Irfán Colloquia
Centre for Bahá'í Studies
Acuto, Italy · Italy
July 8–12, 2005
Papers from this session
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Bahá'í Faith in the Arabic Speaking Middle East, Part I (1753-1863)
Even with this limitation, the paper would be more of a survey rather than an in-depth study. In future, at least two more papers might be prepared covering the periods 1868 -1892, and 1892 -1921. Beyond the academic aspect, the underlying purpose of such a paper is to provide a historical backbone as a reference for spreading the divine fragrances in Arab lands. The paper will endeavor to see the Faith from a balanced Persian-Arab perspective for the purpose of mitigating the prevailing concept that it is a purely Persian import. This is a very preliminary synopsis of the framework of the paper: While the nationality of the Central Figures was Persian, the fact that the first predecessor (Shaykh Ahmad El-Ahsá'í) of the Báb was from an Arab tribe and set out on his mission from Arab land; that the first formal announcement of the Báb was made in Mecca, the heart of Arab land; that one of the first Letters of the Living (Mullá 'Alí Bastámí) directed his first steps to an Arab land that the major declaration of Bahá'u'lláh was in an Arab land; that most of the period of the Ministry of Bahá'u'lláh was in Arab Land; that the sacred remains of all three Central Figures of the Faith were interred in Arab land; that Bahá'u'lláh not only wrote so lovingly to His Arab followers in Baghdad, but pointedly identified Himself with them by calling himself an "Arab Youth"; that the bulk of the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh are in Arabic; that Bahá'u'lláh stated a clear preference of the Arabic language; that most of the lifetime of `Abdu'l-Bahá was in Arab lands, with considerable interaction with its dignitaries; These, and many other considerations, all combine to show that from a historical, cultural and Sacred-Text point of view, the identity of the Faith is a fusion of Persian and Arab origins. Bahá'ís of both cultures, indeed of all cultures, need to be appreciative of this reality.
Published in Lights of Irfán, Vol. 7, pp. 261–278
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Baha'u'llah's teachings from the letter of negation (there is no God but God) to the letter of affirmation (He is God)
How the letter of negation has affected the emphasis of Baha'i mysticism, resulting in a spiritual culture of interaction with the world rather than seclusion.
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Contemplating the beauty: Nature and the manifestation of God
The purpose of this paper is to show how contemplation of Nature, and Beauty is a way of being in touch with the Manifestation of God. Our society seems to have neglected the idea of beauty as it was originally intended in the past: of course during the time things have evolved and changed. Yet to consider nature and beauty together means to learn to contemplate the signs of God and creation around us. Of course to contemplate the signs of God means to be in touch with the Manifestation of God, who is the source of all learning. Meditation and contemplation can help men to get closer to his Creator: the development of the faculty of meditation is indeed a duty of every individual who is searching for the signs of God.
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Developing interreligious dialogue in the Bahai community: Further considerations
In this paper, we suggest that the Bahá'í concept of continuity of revelation could form the basis of a deeper interreligious dialogue with other world religions. We attempt to apply it to central differences in the dialogue between Muslims and Christians, and investigate to what extent this is consistent with current academic scholarship. We conclude that an agenda for interreligious dialogue for this century will be a theophanological one-in particular, we focus on the challenge that the prophetic career of the founder of Islam represents for Christians.
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Dimensions of Imam Ali's Khutba al-Tutunjiyya (Sermon of the Gulf) and its Shaykhí, Bábí, and Bahá'í Interpretations
Note: please see Lambden's website for a version of this abstract with proper diacritics and Arabic lettering The literary form of the Khutba, an Arabic word meaning `Sermon', `Oration', `Homily' or `Discourse', is important within Shi`i Islam. A number of important discourses with titles commencing this word are ascribed to the son-in-law and successor of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632 CE) named Imam `Alí ibn Abí Tálib (d. 40/661). Among them the complex and highly theological Khutba al-Tutunjiyya (Sermon of the Gulf) which contains many fascinating statements allegedly uttered by first Shi`i Imam between Mecca (Saudi Arabia) and Kufa (in Iraq). They include an adaptation of the Gospel "I am logion" previously uttered by Jesus, "I am the Truth". The roughly ten page `Sermon of the Gulf' opens with the following cosmological statement closely related to various verses of the Qur'án: Praised be to God Who hath cleft the firmaments asunder (cf. Q 21:30), split up the atmosphere, suspended the margins of the heavens (Q. 69:17), caused the solar luminary [sun] (ziyá') to shine forth, quickened the dead and made the living to die...
