Baha'u'llah and Human Nobility
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Nader Saiedi, Baha'u'llah and Human Nobility, bahai-library.com.
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Baha’u’llah and Human Nobility

In a world in which many religious and secular cultures and philosophies are
often encouraging the reduction of humans to their particularistic cultures and
rationalizing dehumanization of other groups, it is refreshing to address the
question of human nobility. The concept of human nobility is based on two
important philosophical assumptions. First, it assumes that there is such a thing
as human being and secondly that some values are objective and universal. If
we reject one or both of these assumptions the entire idea of human nobility will
collapse. We live in a world that is characterized by a grand contradiction. On
the one hand it usually rejects both assumptions behind the idea of human
nobility while, on the other hand, it frequently extols human rights and human
dignity. In this analysis we investigate Baha’u’llah’s perspective on human
dignity. First, as an introduction, we look at three traditional and modern ways
through which the question of human dignity has been approached. In the main
section of the paper we investigate Baha’u’llah’s approach to human nobility by
comparing one of his Hidden Words with Rousseau’s most famous statement,
analyze the social and religious implications of Baha’u’llah’s approach to
human dignity, explore the complex journey from prejudice to fairness and
conclude with a discussion of his definition of human beings.

Three Perspectives on Human Nobility

Both pre-modernity of Eastern philosophy and modernity’s Western
philosophy have emphasized the nobility of humans. However, these two
perspectives have offered radically opposed perspectives on the basis of this
human dignity. In general, Eastern philosophy has defined human nobility in
terms of a religious and God-centered definition of man, whereas the western
modernity finds nobility of man as rooted in a materialistic philosophy that
reduces humans to the system of nature. However, both these perspectives were
filled with internal contradictions and their failures have led to the increasing
dominance of a postmodern perspective that completely denies the very idea of
human nobility.
Sorokin, a famous sociologist, contrasted two systems of culture which he
called ideational and sensate systems. The ideational culture believes that reality
is ultimately spiritual and finds humans as noble beings. The sensate culture
sees reality and truth as purely materialistic and sensory and thus degrades
humans to a mere selfish calculus of pleasure and pain. Sorokin is partly right
but he underestimates the way sensate modernity has also extold human
nobility. The Eastern perspective is a religious perspective. It defines humans as
the image of God, a spiritual being who is oriented towards eternal truth and
eternal values, and therefore finds humans noble and sacred. This perspective is
found in all spiritual traditions. Zoroaster finds humans as apex of creation, one
who is the reflection of the Supreme God Ahura Mazda, Lord of Wisdom. The
other six beings whose creation precedes the creation of humans are reflections
of six lower divinities. These holy spirits are expressions of various names and
attributes of Ahura Mazda. These six levels of creation are sky, earth, water,
plants, cow and fire. Each is protected by and reflects one of six sacred spirits.
Cows for example represent good purpose while fire and sun reflect the cosmic
order and truth, “asha”, or truthfulness. Humans are defined as reflection of the
wisdom of Ahura Mazda and a representative of God. In Judaism humans are
made in the image of God, endowed with a soul, and therefore praised as a
sacred reality. Christianity and Islam have confirmed that same truth. Hinduism
has consistently affirmed the identity of God and soul, or Brahma and “atman,”
as the supreme truth of reality. Both Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita emphasize
the fact that the truth of human being is God. Finally in Buddhism, the supreme
spiritual consciousness is the realization that all humans and all reality have
within them the Buddha nature. Our spiritual truth is Buddha.
While there is a beautiful truth in all these assertions, unfortunately clerical
understanding of their religions usually have turned their religions into a
justification of various forms of oppression, cruelty, intolerance and degradation
of human beings. Beyond beautiful slogans of man as image of God, history of
religions is filled with traditionalism, justification of religious and political
despotism, acceptance or active encouragement of slavery, patriarchy,
intolerance against unbelievers, ideas of ritual impurity of other human beings,
avoidance of other human beings, discrimination against other religions,
superstitious beliefs and active opposition against science and reason, killing of
people who change their religion (apostasy), and dividing in the name of God
human societies as the realms of peace or war. Looking at Hindu caste system
or burning of living widows with their dead husbands, or the ignorance and
violence of the Medieval Christianity, or the superstitious, intolerant and violent
interpretations of Islam currently so influential in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Iraq and Syria, Saudi Arabia, Africa and other places it is easy to see the
inadequacy and contradictions of the traditional Eastern praise of human
nobility.
The Western modernity offered a radically opposite conception of human
nobility. Centered on 18 th century philosophy of the enlightenment, modernity
supported a rational form of authority in place of the pre-modern traditional
authority. According to Max Weber, in traditional authority the determinant of
norms and values is the past tradition. Whatever has existed in the past becomes
sacred and binding. In this way of thinking humans renounce their reason and
freedom and are blindly determined by purely external factors. Such
dehumanization of humans became the main target of the modernity and its
rationalistic project. In order to save human rationality, dignity and freedom,
they revolted against traditionalism and rejected a religious understanding of
human beings. Western modernity argued that the basis of moral and ethical
values is reason. Humans can discover what is good or bad on the basis of their
internal rational capacity, and they do not need God or revelation to discover
what they should do. Law becomes legislated by humans through their rational
deliberations. The source of human degradation is human error, and this error is
chiefly caused by religious belief and superstitions. Suddenly, there emerges a
new basis for nobility of humans. Humans become noble because humans are
merely a part of nature and because there is no God.
The philosophy of the Enlightenment not only revolted against various forms of
religious superstition, intolerance and violence, they also rejected the Christian
negative definition of human beings. While Christianity perceives humans as
spiritual and sacred, yet Christian clerics misinterpreted the Bible in terms of
the doctrine of original sin. Humans were noble in Eden, but after the sin of
Adam and Eve they became sinful and wicked by blood. 17 th century
philosopher Pascal is famous for his statement ‘We are born unjust since
everyone cares about himself.” Beyond noble slogans about human soul, the
dominant vision among Christians degraded humans as deprived of freedom
and inherently evil and selfish. The purpose of education and social institutions
were, therefore, violent and authoritarian transformation of human nature. Many
17 th century European philosophers redefined this idea. It is true, they said, that
humans are selfish and evil, yet through the intervention of God the unintended
consequence of their selfish acts become social harmony and morality.
