After the arrest of the seven Baha’i leaders in Iran, The Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing institution of the Baha’i Faith, wrote a series of letters to the Baha’is in Iran. Four of those letters have been quoted below, and it can be seen in each of them that they have focused on specific themes, and these themes relate to four righteous actions, that would bring glory to Iran.
1. Establishment of Justice
“The light of men is Justice.”
“Quench it not with the contrary winds of oppression and tyranny. The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among men.”
“No radiance can compare with that of justice. The organization of the world and the tranquillity of mankind depend upon it.”
“O people of God! That which traineth the world is Justice, for it is upheld by two pillars, reward and punishment. These two pillars are the sources of life to the world.”
“Justice and equity are two guardians for the protection of man. They have appeared arrayed in their mighty and sacred names to maintain the world in uprightness and protect the nations.”
Selections from Advent of Divine Justice by Shoghi Effendi, Pages 27-28
Selection from a letter dated 9 February 2009 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the Baha’is in Iran:
Many among the people of Iran, including officials, are today convinced that your treatment is unmitigated injustice. The expressions of support and solidarity by your compatriots and the sense of sympathy and regret and the desire to make amends voiced by enlightened intellectuals, writers, journalists and artists are manifestations of the loftiness of ideal and the purity of spirit of the Iranian people. Their actions and sentiments are reminders of the noble deeds of their forebears who were in the vanguard of the defence of human rights in the ancient world. The fair-minded in that land question why such sincere and well intentioned fellow citizens should be subjected to this cruel oppression. They wonder how it is that the Bahá’ís, whose religious teachings prohibit them from involvement in partisan politics, let alone acts of sedition—a truth vindicated by one hundred and sixty years of history—can be accused of being political agents of foreign powers. Indeed, so many in your country are astonished that a detailed and systematic plan would be devised, wide-ranging measures implemented, and considerable material and human resources expended, all in order to hamper the education and employment of a group of citizens and to bring about their impoverishment, promote prejudice, and foster mistrust. They ask why so much effort is exerted to propagate lies and calumnies and to distort the teachings and history of the Bahá’í Faith. They ponder in their hearts how their nation will answer for all these iniquities before God and humanity. It is as a consequence of such reflection that increasing numbers have become aware of the destructive effects of religious prejudice on efforts to build a progressive society and are determined to promote a culture founded on the high ideal of unity in diversity. You must not underestimate the historic significance of this shift in thought.
Remain confident that your steadfastness in the face of countless struggles and your sacrifices to advance the interests of your country will not be forgotten by your compatriots and will be rewarded by God. Strive, then, with constancy and steadfastness, with joy and radiance, to fulfil your spiritual obligations. In all matters extend support and encouragement to one another and spare no effort in strengthening the foundations of unity within your community. Persevere with sincerity and earnestness to secure your rights through recourse to the law, and deal with those who oppress you with loving kindness, with patience and forbearance, and counter their insults with words of peace and affection. Continue to strive in the arena of service to your homeland, and through your participation in constructive discourse with your neighbours, co-workers, friends and acquaintances, play a decisive role in society’s progress. Thus will you behold the portals of Divine assistance wide open and witness the bestowals of God descend upon you in abundance.
2. Discernment of Truth
There are two righteous actions that come under the heading of “Truth”. The first is “Seeking for Truth”, and the other is “Truthfulness and Honesty”.
“Seeking for Truth”
If five people meet together to seek for truth, they must begin by cutting themselves free from all their own special conditions and renouncing all preconceived ideas. In order to find truth we must give up our prejudices, our own small trivial notions; an open receptive mind is essential. If our chalice is full of self, there is no room in it for the water of life. The fact that we imagine ourselves to be right and everybody else wrong is the greatest of all obstacles in the path towards unity, and unity is necessary if we would reach truth, for truth is one.
Therefore it is imperative that we should renounce our own particular prejudices and superstitions if we earnestly desire to seek the truth. Unless we make a distinction in our minds between dogma, superstition and prejudice on the one hand, and truth on the other, we cannot succeed. When we are in earnest in our search for anything we look for it everywhere. This principle we must carry out in our search for truth.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, Pages 136-137
“Truthfulness and honesty”
Bahá’u’lláh says in the Tablet of Tarazát:—
Verily, Honesty is the door of tranquillity to all in the world, and the sign of glory from the presence of the Merciful One. Whosoever attains thereto has attained to treasures of wealth and affluence. Honesty is the greatest door to the security and tranquillity of mankind. The stability of every affair always depends on it, and the worlds of honor, glory and affluence are illumined by its light. …O people of Bahá! Honesty is the best garment for your temples and the most splendid crown for your heads. Adhere thereto by the Command of the Omnipotent Commander.
