Dear Rich,
1st and 2nd of Muharram are very important for Baha'is too. Birthday of the
Bab is on 1st of Muharram and the Birthday of Baha'u'llah on 2nd of Muharram
based on lunar calendar. Baha'is in whole Middle East celebrate these 2 days
which are accounted as one in the sight of God. Happy
Dear FriendsAny thoughts on the following two quotations would be much
appreciated.
regards, Firouz
"In the treasuries of the knowledge of God there lieth concealed a
knowledge which, when applied, will largely, though not wholly, eliminate
fear. This knowledge, however, should be taught
Gilberto:
Yes. For example, there were Christian abolitionists before the
Babi/Bahai faith banned slavery. So human beings were able to look at
the institution of slavery, and applying basic moral principles were
able to see that slavery was a bad thing which should be changed.
Firouz:
Based on
Brent:
In like manner, though the subject of Paragraph 42 of the Aqdas is the
wakf, the endowments dedicated to charity, the contents have reference
to the institution of the Guardianship, and to the all-important matter
of the succession after the Manifestation.
Dear Brent,
I cannot see what
Susan:
That
strikes me as as big a leap as reading the Guardianship into that passage. My
point is not so much that the verse points toa Guardian as that
itestablishes that the Universal House of Justice can exist without one.
Dear
Susan,
My understanding from
Baha'u'llah's Writings is
Gilberto:
Ok, I believe you. But then when you are in your Bahai paradigm, and
read that the Buddha is identified with being a Manifestation, but the
teachings of real live Buddhists in the world don't seem to be
consistent with the Bahai teachings, I'm not sure what you do. Do you
bracket the
Dear
Susan, you wrote:
What the
rest of the Baha'i community did was go back to what Baha'u'llah said was to
happen if His lineage ran out before the election of the Universal House of
Justice. This was stated in the Aqdas:
"Endowments dedicated to charity revert to God, the Revealer of
Then wouldn't we be more like Islam and only regard specific Writings
written in a certain state as revelation, rather than anything that issued
from Baha'u'llah's Pen?
I do believe what ever Baha'u'llah penned was the Words of God. His Person
being the Supreme Manifestation of God. But at the
Gilberto addressing Mark:
It seems like you are reading it correctly. I just don't think I would
agree with it. The Quran actually invites people to examine itself for
contradictions. Dares people to try to come up with verses like it. In
other places the Quran also calls itself the Criterion but
Dear Firouz,
I never read that passage that way. I thought He was asking them to come up
with proof they believed in God, not come up with better verses.
warmest, Susan
Dear Susan,
I remember long long time back when I was living in Dubaiwe had a
deepening class about Tablet of Ahmad,
Janine:
It could be that at a young age this woman recognised
the purity and specialness of the Prophet and was
therefore very willing to marry Him.
Should the Prophet marry any girl (no matter what age) who would like to get
married to Him?
regards,
Firouz
Firouz:
[ My understanding of Omniscient in Law-i-Hikmat refers to His divine
station. Baha'u'llah in His Divine station is God and Omniscient but in
His
Physical station He had His physical limitations similar to all of us.
That's why He read books and newspapers.
Susan:
Yeah, but what does that
In studying the Writings, we should not take a single verse on its
own, but rather take a wide selection of the writings.
Dear Firouz,
I would take this to mean that sometimes Baha'u'llah accessed books
supernaturally and other times He did so the old fashion way. In other words,
most of
Susan,
I have my own personal opinion as
well, which differs somewhat from Schaefer's, but I figured Gilberto was asking
for something authoritative.
warmest, Susan
Dear Susan,
Thanks so much for your reply. I read Schaefer's article some
time back and personally based on my own
Mark :
If I might throw in my 2¢ here. To my understanding, the infallibility of
the House of Justice refers to its legislative decisions based on an
elucidation of the Text. Personally, I understand legislation as
dealing, broadly, with matters of praxis.
Yesterday I suggested that the
My understanding based on K73 of Kitab-i-Aqdas is that capital punishment is
not to be exercised in a Baha'i State.
... Let none contend with another, and let no soul slay
another; this, verily, is that which was forbidden you in
a Book that hath lain concealed within the Tabernacle
of glory.
