The Baha'i Studies Listserv
In addition to this lively and interesting exchange between our dear
Gilberto and Naison Jones I wished to interject at least for a momentary
consideration what the self-definition of the Bahai Faith is.
Without this self-definition we are barking up the wrong tree and it would
be a great pity that on a Bahai Studies List this self definition is never
looked at and instead alleged scandals are brought to the fore.
This is its self-definition and once again I beg you all (if you wish
genuinely to keep the list faithful to its promise) to please study it
together.
I love us to discuss a genuine sacred text.
**Though sprung from Shi'ih Islam, and regarded, in the early stages of its
development, by the followers of both the Muslim and Christian Faiths, as an
obscure sect, an Asiatic cult or an offshoot of the Muhammadan religion,
this Faith is now increasingly demonstrating its right to be recognized, not
as one more religious system superimposed on the conflicting creeds which
for so many generations have divided mankind and darkened its fortunes, but
rather as a restatement of the eternal verities underlying all the religions
of the past, as a unifying force instilling into the adherents of these
religions a new spiritual vigor, infusing them with a new hope and love for
mankind, firing them with a new vision of fundamental unity of their
religious doctrines, and unfolding to their eyes the glorious destiny that
awaits the human race.
The fundamental principle enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh, the followers of His
Faith firmly believe, is that Religious truth is not absolute but relative,
that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process, that all the
great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic
principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and
the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their
functions are complementary, that they differ only in the non-essential
aspects of their doctrines and that their missions represent successive
stages in the spiritual evolution of human society.
The aim of Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet of this new and great age which humanity
has entered upon -- He whose advent fulfils the prophecies of the Old and
New Testaments as well as those of the Qur'án regarding the coming of the
Promised One in the end of time, on the Day of Judgment -- is not to
destroy but to fulfill the Revelations of the past, to reconcile rather than
accentuate the divergences of the conflicting creeds which disrupt
present-day society.
(Shoghi Effendi on the Ocean Texts and Scriptures)
He Who in such dramatic circumstances was made to sustain the overpowering
weight of so glorious a Mission was none other than the One Whom posterity
will acclaim, and Whom innumerable followers already recognize, as the
Judge, the Lawgiver and Redeemer of all mankind, as the Organizer of the
entire planet, as the Unifier of the children of men, as the Inaugurator of
the long-awaited millennium, as the Originator of a new "Universal Cycle,"
as the Establisher of the Most Great Peace, as the Fountain of the Most
Great Justice, as the Proclaimer of the coming of age of the entire human
race, as the Creator of a new World Order, and as the Inspirer and Founder
of a world civilization.
To Christendom (He was) Christ returned "in the glory of the Father," to
Shí'ah Islam the return of the Imam Husayn; to Sunni Islam the descent of
the "Spirit of God" (Jesus Christ);
(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 93)
These are the sacred texts that pulsate in my soul
With kindest regards
khazeh
From: bounce-548400-27...@list.jccc.edu
[mailto:bounce-548400-27...@list.jccc.edu] On Behalf Of Gilberto Simpson
Sent: 22 December 2010 04:14
To: Baha'i Studies
Do you really think in 2000 years time the new muslims arriving and
declaring their belief in that time will have a deeper understanding of
Islam than the ones now?
I think that in 2000 years, Islam as a civilization will have more jewels,
more treasures in it, intellectually, creatively, artistically,
theologically. etc. So the new Muslim at that time will have more resources
to sustain them.
Older a religion gets the more remote it becomes that is just how things
are.
Some things are definitely lost with time, but other things are built up.
I'm not sure which passage you specifically wanted a comment on, but even in
the Bahai Faith there have been a number of different financial scandals
among the leadership. Religious organizations, across the board, have
potential challenges with leadership, with some structures being more
transparent, democratic, flexible, etc. than others.
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