Again He says:—“The principle of faith is to lessen words and to increase deeds. He who words exceed his acts, know verily, that his nonbeing is better than his being, his death better than his life.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Truthfulness is the foundation of all the virtues of mankind. Without truthfulness, progress and success in all of the worlds are impossible for a soul. When this holy attribute is established in man, all the other divine qualities will also become realized.Let the light of truth and honesty shine from your faces so that all may know that your word, in business or pleasure, is a word to trust and be sure of. Forget self and work for the whole. (Message to the London Bahá’ís, October 1911).
J. E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, Pages 85-86
Selection from a letter dated 31 October 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the Baha’is in Iran:
In the face of such adversity, you remain confident in the ability of the Iranian people to discern truth and strive wisely to correct misleading information. May you not slacken in this task. Be not dismayed by the severity of the attacks made against you. Do not yield to despondency and despair. Perseverance and patience are required to counteract the effects of slander and calumny. The ultimate outcome is clear: the light of truth will dispel the darkness of deceit.
One of the accusations being put forward is that the Bahá’ís of Iran maintain political ties with foreign powers and act against the interests of their own country and government. You should take every opportunity to explain to your fellow citizens the fundamental principle of the Faith that strictly prohibits involvement in partisan political activity of any kind, whether local, national or international. Bahá’ís view government as a system for maintaining the welfare and orderly progress of human society, and obedience to the laws of the land is a distinguishing feature of their beliefs. Iran is dear to the Bahá’ís, who are the well-wishers of all. In whatever country they reside, including the birthplace of Bahá’u’lláh, they strive to promote the welfare of society. They are enjoined to work alongside their compatriots in fostering fellowship and unity and in establishing peace and justice. They seek to uphold their own rights, as well as the rights of others, through whatever legal means are available to them, conducting themselves at all times with honesty and integrity. They eschew conflict and dissension. They avoid contest for worldly power. Neither do they aspire to overthrow governments, nor do they participate in the schemings of others to do so. The record of the past one hundred and sixty years bears witness to this assertion.
There are those who, either lacking proper information or promoting their own political agendas, regard the establishment of the Bahá’í World Centre in Israel as a political statement— as evidence of ties to the Zionist movement. Yet anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of historical facts knows that the location of the World Centre can be attributed to the machinations of the Iranian government itself. It was that government which exiled Bahá’u’lláh from His native Persia and instigated His final banishment to the Holy Land then under the sovereignty of the Ottoman empire—some one hundred and forty years ago, eighty years prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. The relationship of the World Centre with that State is governed by the same principles being followed by any Bahá’í community—it is characterized by obedience to the laws of the land and a strict abstention from partisan politics. In your efforts to address this issue, you might find it helpful to refer to the response given by Shoghi Effendi, as the Head of the Faith, to an inquiry made by Judge Emil Sandström, acting on behalf of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine formed in 1947, which was then seeking the views of various religious and non-religious groups on the future of that land. In a letter dated 14 July 1947, a year prior to the birth of the State of Israel, Shoghi Effendi made clear the Bahá’í position of non-involvement in partisan politics, indicating that the Faith did not identify with any side “in the present tragic dispute going on over the future of the Holy Land”. “As many of the adherents of our Faith are of Jewish and Muslim extraction”, he further stated, “we have no prejudice towards either of these groups and are most anxious to reconcile them for their mutual benefit and for the good of the country.”
Indeed, how regrettable it is that Bahá’ís should be accused of any malevolence towards Islám. Certainly you would be prepared to share with those who make such accusations the Bahá’í Writings which refer to Islám as “the blessed and luminous religion of God” and the Prophet Muhammad as “the refulgent lamp of supreme Prophethood”, “the Lord of creation” and “the Day-star of the world”, Who, “through the will of God, shone forth from the horizon of Dijáz”. You would also no doubt be ready to cite passages that speak of the station of Imám ‘Alí in terms such as “the moon of the heaven of knowledge and understanding” and “the sovereign of the court of knowledge and wisdom”. Recite with them the Tablet of Visitation revealed by Bahá’u’lláh Himself for Imám Dusayn, whom He calls “the pride of the martyrs” and “the day-star of renunciation shining above the horizon of creation”. Read to them passages from the talks delivered some one hundred years ago by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in churches and synagogues, and among scholars in Europe and North America, on the station and importance of Islám. Share with them the account of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s funeral, which was attended by countless people from the region, including thousands of Muslims, who came to pay homage to Him, and acquaint them with the eulogies that the Muftí of Haifa and other Muslim leaders delivered in His honour on that occasion.
