The Baha'i concept of God

The Bahá'í belief in one God means that the universe and all its creatures and its forces have been created by a single Being superhuman and supernatural. This Being we call God, has absolute control of his creation (omnipotence) and the complete and perfect knowledge of the latter (omniscience). Although we have different concepts of the nature of God, although we pray in different languages and gave him different names - Allah or Yahweh, God or Brahma - nevertheless we speak the same unique Being.
Celebrating the creative act of God, Bahá'u'lláh said:
Praise to the unity of God and honor the unique and very glorious sovereign Lord of the universe, none of the most complete, has created the reality of all things that nothing has extracted the most finest and most subtle of its creation and who, issuing his creatures from lower where was the removal of his presence, and saving them from the perils of ultimate extinction, has received his kingdom of incorruptible glory! Nothing less than universal grace and mercy that penetrate all could accomplish.2
Bahá'u'lláh taught that God is a being too large and too subtle for the human mind, with its limitations, could ever understand or properly represent exactly:
How wonderful is the unity of the living God and unchangeable forever - a unit that is above all limitations and understanding that transcends all created things ... How sublime is the incorruptible Essence, how completely independent of knowledge that can have all created things, and how this unity will remain immeasurably exalted above the praise of all the inhabitants of heaven and earth!3
According to Bahá'í teachings, God transcends his creation to such an extent that, for all eternity, we will never be able to make him a clear picture or achieve anything except an assessment fraction of his higher nature. Even when we say that God is the Almighty, the Most Loving, the Infinitely Just, we only use terms derived from human experience very limited power, love and justice. In fact, our knowledge of all things is limited by our knowledge of these attributes and qualities perceptible to us only:
Know that there are two kinds of knowledge: knowledge of the essence of a thing and knowledge of its qualities. The essence of a thing is known through its qualities, otherwise it remains hidden and unknown.
Given that our knowledge of things, even of created and limited things, is knowledge of their qualities and not their essence, how is it possible to understand in its essence the Divine Reality which is unlimited ...? Knowing God, therefore, means understanding and knowing its attributes, not its reality. And this knowledge of attributes is also proportional to the capacity and power of man, is not absolute.4
As for humans, the knowledge of God means the knowledge of qualities and attributes of God, and not direct knowledge of its essence. But how can we attain knowledge of God's attributes? Bahá'u'lláh wrote that everything in creation is God's work and therefore reflects a lot of its attributes. For example, even in the intimate structure of a rock or crystal, one can observe the order of God's creation. And this object is more elegant, more he is able to reflect the attributes of God. The event is the form of creating the highest we know, the event provides us the most complete knowledge of God that we have:
Everything in heaven and on earth is in itself proof of direct names and attributes of God, since, in every atom are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent testimony to the revelation of this great light ... But this is especially true of the man and the highest degree ... For by him were virtually revealed, to a degree that no other created thing can not reach or exceed, all names and attributes of God ... And, of all men, most perfect, the most prominent and best events are the Sun of Truth. Even better, it is only through the operation of the will of these events and by the outpouring of grace, that all other live and move.5
Although a rock or a tree reveals something of the subtleties of his creator, only a conscious being as humans can adopt the attributes of God in his life and his actions. Since the events are already at the stage of perfection in this life that we can more fully grasp the deeper meaning of God's attributes. God is not limited to a physical body, and therefore we can not directly see or observe his personality. So, in fact, knowing the events that we are approaching the greatest knowledge of God.
Know, without doubt, that the Unseen can in no way embody the essence and reveal to men. It is and always will be infinitely exalted above all that can be perceived and expressed ... He who from all eternity, remained hidden from human eyes can not be known by its manifestation, and its manifestation can provide greater evidence of the truth of his mission as proof that the person brings it same.6
And in another similar passage:
The door to knowledge of the Lord has always been and will remain forever closed to men. No human mind only sees ever in his holy court. However, as a token of his mercy and as a sign of his loving kindness He showed to men the Stars the day of his divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and he wanted to, that knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical his own knowledge.7
Of course, only those who lived during the lifetime of the event have the opportunity to observe directly. For this reason, Bahá'u'lláh explained that the writings and words of each event are a vital link between individuals and God. For Bahá'ís, the word of the event is the Word of God, and unto the Word which individuals can turn daily to get closer to God and know Him better. The written Word of God is the instrument that creates an awareness of the presence of God in our daily lives:
Say: The first and most important evidence of its truth is his own person. Just then his revelation. And for those who recognize neither the one nor the other, it is the words he has proved as evidence of its reality and truth ... He has endowed every soul's ability to recognize the signs of God.8
It is for this reason that the discipline of daily prayer, meditation and study of holy writings constitutes an important part of spiritual practice of individual Baha'is. They believe that this discipline is one of the main ways to get closer to their creator.
To summarize: the Bahá'í view of God is that His essence is eternally transcendent, but its attributes and qualities are immanent in the events.9 Our knowledge of anything being limited by our knowledge of the attributes of every perceptible thing, knowledge of events is (for ordinary humans) equivalent to knowledge of God.10 In concrete terms, this knowledge is acquired through study, prayer, meditation and practical application of what the Word of God tells us (that is to say the Holy Scriptures of events).
1">Adapted from William S. Hatcher and J. Douglas Martin, The Baha'i Faith: The emergence of a world religion (Brussels, Baha'i Publishing House, 1997), pp. 93-94, 155-159.
2">Bahá'u'lláh, Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, (Brussels, Baha'i Publishing House, ed. 1990), p. 44.
3"> Bahá'u'lláh, Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 172.
`Abdu'l-Bahá, The Lessons of Saint Jean d'Acre (Press Universitaires de France, Paris, 4th edition, revised, 1970), pp. 225-226.
5"> Bahá'u'lláh, Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 117-118.
6"> Bahá'u'lláh, Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 34.
7" Bahá'u'lláh, Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 34.
8">Bahá'u'lláh, Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 70.
9">In this regard, Shoghi Effendi said the manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh that the incarnation was complete names and attributes of God. [See The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, (Brussels, Baha'i Publishing House, ed. 1993), p. 108].
10 Abdu'l-Bahá, The Lessons of Saint Jean d'Acre, P. 227.

The Baha’i faith… Haven or deviation?

This is an English translation of an article that appeared recently on Al Waqt:

The Baha’i faith… Haven or deviation?

By: Ali Ahmad Al-Diri

Could a religion be an avenue for deviation?

