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Those named infidels (unbelievers) in various Holy Books.
1)
Unbelievers (infidels) are those
who rejected the Twelve Holy Imams (Qur'án 9:32); cited in
"Introduction to Shi'i Islam" by Moojan Momen, p. 151-153 as well as in various writings of Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha. Below,
Abdu'l-Baha refers to those who rejected the Twelve Apostles of Christ:
"Fain would they put out God's light with their mouths: but God hath
willed to perfect His light, albeit the infidels abhor it."
9:32 Fain would they extinguish God's light with their mouths, but God
will not allow but that His light should be perfected, even though the
Unbelievers [infidels] may detest (it).
-- Qur'an: 9 - AT-TAUBAH.
In the days of Jesus only a few individuals turned their faces toward
God; in fact only the twelve disciples and a few women truly became
believers, and one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot apostatized from
his Faith, leaving eleven. After the ascension of Jesus to the Realm of
Glory, these few souls stood up with their spiritual qualities and with
deeds that were pure and holy, and they arose by the power of God and
the life-giving breaths of the Messiah to save all the peoples of the
earth. Then all the idolatrous nations as well as the Jews rose up in
their might to kill the Divine fire that had been lit in the lamp of
Jerusalem. "Fain would they put out God's light with their mouths: but
God hath willed to perfect His light, albeit the infidels abhor it."[2]
Under the fiercest tortures, they did every one of these holy souls to
death; with butchers' cleavers, they chopped the pure and undefiled
bodies of some of them to pieces and burned them in furnaces, and they
stretched some of the followers on the rack and then buried them alive.
In spite of this agonizing requital, the Christians continued to teach
the Cause of God, and they never drew a sword from its scabbard or even
so much as grazed a cheek. Then in the end the Faith of Christ
encompassed the whole earth, so that in Europe and America no traces of
other religions were left, and today in Asia and Africa and Oceania,
large masses of people are living within the sanctuary of the Four
Gospels.
[1 Qur'án 7:171: Yawm-i-Alast, the Day when God, addressing Adam's
posterity-to-be, said to them, "Am I not your Lord?" (a-lastu bi
Rabbikum) and they replied: "Yea, we bear witness."]
[2 Qur'án 9:33.]
-- Abdu'l-Baha, The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 45
2)
In the passage below (a
provisional translation), Imam Ali states that those who don't
recognise Him with luminousness (as a Manifestation of God -- the first
Dependent/Lesser Prophet in the era of Muhammad) "their souls will be
in perdition" [are infidels]. In the same passage, Imam Ali states,
"Muhammad is our first, Muhammad our last, Muhammad our all" which is
cited by Baha'u'llah in the Kitab-i-Iqan when explaining the "station
of pure abstraction and essential unity" of the Manifestations of God; including as examples, Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus, Muhammad and the Holy Imams.
He whose acceptance of my guardianship is based on external reality
more than internal truth, he is that one "whose balance will be
light"[4] Those whose scale will be light, their souls will be in
perdition.[5] O Salmán! The faith of no believer will attain perfection
unless and until he recognizeth Me with luminousness. If he attaineth
unto this, then he hath truly attained faith; he is the one whose heart
is tested with true faith, whose breast is dilated in true Islám and
whose faith is based on discernment. He who is convicted of shortcoming
in this cognition - he will be a doubter, immersed in disbelief.
O Salmán! and O Jandáb![6] In truth, recognition of Me in luminousness
is the recognition of God,[7] and Recognition and knowledge of God is
indeed knowledge of Me; this is what is meant by sincere devotion.[8]
Mankind was not ordered by God to seek naught except to attain unto
this unity.[9] They were commanded to worship but One God.[10] And they
have been commanded no more than this: "To worship God, offering Him
sincere devotion, being true (in faith), to establish regular prayer;
and to practice regular charity; and that is the Religion Right and
Straight."[11]
"Worshipping God" is belief in Divine Unity. "Sincere devotion" and
"being true in Faith"[12] is confession of the Prophethood of the
Prophet. "Establishing Prayer" is my Guardianship and Friendship.[13]
He who pledges fealty and friendship unto Me hath truly established the
obligatory prayer. Yet, this matter is hard, exceedingly hard! "Regular
charity" in the above verse is confession to the Imámate. All this is
the true religion.[14]
The Holy Qur'án hath testified that true Faith is recognition of divine
unity and confession to both the Prophet and the Imámate. He who
attaineth unto both hath fulfilled his faith. A true believer is the
one who does not reject any matter pertaining to Us, for God Himself
hath dilated His Breast such that He may accept all. He will not doubt
or be mistrustful. He who cavileth why and wherefore becometh a
disbeliever. We are, verily, the Cause of God![15]
O Salmán! O Jandáb![16] Verily, God hath made me His Trustee over His
creation and His Vicegerent on His earth, in His territories, and over
His servants. He hath given Me what no artist can depict and no man of
understanding can truly comprehend. If thou wert to know Me in this
fashion, thou shalt attain unto true belief.[17]
O Salmán! God, exalted be He saith: "Nay, seek God's help with patient
perseverance and prayer: it is indeed hard except to those who bring a
lowly spirit."[18] "Patient perseverance" is Muhammad and "Prayer" is
my Wilayat.[19] Thus, that is why God hath declared it is hard. He doth
not reveal the Two[20] are hard. In truth, My Guardianship is
perplexing only to those who bring a lowly spirit. These latter are
they who have sought discernment using the light of My guidance.