Curtailing the spread of slander and calumny is not your only challenge. Various social and economic pressures—not least the denial to Bahá’í youth of access to higher education and the hostility faced by Bahá’í schoolchildren in some places—continue to mount. By contrast, a growing portion of the populace praises your courage, audacity, patience and steadfastness before the rising tide of tribulations. The resolve shown by the vast majority of believers, preferring to live with hardship rather than to seek refuge in other countries, seen by many as a sign of their love for their homeland, has earned great respect.
There appear to be some who are poised, at present, to exploit the least trace of ill feeling they perceive among the believers, imagining they can make it the cause of strife and dissension in your community and weaken your morale. You realize full well, of course, the paramount importance of preserving and strengthening the unity of the community. Shielded by the power of the Covenant, you and your spiritual forebears have withstood for more than a century and a half the relentless attacks of the enemies, some of whom arose to discredit the Cause publicly, while others, in the guise of good intentions, set out to sow the seeds of discord within its ranks. You are well aware that “disunity destroyeth the divine edifice and sloweth the spread of the Cause”, and in your deeds and conduct, you have manifested the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “This day is the day of unity and this time is the time of harmony. Unity and harmony will lay low the people of malice”.
While the peoples of the world are still in the earliest stages of learning to coexist, you are being schooled by the wisdom of the beloved Master in the workings of unity and concord among nations. You have faith in their constructive powers. You must consider now, more than ever before, what will be conducive to strengthening the bonds of love and fellowship among the believers in these difficult times, beseeching continually God’s confirmations.
By adhering to the Divine teachings and following the guidance of the Centre of the Faith, you have succeeded in achieving unity of thought on issues concerning service to the Cause and the advancement of spiritual civilization. May you recognize the value of this accomplishment and not underestimate its significance. You are also mindful of one essential, practical point, namely: that believers differ in their capacity, aptitude and approach, in their understanding, wisdom and spiritual discipline, in their degree of commitment and willingness to sacrifice, as well as in their personal preferences and priorities. As members of a diverse but united community, then, you must remain, one and all, as tightly bound as threads in the cord of the Covenant to which all must cling. Be at all times a source of encouragement and support to one another, and together seek after new avenues of service. In association with friends, neighbours and acquaintances, may you dispel the darkness of iniquity and tyranny with the light of love and fidelity. Pay no heed to rumours. Rather may you draw sustenance from the power of unity and rely upon the penetrating influence of “holy words and pure and goodly deeds” and “a virtuous life and a goodly behaviour”—this, that you may become the cause of love, unity and harmony within your community and among your fellow citizens. Be confident that every step taken in the path of God with sincerity will attract heavenly confirmations, for He “imparteth to the drop the power of the sea, and turneth the atom into a very sun.”
3. Irradiation of Prejudice
Ponder in your hearts how grievous is the turmoil in which the world is plunged; how the nations of the earth are besmeared with human blood, nay their very soil is turned into clotted gore. The flame of war has caused so wild a conflagration that the world in its early days, in its middle ages, or in modern times has never witnessed its like. The millstones of war have ground and crushed many a human head, nay, even more severe has been the lot of these victims. Flourishing countries have been made desolate, cities have been laid level with the ground, and smiling villages have been turned into ruin. Fathers have lost their sons, and sons turned fatherless. Mothers have shed tears of blood in mourning for their youths, little children have been made orphans, and women left wanderers and homeless. In a word, humanity, in all its phases, has been debased. Loud is the cry and wailing of orphans, and bitter the lamentations of mothers which are echoed by the skies.
The prime cause for all these happenings is racial, national, religious, and political prejudice, and the root of all this prejudice lies in outworn and deepseated traditions, be they religious, racial, national, or political. So long as these traditions remain, the foundation of human edifice is insecure, and mankind itself is exposed to continuous peril.
Selection from a tablet by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, dated January, 1920Quoted by J. E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, Pages 244-245
Selection from a letter dated 28 July 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the Baha’is in Iran:
At a time when Iranian society is being torn apart by long-standing prejudices of religion, ethnicity, gender and class, the experience of your community for more than a century and a half can serve as an abundant source of insight to the people of that land. On the one hand, you have been able not only to withstand but to reciprocate with loving kindness the most virulent form of religious prejudice, which has been perpetuated by the enemies of the Faith ever since its inception to distort public opinion. On the other, you have ceaselessly exerted effort to eliminate, both within your community and in your relations with others, prejudice of every kind.
