The Covenant of Baha'u'llah
by Adib Taherzadeh
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chapter 12 | start page | single page | chapter 14 |  |
Chapter 13
Principal Covenant-Breakers during the Ministry of Abdu'l-Bahá
When the Kitab-i-'Ahd was read no one among the family of Bahá'u'lláh or the believers questioned its authenticity. Even Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, the chief violator of its provisions, accepted the fact that the Will and Testament was in the handwriting of Bahá'u'lláh Himself. Nevertheless, as has already been stated, this unfaithful brother tried very hard through interpolation and corruption of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and by forging documents, to discredit the person of Abdu'l-Bahá. At the same time he began to sow seeds of doubt concerning Abdu'l-Bahá in the minds of the believers in the Holy Land through misrepresentation. At first this rebellion was covert, but it gathered momentum during the first few years of Abdu'l-Bahá's Ministry until it turned into a most vicious campaign of open hostility and opposition towards Him, creating the most serious crisis in the history of the Faith since the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh.In order to survey, however briefly, the nefarious activities of the Covenant-breakers during Abdu'l-Bahá's Ministry, it is necessary to mention a few individuals who were the props and mainstay of Mirza Muhammad-'Ali in his activities. Foremost among them in the Holy Land was Majdu'd-Din, the son of Aqay-i-Kalim, the noble brother of Bahá'u'lláh. He was the backbone, the motivating force behind Mirza Muhammad-'Ali. He had married Samadiyyih, Mirza Muhammad-'Ali's sister, and was a bitter enemy of Abdu'l-Bahá. Abdu'l-Bahá prophesied that Majdu'd-Din would live a long life to see the triumph of the Cause and the frustration of his evil plots. This prophecy was fulfilled: he lived to be over a hundred years old and saw the birth of the Administrative Order, the child of the Covenant, and the strengthening of its foundations by Shoghi Effendi. Majdu'd-Din died in 1955, two years after the Ten Year Crusade was launched by the Guardian, having witnessed the indisputable ascendancy of the Covenant and the extinction of his hopes and evil designs.
Another ally and close companion of Mirza Muhammad-'Ali was his youngest brother Mirza Badi'u'llah. We have already described the story of his short-lived repentance.[1] His shameful activities against the Centre of the Covenant, and his opposition at a later date to Shoghi Effendi will be referred to in the following pages. It is interesting to note that Mirza Badi'u'llah also lived a long life and died at an advanced age.
[1 See above, pp. 152-3.]
Bahá'u'lláh's other son, Mirza Diya'u'llah, was a vacillating person who wavered in his allegiance to the Centre of the Covenant; he was easily manipulated and became a willing tool in the hands of Mirza Muhammad-'Ali. He lived in the Mansion of Bahji along with the rest of the family, all of whom were affected by the spirit of Covenant-breaking. Mirza Diya'u'llah died in 1898 not very long after the passing of Bahá'u'lláh. He did not live to take an effective part in all the hostile activities which his brother was conducting against Abdu'l-Bahá. After his death Abdu'l-Bahá said that He had forgiven him.
Apart from these members of Bahá'u'lláh's family who rose up against Abdu'l-Bahá, there were others in the Holy Land who joined hands with them. Notorious among them was Mirza Aqa Jan, Bahá'u'lláh's amanuensis, who had fallen from grace during the last months of Bahá'u'lláh's Ministry.[1]His rebellion against the Centre of the Covenant wiped out his forty-year record of service to Bahá'u'lláh and stained the annals of the Faith.
[1 See The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 1, pp. 41-42.]
Another opponent of the Covenant was Muhammad-Javad-i-Qazvini. He first attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad; some years later he went to Adrianople and remained in the service of Bahá'u'lláh there. He was among those who accompanied Him to Akka, was the recipient of His boundless favours, transcribed His Writings, and was entitled 'Ismu'llahu'l-Javad' (The Name of God Javad) by Him. Muhammad-Javad was an arrogant man who after the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh betrayed his Lord and became one of the adversaries of Abdu'l-Bahá in spite of Abdu'l-Bahá's efforts to protect him from Mirza Muhammad-'Ali's wicked designs. Although he was devoid of knowledge and learning, he attacked the Centre of the Covenant in his venomous writings which contain many inaccuracies, falsehoods and calumnies.
