A Study of Baha’u’llah’s
Kitab-i-Iqan, The Book of Certitude
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The vast majority of those who expect the coming of the Q’aim (and some others expecting some other promised one) expect that the Qa’im will attack and conquer the world in a physical sense, and that He will bring justice to the world through the use of His sword and those of His followers. As we now know from the Iqan nothing could be further from the truth. However some people have suggested that perhaps this was in the mind of the early Babis and the defenders of fort Tabarsi. Many statements in the Writings as well as the facts of the history show that this was not the case. The Babi conflicts were entirely defensive in nature.
There is also sometime a hesitation about the Babi Faith and the actions of the Babi heroes. Inadequate understanding of the history prompted a few to try to separate
the two and say something like this: Babis were violent, but the Baha’is are peaceful. In fact the Babi and Baha’i Faiths are so closely linked that they can be regarded as one Faith. Bab and Baha’u’llah are twin Manifestations of this dispensation. Our calendar starts in 1844. The revelation of laws in the two Bayans (both Persian and Arabic) was not intended for a separate dispensation, but to abrogate the Islamic laws. And the glory and beauty of the Writings of the Bab will only be known to the world after the establishment of the Baha’i Faith. The following letter on behalf of the guardian clarifies this. [F.A.]
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30 November 1930
He (the
Guardian) is enclosing extracts from Lord Curzon's "Persia and the Persian
Question" giving a detailed and faithful description of the state of
Persia in the middle of the 19th century. He thinks that references to the
extracts ... will be of great value in showing to the reader the contrast
between the decadent state of the government and the people at that time and
the heroism and nobility of character displayed by the early disciples of the
Bab... Shoghi Effendi is also sending you ... the Master's words concerning the
situation which led to the defensive action which the early disciples of the
Bab were compelled to take in Mazindaran, Nayriz and Zanjan. From these words
it is evident that a systematic campaign of plunder and massacre had been
initiated by the central government. Baha'u'llah, Who Himself was an active
figure in those days and was regarded one of the leading exponents of the Faith
of the Bab, states clearly His views in the Iqan that His conception of the
sovereignty of the Promised Qa'im was purely a spiritual one, and not a
material or political one... His view of the sovereignty of the Qa'im confirms
the various evidences given in the text of the narrative itself of the views
held by those who actually participated in these events such as Hujjat, Quddus,
Mulla Husayn. The very fact that these disciples were ready and willing to
emerge from the fort and return to their homes after receiving the assurance
that they would be no more molested is itself an evidence that they were not
contemplating any action against the authorities.
Shoghi
Effendi is also sending you an account of the doctrines of Shi'ah Islam from
which the Movement originally sprang. It will help you to connect the origin of
the Movement with the tenets and beliefs held by the Shi'ahs of Persia. The Bab
declared Himself at the beginning of His mission to be the "Bab" by
which He meant to be the gate or forerunner of "Him Whom God will make
manifest", that is to say Baha'u'llah, Whose advent the Shi'ahs also
expected in the person of "the return of Imam Husayn". The Sunnis
also believe in a similar twofold manifestation, the first they call "the
Mihdi", the second "the Return of Christ". By the term Bab, the
Bab meant to be the forerunner of the second manifestation rather than, as some
have maintained, the gate of the Qa'im. When He declared Himself to be the Bab,
the people understood by the term that He was an intermediary between the
absent Qa'im and His followers, though He Himself never meant to be such a
person. All He claimed to be was that He was the Qa'im Himself and in addition
to this station, that of the Bab, namely the gate or forerunner of "Him
Whom God will make manifest".
There are
many authorised traditions from Muhammad stating clearly (as explained in the
Iqan) that the promised Qa'im would bring a new Book and new Laws. In other
words abrogating the law of Islam.
Shoghi
Effendi feels that the Unity of the Baha'i revelation as one complete whole
embracing the Faith of the Bab should be emphasised... The Faith of the Bab
should not be divorced from that of Baha'u'llah. Though the teachings of the
Bayan have been abrogated and superseded by the laws of Aqdas, yet due to the
fact that the Bab considered Himself as the forerunner of Baha'u'llah we should
regard His dispensation together with that of Baha'u'llah as forming one
entity, the former being an introductory to the advent of the latter. Just as
the advent of John the Baptist -- who according to various authorities was
Himself the originator of laws which abrogated the teachings current among the
Jews -- forms part of the Christian revelation, the advent of the Bab likewise
forms an integral part of the Baha'i Faith. That is why Shoghi Effendi feels
justified to call Nabil's narrative a narrative of the early days of the Baha'i
revelation.
Shoghi
Effendi feels that it should be explained that forbidding self defence by
Baha'u'llah should not be taken too literally. To put it as bluntly as this, he
fears that the question might be misunderstood. Baha'u'llah could surely have
not meant that a Baha'i should not attempt to defend his life against any
irresponsible assailant who might attack him for any purpose whatever, whether
religious or not. Every reasonable person would feel under such circumstances
justified in protecting his life....
(Shoghi Effendi,
The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha'i Community, p. 425 )