The Baha'i Studies Listserv As-salaam alayka wa rah.matuhu wa barakatuhuu too
Thank you for your gentle politeness Allaah subhaanahuu knows all things For over 55 years I have been brought up with the love and knowledge of the Holy Quran and the hadith from both the major branches. I have read the Holy Quran and memorized it. Even now I am listening to the beautiful recitation of the Book in the voice of Abdul Baaset Abdus Samad the verse that says REMIND THEM OF THE DAYS OF GOD. The words of Allaah penetrate the innermost core of my existence. Hopefully to my last breath and last PQRST wave on the EKG. But I think of myself as a believer in the BAB and BAHAULLAH as well and I revere and uphold their Covenants. What happens in my psyche I suppose is that there occurs an instantaneous commingling of truths and realities. When the reciter reads the verses of the DAYS OF GOD from sura Ibraheem as I am typing this after midnight, immediately I am reminded of these DAYS referring to this DAY, the DAY of Gods Manifestation [z.uhuur] in His Maz.har [Bahaullah]. And sometimes when I share these realities which cohere into one reality [I mean the verities of the holy Books] confluencing into one truth, I get into trouble. But the mental challenges we face in our daily life is nothing as those experienced in the Middle East. The most important thing is constantly earnestly SEIZE the moment and obey the Quranic COMMAND that whenever THE NABA or a NABAcomes to you, FA-TABAYYANUU [ i.e. rise immediately to find out, to clarify, to elucidate the issues relating to it. [and for the same reason I have immersed myself in the Christian Bible too]. O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news [announcement], ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done. Sura 49 And as to the subject of sufferings after rejection by humankind after a divine Envoy I could share this. The HOLY QURAN SAYS God will not punish them if they beg for forgiveness 8:33 wama kana Allahu muAAaththibahum wahum yastaghfiroona But please note 17:15 wama kunna muAAaththibeena hatta nabAAatha rasoolan We do not punish [any community] until We have sent [it] a Messenger. And what is being recited now into my ear Walaqad arsalna moosa bi-ayatina an akhrij qawmaka mina alththulumati ila alnnoori wathakkirhum bi-ayyami Allahi inna fee thalika laayatin likulli sabbarin shakoorin 14:5 We sent Moses with Our signs (and the command). "Bring out thy people from the depths of darkness into light, and teach them to remember the Days of God." Verily in this there are Signs for such as are firmly patient and constant,- grateful and appreciative. Your servant and colleague in our search khazeh From: Matt Haase [mailto:matthewhaa...@gmail.com] Sent: 23 December 2010 16:13 To: Khazeh Subject: Re: respect for prophets (Unity of Prophets) Gilberto and Naison Jones's interesting exchange Salam Alaykum, Khazeh . On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 2:24 AM, Khazeh <aqu...@dsl.pipex.com> wrote: Gilberto Simpson <mailto:gilberto.simp...@gmail.com> gilberto.simp...@gmail.com wrote saying that he agrees with Matt Haase <mailto:matthewhaa...@gmail.com> matthewhaa...@gmail.com ** I agree with what you wrote. The last time I brought this up, it pissed people off too much so I won't give any analysis. But the concerns you express definitely resonate with the following passage from the writings. Quoting the Guardian Shoghi Effendi: Islám, at once the progenitor and persecutor of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, is, if we read aright the signs of the times, only beginning to sustain the impact of this invincible and triumphant Faith. We need only recall the nineteen hundred years of abject misery and dispersion which they, who only for the short space of three years persecuted the Son of God, have had to endure, and are still enduring. We may well ask ourselves, with mingled feelings of dread and awe, how severe must be the tribulations of those who, during no less than fifty years, have, "at every moment tormented with a fresh torment" Him Who is the Father, and who have, in addition, made His Herald--Himself a Manifestation of God--to quaff, in such tragic circumstances, the cup of martyrdom. The Holocaust and the Greater Plan of God <http://bahai-library.com/compilation_holocaust_greater_plan> http://bahai-library.com/compilation_holocaust_greater_plan Or The Promised Day is Come http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/PDC/PDC-25.html Gilberto Simpson gilberto.simp...@gmail.com On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 11:15 AM, Matt Haase < <mailto:matthewhaa...@gmail.com> matthewhaa...@gmail.com wrote: The Baha'i Studies Listserv Collective guilt is such a fascinating concept to me. This idea that people living hundreds or even thousands of years apart from certain event, can somehow be blamed for (insert whatever bad action here) is very peculiar to me. I find it astonishing that some people still accept this basic logical fallacy, and think it is a decent argument. You are right, this is how anti-Semitism started. I shudder to think in a thousand years, those Muslim children will be beaten up at school by their Baha'i classmates for being a "Babi killer." Some people might laugh at the thought now, but when talk such as "this is what your people have done" is allowed to fester and go on for hundreds of years, who knows what that can lead to? Khazeh writes lovingly and humbly yet again: The scenario you (Gilberto) and Matt present is not realistic, not compatible with the essence of the Bahai Faith and its teachings and it almost shows as if you are on this list to prevent to impede to obstruct the process of people becoming familiar with the Bahai faith and Its teachings and to frighten and intimidate the enquirer. It is not fair especially on your part Gilberto S who have been so many years on this list. Firstly The Bahai Faith considers itself to be the essence of Islam and Its Spirit. This is the alpha and omega of our thesis and that the Manifestations of God are One in Their Essence. The same beloved Guardian that you quote from the PDIC wrote about the absolute oneness of the Prophets. The Bahai Children of the