At the same time as the believers in the Holy Land were being tested by the disease of Covenant-breaking, a number of outstanding teachers of the Faith in Persia who were ambitious for the leadership of that community also defected and rose up in opposition against the Centre of the Covenant. The main source of rebellion was the proud and egotistical Jamal-i-Burujirdi. For many years during Bahá'u'lláh's Ministry this ambitious and deceitful man was foremost among the teachers of the Faith and his fame had spread throughout the community. Bahá'u'lláh concealed his faults, revealed many Tablets in his name, entitled him 'Ismu'llahu'l-Jamal' (The Name of God Jamal), exhorted him to faithfulness and purity of motive, at times admonished him for those of his actions which were harmful to the Faith, and overlooked his shortcomings with forbearance and magnanimity. However, his hypocrisy was known to those who were close to him. Before embracing the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, Jamal had been a learned mujtahid from the town of Burujird. Many Bahá'Ãs in Persia who could not see his deceitful and egotistical nature looked upon him as a man of God and treated him with great respect. It was after the passing of Bahá'u'lláh that Jamal showed his true colours, rejected the Covenant and rebelled against its Centre.
There were other teachers of the Faith in Persia who were also proud and ambitious. Notorious among them was Siyyid Mihdiy-i-Dahaji entitled by Bahá'u'lláh 'Ismu'llahu'l-Mihdi' (The Name of God Mihdi). He too was treated with loving kindness and forbearance by Bahá'u'lláh, was an eloquent teacher of the Cause and highly esteemed by the believers. Jalil-i-Khu'i was another well-known believer, for whom Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Tablet of Ishraqat. These men and several others who were engaged in the service of the Cause during Bahá'u'lláh's Ministry but who in their hearts lusted for glory and leadership of the community, were tested through the institution of the Covenant. They failed to comply with the provisions of the Kitab-i-'Ahd, broke the Covenant and were expelled from the community.
Those who are unfamiliar with the workings of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh may find it difficult to understand the reasons why these hypocritical, proud and ambitious men were not cast out of the community by Bahá'u'lláh Himself during His lifetime since He was well aware of their corruption and deceit. To appreciate this important point, one must remember that although the Manifestation of God continually urges the believers to purify their motives in the service of the Cause and exhorts them to remove every trace of hypocrisy from their hearts, He does not question those motives. Rather He looks upon them with a sin-covering eye and instead of examining their hearts to find their faults and shortcomings, He calls upon them to serve His Cause and praises them when they do so. Through the outpouring of loving kindness and encouragement He seeks to improve the character of those who have embraced His Cause. Only if a believer arises to actively oppose the Centre of the Cause will he then need to be cast out of the community.
Jamal, and others like him who later became Covenant-breakers, were assiduously serving the Cause during Bahá'u'lláh's Ministry. They did not rise up to oppose His Cause or His Person. Consequently, they received His blessings and favours continually. However, when the provisions of the Kitab-i-'Ahd were announced and the faithful were separated from the unfaithful, they cut themselves off from the body of the Cause of God.
One of the main factors which turns a believer into a Covenant-breaker is ambition to become prominent in the community, to rise to a high station within the Faith. This is the common objective of most Covenant-breakers. Such individuals have not realized that the only station which God has destined for man is that of servitude — servitude to God and servitude to his fellow-man. Bahá'u'lláh has abolished priesthood and to no one has He given any authority to rule over others. There are no individual leaders in the Bahá'à community, and the Faith does not harbour egotistical personalities. Of course there are learned Bahá'Ãs, outstanding teachers, administrators and pioneers, but none of these people, however outstanding, can exert authority over the community. Their greatness is in their humility, servitude and self-effacement. Those who rebelled against the Covenant did not understand or pay attention to this principle, of such importance to the Covenant of God with man.
In this life we note that opposites attract each other like the poles of a magnet. God and man may be said to be positioned on the two opposite poles. God is the Sovereign Lord of all, and man a humble servant, hence there is a force of attraction between the two. 'I loved thy creation, hence I created thee', [13-1] is the voice of God addressing His servants. God is the possessor of all divine attributes. But by reason of His Sovereignty, He cannot be humble. The best gift, then, which man can offer to God is the only one which He does not already possess, namely, humility and servitude. These are the most befitting attributes for man. The lordship of God and the servitude of man are opposites bound together by the force of love. On the other hand, we note in the analogy of the magnet that similar poles repel each other. Therefore, should an individual, having recognized a Manifestation of God, aspire to reach His station or attempt to appear equal with Him, such an act will provoke the wrath of God and there will be a force of repulsion between the two parties. This is Covenant-breaking.
