Which Way to the Qiblih?

A concept that may be foreign to most Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists, but is of great importance to Muslims and Jews, is the direction to face while reciting specific prayers. The Jews have always turned toward Jerusalem, and one may argue that their problems with the Muslims began when the Prophet Muhammad directed them to turn and face Mecca instead, and they refused.

The Bahá’ís continue this practice of reciting daily “obligatory” prayers while facing the “Point of Adoration,” (Qiblih in Arabic), turning towards the resting-place of Bahá’u’lláh, at Bahji, near the city of Akko (Akká, Acre), across the bay from Haifa on the eastern Mediterranean coast.

But if one is in Ougadougou, Medicine Hat, or Siguatepeque (and there are Bahá’ís there as well as in virtually any other spot on the globe), how does one answer, “Which way to the Qiblih?” In fact, far too many make the mistake of consulting a flat map; we should all know better, since we know that it is a distortion. New Yorkers who do this, for instance, will conclude that it is just a wee bit south of east, whereas they should be facing NORTHeast.

The simplest way to find the shortest and most direct route over the surface of the earth (rather than through it) is to take a piece of string and a globe, press down one end of the string at Akko, make the other end point at wherever you are, and pull the string taut. Counterintuitive as it may seem, the string has traced the path to the Qiblih. (This will also answer why, if you’re flying to Rome from New York, you’ll stop in or pass by London on the way.) If you happen to be in Alaska, your route will take you over the North Pole. Try it!

A more precise way is to go to a website such as http://www.qiblih.com/, where you can type in your longitude and latitude, press the enter button and presto! your direction will be displayed. Of course you’ll need to know which way is north, south, east, and west, which can easily observe by watching a sunrise.

All Bahá’ís know that 41 weekend Regional Conferences around the world are in full swing, and large numbers have attended them so far. I attended the one in Managua, Nicaragua, on Jan. 17-18. I expected the topography of neighbouring Nicaragua to be indistinguishable from Honduras’, but the volcanic mountains provided one astonishing vista after another, a gorgeous distraction from the dangers of driving on these roads

In spite of being stopped at the border for five hours
In spite of having to stay three nights in a hotel where a disco just on the other side of the wall was in full swing until 4 a.m.
In spite of examples of behaviour unbecoming to Bahá’ís
In spite of the bus breaking down twice on the way back

It was a magnificent enterprise, bringing together Bahá’ís from the region, many of whom were unaware of the face of the Faith outside their own communities, for a twofold purpose: to celebrate the accomplishments halfway through this Five-Year Plan (Bahá’ís have not only a static belief but a dynamic one, in which the Faith is ever-evolving) and to consult about achieving the goals mandated by the Universal house of Justice.

Being new to the region (since August 2008), I expected to meet no one I knew there, but in fact I met several, mostly friendships that had been struck up while I was on tour with the Voices of Bahá in the Caribbean in 2005, for example, Tommy Kavelin, tenor and longtime pioneer to Puerto Rico, brother of Linda Kavelin Popov of Virtues Project fame; Eve Fernandes, who sang with the Toronto World Unity Choir for a season; and the Jamaican lady who is vice-president of the tourist bureau and who organized the Voices of Bahá’s sojourn in Jamaica, a royal tour in more ways than one.

The Bahá’í Faith is one of not only belief, but service and action, and 100% of those assembled were actively involved in some aspect of teaching the Faith and serving humanity. Before the final speeches, all watched a power point presentation on the pledges and goals gathered for increased activity before April 2011, the end of this Five-Year Plan, which would represent a stupendous achievement even if say 70% of it was fulfilled.

For me, the highlight of the many highlights was the presence of two of the Counsellors from the International Teaching Centre, Juan Franciso Mora and Rachel Ndewa. The former is a brilliant young man of only 31 years whose speeches were not only inspiring but crystalline in the clarity with which he presented our responsibilities during the Five-year Plan. His partner was charming and inspiring in a different way, telling stories and showing her own personal struggles to understand and be obedient to the Universal House of Justice.