I am addressing this issue in the wake of the campaign against the Baha’i faith in Egypt, which has, unfortunately, attracted the contribution of writers and journalists who have added fuel to the controversy. For example, the journalist Mahmoud Issa has made virulent observations about an incident related to the citizens of Suhaj, one of the villages of Upper Egypt, who burned down four of their neighbors’ houses because they embraced the Baha’i faith: he pointed out to the mistake of considering the Baha’i faith a religion, the presence of proselytizers and missionaries who propagate this deviant thinking, and the existence of incentives that are mostly of a pecuniary nature and that attract those simple souls to the Bahai faith, which is lacking spiritual incentives. The religious establishment should have been more aware and should have been ready with a plan to confront this dangerous deviation which would transform into heroes and martyrs. (1)

From a religious perspective, it is possible to describe a religion with deviance. As a matter of fact, every religion accuses the religions that come after it of deviance, which is inadmissible from an epistemological, sociological or legal perspective, especially where human rights are concerned. The legal perspective is not the same as that of the canonical law of Islam rightfulness; it is a modern concept and is the product of the human mind, which has created it as a regulatory system for the organization of life and in order to provide people with a framework that would guarantee them their security and the right to live in freedom and justice. As such, the legal system is a human endeavor and is amenable to amendment without the risk of apostasy or heresy; whereas the canonical law of Islam cannot be amended, without the risk of apostasy and heresy.

From a sociological perspective, the followers of the Baha’i faith are human groups of diverse ethnic origins, who practice their life according to teachings which they believe emanate from God; they have their own rituals, their own scriptures and their systems for communicating with and envisioning the universe. We cannot describe these groups as deviant. The common law that governs any modern state necessitates the protection of different groups in its interpretation of deviance and should not adopt the perspective of one religious group in its perception of deviance against another. .modern state has to remain neutral in confronting religions.

In the short film prepared by the blogger Ahmad Ezat, a Baha’i girl says “I do not feel that I am living normally within society”, and the Baha’i boy says: “Baha’is are allowed to live, but they are inexistent in the eyes of the state.” (2)

If the state deems a religious group as deviant (and hence lost), it cannot give it any recognition., which is a way of acknowledging it, and once a group loses this recognition it cannot exist normally within society. The state is the product of the modern legal system, not of the canonical law of Islam.

The canonical law of Islam recognizes human beings according to its definition of deviance, whereas the state recognizes them according to its perception of the individual, who is not defined according to criteria of deviance or revelation but as existent or non-existent. The state recognizes an existing being in its records, and once this being is deceased, the name of this being is deleted from its records and added to its archives.

From the perspective of the state, religion is not a corpus of beliefs determined by either truth and revelation or denial and perdition, but a sum of the many living manifestations of humanity, and these manifestations have as much right to subsist as they have to be recognized by the state.

I have had intimate contacts with Baha’is. I had the opportunity of meeting many of them and attending their weddings, their religious celebrations and social gatherings. These contacts have led me to acquire an informed opinion of their religious dealings and of how religion governs their vision and frames their moral codes. Indeed it is a very strict system in terms of purity and spirituality, and it always gives ample leverage to the inner voice of each individual. Sociology has taught us that minorities always rely much more on their inner moral code than the external one, as is the case with groups that constitute majorities, and the Baha’i religion is no exception. If it becomes a majority anywhere in the world, it necessarily follows that it will have to transform its system to one where the external code takes precedence over the internal one. It is also not exceptional for it, as a religion, to want to spread itself, and to believe in its own superiority, its reasoning, its inclusiveness, its righteousness, its theological dialectic and the fact that as a religion, it brings salvation to humanity, and its reliance on parables, stories, metaphors and dreams in its educational and persuasive process.

At a Baha’i wedding ceremony in Bahrain, I was accompanied by my friend Ali Al-Jalawi who had published a book on the Baha’is of Bahrain. During this event, he drew my attention to the ubiquitous presence of the Arabic language, even in the ceremonial text and the accompanying prayers, in spite of the fact that most of the Baha’is of Bahrain are of Persian extraction. This was the text that was read during the ceremony: “Oh God, oh God, the sun and the moon are wed through Your love, and united in the worship of Your sanctity. They have vowed to serve you. Bless this union as a manifestation of Your abundance.” This prayer instantly clung to my heart like a moon clings to the heart of a lover, because of the excessive love and spirituality that overflow from the term ‘the sun and the moon’.

The Baha’i faith, as I experienced it closely, overflows with ‘lunar’ spirituality; in fact it ‘lunifies’ a person and ‘lunifies’ his or her spirit. During one of my visits, my Baha’i friend offered me a book entitled “Warq’a” as a present. He told me that the Baha’i faith teaches us about love and passion, and the love of light, splendor and mankind and that I would find that Jalal Eddine Al-Roumi expresses the essence of this approach in this book. I opened the book and read the following writing of Jalal Eddine: “you are what you seek”. All religions seek God, the absolute, through man and all the paths create unto you a religion and a path that connect you to him.

The great Sufi Ibn Arabi said “say of the universe what you wish” (3) because one cannot lose the way that would lead to God, for God is omnipresent and whatever one says and in whichever direction will always connect one to Him..

Baha’a Allah says “the word is the number one teacher in the university of existence, and it is the first drop that emanated from God. All names emanate from His name and the beginning and end to all things is within His grip.” (4)

The Muslim Sufi Ibn Arabi Mohieedin saw in the names of the Divine a manifestation of the existence of God. In his book “Fusous Al-Hikam” (Explanation of the rules of governance and Sufism) he talked about the universe and existence through the names of God, by considering them metaphors and ways of seeing the world, understanding it and living in it.

Could a religion be an avenue for deviation? If there is such thing as deviation, the shadows of God should not be seen in all avenues and branches that Baha’ullah talked about in his call upon the world: “O people of the world, ye are all the fruit of one tree, the leaves of one branch, the flowers of one garden and the drops of one ocean. Walk with perfect charity, concord, affection, and agreement.” (5)

Sources:
1. Mahmoud Issa, Baha’i turbulence, Alwatan Qatari newspaper, 10 April, 2009
2. View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drAe_hSCaxI&feature=PlayList&p=841A4BCE9E873E26&index=0&playnext=1
3. Ibn Arabi, Fusous Al-Hikam.
4. http://rands1957.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!7CE1906B800AE160!128.entry?_c=BlogPart.
5. http://rands1957.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!7CE1906B800AE160!128.entry?_c=BlogPart

