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Baha’I community says no rituals in their mode of worship

By NAN
15 November 2015   |   7:39 am
The Baha’I community of Abuja with 1,500 followers said that there was no ritual in their mode of worship whenever they come together to worship in the Temple. The community said this during the birthday anniversary of the twin manifestation held at Reiz Continental Hotel on Saturday in Abuja. Mr Lawrence Alobi, a former Commissioner…
Baha’I community of Abuja

Baha’I community of Abuja

The Baha’I community of Abuja with 1,500 followers said that there was no ritual in their mode of worship whenever they come together to worship in the Temple.

The community said this during the birthday anniversary of the twin manifestation held at Reiz Continental Hotel on Saturday in Abuja.

Mr Lawrence Alobi, a former Commissioner of Police, told newsmen that the birthday was to celebrate the two founders of Baha’I Faith, Bab and Baha’u’llah.

He said that the religion had existed for 50 years and was registered with the United Nations as a nongovernmental organisation since 1984.

“ We don’t do rituals in our mode of worship; we use the Holy Bible and Holy Qur’an as references.

“ The religion holds consultative status with the United Nations Economic, Social Council and with UNICEF; it has an ongoing working relationship with several other UN agencies,’’ Alobi said.

He further explained that the uniqueness of the Baha’I temple was that it had nine doors and each door was represented by every other religion Worldwide.

“ In Baha’I temple all the Holy Books of other religions are being kept there,’’ he said.

He said that the Baha’I Faith had no clergy and uses Kitab-i-Aqdas as their Holy Book.

“ We give more spiritual meaning in the writings and read the prayers the way they are revealed in our Holy Book,’’ he said.

48 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Hee ..en. This one wey former police commissioner be spokesman, the rest is better imagined. Freedom of worship.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Bahaism is a cult. It pretends to be a World religion while it is a Scam. I bet there are no more than 150 card carrying members in Nigeria. They have always lied when they mentioned their numbers. See this :
    https://bahaicensusindia.blogspot.com/

    • Author’s gravatar

      This prejudicial response sounds like you have not investigated what the Baha’i Faith is by yourself. The definition of “cult” is way off what the Faith is.

      • Author’s gravatar

        Yes. it is a cult. Many Ex-Baha’is have proved this. Read the writings of Juan Cole, Frederick Glaysher and others. There are many Ex-Baha’is with their stories. If you wish I can give the links to their experiences why they feel like that. Even I am one of them. You can read my experience at :
        https://bahaism.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-bahai-faith-is-cult.html

        • Author’s gravatar

          Badi19, please choose the path you wish to follow and just ignore the Baha’i Faith. If it is a cult, it will fade away like all cults, so there is no need to comment about it. I have been a Baha’i since 1982 and over the years I have come across many people who have said bad things about the Faith and some choose to believe those people. That is their choice. If I may suggest this, wait a year or two and then have a look at it again. You might think differently. I wish you happiness!

          • Author’s gravatar

            Thank you for wishes. You pretend to be so kind. Just a piece from Baha’i writings for you :

            The Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and protest against the guardian of the Cause of God, cast him out from the congregation of the people of Baha and in no wise accept any excuse from him.

            ….He that obeyeth him (Guardian) not hath not obeyed God; he that turneth away from him hath turned away from God …..To none is given the right to put forth his own opinion or express his particular convictions. All must seek guidance and turn to the Center of the Cause and the House of Justice. And he that turneth unto whatsoever else is indeed in grievous error.

            The Will And Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

            This makes your “Faith” a cult.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Badi, you have misunderstood the quotation. The Baha’i Faith has a Covenant. It is the only religion, which has one. It serves to prevent any sects forming. All of the other religions have split into up to thousands of sects depending on the religion. Before Baha’u’llah died, he said that all believers should turn to his son, Abdu’l-Baha, for guidance and for interpretation of the Writings. Before he died he said that the believers should turn to the Guardian, Baha’u’llah’s grandson, until the world-elected body, the Universal House of Justice could be formed. Covenant Breakers appeared who tried to make themselves the Centre of the Cause and to create sects. Baha’is have been told not to create splits and to follow the guidance of those mentioned in the Covenant. Now the Universal House of Justice in Haifa is the Centre of the Faith and source of guidance through plans of development.

          • Author’s gravatar

            I have not. I will reply to you one by one.

