I guess I understand now what your question is. And let me now try to
share with you my own limited understanding of the issue(s). We believe
that one of the things that has done the most damage to any religion is
disunity, divisions, sectarianisms because there was no clearly defined
line of succession or authority after the Founder. This lack of a
universally accepted line of authority led to divisions. Let me just
hasten to add, though, that this lack of a clearly defind Covenant does
not make Islam or Christianity or Judaism false. It's just that
contradictory man-made interpretations crept into religions from the very
early days after Christ or Muhammad. And divisions & sectarianisms were
therefore unavoidable.
Now, in the Baha'i Dispensation, we have a written Covenant as to the line
of succession and authority after Baha'u'llah by the Founder Baha'u'llah
Himself. Did no one try to challenge this? No, some did try to challenge
it. But Baha'u'llah promised humanity that the challenges would not amount
to sectarianism and that the purity and integrity of His teachings would
remain inviolate. So, when you study the history of the Baha'i Faith and
the Covenant (there are two books by Adib Taherzadeh in English on this
history), you see that none of the challenges ever amounted to anything
after the challenger passed away. So, the unity of the Baha'i Faith
community has been preserved. I'm not saying there never ever will be any
challenges, etc.; but, we believe that God has promised that the unity of
the human race will eventually be established under the Covenant of
Baha'u'llah and He will, therefore, make sure that His own followers will
remain united.
Now, regarding what thw Wahhabis did to Mecca and Medina in 1802 and later
in early 20th century after the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate: obviously,
the violence was man-made. It was perpetrated by human beings (Sunni
Wahhabi Muslims) against other human beings (Shi`ah Muslims) and I don't
know how to put it so that it's less unpleasant. Yes, I'm certainly aware
that there are Sufi Muslims, Sunni Muslims, and Shi`ah Muslims at times
praying together and I'd certainly hope and pray for more unity amongst
the sects and more fellowiship and unity between members of different
religions also but differences do exist even in the manner some rituals of
the salAT are observed. With regards to issues of succession and line of
authority, the differences between Shi`ah and Sunni are really deep and
major and unbridgeable. As another example, just see how difficult
it is for Iraqis (just about all of them Muslims) to agree upon a
Constitution. Again, let me hasten to add, this does not make Islam a
wrong religion. God forbid!
The tomb of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH is still there in Medina, yes. But,
the Wahhabis make sure that it's no different from any other tomb. In
other words, no shrine, no mausoleum, nothing fancy. A good history of
Saudi Arabia would be the one by Madawi al-Rasheed: "A History of Saudi
Arabia" (2003); and for Wahhabism, Hamid Algar's book: "Wahhabism: A
Critical Essay" (2002). Also, "Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam" (2002)
and "The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West" (2004) both by Gilles
Kepel.
I'm pretty sure there are others on this list who can give you much better
answers than me; but, this is Labor Day weekend in the USA and most folks
are travelling or vacationing.
Iskandar
On Fri, 2 Sep 2005, Gilberto Simpson wrote:
> I've gotten into discussions before with Bahais where they tried to
> say that the Bahai faith has never split and that its unity is
> promised by the central figures and is proof of its divine origin and
> at the same time, these Bahais would make a big deal about divisions
> within Islam as if it were evidence for the end of the Islamic
> dispensation. (BTW the tomb of Muhammad (saaws) is still there in
> Medina).
>
>
>
> Peace
>
> Gilberto
>
> On 9/2/05, Iskandar Hai, M.D. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I'm not sure if I get your point but go ahead and lead a thread for
> > discussion, start a new subject line for a discussion. We can all discuss
> > and learn together. Or, did I totally misunderstand what you are trying to
> > say?
> >
> > Anyway, we Baha'is certainly do believe that the Bab is an independent
> > Manifestation of God, the Inaugurator of a new Dispensation (religion).
> >
> > Iskandar
> >
> >
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