The Oneness of Humanity

Baha’i Scripture

The only authoritative sources for investigating the truth in Baha’ism are books or translations published and distributed by the UHJ or institutions they have authorized. Shoghi says:

“Bahā’u’llāh has made it clear enough that only those things that have been revealed in the form of Tablets have a binding power over the friends. Hearsays may be matters of interest but can in no way claim authority (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the United States Publishing Committee, December 29, 1931).”

Reference: Helen Bassett Hornby, Lights of Guidance: A Bahā’ī Reference File, chap. XXXVIII, no. 1435.

How does one come by these books if they are needed for investigating the truth? There is no option but to use specific hand-picked documents that have been distributed by the Universal House of Justice. The rest of the Baha’i scripture is safeguarded in the Baha’i Archives in Haifa and other than a privileged few, no one has access to them. The following letter from the Universal House of Justice to an unnamed Baha’i shows the sheer amount of unpublished documents that are being safeguarded in these archives:

The Universal House of Justice Department of the Secretariat

Transmitted by email

6 June 2013

Dear Bahā’ī Friend,

Your email letter dated 3 April 2013 requesting statistics concerning the Sacred Texts has been received at the Bahā’ī World Centre and forwarded to the Research Department for study. That Department notes that the collection and collation of the Sacred Writings is an ongoing process, and the numbers are continually being revised. The estimates of the numbers of unique works can be given as follows:
For Bahā’ullāh, nearly 20,000 unique works have been identified. Most of these Writings have been collected; however, 865 are known to have been revealed, but the texts are not available. Close to 15,000 of the collected works have been authenticated by the Archives Office to date.

For the Bāb, over 2,000 unique works have been identified. Most of these Writings have been collected; however, 74 are known to have been revealed, but the texts are not available. Nearly 1,600 of the collected works have been authenticated.
For ‘Abdu’l-Bahā, over 30,000 unique works have been identified. All of these Writings have been collected and over 27,000 of them have been authenticated.
For Shoghi Effendi, over 22,000 unique works have been identified. All of these documents have been collected and the majority of them have been authenticated.
It is estimated that approximately ten per cent of the documents described above are in photocopied form. A fraction of the total numbers of unique works have been published in the original languages or translated into Western languages. However, citing exact numbers would be misleading since much of the unpublished and untranslated material consists of day-to-day correspondence and personal guidance and encouragement, which is less likely to be of general interest. The World Centre is actively pursuing a publication programme for the as yet unpublished major works of the Central Figures of the Faith and Shoghi Effendi.

With loving Bahā’ī greetings,
Department of the Secretariat

Reference: http://bahai-library.com/uhj_numbers_sacred_writings (retrieved 28/2/2014)

These documents are the most important source for investigating the truth for Baha’is and non-Baha’is alike.

Why have these works not been published and why are researchers not granted access to them?

The first excuse is “much of the unpublished and untranslated material consists of day-to-day correspondence and personal guidance and encouragement, which is less likely to be of general interest.” This is unacceptable.

Would these works not be invaluable in following the first principle of seeking the truth?

Surely there are many people out there who would love to read these works and would definitely receive guidance and insight from them. Is this not a disguise to withhold these Tablets from the public?

Professor Juan Cole brought up some interesting points in this regard:

If translating and making available the writings of Bahā’u’llāh were in fact any sort of priority of the Universal House of Justice, they have enormous resources with which to do so. (Anyone who can spend $250 million [He is referring to the cost of building the Baha’i World Center.] on building works has the money for other projects, as well). They have simply decided to expend their resources on other things. I once saw in a library a big set of books, The Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo in Bengali with English translations. Aurobindo was a 20th century Indian holy man. But his followers managed to get his *complete* collected works not only published but also translated, not long after his death. Aurobindo’s following is tiny and poor compared to that of the Bahā’īs. That only about 5% of Bahā’u’llāh’s works have been translated is not an unfortunate side effect of lack of resources in the Bahā’īs community. It is a deliberate decision to invest the money in things like monumental architecture instead.

Reference: http://bahai-library.com/uhj_lawh_huriyyih_cole

According to Professor Cole, the resources to distribute these works are available but the UHJ is deliberately diverting them elsewhere. Today, it has become clear that this is not the case. Rather, it is evident that the UHJ simply does not want to publish these works. Since at least 1993, most, if not all of these works had been digitized, typed, and placed in a database:

“To assist the House of Justice in referring to the wealth of guidance and teachings contained in the Bahā’ī Writings, a computer database is used which contains descriptions of every Tablet and every letter of Shoghi Effendi, together with a typed copy of the text of each document. In the near future images of the original documents will also be stored in the computer, making it unnecessary to refer to the original items.”

Reference: This is a section of a pamphlet inserted in `Andalīb magazine, 12:48 (Fall 1993).

If the UHJ had the slightest intention of distributing these writings, they could have easily placed the database on an internet server, or distributed it as a DVD. The UHJ simply does not want the public to have access to these files. What other explanation could there be for someone to hide the illuminating, enlightening, and guiding words of a claimant to Prophethood, but only distributing a few selected Tablets?

So how exactly are truth seekers supposed to investigate the truth and abandon imitations?

If Investigating the Truth Means You Have to Question the Official Baha’is Stance on a Subject You Will Be Shunned

Suppose someone uses the limited means at hand to investigate the truth about Baha’ism and, based on his investigation, reaches a conclusion that goes against official doctrine. If this conclusion is publically announced, that person will be shunned. For instance if someone opposes the guardian, they must be shunned and no excuse must be accepted from them. `Abdu’l-Bahā says:

“The Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and protest against the Guardian of the Cause of God, cast him out from the congregation of the people of Bahā and in no wise accept any excuse from him. How often hath grievous error been disguised in the garb of truth, that it might sow the seeds of doubt in the hearts of men!”

