“One hour’s reflection is preferable to seventy years of pious worship” — Islamic Hadith as quoted by Baha’u’llah[1]

On June 18th, 1983 in Shiraz Iran, Mona, a 17 year old girl was hung together with 9 other women because of their membership in the Baha’i Faith. During her final interrogation Qazai, the Judge, after insulting her a long time, told her that her parents had deceived and misled her and accused her of following them without being aware of what she was doing. She replied,

Mona Mahmudnizha

“Although I was born in a Baha’i family, according to Baha’i principles, we have to search for the truth ourselves rather than imitate our family’s ideas and that is exactly what I have done. You have many of our Baha’i books here and you could read them and find this out for yourself. They never insisted on my becoming a Baha’i or accepting their ideas. If Your Honor insists that I recant my Faith, I should assure you that I will never do that and that I am ready to be executed.”[2]

Qazai, was shocked at that point and looked at her angrily, saying, “You are just a child. How could you possibly know the real meaning of the word Faith?” Mona replied,

“What more proof do you need than that I was dragged out of school and put in jail and now, for many months, have endured all these interrogations for the sake of my religion. What else but my Faith could give me the strength and power to stand here in front of you and answer your Questions.”[2]

What is this Faith which Mona speaks of? Why did Mona and many others choose death over life for it? How is this different from the fanatic who would blow themselves up? The exchange between Mona and the Judge is instructive, since it hints at answers to these questions. We have in the Judge Qazai and Mona representatives of two versions of this idea of faith.

Adelabad prison in Shiraz where Mona and the other 9 Baha’i women where held before their execution

On one side the Judge, who motivated by what he thinks is faith mocks, tortures and orders the execution of an innocent girl. His brand of faith is not dissimilar to the so-call faith which has afflicted our world with violence. Ultimately, it is conceived in imitation, perpetuated by fear and nurtured by hatred and lusts for the promises of an after-life. It embodies a crude paradigm of divine barter, which infuse the roots of most religious traditions. Here deeds and beliefs held in this world are traded for pleasures of Heaven and the avoidance of punishments of Hell. This paradigm, perhaps served a valuable function in the past by extending the rule of law beyond the society’s physical ability to reward and punish. However, when judged carefully, it is scarcely different in spirit and substance than the materialistic motivations and physical lusts which this brand of faith routinely condemns. The only difference is that the rewards and punishments are deferred. It is this type of faith which the Bab, himself a martyr herald of the revelation of Baha’u’llah, critiqued,

“WORSHIP thou God in such wise that if thy worship lead thee to the fire, no alteration in thine adoration would be produced, and so likewise if thy recompense should be paradise. Thus and thus alone should be the worship which befitteth the one True God. Shouldst thou worship Him because of fear, this would be unseemly in the sanctified Court of His presence, and could not be regarded as an act by thee dedicated to the Oneness of His Being. Or if thy gaze should be on paradise, and thou shouldest worship Him while cherishing such a hope, thou wouldst make God’s creation a partner with Him, notwithstanding the fact that paradise is desired by men.”[3]

As the Bab explains, from an Islamic point of view, this is really what is called ‘shirk’, or from a Judao-Christian point of view, joining partners with God. Here heaven and hell are co-worshiped with the Divine, thus sheering religion of the altruistic love of God. I think when carefully considered, this type of sin is at the heart of the violent manifestation of fanaticism which the Judge embodies. This is because it reduces all interactions including those of the spirit to legalistic relationships devoid of the nuance which only love can bring. It further results in the narrowing and closing up the intellectual process into formulaic deductions of religious cannon.