Accusations against Baha’is within the Context of Islamic Heresiography Posted: 14 Jul 2009 08:09 AM PDT The Baha’i Faith is an independent world religion which began in the Iran in the 19th century. In 1844 (1260 AH) Siyyid Ali-Muhammad Shirazi declared himself to be the Hidden Imam, the Qa’im or Mahdi expected by Shi’ite Muslims. In 1850 the Bab was executed in Tabriz and for a number of years the Babi community was in disarray until in 1863 Baha’u'llah declared himself to be not only He Whom God Shall Make Manifest foretold by the Bab [man yazhirullah], but the Promised One of all religions. The Baha’i Faith therefore bares the same relationship to Islam that Christianity has to Judaism. Baha’is believes in the divine origin of all religion, but sees their social teachings of revelation as varying according to the needs of the time and place. As a graduate student I sometimes hired Iranian students to assist me with translating certain Persian Baha’i histories. My preference, of course was to use Iranian Baha’is who would be more familiar with the vocabulary specific to our Faith, but there were occasions when I resorted to non-Baha’is. On one occasion an intelligent, rather secularized young man of Muslim background was reading a Baha’i text in Persian with me when he awkwardly asked me the following question: “Is it true that Baha’is believe that before a man gives away an apple, he should taste it first.” I knew better than to take his question literally, but I wasn’t about to guess at what he meant, so I said, “Farhad if you want an answer to your question you’re going to have to be clearer.” After fumbling around a bit he finally asked me if it were true that Baha’is believed that a father should sleep with his daughter before he gave her away in marriage. At that point I said, “Think, for a minute, Farhad. If you were going to make up stories to discredit a religion, what sort of things would you say?” He then admitted that he had figured the stories weren’t true but he couldn’t be sure. This story, as fantastic as it might appear is all too typical of the rumors and slander that are spread about Baha’is in various places throughout the Islamic world.[1] The Nineteen Day Feast where Baha’is gather to say prayers, read from their scriptures, discuss the affairs of the community and share refreshments and food are rumored to be sexual orgies. The Baha’i Faith itself is thought to have been a Russian and British plot to destroy the unity of Islam, notwithstanding the unlikelihood of those two countries having colluded on anything in the 19th century. Nowadays it is imagined that Baha’is are receiving their support from Zionists or the US government. A plethora of largely fabricated evidence has been published to support such charges, the most famous being the forged memoirs of Prince Dolgorukov which are aimed at proving the Baha’i Faith to be a Russian plot.[2] Similarly, Firaydun Adamiyyat, in his biography of Nasser-al-Din Shah’s first Prime Minster, Amir Kabir states that a British intelligence officer claims Arthur Conolly admits to recruiting Mulla Husayn as a spy in his traveler’s narrative Journey to the North of India Overland from England through Russia, Persia, and Affghaunistaun, however there is no mention of Mulla Husayn or the Báb there.[3] As was the case with Dolgorkov’s forged memoirs there was a problem with the chronology. The meeting supposedly takes place in 1830 when Mulla Husayn would have been 17 and the Bab ten years of age. Connolly died two years before the Bab declared his mission to Mulla Husayn. After Adamiyyat was confronted with these facts, this allegation was removed from subsequent editions of the book. In 2003 a somewhat more imaginative version of these charges was published by Abdullah Shahbazi in the Quarterly Journal of the Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies. The article entitled “History of Baha’ism in Iran” argues the Bab had been approached by Anglo-Jews companies to make claims which which disrupt the Islamic world.[4] The article has a rather unique take on an incident which took place in 1839 wherein the Jews of Mashhad were forcibly converted to Islam after accusations of blood libel.[5] Shahbazi’s position is that these Jews voluntarily converted en mass in order to subsequently become Babis in order to provide a false impression that numerous Muslims were converting to the Bab’s religion. About sixty of these crypto-Jews did become Babis and subsequently Baha’is, but the majority did not.[6] They make up only a minuscule portion of the Baha’is of Muslim background in Iran. More recently there has been a renewed effort in Iran to fabricate links between Baha’is and Zionism. The propagandists have gone so far as to masquerade as Baha’is on internet sites such as http://jewbahais.blogspot.com run by someone using the name Yohanna, where misleading information is posted regarding the relationship of Baha’is to both Judaism and Zionism. Photos are included supposedly picturing Jewish-Baha’is in New York that in fact depict Baha’is of Christian background in London. It is not my purpose here to refute these charges as they have been adequately dealt with elsewhere by abler writers than myself.[7] What I wish to do here is provide some insight as to the origins of such charges, and how they have been part of the standard repertoire used against religious dissidence in Islamicate culture for centuries. While some scholars have argued that many of the conspiracies theories regarding the Baha’i Faith emerged only in 1940’s and reflect the propensity of Iranian society to “believe and endorse conspiracy theories,”[8] I would like to suggest that such charges are really quite old, much older than the Baha’i Faith itself and extend beyond the borders of Iran itself. In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that the charges being made against Baha’is by Shi’ites are virtually the same ones Sunnis have been making against Shi’ites for centuries within the Islamic world. Aside from the Baha’i Faith itself, Islam has historically been the most tolerant of the world’s religions. This is mostly owing to the fact that Qur’an itself asserts that there is no people to whom a prophet has not been sent. (Qur’an 35:24, 16:24.) This opened the door for the acceptance of the legitimacy of nearly all the previous religions, even those not formally considered People of the Book (i.e. Christians and Jews.) Much more problematic has been the acceptance of any claims to revelation after Muhammad. No religion likes to be superseded, but in Islam particularly the notion that there would be no revelation after the Qur’an came to be seen as every bit as fundamental to the religion as the Oneness of God and the Prophethood of Muhammad, so much so that many Muslims erroneously believe that asserting the Finality of Prophethood is part of the shahadah or Islamic declaration of Faith. For this reason, any religious movement arising after Islam or which departed from the common understanding of Islam had to be explained away as something other than a religion. The stock explanation came to be that such movements were really political in nature, usually instigated by an outsider, often a Jew, aimed at creating disruption (fitna.) For instance, Sunni Muslims hold a Yemenite Jew, Abdallah ibn Saba, responsible for the founding Shi’ism, a belief that goes back at least as far as al-Tabari and is most famously cited in al-Shahristani’s classical heresiogrpahy, Al-Milal wa al-Nihal.[9] A classical work which illustrates the manner in which Muslims came to view religious dissidence is in Nizam ul-Mulk’s Siyasat-Nameh or Treatise on Government. Nizam u’l-Mulk served as Grand Vizier to the Seljuks who had invaded the Middle East under the pretext of saving Islam and the Caliphate from Shi’ite heretics. Most especially Nizam u’l-Mulk had to contend with the Ismaeli Assassins, to whom according to some accounts he eventually fell victim. The Siyasat Nameh presents the Sassanid ruler Khosrau the Just as the ideal ruler and one of the acts which is depicted as bringing him to power was his suppression of the Mazdakite heresy. Nizam u’l-Mulk presents the Mazdakite religion as a Manichean-type dualism which was especially dangerous for its social program of community of property and wives.[10] It is difficult to know at this distance if the historical Mazdak really had anything more radical in mind than a more equal distribution of property and ending the practice of the wealthy having several wives while the poor could afford none, but the notion of communism and wife-swapping came to be associated not only with his heresy but with subsequent religious dissidence as well. Shi’ites, as well as the Babis, were accused of engaging in such practices. While the economic prosperity of the Baha’is of Iran during the Pahlavi period may have dissolved any notion that Baha’is were communists, the idea that Baha’is practiced a ‘community of wives’ lived on in lurid stories about Baha’i sexual orgies.