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, The Will and Testament of `Abdu’l-Bahā (US Bahā’ī Publishing Trust, 1990), p. 12.

Ironically, the same `Abdu’l-Bahā that gives the order to expel his coreligionists says:

“Kindness brings about life, separation brings about death.”

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Egypt), vol.1, p. 153.

This law is not limited to those that oppose or protest the Guardian. Shoghi, and subsequently the UHJ, have shunned many people because they deemed their words or actions inappropriate, even when they were based on the truth.

Today, there are a number of prominent Baha’i academics who have either been kicked out of the Baha’i community or have left it themselves after they protested the actions of the UHJ or their investigations showed facts contrary to what the UHJ was propagating. People such as Professor Juan Cole, Dr. Linda Walbridge, Dr. Firouz Anarki, Sen McGlinn, and Frederick Glaysher are only a few of these individuals.

If people must independently investigate the truth then why are they kicked out of the Baha’i community and shunned when they do so?

Distorting Baha’i Scripture

The greatest obstacle in the path of investigating the truth is not hiding the material that can be used to do so, rather, it is deceiving the investigator by distorting and creating an inverted image of the truth.

Unfortunately, Baha’is actively engage in this act. The initiator of this act was Bahā’u’llāh himself who changed the original text of the book of Īqān once it was found that he had made multiple grammatical and Quranic mistakes in it. He had also forged and distorted a number of Islamic narrations to falsely prove that the Bāb was the Mahdi of Islam.

Other forms of this act can be seen in deleting or changing problematic subjects in new editions of books. For instance, the Tablet of the Maiden (lauḥ Ḥūriyyah) which described Bahā’u’llāh sexually fondling the Holy Spirit was removed from the fourth volume of Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā in later editions.

After the death of Shoghi, once it became clear that Bahā’u’llāh and `Abdu’l-Bahā’s prophecies about the Guardianship were incorrect, a number of Baha’i books and texts which spoke about the responsibilities of the Guardian were distorted. In the new versions of these texts, the Guardians responsibilities were transferred to the Universal House of Justice! For instance, in the fifth edition of Aḥmad Yazdānī’s Nazar-i ijmālī dar diyanat-i Bahā’ī that was published by the Baha’i Publishing Trust of Iran in 129 B., distortions can be seen on pages 31 and 105 that speak about the institution responsible for resolving differences amongst Baha’is and also the recipient of Ḥuqūq Allah.

Vance Salisbury, in his article A Critical Examination of 20th-Century Baha’i Literature, points to many other distortions of this kind. He brings up many interesting subjects. For instance, he refers to another unfulfilled prophecy from `Abdu’l-Bahā that was later removed from Esslemont’s book:

Perhaps the most important change in Bahā’u’llāh and the New Era was made on page 212 of the 1923 edition. Recorded as a Bahā’ī prophecy concerning the “Coming of the Kingdom of God,” Esslemont cited Abdu’l-Bahā’s interpretation of the last two verses of the Book of Daniel from the Bible. He stated that the 1335 days spoken of by Daniel represented 1335 solar years from Muhammad’s flight to Medina in 622 A.D., which would equal 1957 A.D.. When asked “‘What shall we see at the end of the 1335 days?’,” Abdu’l-Bahā’s reply was: “‘Universal Peace will be firmly established, a Universal language promoted. Misunderstandings will pass away. The Bahā’ī Cause will be promulgated in all parts and the oneness of mankind established. It will be most glorious!'” In editions published after his death, Esslemont’s words have been changed to say that Abdu’l-Bahā “reckoned the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy from the date of the beginning of the Muhammadan era” and one of Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets is quoted on the same subject in which he writes, “‘For according to this calculation a century will have elapsed from the dawn of the Sun of Truth . . . Esslemont recorded Abdu’l-Bahā as declaring explicitly that the prophecy was to be computed from the Hijra or 622 A.D. and that specific conditions would exist in the world upon it’s fulfillment in 1957. When it became apparent that this Bahā’ī prophecy would not be fulfilled, it was replaced with the ambiguous material which has remained in the text to the present.

Reference: http://bahai-library.com/salisbury_critical_examination_literature (retrieved 22/2/2014)

Investigating the Truth or Proselytizing to Illiterate Masses That Have No Means of Investigating the Truth

Baha’is actively engage in proselytizing missions that are utterly against the investigation of truth. In these campaigns— that continue with great force today—illiterate masses in third world countries that have no means of investigating the truth whatsoever, are converted to Baha’ism under the disguise of education and humanitarian relief. Moojan Momen, the prominent Baha’i author, explains this by writing:

“Missionary endeavour on the part of Middle Eastern and Western Bahā’īs had led to the establishment of Bahā’ī communities in several parts of the non-Muslim ‘Third World’, initially among the Western-oriented urban minority. Conversions of larger numbers began in a few isolated areas in the 1950s and spread during the 1960s to most parts of the ‘Third World’. The results were dramatic. As Bahā’ī teachers learned to adapt their message and missionary techniques to the situation of the unschooled masses of Third World peasants and urban workers, they completely transformed their religion’s social base. Now, the great majority of Bahā’īs in the world are drawn from the popular classes of the non- Islamic Third World. Even in the well-established Bahā’ī communities of North America, recent infusions of minority group members (Blacks and Amerindians) has led to a significant change in the social base of the membership . . . By the late 1960s, a great increase in the number of Bahā’īs had occurred. Conversions of large numbers of tribal or peasant peoples in various parts of the Third World had begun . . . Most of the flood of new Bahā’īs were poorly educated, and many lived in rural and tribal areas with which effective communication was difficult to sustain.”

