Revision on The New Garden by Hushmand Fathea’zam

The purpose of our lives is to know God, our Creator and to worship God. Having established the fact that the purpose of our lives is to worship God, how do we know God? The answer is in recognizing the Manifestations of God. After knowing God is to love God with all our hearts and the love of God is the source of everlasting happiness. Then, the book talks about Oneness of Religion and Progressive Religion. This summarizes Chapter 1: God and His Religion.

Chapter 2 talks about Manifestations of God. This includes Krishna, Buddha, Moses, Zoroaster, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, The Bab and Baha’u’llah.

Chapter 3: The Covenant. 

Baha’u’llah was a Divine Architect and He drafted the magnificent Plan for the unity of mankind. When Baha’u’llah passed away, He appointed Abdu’l-Baha (Abdu’l-Baha means the servant of Baha) as the Centre of His Covenant. Abdu’l-Baha became the authorized interpreter of Baha’u’llah teachings and all Baha’is should turn to Abdu’l-Baha for guidance in matters concerning His teachings.

Abdu’l-Baha’s ministry lasted for about 30 years and appointed His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as the Guardian of the Faith of God when He passed away. He taught the Baha’is of the world how to work together so as to establish the World Order of Baha’u’llah, and how to carry out the instructions of Abdu’l-Baha mentioned in His Tablets of Divine Plan. During Shoghi Effendi 36 years of guardianship, a Ten-Year Plan where all the Baha’is of the world were to work closely together in taking the Message of Baha’u’llah to the remaining islands and territories of the globe where the Baha’I faith had not yet been established. The end of the Ten-Year Plan in 1963 marked a full century had passed since Baha’u’llah proclaimed His Mission, and the Baha’is of the world elected the first International House of Justice – the Supreme Body which Abdu’l-Baha has assured us will be under the direct guidance of God and infallible in all its decisions.

Chapter 4 shows Some of the Teachings and Principles

• Oneness of Mankind – All human beings are children of one God
• Removal of Prejudice – All forms of prejudice must be forgotten, whether it is national, racial or religious prejudice
• Search After Truth – Baha’u’llah teaches the Truth is one and we must search after the truth for ourselves
• Universal Language
• Equality Between Men and Women – God look to the heart and character of a person and not the sex
• Universal Education – Every child must receive education and the education of children is a sacred task. Education must free us from superstitions and prejudices and also from the clutches of materialism
• Religion and Science Must Work Together – Science has provided tools for people who use them as weapons because they have no religion to teach them how to make the best use of these tools. On the other hand, religion without science will become nothing but ignorance and superstition. True religion is in agreement with true science
• Extremes of Wealth and Poverty Must End – The right of every human being to the daily bread whereby they exist, or the equalisation of the means of livelihood. Baha’is are encouraged to make every effort towards material as well as spiritual advancement but true wealth for a Baha’i is the love of God in his heart
• Happiness – We are joyful because the love of God is within us and we know the meaning and purpose of our short lives on this earth
• Immortality – Death is not the end but a beginning. It is a spiritual rebirth
• Heaven and Hell – Reward and punishment. Heaven is nearness to God while hell is being deprived of this bounty
• Moral and Ethical Teachings – Foundation of all religions is one. Baha’u’llah teaches very high standard of ethics and personal conduct.

Chapter 5 is Administration

The Baha’i Faith is a religion without priest. Baha’u’llah called upon every one of us to search after Truth for ourselves. Every Baha’i has to pray for himself. Instead of having priests, Baha’u’llah laid down foundation of a wonderful system of Administration through which we can work together for the progress of the Faith and the spiritual welfare of the community.

Baha’i administration consists of Local Spiritual Assembly which are elected by the Baha’is of villages or towns, National Spiritual Assemblies elected by the Baha’is of the countries, and the Universal House of Justice, elected by all the Baha’is of the world through their national assemblies.