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The Justification of the Binding Nature of Bahá'í Ethics
Since human beings make conscious decisions, there have been questions such as "What is right and what is wrong thing to do?" or "How should I be?" Ethics are of no use, however, if people do not feel bound to adhere to them. So a different set of questions goes like this: "Why should I do the right thing?" Philosophers and religious thinkers have been trying to answer these questions for thousands of years-in many different ways. In this presentation we will look at the Bahá'í justification of the binding nature of ethics. Based on Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Aqdas we will define reasons that make a Bahá'í "do the right thing".
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Letters of Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad Shirazi 'the Báb' to Muhammad Shah Qajar (Part I)
The purpose of this paper is to examine Tablets of the Báb to Muhammad Shah Qajar (r. 1834-1848), whose reign covered the earlier years of the Báb's ministry (1844-1850). The Báb addressed at least four epistles to Muhammad Shah, most of which are in Arabic and one of which is largely in Persian and partly translated in Selections from the Writings of the Báb. No fully critical editions of these writings have yet been published, though the texts of most of them are available in manuscript collections. In his first major composition, the Qayyúm al-asmá' (written mid-1844), there is an address in the opening Surat al-Mulk to this ruler. Here, the Báb invites the monarch to assist him in his cause, and makes comments about kingship in light of the forthcoming appearance of the Qá'im: "O king of Islam! (Muhammad Shah r.1834-1848) (lit. "King of the Muslims", malik al-muslimun) Aid thou, with the truth, after having aided the Book, Him Who is Our Most Great remembrance, (dhikrina al-akbar) for God hath, in very truth, destined for thee, and for such as circle round thee, on the Day of Judgment [Resurrection], a responsible position in His Path." (SWB: 41)
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Mysteries within Mysteries: Some Notes on the Teachings of the Báb's Kitáb-i-Panj Sha'n
Note: please see Lambden's website for a version of this abstract with proper diacritics and Arabic lettering In the Name of God,the Deity Most Divine (al-a'ilah), the Supreme Deity (al-a'ilah). I, verily am God, no God is there except Me, [representative of]the Deity Most Divine (al-a'ilah), the Supreme Deity (al-a'ilah). In the Name of God, the Deity Most Divine (al-a`ilah), the Supreme Deity (al-a`ilah). For through God is God (bi-Allah Allah), the Deity Most Divine (al-a`ilah), the Supreme Deity (al-a`ilah).
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New circusí as metaphorical embodiment of the mystical and the aesthetic with special reference to La Cirque du Soleil
Self-indulgent, bourgeois kitsch or a new multi-media art form to rank with grand opera: is the 'new circus' an art form worthy of serious consideration? In recently discovering this new art form I have been deeply affected by its potential for the theory and practice of Bahá'í-inspired education. It serves, so I will argue, both as an inspiring extended metaphor for holistic educational process, and as a potential for innovatory structuring of education. Here I want particularly to examine its relationship to spirituality and spiritualization. Continuing the theme of a previous presentation that asked how cinematic experience might be deemed 'mystical', this paper asks whether the 'new circus' is capable of high-order aesthetic experience that 'echoes' mystical experience. Is the 'new' circus' part of a paradigmatic shift artistically and spiritually--a shift in line with positive aspects of the transformation that has been going on since the manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation? Or ought we simply dismiss it as gaudy trash, a kind of postmodernist fool's gold?
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The Newly-Born Babe of That Day: Mysticism in the age of the maturity of humankind
The author analyzes three dynamics conducive from the mysticism of nascent religions, involving the whole community of believers, to the mysticism of periods of spiritual decline, involving only elites of believers, estranged from organized religion. These dynamics are related to the cyclicity of the historical processes of religions, to the limitations of human imperfection, and to the relativity of revelation. The mystics of the past perceived the widespread estrangement from the spiritual reality of religion caused by these dynamics and drew away from organized religion, seeking solace in their inner experiences of the Divine. Today humankind is mature. We cannot fully understand the implications of its maturity for the development of the Bahá'í religious world. We can only venture some hypothesis. It seems unlikely that the Bahá'í religious world will not have its winter. But the infallibility of the Universal House of Justice, granted for the whole course of the Dispensation, should imply a different kind of winter. A mysticism of religious decline may develop, and yet those future mystics could find solace and reassurance in an infallible Head of the Cause. Also human imperfection will remain, even in the presence of people who may arise to the station of the lesser prophets of the "House of Israel." However, the Bahá'í Revelation, the revelation of the maturity of humankind, is free from certain flaws that in the past implied an early development of spiritually unacceptable behaviors, such as dogmatism, ritualism, externalism, exclusivism. The power of the Bahá'í Covenant, the proscriptions of ancient "ordinances as holy war, destruction of books, the ban on association and companionship with other peoples or on reading certain books," the authoritative exposition of a divine philosophy by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and of an institutional and societal policy by Shoghi Effendi, are new features in the history of religion. These features seemingly discourage any dichotomy between the mystical and the institutional aspects of religion, responsible of dogmatism, ritualism, and externalism, and rule out any exclusivist attitude. Moreover, the early spiritual education prescribed by the Bahá'í teachings should enable human beings to start their mystical journey at higher and higher spiritual levels and to ascribe a greater importance to the mystical stage of the return journey to the world, at the service of humankind. The mystics of the new era may thus more easily avoid a number of past mistakes: the refusal of any mediator between God and them; the advancement of heretical doctrines; a leaning towards an unduly speculative mentality and aristocratic and initiatory attitudes; an over-evaluation of mystical experience and of the so called charismatic gifts; the refusal of living in this world. They may thus concentrate on the core of mysticism, that is, to realize a state of communion between themselves and the Soul of the Manifestation of God that conveys the Spirit of God unto them bringing "such ecstasy of joy that life becomes nothing."