Reference: P. Smith, M. Momen, The Baha’i faith 1957–1988: A survey of contemporary developments, Religion 19 (1989), pp. 63–91: http://bahai-library.com/momen_smith_developments_1957-1988 (retrieved 28/2/2014)

Baha’i missionaries would convert people from undeveloped countries who lacked the tools and means of investigating the truth to Baha’ism. This resulted in the twenty-fold increase of the Baha’i population in about 30 years. Is there any pride in this attitude, especially from a creed that claims all people must be given the chance to independently investigate the truth?

How Baha’is Investigate the Truth From Childhood

What most Baha’is do not know today, is that `Abdu’l-Bahā had prohibited his followers from sending their children to non-Baha’i schools. It was because of this order that Baha’i schools like Madrisiy-i Tarbiyat were established in Tehran:

“It is absolutely prohibited for the children of the friends to go to the schools of others (meaning non-Baha’is) for this is [a cause of] humiliation (dhillat) for the Cause of God and they will be completely deprived of the Blessed Beauty’s graces. Because they will be educated/nurtured elsewise and they will disgrace the Baha’is.”

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (probably Tehran: n.p., n.d.), vol. 5, p. 170.

`Abdu’l-Bahā prohibits his followers in the strictest sense and using threatening language from sending their children to non-Baha’i schools. Apparently, Baha’i children must be prevented from learning anything non-Baha’i while they are still in an age in which they cannot decide for themselves about what is right and wrong. They must be induced to think that the Baha’i creed is the only source of salvation for mankind and its teachings are unique and better than all other teachings. When these children grow up, they will be biased towards the Baha’i creed and their investigation of the truth will be influenced by the teachings that have been firmly established in their minds since childhood.

Investigating the Truth a Crime for Israeli Citizens

For reasons still unknown, Bahā’u’llāh had prohibited his followers from teaching Baha’ism to the people of Israel. In a letter dated 23/6/1995 the Universal House of Justice replies to an individual believer:

The Universal House of Justice has received your email message dated 29 June 1995 and we have been asked to respond.
You have asked how the policy of not teaching Israelis applies in the situation in which you have contact with an Israeli via an “interactive relay chat” (IRC) connection. The House of Justice has not asked the friends to avoid contact with Israelis. When you discover that a person you are in contact with via IRC is an Israeli, you should feel free to maintain friendly contact, but you should not teach the Faith to him. If he has already developed a personal interest in the Faith and seeks more information, you should refer him to the Offices of the Bahā’ī World Centre in Haifa.

For your information, the people in Israel have access to factual information about the Faith, its history and general principles. Books concerning the Faith are available in libraries throughout Israel, and Israelis are welcome to visit the Shrines and the surrounding gardens. However, in keeping with a policy that has been strictly followed since the days of Bahā’u’llāh, Bahā’īs do not teach the Faith in Israel. Likewise, the Faith is not taught to Israelis abroad if they intend to return to Israel. When Israelis ask about the Faith, their questions are answered, but this is done in a manner which provides factual information without stimulating further interest.

With loving Bahā’ī greetings,
Department of the Secretariat

Reference: http://bahai-library.com/uhj_teaching_in_israel (retrieved 8/3/2014)

This order is quite puzzling in light of the principle of the independent investigation of truth. Why should a specific group of people be deprived of the right of learning and embracing the truth?

Courtesy: Twelve Principles – A Comprehensive Investigation on the Bahai Teachings

Oneness of Humanity- Contradictions Part II

Should We Utter Rude Words?

Bahā’u’llāh: Do not utter profanities at any one and do not make anyone upset.

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganjīniy-i ḥudūd wa aḥkām, chap. 47, p. 322.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: In the fight over the succession of his father, calls his brother and his followers names such as flies, earthworm, bat, raven, fox …

“They are senile like arrogant fools and not seashells full of gems. They are ecstatic from the smell of garbage like dung beetles and not from the scent of a flower of gardens. They are lowly earthworms buried beneath the great earth not high flying birds. They are bats of darkness not the searchlights of clear horizons. They always make excuses and like ravens, have nested in the landfills of fall (Autumn) . . . so you Oh true friend and spiritual helper . . . attack these unjust foxes and like a high soaring eagle drive away these hateful ravens from this field,”

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Egypt), vol. 1, pp. 442–443.

Should Traitors Be given Refuge?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: “Give traitors shelter and refuge.”

Reference: Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb, vol. 3, p. 160.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: Do not be kind to traitors, for kindness will cause them to revolt.

“One cannot be kind to a tyrant, traitor, or thief, for kindness will make them revolt instead of awakening them. The more you show affection to a liar, the more lies he will tell,”

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Egypt), vol. 3, p. 211.

Should We Be Polite or Rude?

Bahā’u’llāh and `Abdu’l-Bahā: Whoever is without manners, it is better that they be destroyed. We must not insult people.

“Politeness is one of mankind’s traits that distinguishes him from other [creatures]. He who has no success in [being polite] then his demise certainly has—and will have—priority over his existence,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, pp. 203–204.

“The divine principles in this luminous era are such that one must not insult anyone,”

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Egypt), vol. 1, p. 355.

Bahā’u’llāh referring to his brother: Oh donkey, oh cow, Oh polytheist, dung beetle, Satan, fly . . .

“Oh you donkeys! Whatever God says is the truth and will not become void by the words of the polytheists,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 174.

“When Mīrzā Yaḥyā Azal started opposing the works, deeds, and words of his esteemed brother (Bahā’u’llāh) in Edirne . . . he plunged from his [high] stature and the rank of union and agreement [that he had with Bahā’u’llāh] and was gradually— in the tablets, works, and revelations [from Bahā’u’llāh]— referred to with codes, references, and names such as the polytheist, the calf, the scarab (dung beetle), the tyrant, the Satan, the devil, the foul swamp, the buzzing of a fly, and similar names,”

Reference: Asad-Allāh Fāḍil Māzandarānī, Asrār al-āthār khuṣūṣī, vol. 5, p. 345–346.