The light that has ever illuminated your path is the principle of the oneness of humankind— the pivot around which revolve all of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. “The tabernacle of unity hath been raised,” you have taught your children from an early age, “regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.” Prejudice, you have maintained, cannot be counteracted with estrangement and enmity; one must transcend it through kindness and love. The foundation of all forms of prejudice, it has been your constant assertion, is ignorance, and it can be overcome, therefore, as the light of knowledge is diffused through concerted action and collaboration with others, for one of the most effective ways to rise above prejudice is to work in unison towards a common goal. You are well aware, of course, that the principle of the oneness of humankind, as proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh, is inconsistent with any attempt to impose uniformity. Its watchword is unity in diversity. To accept it is to embrace the rich diversity that characterizes the human race. To promote it implies helping every soul to develop and express his or her God-given talents and capacities in service to humanity.
Since its earliest days, the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh has attracted to its ranks individuals from every segment of Iranian society. Conscious of the challenges involved in creating an environment free from prejudice, your community has diligently prepared educational programmes geared towards diverse age groups and has examined its social activities, as well as its administrative procedures, in order to narrow systematically the wide gulf that can separate people of different ethnic backgrounds, of different ages, of different strata, and of different sexes. It has, moreover, scrutinized and modified those practices based on social traditions, including the use of everyday language, that can consciously or unconsciously foster prejudice. That such strong bonds of unity and mutual understanding have emerged among numerous families over the generations, both through the marriage of those of different religious backgrounds and through social interactions, stands as vivid testimony to the success which your efforts have achieved. What is most significant, however, is that you are engaged in a process of learning how to build unity and that your experience in this regard may prove beneficial to others.
Persevere, therefore, with diligence and steadfastness along this path of endeavour. As you do so, strive to perceive the nobility in every human being—rich or poor, man or woman, old or young, city dweller or villager, worker or employer, irrespective of ethnicity or religion. Help the poor and deprived. Attend to the needs of young people and foster in them confidence in the future so that they may prepare themselves adequately for service to humankind. Take every opportunity to present to your fellow citizens, with utmost sincerity, your experience in combating prejudice and collaborate with them in creating bonds of love and fellowship, and so contribute to the progress of your nation and the prosperity of its people.
Not a moment passes that you are not in our thoughts. At every turn we remember you and take pride in retelling the accounts of your fortitude and fidelity. Our constant prayers are with you, and in the Holy Shrines we beseech the Blessed Beauty to protect and sustain you.
4. Advocacy of the Progress of Women
Selecton from a letter dated 20 June 2008 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the Baha’is in Iran:
There are, of course, many pressing issues that occupy the minds of those striving to promote the prosperity and well-being of Iran. Chief among them is, no doubt, the critical need to remove barriers hindering the progress of women in society.
For you, the equality of men and women is not a Western construct but a universal spiritual truth—a statement about human nature—that was promulgated by Bahá’u’lláh nearly one hundred and fifty years ago in His native Iran. That women should enjoy equal rights with men is a requirement of justice. It is a principle consonant with the highest standard of purity and sanctity, whose application strengthens family life and is essential to the regeneration and progress of any nation. Indeed, peace in the world and the advancement of civilization depend on its realization.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá has explained:
The world of humanity has two wings—one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be.
You are particularly well placed to contribute to the promotion of this principle. Táhirih, that peerless heroine of Iranian history, courageously advocated the emancipation of women in 1848, at a time when efforts to improve the status of women were only beginning to gather momentum in a few parts of the world. From that time on, you have raised generation after generation of your children—both boys and girls—to value this fundamental tenet of the Faith and to express it in every facet of their lives. In 1911, nearly a century ago, you founded the Tarbíyat School for Girls in Tihrán, which provided girls of all backgrounds with an opportunity for education, encouraging, in this way, progressive thinking and making an indelible mark on society. For half a century now, Bahá’í women in Iran have worked shoulder to shoulder with men in administering the affairs of the community at the local, regional and national levels. And long ago you succeeded in eliminating in your community illiteracy among women under the age of forty.
Yet you are keenly aware that you cannot be content with your achievements to date. Rather must you persevere in your efforts to transcend cultural norms that impede the progress of women. True equality is not easily attained; the transformation required is difficult for men and women alike. We encourage you, then, to continue to enhance your understanding of the operation of this principle and to strive to uphold it more consistently in your family and community life. You can, in addition, draw upon your experience to discuss this issue with friends, neighbours and co-workers, especially the challenges it presents and ways of surmounting them, and participate in projects designed to advance the status of women, whether by government agencies or organizations of civil society. Many of your compatriots are eager to see the realization of the universal principle of the equality of men and women. They will no doubt welcome you to join them in learning how to promote, step by step, conditions that enable the women of Iran to overcome impediments blocking their progress and participate fully, as equals of men, in all areas of human endeavour.
As you engage in so vital a field of service, you may be assured that our prayers are ever with you.
