The Baha'i Studies Listserv I personally don't like appealing to the nabi/rasul dichotomy because, if I'm reading this correctly, Baha'u'llah Himself acknowledges Muhammad as the seal of *both* in one of His prayers:
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I beseech Thee by Thy Chosen Ones, and by the Bearers of Thy Trust, and by Him Whom Thou hast ordained to be the Seal of Thy Prophets and of Thy Messengers, to let Thy remembrance be my companion, and Thy love my aim, and Thy face my goal, and Thy name my lamp, and Thy wish my desire, and Thy pleasure my delight. I could just be misreading that though. Warmest, Adib On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 8:02 PM, Gilberto Simpson < gilberto.simp...@gmail.com> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 6:42 PM, Tim Nolan <tnola...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > > Hello Gilberto, > > > >>Muhammad is the last prophet, which is something that the Bahai Faith > rejects > > > > I am no scholar, so I will give only my personal non-authoritative > understanding. > > I think Muhammad was in fact the last nabi. In my view Baha'u'llah was > of a > > different category. Here is an analogy to explain what I mean. > > > > Imagine that there was only one manufacturer of automobiles, and > > for many years this factory produced automobiles and those were > > the only man-made means of rapid transportation; there are no > airplanes. Finally, the > > CEO tells the public, "This car we made today is the last car, we will > never make another car." > > The next year, someone invents the airplane. And people say, "No one > should ride in an > > airplane because the CEO said there will never be another car." Well > that's true, there > > will never be another car in this imaginary world. But there will be > airplanes, and buses, and > > trains...etc. > > > > This is far from a perfect analogy; don't get hung up on the analogy, > just focus on > > the concept. Just because there will never be another prophet like > Muhammad > > doesn't mean revelation from God has ceased. > > I think that is probably the best way for Bahais to explain it. There > is a similar concept in Khazeh's paper on the Finality of Prophethood. > He refers to a paper by Juan Cole by saying: > > Therefore in one sense, the Qur'ánic title of khátam al-nabiyyín (seal > of the prophets) implies that the prophet and the messenger were a > function of theophany which came to an end with Muhammad. "With the > Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, in the Bahá'í view, humankind has entered a new > religious cycle characterized by a fuller theophany. In this cycle, > concepts like `prophet' and `messenger' have been transcended" (Cole, > Concept 18). In support, it is significant that the authors cannot > find one instance in Bahá'u'lláh's writings in which he refers to > himself as a nabí (prophet) or rasúll (messenger).[37] > > > I think it is hard to go this route because you almost end up with a > catch-22. 1) On the one hand, if say that Bahaullah represents this > radically fuller different level of revelation beyond "prophet" then > you take on a kind of triumphalist superior tone. But then if you say > Bahaullah was a prophet in the same way Muhammad was a prophet you end > up contradicting the Seal of the Prophets doctrine. > > > > > > As for Jesus being the son of God, this is metaphorical not physical as > others have said, so > > there is no conflict with the Qura'n on that point. Shoghi Effendi > wrote: > > > > "....that invisible yet rational God Who, however much we extol the > divinity of His Manifestations on earth, > > can in no wise incarnate His infinite, His unknowable, His incorruptible > and all-embracing Reality in the concrete > > and limited frame of a mortal being. Indeed, the God Who could so > incarnate His own reality would, in the light > > of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, cease immediately to be God. So crude > and fantastic a theory of Divine incarnation > > is as removed from, and incompatible with, the essentials of Bahá’í > belief....." > > > > > > Yeah, I don't feel like the range of things which are included in the > concept of tawhid. Bahai terminology is still uncomfortably close to > shirk. e.g. The Quran is even critical of metaphorical uses of the > concept of "sonship". > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:adibmasum...@gmail.com > Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto: > leave-511129-15803...@list.jccc.edu > Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to > ly...@list.jccc.edu > Or subscribe: > http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st > Baha'i Studies is available through the following: > Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu > Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st > News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st > Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai...@list.jccc.net > New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu > -- "Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind. The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens." -- Bahá'u'lláh __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-511132-274...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai...@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