O Salmán! We are the Mystery of God[21] that shalt not remain hidden.
We are His light that shalt never be extinguished, His Grace that is
expected from none other save Him. Muhammad is our first, Muhammad our
last, Muhammad our all![22] Muhammad is our first, Muhammad our last,
Muhammad our all. He who recognizeth Us in this regard hath, in truth,
consummated his Faith.
-- Imam Ali, Sermon of Ma'rifat bin-Nuraaniyyat (Recognition with Luminousness) - a provisional translation by K. Fananapazir.
Notes and full tablet available at: https://bahai-library.com/imam-ali_marifat_nuraniyyat
3)
In the passage below, the Bab
states that the Holy Imams are the "Proof of God", and the deeds of
those who reject them are "worthless in the sight of God". As indicated
in the Iqan, the Holy Imams and David were Manifestations of God
(Dependent/Lesser Prophets). The subsequent passage by Baha'u'llah
states the fundamental importance of recognising and following the
Manifestations of God (both Independent Prophets and Dependent (Lesser)
Prophets) when they appear.
No doubt is there that obedience is unacceptable except through
obedience to the Proof of God. Had that not been so, then the deeds of
them that showed enmity towards the People of the House would have been
mentioned before God, whereas in this day, all decree that none should
worship them, nor have their deeds borne any fruit. In this way, the
non- Shi'is today act in accordance with the decrees of the Qur'án,
whereas, since they have turned aside from the Imamate (vilayat), these deeds are worthless in the sight of God.
-- The Bab, The Persian Bayan
Say: O ye manifestations of My Names! Should ye offer up all that ye
possess, nay your very lives, in the path of God, and invoke Him to the
number of the grains of sand, the drops of rain, and the waves of the
sea, and yet oppose the Manifestation of His Cause
at the time of His appearance, your works shall in no wise be mentioned
before God. Should ye, however, neglect all righteous works and yet
choose to believe in Him in these days, God perchance will put away
your sins. He, verily, is the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful. Thus
doth the Lord inform you of His purpose, that haply ye may not wax
proud before the One through Whom whatsoever hath been revealed from
all eternity hath been confirmed. Happy is he who approacheth this Most
Sublime Vision, and woe to them that turn aside!
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 45
4)
In the following passage, Baha'u'llah states that those who reject Imam
Ali (the first Dependent Prophet in the era of Muhammad) "brought about
your own perdition"; same as what Imam Ali himself states in the
"Sermon of Ma'rifat bin-Nuraaniyyat (Recognition with Luminousness)",
same as what is stated in the Quran about those who reject the Holy
Imams (See references to the Imams in the Quran here).
Say I swear by God! They to whom you attribute knowledge and have
accepted them as your divines they are in the sight of God the worst of
men nay the quintessence of evil flees from them. Thus has the matter
been inscribed in the scrolls of God's knowledge. We testify that they
have not drunk from the fountains of knowledge and they have not
attained unto a word of Wisdom and have not become aware of the
mysteries of Revelation and have been racing in the land of their
selfish desires. Nothing of rejection and denial against a prophet or a
successor of a prophet has come to pass except after their permission.
Thus has always been their injunction carried out on the Countenances
of holiness.
Say to them: O ignorant ones! Did We not reveal in the past: "A Day
that God shall come in the canopies of clouds."[4] How is it that when
He came down in the clouds of Revelation in the Temple of 'Ali [Imam
Ali], you turned away and rejected Him and waxed haughty and brought
about your own perdition?[5] Was it not also revealed in your Book:
"the Day when Thy Lord comes or certain of the signs of Thy Lord."[6]
And when He did come with evident signs wherefore did ye turn away from
those signs and veiled yourselves with the veils of self?..
[4] Qur'án 2:210.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih-i-Sabr (Lawh-i-Ayyúb), Surih of Patience or Tablet of Job - (a provisional translation by K. Fananapazir)
208. O ye who believe! enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not
the footsteps of the Evil One; for he is to you an avowed enemy.
209. If ye backslide after the clear (signs) have come to you, then know that Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.
210. Will they wait until Allah comes to them in canopies of clouds,
with angels (in His train) and the question is (thus) settled? But to
Allah do all questions go back (for decision).
211. Ask the Children of Israel how many Clear (Signs) We have sent
them. But if anyone, after Allah's favor has come to him, substitutes
(something else), Allah is strict in punishment.
212. The life of this world is alluring to those who reject faith, and
they scoff at those who believe. But the righteous will be above them
on the Day of Resurrection; for Allah bestows His abundance without
measures on whom He will.
-- The Qur'an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2.