As everywhere in the Third World, a startlingly high percentage of the population is young people, and that fact was reflected all around. The last time there was a big conference in the region, it was attended mostly by “pioneers” – those Bahá’ís who for the sake of spreading the Faith establish themselves in locations where believers are few or none – but this time there was an overwhelming majority of local and indigenous people, the Garifonas of the Caribbean coast of Honduras being a prominent example, for their infectious music and dance. Indeed, my favourite quote of the Conference was given by an indigenous woman named Maxima, who said to all assembled (and I translate), “We live up in the mountains. There are no roads, no electricity, no telephones, no means of communication. You can’t get there from here.” (Pause) “And oh, yes, please come visit us.”
Ha ha, but somehow the Word of Bahá’u’lláh has managed to penetrate even there.

The 3 Rs -- An Upward Spiral

Much of the world is celebrating New Year’s Day, 2009. It leads me to ruminate about this rather arbitrary designation (for Bahá’ís the New Year falls on the vernal equinox). The new year is somehow a break from the old, a chance to begin anew with a clean slate. Studies in comparative religion have found that many ancient societies believed explicitly that at this time the gods destroyed the world and created it anew. To point out to them from a sophisticated 21st century perspective that the world of Januray 1st looks remarkably like December 31st past would bring, at best, puzzlement. New Year’s resolutions seem to me to be a vestige of those ancient days, for in affirming them we lock into the belief that I can recreate my life, as the past does not have to dictate the future.

So, the cycle of life, resurrection, return and reincarnation. When I hear Christians talking about resurrection, they chiefly mean Christ’s rising after three days. Jews and Muslims, on the other hand, focus on the spectre of the dead rising from the graves, a notion which in its bizarre literal form always engendered horror-film zombies in my imagination. Many a time I have heard questions about resurrection at Bahá’í meetings, and over and above doctrinal interest, my ear always hears the subtext: “But what about me – what will happen to me?” I understand it as much the same question as with reincarnation, wondering what’s going to happen to me after I die.

The pre-eminent Bahá’í scholar Mírzá Abú’l Fadl wrote in 1886, “. . . it is clear to the possessors of intellect that the original intent of the prophets and messengers when they mentioned Return and Resurrection was to deliver to God’s servants the glad-tidings of a future Advent – when all that had transpired would be played out once more, retracing each footstep. In this way, the people would be deterred from believing that the Sun of Reality would never again rise, or that the spring of divine, mystical knowledge would never return. The prepared souls would be awaiting the appearance of the Manifestations of God and watching for the appearance of a primal reality. Then when the spiritual breeze wafted and the lordly, radiant luminary arose, exalted souls would be raised from the tombs of their bodies, a wondrous life would be bestowed on the world through a new spirit, and the earth would be adorned with the flowers of knowledge and science. Thus might the fruits hidden in the trees of existence be brought into the realm of appearance, just as they were at the time of the last Advent, and all that is concealed in the recesses of souls be made apparent and manifest. This is the meaning of Return. Otherwise, in regard to relative characteristics, spirits never return to this world once they have been separated from it. The birds of the soul, once they have ascended to the Most High, never again descend to the nethermost depths.” (Letters and Essays, 1886-1913)

The Far Easterns have had for millennia a cyclical view of life, where souls not only return to earth, but in which history repeats itself, exactly down to the last detail, over and over again for eternity. In the minds of the people of the West, time has taken a very different dimension, moving inexorably forward in a measured and linear fashion toward a future most fear will be cut short abruptly at some point. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh synthesizes all views in an astonishingly seamless manner (which is not to say that it is a synthesis; rather they are not only rolled into one, but refashioned and reinterpreted to show that they really have been aspects of one reality all along), and in this regard we have been given a new model that is both cyclical and progressive, an upward spiral. So life in all its aspects, from the individual struggle and experience, to the Revelation of God is seen as both repeating an endless pattern while at the same time striving upward. “All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pg. 214)

