A Study of Baha’u’llah’s Kitab-i-Iqan, The Book of Certitude

The Order and Structure of the Kitab-i-Iqan

The original questions are organized in four categories. These questions appear to be a collection of objections to the claims of the Bab, as judged by the commonly held beliefs of the people and as interpretations of the various texts and traditions imposed by the clergy. Baha’u’llah clarifies and reorganizes these questions. Had Baha’u’llah chosen to answer these questions one by one the resulting work would have been a chaotic one.

Baha’u’llah organizes the Book of Certitude in two parts. The first part deals with the question of interpretation and the meaning of the words of God. It also deals with the standard by which we can evaluate the claims of the Manifestation of God. In this sense this is the foundational argument. If we use the wrong standard we will be asking the wrong questions. The technical word for this is epistemology, or the study of knowledge. How do I come to know the things that I do? How do I acquire knowledge and be sure that what I have obtained is actually true knowledge and not just a fantasy or superstition? This is a question about questioning, and therefore the first part of the book is a discourse about discourse.

While the questions were actually about the Bab, Baha’u’llah apparently ignores that specific aspect and invites the reader to note a fundamental historical fact. That fact is that in every dispensation people who were eagerly awaiting the advent of the promised one rejected him when He appeared. The reader is then invited to consider the reasons for such a denial. Because Siyyid Muhammad was a devout Muslim, Baha’u’llah chose a passage from Mathew dealing with the signs of the advent of the promised one. Denial was caused by imposing the wrong interpretation on the text. Since the Christians, following their religious leaders, had interpreted the signs of coming according to their own measure they remained deprived of the Muhammadan light. Along the way in this argument the validity and integrity of the text of the Gospels had to be defended, and the meanings of the sun, the moon, clouds, the falling stars, and a host of other symbolic terms had to be clarified. Hermeneutics, or the study of interpretation of scripture is given a new vision and a new life.

By the end of this first part we understand that what is needed is purity of heart and detachment from the interpretations of the clergy. Such a state of purity then enables the seeker to see with the eyes of God, and to judge the truth with the standards established by the holy texts. The new interpretations shed luster on the books of the old, making us clearly see that the intent of the allusions in the holy books has nothing to do with the notions current among people. The essence of this first part is summarized in the opening paragraph.

In the second part of the Book Baha’u’llah gives the answer to the specific questions raised. Actually without this second part the argument would still be complete, because Baha’u’llah essentially proves in the first part that the questions that were asked were all the wrong questions. The questions were wrong because they were using the wrong measure or the wrong standard for seeking this particular truth. Nonetheless Baha’u’llah addresses these questions and some others that are common questions but were not raised by Siyyid Muhammad. For instance the issue of the prophet Muhammad being the seal of the prophets was not asked, but this question is specifically answered. So this second part of the Book deals with the specific and substantive issues raised.