Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh
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A Covenant in the religious sense is a binding agreement made between God and man wherein a certain behavior is required of man and in return God guarantees certain blessings. There are numerous Covenant references in the Bible.
In the Bahá'í Faith there is a distinction between a Greater Covenant which is made between every Manifestation of God and His followers concerning the next dispensation, and a Lesser Covenant that concerns successorship of authority within the religion after the Manifestation dies.
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[edit] Greater covenant
The greater covenant refers to the covenant made by God with mankind, and each Messenger promising the coming of the next.
[edit] Background
For contextual background it is helpful to start with a well-known Islamic tradition concerning God and His creation:
| I was a Hidden Treasure. I wished to be made known, and thus I called creation into being in order that I might be known. [1] |
The Writings of Bahá'u'lláh affirm and expand on this tradition while also affirming and expanding on doctrines of previous religions concerning the superiority of God over His creation and mankind's inability to ever fully comprehend His essence.
[edit] Manifestation
According to the Bahá'í Writings the way that God reveals(manifests) Himself to mankind is through Divine Educators. `Abdu'l-Bahá explains this station:
| God is pure perfection, and creatures are but imperfections. For God to descend into the conditions of existence would be the greatest of imperfections; on the contrary, His manifestation, His appearance, His rising are like the reflection of the sun in a clear, pure, polished mirror. All the creatures are evident signs of God, like the earthly beings upon all of which the rays of the sun shine. But upon the plains, the mountains, the trees and fruits, only a portion of the light shines, through which they become visible, and are reared, and attain to the object of their existence, while the Perfect Man [the Divine Manifestation] is in the condition of a clear mirror in which the Sun of Reality becomes visible and manifest with all its qualities and perfections. So the Reality of Christ was a clear and polished mirror of the greatest purity and fineness. The Sun of Reality, the Essence of Divinity, reflected itself in this mirror and manifested its light and heat in it; but from the exaltation of its holiness, and the heaven of its sanctity, the Sun did not descend to dwell and abide in the mirror. No, it continues to subsist in its exaltation and sublimity, while appearing and becoming manifest in the mirror in beauty and perfection.
Now if we say that we have seen the Sun in two mirrors-- one the Christ and one the Holy Spirit--that is to say, that we have seen three Suns, one in heaven and the two others on the earth, we speak truly. And if we say that there is one Sun, and it is pure singleness, and has no partner and equal, we again speak truly.[2] |
[edit] Progressive Revelation
Bahá'ís believe that mankind is continually in need of the guidance of God, so at certain times God sends another Manifestation to guide and teach mankind. This is seen as an unfoldment of what could be described as 'The One Religion of God.'
This is not unusual to religious thought: Christians include Jewish texts in the Bible, and Muslims regard the Prophets of the Bible as previous Divine Messengers.
To express this more within the context of Greater Covenant, here is a quote from `Abdu'l-Bahá:
| Abraham, on Him be peace, made a covenant concerning Moses and gave the glad-tidings of His coming. Moses made a covenant concerning the promised Christ, and announced the good news of His advent to the world. Christ made a covenant concerning the Paraclete and gave the tidings of His coming. The Prophet Muhammad made a covenant concerning the Báb, and the Báb was the One promised by Muhammad, for Muhammad gave the tidings of His coming. The Báb made a Covenant concerning the Blessed Beauty, Bahá'u'lláh, and gave the glad-tidings of His coming for the Blessed Beauty was the One promised by the Báb. Bahá'u'lláh made a covenant concerning a Promised One Who will become manifest after one thousand or thousands of years. That Manifestation is Bahá'u'lláh's Promised One, and will appear after a thousand or thousands of years.[3] |
To introduce this concept Bahá'ís often use the terms Progressive Revelation or the Oneness of Religion.
[edit] Prophecy
The Bahá'ís believe that the Báb fulfills Islam as being the Mahdi foretold by Muhammad; and Bahá'u'lláh fulfills the covenant of the Bayan as being He whom God shall make manifest, the Qur'anic and Biblical prophecies as being the return of Jesus, as well as other prophecies of previous religions.
[edit] Firmness in the Covenant
The logic of following the most recent of God's Manifestations in return for His continually providing Them is reinforced in the minds of Bahá'ís with exhortations such as:
| The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Day Spring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good... It behoveth every one who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other.... They whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize that the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its! peoples.... Hasten to drink your fill, O men of understanding They that have violated the Covenant of God by breaking His commandments, and have turned back on their heels, these have erred grievously in the sight of God, the All-Possessing, the Most High.[4] |
And:
| Be thou assured in thyself that verily, he who turns away from this Beauty hath also turned away from the Messengers of the past and showeth pride towards God from all eternity to all eternity.[5] |
[edit] Lesser Covenant
This is the covenant that is made regarding the successorship of authority within the religion. Bahá'ís see the manner in which the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh was clearly put forth as being a fundamental defining feature of their religion and a powerful protector of the unity of the Bahá'í Faith and its adherents.
[edit] Kitáb-i-`Ahd
Bahá'u'lláh established the successorship of the Bahá'í Faith with a document called the Book of the Covenant which was written in his own hand and entrusted by him to `Abdu'l-Bahá before his passing. In this document Bahá'u'lláh reaffirmed his mission, exhorted the peoples of the world to observe that which will elevate them and forbade conflict and contention, while clearly and emphatically placing successorship of the Faith in the hands of the Most Mighty Branch, which was a title reserved exclusively for `Abdu'l-Bahá.
The closest any other independent world religion has come to such a clear successorship is in Islam where Muhammad is thought to have verbally mentioned a successor, but this is disputed.
[edit] Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá
<Until this article is completed please refer to these links>
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Note #23[1]
- ^ `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, Question #27[2]
- ^ `Abdu'l-Bahá, from a Tablet - translated from the Persian, published in "Bahá'í World Faith", p. 358[3]
- ^ Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Beginning [4]
- ^ Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í Prayers, Tablet of Ahmad [5]
[edit] References
- Taherzadeh, Adib (2000). The Covenant of Baha'u'llah. George Ronald, Oxford, UK. ISBN 0853983445.
[edit] External links
- The Covenant and Covenant-breaker - Article by Moojan Momen on the history, purpose, and power of the Covenant. Includes history of Covenant breakers, the three categories, and references for further study.
- The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh - From bahai.org