In the Tablet of the Holy Mariner,[1] whose main theme is the Covenant, Bahá'u'lláh confirms that should man be desirous to rise to that level which is beyond him and which is solely ordained for God's Chosen Ones, he will be cast out from the realms on high. These are His words:
[1 The full text of this Tablet, with an explanation of its significance, is given in The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 1, ch. 14.]
"...They have desired to ascend unto that state which the Lord hath ordained to be above their stations.
"Whereupon the burning meteor cast them out from them that abide in the Kingdom of His Presence,
"And they heard the Voice of Grandeur raised from behind the unseen pavilion upon the Height of Glory:
"'O guardian angels! Return them to their abode in the world below.
"'Inasmuch as they have purposed to rise to that sphere which the wings of the celestial dove have never attained...'"
Mirza Yahya through his actions proved to be the fulfilment of these words, for he longed to take the place of Bahá'u'lláh and, indeed, when formally apprised in Adrianople of Bahá'u'lláh's claim he made his counterclaim and announced himself as the bearer of a new Revelation.
Mirza Muhammad-'Ali was the same. He knew the station of Abdu'l-Bahá as the Centre of the Covenant, the One to whom all believers must turn. Yet he wanted to be a partner with Abdu'l-Bahá. The fact that Mirza Muhammad-'Ali rose up with all his power to oppose Abdu'l-Bahá is a clear sign that he considered himself equal to the Master.
A child will never challenge a giant to a fight, because he knows that he is no match for the giant. But a man who chooses to fight with another, must of necessity regard himself to be possessed of at least the same strength as his opponent. The very act of opposition by one party is in itself an indication that it considers itself to be on a par with the other. All those who became Covenant-breakers were in this category. They rose up in opposition against the Centre of the Cause, but in reality their opposition amounted to exalting themselves to a position from which they were able to encounter Abdu'l-Bahá and challenge His authority. Consequently, as in the analogy of the poles of the magnet, they were rejected and cast out of the community of the Most Great Name.
Another feature of these episodes of Covenant-breaking which has puzzled many people is the fact that almost the entire family of Bahá'u'lláh defected. Why is it that those who were nearest to Him, who were members of His household, His sons and daughters, should be foremost among the violators of His Covenant? In normal circumstances when a person attains a prominent position in the community, it is often the family members who rally around him and lend their whole-hearted support. But in the case of Bahá'u'lláh, it was the reverse, and as we shall see, a similar situation was created within the family of Abdu'l-Bahá after His passing. To appreciate the reasons for this, we observe once again that the proper attitude of a believer towards the Manifestation of God should be a true demonstration of servitude, self-effacement and complete obedience. Whenever these qualities are absent, a barrier will be created between man and God. In such a case the believer may be associating with the Manifestation of God in person, yet because of this barrier, he will not be able to appreciate His glory or become enchanted with His Revelation.
One might, by way of analogy, compare such believers to those who, with no knowledge of mathematics, go to hear an eminent mathematician expounding his theories. Obviously, they are not able to understand him or appreciate his brilliant work. They can see him in no other light than that of an ordinary human being whose words are incomprehensible to them. So they begin to judge the scientist by their own standards and consequently remain unmoved by his intellectual powers. The closer they are to him, the better they can see his personal and human nature, which acts as a barrier and hides his greatness from them. Only those who understand mathematics can appreciate the real genius of the scientist. In their view, his scientific knowledge outweighs his human characteristics, and therefore they do not focus their attention on his outward appearance and human limitations.
This analogy sheds light on the Covenant-breaking by most members of Bahá'u'lláh's family and on the reasons for their unfaithfulness to Him. Mirza Muhammad-'Ali and his kinfolk who followed him did not possess that spiritual quality which makes a man humble and enables him to recognize the splendours of God's Revelation in this day. Because of their ambitious nature and their lack of spirituality and self-effacement, their inner eyes were blinded — unable to discern Bahá'u'lláh's spiritual powers. They could see Him only with their outward eyes, and because they were closest to Him, they saw Him as an ordinary human being. They found Him to be, in their estimation, just a great man and nothing more. In reality they had not recognized Bahá'u'lláh as a Manifestation of God. As long as Bahá'u'lláh was among them, they were subdued by His authority and at the same time basked in the sunshine of His favours and were accorded honours and privileges by His followers. But after His ascension, these same members of His family turned their backs on Him and broke His Covenant.
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