is described as the “palace of Mazra’ih” where Bahá’u’lláh and the whole family lived after first leaving the town of Akka for about two years before the Mansion of Bahjí became their residence. (In a somewhat similar manner and at much the same time, Queen Marie discovered her castle in Transylvania that she called “Brana the Beloved.”)
It was in May, 1931 when my husband retired from Government service that we took a lease of this house and it was our great privilege to be able to restore it, and make a garden —a proper setting for a dwelling with such sacred associations. Although we found it a good deal altered on the second floor from the time when Bahá’u’lláh lived there, the main features are unchanged, the vaulted rooms on the ground floor particularly.
There is a rough cement floor in the room downstairs which was Bahá’u’lláh’s own special room. This remains as I found it, in the belief that His feet may have trodden it.
Queen Marie was greatly interested in all we had done to the house, and we always hoped it would be possible for her to come here. This is our “jubilee” year, fifty years this autumn (1958) since we first met, and we had hoped somehow for a reunion. But her serious illness and the unsettled state of this country (Palestine) made it impossible to plan, and now . . .
No one who ever had the privilege
of personal or intimate acquaintance
with Queen Marie could fail to be
impressed by the greatness of her
mind and spirit. Her own life story
reveals so well her ardent and joyous
nature, the depth of feeling that accompanied
every thought and action.
Professor Seton-Watson in his “History
of the Roumanians” has paid
eloquent tribute to her heroism, devotion
and courage in the Great War.
Nobody is perfect and there are always
critics, but I generally notice
that the latter are almost invariably
people who had never come into personal
contact with her or perhaps
even seen her at a distance. What
she did for Rumania is now history
and can be best glimpsed in the touching
last message to her people. The
world is the poorer for the passing
of such a noble lady, and a blank, impossible
[Page 385] to fill, is left in the lives of
those who knew her personally. She
had passed through and suffered so
much, even her wonderful health was
too sorely tried and we must be
thankful in spite of the great loss to
us all that she is at rest and spared
any further suffering. Her spirit is
surely near us still and we must try to
follow her noble example of great
endurance and courage to face whatever
may await us in these troublous
times.
The following extracts are taken from various letters to myself in recent years, and through these her own words we surely can feel that Queen Marie speaks to every one of us.
“Dear ‘little’ Lilian, it was indeed nice to hear from you and to think that you are of all things living near Haifa and are, like I am, a follower of the Bahá’í teachings. It interests me that you are living in that special house, the Teachers so loved flowers, and being English, I can imagine what a lovely garden you have made in that Eastern climate. I was so intensely interested and studied each photo intently. It must be a lovely place and those south-eastern landscapes and gardens attract me with a sort of homesickness ever since our Malta days. And the house you live in, so incredibly attractive and made precious by its associations with the Man we all venerate. Certainly the times we live in are not easy to understand for those who were brought up as we were. So much has been overthrown, so many conceptions been changed. The methods used today are different from those in our times, and I refrain from criticism though I cannot always admire. Everything seems to have become so much more vulgar somehow, so mercenary, so wanting in a fine ideal. Also money has changed hands, the rich of today are another class. Life has been hard on royalty ever since the war, and yet countries do not seem to have become more prosperous without them. Times are troubled, alas, and this unfortunate . . .war (Ethiopia) has made all things so inflammable and events seem so out of control that one cannot help being anxious.
“And yet who wants war? . . . Who could stand a war today materially or even morally? I really hope that I shall die before there is another war!
“I lead a very quiet life, my household has become small, but I have the feeling of being well loved in the country. My people and I are old associates, we have shared good and bad through forty-three years, and that counts!
“I wonder if I shall ever travel your way again? For the present I have no plans, I sit still and watch the black clouds, and pray for peace. With love and blessing, Marie.”
THE WORLD FEDERAL STATE
LOTHAR VON WURMB
THE number of international treaties of all kinds is continually increasing, due to ever growing world trade and international exchange of the intellectual and spiritual treasures of science, literature, art, religion, morality, politics, etc. between the civilized nations. These and many more international relations are strengthened, as never before, by the perfection of our modern means of locomotion and communications. Space and time are today contracted greatly and will be still more so in future. By means of the telephone, telegraph, wireless, television and broadcasting, which operate in a minimum of time at enormous distance, and by aeroplanes and airships, all nations, races and civilized states are daily brought into closer contact. The practical result is, that the different nations are obliged to have a much greater knowledge and understanding of each other than before, they must cooperate in their affairs in order to pursue their common economic, technical, scientific, political and other interests. Even a hundred years ago, the question, whether China and Japan were ruled by communist or national-conservative governments, whether these countries developed strong national industries or agriculture or not, did not matter to countries like the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Africa or even to Europe; and the same applies to the agriculture and industrial development of Australia and South America. Today, however, these events and developments are of incalculable importance to the world in general and to each of the five continents in particular. And this evolution is going ahead; the idea of the rocket or other aeroplane will be practically realized and carry passengers through the stratosphere in a few hours from New York, London, Paris and Berlin to Yokohama, Shanghai, Cairo, Sidney, Nome, Capetown etc. and will later on transport large loads of any kind and quantity with almost similar velocity. And soon people will be able to communicate from nearly any point of the earth and air with any other point, and at the same time see with their own eyes, what is going on on the other side.
The great number and variety of
[Page 387] treaties, based on these common international
and supranational interests:
can they really be protected sufficiently,
justly and fairly, by egoistic
single nations themselves? Do not
their statesmen still pursue as centuries
ago, the exclusive interests of
their own nation? Ought they not,
must they not be maintained, furthered
and protected by a supranational
powerful institute, by the World Federal
State? Is that not logical, natural
and indispensable?
For the majority of statesmen at
the head of civilized nations, the
strict preservation of absolute state-sovereignty
—i.e., their unrestricted
right of self-destination—still signifies
one of their most important duties.