However, the 18 th century philosophy of the Enlightenment took this concept
to a new exaggerated height. Most of them argued that following one’s self
interest is the essence of morality and ethical action. As Voltaire reacted to
Pascal’s word, it is good to be selfish and act accordingly. It is this pursuit of
self-interest which becomes the main cause of human prosperity, harmony and
progress. Adam Smith’s idea of invisible hand was an economic expression of
the same virtue. Humans are noble because they act in accordance with the law
of nature, follow their self-interests and use their reason to secure their
happiness and utility. Unlike Christian doctrine of original sin, humans are born
noble because they are part of a God-less nature. This radical materialistic view
defined human liberation as a revolt against religion and monarchy. In his
System of Nature, the famous philosopher Baron d’Holbach argued that
despotic God of religions is the mirror image of the despotic monarchs. Humans
will live in bondage and debasement as long as they live in accordance with the
arbitrary and irrational dictates of gods and monarchs. This theme was
developed by later philosophers including Feuerbach and Nietzsche. Feuerbach,
whose ideas greatly influenced Marx, argued that God is a mere projection of
exaggerated human nature to the clouds. There exist only humans and there is
no God. But humans alienate their own perfections from themselves, exaggerate
their own estranged nature, project it to the clouds and call it God. Feuerbach
noted that all attributes of God are in fact human attributes. Therefore, he said,
we create God in our own image. This meant that religion is the essence of self-
alienation of humans from their own nature and truth. Thus according to this
theory, humans become degraded and worthless by such alienation. After we
gave all our perfections to God we are left with nothing. Now we have to beg
God in prayers and rituals to give us back some of our estranged nobility.
Religion, in other words, is the main source of human degradation, whereas
atheism is affirmation of human nobility. Similarly, Nietzsche argued that
humans can only become free to choose their destiny and values and develop
their natural excellence and will to power when God is dead. Sartre was saying
the same thing when he conditioned human freedom on non-existence of God.
The logical conclusion of this materialistic trend was realized in various
philosophical interpretations of Darwinism, which reduced humans to the level
of animals, justified war and violence, accepted extremes of inequality among
humans as natural and moral, supported racism by defining different groups of
humans as occupying different levels in the ladder of biological evolution and
justified colonialism and all kinds of cruelty through its doctrine of the survival
of the fittest. Modern culture which celebrated human selfishness and defined
the purpose of life as material and sexual gratification, has led to unbelievable
environmental disasters, increasing poverty and class inequality in various
countries, a sickening international inequality among nations, a militarized
world in which science has become an instrument of violence and destruction,
and producing desire-seeking humans whose taste, ends and aspirations are
increasingly manufactured by a narcissistic and materialistic world obsessed
with money and material values. It is no wonder that such praise of human
nobility became the crudest form of human debasement.
It was the internal contradictions of both pre-modern and modern philosophies
which led to the increasing triumph of a postmodern viewpoint. The
postmodern view is rooted in Nietzsche’s revolt against reason, truth and
morality. For Nietzsche, the reason of the Enlightenment is another form of God
which has to be killed. There is no truth and no value. There is only will to
power. Death of God and reason meant for Nietzsche that everything is
permitted. In fact he found ideas of equality, political democracy, human rights,
equality of men and women and rejection of slavery as illusions that are rooted
in a dead God. Postmodern philosophy rejected all systems of truth with radical
doubt and uncertainty. Reason is equal to any system of superstition, and they
are all equal in terms of their truth value. Consequently there is no objective or
universal ethical value either. All values are arbitrary and they are equally valid.
With denial of universal values came cultural relativism. The only criterion of
good or bad is the internal culture and tradition of a society.But postmodern
worldview equally rejected the very concept of human being. There is no such
thing as human being. We are, they argued, shadows of specific social and
cultural groups and our identity is nothing but those specific identities. There
are only particular people with specific language, religion, ethnicity, nationality
and culture. But there is no human being as human being. Marxist theory also
defined humans as social products and reduced humans to their society. Yet
Marxist theory was deterministic and believed in some universal systems and
values. Postmodernism, on the other hand, rejected all deterministic truth
systems and all values.There is no universal economic law which determines all
history. It is only fragmented histories of particular cultures without any holistic
reality. Humans are products of different systems of signs. Language, for
example is defined in terms of specific ways that various signs relate to each
other. Meaning of words has no connection with any objective reality. On the
contrary, meanings are created by the internal system of the relation of words or
signs to each other.Suddenly, the real world become an illusion and what is left
as true is a virtual reality of signs and images. In this postmodern world there is
no truth, no objective value and no human being.Naturally in this system there
can be no room for the concept of human dignity, human nobility or human
rights.
Unlike Nietzsche, postmodern philosophers were not truly honest. Postmodern
view in fact has divided the world in two parts. It applies its cultural relativism
to the non-Western parts of the world, and therefore it has become the darling
theory of all tyrants and fanatics of the world who try to justify their archaic and
anti-human practices in terms of the sanctity of their own cultures.It is no
wonder that despots, violent theocratic movements all reject the universal
concept of human rights because they are defining values in terms of their own
native traditions. This is not surprising. Cultural relativism of postmodernism
leaves no standard for determining good or bad except one’s past culture and
tradition. Consequently, postmodern worldview unintentionally returns to the
pre-modern traditionalistic worldview by celebrating and glorifying past
traditions as the sole criterion of values. On the other hand, postmodern thought
rejects its cultural relativism in regard to the West and becomes a champion of
equality, democracy, and socialism in Western societies. Western traditions are
defined as evil embodiment of colonialism, racism, patriarchy, and capitalism.
It is clear that human nobility requires a worldview that transcends not only the
postmodern inconsistency and relativism, but also the contradictions of Eastern
and Western systems. Such concept of human nobility is at the heart of the
worldview of the Baha’u’llah.
Baha’u’llah’s Approach to Human Nobility
The Eastern and religious approach to human nobility is inadequate because
although it gives beautiful metaphysical slogans about human nobility, it does
not translate those slogans into concrete social teachings and laws which
safeguard human dignity and human rights. There is abstract discussion of
dignity of human beings or glorification of justice, yet these slogans are not
accompanied with a discussion of institutional conditions for realization of
human dignity.Speaking of human dignity when one defends slavery, political
despotism, clerical despotism, patriarchy, religious discrimination, unity of
church and state, the law of apostasy, ritual impurity of others and holy war is
of no value. Similarly, the Western materialistic modernity’s support for many
institutional conditions of human rights, like political democracy, separation of
church and state and individual rights becomes seriously undermined when it is
not accompanied with a spiritual definition of culture and values which define
the world as a kingdom of spirit rather than a jungle. By reducing humans to the
level of jungle, the very basis of modern values and ideals becomes arbitrary
and senseless. Both these perspectives suffer a lack of historical consciousness.