[11] As in Christianity, Manicheanism came to be seen in the Islamic world as the paradigmatic heresy, and in works like al-Tabari, it came to be associated with incest as well. Such charges have echoed down the ages and been associated with virtually any dissident religious movement which arose thereafter, especially in Iran, and especially in regards to any movement associated with Shi’ism. The association of heresy with incest appears to go back to the Arabs first encounter with Zoroastrianism. Certain Zoroastrian scriptures appeared to approve of next-of-kin marriages, though the extent to which this was actually practiced during the Sasanian period is a matter of debate. Nonetheless, since Islam had extensive definitions of what constituted incest (lit. mahram or taboo) Muslims found Zoroastrian beliefs in this area to be shocking. As Geert Jan Van Gelder points out in his article on “Incest and Interbreeding” in Encyclopedia Iranica, Marriage rules help to define a religion and a culture; the alleged practices of the Zoroastrians are a recurrent motif in Muslim texts and are used to distinguish between “us” and “them.” Heretical sects are often credited with a sexual free-for-all or holding women as communal sex objects, with all the implications of possible incest.[12] Shi’ites were particularly vulnerable to such charges. For instance, the Arabic poet and prose writer, Abu’l-Ala Maarri (d. 449/1058), accused the Carmathians of incestuous practices. Likewise the Ismaelis are accused by early Muslim heresiographers with allowing “marriage with daughters and sisters, drinking wine, and all sorts of sensual pleasures.”[13] If we compare the attacks against Baha’is even today to those made by Sunni Islamists against Shiites we will see that they are virtually identical. For instance, someone writing under the name of Dr. Abdullah Muhammad al-Gharib warned of Ayatollah Khomeini’s rise to power arguing that he was in fact an American agent, working to support the cause of Zionism in order for Persians to wreck their revenge on Islam for the destruction of the Persian Empire. Al-Gharib insists “the day will comes when people will know that the Jews were behind [the Iranian Revolution] just like Ibn Saba’ was behind their emergence in the first place.”[14] In describing how it was necessary for Salah al-Din to defeat the Fatimids before turning his attention to the Crusaders he notes that despite the defeat of the Shi’ites they once again emerged: with their old beliefs with only the names changed: the Safavids, the Baha’is, the Qadianis, the Druze, the Nusayris [‘Alawites], the Assassins, the Isma’ilis…. The [batinis] returned to support the enemies of Allah and to cooperate with them against Muslims. They cooperated with Britain, Portugal, France, and Czarist Russia…. They returned to shred Islamic unity all over again.[15] Two months before the death of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, he preached a four hour sermon attacking the Shi’ites utilizing al-Gharib’s work. In that sermon the Iran-Iraq War is blamed on a conspiracy on the part of the U.S., Iran, and Iraqi Shi’ites to destroy an Islamic nation. Even the Lebanese Hizbullah was labeled an “Israeli puppet.” The Shi’ites are accused of sexual corruption which includes, yes, accusations of incest. It should be apparent by now that the charges being made against Baha’is have little to do with their own beliefs and practices but are instead drawn from a standard Islamic repertoire of what a heresy is supposed to look like and the assumed motives behind its origins and propagation. That Muslims might presume some of these things about Baha’is to be true, is perhaps not surprising. What is more disturbing is the fact that evidence is being deliberately fabricated primarily by Shi’ite ‘ulama (though sometimes Sunnis are also involved) to support such charges. One would hope that a religion sect born of oppression would refrain from utilizing the same weapons against Baha’is that been aimed against them. But alas, this appears not to be the case. [1] For instance former Deputy Head of Al-Azhar and Member of the Islamic Research Council Seif Mahmoud Ashour, stated the following in regards to Baha’is: “We hear they permit incest, that a man can marry his sister, pray with nineteen raq’aa , fast nineteen days a year and pray towards Acre (in Israel, resting place of Baha’u’llah’s remains) and not towards Mecca”. The Daily Star, December 7, 2006. The truth of course, is that while Baha’is have a different Qiblih and fast for only nineteen days as opposed to the thirty days in Islam, incest is most certainly not part of their religion, nor do they marry their sisters. [2] Intrafamily-i siyasi ya yad-dashtha-yi Kinyaz Dulquruki [Political Confessions, or the Memoirs of Count Dolgoruki].’ In Salnama-yi Khurasan [Khurasan Yearbook], Historical Section, 1st. Reprinted Tehran, 1323 Sh/1943-44. These fictitious memoirs of the former Russian ambassador to Iran (1846-1853) has the ambassador hatching this plot with Baha’u'llah and Mirza Yahya in the home of Hakim Ahmad Gilani. The problem with this scenario is that Gilani died in 1835, years before Dolgorukov ever set foot in Iran. Baha’u'llah would have been about 17 at the time while Mirza Yahya was only five. No Russian version of Dolgorukov’s memoirs have ever been produced. Some of the more egregious mistakes have been edited out of later editions, such as the one where Dolgorukov supposedly gives Baha’u'llah money to build a house in Akka. Dolgorukov died long before Baha’u'llah was exiled there. [3] Amir Kabir va Iran. Tihran in 1323/1944 (pp. 243-4) [4] Abdullah Shahbazi, “History of Baha’ism in Iran”http://www.shahbazi.org/pages/bahaism2.htm [5] Blood libel accusations against Jews have been historically connected with Christianity, not Islam, but they were introduced to the Islamic world in the 18th and 19th centuries by the French. [6] When the state of Israel was formed in 1948 many members of this community immigrated there, the families which had become Baha’i, did not. [7] cf. Momen, Moojan (2004), “Conspiracies and Forgeries: the attack upon the Baha’i community in Iran”, Persian Heritage 9 (35) As if to prove that refuting such charges is child’s play, an eighteen year old boy Adib Masumian has written a book doing so entitled Debunking the Myths (Lulu:2009.) Unfortunately such refutations cannot be made in the Iranian press where these charges are usually repeated. [8] Eliz Sanasarian , “The Comparative Dimension of the Baha’i Case and Prospects for Change in the Future”, in Brookshaw; Fazel, Seena B., The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-Historical Studies, (New York, NY: Routledge, 2008), p. 159. [9] Al-Milal wa al-Nihal, Ed. William Cureton in Books of Religions and Philosophical Sects. 2 vols. Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz (reprint of the edition of London 1846), vol. 2, p. 11. This story is recounted in numerous Sunni sources, such as the following from ImamAbu Hanifa’s Musnad Imam-e-Azam p. 158: “Abdullah ibn Saba was a Jew who accepted Islam during the time of Uthman and he urged the people of Egypt to kill Uthman and he would exhibit much love for Ali. He was an evil infiltrator and whose mission it was to spread corruption among the Muslims.” [10] Hubert Darke, trans. The book of government, or, Rules for kings : the Siyar al-Muluk, or, Siyasat-nama of Nizam al-Mulk , (Surrey : Curzon Press, 2002) p. 192. [11] Note this description from a Muslim website of Tahirih’s proclamation at the Badasht which separated the early Babis from Islam: “The ruling of Islamic sharee’ah no longer applied and it was permissible for the people – indeed prescribed for them – to share their wealth and women.”http://islamqa.com/en/ref/88689 Accessed June 8, 2009. Tahirih’s proclamation did call for the abrogation of the shariah, but not mention was made of the community of wives and property. [12] http://www.iranica.com/newsite/index.isc?Article=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v13f1/v13f1005.html, accessed June 10, 2009. [13] ‘Abd-al-Qaher Bagdadi, al-Farq bayn al-feraq, ed. Mohammad Badr, (Cairo, 1910), p. 270. [14] Al-Gharib, Wa ja’a dawr al-majus, [Then came the Turn of the Maajus] p. 296, from the internet edition available at www.d-sunnah.org [15] Al-Gharib, Wa ja’a dawr al-majus, p. 78 [Above paper was presented at 2009 CESNUR Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 11-13, 2009]