But present time set them higher tasks
to solve: the existing inter- and supranational
relations of all modern
states, both great and small, are so
close, that at this point their absolute
state-sovereignty is greatly restricted
by actual facts. The increasing international
exchange between all civilized
nations, is today, for all of them,
a necessity, and in many cases a question
of survival. From day to day
the different nations come in closer
contact as a result of the evolution of
modern international trade, mutual
economic and political penetration
and aid and exploitation of the soil
and agricultural possibilities of the
weaker states. The personal relations
between their inhabitants become
more intimate, and the mutual interest
grows in an ever-increasing number
of unbreakable bonds between
the different countries. To ignore this
characteristic sign of the times, and
to preserve the antiquated theory of
the absolute state-sovereignty in the
sphere of international life means to
prejudice the interest of the modern
state! The complete and adequate
control of international economy, of
world trade and all other international
interests is of fundamental importance
to each modern nation, and directly
or indirectly, to each of its inhabitants.
And still, as of old, this
international interdependency, all the
supranational obligations of the civilized
states, are based on unenforceable
international treaties. They are
complied with, only as long as convenient,
and broken, even without
previous notice, when inconvenient.
That means, that our international life
depends completely on the good-will
and arbitrary action of statesmen, the
majority of whom do not understand
the needs of the present and future.
A satisfactory state of international
affairs all over the world can only
be brought about by the proper
unconditional and absolutely trustworthy
guarantee for the compliance
of all international treaties by the
formation of the World Federal
State, which would formulate and
enforce all international treaties
and laws between each member-state
with every other country. This
“World Federal State” would be the
Super State with full power to control
and regulate all the relations—
and disputes—between the member-states,
with the greatest possible justice
and regard to the individual interests
of each state, harmonizing them
with the interests of the other states
and with the interests of humanity.
And our actual times with their many
difficulties, wars and menace of greater
[Page 388] wars, the growing impoverishment
of even powerful nations, the increasing
disregard for the rights of smaller
states make the necessity of the
World Federal State of paramount
importance: at present international
life urges the realization of ideas,
which in the past were pure theories.
We can not continue merely dreaming
of a better future with a highly
evolved humanity; we are obliged to
act and find a practical solution to
the present problems of mankind. It
can only be a short time, before international
changes and difficulties
must bring about the formation of
the World Federal State. It is not possible
to live for long without it. And
by the immediate formation of the
World Federal State the unnecessary
sufferings of the different states and
their populations will almost immediately
diminish and soon cease. For
this purpose, there should be repeated
publications of articles in the press,
and public speeches, in favor of the
formation of the World Federal
State. Public opinion must be prepared
and kept awake, until under the
continued pressure of public opinion
the authorities of several states may
be induced to form the nucleus which
other states will join continuously, until
the whole civilized world is included.
The idea of the World Federal State is very old but has been utopian in past ages. But what applied to ancient times of Ghengis-Khan, Alexander the Great, the old Roman Empire, Charlemagne, the Roman Pontifical State with its crusades, the Spanish and the Napoleonic Empires, to the times of the publications of the Frenchman Sully (1617), Emeric Crucé (1623), the abbot Bernardin de Saint Pierre (1716-28) and the Englishman William Penn (1693), even to the times of Wilson and Leon Bourgeois (1919) does not now apply to our fast-moving generation. Briand’s project of the Paneuropean State belongs to the past, when Europe ruled the whole civilized world. And the same applies to the Panasiatic, Panafrican and even the Panamerican ideas: all these “Pan-continental” ideas are and will remain unborn children, when the nations and the different continents were not yet so interwoven in World Trade, World Political Economy, World Exchange of goods and ideas and other manifestations of international and intercontinental interests. The same applies, of course, to the efforts of various Central European nations, to create by regional treaties and bilateral agreements small federations of a few states. Here the interests of one federation is in direct opposition to the treaties with the neighboring federation. The work of the League of Nations with 54 member-states proves how great is actually the common interest in the subject. Even the League, in spite of all its actual deficiencies, faults and troubles, could form a basis for the World Federal State. But it would be indispensable for this task, that the member states should energetically transform this loose alliance of sovereign governments into the World Federal State, i.e.:
1) to form a regular Federal State,
whose member states become and remain
irrevocably permanent members.
[Page 389] Their secession would be inadmissible
—and in the last case would be prevented
by force—as it would be at
present in the case of attempted separation
in the Federal States of United
States of America, Brazil, Switzerland,
Germany or one of the Argentine
Provinces.
2) to have its own all-potent Executive Power, Legislation, Jurisdiction and Administration.
3) to dispose of direct strong public revenues and treasury.
IF we face reality, uninfluenced by hopes and ideas, and take present human beings and their organized communities, just as they actually are, not as we wish them to be in a later and better future, then we will realize clearly, that mankind and the built-up states of today doubtless still need organized strength in order to make them comply with their duties to the commonwealth of humanity, particularly in cases where the mutual interests of mankind seem to be momentarily in opposition to national interests. Without law-enforcement on its egoistic citizens, the modern civilized state cannot progress. Similarly the World Federal State would not be able to enforce its resolutions, orders and laws. Naturally, we all hope for a better future, when men as a whole will have become so highly developed that all of their own accord and without compulsion they will comply with their duties to the commonwealth. We all hope for the time when all civilized men, by the promptings of their conscience, by their inner sense of freedom, will act as the written and unwritten laws demand; when all civilized people and nations recognize that each one progresses only if his neighbors progress, each helping the other: and the existence of the World Federal State would contribute decisively to the realization of this ideal. For the time being, however, this is a dream which certainly will not be realized for some time to come. In the meantime we have to take the present average man and his social surroundings, the modern state, directed by egoistic, deficient statesmen. And on this realistic basis the World Federal State has to be formed: the one World State which would make international laws strictly binding; and would with its strong Executive Power enforce their observance, until it comprises all the civilized nations of the world, and until the time when such progress had been made, that no further need would exist to threaten or compel. Until then, the World Federal State should be organized according to the following principle:
The World Federal State will be a permanent, irrevocable supranational alliance, at first of several, and later of all the civilized states of the world, provided with all the resources of a modern great Power, and in no case a loose association based on unrealizable menaces and aspirations, powerless and without a strong Executive Power, like the existing League of Nations. According to this principle, the World Federal State will dispose of:
1) A far-reaching Legislative Power
for all supra and international affairs.