Those Who Deny Bahā’u’llāh Are Bastards Who Will Go to Hell

`Abdu’l-Bahā: “As soon as we see ourselves superior to others, we will have gotten distant from the path of salvation and prosperity.”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganjīniy-i ḥudūd wa aḥkām, chap. 49, p. 326.

Bahā’u’llāh: Whoever denies Baha’ism or is Baha’u’llah’s enemy, is a bastard who will go to hell.

“Whoever denies this apparent exalted luminous grace (meaning Baha’ism), it is worthy that he asks his state from his mother and he will soon be returned to the bottom of hell,”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 4, pp. 355 and `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganj-i shāygān, p. 78

“Whoever has the enmity of this servant (meaning Bahā’u’llāh) in his heart, certainly Satan has entered their mother’s bed,”

Reference:`Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganj-i shāygān, p. 79.

The result of these words: All Jews, Christians, Muslims, and all other people who do not accept Baha’ism are Bastards.

Must We Be Kind towards Tyrants or Should We Punish Them?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: Be kind to tyrants and oppressors!

Reference: Asad-Allāh Fāḍil Māzandarānī, Amr wa khalq, vol. 3,p. 228.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: Punish tyrants so they do not revolt.

“One cannot be kind to a tyrant, traitor, or thief, for kindness will make them revolt instead of awakening them. The more you show affection to a liar, the more lies he will tell,”

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Egypt), vol. 3, p. 211.

Kindness towards the Opposition or Enmity?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: We must be kind to the enemies and love the deniers.

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Egypt), vol. 1, p. 288.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: Meeting with the deniers of Baha’ism is forbidden.

“Know that God has forbidden his friends from meeting with the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism) and hypocrites,”

Reference:`Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 4, pp. 280.

How to Deal with the Unaware

`Abdu’l-Bahā: We must warn the unaware.

“We must . . . warn the unaware, show compassion to the enemies, and love the foes,”

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Egypt), vol. 1, p. 288.

Bahā’u’llāh: Protect yourself from the wicked poisonous breath of the unaware and do not socialize with them.

“Thus, O inhabitants of my orchard, protect yourselves from the wicked poisonous breath and void breeze which is socializing with the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism) and the unaware (ghāfil),”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 8, p. 39.

Is Shunning Bad?

Bahā’u’llāh: We have nullified anything that as a cause for shunning.

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 95.

Bahā’u’llāh: Shun my enemies!

“Shun any man in whom you perceive enmity for this Servant, though he may appear in the garb of piety of the former and later people, or may arise to the worship of the two worlds,”

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, Bahā’ī World Faith—Selected Writings of Bahā’u’llāh and `Abdu’l-Bahā (`Abdu’l-Bahā’s Section Only), p. 431.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: Why are the communities engaged in shunning people?! Shunning has a demoralizing effect.

“One thing remains to be said: it is that the communities are day and night occupied in making penal laws, and in preparing and organizing instruments and means of punishment. They build prisons, make chains and fetters, arrange places of exile and banishment, and different kinds of hardships and tortures, and think by these means to discipline criminals, whereas, in reality, they are causing destruction of morals and perversion of characters,”

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, Some Answered Questions, p. 271

“The community, on the contrary, ought day and night to strive and endeavor with the utmost zeal and effort to accomplish the education of men, to cause them day by day to progress and to increase in science and knowledge, to acquire virtues, to gain good morals and to avoid vices, so that crimes may not occur. At the present time the contrary prevails; the community is always thinking of enforcing the penal laws, and of preparing means of punishment, instruments of death and chastisement, places for imprisonment and banishment; and they expect crimes to be committed. This has a demoralizing effect,”

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, Some Answered Questions, p. 272.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: Shun those who protest against the Guardian.

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, The Will and Testament of `Abdu’l-Bahā, p. 12.

To Wish Death or Not to Wish Death?

Bahā’u’llāh: Don’t wish unto others what you do not wish for yourself.

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 266.

Bahā’u’llāh: “Die with anger, Oh he who denies this grace.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 213.

“Die with anger O you denying polytheist.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 1, no. 64, p. 276.

Why Have All of Bahā’u’llāh’s Descendants Been Shunned and Excommunicated?

Bahā’u’llāh: If the root of a tree becomes corrupt so do all its branches (aghsān) and twigs and fruits and leaves.

“You are like a spring of water. When its source becomes corrupt so do the streams that separate from it. Fear God and be pious. Likewise, look at man. When his heart becomes corrupt so do all his limbs and organs. Likewise, if the root of a tree becomes corrupt so do its branches and twigs (aghsan and afnan) and its leaves and its fruit,“

Reference: ” Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 2, no. 90, p. 603.

By the time Shoghi died all of Bahā’u’llāh’s blood descendants who are referred to as branches (Aghsān) had become corrupt and were shunned from the Baha’i community!

Oneness of Humanity in the Baha’i Kingdom

The earth will be cleansed from the filth of the deniers of Baha’ism and Bahā’u’llāh’s followers will be feared by the people. Thieves will be kicked out of the cities and deprived of all rights. Arsonists will be burned alive, executed, or given life imprisonment.

“God will soon take out from the sleeves of power the hands of strength and dominance and will make the Servant (Bahā’u’llāh) victorious and will cleanse the earth from the filth of every rejected polytheist (denier of Baha’ism). And they will stand by the cause and will conquer the lands using my mighty eternal name and will enter the lands and they will be feared by all the servants,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 2, no. 90, p. 587.

““Exile and imprisonment are decreed for the thief, and, on the third offence, place ye a mark upon his brow so that, thus identified, he may not be accepted in the cities of God and His countries,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, pp. 35–36.

