The Covenant of Baha'u'llah

by Adib Taherzadeh

chapter 32

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chapter 34

Chapter 33

The Onward March of the Faith

These are the words of Abdu'l-Bahá testifying to the power of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh:

"Today, the Lord of Hosts is the defender of the Covenant, the forces of the Kingdom protect it, heavenly souls tender their services, and heavenly angels promulgate and spread it broadcast. If it is considered with insight, it will be seen that all the forces of the universe, in the last analysis serve the Covenant. In the future it shall be made evident and manifest. In view of this fact, what can these weak and feeble souls achieve? Hardy plants that are destitute of roots and are deprived of the outpourings of the cloud of mercy will not last. What then may be expected from feeble weeds?" [33-1]

Opposition from outside enemies contributes to the growth of the body of the Cause; while opposition from within cleanses it from impure elements. Far from destroying the Cause of God, opposition has enhanced its prestige and added vitality to its inner spirit, as history demonstrates. The contrast between the progressive advancement of the Faith on the one hand, and the decline in the fortunes of the Covenant-breakers on the other, has never been so obvious as in the period of Shoghi Effendi's ministry. It was during this time that the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh encircled the globe and the institutions of the Administrative Order took firm root throughout the world. In the earlier part of his ministry, Shoghi Effendi wrote these words:

"From the record of its tumultuous history, almost every page of which portrays a fresh crisis, is laden with the description of a new calamity, recounts the tale of a base betrayal, and is stained with the account of unspeakable atrocities, there emerges, clear and incontrovertible, the supreme truth that with every fresh outbreak of hostility to the Faith, whether from within or from without, a corresponding measure of outpouring grace, sustaining its defenders and confounding its adversaries, has been providentially released, communicating a fresh impulse to the onward march of the Faith, while this impetus, in its turn, would through its manifestations, provoke fresh hostility in quarters heretofore unaware of its challenging implications — this increased hostility being accompanied by a still more arresting revelation of Divine Power and a more abundant effusion of celestial grace, which, by enabling the upholders of that Faith to register still more brilliant victories, would thereby generate issues of still more vital import and raise up still more formidable enemies against a Cause that cannot but, in the end, resolve those issues and crush the resistance of those enemies, through a still more glorious unfoldment of its inherent power.

"The resistless march of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, viewed in this light, and propelled by the stimulating influences which the unwisdom of its enemies and the force latent within itself, both engender, resolves itself into a series of rhythmic pulsations, precipitated, on the one hand, through the explosive outbursts of its foes, and the vibrations of Divine Power, on the other, which speed it, with ever-increasing momentum, along that predestined course traced for it by the Hand of the Almighty." [33-2]

As one surveys the progress of the Faith during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi, it becomes apparent that one of his great achievements was to bring about unity between the various elements which constituted the Bahá'í community in the early years of the Formative Age. When Abdu'l-Bahá passed away there was very little Bahá'í literature available in the West and the teachings of the Faith had not fully penetrated the hearts of the believers there. Consequently, one could find some very strange ideas about the Faith circulating among the believers in that part of the world. In Persia, the Cradle of the Faith, the Bahá'ís were still identified with their old religions. They were even referred to as Bahá'ís from the Muslim, the Jewish or Zoroastrian backgrounds. Although there was unity of belief and thought concerning the station of Bahá'u'lláh among the various sections of the community, the differences in their background, culture and social habits were discernible to all. For instance, Jewish Bahá'ís had their own meetings, distinct from the meetings held by Muslim Bahá'ís. The same was true of Zoroastrian Bahá'ís. Of course, there were occasions when the whole community worked together and whenever circumstances permitted held large gatherings — such as on Bahá'í holy days, when Bahá'ís of different religious backgrounds met together in a spirit of joy and unity. Nevertheless there were social barriers between these three groups of Bahá'ís in Persia. One of the great achievements of Shoghi Effendi was to transform these differences into unity. Then, towards the end of his ministry, he brought together the Bahá'ís of the East and the West in a world-embracing fellowship — the international Bahá'í community.

By the time the Ten Year Crusade was launched in 1953, all the Bahá'ís were working together in a spirit of absolute unity and love under the guidance and leadership of Shoghi Effendi. Indeed, one of the Guardian's feats was the formation of a community spread throughout the world, consisting of peoples of every colour and former creed, of diversified backgrounds, young and old, educated and unlettered, tribal people and citizens of various cultures, speaking different languages and dialects, yet all united in one Faith, practising the same religious teachings, building the same Administrative Order, and having one common purpose — the establishment of the oneness of mankind on this planet. Each local community with its Local Spiritual Assembly was linked to a National Assembly and through that institution to the World Centre of the Faith, described by Shoghi Effendi as the heart of the Bahá'í world. From this mighty heart, the vivifying forces of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh flowed through the national and local institutions of the Faith to every believer in five continents of the globe, uniting and harmonizing their activities in the building of Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic institutions everywhere on the surface of the earth.

