arthra
Baha'i
Abdul-Baha at one time wrote "A Treatise on Leadership" otherwise known as a "Treatise on Politics" (Risalih-'i Siyasiyyih) .
It was translated by Juan Cole and the translation is provisional... that is it remains to be accepted as authorized as yet; but it has some interesting fragments .. one of which I hope to share here:
"In these days and times, events contrary to all religious laws and destructive of both human society and of the divine foundation have occurred as a result of the actions of some ignorant, unwise insurgents and fomenters of turmoil. They made the perspicuous divine religion a pretext, and by their sedition and clamor they have brought shame upon the people of Iran before the nations of the world, whether they be friends or strangers. Praise be to God! They claim to be shepherds, but they bear the characteristics of wolves. They read the Qur'án, but they desire to behave like rapacious beasts. They have a human form, but they approve of bestial conduct. "When it is said to them, 'Do not corruption in the land,' they say, 'We are only ones that put things right.' Truly, they are the workers of corruption but they are not aware.[1] It has therefore become imperative that a brief discourse be delivered concerning the foundation stone of the divine religion, and to alert the friends to be wise and awake."
[1 Qur'án 2:10]
Some have Qur'an 2:11
Note the above:
"...the actions of some ignorant, unwise insurgents and fomenters of turmoil. They made the perspicuous divine religion a pretext, and by their sedition and clamor they have brought shame upon the people of Iran before the nations of the world, whether they be friends or strangers..."
I think we could surmise the above extract could be descriptive of some of the current groups active today.
We should ask ourselves when these words were written?...
In his opening sentences of an explanatory essay Juan Cole provides us with the answer:
"Abdu'l-Bahá's Risalih-'i Siyasiyyih or Treatise on Leadership (as I think it should be translated) was written in 1891-92 during the Tobacco Revolt in Iran. The Tobacco Revolt, 1890-92, was a popular insurrection against Nasiru'd-Din Shah for his having granted a monopoly on the marketing of Iranian tobacco to a British carpetbagger. It was among the first truly national protest movements, uniting merchants, money lenders, tobacco farmers and the Shi`ite religious leadership in opposition to this give-away of Iranian resources.
"The Treatise was published in Bombay in 1892 and was the first policy statement of `Abdu'l-Bahá upon taking the reins of the leadership of the Bahá'í community. It shows his alarm at the increasing involvement of religious leaders and communities in this populist movement against the civil Iranian state, and cites the way past such religious populist movements have led to foreign intervention or increased absolutism (i.e. the `Urabi Revolt in Egypt and the 1876 Constitutional Revolution in Istanbul). `Abdu'l-Bahá argues forcefully for a separation of religion and state as a basis for Bahá'í non-involvement in such anti-state violence."
More later...
It was translated by Juan Cole and the translation is provisional... that is it remains to be accepted as authorized as yet; but it has some interesting fragments .. one of which I hope to share here:
"In these days and times, events contrary to all religious laws and destructive of both human society and of the divine foundation have occurred as a result of the actions of some ignorant, unwise insurgents and fomenters of turmoil. They made the perspicuous divine religion a pretext, and by their sedition and clamor they have brought shame upon the people of Iran before the nations of the world, whether they be friends or strangers. Praise be to God! They claim to be shepherds, but they bear the characteristics of wolves. They read the Qur'án, but they desire to behave like rapacious beasts. They have a human form, but they approve of bestial conduct. "When it is said to them, 'Do not corruption in the land,' they say, 'We are only ones that put things right.' Truly, they are the workers of corruption but they are not aware.[1] It has therefore become imperative that a brief discourse be delivered concerning the foundation stone of the divine religion, and to alert the friends to be wise and awake."
[1 Qur'án 2:10]
Some have Qur'an 2:11
Note the above:
"...the actions of some ignorant, unwise insurgents and fomenters of turmoil. They made the perspicuous divine religion a pretext, and by their sedition and clamor they have brought shame upon the people of Iran before the nations of the world, whether they be friends or strangers..."
I think we could surmise the above extract could be descriptive of some of the current groups active today.
We should ask ourselves when these words were written?...
In his opening sentences of an explanatory essay Juan Cole provides us with the answer:
"Abdu'l-Bahá's Risalih-'i Siyasiyyih or Treatise on Leadership (as I think it should be translated) was written in 1891-92 during the Tobacco Revolt in Iran. The Tobacco Revolt, 1890-92, was a popular insurrection against Nasiru'd-Din Shah for his having granted a monopoly on the marketing of Iranian tobacco to a British carpetbagger. It was among the first truly national protest movements, uniting merchants, money lenders, tobacco farmers and the Shi`ite religious leadership in opposition to this give-away of Iranian resources.
"The Treatise was published in Bombay in 1892 and was the first policy statement of `Abdu'l-Bahá upon taking the reins of the leadership of the Bahá'í community. It shows his alarm at the increasing involvement of religious leaders and communities in this populist movement against the civil Iranian state, and cites the way past such religious populist movements have led to foreign intervention or increased absolutism (i.e. the `Urabi Revolt in Egypt and the 1876 Constitutional Revolution in Istanbul). `Abdu'l-Bahá argues forcefully for a separation of religion and state as a basis for Bahá'í non-involvement in such anti-state violence."
More later...