            1) The concept of covenant is not unique to your faith as you claimed. In fact this has been copied from previous religions like Islam and Christianity. Please make sure before you claim anything. Read this article by Susan Maneck. https://bahai-islam.blogspot.com/

            2) Baha’is have as many as 17 sects. Please get your facts straight. Please check this : https://www.thesectsofbahais.com/cracks.html

            3) Baha’u’llah in his will (Kitab-i-Ahad) asked Baha’is to follow Mohammed Ali Effendi after Abbas Effendi. But Abbas Effendi broke the covenant by appointing his grandson as his successor. Again Abbas Effendi asked Baha’is to follow the first born male descendant of Shoghi Effendi after his death. But this did not happen as the guardian (shoghi) died childless as he was a Homosexual according to his personal secretary.

            4) According to will and testament of Abdul Baha the Universal House of Justice is invalid without a living guardian. Again according to the same document the UHJ is not infallible if its chairperson is not a guardian. Hence the present sans-guardian UHJ is fake.

            5) All those who questioned the illegal authority of Abdul Baha were declared as covenant Breakers. All those who questioned the illegal guardianship of Shoghi Effendi were declared Covenant Breakers. All those who questioned illegal UHJ are declared as CBs.

            I hope noting remained unanswered. If you need proofs of anything that I wrote above. Please be kind enough to ask. I will try my level best to provide you.

          • Author’s gravatar

            1) The Baha’i Covenant has maintained the integrity and unity of the Baha’i Faith. Although there have been those who opposed the Baha’i Covenant, their numbers and influence are insignificant. That there were covenants in religions of the past is not surprising. The clear-cut specificity of the Covenant of Baha’u’llah is quite unique.

            “The Covenant is the “axis of the oneness of the world of humanity” because it preserves the unity and integrity of the Faith itself and protects it from being disrupted by individuals who are convinced that only their understanding of the Teachings is the right one—a fate that has overcome all past Revelations. The Covenant is, moreover, embedded in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh Himself. Thus, as you clearly see, to accept Bahá’u’lláh is to accept His Covenant; to reject His Covenant is to reject Him” (Universal House of Justice).

            2) Baha’is follow Baha’u’llah as the most recent Revealer of the Word of God. His writings are the sacred Scriptures of the Baha’i Faith, the newest Testament from God (the sacred books of the past — The Torah, the Gospel, the Qur’an, are older Testaments from God). As instructed by Baha’u’llah, Baha’is turn to ‘Abdul-Baha as the interpreter of Baha’u’llah’s teachings. Baha’is look to Shoghi Effendi as the head of their Faith after “Abdul-Baha. Muhammad Ali, in opposition to Baha’u’llah’s specific command to turn to ‘Abdul-Baha, challenged and sought to undermine ‘Abdul-Baha’s leadership. Today Baha’is are under the leadership of the elected Universal House of Justice, explicitly called for in the sacred writings of Baha’u’llah.

            3) As Muhammad Ali attempted to challenge and undermine the authority of ‘Abdul-Baha, an unequivocal requirement of Baha’u’llah, Muhammad Ali therefore was in no position to assume the leadership of the Baha’i Faith. Aspersions against Shoghi Effendi lack credibility. Many women and men, married to each other, are childless, and what conclusions can be drawn from such happenstance or from a statement of a single disgruntled individual?

            4) “The endowments dedicated to charity revert to God, the Revealer of Signs. No one has the
            right to lay hold on them without leave from the Dawning-Place of Revelation. After Him the
            decision rests with the Aghṣán [Branches], and after them with the House of Justice—should it be
            established in the world by then—so that they may use these endowments for the benefit of the
            Sites exalted in this Cause, and for that which they have been commanded by God, the Almighty,
            the All-Powerful. Otherwise the endowments should be referred to the people of Bahá, who
            speak not without His leave and who pass no judgment but in accordance with that which God
            has ordained in this Tablet, they who are the champions of victory betwixt heaven and earth, so
            that they may spend them on that which has been decreed in the Holy Book by God, the Mighty,
            the Bountiful” (Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas).

            5) “ ‘When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root.’ The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch [‘Abdu’l‑Bahá]. Thus have We graciously revealed unto you Our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful. Verily God hath ordained the station of the Greater Branch [Muḥammad ‘Alí] to be beneath that of the Most Great Branch [‘Abdu’l‑Bahá]. He is in truth the Ordainer, the All-Wise. We have chosen “the Greater” after “the Most Great,” as decreed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.” (Baha’u’llah, Book of the Covenant).