Another outstanding step taken during the Guardian's ministry was the vast extension in the range of Bahá'í literature, which had been limited to only a few languages during the lifetime of Abdu'l-Bahá. This was raised to about two hundred and forty languages and dialects,[1] thus enabling the words of Bahá'u'lláh and His teachings to be widely disseminated among the diversified nations and peoples of the world.
[1 At the time of writing this book, this number has increased to over eight hundred.]

The utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and Abdu'l-Bahá enshrine the truths of God's Revelation for this age. To use an analogy, each one of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings and ordinances resembles a piece of a colossal jigsaw puzzle. Each piece has a unique place in the overall scheme which, when assembled, produces a certain image intended by the makers. A player may be familiar with each piece, but not until the whole set is assembled can he see the full picture emerge before his eyes. The same is true of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. The scholars of the Faith and those who were well-versed in the Holy Writings and the history of the Cause had full knowledge of the teachings and were able to appreciate the significance of His utterances as well as some of the events which were associated with them. But they did not have the vision to fully grasp the overall features of the Faith. At the close of Abdu'l-Bahá's Ministry, the Bahá'ís were enamoured of Bahá'u'lláh, but at the same time, many had their own crude ideas about the Faith and its true status.

It was the Guardian who through his writings constructed, as in the above analogy, a full image of the Faith for the Bahá'ís to see. He put together all the elements of truth enshrined in the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh, related them to each other, defined the verities of the Faith, explained their significance, clarified the station of its Herald, its Author, and the Centre of its Covenant, described the glorious destiny of its Administrative Order and portrayed the splendours of the Golden Age during which the sovereignty of Bahá'u'lláh will be established on the surface of the earth and His grandeur acclaimed by the generality of mankind. Thus, the Guardian presented the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh to the Bahá'í community in its true perspective. This is one of his greatest gifts to this generation and to future generations yet unborn.

Shoghi Effendi has explained in his writings that during the Formative Age, the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh will pass through distinct epochs in the course of its development. The Cause of God has an organic pattern of growth and like any other living organism, develops and attains specific conditions at certain points in its life. The Cause of God too passes through progressive stages in a single evolutionary process.

The First Epoch of the Formative Age began with the ministry of Shoghi Effendi in 1921. As stated in Chapter 26, in the first sixteen years the Guardian concentrated on teaching the believers how to build Spiritual Assemblies and the Bahá'í administration. He explained the function, scope and ultimate purpose of local and national institutions. After this period, the first Seven Year Plan of the American believers was launched by the Guardian in 1937. We have already made a brief reference[1] to the significance of this Plan, an enterprise of great significance in the prosecution of the divine mandate conferred on the American believers by Abdu'l-Bahá, and which marks an important development in the history of the Administrative Order of the Faith. By 1946, twenty-five years had passed from the inception of the Administrative Order; Shoghi Effendi designated this entire period as the First Epoch of the Formative Age, and from his other writings we gather that this First Epoch ended between 1944 and 1946. In his message dated June 1947 to the North American community, he describes the main features of this First Epoch in these words:
[1 See above, p. 315-15.]

"The first epoch witnessed the birth and the primary stages in the erection of the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith — the nucleus and pattern of its World Order — according to the precepts laid down in Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament, as well as the launching of the initial phase of the world-encompassing Plan bequeathed by Him to the American Bahá'í Community. That epoch was characterized by a two-fold process aiming at the consolidation of the administrative structure of the Faith and the extension of the range of its institutions. It witnessed, on the one hand, the emergence and the laying of the groundwork of that embryonic World Order... It was marked on the other hand by the launching, in the Western Hemisphere, of the first stage of a Plan whose ... Charter was revealed by the Centre of His Covenant in the evening of His life." [33-3]

The scope of the progress of the Cause and the expansion of its institutions during this period may be realized from the following statement by the beloved Guardian:

"The subsequent quarter of a century [1921-1946] constituting the first Epoch of the Formative Age of the Bahá'í Dispensation, witnessed the planting of the banner of the Faith in over forty territories of the globe, raising the number of countries included within its pale, on the eve of the Centenary Celebrations of the Declaration of the Bab's Mission to seventy-eight." [33-4]

Apart from the expansion of the Faith, other important events took place in the First Epoch; we have referred to them previously.[1]
[1 See above, pp. 304-6.]

