Baha'u'llah was arrested and made to walk in chains to the Siyah-Chal, the Black Pit dungeon. During his imprisonment in the filthy, disease-ridden dungeon, Baha'u'llah saw several Babi friends executed and suffered horribly.
He underwent mystical experiences, feeling energy wash over his body from the crown of his head, and saw visions that encouraged him to arise to reform the Babi community.
Baha'u'llah was found innocent of complicity in the assassination plot, but it was clear that he was not now welcome in Iran. The government gave him permission to go to Baghdad, in neighboring Ottoman Iraq, where he arrived on 12 January In he secretly departed from Baghdad, went to Kurdistan in the north where he lived the life of a mystic. The Kurds practiced the mystical form of Islam known as Sufism. The Babis searched for and found Baha'u'llah and pleaded with him to return.
He returned in In the late s Baha'u'llah wrote important works such as The Hidden Words and Seven Valleys, which by their crisp Arabic and Persian style and their mystical intensity encouraged some Babis back in Iran to become especially attracted to his personality. Privately, to a handful of believers such as Nabil-I Akbar Qa'ini, Baha'u'llah in the late s talked of himself as a Logos-figure divine word of god , brought into being before the creation.
He appears to have been waiting for the year of the Islamic calendar to make a more open declaration, since some Muslims expected that a messiah would arise in that year. Before he left, Baha'u'llah set up tents in the garden of Najib Pasha at Baghdad, where, during the period 21 April to 2 May, he informed a select handful of close followers and relatives that he was the promised one of the Bab, "He whom God shall make manifest. He arrived in Istanbul in August, but refused to seek out prominent statesmen or to play politics.
The Iranian ambassador put considerable pressure on the Ottoman government to have him exiled from the capital, from which he could have gained influence. Baha'u'llah dwelled in Edirne from 12 December to 12 August Because of further pressure from Persia, the Ottoman Sultan ordered that Baha'u'llah and some of his companions be exiled to the disease-ridden fortress-prison of Akka or St.
Jean d'Acre on the Syrian coast. In these letters he proclaimed himself the promised one of all religions, and therefore in a symbolic sense the return of Christ for Christians. In , in his Most Holy Book al-Kitab al-Aqdas , Baha'u'llah predicted that a democracy of the people would rule one day in Iran itself. In later tablets he advocated that a world-wide consultative body be convoked.
Only a few thousand continued to follow Azal. As noted, in Baha'u'llah authored his most important work, the Most Holy Book, the book of laws for the Baha'i religion, intended to abrogate for Baha'is the canon law of both the Babi faith and the law of Islam. In subsequent works he urged the adoption of a world language, and of a globally uniform set of weights and measures.
Baha'u'llah advocated compulsory schooling for children, including girls, and said that in his religion "women are as men. He advocated the adoption of modern Western technology, and pointed out that Middle Easterners had already accepted much of the philosophical and scientific heritage of the ancient Greeks, upon which modern scientists were building.
In he moved to another mansion, at Bahji literally the "small garden," Bagce, in Turkish , where he lived until his passing in He had a number of children with each of these co-wives. He had only one child, a daughter, with Gawhar Khanum. Baha'u'llah had altogether fourteen children from his three wives, including four daughters. Five of his sons predeceased him. Central tenets of the Baha'i Faith. The most salient features of the Baha'i faith are as follows: One God who is eternal and incomprehensible, God reveals to man as much as he can understand of truth by means of an endless but intermittent succession of prophets.
The essence of their teaching is, in reality, one and the same because the same universal wisdom speaks, and the same divine will acts through all of them. But as man advances and evolves his latent potentialities, he needs a fuller light, and can bear a clearer teaching.
The human race has an infancy, a childhood, a youth and a maturity. Because the human race is in its maturity, those earlier revelations of religion which were sufficient for and adapted to its infancy are now no longer suitable. Heaven is true, but it is a state, not a place. There is a resurrection, but it is not what man have imagined. Each " manifestation " of the divine wisdom in human form is the ' resurrection " of that which preceded it, in which the fruit is reaped of the seed sown. The "judgment," is the " meeting with God," and the angels are the reapers who go forth to gather in what is ripe and good.