Baha’u’llah, unites the Eastern spiritual exaltation of humans with the Western
attention to the social and institutional requirements of human nobility. This
unity is mediated by his emphasis on historical consciousness.

A. From Rousseau to Baha’u’llah
In order to understand Baha’u’llah’s approach to human dignity, it is useful to
compare one of his statements with the most famous statement of Rousseau.
Among philosophers of the Enlightenment both Rousseau and Kant showed
significant sympathy both for spiritual ideas and altruistic values, a sympathy
which set them apart from the mainstream of the Enlightenment. Rousseau’s
philosophy can be seen in his widely quoted opening statement of his book
Social Contract: “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” This
statement contrasts the original natural state of human being with his current
situation in society and culture. Humans in their natural state living in jungle
were free but they became debased and unfree under social institutions.
Yet there are different interpretations of Rousseau’s statement. In his earlier
work, On the Origin of Inequality, he argued that man in jungle was noble and
honest, but society through its institution of private property made him a
hypocrite, dependent on recognition of others, and a slave to artificial needs.
But in his Social Contract, Rousseau argues that humans can become free under
a direct democratic form of state, when each individual freely gives up his
freedom and identifies with the general will of society. It is curious that he
defines the source of unfreedom as private property and culture, yet he offers
the path to freedom as a democratic form of state, culture and society. On the
one hand humans are free when they are part of nature, on the other hand they
become free when humans live under a particular form of society and culture.
Furthermore, Social Contract does not touch the institution of private property
and yet speaks of democratic state as a return to freedom. In addition to this
contradiction, it is the case that the ideas of the state of nature and its imagined
human freedom are nothing but myth. Human consciousness, language and
thinking become possible under interaction with other human beings. In other
words, society and culture is the very condition of the emergence of man, his
consciousness, and his freedom. 17th century philosopher Hobbes had also
talked of natural man but this man was brutish, violent, cheating and selfish. In
his theory, it was culture and state that could bring freedom to human beings.
There is another way that Rousseau’s word can be interpreted. State of nature
means the past form of society and culture and not a natural situation. This is
when humans were immersed in their group, were similar to other members of
the group and were defined by a collective tribal identity. In this situation there
was no division of labor, no inequality among individuals and no individual
decision making. Opposed to this becomes the present situation when
individuals have become different from each other, pursue their self-interest,
and are alienated from their group. For Rousseau, the first situation was good
whereas the current one is evil. His democratic “general will” was supposed to
be a civilized return to the identity of individual with the group. Even if we
interpret rousseau in this way, his word remains problematic. We know now
that neither political democracy is sufficient for preventing the emergence of
extremes of inequality and narcissistic individuals, nor absolute submission to
the general will is a path to freedom. In fact totalitarian state is an example of
this absolute reduction of individual freedom to submission to an unconstrained
general will.
Even though Rousseau’s statement is contradictory and confused, it points to a
serious concept. Humans are born noble and free and yet they are violent,
selfish, and unfree. Baha’u’llah also talks of the same contradiction. But his
words point to the contradiction between two forms of culture, a culture that is
based on the laws of spirit, and a culture that is based on the laws of jungle.
According to Baha’u’llah humans are created rich, noble, wise and loving, yet
they have made themselves poor, debased, ignorant, and violent. But this
original situation is not the life in jungle. Instead, it is the life of spirit and its
potentialities. It is the reduction of spirit to the level of nature and following the
laws of jungle in society that causes human degradation and misery. Humans
are born noble because they are a spiritual being, and they become degraded
when they forget their spiritual identity and see themselves as beasts and brutes.
In the Arabic part of the Hidden Words, Baha’u’llah writes:
« O SON OF SPIRIT! I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to
poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the
essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from
anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy
thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me
standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self- subsisting. »
It is important to note that in this statement God is addressing man as “son of
spirit”. In other words humans are born noble because their true identity is
spirit. They are the image of God. But humanity’s true identity is here defined
as being rich, noble, rational, and loving. The structure of Baha’u’llah’s
statement is dialectical. It begins by affirming the noble and rich character of
human being as spirit. Then it affirms the negation of that spiritual perfection in
the current culture which has reduced human beings to the level of jungle.
Finally, it resolves this contradiction by reminding people that they should
remember their truth, to reexamine themselves, discover their spiritual identity,
and actualize their spiritual potentials as the throne of God. Spiritualization of
culture, a culture in which human dignity is lived and institutionalized, is the
purpose of human history.
Baha’u’llah’s statement defines the nobility of man in terms of his rich spiritual
potential. In the early parts of Some Answered Questions, ‘Abdu’l-Baha
explains this richness of humans as their spiritual potentialities and perfections.
True happiness, freedom and bliss are possible through such spiritual
orientation. This is a key concept in Baha’i understanding of human dignity.
Human social institutions should be judged in terms of this key value. Forms of
culture which encourage and support the actualization of these rich potentials
are compatible with human nobility. That is why education is of such vital
importance in affirmation of human nobility. Since humans are created rich in
their spiritual potentials, human nobility requires treating humans as noble and
endowed with inalienable rights. This nobility necessitates participation of
humans in determination of their lives. But this self-determination in turn is
dependent on a culture which rejects prejudice and imitation of others and
instead encourages individuals to think for themselves and seek knowledge
independently. This independent thinking destroys various ideologies of hate
and estrangement, undermines all kinds of prejudice and encourages a culture of
peace, non-violence, unity and universal love.
The emphasis on realization of potentialities is inseparable from Baha’u’llah’s
conception of human dignity. In a passage he writes: "Regard man as a mine
rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its
treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.” In another passage he says
“The gem of humanness is hidden in human beings. It must be made manifest
through the cleansing burnish of education.” (author’s translation) Culture,
therefore, is the necessary condition for both dignity and freedom of human
beings, but this culture is a culture which cleanses humans from brutish life of
selfishness, ignorance, enslavement, prejudice, violence and intolerance.
Before discussing the details of Baha’u’llah’s views on human nobility it is
useful to refer to some of his words and teachings that emphasize human
dignity. In one place he says “Bloodshed and discord is worthy of the beasts in
the field, and what befiteth human dignity is virtuous deeds.”(author’s
translation)
Here the dignity of humans is based on their transcendence from the laws of
brutish nature and acting in accordance with unity and love. In another passage
has says “What befiteth man is humanness. A human being should not
concentrate all his endeavors on his own ego.