Here are 3 quotations from Baha'i teachings about Zionism, which refute the charge that Baha'is are Zionists:

Shoghi Effendi's statement to the "United Nations Special Committee on Palestine", 14th July 1947, which is still the official position of the Baha'i community today (The Priceless Pearl, p. 286):

"The Bahá'í Faith is entirely non-political and we neither take sides
in the present tragic dispute going on over the future of the Holy Land
and its peoples nor have we any statement to make or advice to give
as to what the nature of the political future of this country should be.
Our aim is the establishment of universal peace in this world and our
desire to see justice prevail in every domain of human society, including
the domain of politics. As many of the adherents of our Faith
are of Jewish and Moslem extraction we have no prejudice towards
either of these groups and are most anxious to reconcile them for their
mutual benefit and for the good of the country.

What does concern us, however, in any decisions made affecting
the future of Palestine, is that the fact be recognized by whoever
exercises sovereignty over Haifa and Acre, that within this area exists
the spiritual and administrative center of a world Faith, and that the
independence of that Faith, its right to manage its international affairs
from this source, the right of Bahá'ís from any and every country of
the globe to visit it as pilgrims (enjoying the same privilege in this
respect as Jews, Moslems and Christians do in regard to visiting
Jerusalem), be acknowledged and permanently safeguarded."

http://badiblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/simple-solution-to-troubles-in-middle.html
This web page quotes an article from "Star of the West" Baha'i magazine which quotes 'Abdu'l-Baha as saying:

"If the Zionists will mingle with the other races and live in unity with them, they will succeed. If not, they will meet certain resistance. For the present I think a neutral government like the British administration would be best. A Jewish government might come later.
"There is too much talk today of what the Zionists are going to do here. There is no need of it. Let them come and do more and say less.
"The Zionists should make it clear that their principle is to elevate all the people here and to develop the country for all its inhabitants. This land must be developed, according to the promises of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah. If they come in such a spirit they will not fail.
"They must not work to separate the Jews from the other Palestinians. Schools should be open to all nationalities here, business companies, etc. The Turks went down because they attempted to rule over foreign races. The British are always in power because they keep fair and promote harmony.
"This is the path to universal peace here as elsewhere -- unity. We must prevent strife by all means. For 6,000 years man has been at war. It is time to try peace a little while. If it fails, we can always go back to war."



"The accusation: That Bahá’ís are agents of Zionism.

The reality: This charge is based on the fact that the Bahá’í World Centre is in Israel. The Bahá’í World Centre was, however, established on Mt. Carmel in the 19th century, long before the State of Israel came into existence, in accordance with the explicit instructions of Bahá’u’lláh, who was exiled there from Iran."

JOEL SMITH ANSWER A FRIEND

Dear ............. my new friend. Thank you for your very sincere email. I will try to answer your questions.

Your questions are written in blue. The answers are written in red.

Questions: "Our prophecies explicitly state that the real Messiah will be a king who sits upon the throne of David." "Our Messiah will destroy the enemies of Israel." "Our Messiah will restore prosperity to Israel."

Answers: Numbers 24:17--- "A star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel, and crush Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth."

Jeremiah 23:5--- "'Behold the days are coming.' declares the Lord, ' when I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king....' "
"But as for you, Bethlehem... from you will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel."-Micah 5:2

Can you see the kingly theme that connects these prophecies? The Messiah "will reign as king" and he will "be ruler in Israel." Isaiah again:

"The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king."-Isaiah 33:22

Psalms 2:6--- "But as for me, I have installed my King upon Zion, My holy mountain." Zechariah 9:9--- "Shout in triumph, O daughter in Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming."

Psalms 110:1: "The Lord says to my Lord: 'sit at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for thy feet.'" (p. 151)

These prophecies are extremely specific. The Messiah will "reign as king", "judge" and "lawgiver" of Israel. He will be seated both in "Jerusalem" and in "Zion, My holy mountain". He will "crush Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth" and he will "make Thine enemies a footstool for thy feet."

Did Jesus literally, visibly do any of these things? No. Was Jesus the Messiah who, as he said, spoke the words that God gave him to speak? Yes.

Question: "Our Messiah will abolish war forever."

Answers: Micah 4:1 says: "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains... and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths... and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more."

Compare this Micah passage with Isaiah 2:4 where it says: "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord... and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths... and he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

Here's an article that I wrote about the Book of Isaiah >>> http://bci.org/prophecy-fulfilled/isaiah.htm

Question: "And even more explicitly, the rabbis knew that the appearance of the real Messiah will be heralded by the return of the Prophet Elijah from heaven. The rabbis probably would have asked sarcastically... "has anyone here seen Elijah come sailing down from heaven in a chariot of fire yet?" No.