It regulates all the external
questions concerning two or more
[Page 390] states. The Legislature will be formed
by two Chambers, composed of representatives:
the first Chamber of
Deputies of the governments, and the
second formed by representatives of
the population of the member states,
elected directly by the citizens of the
different nations. Each associated nation
will send only one deputy to the
first Chamber, and to the second one,
and one more for each ten millions
of inhabitants, but not exceeding
three members altogether.
2) A strong Executive Power, directed by a president with ministers at the head of several ministries: its chief weapon being a most powerful, well disciplined and ultra-modern army, air-force and navy. These will be formed by the existing armies, navies and air forces of the federated nations, which will be modernized and perfected, where necessary. Thus each member state will take up the different kinds of arms and troops, corresponding to its geographical situation and number of inhabitants; it equips and maintains them, as they do today. According to this arrangement, the army and navy will be principally stationed in the states to which they belong. Thus they keep their national character and their main national task of the defense of the frontiers of their national territory, and of those of the other associated states. Any attack or hostile action against any member-state represents an attack against the World Federal State and will be treated accordingly.
3) The World Federal State will also have its own jurisdiction by international law-courts and a High Court of Justice for all international law-suits and political differences.
4) Furthermore the World Federal State will dispose of its own administration and finance with public revenues from different royalties by the member-states, monopolies and institutions, and have establishments of different kinds, like international airways, postal-services, etc.
5) The relations of the member-states towards each other and the World Federal State itself will be regulated in a manner similar to the Federal States, now in existence, U.S.A., the Brazilian Republic, the former states of the German Empire or the Argentine Provinces, etc., each one enjoying the greatest possible liberty in maintaining and establishing its own rules and regulations for the settlement of its internal affairs.
The World Federal State will elevate every individual, state and the total of mankind to a better external and internal welfare, physical, spiritual and moral development, technical, scientific and moral strength and force to a degree, which actually we hardly can foresee. To work for this aim, to act in order to reach it with our best efforts, this must be the moral duty of everyone, the noblest task, to the fulfilment of which nobody can deny the best of his efforts!
“DUMB BEASTS AND MEN”
OLIVIA KELSEY
- ’Twas but a bird at early dawn wailed,
- Yet over strength, sense, power her note prevailed;
- My friend, to whom my cry came, marvelled much
- I could be moved to tears and prayers by such,
- Yea, unto madness; but I gave reply:
- What! shall a bird praise Allá and not I?[1]
Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it the recipient of the glory of one of His attributes.[2]
VICTORY as understood by human beings requires a victim. Our spiritual conquests have been augmented by sacrifice of the Holy Ones who came to free us from the shackles of the world of nature; by sacrifice of the weak and defenseless among our own kind; by sacrifice of the animal kingdom. And yet we are ingrates. The Creator is admittedly the only One aware of the needs of His creatures, yet on the face of it, the undertaking—making humane beings of us—seems to demand too much!
We have been taught by a long procession of specialized Educators that sacrifice is our destiny—the only means of progress—and that it should be embraced voluntarily, as exemplified by these Holy Educators. But this knowledge is practiced for only a brief period and remembered—perhaps for a hundred years. Then we grope again amid a haze of significances and shadows, evading by choice the thing for which we were created.
Man is a soul, functioning in the
outer world through a body, revitalized
by a spirit. The spirit is the cause
of the life of soul and the soul is the
life of the body. On the physical
plane and in his natural emotions
(the one behavior impulse, according
to Jung, that we share with the animals)
man and the animal meet on a
common ground. Man’s physical
birth and condition is identical with
that of the animal and in this degree
he is even more circumscribed than
the animal. This does not mean that
[Page 392] the world of nature is static, for each
degree advances within its own orbit,
the expansion being dependent upon
the upward pull of the kingdoms
above. If the ascending movement
were to abate, life would diminish
and chaos increase; and were it to
cease, life upon the planet would become
extinct.
The nature of man which is first in the mineral degree, form, cohesion; next in the vegetable degree, growth (“virtue augmentative”) and then in the animal degree, senses, memory, conscious movement, is capable of tremendous expansion. When revitalized by spiritual energy man’s intellectual aspect penetrates the lower kingdoms and discovers the secrets of the past. It can not, however, encompass the future. The inferior degree cannot comprehend the higher degree. But there is a power which revitalizes the intellectual aspect of the soul and so affects the essence of man as to enable him to transcend earthly knowledge. The Founders of Religion have called this power Faith. Of this the animal is deprived.
Through the faculty of reflection man is enabled to observe and study objects and conditions outside of himself, as pictured in the creational world. Instructed by these Prophets and Messiahs he becomes informed of the significances of these pictures and aspects and through comparisons, abstractions and symbols he becomes cognizant of a higher dimension. This perspective prepares him to adjust himself in the role of a dual being, a creature functioning in two worlds, the world of spirit and the world of the senses—the kingdom of the animal. “The reality of man is his thought not his material body.” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.[3] “The thought force and the animal force are partners.” Whereas the animal is innocent and not subject to moral judgment, realizing only physical rewards or punishment, “man is the kind of being” that realizes both physical and spiritual rewards and punishments.