« Be ye concerned, in utmost striving, with improving each other’s
circumstances.”(author’s translation)
Here humanness or insaniyyat is defined in terms of mutual solidarity, altruism,
and service. In a famous passage, Baha’u’llah gives a new definition of human
being: “That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service
of the entire human race.” This statement defines a new concept of identity for
human beings, a concept which completely transcends any natural, kinship, or
traditional forms of tribal identity, a concept that makes humans citizens of the
republic of spirit. In another passage, he says “Reason is a messenger of God
and a manifestation of the divine name Omniscient. It is through reason that
human nobility is revealed and made visible.” (author’s translation). Here
human reason is defined as the realization of human nobility. But this reason is
a spiritual reality and a reflection of God. It is a reason which discovers the
interdependence of all reality, and the unity and oneness of all human beings.
This reason is not the Enlightenment’s reason, namely a calculus of self-
interest, a slave of brutish desires. Likewise, it is not a reason that in thousands
of years have fabricated various vain imaginings as justification of mutual
alienation, hatred, discrimination, and murder of other human beings in the
name of race, religion, gender, nationality, honor, and other social constructs.
Reason is, on the contrary, the consciousness of the spiritual reality of all
beings, a discovery of the dignity, equality, solidarity and unity of all reality
including all human beings.
Baha’u’llah’s ordinaces are direct affirmation of human dignity. For example,
when advising the believers when they attain the presence of himself,
Baha’u’llah forbids them to engage in bowing down or prostration before him
or any other human being. He says that only God is worthy of such acts, and
that no human being should degrade himself before another. It is for the same
reason that Baha’u’llah has forbidden kissing hands of anyone, because all
humans as spirit and image of God are equal and sacred. The same philosophy
forbids begging, since one who begs isdebasing and humiliating himself before
others. Similarly, Baha’u’llah forbids confession of sins before any human
being.

B.Institutionalization of Human dignity
For Baha’u’llah the issue is not the contradiction of nature versus culture, rather
it is the opposition of one form of culture against another. The truth of human
being is his spiritual reality. When humans live in accordance with their true
identity they are realizing their inherent nobility. However, if the form of
culture applies the laws of jungle to the realm of human reality the result is
oppression and degradation of human beings. The ultimate source of all human
debasement is the reduction of humans to the level of beasts. In other words, it
is the application of the law of nature, the struggle for existence, to the realm of
society and social institutions thatis the root cause of injustice and enslavement
of humans. In Some Answered Questions, discussing the cause of economic
problems of the contemporary capitalist society of his time, ‘Abdu’l-Baha
argues that the root cause of strike and other socio-economic difficulties lies in
the application of the law of nature to human society:
Now the root cause of these difficulties lies in the law of nature that govern
present-day civilization, for it results in a handful of people accumulating vast
fortunes that far exceed their needs, while the greater number remain naked,
destitute, and helpless. (SAQ,315)
In this quotation, ‘Abdu’l-Baha condemns extremes of inequality of a pure
capitalist system. But unlike Marx who thought all problems are caused by
economic and material factors, ‘Abdu’l-Baha finds pure capitalism as one of the
embodiments of a naturalistic philosophy that reduces humans to the level of
nature. Marxist philosophy itself is another expression of the same root cause.
That is why in that same discussion ‘Abdu’l-Baha emphasizes that both
communism and unchecked capitalism are various forms of dehumanization of
humans. Both are opposed to a spiritual understanding of humans and their
inherent dignity and nobility. Pure capitalism reduces society to the struggle for
existence as the economics of free market where selfishness is glorified,
whereas communism denies individual uniqueness, autonomy and freedom by
forcing equality of outcomes on all human activities. Such equality is only
possible if state regulates the details of individual behaviors and reduces human
beings to obedient and docile machines in society.
The emphasis on mystical and inherent nobility of humans does not remain an
empty slogan inBaha’i writings. On the contrary writings of Baha’u’llah are
geared towards realization of this inherent spiritual nobility at the level of social
institutions. One major expression of this viewpoint is Baha’u’llah’s
condemnation of both religious despotism and political despotism.Fifty years
before the constitutional revolution, Baha’u’llah called for political
democracy.Democracy is the only form of state that is compatible with a
spiritual definition of humans. If humans are seen and treated as spirit,
consciousness and noble, then all humans are capable of independent judgment,
equal and endowed with rights. In this situation only a true consultation can be
the legitimate basis of political decision making. Political despotism, on the
other hand, isa form of society in which all humans are reduced to the level of
objects and animals, while one person is defined as superior and capable of
thinking and making decisions. All despotic forms of politics, therefore, are
contradictory to the nobility of human beings. Furthermore, it is a democratic
and participatory form of society that encourages and facilitates the
development of human potentialities. On the contrary, despotism stifles the
emergence of humans as human.But Baha’u’llah’s call for political democracy
was far more complex than such discussions by later Iranian intellectuals. In
January 1861 Baha’u’llah wrote his Kitab-i-Iqan. The entire message of this
book is a rejection of spiritual despotism, affirmation of the independence and
rationality of all human beings, abolishing priesthood and calling for a culture
of independent investigation of truth. The first sentence of Iqan is a
reinterpretation of the traditional concept of detachment as the precondition of
attaining spiritual truth: “No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true
understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth.”
The main point of this sentence is that all human beings can and should engage
in independent investigation of truth. But such knowledge is contingent on
detachment from all other human beings. Detachment here is interpreted as
independence of mind, when individual is not a blind follower of the social,
cultural, and religious prejudices around him. One has to be detached from all
others to be able to understand the truth. Blind imitation of religious leaders is
utter self-degradation and a voluntarily self-dehumanization. For Baha’u’llah
such detachment and independence is the realization of spiritual democracy.
Even the administrative apparatus of the Baha’i community is governed by
democratic institutions because there is no priest or akhund in his religion. For
Baha’u’llah, realization of spiritual democracy is the essential condition for
realization of true political democracy. That is why for the Baha’u’llah both
forms of democracy require separation of church and state. All these three main
institutional teachings of Baha’u’llah are rooted in his belief in the primordial
nobility of all human beings. Unfortunately the history of 19 th and 20 th
century Iran was the neglect of the insights of Baha’u’llah. The worst mistake
made by many Iranian intellectuals was that instead of condemning both forms
of despotism, their critique of political despotism took the form of glorification
of spiritual despotism and celebration of the rule of religious leaders, which in
turn eliminated the possibility of any real political democracy as well. It is in
this context that we can understand the historical significance of the word of
Baha’u’llah who in late 1860s announced ‘From two ranks amongst men power
hath been seized, kings and ecclesiastics.” Here Baha’u’llah sees the future of
humanity a future of both political and spiritual democracy, a future in which
enslavement of mind by clerics as well as enslavement of life by despots are
discarded. It is evident that renouncing one’s independent judgment and
submitting blindly to the authority of the clerics reduce people to the level of
objects. Such culture of imitation and bondage is the main obstacle against the
actualization of human spiritual potentials.
