Dear Abdullah
Thank you for your message. It was very kind of you to be concerned
about the spiritual welfare of the Baha'is.
YOU WROTE
> Dear Sir,
>
> I humbly invite you to embrace Islam and testify that there is no
> God worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is His final
> Prophet and Messenger.
MY ANSWER
Muhammad is His Messenger - but we will not insert non-Quranic words
such as "final" into this declaration.
YOU WROTE
> It is impossible to believe all religions are true, because they
> contradict each other. This is what Bahaullah failed to realize.
> Islam is the religion of all of the Prophets from Abraham to Moses
> to Jesus to Muhammad (peace be upon them all).
MY ANSWER
If Muhammad taught Islam which is the religion of all of the Prophets
from Abraham to Muhammad, then Baha'u'llah teaches the religion of all
of the prophets from Abraham to Baha'u'llah. If it is not contradictory
for Muhammad then it is not contradictory for Baha'u'llah.
YOU WROTE
> The Bahai faith cannot be true because you claim that Allah can
> become manifest in His creation. You also claim that the Bab is the
> Mahdi and Bahaullah is Jesus, but this cannot be for the Mahdi will
> be a pure-blooded Arab and Jesus was a pure-blooded Israelite born
> from a virgin. Both Bab and Bahaullah were Persians and Bahaullah
> was not born from a virgin. Furthermore, they did not fulfill any
> of the prophecies that the Mahdi and Messiah will fulfill.
MY ANSWER
prophet Muhammad. The Bab came from a family which was well-known in
Shiraz for being descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
Baha'u'llah is the return not of Jesus the physical human being but of
Christ (Masih) the Spirit of God (Ruhullah) which descended upon Jesus.
This is how Christ is referred to in the Qur'an (21:91, 66:12, 4:171,
etc.). It was this spirit (Ruh) that descended upon Jesus and it has now
descended upon Baha'u'llah.
YOU WROTE
>
> "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..."
>
> This is blasphemy and shirk.
MY ANSWER
It is only blasphemy and shirk if you fail you read the whole passage
and understand the meaning that Baha'u'llah is trying to convey. If you
read the whole passage then you will see that Baha'u'llah asserts
Tawhid, the Oneness of God, but says that since human beings are
incapable of understanding God, he has sent to the world from time to
time these figures who are the founders of the major religions. These
individuals are the authority of God, the representatives of God on
earth. So in the Qur'an it says "Those who swear allegiance unto thee (O
Muhammad), in reality swear allegiance unto God" (Qur'an 48:10). They
are like a mirror reflecting the qualities of God to human beings. Thus
just as you might look in the mirror and say "There is the sun" - and
you would not be speaking a lie for what you see reflected in the mirror
exactly reflects the appearance and heat and light of the sun - and yet
at the same time you know that it is not the sun itself.
So when you look at these founders of the world religions, in one sense
they are the reflections of the qualities of God and it is not incorrect
for them to say "I am God".
Yet from another viewpoint the difference between these founders of the
religions and God is immense and immeasurable - as Baha'u'llah says in
the same passage as that from which the quotation that you have given
comes:
"Viewed in the light of their second station - the
station of distinction, differentiation, temporal limitations,
characteristics and standards - they manifest
absolute servitude, utter destitution, and complete
self-effacement. Even as He saith: "I am the servant
of God. I am but a man like you."..."
So you see that if you take the whole of the text into account and
strive to understand Baha'u'lah's meaning, there is no shirk involved.
YOU WROTE
> You also claim the both Bab and Bahaullah were new Messengers who
> received revelation from Allah and that you have new Holy Books.
> This cannot be, for Muhammad ibn Abdullah (saw) is the Seal of the
> Prophets. Not only this, you believe that the Prophet Jesus (as)
> died physically on the cross while the Qur'an says he was neither
> crucified nor killed.
>
> As for the finality of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), here is the
> evidence:
>
> The word khatam/khatim means a seal of, the last part of, a
> completion of.
>
> So when Allah says in the Qur'an says "khatam an-nabiyyin" Seal of
> the Prophets, that literally and explicitly means the seal, the
> last part, the absolute completion of the Prophets.
Have you read in the Qur'an the statement: "Then is it only a part of
the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest?" (Qur'an 2:85)
The Qur'an tells us in two places that if all the oceans were ink and
all the trees were cut down to make pens, they would not be enough to
write down the words of God (18:109; 31:27) - so why do Muslims think
that the word of God is confined to the small single volume of the
Qur'an?
The Qur'an tells us that for every religious community (ummah) there is
a Messenger of God (10:57, cf 16:36) and for every ummah there is a
fixed term (ajal) (7:34). Thus the Islamic community will also have a
fixed term - indeed to stress this point it is clearly stated in the
Qur'an that the Muslims are a middle community (2:143) - i.e that there
was a community before it, the Christian community, and there will be a
community after it. Thus it follows that the fixed term for the Islamic
community will eventually come to an end and it will be replaced by
another community. It is stated that for each fixed term (ajal) there is
a Holy Book (13:38-9). Of course we know from the Qur'an that a Holy
Book is brought by a Messenger of God and indeed immediately after the
verse that says that for every religious community there is a fixed term
is the verse that says "Whenever there shall come to you Messengers from
among yourselves, rehearsing my signs to you . . ." Taking all this
into account, it is clear from the Qur'an that the dispensation of Islam
will come to an end and there will be another community and another
Messenger of God and another Holy Book will come.
