Archive for the ‘Aqdas and Law’ Category
Posted by Sen on May 18, 2011
On the Talisman discussion list, a participant noted:
> We appear to have three somewhat contradictory choices for the age of consent, according to Sen: 14 years old; 15 years old,; or “unknown” / not yet decided
The reason the question comes up, is that there’s a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi that says “There is no specific minimum age mentioned in the Baha’i teachings at which girls may marry,” yet there is a specific minimum age for marriage given in the Kitab-e Aqdas. They can’t both be right. Or can they?
There’s a way of having your cake and eating it to, squaring the circle, even perhaps escaping the iron law of the exuding middle (see my profile). Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Aqdas and Law | Tagged: Age of consent, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, Marriage, Shoghi Effendi, بهائی, بهائیت | 9 Comments »
Posted by Sen on November 22, 2010
This tablet by Abdu’l-Baha, dated around 1899, responds to detailed questions, “concerning the wisdom of referring some important laws to the House of Justice.” Abdu’l-Baha replies that, in principle, the Baha’i Faith is similar to Christianity, whose scriptures also specify only a few laws.
The Bahai Faith, he says, has little connection to worldly concerns. Religion’s primary function is to refine characters and bring light in darkness. However the Bahai scriptures do specify some foundations of our religious law, leaving subsidiary matters to the divinely-inspired House of Justice, which can make ‘cultural laws,’ (ahkaam madaniyyih) in accordance with time and circumstance. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Aqdas and Law, Ethics and Morality, Translations | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai Faith, Bahai law, House of Justice, religious law, بهائی, بهائیت, عبدالبهاء | 2 Comments »
Posted by Sen on September 14, 2010
Continuing with the readings from Nader Saiedi’s Gate of the Heart, I’ve turned to the first of six principles of moral and spiritual action that Saiedi finds in the Persian Bayan. He calls it ‘the mystic character of action.’ Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Aqdas and Law, Theology | Tagged: Aqdas, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, Nader Saiedi, Persian Bayan, The Bab | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Sen on February 21, 2010

Abdu’l-Baha’s “last tablet to America” was published in Star of the West and Bahai World Faith. It is a long tablet, and of some historical and doctrinal importance. It deals primarily with the importance of the Bahais shunning “any person in whom they perceive the emanation of hatred for the glorious Beauty of Abha” or “violators” — Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Aqdas and Law, Bahai Writings, Community, Defence of the Faith | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai, Bahai Faith, covenant-breaker, covenant-breaking, Star of the West, بهائی, عبدالبهاء | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Sen on May 11, 2009
This posting points out that there is a clear procedure for the appointment of a legitimate Guardian of the Bahai Faith, and none of the claimants satisfy it. Therefore, all the past claimants and present hopefuls are counterfeit.
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Posted in Aqdas and Law, Defence of the Faith | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Guardianship, Hands of the Cause, hermeneutics, Mason Remey, secret ballot, Will and Testament, بهائی, بهائیت, عبدالبهاء | 10 Comments »
Posted by Sen on April 11, 2009
I happened recently to be reading the wikipedia page for the Bahai Calendar and noted that it said “Like Islam, Friday is also the day of rest in the Baha’i Faith.”
That’s not true for Islam: Friday is the day on which attendance at the congregational prayers at noon in the mosque is obligatory for those Muslims who are able, but it is not a ‘day of rest’ in Islam. But what about the Bahai Faith? We do not say our obligatory prayers in congregation (although we may say them, each for himself, during the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar service, but that is another story). Do we have a day of rest, as the wikipedia article says?
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Posted in Aqdas and Law, Bahai Writings, Community, Devotions, Translations | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Aqdas, Badi` Calendar, Baha'i calendar, Baha'u'llah, Bahai Faith, bahai theology, Bayan, day of rest, dhikr, Friday prayers, Gerald Keil, Mason Remey, remembrance of God, sabbath, Sunday, The Bab, بـهاءالله, بهائی, بهائیت, عبدالبهاء | 10 Comments »
Posted by Sen on March 29, 2008
I first wrote this as an email posting on 1 Jan 2008. I’ve reworked it as a blog entry. It concerns one of the things that puzzles Bahais from a Christian or non-religious background: what is ‘religious law’ and how do we treat the Kitab-e Aqdas?
Usually this comes up not as a broad theoretical question, but in terms of particulars. Why do women seem to be disadvantaged in the inheritance law, why are they treated differently in regard to some religious duties, and what is that verse about having no more than two wives?
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Posted in Aqdas and Law, Bahai Writings, Community | Tagged: Aqdas, Bahai, bigamy, equality, inheritance, kitab-i-aqdas, religious law, religious pluralism, supercession, two wives, women, بـهاءالله, بهائیت, عبدالبهاء | 22 Comments »