Election of a Spiritual Assembly

• Every place with more than nine Baha’is adults must elect a Spiritual Assembly to serve the local community to which it belongs
• Assembly can only be elected on the 21^st of April which is the anniversary of the Declaration of Baha’u’llah
• Every voter must write down the names of the nine persons whom he or she considers more worthy for being elected on the Spiritual Assembly
• Baha’u’llah has forbidden us to nominate any individual or try to draw attention to any special person before or during the election
• The nine Baha’is who have the most votes are elected as members of the Local Spiritual Assembly for that year

The duties of a Local Spiritual Assembly include:

• Guarding the interests of the Baha’is in that locality
• Helping Baha’is teach the Cause of God
• Promoting amity and love among believers
• Having a fund to be utilized for the interests of the Cause and the community
• Educating Baha’i children and youth
• Undertaking the arrangement of the regular meetings of the friends, feasts and anniversaries

Some important points about the Baha’i administration include:

1. Obedience to all the decisions of the Assembly
2. If we feel that the Local Assembly decision is not right, we must first obey and then appeal to the National Spiritual Assembly to re-consider the decision of Local Assembly
3. The unity of the community is safeguarded only if we lend our complete support to the institutions of the Cause regardless of their members
4. No one can resign from a Spiritual Assembly unless good reasons such as continuous bad health or changed residence
5. We can take our problems to the Spiritual Assembly and consult them
6. The Local Spiritual Assembly is responsible to God and in administrative matters to the National Spiritual Assembly
7. All Baha’is are equal including those elected on to the Spiritual Assembly

Chapter 6 dictates some of the Laws and Obligations

• Cleanliness – keeping ourselves, our clothes and our homes clean is very important for the Baha’is.
• Prayer – Prayer is conversation with God. Prayer is the food of the soul and it is compulsory in Baha’i Faith. Prayers are to be recited every morning and evening. In addition, there are three compulsory prayers to be recited daily; long Obligatory Prayer, medium Obligatory Prayer and short Obligatory Prayer. Baha’is are free to choose any one of the three.
• Fasting – With the beginning of the 19^th month (Mar 2 -21), the month of Loftiness (Ala), the period of fasting begins. Throughout the 19 days of fasting,  Baha’is do not eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset.
• Work is Worship – Everybody should work. To serve mankind and to minister the needs of the people is worship.
• Teaching the Cause of God – A Baha’i’s duty is to study the Cause, practise its Teachings and spread its Message.
• Alcoholic Drinks are Prohibited – Baha’is must strive to keep their minds and souls as healthy as possible.
• Observing the Holy Days – Nine holy days throughout the year which Baha’is should not work.

                         i.            March 21             Feast of Naw-Ruz (New Year)

                        ii.            April 21               First day of Ridvan – Declaration of Baha’u’llah (1863) at 3 pm

                       iii.            April 29               Ninth day of Ridvan

                       iv.            May 2                 Twelfth day of RIdvan

                        v.            May 23                Declaration of the Bab (1844)

                       vi.            May 29                Ascension of Baha’u’llah (1892) at 3 am

                      vii.            July 9                   Martyrdom of the Bab (1850) at about noon

                     viii.            October 20          Birthday of the Bab (1819)

                        ix.            November 12      Birthday of Baha’u’llah (1817)

• Marriage – There is no monastic life in Baha’i Faith.  The necessary requirements for a Baha’i marriage are: (1) the man and woman must consent to marry one another and (2) Parents of the bride and bridegroom, if alive, must give consent to the marriage.
• Loyalty to Government – A Baha’i cannot be faithful to his religion if he is not faithful to his government. The Baha’i Faith has nothing to do with politics and Baha’is cannot participate in any party politics whatsoever. The best way for a Baha’i to serve his country and the world is to work for the establishment of Baha’u’llah’s World Order, which will gradually unite all men and do away with divisive political systems and religious creeds.
• How One Becomes a Baha’i – It is to have conviction in the Oneness of God, oneness of religion ad oneness of mankind; to realise that religion is progressive and continuous and is for the sake of unity rather than disunity. The man who lives the life according to the teachings of Baha’u’llah is already a Baha’i.