The Second Epoch of the Formative Age began in 1946 when the Guardian gave the North American believers the second Seven Year Plan, of far greater consequence than the first. Of this Epoch Shoghi Effendi wrote in 1947:

The Epoch we have now entered is destined to impart a great impetus to this historic, this two-fold process. It must witness, on the one hand, the consummation of a laboriously constructed Administrative Order, and, on the other, the unfoldment of successive stages in the development of Abdu'l-Bahá's Plan beyond the confines of the Western Hemisphere and of the continent of Europe." [33-5]

We note that the main feature of the Second Epoch was the two-fold process of building the institutions of the Faith and extending their range through the operation of the teaching plans. In his cable (December 1951) to the Bahá'í world, the Guardian outlines some of the main features of the First and Second Epochs of the Faith in these words:

"Quarter century constituting opening epoch this Age signalized successively by erection consolidation over period no less than sixteen years of local, national institutions of Bahá'í Administrative Order in five continents of globe in conformity with provisions of the Will of Centre of Covenant, and initiation of first Seven Year Plan by American Bahá'í Community ... opening years of the second epoch of the Formative Age now witnessing at long last commencement of third vast majestic fate-laden process following two above-mentioned developments destined through gradual emergence of the manifold institutions in World Centre of the Faith as crown of the administrative structure of Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic World Order." [33-6]

The expansion of the Faith in the Second Epoch was prodigious, a phenomenal growth of the Cause mainly due to the formulation by the Guardian of first the series of national Plans and later the launching of the Ten Year World Crusade. As a result of these almost two hundred and sixty countries, territories and islands were opened to the Faith and the number of localities in which Bahá'ís resided increased to over eleven thousand.[1] Some of the other achievements of the Second Epoch have already been described. The establishment of the Universal House of Justice in the Second Epoch had also been implied in the message. The Universal House of Justice did come into being during this epoch, and, as we shall see later, a few months after its formation it announced to the Bahá'í world the opening of the Third Epoch of the Formative Age.[2]
[1 In the year 1991, this number has reached over 108,000. The Faith is growing so rapidly that any statistical figure will be out of date within days.]
[2 The Fourth Epoch of the Formative Age began in 1986.]

It is appropriate at this juncture to refer to the Tablets of the Divine Plan of Abdu'l-Bahá. This series of fourteen Tablets addressed to the North American Bahá'ís, and revealed during the First World War, constitute the Charter for teaching the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh throughout the World. Shoghi Effendi has stated that the process of teaching the Faith would also go through different epochs. These are distinct from the epochs of the Formative Age and should not be confused with them. The First Epoch of the Tablets of the Divine Plan began in 1937 with the first American Seven Year Plan and ended with the launching of the Ten Year Crusade in 1953 when the Second Epoch began, continuing until the present time in the year 1991. But whenever the Universal House of Justice perceives that teaching work has assumed new dimensions, it may usher in a new epoch of the Tablets of the Divine Plan.

It is important to bear in mind these epochs, like those of the Formative Age, are not merely divisions created to satisfy the statistical aspect of the Faith. Rather, they are distinct stages in the unfoldment of the Cause of God. They resemble the growth of the embryo in the womb where, at different times, it develops certain limbs and organs, each one contributing to its progressive evolution. As one studies the progress of the Faith during the first two epochs of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, it becomes apparent that teaching opportunities in the First Epoch were far less than those during the Second. No doubt future epochs will witness far greater victories for the Cause of God on a global scale.

Any unbiased observer who looks back upon the ministry of Shoghi Effendi will be astonished at the range of his stupendous achievements, which can only be described as miraculous. Every major accomplishment during this period took place because of the Guardian's encouragement and guidance to the Bahá'ís of the world. Had it not been for him, the Formative Age of the Faith would never have unfolded itself, and the institutions of the Faith, destined to be channels for the flow of the spiritual forces released by the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, would have remained unbuilt. Indeed, it is impossible to imagine how the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh could have survived in the world had it not been for the institution of the Guardianship. Shoghi Effendi was appointed by Abdu'l-Bahá, the divine Architect, to build the foundations of His world-embracing institutions for mankind. It was he who fashioned the Administrative Order, devised the plans, and spurred on the Bahá'ís to implement them. He laid down the base and erected the pillars which, today, sustain and buttress the mighty edifice of the Universal House of Justice. It was he who through his masterly translations and his own original writings expounded the true nature of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh for the public in general and Bahá'ís in particular.

And it was he who accomplished the most momentous feat of welding and organising the loosely-knit, struggling and heterogenous groups and elements which composed the Bahá'í world of the time of Abdu'l-Bahá into a united and harmoniously-functioning, world-encircling community which is unique in the annals of religion, and which is destined to be the glory, the promise and the harbinger of that Kingdom of God on earth foretold by the Prophets of the past and whose establishment in future centuries is to be the main outcome of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.

chapter 32

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chapter 34