MUCH has been given to man and of him much is demanded. His station is not merely a superior one— it is exalted. The distinguishing marks of an exalted being are true humility, reverence, tenderness for all creatures, forgetfulness of self, tolerance, resignation, faith, courage, radiance.
The Prophets showed reverence towards God and tenderness towards every living creature. They gave pronounced care and attention to man because, being the collective center, his effect is felt in both worlds. Again and again lifted to his true station in the world of Faith he has as often fallen back into the animal degree. When he loses this spiritual vision the capacity to sympathize and to extend reciprocal help to other beings shrinks, for this depends upon the proportion of spiritual energy he is capable of receiving and releasing. Then the equilibrium of the entire organism is destroyed.
“All existing beings, terrestrial and
celestial” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “as well
as this limitless space and all that is
in it, have been created and organized,
composed, arranged and perfected as
they ought to be. The universe has no
imperfections. . . . All beings are connected
[Page 393] together like a chain and reciprocal
help, assistance and influence
belonging to the properties of things,
are the cause of the existence, development
and growth of created beings.
It is confirmed through evidences and
proofs that every being universally
acts upon other beings, either absolutely
or through association.”[4] All of
the Prophets taught man a threefold
relationship and responsibility: His
relationship to his own kind, brotherhood;
his relationship to his Creator
as His creature, a dependent being,
and his relationship to the lower kingdoms
as trustee or guardian over
them. Whence came this illusion of
aloofness and arrogance in the “sons
of men?” In the world of form there
are degrees—but these are merely
phenomenal. “In the original nature”
says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá “there exists difference
of degree and variety of
worthiness. . . . This difference does
not imply good or evil but is simply
a difference of degree. One has the
highest degree, another the medium
degree and another the lowest
degree.”[5]
Certain distinct instructions were given in each dispensation in respect to the animals. They were practiced for a time, falling into abuse and neglect when the pristine purity of the teaching became vitiated. For example, in the Chinese Scriptures we find this: “Be humane to all animals; even to insects, harm not even plants or trees.” In the Persian: “Multiply domestic animals, nourish them and treat them gently.” Said Buddha: “Out of the mud springs the lotus flower; out of the clay comes gold and many precious things; out of oysters the pearls; brightest silks to robe fairest forms are spun by a worm; besoar from the bull, musk from the deer are produced; from a stick is born flame; from the jungle sweetest honey.”[6] Said Jesus: “Woe unto you who do not hear his call to his heavenly Father. But thrice to be cursed who is the cause of his distress.”[7] Said Muhammad: “O man! there is no kind of beast on the earth, nor any fowl, but the same is a being like unto you. We have neglected nothing in the Book of Our Decree. Then unto their Lord will they be gathered.”[8] And Bahá’u’lláh said “Be ye the trustees of God amongst His creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people.”[9]
A glance at the fossil record shows
that life has existed on this earth for
hundreds of millions of years. The
remains of man are found only in
about the last one thousandth part of
the fossil record, but side by side is
found—bones of animal and man.
Penetrating behind the mere foreground
of the glory of ancient civilizations
“we discover a society governed
by intimidation” says Paterson
in “Nemesis of Nations.” It was
proper and lawful for the strong to
conquer and tyrannize over the weak
and defenseless. The idea grew in
human consciousness that in order to
win someone must lose. The great
mass of human beings were enslaved.
As the Prophetic teachings released
mankind from the shackles of slavery,
the burden was shifted in a greater
degree to women and animals. Human
beings have always made a great
noise about their wrongs and afflictions.
But what of these creatures who
[Page 394] are equally God’s, of whom the
Prophets spoke, who have shared
with mankind all of the physical
hardships, co-partner in physical sensibilities
and co-builders of civilizations,
receiving no reward but life and
death, mute, dependent upon the
mercy, the ignorance and the whims
of those whom they have served and
enriched?
The most poignant portrayal of the plight of animals in the net of material civilization, and true analysis of the relationship between man and the animal is presented in a Tablet sent by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to a friend in America. He says:
“The foundation of the Kingdom of God is laid upon justice, mercy, sympathy and kindness to every soul. . . . Ye must not only have kind and merciful feelings for mankind, but ye should also exercise the utmost kindness towards every living creature. The physical sensibilities and instincts are common to animals and man. Man is, however, negligent of this reality and imagines that sensibility is peculiar to mankind, therefore he practices cruelty to the animal. In reality what difference is there in physical sensations! Sensibility is the same whether you harm man or animal! There is no difference. Nay rather, cruelty to the animal is more painful because man has a tongue and he sighs, complains and groans when he receives an injury and complains to the government and the government protects him from cruelty; but the poor animal can not speak, it can neither show its suffering, nor is it able to appeal to the government. If it is harmed a thousand times by man it is not able to defend itself in words nor can it seek justice or retaliate. Therefore one must be very considerate towards animals and show greater kindness to them than to man. Educate the children in their infancy in such a way that they may become exceedingly kind and merciful to the animals. If an animal is sick they should endeavor to cure it; if it is hungry they should feed it; if it is thirsty they should satisfy its thirst; if it is tired they should give it rest.
“Man is generally sinful and the animal is innocent; unquestionably one must be more kind and merciful to the innocent. The harmful animals, such as bloodthirsty wolf, the poisonous snake and other injurious animals are excepted. . . . To the blessed animals, however, the utmost kindness should be exercised; the more the better it will be. This sympathy and kindness is one of the fundamental principles of the divine kingdom. Ye should pay great attention to this question.”
And envisioning for mankind the
nucleus of real brotherhood in the
creation of a new group consciousness,
He calls attention to manifest
preparation in the animal world on
which the rational soul may build.