Answer: Two thousand years ago, the Jewish people were expecting to see Elijah physically descend from heaven announcing the appearance of God's Messiah. This expectation comes from explicit statements made in the Bible. And Jesus explains how this prophecy actually was fulfilled.

Here's the story. According to the Old Testament account, about 850 BC Elijah the Prophet ascended "into heaven". (see: II Kings 2) Then, about four hundred years later, in 450 BC, the Prophet Malachi promised that Elijah will return from heaven before the Christ appears. This prophecy reads: "try me in this, says the Lord of Hosts: shall I not open for you the floodgates of heaven, to pour down a blessing upon you without measure... Lo, I will send you Elia (Elijah), the prophet before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day." -Malachi 3:10-24 (CATHOLIC DOUAY BIBLE)
The Jewish religious leaders were well aware of this prophecy. And they had asked the disciples to explain how Jesus could possibly have been the Messiah when it was obvious that Elijah had not yet returned from heaven. The Apostles couldn't answer their questions, so they asked Jesus: "Why do the Jewish leaders insist Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?" Jesus answered by first affirming that this question was valid and that this prophecy indeed actually was true. He said: "They are right. Elijah must come and set everything in order... ."

Then he surprised them. Jesus explained: "In fact, he [Elijah] already has come, but he wasn't recognized, and was badly mistreated by many... Then the disciples realized he was speaking of John the Baptist." -Matthew 17:10-13 (LIVING BIBLE-CATHOLIC EDITION) (also see: Mark 9:11-13)

Jesus did not outwardly fulfill any of the rabbi's messianic expectations. That's why they would have had absolutely no doubt that Jesus of Nazareth could not possibly have been the Messiah. They were wrong.

Here is a link to another article that I wrote about the return of Elijah >>> http://bci.org/prophecy-fulfilled/elijah.htm

In conclusion:

When we compare the prophecies of the Bible with the life story of Baha'u'llah, we can see that Baha'u'llah clearly fulfills each and every one of them. And these are just a small fragment of the prophecies which were fulfilled by Baha'u'llah. Ask yourself, what are the mathematical odds that a man could appear at the exact time that was predicted, that he could literally fulfill dozens of specific prophecies concerning his life and his teachings and that he could give birth to a religion which today encompasses all the nations, races and tribes of the earth... what are the odds that Baha'u'llah could do all of these things and yet still be false? Almost none.

Could Baha'u'llah truly be the Promised One whose coming was foretold by Isaiah, Micah and the other Hebrew Prophets? Is he the One who, as Jesus said, was supposed to come unexpectedly as a "thief in the night"? This is a question that each individual needs to carefully consider and to answer for themselves. Keep in mind though that Micah prophesied that people would initially turn a deaf ear to the redeemer's message. Consider also Isaiah’s statement: "I will do a new thing... shall ye not know it?" -Isaiah 43 (KJV)

Dear Berthold - again I thank you for asking such pertinent questions. I hope I have answered some of them for you. The sheer volume of evidence to support Baha'u'llah's claim to be the Promised One whose coming was foretold in the Messianic prophecies of the world's great religions is overwhelming. No previous Manifestation or Prophet of God has come with more proof. Many of these proofs can be read on my webpage. Plus there are books and studt circles available.

Baha'u'llah truly was sent by God. From what you wrote in your email, I think you already know that. Since you already have caught the spark of Faith - I invite you to enroll as a Baha'i. Your friends and future family members can tell you how to do this.

Recognizing Baha'u'llah is exciting. Again, thank you for writing to me. Have fun learning more. -Joel in NW Florida USA

TO MY DEAR BROTHER ABDULLAH

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

We are very happy to assert that there is no God but God and that
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

The Islamic Hadith say that the Mahdi will be a descendant of the
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

> Bahaullah 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.

MY ANSWER

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

http://bci.org/islam-bahai/SealProphets.htm


Seal of the Prophets
Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but He is the Messenger of God and the Seal of the Prophets.- Qur'an 33:40

Disclaimer (on Interpretation): Beseech God, and let your prayerful attitude and a clean heart guide you to see the meanings in God's words.
The word "Seal" (kha'tam in Arabic), in the verse above, has been interpreted over the centuries to mean the: "Last", "Final", "Seal" (as in a stamp sealing closed a document), "Seal" (as in seal of authority, officiating a document), and a few other meanings along similar lines of interpretation. Baha'is don't object to these possible meanings, and readily believe in the more common interpretation of : (Seal meaning Last), as Muhammad (PBUH) is repeatedly referred to in the Baha'i Writings. This may at first appear contrary to believing that there is a new religion, but the visitor is invited to read further.

Followers of all past religions have believed, based on certain verses in their holy books, that their religion would not be followed by any other.

Verses such as this have prevented the Jews from accepting newer revelations:
"Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end."- Daniel 12:9
Another verse in the Old Testament says that the law of the Sabbath shall not be broken.
* * * * *
For our Christian brothers and sisters, it was verses such as these below, which lead them to believe that there would not be any revelation after that of Christ:
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."- John 14:6

"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away."- Luke 21:33
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. "- Hebrews 1:1
These and many other verses that talk about, how only through Jesus (PBUH) we can know the Father, and how His words will never be replaced, were the reason that Christians would not accept any Messenger after Christ.

Going back to the meaning of the "Seal of the Prophets", this verse, and other verses about the
completion of religion in Islam, have been interpreted by the majority of Muslims as indication of the finality, not only of Prophethood, but of all revelation. Other opinions and interpretations, including some by Muslim scholars, have argued that since there are many other verses in the Qur'an which explain the endless nature of the Words of God, in addition to other verses and Hadiths (traditions and sayings of the Prophet), which talk about the return of Jesus and the coming of the Mahdi, these opinions, have argued that there may be other interpretations for these verses. Some of these interpretations are mentioned here:
Oneness of the Prophets
Difference in Station between a Messenger (Rasool), and Prophet (Nabi)
Renewal of Creation necessitates Continuance of Revelation
Prophethood is not Inherited in Islam as was the case in Judaism
Passages from Baha'i Writings on the Subject
Copyright © 2004 Islam and the Baha'i Faith


==============

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.I
t 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).
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.