Published in Lights of Irfán, Vol. 7, pp. 201–220
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Religion and Exclusivism: A Baha'i Perspective
The author presents a survey of the Bahá'í teachings on exclusivism on the ground of his understanding of the open letter addressed by the Universal House of Justice to the world's religious leaders in 2002 and the recent commentary prepared under its supervision. After a brief survey of the concept of exlusivism and its dangers, a possible definition of religion in the light of the Bahá'í teachings is suggested. Nine essential features of the Bahá'í concept of the oneness of religion expounded by Shoghi Effendi are then analyzed: Religious truth is not absolute but relative; Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process; All the great religions of the world are divine in origin; Their basic principles are in complete harmony; Their aims and purposes are one and the same; Their teachings are but facets of one truth; Their functions are complementary; They differ only in the non-essential aspects of their doctrines; Their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society. Two corollaries of these concepts are also examined: The God-given authority and correlative character of Scriptures; All the great religions are continuous in their purpose and indispensable in their value to mankind. Despite the fundamental oneness of the messages of all religions, misinterpretations of the complex language of Scriptures, in particular of the implicit concept of progressive revelation, and an undue importance given by organized religion to tradition have contributed to distract the attention of religionists from the essential teachings of religion and to focus it towards its formal and secondary aspects. Dangerous claims to exclusivity or finality have been thus developed. The present conditions of the world are such as to encourage and assist all religions to correct these dangerous attitudes in the name of a peaceful coexistence of all the peoples of the world.
Published in Lights of Irfán, Vol. 7, pp. 221–238
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The Return of Apologetics: Apologetics parallels in the early Christianity, Islam and Bahá'í Faith
The parallels between Christian, Baháíi and Muslim apologetics in the early phases of these religions based on their Holy Writ as well as the works of Abul-Fadl, Justin Martyr, Origen, at-Tabarí etc.
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Sabaeanism and African Traditional Religion and Some Christian Islamic and Bahá'í References
According to the Bahá'í teachings, Sabaeanism is the oldest among the nine existing, major religions of the world. Two religious groups are referred to as Sabaeans - one group traces its origin to Seth and Enoch, and the other group is made up of the followers of John the Baptist who did not recognize Jesus as a Manifestation of God. The former group is that which is the focus of this paper. African Traditional Religion is the remnant of this type of Sabaeanism. The name of the original founder of Sabaeanism is unknown, but this paper shows that at least fifteen Prophets or Messengers of God appeared within Sabaeanism! These fifteen do not include any native Messengers of God who might have appeared in the Americas or elsewhere in the world. Fourteen of these Messengers appeared in a period of about 2,827years, which is the approximate minimum duration of the Sabaean dispensation that extends far into antiquity. The languages of revelation in Sabaeanism were, at least, four-the original language (name now unknown), Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew. Of these four languages, the names of three are known. Many of the teachings of Sabaeanism are now unknown. Some, however, can be gleaned from various Sacred Writings. Notable among the essential teachings were monotheism, the oneness of mankind, love and mutual assistance, and peace. The Messengers of Sabaeanism taught the oneness of the Messengers of God and the future appearance of a Messenger at the end of time. Sabaeanism also taught the harmony between science and religion. Multifarious social teachings, most of which have been forgotten, descended from these Messengers up to the time of Shu'eyb (Jethro). However, some of the teachings extant are embodied in those of present-day African Traditional or pagan cultures. God entrusted non-Messenger or non-Prophet Sabaeans with missions. They are, Nebuchadnezzar II and the Roman General, Titus. Through a dream that Nebuchadnezzar dreamt, God revealed to humankind the coming of the Zoroastrian, the Christian, the Islamic and the Bábí-Bahá'í dispensations, prophesied the schism in Islam, and the global encompassment and inviolability of the covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. The Greek and Roman kings in the period spanning these two kings were the other persons who discharged divine missions. Alexander the Great was one of the Sabaean kings whose name is expressly mentioned in the Qur'án as having been divinely sent.
