And
now, 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. O friends! It behooveth you to call
to
mind with tenderness the trials of His Holiness, the Exalted One, and
show
your fidelity to the Ever-Blest Beauty. The utmost endeavor must be
exerted
lest all these woes, trials and afflictions, all this pure and sacred
blood
that hath been shed so profusely in the Path of God, may prove to be
in
vain.
--
`Abdu'l-Bahá, Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 20
To
read the writings of Covenant-breakers is not forbidden to the
believers
and does not constitute in itself an act of
Covenant-breaking.
Indeed, some of the Bahá'ís have the unpleasant duty
to
read such literature as part of their responsibilities for
protecting
the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. However, the friends are warned
in
strongest
terms against reading such literature because
Covenant-breaking
is a spiritual poison and the calumnies and
distortions
of the truth which the Covenant-breakers give out are such
that
they can undermine the faith of the believer and plant the seeds
of
doubt unless he is forearmed with an unshakable belief in
Bahá'u'lláh
and His Covenant and a knowledge of the true facts. This is
a
factor that any Bahá'í doing research into the history of
the Faith
must
bear in mind, and he must himself decide, whenever he comes upon
such
documents, whether he feels justified in reading them for the
purposes
of his research.
--Letters
of The Universal House of Justice, 1987 Jun 17, Treatment of
Covenant-breakers
in Writing of Baha'i History)
The
first passage above about Covenant-breakers being able to "utterly
destroy
the Cause of God" contradicts the passages below from the writings
of
Baha'u'llah where it stated humans cannot frustrate God's will,"The
hosts
of the world are powerless to frustrate Thy will", etc [underlined]."
We
testify, O my Lord, that Thou art God and that there is none other God
besides
Thee. From everlasting Thou wast enthroned on the inaccessible
heights
of Thy power, and wilt unto everlasting continue to exercise Thy
transcendent
and unrestrained dominion. The hosts of the world are powerless
to
frustrate Thy will, nor can all the dwellers of the earth and all the
inmates
of heaven annul Thy decree. Thou truly art the Almighty, the Most
Exalted,
the Most Great.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations, p. 44
Say:
This is the sealed and mystic Scroll, the repository of God's
irrevocable
Decree, bearing the words which the Finger of Holiness hath
traced,
that lay wrapt within the veil of impenetrable mystery, and hath now
been
sent down as a token of the grace of Him Who is the Almighty, the
Ancient
of Days. In it have We decreed the destinies of all the dwellers of
the
earth and the denizens of heaven, and written down the knowledge of all
things
from first to last. Nothing whatsoever can escape or frustrate Him,
whether
created in the past or to be created in the future, could ye but
perceive
it.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah,
p. 281
LXXI.
Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world, when the day star of My
beauty
is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from your eyes.
Arise
to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men. We are with
you
at all times, and shall strengthen you through the power of truth. We
are
truly almighty. Whoso hath recognized Me, will arise and serve Me with
such
determination that the powers of earth and heaven shall be unable to
defeat
his purpose.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah,
p. 137
Additional references on shunning.
Unity
amongst the friends, selflessness in our labors in His Path, detachment
from
all worldly things, the greatest prudence and caution in every step we
take,
earnest endeavor to carry out only what is His Holy Will and Pleasure,
the
constant awareness of His Presence and of the example of His Life, the
absolute
shunning of whomsoever we feel to be an enemy of the Cause ...
these,
and foremost among them is the need for unity, appear to me as our
most
vital duties, should we dedicate our lives for His service. Should we in
this
spirit arise to serve Him, what surer and greater promise have we than
the
one His Glorious Father, Bahá'u'lláh, gives us in His Most
Holy
Book:--"Verily,
We behold you from Our Realm of Effulgent Glory, and shall
graciously
aid whosoever ariseth for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts
of
the Celestial Concourse and a company of Our chosen angels."
--
Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Administration, p. 16
45
COVENANT
BREAKERS
(Shun)
"...Bahá'u'lláh
and the Master in many places and very emphatically have
told
us to shun entirely all Covenant breakers as they are afflicted with
what
we might try and define as a contagious spiritual disease; they have
also
told us, however, to pray for them. These souls are not lost forever.
In
the Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh says that God will forgive Mírzá
Yahyá if he
repents.
It follows, therefore, that God will forgive any soul if he
repents.
Most of them don't want to repent, unfortunately. If the leaders
can
be forgiven it goes without saying that their followers can also be
forgiven...
"Also,
it has nothing to do with unity in the Cause; if a man cuts a cancer
out
of his body to preserve his health and very life, no one would suggest
that
for the sake of unity it should be reintroduced into the otherwise
healthy
organism. On the contrary, what was once a part of him has so
radically
changed as to have become a poison."
--
Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 16