future as well as the Bahai Children of this age and adults like me on the verge of leaving this world are taught the same truth *the absolute oneness of the Prophets. **the principle, underlying the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh -- utterances that have established for all time the absolute oneness of all the Prophets, Himself included, whether belonging to the past or to the future. (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 166) ** That is the point ** the absolute oneness of all the Prophets, Himself included, whether belonging to the past or to the future** And the Guardian says the same as Bahaullah ** Know thou assuredly that the essence of all the Prophets of God is one and the same. Their unity is absolute. (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 78) ** So if you meet a Moslem on this list Gilberto you should inform them lovingly that Bahais in all their sacred scriptures believe in this absolute oneness. Secondly: The Guardian is writing in the Promised Day is Come Passage about his dread and awe as to what may transpire if the rejections and hatreds and persecutions continue. No one is wishing for sorrow and pain but one always dreads as to what could/would/transpire if the divine justice is trampled upon, if the cry of the orphan and persecuted is not responded to This is what the Divine Prisoner of the barracks of Akka wrote to Napoléon the Third ** It behooveth thee not to conduct thine affairs according to the dictates of thy desires. Fear the sighs of this Wronged One, and shield Him from the darts of such as act unjustly. For what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast wrought. Then wilt thou know how thou hast plainly erred (Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 30) ** And the people of Baha know that it is Muh.ammad HimSelf Who is lamenting and WEEPING the behavior of the cruel ones ** "Wert thou to hear with Mine ear," He also declares, "thou wouldst hear how Ali [the Bab] bewaileth Me in the presence of the Glorious Companion, and how Muhammad weepeth over Me in the all-highest Horizon, and how the Spirit [Jesus] beateth Himself upon the head in the heaven of My decree, by reason of what hath befallen this Wronged One at the hands of every impious sinner." (Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 9) Pause for even A MILLISECOND: THAT IT IS Muh.ammad Who is weeping today OVER Bahaullahs sufferings. Addressing one of the killers of Bahais in my native land Bahaullah (writing with the Voice of God) says: ** Thou hast torn in pieces a remnant of the Prophet Himself, and imagined that thou hadst helped the Faith of God. Thus hath thy soul prompted thee, and thou art truly one of the heedless. Thine act hath consumed the hearts of the Concourse on high, and those of such as have circled round the Cause of God, the Lord of the worlds. The soul of the Chaste One (Fatimih) melted, by reason of thy cruelty, and the inmates of Paradise wept sore in that blessed Spot (Baha'u'llah) We love Muh.ammad (PBUH). We will always love Him. Look at the pages of the Iqan. Has any one read this sacred Book? Recently? Mirza Abul-faz.l read it more than a hundred times ** It is evident that wretched generation (the opposers and persecutors of the Prophet), in their wicked and satanic fancy, regarded every injury to that immortal Being (Muh.ammad) as a means to the attainment of an abiding felicity; inasmuch as the recognized divines of that age, such as Abdu'llah-i-Ubayy, Abu-'Amir, the hermit, Ka'b-Ibn-i-Ashraf, and Nadr-Ibn-i-Harith, all treated Him as an impostor, and pronounced Him a lunatic and a calumniator. Such sore accusations they brought against Him that in recounting them God forbiddeth the ink to flow, Our pen to move, or the page to bear them. These malicious imputations provoked the people to arise and torment Him. And how fierce that torment if the divines of the age be its chief instigators, if they denounce Him to their followers, cast Him out from their midst, and declare Him a miscreant! Hath not the same befallen this Servant, and been witnessed by all? For this reason did Muhammad cry out: "No Prophet of God hath suffered such harm as I have suffered." And in the Qur'án are recorded all the calumnies and reproaches uttered against Him, as well as all the afflictions which He suffered. Refer ye thereunto, that haply ye may be informed of that which hath befallen His Revelation. So grievous was His plight, that for a time all ceased to hold intercourse with Him and His companions. Whoever associated with Him fell a victim to the relentless cruelty of His enemies. We shall cite in this connection only one verse of that Book. Shouldst thou observe it with a discerning eye, thou wilt, all the remaining days of thy life, lament and bewail the injury of Muhammad, that wronged and oppressed Messenger of God. That verse was revealed at a time when Muhammad languished weary and sorrowful beneath the weight of the opposition of the people, and of their unceasing torture. In the midst of His agony, the Voice of Gabriel, calling from the Sadratu'l-Muntaha, was heard saying: "But if their opposition be grievous to Thee -- if Thou canst, seek out an opening into the earth or a ladder into heaven."The implication of this utterance is that His case had no remedy, that they would not withhold their hands from Him unless He should hide Himself beneath the depths of the earth, or take His flight unto heaven. (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 108) Can anyone honestly think that we or the Bahai Scriptures are against Islam in Its truth? Please please Gilberto be fair and do not impede the river of love and truth and reconciliation to flow. **. 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. (Shoghi Effendi) I will be away from this PC for a week and who knows away from this world too soon enough but I will still daily pray for our Moslem brothers and sisters to recognize the Promises of the Quran. khazeh __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-548823-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@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-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