Susan:
"Exactly. And we do need to keep in mind that Ruhi wasn't designed for us,
it was designed to consolidate mass enrollments."
Dear Susan,
Why then are we encouraged and sometimes sort of forced to
enroll for these courses? Is it just to increase statistics?
Regards,
Firouz
Dear janine,
Thanks again for your reply. Talking about Adib Taherzadeh, I would like to
comment that I do admire him. I had an opportunity to meet him during my
pilgrimage in 1996 and I really did enjoy talking with him and listening to
him. In fact I should say that I have met quite a
Book 6 gave me a scenario for the subjects which are
most important to be brought up in talking to another
about the bahai faith (I happen to agree with the
importance of the subjects book 6 suggest) and also
gave me a manner, a way of speakign and being with a
person one wants to tell about the
Janine:
You may be right that you might not be considered qualified to give
childrens classes if you have not done book 3. And that is a perfectly
legitimate decision of any LSA to make.
Dear Janine,
Here I cannot agree with you. There have been and there are excellent
children class teachers who
Dear Susan,
I am sure you have read the following, but let's once more have a look at
them:
For example, the question of Universal Peace, about which His Holiness
Bahá'u'lláh says that the Supreme Tribunal must be established: although
the League of Nations has been brought into existence,
Draer Susan Steve,
I would like to thankboth of you for
responding to me on this topic. I do appreciate your time. I willfurther
appreciate your feedback here. My purpose is to make things more clear in my own
mind.
Susan, you wrote:
"The reference to the House of Justice making civil
I would like to add a few of my personal observations about Ruhi in
Thailand. The emphasis during last 5 years or so have been on Ruhi Study
Circles, devotional meetings, and children classes here in Thailand
(specially Ruhi SC). In Yasothan in North East of Thailand where a Baha'i
school
Dear Susan,
Thanks so much for your detailed email explaining
the relationship between state and religion in Baha'i Faith. Still I have a few
questions. I am away from home for a few days, I would like to read the
references you quoted and I will get back with my questions.
I do appreciate
Gilberto:
But in some ways the larger issue is that if Susan hadn't made her
comment and I hadn't read similar things elsewhere and I had heard
your accusation towards Islam for the first time, then it would have
been misleading. I'm ok with the idea that western liberals like the
idea of a
Gilberto:
You were speaking positively about Turkish secularism (in spite of the
fact that the Turkish military respresses Muslims). In alot of parts
in the Muslim world, if the governments became more democratic, then
that would mean more power for the Islamic parties but you've
commented about
Gilberto:
And it is clear that in certain parts of the Muslim
world, the people there clearly want religious parties to have a
greater role in the government because they see the secular
governments as corrupt and not promoting their interests.
That's true to some extent. How about when the
Islamic governments and Islamic parties say that they are just accountable
to God not to people.
Dear Firouz,
Don't we say the same thing about own institutions?
warmest, Susan
Dear Susan,
Yes, The Universal House of Justice is accountable to God on religious
matters but not on political matters.
Dear Firouz,
I don't really see any clear distinction between religion and politics in
the Baha'i Teachings either accept that matters of legislation rest with
our
elected Assemblies, not the Learned. Abdu'l-Baha insisted that the clergy
should be separate from the state, but Baha'u'llah placed
Gilberto:
I don't think any country (Muslim or not) will be ideal. But that's
what I would like to see other countries move towards. Secularization
in Muslim countries seems to take place as the result of force and
repression. So I'm wary if you are somehow holding it up as a model.
What is
Susan,
It's the same here in Thailand and most of South East Asian countries.
There has been much emphasis on Ruhi classes and hence the teaching and
enrollment has stopped. The communities have been encouraged to finish up to
Ruhi book 7 and many have done so but after that they have been
Ronald Stephens:
But the theory of the ether was disproven by a specific scientific
experiment, the Michelson-Morley experiment. It is virtually impossible that
this could be overturned.
Firouz:
Just a few months ago I read in some American Science Journal that the
theory of ether could be
I think I understand the gist of your concern. If I'm not mistaken, you
are concerned that if the House of Justice is infallible, then why are
they failing to reach the Baha'is. If they offer perfect guidance, then
why are people not being guided?
Two points:
1. This brings to mind
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