As a Bahá’í I have been given a vision of the ultimately destiny of the individual soul, which is an eternally dynamic and progressive one, but human civilization’s destiny is not fully revealed, and we’ll either find out when we get there, or as a mercy a future Manifestation of God will tell us more completely. Either way, I won’t be reincarnated as a dog, princess, or movie star, nor will I be playing harps and drinking ambrosia in a static eternity (or be barbecuing in hell with the devil turning the spit) when the ultimate end of humanity is known, if it ever will be. In the meantime my task has been set before me: “It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action.” (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, pg. 166)

Blotter

For those who have not had the privilege or opportunity to peruse the books of Nader Saiedi, they come highly recommended from this quarter. Many an ecstatic hour has been spent perusing the pages of Logos and Civilization and Gate of the Heart – Understanding the Writings of the Báb. In fact, the title of the latter has been prophetic in this life, as it has removed many opaque obstructions to understanding the writings of the Herald of the Faith. (Perhaps I shall comment on this further once I have reread the book in a less inebriated state, if that is possible.) Just one of the many valuable aspects of these books is the many provisional translations the author has made, opening worlds of insight and meaning to those of us who speak neither Persian nor Arabic, worlds that hopefully will be accessible to all of us in authoritative versions erelong. Here follows a passage (a summary and paraphrase, not a translation) from of Logos and Civilization, a chapter discussing the Kitáb-i-Badí, an untranslated work of Bahá’u’lláh, a companion volume to the Book of Certitude, and like its predecessor, revealed astonishingly swiftly, 400+ pages in the space of three days.

(One should know, before reading this, that Mírzá Yayhá was a half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh who became His arch-enemy, trying to usurp His place in the hearts of the believers by making spurious claims, issuing ridiculous challenges, stealing and perverting His writings, blackening His name with the Persian and Ottoman authorities with lies and calumny, performing evil deeds such as shaming the Báb’s second wife, ordering the murder of Dayyán, and on several occasions making attempts upon His life, including a poisoning that left His Hand shaking for the rest of His earthly days. Eclipsing the patience of Job, Bahá’u’lláh endured all, protecting Yahyá, keeping him close to Him, helping him to get set up in various businesses, and demanding that the rest of His family respect him, until He had finally had enough, and the Most Great Separation occurred in what is now European Turkey; Yahyá was cast out from the community of the faithful, and ended his days in ignominy and exile in Cyprus, virtually alone.)

Okay, here we go:

"Another moving stylistic element in the Kitáb-i-Badí is Bahá’u’lláh’s narrative of the lamentations and supplications of Mírzá Yahyá’s pen, which has been used to write against the Promised One of the Bayán . . . [the] pen has secretly escaped from him and attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, where it has wept and wailed, confessing its shame, sorrow, bewilderment, and anger at Yahyá and its abuse and suffering at the hands of its owner, the arch covenant-breaker. The pen entreats Bahá’u’lláh to act as a fatal weapon against Yahyá, and if He does not grant that wish, at least to liberate it from the fingers of Bahá’u’lláh’s enemy. It expresses its shame before the community of pens and it avows that even if Bahá’u’lláh forgave its sins, it would continue to be mortified because of its role. It admits its confusion and distress at its fate a fate that could not be deserved because it knows that it is non-existent before the divine will, and could not be said to be undeserved because it is unable to understand the logic of mysterious divine wisdom. It complains of the fact that other pens have been used to reveal the words of God in the hand of Bahá’u’lláh, while it has been imprisoned in the grip of the enemy of the Cause of God. The pen declares that its gravest concern is that because of its sins the Pen of Glory may cease to reveal divine worlds, and it implores Bahá’u’lláh to settle its fate and emancipate it from its sorrow, or else make it cease to exist.

"The pen continues to recount its life story to Bahá’u’lláh. From the very first days of its existence as a reed, it longed to attain the presence of Bahá’u’lláh and spent its days and nights in a state of yearning. It endured all hardships for the sake of that wish. Then it was cut off and moved from hand to hand and from place to place until it was bought in the market by one of His servants. But when it was placed in that man’s hand it sensed the odour of his heedlessness and became saddened but remained silent. The servant carried the pen from land to land until he arrived in the land of Bahá’u’lláh’s residence. Joy and delight overtook the pen and it felt itself the king of all kings. It remained in that state of ecstasy till its bearer arrived at a crossroads – one path led to the right and another path led to the left. The man chose the left-hand path, and the pen found itself trembling and wailing until at last the servant reached a house exuding the stench of hell and placed the pen in the hand of the tyrant who rose against Bahá’u’lláh.