“Should anyone intentionally destroy a house by fire, him also shall ye burn; should anyone deliberately take another’s life, him also shall ye put to death. Take ye hold of the precepts of God with all your strength and power, and abandon the ways of the ignorant. Should ye condemn the arsonist and the murderer to life imprisonment, it would be permissible according to the provisions of the Book. He, verily, hath power to ordain whatsoever He pleaseth,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, p. 203.

All the Titles given to Non-Baha’is by Baha’i Leaders

Haters of light, sufferers from spiritual leprosy, unreasonable, unknowledgeable, polytheists, dry wood worthy of fire, possessors of wicked poisonous breath, deniers of God and his signs, hypocrites, ungodly, evil, unhuman, animals, earthworms, livestock, lowly flies, donkeys, dogs, beasts, those who should die with anger, earthly pebbles, people that must be tormented, people who will be cleansed from earth, bastards, children of Satan, manifestations of hell, manifestations of Satan, rising place of Pharaohs, calves, dung beetles, tyrants, devil, foul swamp, senile, bats, ravens, foxes . . .

“It is better not to read books by Covenant-breakers because they are haters of the Light, sufferers from a spiritual leprosy, so to speak. But books by well-meaning yet unenlightened enemies of the Cause can be read so as to refute their charges,”

Helen Bassett Hornby, Lights of Guidance: A Bahā’ī Reference File, chap. XII, no. 628.

Courtesy: Twelve Principles – A Comprehensive Investigation on the Bahai Teachings

Oneness of Humanity- Contradictions

Bahā’u’llāh:

“Contradiction has and will not ever have a way in the sanctified realm of the Divine Manifestations.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 126.

Let us analyze

Is the Principle of Oneness of Humanity Novel?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: The Oneness of the World of Humanity is a special teaching of Bahā’u’llāh.

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 454.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: The Oneness of Humanity is not novel and was the basis of the teachings of the Divine Prophets.

“All divine prophets struggled for the Oneness of Humanity and served humanity. For the foundation of the divine teachings is the Oneness of Humanity. Moses served the Oneness of Humanity, Jesus established the Oneness of Humanity, Mohammad declared the Oneness of Humanity. The Bible, Torah, and Quran established the foundation of the Oneness of Humanity,”

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Egypt), vol. 1, pp. 18–19.

Are Black Africans Cows or Humans?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: All of humanity are members of the human species.

Reference: Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Tehran), vol. 2, pp. 145–146.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: Black Africans that have not been nurtured are cows that God has created with human faces.

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Tehran), vol. 3, p. 48.

Are Africans All Uncivilized, Wild Savages, and without Common-Sense?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: God created all humans from clay and did not put any differences. He created everyone the same and has put no differences in any grace or mercy.

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Payām-i malakūt, p. 42 (citing `Abdu’l-Bahā’).

`Abdu’l-Bahā: The inhabitants of a land like Africa are all like wild savages and land-dwelling animals that lack common-sense and knowledge.

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Tehran), vol. 3, p. 48.

Do Turks Deserve Ridiculous Answers?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: We are all divine sheep and no one has any superiority over another.

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb, vol. 3, p. 67.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: Turks deserve ridiculous answers.

Reference: Asad-Allāh Fāḍil Māzandarānī, Asrār al-āthār khuṣūṣī, vol. 3, p. 42–43.

Good Tree and Bad Tree?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: My father said there is no such thing as a good tree and a bad tree. He submerged everyone in the sea of divine generosity.

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 454.

Bahā’u’llāh: Deniers of Baha’ism are like bad trees that deserve to be burned!

Reference: `Abd a l-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 8, p. 39.

Socializing with Non-Baha’is!

Bahā’u’llāh: “Consort with all religions with amity and concord.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, p. 72.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: All humans must interact with each-other with utter affection.

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Payām-i malakūt, p. 44 (citing `Abdu’l-Bahā’).

Bahā’u’llāh: Don’t you dare socialize with deniers of Baha’ism and the unaware (who are basically all non-Baha’is).

“Do not socialize with those who deny God (meaning non-Baha’is) and his signs and keep away from their kind,”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 8, p. 39.

“It is incumbent on ever soul to keep away from the wicked breath of the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism),”

Reference:`Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 8, p. 39.

“Know that God has forbidden his friends from meeting with the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism) and hypocrites,”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 4, p. 280.

“It is not permitted to interact, speak, or meet with those individuals that have turned away and made their objections apparent. This is an order revealed from the heavens of an Ancient Commander,”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 8, p. 74.

“Run away from he who you do not find my love in his heart, keep away from him, and keep a great distance between you.,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 2, p. 345 (sūrat al-aṣḥāb).

“Cleanse your eyes from [seeing] the deniers and the polytheists (meaning non-Baha’is) and turn away from them,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 2, no. 81, p. 477.

“Break all ties with the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism),”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Majmū`iy-i alwāḥ-i mubārak-ih, p. 90.

“O SON OF DUST! Beware! Walk not with the ungodly and seek not fellowship with him, for such companionship turneth the radiance of the heart into infernal fire,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, The Hidden Words of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 42, no. 57.

Are Non-Baha’is Animals in the Presence of God?

Bahā’u’llāh: Non-Baha’is are animals in the presence of God.

“Today, according to the decree of the Point of Bayān (meaning the Bāb), those individuals who turn away from this Novel Affair (meaning Baha’ism) are deprived of the garb of being called and described [as humans?] and are assembled and mentioned as animals in the presence of God,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 213.

Bahā’u’llāh: Anyone who has any sense knows that everyone is equal in the presence of God.

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Majmū`iy-i alwāḥ-i mubārak-ih, p. 154.

Non-Baha’is Are Animals

`Abdu’l-Bahā: All of humanity are members of the human species. We should not consider ourselves greater than others, even those who are not believers.

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Tehran), vol. 2, pp. 145–146.