“We find” He says, “when we observe
Nature, that the gentler animals
group themselves together into flocks
and herds, whereas the savage, ferocious
creatures . . . live in the wild
forest, apart from civilization. Two
wolves, or two lions may live amicably
but a thousand lambs may share
the same fold and a large number of
deer can form one herd. Two eagles
can dwell in the same place, but a
[Page 395] thousand doves can gather into one
habitation. Man should at least be
numbered among the gentler animals;
but when he becomes ferocious he is
more cruel and malicious than the
most savage of the animal creation!”[10]
And then the common tie—the point of contact between man and beast: “Verily God has created the animal in the image and likeness of man, for though man outwardly is human, yet in nature he possesses animal tendencies.”[11]
And in moral example: “Among the animals,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá “we see that male and female have equal rights.” “Among the animals racial prejudice does not exist.” “In some animals mutual cooperation is frequently seen; when in the time of danger, each will try to surpass the others in help.”[12]
If a member of the body is neglected or abused certainly disease and disintegration will follow. History records that when the agricultural life of a nation is allowed to deteriorate that nation declines in power. What a blight must fall upon the nations for their wanton cruelty to dumb beasts, their utter irresponsibility and vicious destruction of these creatures over whom mankind was placed as “trustee.” Or will retribution come in spiritual worlds, where—stripped of that portion of free will allotted here—man must wait upon the Will and Mercy of the Lord of all the Worlds? In the Muhammadan traditions it is recorded that on the Day of Judgment the animals will appear to tell how they were used on earth.
“KNOW thou, says Bahá’u’lláh, “that every created thing is a sign of the revelation of God. Each, according to its capacity, is, and will ever remain, a token of the Almighty.”[13] And again He says “It is clear and evident that when the veils that conceal the realities of the manifestations of the Names and Attributes of God, nay of all created things visible and invisible, have been rent asunder, nothing except the Sign of God will remain—a sign which He, Himself, hath placed within these realities.”[14]
No legislation affecting birds and animals existed before 1822. Humanitarian movements were unknown prior to this age. The moral expansion of humanity during the past century has been greater than that of all previous ages combined. And yet the world is unaware of the source of the power which has made possible the spread of the Spirit of Mercy to every nook and corner of the earth. It is not a human power—but the return of that celestial phenomenon—the Holy Spirit. This phenomenon is followed by profound changes in all regions of existence.
The first ray of Mercy towards animals
came out of England, when
Richard “Humanity” Martin, in the
middle of the 19th century founded
the Royal Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty of Animals. Then, Henry
Bergh, appalled at the cruelty to animals
which he witnessed while Attaché
at the American Embassy in St.
Petersburg, returned to found in
America The American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
He met strong opposition and ridicule
but the movement became organized
[Page 396] on a national scale and later extended
its force internationally. It
was the seed from which germinated
the movement for child welfare.
Humane organizations based their pleas not to wantonly kill animals and birds on economic as well as humanitarian reasons. For example, in the State of Kansas alone 256 million birds every year eat 576 million pounds of insects. The quail killed in the United States each year cost the wheat growers a million dollars a year, quail being the particular destroyer of chinch bugs and potato bugs. If birds disappeared entirely in a few years insect life would multiply to such an extent that trees would not have foliage, plants would cease to thrive and agricultural crops could not be raised. Without cats, in a few years, vermin would menace public health.
The Live Stock Loss Prevention Board reports a loss each year of ten million animals bruised or crippled in shipment. One animal out of every five slaughtered is bruised or crippled! The total loss is estimated at between twenty and forty million dollars per year. Who pays for this waste? Farmer, shipper, railroad, trucker, packer, consumer. And what of the suffering of the animals? How is it possible for such apathy to prevail in human affairs? “The world for the most part” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá[15] “is sunk in materialism and the blessings of the Holy Spirit are ignored. There is so little real spiritual feeling, and the progress of the world is for the most part merely material. Men are becoming like unto beasts that perish, for we know that they have no spiritual feeling—they do not turn to God, they have no religion! These things belong to man alone, and if he is without them he is a prisoner of nature, and no whit better than an animal.”
“O children of men!” says Bahá’u’lláh, “ye are walking with mirth and pleasure upon My earth, heedless that it detests you, and that the things of earth are fleeing from you. Should you open your eyes but a little, ye shall know that a hundred thousand griefs are preferable to this pleasure.”[16]
Materialism, warfare, have blunted the finer sensibilities of human beings and made them callous to the sufferings of humans and animals alike. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement that the “solution of the economic problem is spiritual in nature” becomes potent. The impotence of the old way is becoming increasingly apparent. The new way is through attraction and kindness. Cruelty, harshness, force in every form are rendered ineffectual. Nor can the burden be borne by the few or shifted again to the weak and defenseless. The outpouring is for all. The responsibility rests upon all. Divine Economy requires recognition of the rights of all beings. When man has attained this spiritual outlook, the plan for economic rehabilitation revealed by Bahá’u’lláh may be achieved with facility. It provides for division and allotment of the fruits and riches of these lower kingdoms, mineral, vegetable and animal; and man, himself, contributes, sharing in voluntary as well as stipulated contribution.
WHAT a debt we owe to the
[Page 397] animal! Chief source of the wealth
of mankind, throughout vanished ages
they have evolved side by side with
man, contributing food, shelter, clothing,
free-labor, sport, companionship!
The first sound on earth resembling
the speaking voice came from a frog!
The first vocal music came from the
throat of a bird! The first instrumental
music from the cricket!
“These graceful, affectionate creatures,” says T. S. Hawkins in “The Soul of An Animal,” “whom we should regard as delightful furred and feathered gnomes or fairies, creatures out of a dream or an enchanted world, child sprites in beautiful, fantastic shape, were they less familiar to our dismally disenchanted eyes— derive a happiness which no one can fail to perceive, from our love and comradeship. . . . No one ever lost by closer companionship of these furred or feathered children of the infinite. Many have gained in happiness and moral grace.”
