The Universal House of Justice is an elected body that serves as the head of the world-wide Bahai community. It is empowered to decide when Bahai laws are applicable for Bahais, to provide the necessary framework so that they can be applied, and to make laws and rulings for situations that are not covered in Bahai scripture. So it has a very important role in Bahai community life. Unlike all the other Bahai institutions and roles and positions in community life, membership of the Universal House of Justice is, at least for now, reserved for men. I will return to that ‘for now’ briefly, at the end of this posting. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for May, 2010
Too tender for the House?
Posted by Sen on May 23, 2010
Posted in Church and State, Community, source criticism | Tagged: Church and State, feminism, House of Justice, International Tribunal, Organic unity, Sen McGlinn, women's rights, World Order of Baha'u'llah, بهائیت, سن مک گلین | 44 Comments »
Shoghi Effendi’s prayers
Posted by Sen on May 18, 2010
I recently found out the Bab, Baha’u’llah, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, and Shoghi Effendi all revealed prayers. Only prayers of the first three have been translated into English. Why aren’t Shoghi Effendi’s prayers translated yet?
The short answer is, it has been done, but seldom, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, Devotions | Tagged: Bahai prayers, Sen McGlinn, Shoghi Effendi, سن مک گلین, شوقی افندی | Leave a Comment »
O God, refresh and gladden my spirit
Posted by Sen on May 13, 2010
One of the friends asked for the Persian text of the well-known prayer that begins, “O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand….”
I had to disappoint him: there is no Persian original for this. It comes from the Diary of Mirza Ahmad Sohrab for May 9, 1914. He would write his diary in Persian, and later translate parts of it into English and distribute the translations. In this case, his handwritten English translation has survived in manuscript (a friend has a copy), and contains this prayer, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings, Devotions, source criticism | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai lore, Bahai prayers, pilgrim's notes, Sen McGlinn, Star of the West, بهائیت, سن مک گلین, عبدالبهاء | 7 Comments »
Abdu’l-Baha on theosophy
Posted by Sen on May 9, 2010
This letter from Abdu’l-Baha to Thornton Chase was published in Star of the West, and has been picked up in the Bahai-library project that is republishing these tablets. After answering a question about Baha’u’llah’s Arabic Hidden Word 13, Abdu’l-Baha discusses pantheism, incarnation, gnosticism, and reincarnation. Direct references to theosophy in Abdu’l-Baha’s writings are rare, but there are a considerable number of talks by Abdu’l-Baha addressed to theosophists, five of which have the status of Bahai scripture since they are backed by Persian notes: those given on 29 May (or 30 May), 24 July, and 4 December 1912 and on 9 January and 14 February 1913. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Bahai Faith, Sen McGlinn, Star of the West, theosophy, Thornton Chase, سن مک گلین, عبدالبهاء | 1 Comment »
All the forces of the Universe . . .
Posted by Sen on May 4, 2010
This letter from Abdu’l-Baha to Mr. and Mrs. MacNutt, written in July 1919, is interesting for its mention of an incident during Abdu’l-Baha’s time in America, when one of his entourage used his position to beg for money, for its characterisation of the fruitlessness activities of the followers of Kheiralla and Mirza Muhammad Ali as foam on the ocean waves, for the loving mention of Lua Getsinger, who had died three years earlier, and not least because it is one of the few works of Abdu’l-Baha translated by Shoghi Effendi. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bahai Writings | Tagged: Abdu'l-Baha, Aminu'llah Farid, Arianism, Arius, Bahai Faith, Green Acre, Habib Mu'ayyad, Howard MacNutt, Lua Getsinger, Mary Jane Pinchot, Mary MacNutt, Marzieh Gail, Mirza Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Zarqani, Sen McGlinn, Shoghi Effendi, theosphists, بهائی, بهائیت, سن مک گلین, عبدالبهاء | 3 Comments »
Thank you Roger, that is insightful and helpful to readers. The direct link to your paper is here: https://bahai-library.com/coe_organic_order/ I…