Bahā’u’llāh: Non-Baha’is are animals. Don’t even think about calling them humans!

“From this day, any individual that mentions as human a single person from those who deny me—whether that [denier] has a high or low stature—they will be excluded from all of (God’s) Merciful Graces, let alone trying to prove [those deniers] have dignity or stature,”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 213 & 140

Non-Baha’is Are Worthless Pebbles and Baha’is Are Precious Jewels

Bahā’u’llāh: “You are all the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Majmū`iy-i alwāḥ-i mubārak-ih, p. 265.

Bahā’u’llāh: “My friends are the pearls of [this] order and all others are earthly pebbles . . . a single one of these (Baha’is) is more precious than a million others (non-Baha’is).”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 4, pp. 353.

Does God’s Grace Apply to All Humans?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: God’s Grace applies to all humans even though some are ignorant and must be taught, some are unaware and should be awakened.

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Tehran), vol. 2, pp. 145–146.

Bahā’u’llāh: Whoever calls a single person of those that have not accepted Baha’ism a human will be deprived of God’s Grace.

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 140.

Accompaniment or Banishment?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: If someone is separated, he should be returned and accompanied.

“Thus, the divine sheep must interact with each other with utter affection. If one wanders away they should return him and accompany him,”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Payām-i malakūt, p.44 (citing `Abdu’l-Bahā’).

Shoghi Effendi: No one is allowed to speak with those who have been shunned, even their family members.

“A question was asked about the friends that, as a result of their ignorance and neglect, had been excluded from administrative affairs about whether they should be invited to public assemblies or not? He (Shoghi) said, ‘Inviting them is not permitted.’ And it was asked about those that had been excluded from the community whether greeting and speaking with them was permitted? He replied, ‘If they have been spiritually excommunicated speaking with them is not permitted in any way,’”

Reference: Shoghi Effendi, Tauqī’āt Mubāraki (1945–1952), pp. 94–95.

Kindness or Torment?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: Be kind to any creature that has a soul.

“God the Exalted has put the crown of grace and beneficence on man’s head so that he shows kindness and affection to all things that possess a soul and to make apparent the greatness of the world of humanity,”

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Tehran), vol. 8, p. 227.

Bahā’u’llāh: Be a certain torment for the disbelievers and non-Baha’is.

“And you, O friends of God, be clouds of grace for those who believe in God and his signs, and be certain torment for those who do not believe in God and are polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism),”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Majmū`iy-i alwāḥ-i mubārak-ih, p. 216.

Kindness or Beating?

`Abdu’l-Bahā: All are the creations of God and God is kind to all. So why should we be unkind?

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Tehran), vol. 2, pp. 145–146.

`Abdu’l-Bahā: My father (Bahā’u’llāh) told his companions to hit the kabob seller in the mouth because he merely said the Bābīs have come again.

“When his holiness returned from Sulaymaniyah, he was strolling in the street one day with the late Āqā Mīrzā Muḥammad Qulī. A Kabob seller quietly said, ‘These Bābīs have appeared again!’ The Blessed Beauty said to Mīrzā Muḥammad Qulī, ‘Hit him in the mouth!’ Mīrzā Muḥammad Qulī grabbed his beard and started hitting him in the head,”

Reference: Ḥabīb Mu’ayyad, Khāṭirāti Ḥabīb, vol. 1, p. 266.

To be continued…

Oneness of Humanity

Non-Baha’is Are Not Humans or Lack the Traits of Being Considered as Humans

According to Bahā’u’llāh, non-Baha’is are not humans and the consequence of mentioning them as ‘human’ is exclusion from all of God’s Graces:

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 140.

Non-Baha’is Are Animals

After calling non-Baha’is evil non-humans who have no dignity, he goes on to calling them animals that neither deserve the name nor the description of humanness:

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 213.

“Do not see the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism) but as earthworms and their sounds but the buzzing of flies.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 1, no. 20, p. 183.

“O group of polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism), if you take pride in your name remaining amongst the animals or being mentioned amongst the livestock, then take pride in that for you are worthy of it.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 2, no. 81, p. 452.

“Oh you donkeys! Whatever God says is the truth and will not become void by the words of the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism).”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 174.

“Encompassed as I am at this time by the dogs of the earth and the beasts of every land, concealed as I remain in the hidden habitation of Mine inner Being.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 4.

“When the one who turned away from God halted (in accepting me) and fell off the path, in that moment his body left the garb of humanness and appeared and became visible in the skin of animals. Sanctified is He who changes the beings how he likes.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 110.

Bahā’u’llāh Wishes Death on Non-Baha’is

“Die with anger, Oh he who denies this grace.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 213.

“Die with anger O you denying polytheist (denier of Baha’ism).”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 1, no. 64, p. 276.

Ironically, these words are uttered by the same Bahā’u’llāh who advises his followers to not wish for others what they do not wish for themselves:

“He should not wish for others that which he doth not wish for himself.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 266.

Baha’is are Precious Jewels and Non-Baha’is are Worthless Pebbles

Bahā’u’llāh says:

“My friends are the pearls of [this] order and all others are earthly pebbles . . . a single one of these (Baha’is) is more precious than a million others (non-Baha’is).”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 4, p. 353.

Non-Baha’is Must Be Tormented

Without specifying the form and method of torment, whether it be physical or spiritual,

Bahā’u’llāh says:

“And you, oh friends of God, be clouds of grace for those who believe in God and his signs, and be certain torment for those who do not believe in God and are polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism).”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Majmū`iy-i alwāḥ-i mubārak-ih, p. 216.

“Be like a flame of fire to my enemies and a river of eternal life to my friends.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Ad`iyyih-i ḥaḍrat-i maḥbūb (Egypt: Published by Faraj-Allāh Dhakī al-Kurdī, 1339 AH), p. 184.