And so the task of the Messengers of God has ever been to lift man’s gaze toward the Creator of the worlds, that his parched being may be refreshed from the Day Spring of Love, then this reciprocal tie between all the worlds is restored. One seemingly impossible thing is essential and his mission may be accomplished— magnanimity—tenderness for every living creature. This can never be realized without the experience of sacrifice. The pattern is manifested in all of the kingdoms; Progress from world unto world is achieved through this mysterious power. The Holy Ones embraced self-surrender, complete annihilation, as the Divine Elixir! Man shrinks from it—yet it is inevitable. By detachment from the phenomenal world he will become free from the fear of disaster in physical existence and by resignation to the Will of God he will realize regeneration and walk in the ways of God, a being that may after separation from the body provide “at the bidding of the Ideal King and the Divine Educator, the pure leaven that leaveneth the world of being.”[17]
Then shall the promises of God be to mankind a reality and we shall know the majesty of Justice, at Justice so advanced “that righteousness and well-being will extend from the human even to the animal world. The snake and the mouse will share one hole, and the eagle and the partridge one nest, the lion and the gazelle shall dwell in one pasture and the wolf and the kid shall drink from one fountain.”[18]
- ↑ From the Rose Garden of Sheikh Sad’di.
- ↑ Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 65.
- ↑ Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 13.
- ↑ Some Answered Questions, pp. 205-7.
- ↑ Some Answered Questions, pp. 247-8.
- ↑ Sacred Scriptures of the World, Schermerhorn.
- ↑ Evangile Copte, Bibliotique National, Paris.
- ↑ Qur’án.
- ↑ Gleanings, p. 297.
- ↑ Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 129-30.
- ↑ Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 257.
- ↑ Divine Philosophy, p. 159.
- ↑ Gleanings, p. 184.
- ↑ Gleanings, p. 140.
- ↑ Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 112.
- ↑ Hidden Words.
- ↑ Gleanings, p. 161.
- ↑ Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, p. 8.
ISLAM
ALI-KULI KHAN
IV.
MUHAMMAD was now 52 years of age. It was Anno Domini 621. His attention was called to Medina and the Holy Land, where the Temple at Jerusalem still remained His Kibla, or the point towards which He turned at prayer. He had a vision of Gabriel who carried Him on a winged steed past Medina to the Temple at Jerusalem, where a gathering of ancient Prophets welcomed Him. From thence He ascended to the heavens, finally reaching the seventh, where He found himself in God’s presence. There He received the command to have His people stand in prayer five times daily. In the following morning when He awoke at the house of Abu-Talib, the vision was still fresh before Him. This He revealed to the daughter of Abu-Talib. This is the Islamic mystery, called Mi’raj, or “night journey to heaven” mentioned in Sura XVII, which begins thus: “Praise be to Him who by night carried His servant from the sacred Temple at Mecca to the farther Temple,” (i.e. Jerusalem), etc.
As the Prophet contemplated the prospect of living in Medina and moving closer to the Syrian border, He felt interested in the fortunes of the Byzantine Empire in its struggle against Persia. Persia first conquered the Bedawi tribes, then Syria was conquered and Jerusalem sacked and Egypt and Asia Minor controlled. Finally, in 621, Heraclius emerged from his ignoble apathy and after some years of hard fighting rolled back the tide of the Persian invasion. In those struggles Muhammad foretold the victory of the Greeks and His prediction was justified by the event.
About those times, scarcity visited
Mecca and judgment threatened the
city. Muhammad, outwardly defenseless,
presented the spectacle of sublimity
before untold obstacles, while
Gabriel brought the Sura XI, verse
122, commanding Him to work in
His place and wait in expectation. His
[Page 399] situation was aggravated by straightened
means, but the divine promise in
Sura XX, verse 131, reassured Him.
Another year rolled by and the month of pilgrimage and the coming of the Medina believers approached. Mus’ab, who arrived with a great body of Medina pilgrims, reported success, and the large number of converts and their eagerness to serve Islam, rejoiced the Prophet. Seventy and three (62 of the Khazraj and 11 of the Aus) with two women, which included the twelve former converts, arrived. Al’Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle, addressed them, saying: “The Prophet is respected and protected amongst us, but He prefers to seek protection in Medina. Give your pledge if ye are resolved and able to defend Him.” Al’bara, their aged chief, responded: “Our resolution is firm; our lives are ready to be offered in the Prophet’s service.” Then Muhammad, addressing them, recited the verses from the Qur’án, and seventy eager voices took the “Second Pledge of Al-Akaba.” Then Muhammad, naming twelve of their chief men, said: “Moses chose twelve leaders. Thus ye be the leaders and sureties for the rest, even as the apostles of Jesus were; and I am the surety for My people.” They answered: “Be it so.”
The news of such a large gathering near Mina aroused suspicion among the Koreish. But Ibn Obei assured them that no hostile movement was intended. Nevertheless, Koreish pursued them and maltreated one of the converts; but he, having rendered service to one of them in Medina, secured his release. A few days after the “pledge,” the pilgrims returned to Medina by command of the Prophet.
About the beginning of the month of Moharram, the emigration from Mecca commenced to Medina, which lies some 180 miles to the north. They numbered between 100 and 200 souls. Their brethren at Medina received them with eager hospitality, but the sudden movement paralyzed the Koreish. The last to depart were Muhammad and Abu Bekr; also Ali, now twenty years of age, who were the only ones left at Mecca. In preparation for the journey, Abu Bekr had purchased for 800 pieces two swift camels and committed them to the custody of a guide.