A related expression of the principle of human dignity in the writings of
Baha’u’llah is the categorical prohibition of slavery. In 1868, in his tablets
addressed to the rulers of the world, Baha’u’llah condemned the institution of
slavery. In 1873 in his Most Holy Book he prohibited slavery arguing that all
human beings are servants of God, all are symbols of divine glory and thus no
human can be a slave to another. But decades before these well-known
passages, Baha’u’llah wrote that all human beings are servants of God and utter
nothingness before God.Therefore how can any human claim to own another,
while he himself is a servant of God. In this moving tablet which is one of the
earliest writings of Baha’u’llah, he is simultaneously affirming human servitude
before God, and human nobility, sacredness and dignity precisely because they
are all images of God. We remember that even until 1962 when slavery is made
illegal in SaudiArabia, the religious leaders of Mecca and Medina were
defending slavery because they argued what God has made lawful no human
can make it unlawful.
Another foundational implication of the doctrine of the nobility of human spirit
is Baha’u’llah’s rejection of international anarchy which is the application of
the law of nature to the realm of international relations. Although many people
have recognized the necessity of democratic rule at the level of nation states,
most people still believe that non-democratic and anarchic form of decision
making at the level of global affairs is natural and moral. But this anarchy of
international relations have brought increasing international inequality, global
poverty, international violence, global crime, terrorism, destruction of the
environment, militarization of the world and genocidal wars to our planet.
Baha’u’llah found this situation contrary to human dignity. Therefore he called
for extending the rule of democratic decision-making to the international
relations, calling for collective disarmament and security and fostering global
prosperity rather than poverty and war.
The current state of international anarchy is the greatest obstacle for free
realization of human potentialities. Among the outcomes of this international
anarchy are both increasing significance of citizenship as the main basis of
social inequality and oppression, and colonialism and colonial aggression.
Baha’u’llah found both these forms of oppression as debasing humanity and
inimical to spiritual development of individuals. In the past all societies were
enjoying relatively similar levels of economic and technological efficiency. The
result was that citizenship was not a serious basis of inequality and injustice.
But from 19th century a widening international inequality has made citizenship
the best predictor of the life chances of human beings. A child accidentally born
in a poor part of the world is condemned to a life of poverty and disease,
whereas another child born in a rich part of the world is born with various
opportunities that are guaranteed by citizenship rights. Our world considers
such gross, senseless, and unjust inequality and oppression as just and natural.
But Baha’u’llah announced in the middle of 19 th century that “the world is but
one country and mankind its citizens.” He called the leaders of the world to
recognize that not only nation states, but also the entire world has assumed an
organic, interrelated and interdependent character. Unless humanity becomes
conscious of itself as leaves and branches of one and the same tree and regards
the world as one human body no major social problem can be truly resolved.
Colonialism is another outcome of a world which divides the people into
insiders and outsiders.The logic of behavior which is applied to the outsiders is
one of dehumanization and violence and qualitatively different from the logic
applied to the insiders. Baha’u’llah rejected colonialism and militarism by
arguing that true honor and glory is not for one who loves his self, his family,
his religion, or his country. Rather true honor is for one who loves the entire
human race. Loving one’s country is a spiritual duty of all human beings, but
such love should be accompanied with loving the entire human race. Otherwise,
namely when one defines patriotic love in terms of hatred and dehumanization
of others, colonialism against others become moral and legitimate.Writings of
Baha’u’llah are filled with condemnation of colonialism. In 1882, in what is
called Urabi Revolt, the British navy bombarded Alexandria and invaded Egypt.
This colonial occupation of Egypt was the inception of formal British
colonialism of the Middle East.Baha’u’llah’s reaction to this historic colonial
invasion was swift and uncompromising. In a number of tablets he wrote shortly
after the event, Baha’u’llah condemns British colonialism ofEgypt, asks the
Baha’is to pray for the victory of the Egyptians, and condemns all
rationalizations of such violence on the basis of religion or patriotic honor,
arguing that:Vast majority of wars in the world are waged out of mere corrupt
desires, yet they arefalsely attributed to religion, honor, and country. Religion
and country bear witness to the falsehood of these people. Say! The world is but
one country, and all are created by the same Word. Wherefore ye wage wars,
and whom ye consider as enemy? (author’stranslation, unpublished)
For Baha’u’llah the world stands at a crossroad. For most human history,
humans frequently have perceived themselves and others as brutes and beasts
and therefore have acted according to the law of struggle for existence.
However, the low technological development of humanity in the past prevented
them from causing major damage to the planet. But this began to change in19th
century. Rapid technological developments created a situation in which humans
became capable of unimaginable destruction and murder. Unconstrained by
animal instincts and equipped with enormous power for destruction, now
humanity’s pursuit of the natural law of struggle for existence leads to
destruction of life on planet earth. While the law of nature, including the
principle of struggle for existence, is sacred and good at the level of nature, and
leads to ecological balance and sustaining of life on our planet, human imitation
of the same law leads to destruction of nature as well as human species. The
time has come to realize our spiritual reality and live in accordance with a
culture of love and unity. This is worthy of human dignity.
C. Reinterpretation of Religion
In discussing the statement of Baha’u’llah in Arabic Hidden Words, we noted
that God addresses humans as sons of spirit and affirms that in their original
creation as spirit they are born rich, noble, wise and loving. He also emphasizes
that the present condition of humanity is the exact opposite. Therefore, God
asks humans to gaze at themselves in order to discover that God is present
within each and every human being. This dialectical statement points to the
divine nature of humanity and asks for actualization of human spiritual
potentials. We noted that Baha’u’llah calls for a radical transformation of the
social institutions of the world in order to bring about conditions which make
such realization of human potentialities possible.
But in order to make this translation of mystical nobility of humans to the
nobility of actual living human beings we need yet another change. This time
the change is within religious and mystical worldview itself. Aside from social
teachings of religions which need to be redefined in terms of the requirement of
human equality and dignity, we need to change our conceptions ofGod and his
justice in ways that become compatible with human nobility. In this discussion I
will address three principal religious ideas and explain the way Baha’u’llah
reinterprets them.These are millenarian expectations of a savior, the belief in the
day of resurrection, and definition of religion and revelation.
