The Covenant of Baha'u'llah
by Adib Taherzadeh
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chapter 21 | start page | single page | chapter 23 |  |
Chapter 22
The Bahá'à Attitude to Covenant-Breaking
Covenant-breaking is a deadly spiritual disease, and never before in the history of religion have its pernicious effects been brought to light. In this Dispensation however, the position of the Covenant-breakers and their spiritual condition have been exposed and fully examined. As we have described in a previous chapter,[1] Covenant-breaking provokes the wrath of God. Therefore, when a believer breaks the Covenant, his spiritual life-line is cut off. Although he may have great knowledge of the teachings and the history of the Faith, and may have had a brilliant record of service to the Cause, he becomes a lifeless being. Spiritually he turns blind and deaf, and his heart turns cold and bereft of faith. In reality he is not the same person any more. This is the reason why the violators of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh acted in the way they did.[1 See above, p. 167.]
We observe in nature that water can only flow from a high level to a lower one. It cannot flow to a point on the same level or on a higher one. Similarly, in order for a believer to receive the bounties of God from on high, he must be positioned at the opposite end of the scale, to be lowly, humble and self-effacing. This the Covenant-breakers were not. They aspired to be equal to the Centre of the Covenant, and thus the spiritual energies released by God could not reach them, and they became deprived of the outpouring of the spirit of faith. Their lives, once guided by the Light of Truth, were now based on falsehood. Deception, intrigue, dishonesty and violence became their way of life. These vices have proved throughout the ages to be the weapons which the ungodly uses against the righteous. But in the end they are obliterated by the power of truth.
These unholy characteristics are not exclusive to the violators at the time of Abdu'l-Bahá. The Covenant-breakers who opposed Shoghi Effendi, and those who appeared after his passing, conducted their shameful careers in the same manner.
It is necessary here to distinguish between the enemies of the Faith and Covenant-breakers. The former attack the Cause of God mainly through ignorance, and perhaps they will be forgiven by God. The latter, however, know where the Source of Truth is, but are unable to turn to it; instead, for their own selfish reasons, they knowingly rise up against it. To inflict harm upon a human being is reprehensible in the sight of God, and perhaps can be forgiven by Him. But to wilfully oppose the Cause of the Almighty and strike at its roots, as the violators of the Covenant do, are grave transgressions which are unforgivable. Christ, for example, describes this as a 'sin against the Holy Ghost'. The subject of Covenant-breaking was frequently broached by the Master according to Dr Yunis Khan's testimony. In order to protect the community from their poisonous influence, He used to speak about their schemes and intrigues, their plots and conspiracies. He often likened Covenant-breaking to a contagious disease: the only way to prevent it from spreading was to confine the patient and place him in quarantine. He used to explain that physical health is not contagious. The health of one individual has no effect on another individual. But an infectious disease spreads rapidly and can affect a multitude. Abdu'l-Bahá often explained that the protection of the believers from the deadly disease of Covenant-breaking was imperative, and could be achieved only by cutting off association with them.
In one of His last messages to the American believers, Abdu'l-Bahá warned them of the consequences of association with the Covenant-breakers. He cabled them:
"He who sits with leper catches leprosy. He who is with Christ shuns Pharisees and abhors Judas Iscariot. Certainly shun violators..." [22-1]
In many of their Tablets Bahá'u'lláh and Abdu'l-Bahá have warned the believers emphatically to avoid associating with the Covenant-breakers. In His Will and Testament, Abdu'l-Bahá admonishes them in these words:
"One of the greatest and most fundamental principles of the Cause of God is to shun and avoid entirely the Covenant-breakers, for they will utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past." [22-2]
In answer to a question Abdu'l-Bahá wrote:
"Thou hadst asked some questions; that why the blessed and spiritual souls, who are firm and steadfast, shun the company of degenerate persons. This is because, that just as bodily diseases ... are contagious, likewise the spiritual diseases are also infectious. If a consumptive should associate with a thousand safe and healthy persons, the safety and health of these thousand persons would not affect the consumptive and would not cure him of his consumption. But when this consumptive associates with those thousand souls, in a short time the disease of consumption will infect a number of those healthy persons. This is a clear and self-evident question." [22-3]
To check the spread of this spiritual disease, it is necessary not only to shun the Covenant-breakers, but also to expel them from the community in the same way that a cancerous growth is cut out of the body. As has already been stated, the Prophets of old did not establish a firm and explicit Covenant[1] with their followers, and so the adherents of past religions did not experience a discipline which necessitated the cutting off of one's association with the violators. A look at the history of religions, a history which clearly reveals the many schisms which have taken place, will amply demonstrate the danger. If, in this Dispensation, the Covenant-breakers had not been expelled and had been allowed to associate freely with the believers, certainly after a short period of time the Bahá'à community too would have been divided into sects as in other religions, its unity, which is its distinguishing feature, would have been destroyed forever and its goal of establishing the oneness of mankind on this planet brought to naught.
