Did Baha'u'llah claim to be God?

One of the recurrent accusations against the Baha'i Faith and its Founder Baha'u'llah is that He (Baha'u'llah) claimed to be God Incarnate. In this, the accusers cite quotes from Baha'u'llah’s Writings such as this one from His address to the German Emperor, William I :

" Say: O King of Berlin! Give ear unto the Voice calling from this manifest Temple: Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Everlasting, the Peerless, the Ancient of Days.

(Baha'u'llah, Synopsis and Codification of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 20)

The very short answer to such misunderstanding, comes from the Baha’i belief in the dual nature of all of God’s Messengers and Prophets, being on the one hand human, with all the limitations and frailties entailed, and on the other hand, being “Manifestations” of God, in that God speaks through them to the rest of humanity. In Them, we hear His voice (and not Their own), and through Them, we see His power and majesty and all His other attributes. They can be seen as the mouthpiece of God, or as a hollow reed totally empty of self or identity, of selfish impurities or desires, carrying to us the voice of God in utmost purity.

Regarding His own relationship to God, Baha'u'llah testifies:

When I contemplate, O my God, the relationship that bindeth me to Thee, I am moved to proclaim to all created things "verily I am God"; and when I consider my own self, lo, I find it coarser than clay!

Similar allusions occur in most of the divine books including the Holy Qur'an. Referring to the pledge of Ridwan (before signing the Hudaybiya Treaty) we read in this verse of the Qur'an: "Lo! those who swear allegiance unto Thee (Muhammad), swear allegiance only unto God. The Hand of God is above their hands". It is understood by all who read this verse that it does not mean that God became incarnate in the person of Muhammad, but rather this pledge was taken through the Prophet on behalf of God. It is understood the same way these other verses are understood: "Whoso obeyeth the messenger hath obeyed God" and "And thou (Muhammad) threwest not when thou didst throw, but Allah threw" * and others, or the Hadith " Who hath seen Me hath seen Al-Haq (The Truth)" , where Al-Haq is one of the names of God.

As for the allusions in the Torah and Evangel, we see the name of the "Savior" or the Promised One is given as the "Lord of Hosts" and "He Who comes in the name of the Lord" , and if we did a quick search on the Internet, we find quite a few Muslim sites positively identifying this with the Personage of Muhammad. And whether the verse points to prophet Muhammad or someone else, these people don't accuse that Person of claiming to be an incarnation of God, but assume that all would understand that "He Who comes in the name of the Lord" is a messenger from God, speaking on behalf of God.

Interestingly, people have for millennia accepted that the voice of God can come to us through a Burning Bush, yet we continue to resist the idea that the vehicle can take the human form, the most noble of all of God’s creation !!

Or, is it that "truly many of mankind are disbelievers in the meeting with their Lord" ?



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For the longer answer, this theme is expounded on in the following excerpts from various sources:



The Bah'ai Writings contain many passages that elucidate the nature of the Manifestation and His relationship to God.
Baha'u'llah underlines the unique and transcendent nature of the Godhead. He explains that "since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God with His creation" God ordains that "in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven". This "mysterious and ethereal Being", the Manifestation of God, has a human nature which pertains to "the world of matter" and a spiritual nature "born of the substance of God Himself". He is also endowed with a "double station":



The first station, which is related to His innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself...The second station is the human station, exemplified by the following verses**: "I am but a man like you." "Say, praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?"



Baha'u'llah also affirms that, in the spiritual realm, there is an "essential unity" between all the Manifestations of God. They all reveal the "Beauty of God", manifest His names and attributes, and give utterance to His Revelation. In this regard, He states:



“Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: "I am God", He, verily, speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through their Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of God, His names and His attributes, are made manifest in the world...”



While the Manifestations reveal the names and attributes of God and are the means by which humanity has access to the knowledge of God and His Revelation, Shoghi Effendi states that the Manifestations should "never ... be identified with that invisible Reality, the Essence of Divinity itself". In relation to Bah'u'llh, the Guardian wrote that the "human temple that has been the vehicle of so overpowering a Revelation" is not to be identified with the "Reality" of God.


Baha'u'llah describes the station of "Divinity" which He shares with all the Manifestations of God as

“...the station in which one dieth to himself and liveth in God. Divinity, whenever I mention it, indicateth My complete and absolute self-effacement. This is the station in which I have no control over mine own weal or woe nor over my life nor over my resurrection”.

In His Tablet to the Shah of Persia, Baha’u’llah writes this:

"O King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely. This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the tempestuous winds are blowing? Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They move it as they list. The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding. His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when His behest was uttered. The hand of the will of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me."

(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 11)