The first issue is the millenarian expectations of various religions. Most of the
times, these millenarian expectations await the realization of divine justice on
earth through the appearance of a savior. This savior, however, is usually
defined in most violent forms, as a mass murderer who kills all people who are
outside of the specific version of that religion. In this way genocide becomes the
definition of justice. This view is of course not compatible with any conception
of human nobility or a just God. Instead, it is the internalization of an extreme
brutish logic of struggle for existence. That is why the Baha’u’llah defined
himself as the realization of that savior who saves by eliminating the law of the
sword, abolishing the culture of violence and proclaiming oneness of humanity.
This reinterpretation of the millenarian message is the essence of the first
revelation received by Baha’u’llah through which Baha’i Faith was born. While
he was in Tehran Dungeon, in the year 1852, he received the divine word that
“verily we render thee victorious by thyself and by thy pen.” Thus loving
character and pen, rather than the sword, became the means of victory of the
Cause of God.
In Iran, this millenarian expectation took the form of waiting for the return of
the twelfth Imam or the Qa’im. The clerical definition of this event is
predictably understood in terms of the sword, blood, hatred of non-Shi’ih and
mass violence. It is no wonder that when the clerics who see themselves as
representatives of the Hidden Imam are in charge of politics, the regulating
principle of society becomes institutionalization of violence and discrimination.
However, the statements of Baha’u’llah in the Hidden Words was directly a
reinterpretation of the concept of the twelfth Imam as well. This reinterpretation
is first elaborated in one of the early writings of the Bab who claimed to be the
awaited Qa’im himself. Yet, his explanation of the Qa’im is radically opposed
to traditional and clerical understanding of this issue.
In his work Commentary on Occultation Prayer (Sharhi Du’ayi Ghaybat) the
Bab interprets aprayer that was written by Imam Sadiq known as the
Occultation Prayer. This is a prayer that the Shi’is are asked to read so that the
return of the Twelfth Imam is hastened. It is a short prayer consisting of three
lines. The Bab interprets this prayer in an entirely new way. The essence of his
discussion is this: God in his primordial creation has created humans as perfect.
That is why in this primordial state of perfection prayer in the sense of asking
God to fulfill a need makes no sense. This perfect original creation of humans is
the true meaning of the birth of the Twelfth Imam. The Twelfth Imam refers to
all human beings who are all created at birth noble and perfect. Yet humans by
preoccupation with the material world forget their true spiritual identity and
debase themselves as beasts and brutes. This new situation of degradation and
reduction of humans to the level of jungle is metaphorically portrayed as the
occultation of the Imam. It is at this stage that prayer becomes necessary.
Humans have to engage in prayer so that they remember their true spiritual
identity and realize their own nobility. This is nothing but the return of the
Imam and the reign of justice on earth. Prayer is defined by the Bab as a
spiritual orientation that connects the finite to the infinite and a form of
consciousness which discovers in the midst of the material world the shining
sun of spirit. Suddenly, the entire concept of the Qa’im, his occultation and his
return becomes metaphorical statements about the existential human condition
and an affirmation of the inherent human nobility. Baha’u’llah’s word inHidden
Words was exactly the same thing. God has created humans noble. Humans
have abased themselves. Humans must look at their own truth to rediscover God
standing within them.The second issue that needs reinterpretation is the
concepts of heaven, hell and the day of resurrection. The clerical understanding
of heaven and hell is based upon a literal reading of the Qur’an which finds the
day of resurrection to be the end of history. In this literal understanding, hell
becomes the eternal house of torture where God loves to inflict eternal pain on
humans who in their limited life have made some mistakes. This literal
understanding unintentionally conveys the message that God is a sadist whose
justice is nothing but sadistic torture for the sake of torture. It is not surprising
that when clerics, who understand God and his justice in these ways, are in
control of state the result is institutionalization of torture against almost
everyone. No dignity, right or nobility of human being can be realized under
such conceptions of God. Similarly, the literal reading of heaven by clerics
indicates that the ultimate perfection and reward of human beings is to be
completely immersed in physical and sexual pleasure. In other words, the idea
of heaven becomes another reduction of humans to the level of beasts. It is no
wonder that the desire for attaining physical pleasures of heaven is so frequently
accompanied with a motivation to commit collective and indiscriminate
violence in the name of God on other human beings.
The writings of the Bab and Baha’u’llah give a radically different interpretation
of these concepts. The Bab argued that heaven and hell apply not only to
humans but to all beings. Everything has the right to realize its potentialities.
This realization of potentialities is the paradise of that thing. Hell, on the other
hand, is the state of deprivation of its perfections. So for example when humans
are polluting the seas, the earth and the air and they are building hell on earth.
Similarly, for human beings as image of God, heaven is realization of the
spiritual potentialities of humans. Thus reduction of humans to the level of
jungle, immersed in a culture of violence and intolerance, is the essence of hell.
Paradise becomes the realization of the culture of human rights, culture of peace
and culture of the oneness of humanity. Again, we can see that the statement of
Baha’u’llah in the Hidden Words precisely unveils the meaning of hell and
heaven. Heaven is the realization of true self-consciousness when humans
discover God within themselves and thus find all human beings, regardless of
their gender, race, religion, nationality, language or creed as sacred and
beautiful.
The third issue is the nature and dynamics of religion or revelation. The concept
of religion, revelation or divine word is usually understood in two opposite
ways. The traditional clerical understanding of religion finds religion as a set of
laws that is decided arbitrarily by a despotic will of God and without any
connection to the dynamics of human development, needs or history. Religion is
here absolutistic, irrational and ahistorical. That is why usually the clerics of
each religion find their religion to be the last religion meaning that the laws of
their religion must be binding eternally. In this understanding, religion becomes
traditionalism, a debasement of humanity and a great obstacle against human
development and progress. A clerical form of statet herefore try to impose
coercively and violently the laws that were relevant to thousands of years ago
on modern conditions of humanity. Opposed to this perspective is the viewpoint
of the materialist sociologists who consider revelation as a pure product of the
culture of specific people in a specific stage of their development. Here religion
is a purely human and social creation.
Baha’u’llah therefore redefines the concept of revelation. Religion is a product
of the dialogue ofGod with humanity. It is defined by the will and word of God
but this will or word is not arbitrary. Instead it takes a form that is compatible
with the specific stage of human development, and therefore it is historically
specific, changes over time, and is always oriented toward realization of human
potentialities in an ever advancing civilization. In fact the traditional notion of
covenant which is emphasized in Judaism, Christianity and Islam is in reality
affirmation of this dialogue of God with humanity. The primordial covenant is
not a social contract among humans. Rather it is a covenant between God and
humanity. The very concept of covenant is already based on defining humans as
the image of God, as noble spiritual beings and partners in the spiritual
agreement between God and humans. Here humans are not passive objects, but
active subjects endowed with consciousness and agency before God. In other
words, religion, as a divine covenant, aims at realization of spiritual human
perfections. Just as humans are historical beings and there is no end for such
spiritual progress, religions are also dynamic, progressive and correspond to the
needs of the time. This is again precisely the message of theHidden Words that
we have discussed before. Humans must find God within themselves, and this
dialogue with God is the eternal path of the ceaseless process of human spiritual
development. Thus religion instead of being an obstacle against human progress
becomes the active force for such development.