"The pen continues to express its unending sense of shame and implores Bahá’u’lláh to take its life and then to recreate it so that it might expunge the memory of its unhappy past. "

(Kitáb-i-Badí, pg. 239-250) Logos and Civilization, pg. 177-178

Birth of the Báb Quiz

Easy

1. In which city was the Báb born?

2. What was the Báb’s given name?

3. Who raised the Báb from a young age?

4. In what year was the Báb born?

5. What is the present-day name of the country in which the Báb was born?

6. On what month and day was the Báb born?

7. Where is the Shrine of the Báb?

8. Who was born first, the Báb or Bahá’u’lláh?

9. What were the followers of the Báb called?


Medium

10. What religious teacher in Karbilá told his students to find the Báb?

11. How many times did the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh meet in person?

12. The Báb was a descendant of what other Manifestation of God?

13. Why is the Birth of the Báb celebrated over two consecutive Gregorian calendar dates?

14. What did the Báb name the calendar He created?

15. Who wrote the chronicle of the early believers in the Báb?

16. Who was the only woman among the first eighteen followers of the Báb?


Difficult

17. Who was the Persian king at the time of the birth of the Báb?

18. Who were the Báb’s parents?

19. In the future, why will be birthdays of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh be celebrated on the same day?

Answers:

1. Shiráz, Persia
2. ‘Alí-Muhammad
3. His maternal uncle, Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí
4. 1819
5. Irán
6. October 20
7. Haifa, Palestine/Israel
8. Bahá’u’lláh (November 12, 1817)
9. Bábís
10. Siyyid Kázim-i-Rashti
11. None
12. The Prophet Muhammad
13. The Bahá’í day is reckoned from sunset to sunset.
14. Badí Calendar
15. Nabíl-i-‘Azám
16. Tahirih
17. Fatih-‘Ali Shah
18. Fatimih Begum and Mírzá Muhammad-Ridá
19. On the Muslim calendar, the two dates fall on consecutive days.

Sai Satya Baba

India is at once the most religious country on earth and the most open and tolerant. All spiritual pursuits find fertile ground to put down roots in India, and it absorbs with grace and patience even the most fanatical of sects. Sai Satya Baba (pictured above) and his millions of followers in both India and abroad are no exception to this attitude, to the extent that Sai International's bimonthly newsletter, Volume 6, #3, is dedicated in all but the last page entirely to the Bahá'í Faith, with several articles and photos from Bahá'í and non-Bahá'í sources. What a laudable act! And surprisingly accurate for the most part. The errors are so few that pointing most of them would be mere quibbling, so only a few that could actually have been misleading have been selected for correction, and only that Baba's followers may not develop any basic misconceptions.

Naturally, in these pages the teachings found in the Bahá'í writings are compared with those of Sai Baba, and the various authors gleefully round up the similarities, which, given the enlightenment of their holy man, are indeed many. But Ambasht on pg. 4 lets his enthusiasm get the better of him when he proclaims, “Baba is also considered a 'Manifestation of God.'” This designation is reserved by the Bahá'í Faith for those individuals with a direct revelation of the Word of God, constituting scripture, including Krishna, Buddha, Abraham, Christ, and so on. Notwithstanding, learned and holy ones are highly reverenced in the Faith.

Sangeeta Sharma asserts on pg. 4: “The Bahá'ís declare that 15 years of age is the best to get married.” There is no such declaration. 15 is the minimum age. She further (this time correctly) observes, “This book [The Kitáb-i-Aqdas] allows a man to marry two wives under the condition that they are treated equally.” Bahá'ís understand that this is an impossible condition, and therefore only one wife is permitted, and by mutatis mutandi only one husband.

As to the marriage of Bahá'u'lláh Himself, until the revelation of The Kitáb-i-Aqdas (His Book of Laws for this age), He subjected Himself to previous (Islamic) law, and He had, in fact, three wives and a total of fourteen children. When Progya Shankar on pg. 5 states, “Bahá'u'lláh was married to Asiyih Khanum, they had three children, two sons and a daughter,” the reference is to the the surviving children from His first wife, who were the most distinguished and faithful among His offspring.