[1 See above, pp. 99, 158.]
In order to appreciate this matter, let us examine some of the laws of nature as applied to a human body. The Cause of God may be likened to the body of man. When healthy, the body can withstand manifold external pressures. It can endure extremes of temperature, overcome thirst and hunger, defend itself when confronted with hardship, and preserve its wholesomeness against the effects of disease. Similarly the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh can withstand the onslaught of its external enemies and can resist every opposition from its adversaries. All the persecutions whereby thousands of its followers were martyred have failed to extinguish its light, break up its unity or undermine its rising institutions.
On the other hand, a healthy person can be fatally afflicted if poison is allowed to enter his blood stream and circulate within it. Such an intrusion, if allowed to take place, will undoubtedly end the person's life. Nature has provided certain organs inside the body, an immune system which removes the unwanted poisonous substances from the blood stream and discharges them at intervals, thus cleansing the body from their deadly effects and ensuring its health and well-being.
It is the same with the Cause of God. Bahá'u'lláh has provided an instrument for casting out from the community any individual who, while claiming to be a believer, opposes the Centre of the Cause and tries to remain in the community to disrupt its foundations. When the unwholesome elements, those egotistical personalities who lust for power and are ready to sacrifice the religion of God to their own selfish desires, are expelled from the Faith, the community, cleansed from the poison of Covenant-breaking, acquires a fresh vitality and vigour, and is enabled to maintain its health, and continue its forward march toward ultimate victory.
During the days of Bahá'u'lláh the authority to expel Covenant-breakers was vested in Himself alone. Later it devolved upon Abdu'l-Bahá, as the Centre of the Covenant, and then upon Shoghi Effendi, as the Guardian of the Cause. Today this expulsion would take place by decision of the Hands of the Cause of God[1] residing in the Holy Land, subject to the approval of the Universal House of Justice.
[1 The functions of the Hands of the Cause, as defined in the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá, are mainly the protection and propagation of the Faith. Those now living were appointed by the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi.]
It is important to realize that no one is lightly or hurriedly declared a Covenant-breaker by the Centre of the Cause. Great efforts are made to enlighten the individual and guide him to the path of truth. Only when every possible effort to save him from his spiritual downfall has failed will he be expelled from the community. For example, Abdu'l-Bahá made every endeavour during the first few years of His Ministry to change the attitude of His unfaithful brothers; only after they failed to heed His counsels and intensified their rebellion did He announce them as Covenant-breakers and cast them out of the community.
Never before has a Manifestation of God created the instrument whereby the breakers of His Covenant, those who oppose the Centre of the Cause from within the community, are cast out. This is one of the unique features of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, providing a means by which the Cause of God is purged from the impurities which may force their way in from time to time.
In one of His Tablets Abdu'l-Bahá describes the Covenant-breakers as dead bodies which the ocean casts out on its shores:
"The tests of every dispensation are in direct proportion to the greatness of the Cause, and as heretofore such a manifest Covenant, written by the Supreme Pen, hath not been entered upon, the tests are proportionately more severe. These trials cause the feeble souls to waver while those who are firm are not affected. These agitations of the violators are no more than the foam of the ocean, which is one of its inseparable features; but the ocean of the Covenant shall surge and shall cast ashore the bodies of the dead, for it cannot retain them. Thus it is seen that the ocean of the Covenant hath surged and surged until it hath thrown out the dead bodies — souls that are deprived of the Spirit of God and are lost in passion and self and are seeking leadership. This foam of the ocean shall not endure and shall soon disperse and vanish, while the ocean of the Covenant shall eternally surge and roar...
