Oneness of Humanity
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The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf – Oneness of Religion, Oneness of Humanity
The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf is Bahá’u’lláh’s last major work, written in the last year of his life. It is Bahá’u’lláh’s own summation of his life and teachings. It was addressed to a brutal persecutor of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, a priest in Isfahan, Aqa Najafi. In his persecutions of the Baha’is, Aqa Najafi collaborated with and followed in the footsteps of his father – “the Wolf” – who had earlier been responsible for the brutal murder of two Baha’is in that city. The opening passages of the Epistle invite Aqa Najafi to seek forgiveness from God for his crimes and provides him with the words to do so.…
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If the Learned Illuminated the Path to Human Unity …
“The cult of [national sovereignty] has become mankind’s major religion. The intensity of worship of the idol of the national state, is of course, no evidence that national sovereignty provides a satisfactory basis for the political organization of mankind … The truth is the very opposite … It seems fairly safe to forecast that, if the human race survives, it will have abandoned the ideal and practice of national sovereignty.” [Arnold Toynbee, The Reluctant Death of Sovereignty, Center for Study of Democratic Institutions, July 1970] These are the words of a leading historian of the twentieth century. While there are other visionaries like him, there are few who so clearly illuminate…
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Tablet of the Branch
In Adrianople, Bahá’u’lláh began the public announcement of his mission; writing to kings and rulers and to followers of the Bab. Also from this period, Bahá’u’lláh was already looking far ahead to the time when he would no longer be in the physical world and he was laying the foundations of the Baha’i Faith after his passing. We have already noted the role of Abdu’l Baha in his journeys to the West,[1][2][3][4], and in his role as the foundation stone of human unity. We have seen the extraordinary work schedule that he maintained. In France, his first address was concerned with kindness and welcome to strangers. In the Tablet of the…
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Origins of Racism: the Case of the Count de Gobineau
When we see racism still at work in our world it is important not only to know its current manifestations but also to understand something of how it arose. This article concerns, Count Arthur de Gobineau, a man who is often labelled a “father of racism”. Of course, no one individual is solely responsible – but he was clearly one of those whose influence contributed to the strengthening of racist ideology. Curiously enough he also appears as the European historian who wrote the first extensive account of the birth of the Babi religion, as we have seen in the article on E.G Browne. Regrettably, it appears, Gobineau did not pursue…
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Achieving Unity
It was not obvious when Bahá’u’lláh stated it, but it is obvious today. The problems of the world cannot be solved and human welfare and peace cannot be achieved, until humanity’s unity “is firmly established”. Yet if we look around the world, there is nothing more obvious than the divisions that beset human beings. No two men can be found who may be said to be outwardly and inwardly united. The evidences of discord and malice are apparent everywhere, though all were made for harmony and union.[1] If unity were easy, it would have already been achieved. It is not impossible, but it is harder than even the most visionary goals human…
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The Interconnection of All Things
All things are interconnected. … every part of the universe is connected with every other part by ties that are very powerful and admit of no imbalance, nor any slackening whatever.[1] When Abdu’l Baha made comments of this kind he had in mind the interconnection between the material, plant, animal and human kingdoms. The atoms that make us up transition between these worlds remaining unchanged in their essence although entirely transformed in their outward characteristics. Indeed we could not exist but for the fact that the atoms that make up our bodies were long ago manufactured in the nuclear processes of a star. As each component atom or element in…
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Three Protagonists Generating the Future: Individual, Community and Institutions
The title to this article draws on a concept described in letters of the Universal House of Justice to the Baha’i community – that there are three protagonists (three actors): individual, community and institutions; from whose interactions the future emerges. In the previous three articles we have examined Bahá’u’lláh’s reforms to religious institutions, the kind of community life the Baha’i community is working to foster and the role of the individual. Working towards a new relationship between these three actors is connected with Bahá’u’lláh’s vision both of the time in which we live (the era of human maturity) and his vision of the oneness of humanity. The increasing difficulty in…
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Baha’u’llah’s Will and Testament – the Kitab-i-Ahd
Bahá’u’lláh did something unique in the recorded history of the founders of world religions. He left a will and testament. His will and testament is from any viewpoint, a most remarkable document. It is a central constitutional document of the Baha’i Faith – yet at the same time it is a meditation on the human condition. Bahá’u’lláh calls its recipients to consciousness of the limitless human potential to which human beings can rise. Yet the text also warns of the dangers of human folly and institutes mechanisms to protect against them. Known as the Book of the Covenant (Kitab-i-Ahd), the will and testament, written in Baha’u’llah’s own hand, was unsealed and read before nine witnesses nine days…
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Higher Learning – Science and Peace
During his journey through North America Abdu’l Baha visited a number of universities. He spoke at Columbia University in New York, Howard University in Washington DC and Stanford University in Palo Alto. Much of my life is associated with universities. So these talks have special meaning at a personal level. Particularly at Columbia and Stanford, Abdu’l Baha’s spoke about science and peace – another implication of harmony of science and religion. At Howard University – at the time a university established to provide educational opportunities for African American students – Abdu’l Baha spoke of oneness of humanity and the importance of love between black and white Americans. At Colombia University, Abdu’l Baha…
