A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.
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A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.
The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »
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Introduction ix |
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One hundred years ago, Bahá’u’lláh, Founder
of the Bahá’í Faith, proclaimed in clear and unmistakable
language, to the kings and rulers of
the world, to its religious leaders, and to mankind
in general that the long-promised age of world peace
and brotherhood had at last dawned and that He Himself
was the Bearer of the new message and power from God
which would transform the prevailing system of antagonism
and enmity between men and create the spirit and form
of the destined world order.
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At that time the splendour and panoply of the monarchs
reflected the vast power which they exercised, autocratically
for the most part, over the greater portion of the
earth. Bahá’u’lláh, an exile from His native Persia for His
religious teaching, was the prisoner of the tyrannical, all-powerful
Sulṭán of the Ottoman Empire. In such circumstances
He addressed the rulers of the world. His Tablets to
particular kings and to the Pope, although delivered, were
either ignored or rejected, their wise counsels and dire
warnings went unheeded, and in one instance the bearer
was cruelly tortured and killed.
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Bahá’u’lláh, viewing that old world and seeing it ‘at the
mercy of rulers so drunk with pride that they cannot discern
clearly their own best advantage’ declared that
‘…the strife that divides and afflicts the human race is
daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and
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chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing
order appears to be lamentably defective.’ Although
painting in sombre tones the ‘divine chastisement’ which
would assail most of those rulers and engulf in ruin the
peoples of the world, He nevertheless left no doubt about
the outcome. ‘Soon’, He declared, ‘will the present day
order be rolled up and a new one spread out in its stead.’
Since the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh in 1892, in the Holy
Land, the rolling up of the old order has become the daily
experience of mankind and no abatement of this process is
discernible. The essence of Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order is
the unity of the human race. ‘O ye children of men’, He
writes, ‘the fundamental purpose animating the Faith of
God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote
the unity of the human race…’ And He warns, ‘The
well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable
unless and until its unity is firmly established.’
The achievement of this unity is Bahá’u’lláh’s declared
mission and the aim of all Bahá’í activity. Its outline and
structure are indicated in the following passage from the
writings of Shoghi Effendi, great-grandson of Bahá’u’lláh
and Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith:
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The unity of the human race, as envisaged by
Bahá’u’lláh, implies the establishment of a world
commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and
classes are closely and permanently united, and in
which the autonomy of its state members and personal
freedom and initiative of the individuals that
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compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded.
This commonwealth must, as far as we can
visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose members
will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately
control the entire resources of all the component
nations, and will enact such laws as shall be required
to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust
the relationships of all races and peoples. A world executive,
backed by an international Force, will carry
out the decisions arrived at, and apply the laws enacted
by, this world legislature, and will safeguard the organic
unity of the whole commonwealth. A world
tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory
and final verdict in all and any disputes that may arise
between the various elements constituting this universal
system. A mechanism of world inter-communication
will be devised, embracing the whole planet,
freed from national hinderances and restrictions, and
functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect
regularity. A world metropolis will act as the nerve
centre of a world civilization, the focus towards which
the unifying forces of life will converge and from
which its energizing influences will radiate. A world
language will either be invented or chosen from
among the existing languages and will be taught in
the schools of all the federated nations as an auxiliary
to their mother tongue. A world script, a world literature,
a uniform and universal system of currency, of
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weights and measures, will simplify and facilitate intercourse
and understanding among the nations and
races of mankind. In such a world society, science and
religion, the two most potent forces in human life, will
be reconciled, will co-operate, and will harmoniously
develop. The press will, under such a system, while
giving full scope to the expression of the diversified
views and convictions of mankind, cease to be mischievously
manipulated by vested interests, whether
private or public, and will be liberated from the influence
of contending governments and peoples. The
economic resources of the world will be organized, its
sources of raw materials will be tapped and fully utilized,
its markets will be co-ordinated and developed,
and the distribution of its products will be equitably
regulated.
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National rivalries, hatreds and intrigues will cease,
and racial animosity and prejudice will be replaced by
racial amity, understanding and co-operation. The
causes of religious strife will be permanently removed,
economic barriers and restrictions will be completely
abolished, and the inordinate distinction between
classes will be obliterated. Destitution on the one hand,
and gross accumulation of ownership on the other,
will disappear. The enormous energy dissipated and
wasted on war, whether economic or political, will be
consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of
human inventions and technical development, to the
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increase of the productivity of mankind, to the extermination
of disease, to the extension of scientific research,
to the raising of the standard of physical health,
to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain,
to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources
of the planet, to the prolongation of human
life, and to the furtherance of any other agency that
can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual
life of the entire human race.
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A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and
exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably
vast resources, blending and embodying
the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated
from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on
the exploitation of all the available sources of energy
on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force
is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained
by its universal recognition of one God and by its
allegiance to one common Revelation—such is the
goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying
forces of life, is moving.
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Bahá’u’lláh’s message is one of hope, of love, of practical
reconstruction. Today we reap the appalling results of our
forebears’ rejection of His divine call; but today there are
new rulers, new people, who perchance may hear and
avoid or mitigate the severity of impending catastrophe. It
is with this hope and believing it to be its sacred duty, that
the Universal House of Justice, the international governing
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body of the Bahá’í Faith, proclaims again, through publication
of these selected passages, the essence of that
mighty call of a century ago. In the same hope and belief
the Bahá’ís throughout the world will do their utmost during
this centenary period to bring to the attention of their
fellow-men the redeeming fact of this new outpouring of
divine guidance and love. We believe they will not labour
in vain.
Haifa, 1967 |
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