The Koreish, perplexed, deliberated as to the course to pursue. They designed to assassinate Muhammad. “Yea, they plotted; but God plotted likewise. And God is the best of plotters.” (Sura VIII.) Tradition states that Gabriel apprised Muhammad of the plot. He arose and made Ali, who volunteered, to lie down upon his bed. The murderous party came at dusk. Muhammad went forth and casting a handful of dust at them, recited from Sura XXXVI, ending with the words “and we have covered them so that they shall not see.”
Muhammad and Abu Bekr escaped
to the cave Thaur referred to some
years later in the Sura IX, verse 40,
wherein the mention of “the second
of the two” refers to Abu Bekr. Tradition
recites various miracles which
covered the entrance to the cave and
thus saved them from their enemies.
Abdallah, Abu Bekr’s son, brought
them food at night. Finally they
[Page 400] started for Medina on the Higira
June 20th, 622 A.D. The Prophet
was then 53 years of age. Three days
later Ali left for Medina where he
joined the Prophet. Several daughters
and members of Muhammad’s family,
including A’isha, his bride, remained
in Mecca for a time.
The Koreish, being apprised of the flight, adopted the policy of forbearance and did not attempt to detain them. Thus ends the first stage of Muhammad’s life. The scene is now shifted to Medina.
MUHAMMAD’s mission was to recall the Arabs to the true God and belief in the “day of reckoning.” To the Christians, the Qur’án was held to be a continuation and fulfillment of the previous Scriptures, a confirmation of the preceding Revelation and a warning to the people of the land. It was to them the latest revelation of God’s will, which the people of the previous faiths should accept if they were to fulfill the requirements of their own religion. In confirming the Gospels, the Qur’án avows that God caused “Jesus, the son of Mary” to follow in the footsteps of the past Prophets, attesting the Law which preceded Him, and He gave him the Gospel, etc., requiring that His followers might judge according to that which God had revealed therein, etc. (Sura V, verse 47).
From the earliest times, Muhammad taught a broad, catholic faith based on the doctrine that to each people God sent a Prophet to guide them, (a doctrine which was stated to have descended from Abraham), all such Prophets agreeing on principal points and differing only on certain rites and non-essential features; and that all of them denounced idolatry, taught one God and enjoined surrender to His Will. This “surrender” was Islam. Thus Abraham was called the “first Muslim.” This sound doctrine was perverted in time, and it remained for Muhammad, the “Seal” (or last) of the Prophets to restore all faiths to their pristine purity and prepare the world for the coming of “the Day of God.” Hence He said “I am all the Prophets,” whom He called as one as in Sura XLII, verse 11. Hence Muhammad’s claim that the Qur’án supersedes all previous Revelations.
Accordingly, to accuse Islam of imputations against the genuineness of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, is groundless. It is, however, true that Islam eventually diverges from the previous Scriptures, but this does not at all mean a departure from the fundamental principles in those books.
The imputation by non-Muslims against the Qur’ánic verse which does not confirm the Crucifixion is, I believe, based upon the misunderstanding of that verse. The verse was revealed in opposition to the Jews, who boasted of having put Christ to death. That “Jesus was not crucified, but one resembling Jesus,” by inference draws the distinction between the body and the spirit. It means that the real Christ, the Spirit, was not destroyed by the crucifixion of the body.
The Trinity condemned by Muhammad
was the current belief which
exalted Mary to the station of Jesus
or the Father. It by no means denounced
[Page 401] the true doctrine, which
teaches a Trinity of God the Revealer,
Jesus the recipient of the Revelation,
and the Holy Spirit which is the
medium of inspiration between the
two. The birth from the virgin is
based upon the Qur’ánic verse that
the spirit from God breathed into
Mary, which is the same as “God
strengthened Jesus with the Holy
Spirit” in reference to the Trinity.
In teaching the law of retribution and reward, He makes people themselves responsible for what their own acts bring upon them. Thus in Sura XIII, verse 12, “Verily God changes not His dealings with people, until they change that which is in their souls.”
Amongst the positive teachings given by Muhammad during the last three years of Mecca are the five times of prayer; the flesh animals permitted for food if killed “in the name of the Lord,” but the blood, and that which dieth of itself, and the flesh of swine, were strictly prohibited. The rites of pilgrimage to Ka’aba, with some exceptions, were now enjoined as of Divine authority.
Never since the rise of Christianity had people witnessed such arousing of spiritual life as was effected by Muhammad. To appreciate this, one has to call to mind the savage practices of the Arabs who inherited (the eldest son) the father’s widows as wives, even as his goods were inherited; who committed the crime of female infanticide; who had a superstitious dread of unseen beings whom they sought to propitiate, rather than to believe in an overruling Providence.
In thirteen years, several hundred people in Mecca by becoming Muslim, had abandoned their ancient, corrupt deeds and superstitions, and adopted a sincere faith in the omnipotence of God and in God’s care over the minutest concerns of their lives. Muhammad was to them the source of a new life and a new hope, and they obeyed Him implicitly. They bore all persecution with patience, and one hundred of them, men and women, had sought refuge in Abyssinian exile, rather than abjure their firm faith. And now again they were abandoning their beloved Mecca and its hallowed Temple, to seek exile in a strange city, Medina, where a devoted brotherhood had pledged to protect them and their Prophet. It is granted that the truth of Judaism had for long been heard in Medina, but it remained for Muhammad’s soul-stirring call to introduce them into a new life.
The Prophet defines His followers in these words (Sura XXV, 64): “The servants of the purified are those who walk upon the earth softly; . . . They that spend the night worshipping their Lord; . . . and who say: ‘O our Lord, turn away from us the torment of hell . . . Those that invoke not with God any other gods, and play not that which God hath forbidden . . . They who bear not witness to that which is false; they who, when admonished by the Revelations of the Lord, fall not down as if deaf and blind; and who say Lord! . . . make us examples unto the pious. These shall be rewarded hereafter . . . a fair abode and resting place.’”