The Qur'an clearly depicts the coming of a series of Messengers from
God, with Muhammad as the latest in this series after there had been a
break in the succession (Qur'an 5:19). The Qur'an tells of a series of
Messengers of God coming to the people of the world, each bringing a
holy book and establishing a religious community (ummah), and each
ending the religious dispensation of the previous Messenger. Baha'is
point out that this pattern is the established pattern of God as
described in the Qur'an. It is, however, a principle, stated again and
again in the Qur'an in relation to various matters, that whatever has
been established as the pattern of practice of God will not change:
"Such has been the practice of God already in the past: no change wilt
thou find in the practice of God" (48:23, cf 17:77, 30:35, 33:67,
35:45). If this Quranic principle, that the pattern established by God
in the past will not change, is applied, it means that there will come a
future Messenger of God after Muhammad in the same way as there has come
a Messenger after all preceding Messengers of God.
If we look at the Qur'an as a whole, we see that a very large proportion
of it is taken up with retelling stories of past prophets - of how God
sent prophets to the peoples of the world and how they rejected their
prophets and persecuted them. What is the point of such a large part of
the Revelation given to Muhammad being taken up with stories of the
past? When Muhammad revealed these stories of the Messengers of the past
in the verses of the Qur'an, the people mocked him and said that he was
merely repeating `fables of the ancients' (25:5). But Muhammad was not a
story-teller. Baha'is believe that every verse of the Qur'an is there
for a specific reason, to convey a message that God wanted to convey to
humanity. What then is the purpose of telling these stories of past
events? Baha'is believe that in repeating these stories, the purpose of
the Holy Qur'an was to be a `Warning' (25:1) to the Muslims about their
own conduct, lest they make the same mistakes as the people of former
times did. There are verses in the Qur'an that make it clear that the
telling of these stories of the peoples of the past in the Qur'an is
intended as a warning and an admonition to Muslims regarding the future:
"We have already sent down to you verses making things clear, and an
illustration from (the story of) people who passed away before you, and
an admonition for those who fear (God)." (24:34)
In the Surah of Hud, the story of one after another of the Messengers of
God is told, Noah, Hud, Salih, Abraham, Shu`ayb, and Moses, how they
came to the people with the message of God, how they were rejected and
how God's punishment fell upon the people as a consequence. Towards the
end of this chapter, it is specifically stated that these stories are
related here in order to be a Sign for that Day on which humankind will
be gathered together (i.e. the Day of Judgement) and it specifically
warns Muslims about the dangers, on that Day, of merely following what
their forefathers have believed. In other words, the Qur'an is here
prophesying that on the day of Judgement, another Messenger of God will
appear and Muslims will, on that Day, be in danger of repeating the
errors of the peoples of the past by rejecting him.
"These are some of the stories of communities which We relate unto thee:
of them some are standing and some have been mown down (by the sickle of
time). It was not We that wronged them: they wronged their own souls:
the deities other than God whom they invoked profited them no whit when
there issued the decree of thy Lord: nor did they add aught (to their
lot) but perdition!
Such is the chastisement of thy Lord when He chastises
communities in the midst of their wrong: grievous indeed and severe is
His chastisement. In that is a Sign for those who fear the Penalty of
the Hereafter: that is a Day for which mankind will be gathered
together: that will be a Day of Testimony. Nor shall We delay it but for
a term appointed. The day it arrives no soul shall speak except by His
leave: of those (gathered) some will be wretched and some will be
blessed. Those who are wretched shall be in the Fire: there will be for
them therein (nothing but) the heaving of sighs and sobs . . . And those
who are blessed shall be in the Garden: they will dwell therein for all
the time that the heavens and the earth endure . . . Be not then in
doubt as to what these men worship. They worship nothing but what their
fathers worshipped before (them): but verily We shall pay them back (in
full) their portion without (the least) abatement." (11:100-106, 108-9)
One could go on and on bringing proofs from the Qur'an for Muslims. If
Muslims reject these proofs and cling to their understanding of a single
verse of the Qur'an about the seal of the prophets (a verse which they
have misunderstood the meaning of - and there are numerous proofs for
this also), then they are in the same position as the Jews of Medina who
clung to certain verses of the Torah that state that the laws of the
Torah are for ever. Citing these verses, they said to the prophet
Muhammad "God cannot bring a new religion and a new Book" - "God's hands
are tied" by the words He has given in the Torah. This is exactly the
same as Muslims are now saying about Baha'u'llah and his claim to be
bringing a new Book and a new religion. Well the Qur'an gives God's
judgement upon such an assertion:
"The Jews say: `God's hand is tied up.' Be their hands tied up and be
they accursed for what they utter. Nay both His hands are widely
outstretched." (5:67)
Dearest brother in the LOVE OF GOD
MAY GOD GUIDE YOU ALWAYS AND BLESS YOU
PAPIJOON