On pg. 6 Ved B. Kochar, in discussing Shoghi Effendi, writes, “He appointed 27 individuals as 'hands of the promotion of God' with the tasks of promotion and protection of the Bahá'í Faith.” In English the official title is “Hands of the Cause of God,” and the Guardian actually appointed 42 of them, some posthumously.

In referring to current Bahá'í activity, Kochar writes, “Bahá'í classes for children, which are open to all, focus on normal development in the context of the Bahá'í teachings of the oneness of humankind and the unity of the world's religions.” Surely the word “normal” is a typographical error and was meant to be “moral.”

May millions and billions be as liberal and open-minded as the followers of Satya Sai Baba in their pursuit of truth.

World Ends Wednesday

On September 10th, the European Nuclear Research Centre will activate the Large Hadron Collider, the 17-mile circumference, $8,000,000,000 particle collider 300 feet underground near Geneva, Switzerland. Why? To unlock the mystery of Creation, simulating the first moments immediately after the Big Bang. The LHC will circulate atomic particles around its 17-mile circumference at more than 11,000 times per second before then smashing those atoms into each other in the ultimate carnival bumper-car ride. The machine has been designed to help scientists discover new forms of particles, most notably the elusive Higgs Boson (the vaunted “God Particle”), along with more insights into dark matter and the matter/antimatter dichotomy. No word yet on dilithium crystals.

But not everyone’s in the party spirit. The hue and cry is that there is the danger of creating a black hole that will swallow up the planet Earth. The London Telegraph reports that American Nobel prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek has received death threats with regard to Wednesday’s launch.

Predictably, the scientific community claims the doomsday gloomcasters are overreacting out of ignorance and superstition, or watching too many sci-fi thrillers. Every care and precaution has been taken, every test done and redone, every eventuality has been considered, re-considered, and considered again to ensure that nothing can possibly go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong . . . (Surely you saw that one coming.) James Gillies, the head of communication and spokesman for CERN says, “What we are doing is enriching humanity, not putting it at risk.” Well, that puts everyone’s mind at ease right away. (Beam me to any co-ordinates on the planet Vulcan, Scotty, pronto.)

Being a Bahá’í means that I bring my best intelligence to bear on all matters, but also that I turn to the Scriptures to see if they shed any light on the questions at hand. As far as the Big Bang is concerned, I was very struck by reading in Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time words to the effect that the mathematics of the Big Bang Theory have been mapped out and work perfectly, with the seemingly absurd proviso that they apply only if the Big Bang did not actually take place! Huh? And yet for me, this paradox echoes the words of Bahá’u’lláh:

Know assuredly that God's creation hath existed from eternity, and will continue to exist forever. Its beginning hath had no beginning, and its end knoweth no end. His name, the Creator, presupposeth a creation . . . (Gleanings, pg. 150)

The one true God hath everlastingly existed, and will everlastingly continue to exist. His creation, likewise, hath had no beginning, and will have no end. All that is created, however, is preceded by a cause. (Gleanings, pg. 162)

Yet another Bahá’í principle applies here, that of the Harmony of Science and Religion. The two must work together, so that we don’t have defensive scientists claiming exclusivity and should be left alone to pursue knowledge that will benefit the human race, nor should superstition and ignorance rule the day. Human knowledge must progress, and religion must supply the moral framework, but it must be knowledge that will advance the best interests mankind and it must be true religion, not pietistic flummery. Then we shall be rid of this mutual suspicion and have more joyous examples like the ones where we have seen rockets setting out towards the unknown, and the astronauts gaping with wonder at the beauty and majesty of God’s universe.

From the light tone of this article, you can no doubt discern that I personally am not much more worried about the prospects of this planet than during other weeks. I am reminded of the cartoon in which a robed and besandled character carries a sign announcing, “The world ends Wednesday!” and the cop on the beat tells him, “Just don’t let me catch you here Thursday!”