Thus it is that Baha’u’llah clearly counseled against an education which relies solely on this approach: “Schools must first train the children in the principles of religion,….but this in such a measure that it may not injure the children by resulting in ignorant fanaticism and bigotry”[3], and again, with powerful prophetic vision warned against, saying, “Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire”[5]. On the other side, the girl who is unwilling to be dishonest about her faith to save her own life. Whose faith utterly disavows violence in its name. Instead, preaches love and forgiveness for ones enemies. This faith is conceived through the freedom of thought, independent investigation of truth; that belief is not based on blind imitation. In the words of Abdu’l-Baha:

“ the breeding-ground of all these tragedies is prejudice: prejudice of race and nation, of religion, of political opinion; and the root cause of prejudice is blind imitation of the past — imitation in religion, in racial attitudes, in national bias, in politics. So long as this aping of the past persisteth, just so long will the foundations of the social order be blown to the four winds, just so long will humanity be continually exposed to direst peril…..blind imitation of the past will stunt the mind. But once every soul inquireth into truth, society will be freed from the darkness of continually repeating the past.”[6]

This faith is further nurtured with altruistic love embodied by Baha’u’llah’s pronouncement,

An illuminated copy of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, commissioned by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1902.

“ The Tongue of My power hath, from the heaven of My omnipotent glory, addressed to My creation these words: “Observe My commandments, for the love of My beauty.” Happy is the lover that hath inhaled the divine fragrance of his Best-Beloved from these words, laden with the perfume of a grace which no tongue can describe.”[7]

The pivotal difference between Mona and the Judge is blind imitation versus independent thought, which is embodied in the Hadith “One hour’s reflection is preferable to seventy years of pious worship”[1] . The Baha’i viewpoint is that every human being is endowed with the capacity to recognize spiritual truth. The caveat is that they must be willing to reflect and consider it with an objective mind, with their own eyes and judgment and not simply ape the opinions and rituals of their parents and society.

Part of the confusion is that in reality, faith is not just a synonym for belief as many might think. In the later it is expressed as belief in some basic divine transactional relationship. In the former, it is the human capacity to know and love God, born of the objectivity manifested in the opening verses of Baha’u’llah’s Book of Certitude, “No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth.” [1] For if a person simply imitates they will be incapable of having their soul enkindled with the fire of the love of God. While they may experience what they think is divine love, in fact it is very different, and embodies a defensive, tribalistic love generated through imitation and a feeling of group belonging or heritage. For if they have never bothered to put at ‘risk’ their treasured conceptions or beliefs one can never experience a ‘true understanding’, which underlies the commandment to know and love God.

The 10 women hung in Shiraz on June 18th, 1983

Abdu’l-Baha explains that the divine type of love represents a new higher form of life. In this point of view existence is divided into several levels: mineral, vegetable, animal, human and the spirit of faith.

“But the Spirit of Faith which is of the Kingdom (of God) consists of the all-comprehending Grace and the perfect attainment (or salvation, fruition,achievement) and the power of sanctity and the divine effulgence from the Sun of Truth on luminous light-seeking essences from the presence of the divine Unity. And by this Spirit is the life of the spirit of man, when it is fortified thereby, as Christ saith: “That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.”..” [8]

This new type of existence is called by various names; the Spirit of Faith, the Kingdom of God, or being born again:

“Just as man has been physically born into this world, he may be reborn from the realm and matrix of nature, for the realm of nature is a condition of animalism, darkness and defect. In this second birth he attains the world of the Kingdom. …This is the station which Christ has interpreted as the second birth. He says that just as ye were physically born from the mother into this world, ye must be born again from the mother world of nature into the life of the divine Kingdom” [9]

The appearance of this new type of existence actually represents the very purpose of Creation:

“Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him— a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation….” [5]

From this vantage point humanity is likened to a mirror or lamp of God which requires illumination or enkindlement and this Spirit of Faith is that fire or light:

“ Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty. These energies with which the Day Star of Divine bounty and Source of heavenly guidance hath endowed the reality of man lie, however, latent within him, even as the flame is hidden within the candle and the rays of light are potentially present in the lamp. The radiance of these energies may be obscured by worldly desires even as the light of the sun can be concealed beneath the dust and dross which cover the mirror. Neither the candle nor the lamp can be lighted through their own unaided efforts, nor can it ever be possible for the mirror to free itself from its dross. It is clear and evident that until a fire is kindled the lamp will never be ignited, and unless the dross is blotted out from the face of the mirror it can never represent the image of the sun nor reflect its light and glory” [5]

Thus kindling this Spirit of Faith is the very point of our existence and the Universe’s. The agency for lighting this fire is the words of God and through them the action of the holy spirit. Abdu’l-Baha goes on to explain how one can assist others to acquire this faith. In reality he is describing the process of illuminating ones own soul. In response to the question of teaching the faith he tells us:

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Head of the Bahá’í Faith after the passing of Bahá’u’lláh.

“The first thing to do is to acquire a thirst for Spirituality, then Live the Life! Live the Life! Live the Life! The way to acquire this thirst is to meditate upon the future life. Study the Holy Words, read your Bible, read the Holy Books, especially study the Holy Utterances of Bahá’u’lláh; Prayer and Meditation, take much time for these two. Then will you know this Great Thirst, and then only can you begin to Live the Life!” [10]

If we consider these steps more carefully we can see that acquiring the thirst for spirituality, this first step, requires one to abandon thoughts of annihilation. Abdu’l-Baha explains:

“The conception of annihilation is a factor in human degradation, a cause of human debasement and lowliness, a source of human fear and abjection. It has been conducive to the dispersion and weakening of human thought, whereas the realization of existence and continuity has upraised man to sublimity of ideals, established the foundations of human progress and stimulated the development of heavenly virtues..” [9]

The second step in this process involves study and “experiencing” the words of God, prayer and meditation. The words of God are a mystical and powerful channel through which the Manifestation of God kindles this fire or new life within humanity.

“Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb. Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul. Thus have the mysteries of the Revelation of God been decreed by virtue of the Will of Him Who is the Source of power and wisdom” [11]

The final step is to live the life. What that means is explained in the following way by Abdu’l-Baha:

“To be no cause of grief to anyone, to love each other truly. To be kind to all people, and to love them with a pure spirit. Should opposition or injury happen to us, we must bear it and be as kind as we can be, and above all, we must love the people. Should the utmost calamity happen to us, we must rejoice, for these things are the Gifts of God. To be silent concerning the faults of others, to pray for them, and help them, through kindness, to correct their faults, To look always at goodness and not at evil. If a man has ten good qualities and one bad one, we must look at the ten and forget the one: and if a man has ten bad qualities and one good one, we must look at the one and forget the ten. To never allow ourselves to speak an unkind word about another, even though that other be our enemy. To rebuke those who speak to us of the faults of others. All our deeds must be done to promote the welfare and happiness of others. To be occupied in spreading the teachings, for only through obedience to this command will we receive the power and confirmation of the Spirit. To detach our hearts from ourselves and from the world. To be humble. To be the servants of each other, and to comprehend that we are less than our fellow-creatures. To be as one soul in many bodies for the more we love each other the nearer we will be to God; and our love, our unity, our obedience, must not be in word only but in reality. To act with cautiousness and wisdom. To be truthful. To be hospitable. To respect the rights of others. To be a cause of healing for the sick; a comforter to the sorrowful; a heavenly table for the hungry; a guide to the erring; rain for cultivation; a star for every horizon; a light in darkness; a herald to all those waiting for the Kingdom of God.”[12]

If we don’t become enkindled in this life we may loose our chance “O MY SERVANT! Free thyself from the fetters of this world, and loose thy soul from the prison of self. Seize thy chance, for it will come to thee no more.”[13] This illumination is attainable in this world we don’t need to and shouldn’t wait till we die. There is an overwhelming and intoxicating power at the heart of this existence which is known as the Kingdom of Heaven. We just have to be willing to reach for it to put at risk our preconceptions, prejudices and tear the collective veils from our hearts and eyes to experience it.