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Some Aspects of the Tafsir al-Bismillah from Abdu'l-Baha
During His lifetime `Abdu'l-Bahá penned several illuminating and demanding commentaries on the meaning of specific Qur'ánic verses as well as Islamic traditions. His amazing exposition on the holy Islamic tradition "Kuntu Kanzan Makhfían", His psychological interpretation of the first verses of the Súra ar-Rúm "Ghulibat ar-Rúm ..." or His tablet written on the meaning of the opening verse of the first Qur'ánic Súra, the so called "Bismilláh", these all may be regarded as a proof for His extraordinary capacity to shed light on highly sophisticated Islamic philosophical, theological and in particular mystical subjects. In this presentation efforts will be made to outline the essential topics mentioned by `Abdu'l-Bahá in His commentary on the meaning of the 'Bismilláh' (published in Min Makátíb `Adbu'l-Bahá, Vol. 1, p. 32-48). `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote this Arabic commentary as part of a letter. The introductory part of this letter discloses a male person as the recipient, who inter alia seems to have asked `Abdu'l-Bahá on the meaning of the opening Súra of the Qur'án. This part includes a prayer for protection, in which `Abdu'l-Bahá alludes to the machinations of covenant-breakers. This might indicate, that the letter was written after the time of the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh. In the following commentary `Abdu'l-Bahá expounds hidden meanings of single letters of the 'Bismilláh', foremost and in detail the letter 'Bá' as an allusion to the 'Most Great Name'. Furthermore, He elucidates diverse aspects of the nouns and divine names following the first letter of this verse, such as 'ismi'lláh', 'rahmán' and 'rahím'. Whereas the first letter is interpreted in terms of an esoteric and mystical understanding, the remaining sentence is explained from a philosophical and theological perspective focussing on the subject of divine monotheism ('tawhíd'). In order to clarify and underline His position He recites and gives verbatim accounts of several Islamic thinkers, who have written interpretations on the same subject. `Abdu'l-Bahá mentions traditions attributed to the first and sixth shí`ih Imáms, and refers to quotes of Siyyid Kázim-i-Rashtí and the medieval al-Andalus Súfí Ibn al-`Arabí. The latter is also mentioned in another section of this commentary, wherein `Abdu'l-Bahá explains the importance of the holy land Israel, particularly of `Akká, as the place of appearance of God's 'Most Great Manifestation'. Thus the unfoldment of the divine salvation history ('Heilsgeschichte') is strongly connected to the 'axis mundi'. Almost all the prophets of the Adamic cycle were honoured with an encounter of this land, a holy land divinely preordained for the fulfilment of messianic expectations ('Endzeiterwartung') and predestined for the eschatological event of the greater resurrection.
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Surat al-Dhikr of the Qayyúm al-Asmá' (chapter 108): A provisional translation and commentary
In this paper a preliminary and highly provisional attempt is made to understand and translate a Surah of the Qayyum al-Asma, the first book that the Báb revealed after His declaration in 1844. The 108th Surah, which is called the Surah of Mulk (Sovereignty), is typical of the rest of the Qayyum al-Asma in its structure; it uses the same rhymes and alliterative patterns; it uses the same imagery; and its use of the Qur'an is similar. It has however a number of particular features that are of special interest. From the historical point of view, there is evidence in this Surah that it at least was written after the pilgrimage of the Báb to Mecca, thus opening up the interesting question of how much of this book was written before and how much after the Báb's pilgrimage. There is also a verse at the end which the present author would like to tentatively suggest should be understood to be onomatopoeic; in other words that it should be experienced rather than understood.
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Voicing Authority: A Baha'i Perspective
What significance does authenticity have for an artist and how might this understanding enhance an artist's practice? Drawing upon the work of three contemporary thinkers, Ken Wilber, Charles Taylor and John Miller, this presentation examines how authenticity can be important for a visual artist. The paper and presentation in particular examines the dynamics of Wilber's 'I', 'We' and 'It' model of the human spirit and explores how this can be optimised within Taylor's view of modern culture. In a context of Bahá'í teachings the presentation goes on to explore the relationship between creative and spiritual experience and examines how, by raising levels of consciousness authentic communication can be achieved via artistic expression.