“God has made him (Bahā’u’llāh) a light for the monotheists (Baha’is) and a fire for the polytheists (non-Baha’is).”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 2, no. 74, p. 372.

“God will soon take out from the sleeves of power the hands of strength and dominance and will make the Servant (Bahā’u’llāh) victorious and will cleanse the earth from the filth of every rejected polytheist (deniers of Baha’ism). And they will stand by the cause and will conquer the lands using my mighty eternal name and will enter the lands and they will be feared by all the servants.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 2, no. 90, p. 587.

Once the Baha’i kingdom materializes the earth will be cleansed from the filth of all non-Baha’is. The words used (like being feared by the servants) clearly show that cleansing does not mean converting them to Baha’ism. Furthermore, it is obvious that not all people are willing to convert to a new religion. So much for Oneness of Humanity!

Non-Baha’is Are Bastards That Will Go to Hell

“The polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism) will have no residence but the hellfire.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 1, no. 97, p. 339.

“Whoever denies this Apparent Exalted Luminous Grace (meaning Baha’ism), it is worthy that he asks his state from his mother and he will soon be returned to the bottom of hell.”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 4, p. 355 and `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganj-i shāygān (n.p.: Mu’assisiyi Millī Maṭbū`āt Amrī, 124 B.), p. 78.

The phrase “asks his state from his mother” is used in Persian to imply that someone is a bastard. Bahā’u’llāh doesn’t stop there. He even goes on to say who fathered some of his deniers:

“Whoever has the enmity of this servant (meaning Bahā’u’llāh) in his heart, certainly Satan has entered his mother’s bed.”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganj-i shāygān, p. 79.

If according to Bahā’u’llāh those who deny him or are his enemies are bastards then:

1. His brother, Mīrzā Yaḥyā Ṣubḥ Azal, who denied him, was a bastard.

2. His sister, `Izziye Khānum (Khānum Buzurg), who also denied him, was a bastard.

3. The wives of Bahā’u’llāh’s father were cheating on him.

4. All Jews, Christians, Muslims, and all other people that deny him are bastards.

Non-Baha’is and the enemies of the Baha’i creed:

`Abdu’l-Bahā quotes these words from his father regarding non-Baha’is and the enemies of the Baha’i creed:

“He asked, “Where are Heaven and Hell”? Say, the former is meeting me and the latter is yourself, O you doubting polytheist.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 1, no. 40, p. 228.

“Say, O my friend and my pure ones! Listen to the Voice of this Beloved Prisoner in this Great Prison. If you detect in any man the least perceptible breath of violation, shun him and keep away from him.” Then He says: “Verily, they are manifestations of Satan.”

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Bahā’ī World Faith—Selected Writings of Bahā’u’llāh and `Abdu’l-Bahā (`Abdu’l-Bahā’s Section Only), p. 431.

Non-Baha’is Have No Knowledge or Reason

“Oh you donkeys! Whatever God says is the truth and will not become void by the words of the polytheists.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 174.

“Oh followers of Bahā . . . let these bogus dung-beetle like bodies to be occupied with their filthy dirty stinky beliefs. By my true self, the nose of the cow has no share from this purified perfume.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Iqtidārāt wa chand lauḥ dīgar, p. 58.

Have in mind that that this degree of politeness emanates from the same Bahā’u’llāh that says:

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 203–204.

Isn’t this clear contradiction?

Treatment of the Covenant Breakers

In Baha’ism, a very harsh and tormenting punishment exists for those Baha’is that act against the decrees and teachings or orders of the Universal House of Justice. These individuals are labeled as covenant breakers. Their punishment is referred to as ṭard, meaning excommunication, shunning, or banishment. All of Bahā’u’llāh’s descendants have been shunned by Shoghi and `Abdu’l-Bahā and not a single Baha’i exists today that is related by blood to Bahā’u’llāh.

`Abdu’l-Bahā gave the following order:

The Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and protest against the Guardian of the Cause of God, cast him out from the congregation of the people of Bahā and in no wise accept any excuse from him. How often hath grievous error been disguised in the garb of truth, that it might sow the seeds of doubt in the hearts of men!

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, The Will and Testament of `Abdu’l-Bahā, p. 12.

Baha’is are ordered to deal with covenant breakers in the same way one deals with someone afflicted with a plague; such that the closest people to them, even their father, mother, children, and spouse, are strictly prohibited from speaking or having any contact with them.

Why Have the Baha’is Created a New Calendar?

After all the preaching for the Oneness of Humanity, why have the Baha’is created a new calendar and created further divisions in a world they are apparently trying to unite?

The Baha’i calendar is defined like this:

The Bahā’ī year consists of 19 months of 19 days each (i.e. 361 days), with the addition of certain “Intercalary Days” (four in ordinary and five in leap years) between the eighteenth and nineteenth months in order to adjust the calendar to the solar year. The Bāb named the months after the attributes of God. The Bahā’ī New Year, like the ancient Persian New Year, is astronomically fixed, commencing at the March equinox (usually March 21), and the Bahā’ī era commences with the year of the Bāb’s declaration (i.e. 1844 A.D., 1260 A.H.) . . . It seems, therefore, fitting that the new age of unity should have a new calendar free from the objections and associations which make each of the older calendar unacceptable to large sections of the world’s population, and it is difficult to see how any other arrangement could exceed in simplicity and convenience that proposed by the Bāb.

Reference: J. E. Esslemont, Bahā’u’llāh and the New Era, pp. 178–179.

What advantage does this have over the Persian or Gregorian calendar? Or what problems or miseries did the adherents of the two aforementioned calendars have met that required a new “simple” and “convenient” calendar to be proposed. We will leave it to the readers to judge the justification and rationality behind this calendar, and see for themselves why the same flaws and objections attributed to non-Baha’i calendars are equally applicable to the Baha’i system.