Bahaullah 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.Surah al-Ikhlas, the 112th Chapter of the Qur'an, totally refutes this"Say! He is God, the One!The Eternally Besought of all!He does not beget, nor is He begotten.And there is nothing comparable to Him."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.There are numerous, numerous ahadeeth where the Prophet Muhammad (saw) explicitly states that he is the last Prophet.I am Muhammad, I am Ahmad, I am the al-Mahi (the Effacer) in that through me infidelity shall be erased; I am the al-Hashir (Assembler) in that people shall be assembled after me. And I am al-Aqib (the Last)[Muwatta of Imam Malik]The Prophet Muhammad (saw) said in his Farewell Sermon:"O People, NO PROPHET OR APOSTLE WILL COME AFTER ME AND NO NEW FAITH WILL BE BORN. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the QURAN and my example, the SUNNAH and if you follow these you will never go astray."Sincerely,Abdullah
Please watch this video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A4pFWJXQ68And read this article:http://www.imranhosein.org/content/view/28/67

JOEL SMITH
REPLY
TO ONOLLELYCAT


Isaiah foretold the coming of a "redeemer" to Israel at the time that the Jews began to return to Israel... in fact, Isaiah says that the redeemer will draw the Jews back to him. Isaiah says that the redeemer will be of the family line of King David.

Isaiah says that he will come to Israel from the east to Akka, Mt Carmel & Sharon.
Isaiah says that he will be a prisoner but that he will come out of prison to see his children and that he would live to a ripe old age.

Isaiah says that the redeemer will establish a government which will "increase" (grow) until it encompasses the entire earth. He says the same about peace - it will grow. Isaiah says that the redeemer will establish his place of pilgrimage "in the top of the mountains" --- the only mountain Isaiah mentions in his book is Mt Carmel.

Isaiah says that the redeemer will renew religion & reveal new things but that he will be opposed.

Did Baha'u'llah do any of this? Yes. He did all of it. Literally. Visibly. Verifiably.

In addition, Baha'u'llah also claims to be the one foretold by Isaiah.

Baha'u'llah was royalty & arab historians proved the link from his family line to that of King David hundreds of years before Baha'u'llah was born. Baha'u'llah was sent involuntarily to Israel from the east as a prisoner. He was put into the prison of Akka in Israel. He came out of prison and pitched a tent on the side of Mt Carmel with his children. Baha'u'llah lived to an old age. This all happened at a time when the Jews were beginning to return to Israel. Yes, Baha'u'llah foretold the modern state of Israel.

Baha'u'llah established an elected government that exists today in hundreds of thousands of locations in the world. This government is organized at the local, regional, national, continental & world levels. The Baha'i world center is located on Mt Carmel as foretold by Isaiah & Micah.

Can all of this just be coincidence?

Even his enemies, who hated the idea that Baha'u'llah was a Prophet, admitted that Baha'u'llah was one of the greatest minds ever to live.

It is obvious from your arguments that your heart is hardened against Baha'u'llah. I don't mind if you choose to ignore all of this. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I am satisfied that at least now you know about it.

Talk to your friends about it. See what they think. -Joel

O NOBLE Friends! O Seekers for the Kingdom of God!
Man all over the world is seeking for God. All that exists is God; but the Reality of Divinity is holy above all understanding.
The pictures of Divinity that come to our mind are the product of our fancy; they exist in the realm of our imagination. They are not adequate to the Truth; truth in its essence cannot be put into words.
Divinity cannot by comprehended because it is comprehending.
Man, who has also a real existence, is comprehended by God; therefore, the Divinity which man can understand is partial; it is not complete. Divinity is actual Truth and real existence, and not any representation of it. Divinity itself contains All, and is not contained.
Although the mineral, vegetable, animal and man all have actual being, yet the mineral has no knowledge of the vegetable. It cannot apprehend it. It cannot imagine nor understand it.
It is the same with the vegetable. Any progress it may make, however highly it may become developed, it will never apprehend the animal, nor understand it. It is, so to speak, without news of it. It has no ears, no sight, no understanding.
It is the same with the animal. However much it may progress in its own kingdom, however refined its feelings may become, it will have no real notion of the world of man or of his special intellectual faculties.
The animal cannot understand the roundness of the earth, nor its motion in space, nor the central position of the sun, nor can it imagine such a thing as the all-pervading ether.
Although the mineral, vegetable, animal and man himself are actual beings, the difference between their kingdoms prevents members of the lower degree from comprehending the essence and nature of those of the superior degree. This being so, how can the temporal and phenomenal comprehend the Lord of Hosts?
It is clear that this is impossible!
But the Essence of Divinity, the Sun of Truth, shines forth upon all horizons and is spreading its rays upon all things. Each creature is the recipient of some portion of that power, and man, who contains the perfection of the mineral, the vegetable and animal, as well as his own distinctive qualities, has become the noblest of created beings. It stands written that he is made in the Image of God. Mysteries that were hidden he discovers; and secrets that were concealed he brings into the light. By Science and by Art he brings hidden powers into the region of the visible world. Man perceives the hidden law in created things and co-operates with it.
Lastly the perfect man, the Prophet, is one who is transfigured, one who has the purity and clearness of a perfect mirror—one who reflects the Sun of Truth. Of such a one—of such a Prophet and Messenger—we can say that the Light of Divinity with the heavenly Perfections dwells in him.
If we claim that the sun is seen in the mirror, we do not mean that the sun itself has descended from the holy heights of his heaven and entered into the mirror! This is impossible. The Divine Nature is seen in the Manifestations and its Light and Splendor are visible in extreme glory.
Therefore, men have always been taught and led by the Prophets of God. The Prophets of God are the Mediators of God. All the Prophets and Messengers have come from One Holy Spirit and bear the Message of God, fitted to the age in which they appear. The One Light is in them and they are One with each other. But the Eternal does not become phenomenal; neither can the phenomenal become Eternal.

Saint Paul, the great Apostle, said: “We all, with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of God, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

O GOD the Forgiver! O Heavenly Educator! This assembly is adorned with the mention of thy holy Name. Thy children turn their face towards thy Kingdom, hearts are made happy and souls are comforted.
Merciful God! cause us to repent of our shortcomings! Accept us in thy heavenly Kingdom and give unto us an abode where there shall be no error. Give us peace; give us knowledge, and open unto us the gates of thy heaven. Thou art the Giver of all! Thou art the Forgiver! Thou art the Merciful! Amen.
Discourse of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at St. John’s, Westminster. September 17th, 1911.

Divine Manifestations



Question.—What is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s teaching concerning
the different Divine manifestations?

Answer.—The Reality of all is One.
Truth is one.
Religions are like the branches of one Tree. One branch is high, one is low and one in the centre, yet all draw their life from the one stem. One branch bears fruit and others are not laden so abundantly. All the Prophets are lights, they only differ in degree; they shine like brilliant heavenly bodies, each have their appointed place and time of ascension. Some are like lamps, some like the moon, some like distant stars, and a few are like the sun, shining from one end of the earth to the other. All have the same Light to give, yet they are different in degree.

Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets.