"From the early days of creation down to the present time, throughout all the divine dispensations, such a firm and explicit Covenant hath not been entered upon. In view of this fact is it possible for this foam to remain on the surface of the ocean of the Covenant? No, by God! The violators are trampling upon their own dignity, are uprooting their own foundations and are proud at being upheld by flatterers who exert a great effort to shake the faith of feeble souls. But this action of theirs is of no consequence; it is a mirage and not water, foam and not the sea, mist and not a cloud, illusion and not reality. All this ye shall soon see." [22-4]
Those who are expelled from the Faith as Covenant-breakers are left to their own devices. The believers will never oppose them in their activities and they are left free to continue their actions against the Cause of God. But the history of the Faith demonstrates that by their very opposition to the Centre of the Faith they sow the seeds of their own extinction, and after a while fade away ignominiously. Their position is like that of a branch once it is cut off from the tree. At first it is green and appears to have some life, but as it has no root, it will inevitably wither and die.
Severing association with Covenant-breakers must not be confused with acts of opposition or hatred toward them. Dr Yunis Khan recounts a story of Abdu'l-Bahá which throws light on this subject. The following is a summary translation of a part of his memoirs:
"Sometimes in the course of His talks, Abdu'l-Bahá used to explain that Covenant-breaking exerts an evil influence upon the conduct and morals of the public. The seed of sedition which the Covenant-breakers have sown among the people is capable of inclining the world of humanity toward ungodliness and iniquity. Therefore, the believers must manifest righteousness and divine virtues in their lives, so as to remove the foul odour of this rebellion from the world. At the same time they will have to be vigilant and resourceful lest the Covenant-breakers influence public opinion, because whenever their foul breath reaches a certain area, it impairs the spiritual nostrils of the people and obscures their vision. Consequently these people are unable to inhale the sweet savours of holiness, or to behold the effulgence of the divine light...
"One of the important duties enjoined upon the loved ones of God is to make every endeavour to prevent the Covenant-breakers from infiltrating the Bahá'à community...
"Abdu'l-Bahá quoted Bahá'u'lláh as saying that should one who is a follower of Mirza Yahya be living in a town, the foul odour of his presence will linger for a long time in that town and the progress of the Cause of God will be impeded there. The Master gave the example of the City of Kirman[1] and said that the breath of the Covenant-breakers [Muhammad-'Ali and his associates], which is none other than the tempting of Satan, is far more deadly than that of the followers of Mirza Yahya...
[1 A city in Persia where some notorious Azalis (followers of Mirza Yahya) were living.]
"One day when this servant and two other friends were in Abdu'l-Bahá's presence, He was talking in the same vein about Covenant-breakers... At one point I remembered an incident which happened in Tihran, and in order to support His arguments, I said: 'A new school has recently been opened in Tihran, and Hubbu'llah, a son of the notorious Jamal-i-Burujirdi [father and son were both Covenant-breakers], was being considered for employment as a teacher. As soon as we heard of this, the Hands of the Cause, two other friends and myself consulted together in a meeting and agreed to do everything in our power to prevent the appointment of Hubbu'llah to this post. We sent a certain individual to persuade the school authorities not to appoint him...'
"I had not yet finished my sentence, when Abdu'l-Bahá interrupted me and instead of praising our action, said: 'Do you mean to say that you consulted together and decided to stop a Covenant-breaker earning a living? This is not the way to serve the Cause of God. In matters connected with one's livelihood there should be no differentiation between a believer and a Covenant-breaker. The loved ones of the Abha Beauty must be the signs of the bounty of God among the people. They should, like the sun, illumine the world, and like the clouds of the spring season rain down upon everything. They must not look upon the capacity and worthiness of the individual...' Abdu'l-Bahá spoke in this vein to us for some time and I hung my head in shame!" [22-5]
In many of their Tablets Bahá'u'lláh and Abdu'l-Bahá exhorted the believers to show the utmost kindness to all, including their enemies, and to pray for them.