Did the Founders of Baha’ism Believe in the Oneness of Humanity?

Baha’i scripture is replete with violations of this principle. These violations are sometimes so blatant that one reaches the conclusion that this principle should be referred to as the ‘noneness’ of humanity.

Black Africans are All Like Wild Savages and Land Dwelling Animals:

`Abdu’l-Bahā had quite an interesting view about black Africans.

“The inhabitants of a land like Africa are all like wild savages and land-dwelling animals that lack common-sense and knowledge and are all wild. There is not a single wise and civilized person among them.”

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Egypt), vol. 1, p. 331.

“The wild tribes have no superiority over animals. For example, what is the difference between African blacks and American blacks? The [black Africans] are cows that God has created with human faces. The [black Americans] are civilized, intelligent, and have culture. In this trip to the black centers, schools, and churches in Washington there were extensive talks with the blacks, and they understood all the points like the intelligent people in Europe. So what difference is there between these two types of blacks other than nurture, with one in utter ignorance and the other in the peak of civilization?”

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Tehran), vol. 3, p. 48.

Abdu’l-Bahā’s Opinion About Turks

When Djemal Pasha (One of the most important leaders of the Ottoman government between 1908–1918.) . . . reached Acre and asked to see me, I mounted a donkey and headed for his home. As soon as he saw me, he greeted me and sat me next to himself and without hesitation said, “You are a corrupter of religion and that is why the government of Iran exiled you here . . .” I thought to myself that he is a Turk and I must give him a ridiculous and silencing answer.

Reference: Asad-Allāh Fāḍil Māzandarānī, Asrār al-āthār khuṣūṣī (n.p.: Mu’assisiyi Millī Maṭbū`āt Amrī, 124 B.), vol. 3, pp. 42–43.

Non-Baha’is Are like Dry Trees That Are Only Worthy of Fire

“Anyone who has a garden will not allow the dry trees to remain in the garden and will definitely cut them and throw them in fire, for dry wood is only worthy of fire. Thus, O inhabitants of my orchard, protect yourselves from the wicked poisonous breath and void breeze which is socializing with the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism) and the unaware (ghāfil).”

Reference: Abd a l-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī (Tehran: Mu’assisiyi Millī Maṭbū`āt Amrī, 129 B.), vol. 8, p. 39.

“Do not socialize with those who deny God (This sentence is referring to those who deny Bahā’u’llāh, because he had on many occasions referred to himself as God) and his signs and keep away from their kind.”

“It is incumbent on ever soul to keep away from the wicked breath of the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism).”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 8, p. 39.

“Know that God has forbidden his friends from meeting with the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism) and hypocrites.”

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 4, p. 280.

Reference: `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Mā’idiy-i āsimānī, vol. 8, p. 74.

“Run away from he who you do not find my love in his heart, keep away from him, and keep a great distance between you.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 2, p. 345 (sūrat al-aṣḥāb).

“Cleanse your eyes from [seeing] the deniers and the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism) and turn away from them.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Āthār-i Qalam-i A`lā, vol. 2, no. 81, p. 477.

“Break all ties with the polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism).”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Majmū`iy-i alwāḥ-i mubārak-ih, p. 90.

“O SON OF DUST! Beware! Walk not with the ungodly and seek not fellowship with him, for such companionship turneth the radiance of the heart into infernal fire.”

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, The Hidden Words of Bahā’u’llāh, p. 42, no. 57.

The Oneness of Humanity

“The second principle is the Oneness of Humanity: all humans are divine sheep and God is the kind shepherd who has utter compassion towards all the sheep and has made no distinction [between them].”

Reference:`Abdu’l-Bahā, Makātīb (Egypt), vol. 3, p. 67.

Bahā’u’llāh says:
Oh friends! Know that the curtain of unity has been raised, do not look at each other as strangers; you are all the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch.

Reference: Bahā’u’llāh, Majmū`iy-i alwāḥ-i mubārak-ih, p. 265.

According to Shoghi Effendi, the central axis of all Baha’i principles, and the ultimate goal of Baha’ism is the “Oneness of Humanity.”

“The principle of Oneness of Humanity is the axis of all of Bahā’u’llāh’s teachings” and “The Oneness of Humanity is the main and ultimate goal of Bahā’u’llāh’s creed,”

Reference: Hūshmand Fatḥ A`ẓam, Naẓm jahānī Bahā’ī muntakhabātī az āthār ṣādiri az qalam ḥaḍrat walī amr Allāh, 2nd ed. (Dundas [Canada]: n.p., 151 B. [1955]), pp. 49 and 57–58.

“This means that Bahā’u’llāh declared the Oneness of Humanity so all members of humanity become brothers, sisters, daughters, mothers, sons, and fathers of each other.”

Reference: `Abdu’l-Bahā, Khaṭābāt (Egypt), vol. 1, p. 154.

The following questions should be kept in mind while analyzing this principle:

1. What is the explicit meaning of the ‘Oneness of Humanity’? Does the Oneness of Humanity mean that people of all races and religions should become sisters, brothers, and friends or does it mean everyone should convert to Baha’ism?

2. If the former definition applies and everyone—regardless of religion or creed—should live in peace and harmony, then why do Baha’i orders imply the contrary (as we will soon show)?

3. If the meaning of the ‘Oneness of Humanity’ is that all people must become Baha’is, then who will be responsible for administrating the political matters of this unified Baha’i society, given that under Baha’i law, no Baha’i is allowed to interfere in political matters, either in words or in action?

4. Do Baha’is have a particular plan for reaching the ‘Oneness of Humanity’ or is this merely a theoretical slogan?

In further blogs we will analyze if the principle of ‘Oneness of Humanity’ was followed by the founders of this faith.