That Baha'u'llah is the most recent revelation of God and embodies the Messiah hoped for by the Jews, the triumphant return of Jesus Christ and the long-awaited return of Imam Mahdi. As to the belief in a future life, it is there, but it is not prominent. A universal reign of peace, love, freedom, and unity of belief and effort is the thing primarily aimed at. A material resurrection is denied, and the immaterial future of the spirit must not divert their thoughts from the work of regenerating the world.
War must cease, nations must mingle in friendship, justice must become universal, all men must be as brothers. Walk, then, with perfect charity, concord, affection, and agreement, for I swear by the Sun of Truth that the light of agreement shall brighten and illumine the horizons.
People of all creeds are to be associated with in a fair and friendly spirit, not shunned as unclean or treated as foes. Persuasion may be used to gain converts, but the employment of force is hateful to God. The study of living languages is encouraged, since it is conducive to the closer union of diverse peoples. It is, however, recommended that in course of time one language either one of those at present existing, or a new universal language and one writing be chosen by the assembled representatives of the different nations, and that these be taught to every one, so that thenceforth there may be no obstacle to the free communication of all mankind.
After all, the objectives of peace and regeneration of the world were noble and desirable. However, noble objectives are not sufficient to substantiate the reality of its claim to be the ultimate explanation of supernatural reality. Much as one is emotionally inclined to do so, I believe this is insufficient to constitute proof of supernatural reality.
Each stage is suitable for the level of human understanding at that particular stage in history. He proposed that he is the ultimate Messenger of God and constitute the Messiah hoped for by the Jews, the triumphant return of Jesus Christ and the long-awaited return of Imam Mahdi. This audacious claim is nonetheless a theory. One of your leaders, Abdu'l Baha, taught that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead "…is a spiritual and divine fact, and not material…," even though the Bible is clear about it being a physical event John ; ; Luke ; Acts If Jesus was resurrected physically from the dead, that would place Him in a position superior to Baha'u'llah, and nullify all Baha'i claims.
My question is, on what authority are the co-founders, Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l Baha, able to change the clear teaching of the Bible--other than their claim to have such authority? Anyone can make such claims. Perhaps most critical of all is the Baha'i claim that Jesus is only a manifestation of God, like the many other manifestations who have founded religions.
But Jesus claimed to be God, not just a mirror image of Him. He is incarnation, not manifestation John ,14 ; ; Colossians ; Titus The Baha'i concept of Jesus is based upon the revealed word of Baha'u'llah, and you believe his interpretation is true because he has said so.
This is circular reasoning. It is analogous to saying fairies really do exist in a dimension parallel to ours that we have not yet discovered. Dear Ryan,This is a very important issue and rather than provide a simplistic yes or no answer, I would refer you to the following article that re-frames your question in an interesting way.
It asks us to consider if the present society is influencing us to examine the notion of human sexuality in a way that instead just leads us down a philosophical blind alley. Thank you for your question and please take the time to review this article, issued by the national governing body of the Baha'is of the United States, drawing on the guidance and resources of the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel, which is at bahai.
Michael M Brown. Note Investigation of the truth doesn't stop when one accepts the Bahai faith. Its life long.. Qudrat Larawin. Due the ignorance many are given misconceptions. With social media and many alternate media sources, the truth will always reign supreme. Andrew Gil. Great text. One thing I got to point out to add on your own argumentation concerning the first topic is that it was actually the Islamic clergy who determined that the Baha'i Faith is not a sect.
At that time it was a manner of persecution, now it is really a blessing that they indirectly acknowledged a new Revelation even if not believing in Its Revelator. Sarmad Garmroud. Since i married in I've always cultivated a beard. I was surprised therefore after giving a fireside one evening when a male guest asked, "Do all Baha'i men have to wear beards? The answer is "No," but this is how strong perceptions are especially on new people we meet, and how clear we Baha'is must be about our dress, and demeanor, to portray the best human qualities we can and to not get attached to outward trappings.
Thanks so much for sharing! Ellen Ramer. Great subject matter. Looking forward to the continuation of this theme! Jules R. Paul Decker. Matthew Freeman. Lovely to read your words Kathy. One of the great mysteries and powers of Christianity is that Christ did not found Christianity.
He inspired it but it was not until some centuries later that we can say Christianity was founded. Best wishes, Matthew. That is quite interesting to learn, Matthew. Thanks for your comments! View 1 more comment.
0コメント