Wisdom of receiving parental consent in Baha’i marriage

This great law He has laid down to strengthen the social fabric, to knit closer the ties of the home, to place a certain gratitude and respect in the hearts of children for those who have given them life and sent their souls out on the eternal journey towards their Creator. We Bahá'ís must realize that in present-day society the exact opposite process is taking place: young people care less and less for their parents' wishes, divorce is considered a natural right, and obtained on the flimsiest and most unwarrantable and shabby pretexts. People separated from each other, especially if one of them has had full custody of the children, are only too willing to belittle the importance of the partner in marriage also responsible as a parent for bringing those children into this world. The Bahá'ís must, through rigid adherence to the Bahá'í laws and teachings, combat these corrosive forces which are so rapidly destroying home life and the beauty of family relationships, and tearing down the moral structure of society.  

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 25 October 1947, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States; compilation: ‘Consent of Parents to Marriage’, prepared by the Research Department)

The “three stations” of the Manifestations of God (Prophets)

…the Manifestations of God have three stations: first, the material reality, which pertains to the human body; second, the individual reality, that is, the rational soul; and third, the heavenly manifestation, which consists in the divine perfections and is the source of the life of the world, the education of the souls, the guidance of the people, and the enlightenment of all creation.

The corporeal station is human in nature and is subject to disintegration, for it is an elemental composition and that which is composed of elements must of necessity be decomposed and dispersed.

But the individual reality of the Manifestations of the All-Merciful is a sanctified reality, and it is so because it surpasses in essence and in attributes all created things. It is like the sun, which, by virtue of its inherent disposition, must inevitably produce light, and cannot be compared to any satellite. For instance, the constituent parts of the sun can in no wise be compared to those of the moon. The composition and arrangement of the former necessarily produce rays, whereas the constituent parts of the latter require the acquisition, rather than the production, of light. So the other human realities are souls, which, like the moon, acquire their light from the sun, but that sanctified Reality is luminous in and of itself.

The “food of man is cereals and fruit. …he is not in need of meat, nor is he obliged to eat it.”

Regarding the eating of animal flesh and abstinence therefrom, know thou of a certainty that, in the beginning of creation, God determined the food of every living being, and to eat contrary to that determination is not approved. For instance, beasts of prey, such as the wolf, lion and leopard, are endowed with ferocious, tearing instruments, such as hooked talons and claws. From this it is evident that the food of such beasts is meat. If they were to attempt to graze, their teeth would not cut the grass, neither could they chew the cud, for they do not have molars. Likewise, God hath given to the four-footed grazing animals such teeth as reap the grass like a sickle, and from this we understand that the food of these species of animal is vegetable. They cannot chase and hunt down other animals. The falcon hath a hooked beak and sharp talons; the hooked beak preventeth him from grazing, therefore his food also is meat.

But now coming to man, we see he hath neither hooked teeth nor sharp nails or claws, nor teeth like iron sickles. From this it becometh evident and manifest that the food of man is cereals and fruit. Some of the teeth of man are like millstones to grind the grain, and some are sharp to cut the fruit. Therefore he is not in need of meat, nor is he obliged to eat it. Even without eating meat he would live with the utmost vigour and energy. For example, the community of the Brahmins in India do not eat meat; notwithstanding this they are not inferior to other nations in strength, power, vigour, outward senses or intellectual virtues. Truly, the killing of animals and the eating of their meat is somewhat contrary to pity and compassion, and if one can content oneself with cereals, fruit, oil and nuts, such as pistachios, almonds and so on, it would undoubtedly be better and more pleasing. 

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá  (From a Tablet; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Some Aspects of Heath, Healing, Nutrition and Related Matters)

The “basic and distinguishing principles” of Baha’i Faith

It was in the course of these epoch-making journeys [to the West] and before large and representative audiences, at times exceeding a thousand people, that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expounded, with brilliant simplicity, with persuasiveness and force, and for the first time in His ministry, those basic and distinguishing principles of His Father’s Faith, which together with the laws and ordinances revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas constitute the bed-rock of God’s latest Revelation to mankind. 

• The independent search after truth, unfettered by superstition or tradition; 
• the oneness of the entire human race, the pivotal principle and fundamental doctrine of the Faith; 
• the basic unity of all religions; 
• the condemnation of all forms of prejudice, whether religious, racial, class or national; 
• the harmony which must exist between religion and science; 
• the equality of men and women, the two wings on which the bird of human kind is able to soar; 
• the introduction of compulsory education; 
• the adoption of a universal auxiliary language; 
• the abolition of the extremes of wealth and poverty; 
• the institution of a world tribunal for the adjudication of disputes between nations; 
• the exaltation of work, performed in the spirit of service, to the rank of worship; 
• the glorification of justice as the ruling principle in human society, and of religion as a bulwark for the protection of all peoples and nations; and 
• the establishment of a permanent and universal peace as the supreme goal of all mankind… 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

The institution of marriage – physical aspects, moral and spiritual purposes and functions

The institution of marriage, as established by Bahá'u'lláh, while giving due importance to the physical aspect of marital union, considers it as subordinate to the moral and spiritual purposes and functions with which it has been invested by an all-wise and loving Providence. Only when these different values are given each their due importance, and only on the basis of the subordination of the physical to the moral, and the carnal to the spiritual can such excesses and laxity in marital relations as our decadent age is so sadly witnessing be avoided, and family life be restored to its original purity, and fulfil the true function for which it has been instituted by God. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi dated 8 May 1939 to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Divorce)

To “be born again”

Jesus Christ said ‘Ye must be born again’ so that divine Life may spring anew within you. Be kind to all around and serve one another; love to be just and true in all your dealings; pray always and so live your life that sorrow cannot touch you. Look upon the people of your own race and those of other races as members of one organism; sons of the same Father; let it be known by your behaviour that you are indeed the people of God. Then wars and disputes shall cease and over the world will spread the Most Great Peace. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk, September 24th, Clifton, Bristol; ‘London Talks’)