(To be continued)
CHINESE PROVERBS AND MAXIMS
STANWOOD COBB
THE Chinese temperament does not run strongly to religion, especially in its other worldly aspect. The existence and nature of the soul, its condition in the after life, the concept of sin, the existence and nature of deity,—these things do not enter into the Chinese mentality, nor have they been given to Chinese people by their sages.
The nature of Chinese thought is essentially practical. It deals with the immediate problems of life on this planet, how to get along with one’s family, with one’s servants, with one’s neighbors, and with one’s rulers. All the relationships of life have been carefully considered and minutely dealt with by Confucius, who was himself less the creator of a system of ethics than the codifier of it. These concepts of moral relationships had been gradually formulated long before the time of Confucius. He put them in a universal and perpetual form for the Chinese people.
As a result of these definite principles of polite consideration for others, of unfailing courtesy, of mutuality in all human relationships, of suppression of egotism and aggressiveness, the Chinese people have developed a social ethics which makes them one of the most intrinsically polite and happy people in the world. They have reduced human friction to a minimum. It is the testimony of Occidentals who have lived among the Chinese for some length of time that they are the superior of any people in the world in these respects.
The following proverbs, only a few of the multitudinous maxims with which every Chinese mind is richly stored, show this practical and ethical trend. There is a quiet wisdom and serenity in Chinese preachments which one cannot but find charming. There is very little exhortation and no vehement excoriations such as characterize the Hebrew writers. The Chinese philosopher is seldom denunciatory. Rather, like Solomon, he holds a mirror up to nature and shows by the light of experience the beauty and value of righteousness as compared with the unwisdom of unrighteousness.
There is a flavor of good humor, of
mental clarity, of spiritual tranquility
[Page 403] in these Chinese aphorisms which
makes a unique appeal. Chinese
thought and speech are highly flavored
with these axiomatic depositories
of wisdom. A proverb is at hand for
every occasion. Often it serves to
ameliorate an awkward situation, or
helps to maintain customary poise in
the midst of difficult situations.
PROVERBS BY MING HSIEN CHI
If you do good to anybody, you yourself will benefit by it.
The family that stores up virtue will surely have an abundance of blessings.
Ill gotten gains do not long prosper.
The peaceful man preserves silence, in smooth water there is no current.
An official who has reached the highest rank must conform to the law in all things.
If you talk too much, you will make mistakes; if you eat too much, you will injure your digestion.
There is no advantage to be gained by bringing in lawsuits against one another.
He who flatters you must have something he wishes to obtain from you.
If you wish to settle down you must select your neighbors, if you make friends they must be good ones.
Those who obey Heaven will live, those who disobey will perish.
Honesty always brings success, dishonesty ever defeats itself.
Evil things done in secret are seen in heaven like a flash of lightning.
Heaven know before hand the crooked ways of the human heart.
Men’s desires can be curbed, the decrees of heaven must be followed.
Your disposition must be loyal and forgiving, your intentions fervent and sincere.
If you keep company with the wicked, you are bound to suffer in the long run.
Have no recollection of favors given, do not forget benefits conferred.
A hundred years elapse quickly, ten thousand things come and go in a moment.
All things are determined by fate, your striving in life is quite in vain.
The superior man is satisfied and composed, the mean man is always dissatisfied.
In judging things it is necessary to know the merits and defects, in judging man the face will tell you whether he is good or bad.
Do not depend upon your present good fortune, you must anticipate the time when it will leave you.
Even if it is a trifling matter, why be wicked?
Man’s happiness is not everlasting, the flower cannot bloom for long.
If there is a surplus of food in the kitchen, there are poor people in the street.
Always bear in mind the words of the superior man, there must be a brighter day at hand.
If you have money, spend it; when you are dead, it will be of no use to you.
The superior man devotes himself to justice, the mean man to gain.
Poverty is no disgrace to a family living in harmony, why become rich by unrighteous means?
If you want to be a man you cannot
take it easy, take it easy and you
[Page 404] will not succeed.
Retribution must come early or late, calamity or good fortune will follow as a matter of course.
A good fortune and good heart will enjoy riches and honour even to old age.
From olden times up to the present all have had to die, people cannot succeed without being sincere.
The superior man is respectful and not rude, towards men he is polite and courteous.
Man has no strength to requite the gifts of heaven, heaven yearns to feed man.
You cannot fit two packsaddles to one horse, a loyal minister cannot serve two masters.
Good and bad fortune befall man when least expected; the sky is sometimes clouded over, at others bright with sunshine.
The superior man while in power stores up happiness, the mean man relies upon his influence and oppresses the people.
Who says that people have no sorrow, when the wind rises the waves are crested with foam.
You get into trouble because you speak too much, you get vexed because you strive to take the lead.
During your whole life you have been upright and have not walked in crooked paths, why should you ask Heaven to pardon or condemn you?
It is too late to draw in the reins when the horse reaches the cliff, when the boat is in midstream it is not the time to stop her from leaking.
There will be a reward at last for good and bad deeds, the only difference lies in its coming early or late.
Do not perjure yourself by taking false oaths, be sure your sins will find you out.
The Great River always flows onward, never backward, a man who is old cannot become young again.
The great principle exhorts man in three different ways:—leave off drinking, give up licentious living and don’t gamble.
If you appropriate the land of another, or swindle a man out of money, you cannot enjoy the fruits (of such actions) in happiness and prosperity for very long.
Even if you drink a thousand cups of wine in friendship, it is not too much; when you speak to a man on a subject upon which your views do not coincide, then even half a sentence is too much.
A sentence of kindly words even in mid-winter is cheery, bad words even in mid-summer are harsh and injurious to people.
If you don’t do something for other people, all your prayers to Buddha are in vain.