To my dear brother AMAD
aquick answer

Baha'u'llah's position is that the cycle of prophecy has ended, that is, the messengers from Adam to Muhammad were in preparation for this age of fulfillment. In that sense Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets.

from--Gleanings,fromTHE WRITINGS OF BAHA'U'LLAH page 50 - 56

XXII. The Bearers of the Trust of God are made manifest unto the peoples of the earth as the Exponents of a new Cause and the Revealers of a new Message. Inasmuch as these Birds of the celestial Throne are all sent down from the heaven of the Will of God, and as they all arise to proclaim His irresistible Faith, they, therefore, are regarded as one soul and the same person. For they all drink from the one Cup of the love of God, and all partake of the fruit of the same Tree of Oneness.
These Manifestations of God have each a twofold station. One is the station of pure abstraction and essential unity. In this respect, if thou callest them all by one name, and dost ascribe to them the same attributes, thou hast not erred from the truth. Even as He hath revealed: "No distinction do We make between any of His Messengers." For they, one and all, summon the people of the earth to acknowledge the unity of God, and herald unto them the Kawthar of an infinite grace and bounty. They are all invested with the robe of prophethood, and are honored with the mantle of glory. Thus hath Muhammad, the Point of the Qur'an, revealed: "I am all the Prophets." Likewise, He saith: "I am the first Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus." Similar statements have been made by Imam Ali. Sayings such as these, which indicate the essential unity of those Exponents of Oneness, have also emanated from the Channels of God's immortal utterance, and the Treasuries of the gems of Divine knowledge, and have been recorded in the Scriptures. These Countenances are the recipients of the Divine Command, and the Day Springs of His Revelation. This Revelation is exalted above the veils of plurality and the exigencies of number. Thus He saith: "Our Cause is but One." Inasmuch as the Cause is one and the same, the Exponents thereof also must needs be one and the same. Likewise, the Imams of the Muhammadan Faith, those lamps of certitude, have said: "Muhammad is our first, Muhammad is our last, Muhammad our all."
It is clear and evident to thee that all the Prophets are the Temples of the Cause of God, Who have appeared clothed in divers attire. If thou wilt observe with discriminating eyes, thou wilt behold Them all abiding in the same tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven, seated upon the same throne, uttering the same speech, and proclaiming the same Faith. Such is the unity of those Essences of Being, those Luminaries of infinite and immeasurable splendor! Wherefore, should one of these Manifestations of Holiness proclaim saying: "I am the return of all the Prophets," He, verily, speaketh the truth. In like manner, in every subsequent Revelation, the return of the former Revelation is a fact, the truth of which is firmly established.
The other station is the station of distinction, and pertaineth to the world of creation, and to the limitations thereof. In this respect, each Manifestation of God hath a distinct individuality, a definitely prescribed mission, a predestined revelation, and specially designated limitations. Each one of them is known by a different name, is characterized by a special attribute, fulfils a definite mission, and is entrusted with a particular Revelation. Even as He saith: "Some of the Apostles We have caused to excel the others. To some God hath spoken, some He hath raised and exalted. And to Jesus, Son of Mary, We gave manifest signs, and We strengthened Him with the Holy Spirit."
It is because of this difference in their station and mission that the words and utterances flowing from these Well Springs of Divine knowledge appear to diverge and differ. Otherwise, in the eyes of them that are initiated into the mysteries of Divine wisdom, all their utterances are, in reality, but the expressions of one Truth. As most of the people have failed to appreciate those stations to which We have referred, they, therefore, feel perplexed and dismayed at the varying utterances pronounced by Manifestations that are essentially one and the same.
It hath ever been evident that all these divergencies of utterance are attributable to differences of station. Thus, viewed from the standpoint of their oneness and sublime detachment, the attributes of Godhead, Divinity, Supreme Singleness, and Inmost Essence, have been, and are applicable to those Essences of Being, inasmuch as they all abide on the throne of Divine Revelation, and are established upon the seat of Divine Concealment. Through their appearance the Revelation of God is made manifest, and by their countenance the Beauty of God is revealed. Thus it is that the accents of God Himself have been heard uttered by these Manifestations of the Divine Being.
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."...

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. Thus, He hath revealed: "Those shafts were God's, not Thine." And also He saith: "In truth, they who plighted fealty unto Thee, really plighted that fealty unto God." And were any of them to voice the utterance, "I am the Messenger of God," He, also, speaketh the truth,the indubitable truth. Even as He saith: "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but He is the Messenger of God." Viewed in this light, they are all but Messengers of that ideal King, that unchangeable Essence. And were they all to proclaim, "I am the Seal of the Prophets," they, verily, utter but the truth, beyond the faintest shadow of doubt. For they are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one revelation. They are all the manifestation of the "Beginning" and the "End," the "First" and the "Last," the "Seen" and the "Hidden"--all of which pertain to Him Who is the Innermost Spirit of Spirits and Eternal Essence of Essences.

And were they to say, "We are the Servants of God," this also is a manifest and indisputable fact. For they have been made manifest in the uttermost state of servitude, a servitude the like of which no man can possibly attain. Thus in moments in which these Essences of Being were deep immersed beneath the oceans of ancient and everlasting holiness, or when they soared to the loftiest summits of Divine mysteries, they claimed their utterances to be the Voice of Divinity, the Call of God Himself.

Were the eye of discernment to be opened, it would recognize that in this very state, they have considered themselves utterly effaced and non-existent in the face of Him Who is the All-Pervading, the Incorruptible. Methinks, they have regarded themselves as utter nothingness, and deemed their mention in that Court an act of blasphemy. For the slightest whispering of self within such a Court is an evidence of self-assertion and independent existence. In the eyes of them that have attained unto that Court, such a suggestion is itself a grievous transgression.

. How much more grievous would it be, were aught else to be mentioned in that Presence, were man's heart, his tongue, his mind, or his soul, to be busied with any one but the Well-Beloved, were his eyes to behold any countenance other than His beauty, were his ear to be inclined to any melody but His Voice, and were his feet to tread any way but His way....
By virtue of this station they have claimed for themselves the Voice of Divinity and the like, whilst by virtue of their station of Messengership, they have declared themselves the Messengers of God. In every instance they have voiced an utterance that would conform to the requirements of the occasion, and have ascribed all these declarations to Themselves, declarations ranging from the realm of Divine Revelation to the realm of creation, and from the domain of Divinity even unto the domain of earthly existence.

Thus it is that whatsoever be their utterance, whether it pertain to the realm of Divinity, Lordship, Prophethood, Messengership, Guardianship, Apostleship, or Servitude, all is true, beyond the shadow of a doubt. Therefore these sayings which We have quoted in support of Our argument must be attentively considered, that the divergent utterances of the Manifestations of the Unseen and Day Springs of Holiness may cease to agitate the soul and perplex the mind.--