In conclusion, the mystical nobility of humans must not only be translated in the
form of specific social laws and institutions that guarantee such nobility, it must
also become cleansed from varieties of priestly misunderstandings of definition
of God, religion and humanity as well.

D. From Prejudice to Fairness
As we noted, for Baha’u’llah the root cause of human debasement is a culture
which forgets the spiritual dignity of humans and reduces humans to the level of
jungle. In other words, the application of the law of struggle for existence to the
realm of culture and social institutions ist he ultimate source of human
degradation and enslavement. Conversely, in Baha’i worldview, human
freedom, an indispensable component of human dignity, is realized through the
birth of humans as humans and transcending the culture of struggle for
existence. ‘Abdu’l-Baha has argued that true liberty and freedom is realized
when humans develop their spiritual potentialities, transcend their captivity to
nature and emerge as human beings. This freedom requires two conditions.
First, through human reason we develop science and technology and become
freed from the immediate control of our natural surroundings. This means that
as ‘Abdu’l-Baha says, we discover the laws of nature and through such
knowledge overcome them. For example, humans are biologically incapable of
flying. But through our science we build airplane and defy this natural
limitation. However, this rationality is not sufficient for emancipation from the
bondage of nature. In addition to this liberation from external nature we need to
become free from our internal, moral and spiritual captivity to nature. This
second condition is the same as liberation from captivity to the law of struggle
for existence. By turning to a spiritual identity we discover our mutual
interdependence with other human beings, discover the unity of humanity and
see all humans as sacred, beautiful and endowed with rights. A culture of
universal love, commitment to a code of universal human rights and dedication
to the realization of the interests of the entire human race, peace and
communication with all people are the result of such freedom. This is what
‘Abdu’l-Baha says:
And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is man's freedom, that through the
ideal Power he should be free and emancipated from the captivity of the world
of nature; for as long as man is captive to nature he is a ferocious animal, as the
struggle for existence is one of the exigencies of the world of nature. This
matter of the struggle for existence is the fountain-head of all calamities and is
the supreme affliction. (Selections 316)
Similarly, in one of his tablets Baha’u’llah argues that true liberty is attained
when humanity realizes that true honor and glory lies in loving the entire human
race.
But Baha’i writings take this novel analysis of human freedom and dignity to
yet a higher level.‘Abdu’l-Baha who defined human freedom as human
transcendence from captivity to theDarwinian law of struggle for existence,
argues that the equivalent of the principle of struggle for existence at the level
of human life is none other than various forms of prejudice. It is through
prejudice that humans act like beasts and brutes. The ultimate source of all
violence and oppression is now seen in prejudice, a form of culture which is
regulated by the principle of struggle for existence. Thus realization of true
freedom and attainment of a culture based upon human dignity is contingent on
removal of all kinds of prejudice. ‘Abdu’l-baha says:All prejudices are
destructive of the human edifice. As long as these prejudices persist, the
struggle for existence must remain dominant, and bloodthirstiness and rapacity
continue. Therefore, even as was the case in the past, the world of humanity
cannot be saved from the darkness of nature and cannot attain illumination
except through the abandonment of prejudices and the acquisition of the morals
of the Kingdom. (Selections313) That is why elimination of all kinds of
prejudice is so central to Baha’i teachings. The word translated as prejudice is
Ta’assub. It is important to realize that the concept discussed by Baha’u’llah
and ‘Abdu’l-Baha is far more complex than the English word prejudice.
Prejudice is a form of judgment which is incapable of seeing the truth in
objective ways, and therefore sees the outsiders in negative ways. But the word
ta’sassub not only conveys this notion of prejudice, it also explains the
sociological source of this distorted judgment. Ta’assub is derived from the
word usbah which means group. In other words, ta’assub is the process of
individual’s extreme identification with a particular group and therefore a
failure to see other groups as equal. In this process of reduction of identity to
one group other human beings are either strangers or enemies.In this way the
interests and needs of one’s own group become sacred and moral whereas the
interests and needs of other groups are completely ignored or rejected.
Therefore, ta’assub is the real source of dehumanization of other human beings,
a form of consciousness and value system in which struggle for existence
becomes the operating principle of human relations.
It was in this context that Baha’u’llah defined human being as one whose
identity is defined as a human being. A human being sees honor in terms of
loving human race and is dedicated to the service of humankind. For
Baha’u’llah, this is a free human being:
That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the
entire human race… It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own
country, but rather forhim who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one
country, and mankind its citizens.(Tablets 167)
It is in this context that Baha’i writings strongly and categorically reject racism,
patriarchy, militaristic nationalism, and religious fanaticism as destructive of
human nobility. For example, one cannot claim commitment to human dignity
when he regards women as inferior and perceives other religious groups as dirty
and subhuman. The case of religious prejudice and fanaticism is particularly
intriguing. It is difficult for people to recognize that religious prejudice and
fanaticism is in fact a reduction of humans to the level of beastly nature. But
this is precisely the insight offered by Baha’u’llah. All forms of prejudice are
affirmations of the struggle for existence and therefore they are all forms of a
materialistic and anti-spiritual worldview. That is why Baha’u’llah as the
founder of a new religion consistently emphasized that religion must be a cause
of unity and love, and that if it is a cause of discord and hatred it is better not to
have any religion. In Baha’u’llah’s words, religious fanaticism is “a world-
devouring fire.” (Epistle 13)To this complex sociological and philosophical
analysis of human freedom and dignity, Baha’u’llah adds a final concept that is
essential to human liberation and dignity. This is the concept of fairness or
Insaf, which is the application of justice at the level of individual thought and
judgment. Human freedom requires transcending from the culture of struggle
for existence, which in turn is dependent on rejection of prejudice. But this
prejudice is ultimately rooted in lack of fairness. Fairness, therefore, liberates
humans from the bondage of particularistic group prejudices and offers him the
possibility to see the world of humanity as one. Fairness or justiceis defined in
the Hidden Words as the most beloved of all things before God. This fairness is
the precondition for independent investigation of truth. It requires casting away
all traditions and imitations, and vain imaginings. One has to doubt the truth of
the habitual ways of his tradition, prejudices of his culture and reliance on
tyranny of religious leaders. In other words, fairness is an attitude of purification
of heart, of detachment from all but God, an orientation in which one looks at
the world with his own eyes and not through the eyes of his particular tribe.