In His Will and Testament Abdu'l-Bahá counsels His loved ones in these words:
"Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindred and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness; that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Baha, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancour may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you show your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust toward you show justice towards them, should they keep aloof from you attract them to yourself, should they show their enmity be friendly towards them, should they poison your lives, sweeten their souls, should they inflict a wound upon you, be a salve to their sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of the truthful!" [22-6]
Whereas association with the peoples of the world is enjoined on the Bahá'Ãs, the Covenant-breakers are a legitimate exception. They are cast out of the community and shunned by the believers, but to hate, oppose or confront them is against the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. The above story by Dr Yunis Khan demonstrates that Bahá'Ãs are forbidden to take any measures designed to harm the Covenant-breakers or obstruct their personal work and activities. On the contrary, knowing that these people are misguided and ignorant of the truth, the believers should overlook and forgive their transgressions. Following in the foot-steps of the Master, they are encouraged to feel the utmost compassion toward them in their hearts, for they are aware that unless these misguided souls change their ways, their plight will be disastrous and their end perilous. Since they do not associate with Covenant-breakers, the only way they can help them is to pray that they may be guided to the pathway of truth. Indeed, a number of Covenant-breakers have recognized their folly, repented to the Centre of the Cause, been forgiven and welcomed back into the Bahá'à community. The following prayer of Abdu'l-Bahá for the Covenant-breakers, who had inflicted untold sufferings upon Him for almost three decades, demonstrates that although the Bahá'Ãs shun these sick souls, they do not bear antagonism or hatred toward them in their hearts.
"I call upon Thee, O Lord my God! with my tongue and with all my heart, not to requite them for their cruelty and their wrong-doings, their craft and their mischief, for they are foolish and ignoble and know not what they do. They discern not good from evil, neither do they distinguish right from wrong, nor justice from injustice. They follow their own desires and walk in the footsteps of the most imperfect and foolish amongst them. O my Lord! Have mercy upon them, shield them from all afflictions in these troubled times and grant that all trials and hardships may be the lot of this Thy servant that hath fallen into this darksome pit. Single me out for every woe and make me a sacrifice for all Thy loved ones. O Lord, Most High! May my soul, my life, my being, my spirit, my all be offered up for them. O God, my God! Lowly, suppliant and fallen upon my face, I beseech Thee with all the ardour of my invocation to pardon whosoever hath hurt me, forgive him that conspired against me and offended me, and wash away the misdeeds of them that have wrought injustice upon me. Vouchsafe unto them Thy good gifts, give them joy, relieve them from sorrow, grant them peace and prosperity, give them Thy bliss and pour upon them Thy bounty.
"Thou are the Powerful, the Gracious, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting!" [22-7]
It is helpful at this juncture to clarify the difference between Covenant-breakers and those who withdraw from the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. There are always a small number of individuals who recognize Bahá'u'lláh as the Manifestation of God, embrace His Faith, and even become active members of the community, but later, for some reason, change their minds and withdraw from the Faith. Such individuals are not Covenant-breakers. The Bahá'Ãs will maintain friendly relationships with such people and respect their decision to withdraw their membership in the Faith. Bahá'u'lláh has enjoined upon His followers to associate with them in a spirit of love and fellowship.
There is another category of believers who become deprived of their administrative rights by the sanction, at the present time, of the National Spiritual Assemblies. This happens when the individual flagrantly breaks certain laws of Bahá'u'lláh which are related to social or administrative activities and by so doing brings disgrace upon the Faith. Although not Bahá'Ãs in good standing, these people are nevertheless part of the community and may, under certain conditions, regain their administrative rights.
Abdu'l-Bahá has described Covenant-breaking as a contagious disease and therefore counselled the believers for the sake of their own salvation and the unity of the community, to cut their association from Covenant-breakers and have no personal contact with them. By the same token, the believers are also strongly discouraged from reading their propaganda, for their words also can inject poison into the mind. When Mirza Muhammad-'Ali distributed his false propaganda against the Centre of the Covenant, the recipients in Persia who were loyal to the Faith used to return his communications to him sealed and unread. The same is true today.
By their fidelity, courage, and faith, the believers during the Ministries of Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi rallied around the Centre of the Cause, guarded the stronghold of the Faith, protected it from the onslaught of the Covenant-breakers, and prevented them from spreading their venom among the believers. Thus they handed down to later generations a world-wide community whose unity is firmly established and the invincibility of its rising institutions fully demonstrated.
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