5)
In the passage below, "a company of His chosen ones
who shall be manifested unto men", who will "Go forth with the Tablet
of God and His signs, and rejoin them that have believed in Me
[Baha'u'llah]", is a reference to the Dependent/Lesser Prophet(s) of
Baha'u'llah; and those who reject them "render their works vain" and
are "numbered with the infidels"; the same as those who rejected the Holy Imams in the era Muhammad.
There lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for the service of God, a company of His chosen ones
who shall be manifested unto men, who shall aid His Cause, who shall be
afraid of no one, though the entire human race rise up and war against
them. These are the ones who, before the gaze of the dwellers on earth
and the denizens of heaven, shall arise and, shouting aloud, acclaim
the name of the Almighty, and summon the children of men to the path of
God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised. Walk thou in their way, and let
no one dismay thee. Be of them whom the tumult of the world, however
much it may agitate them in the path of their Creator, can never
sadden, whose purpose the blame of the blamer will never defeat.
Go forth with the Tablet of God and His signs, and rejoin them that
have believed in Me, and announce unto them tidings of Our most holy
Paradise. Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him. Say: I
am come to you, O people, from the Throne of glory, and bear you an
announcement from God, the Most Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Most
Great. In mine hand I carry the testimony of God, your Lord and the
Lord of your sires of old. Weigh it with the just Balance that ye
possess, the Balance of the testimony of the Prophets and Messengers of
God. If ye find it to be established in truth, if ye believe it to be
of God, beware, then, lest ye cavil at it, and render your works vain,
and be numbered with the infidels. It is indeed the sign of God that
hath been sent down through the power of truth, through which the
validity of His Cause hath been demonstrated unto His creatures, and
the ensigns of purity lifted up betwixt earth and heaven.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 280
6)
Below is another reference from
Baha'u'llah on the importance of understanding divine mysteries in
order to recognise the Prophets, and not be numbered with the infidels.
O thou who art standing before My Throne and yet remain unaware
thereof! Know thou that whoso seeketh to scale the summits of the
divine mysteries must needs strive to the utmost of his power and
capacity for his Faith, that the pathway of guidance may be made clear
unto him. And should he encounter One Who layeth claim to a Cause from
God, and Who holdeth from His Lord a testimony beyond the power of men
to produce, he must needs follow Him in all that He pleaseth to
proclaim, command and ordain, even were He to decree the sea to be
land, or to pronounce earth to be heaven, or that the former lieth
above the latter or below it, or to ordain any change or
transformation, for He, verily, is aware of the celestial mysteries,
the unseen subtleties, and the ordinances of God.
31
Were the peoples of every nation to observe that which hath been
mentioned, the matter would be made simple unto them, and such words
and allusions would not withhold them from the Ocean of the names and
attributes of God. And had the people known this truth, they would not
have denied God's favours, nor would they have risen against, contended
with, and rejected His Prophets. Similar passages are also to be found
in the Qur'án, should the matter be carefully examined.
32
Know, moreover, that it is through such words that God proveth His
servants and sifteth them, separating the believer from the infidel,
the detached from the worldly, the pious from the profligate, the doer
of good from the worker of iniquity, and so forth. Thus hath the Dove
of holiness proclaimed: "Do men think when they say 'We believe' they
shall be let alone and not be put to proof?"
-- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 24
1.54
Among the infidels are those
who have repudiated His Self and risen up against His Cause, and who
claim that these divine verses are contrived. Such also were the
objections of the deniers of old, who now implore deliverance from the
Fire. Say: Woe betide you for the idle words that proceed from
your mouths! If these verses be indeed contrived, then by what proof
have ye believed in God? Produce it, if ye be men of understanding!
Whensoever We revealed Our clear verses unto such men, they rejected
them, and whensoever they beheld that which the combined forces of the
earth are powerless to produce, they pronounced it sorcery.
1.55
What aileth this people that they speak of that which they understand
not? They raise the same objections as did the followers of the Qur'án
when their Lord came unto them with His Cause. They, verily, are a
rejected people. They hindered others from appearing before Him Who is
the Ancient Beauty, and from sharing the bread of His loved ones.
"Approach them not," one was even heard to say, "for they cast a spell
upon the people and lead them astray from the path of God, the Help in
Peril, the Self-Subsisting." By the righteousness of the one true God!
He who is incapable of speaking in Our presence hath uttered such words
as none among the former generations hath ever spoken, and hath
committed such acts as none of the unbelievers of bygone ages hath ever
committed.
1.56
The very words and deeds of these men bear eloquent testimony to the
truth of My words, if ye be of them that judge with fairness. Whosoever
attributeth the verses of God to sorcery hath not believed in any of
His Messengers, hath lived and laboured in vain, and is accounted of
those who speak that of which they have no knowledge. Say: O servant!
Fear God, thy Creator and thy Fashioner, and transgress not against
Him, but judge with fairness and act with justice. Those whom the Lord
hath endued with knowledge shall find, in the very objections raised by
the unbelievers, conclusive proofs to invalidate their claims and
vindicate the truth of this manifest Light. Say: Would ye repeat that
which the unbelievers uttered when a Message came unto them from their
Lord? Woe betide you, O assemblage of foolish ones, and blighted be
your works!
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 27
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