Baha’u’llah’s writings usually begin with a discourse on the necessity of such
fairness. Both theHidden Words and the Book of certitude begin with such
discussion. In other words, the first teaching of Baha’u’llah is independent
investigation of truth or fairness. It is the opposite of the culture of prejudice.
By looking at things through one’s own eyes, one looks at reality in
universalistic ways, that is, in the same way that God looks at things. Returning
to the statement of Baha’u’llah in the Hidden Words, looking at oneself and
finding God standing within is in fact a description of purification of heart or
fairness. Human nobility is dependent on turning away from prejudice and
turning towards fairness. That is the meaning of Baha’u’llah’s statement:
The beginning of Humanness (insaniyyat) is fairness (insaf), and all things are
contingent upon it. (author’s translation)
In a striking passage in one of the last works of the Bab called Panj Sha’n, he
points to the relation between religious fairness and human freedom. Everyone
knows that using violence and coercion to force people convert to a religion is
opposed to human dignity and human freedom.That is why jihad and the law of
the sword are removed from Baha’i Faith. Yet the Bab argues that in fact vast
majority of people believe in a particular religion not because they have freely
selected that belief, rather because they were born within a family and society
which advocates that religion. In other words, lack of independent investigation
of truth, or lack of fairness, namely a culture of imitation (taqlid) is the root
cause of people’s religious identities. This means that religious identities are
still a matter of coercion and unfreedom.
It is in this context that we can understand the significance of Baha’u’llah’s
prayer in which he asks God “Confer fairness upon ecclesiastics and justice
upon rulers.” (author’s translation) He is asking God to give fairness to the
leaders of culture and religion so that the hearts and minds of the people are
liberated from prejudice and hatred. At the same time he wishes justice for the
rulers so that social and political institutions would embody human dignity.
Therefore dignity of humans requires a culture of fairness which in turn leads to
a true human identity. It is curious that for we humans, our humanness or being
a human is the most evident and immediate of all truths and yet, it is also the
most concealed, distorted, and forgotten reality. Emerging from a culture of
jungle to the kingdom of spirit is in fact a process of discovery of the fact that
we are first and foremost all human beings.

E. The Sacred Trinity of Human Dignity
No discussion of human dignity is possible without a general definition of
human being. In this paper we discussed the viewpoint of Baha’u’llah in regard
to human dignity. It is therefore necessary to conclude this analysis with a short
discussion of Baha’u’llah’s unique way of defining human beings. In a sense,
the entire writings of Baha’u’llah can be viewed as a dialectical elaboration of
his philosophy of human reality. In one of his writings he explicitly indicates
that his writings have first addressed the mystics, then the divines, and then the
kings and rulers of the world. This is indeed the ultimate description of the
order and divisions of his writings. His earliest works in Baghdad are
affirmations of the spiritual nature of reality. Here human beings are defined as
a spiritual being. This discourse has much in common with the most noble
mystic ideas in other religions including Islam, Christianity, Judaism,
Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Humans are the throne of God, the
image of God, the mirror of divine attributes and the dawning moment endowed
with both angelic and brutish tendencies.The second stage of his writings
affirms a new dimension of human reality. This often-neglected aspect is
historical and dynamic character of human being. In the language of modern
philosophy this is called historical consciousness. In Baha’i terminology this is
designated as the principle of progressive revelation, a thesis which sees human
reality as dynamic, progressive and historical, a fact which in turn necessitates
the dynamic and progressive character of even divine word and revelation.
Baha’u’llah emphasizes this second aspect of human reality in his writings
which addressed the clerics. The reason is that the clerical worldview has
always emphasized traditionalism and a static view of human reality. The
difference between Baha’u’llah’s logic and traditional viewpoint of the clerics is
as wide as the distance of heaven and earth. For the clerics and even mystics,
the word of God is absolute, eternal and unchanging. For them spirit is defined
in terms of its opposition to change. For Baha’u’llah, on the contrary, the
definition of humans as spirit means that humans are dynamic, progressive,
historical, and ever-advancing. Spirit is opposed to nature. Nature is relatively
stagnant. That is why the dogs and cats behave in different places and at
different times in similar ways. But spirit has no nature. It creates itself and
constructs its universe. In its freedom and self-determination, spirit is defined by
its creativity, dynamism, change and history. Baha’u’llah’s first definition of
humans as spiritual requires his second principle, the principle of historical
consciousness.
The third and final stage of the writings of Baha’u’llah offers a third feature of
human reality.This is the principle of global consciousness, the oneness of
humanity and the universal solidarity of all human beings. Baha’u’llah
emphasized this third principle in his writings that addressed humanity in
general and the rulers of the earth in particular. In the past, social and political
institutions of the world have been primarily based on the natural law of
struggle for existence, the law of prejudice, and dehumanization of others. The
time has come, however, to realize that all humans are brothers and sisters. All
humans must be perceived and treated as citizens of the republic of spirit where
there is no discrimination, prejudice or hatred against other people on the basis
of their natural, biological or imagined differences. In other words, a true
understanding of human reality requires a realization of the unity of humankind
and global cooperation and universal dignity of all human beings.
This third characteristic of humans is the logical conclusion of both previous
principles. The first principle namely the spiritual definition of humans teaches
us to realize that as image of God we are all one and the same. We cannot define
human being as the image of God and then hate and kill each other on the basis
of our biological differences, our place of birth on planet earth or religious
superstitions and vain imaginings. But the principle of global consciousness is
also the logical result of the second principle namely the idea of historical
consciousness. If humans are historical and dynamic beings, then we need to
understand that at this time the process of historical development have brought
humanity to a new and global stage of development. In this global condition our
mystical unity has become an objective material reality. In this stage no
problem can be adequately solved except through a consciousness of universal
brotherhood and sisterhood of all humanity and the imperative of global
cooperation. Humans, in Baha’u’llah’s words, need to regard the world as one
interdependent and organic body. The age of particularistic prejudices, hatred,
estrangement, discrimination and dehumanization is over. We need to be
awakened by this spiritual enlightenment and reconstruct our world in ways that
correspond to the requirement of time. In Baha’u’llah’s view, human dignity is
embodied in this definition of human being, a human being who is spiritual,
historical and global.
-- Baha'u'llah and Human Nobility (Used by permission of the curator)