            Regarding ‘Abdul-Baha, Baha’u’llah has written: “Render thanks unto God, O people, for His appearance; for verily He is the most great Favor unto you, the most perfect bounty upon you; and through Him every mouldering bone is quickened. Whoso turneth towards Him hath turned towards God, and whoso turneth away from Him hath turned away from My beauty, hath repudiated My Proof, and transgressed against Me. He is the Trust of God amongst you, His charge within you, His manifestation unto you and His appearance among His favored servants… We have sent Him down in the form of a human temple. Blest and sanctified be God Who createth whatsoever He willeth through His inviolable, His infallible decree. They who deprive themselves of the shadow of the Branch, are lost in the wilderness of error, are consumed by the heat of worldly desires, and are of those who will assuredly perish” (Baha’u’llah, Tablet of the Branch).

          • Author’s gravatar

            Hello escocesrojo,

            Thank you for all the COPY-PASTE.

            1) Your friend blindly claimed that the Concept of Covenant is unique to Baha’i cult without any prior knowledge of what the so called Baha’i Scholar (Susan Maneck) wrote on this subject. Anyway. Now again you came here without knowing what has happened to this co called covenant. I would like to first correct you regarding the translation of the word “Kitab-i-Ahdi” of Baha’u’llah. You Haifan Baha’is translate it as the “Book of Covenant” while the correct translation is the “Book of my Covenant”. Now why this difference in translating the title? I advice you to please read the book “A lost History of the Baha’i Faith” by the great grand-daughter of Baha’u’llah. The Book is available free on the internet to download.

            2) What you wrote about the Covenant is all meaningless. The fact is that today Baha’is have been divided into many sects. Haifan Baha’is dragging Orthodox Baha’is and Neal Chase Baha’is to courts on the issue of Trademarks etc. has exposed the “Covenant” of this cult. The Infallible UHJ (Manifestation of God for Today or the Centre of Covenant for today) losing the case against the So called Covenant Breakers is all exposed. This is a cracked covenant and you call it unique!

            3) Baha’u’llah is the manifestation of Satan. Go and read what he has done to his brother Mirza Yahya and his followers on Bayanic.com and shamelessly claimed of unity, love and peace. What Abdul Baha did to his opponents and what Shoghi Effendi did to his opponents and on the same lines what UHJ is doing to its opponents today! You people are the greatest hypocrites on this earth. With the advent of Internet and in the era of Mass Information you Cannot deceive innocent people anymore.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Badi, I have seen you all over the place and it really seems you are obsessed with the Baha’i Faith. You really have to ask yourself the question why. We are about 5-7 million followers, are not the majority of any country on earth, have very limited resources. I can understand my position because I am a Baha’i, but I really can’t understand yours. On some deep subconscious level you must think it is valid otherwise you wouldn’t expend so much negative energy on it. In psychology I believe the term would be over-compensate. Shouldn’t you be enjoying life, smelling the roses, and playing soccer with your kids.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Hi Donald. Peace and greetings to you.

            1) You are not 5-7 million. This has been exposed at many places. For the readers this link will be useful : https://worldbahaicensus.blogspot.com

            2) You have nothing to say on my previous comment except using the Baha’i Technique against me. Which is again exposed by the Ex-Baha’is here :

            The Baha’i Technique – Slander & Shunning

            https://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/technique.htm

            Compare

            Shunning > Menu

            https://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Shunning.htm

            Shoot the Messenger, Character Assassination, ETC

            https://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Shoot%20the%20Messenger.htm

            Thank you.

          • Author’s gravatar

            If we are less than that number, they you should be even less pre-occupied. I just don’t understand it. With all the things going on the world.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Why you teach Ruhi Book 8 on Covenant? How many Covenant Breakers are there!?

          • Author’s gravatar

            I kind of look on it as a trademark enfringement issue. Here is an example, suppose I have a soda that I am a selling. Another person comes and with the same name and logo starts selling his product, but he changes the recipe so it tastes really bad. Because his product is so bad, he starts affecting my business. Do I just let him do it, as he destroys years of work. No, I take him to court and get an order but he stills making his phony product. Well, if he doesn’t cease and desist he eventually winds up in jail until he does stop. In our case we only shun which is a far more lenient punishment. The purpose of the covenant is to eliminate the situation of what happened to previous faiths. Look at the split in Islam, Sunni and Shiite, the terrible carnage that we are witnessing. The protestant reformation which resulted in the deaths of millions of people. The sectarian confict of Ireland, which being half Irish myself, has plagued that country for hundreds of years. I could go on and on an on, but I am sure you get the point. The Baha’i Faith has a clear “chain of custody”, so there is not doubt about the successorship or institututions, but there will always be a small percentage of people that defy logic and reason no matter how it is laid out.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Ok, So your cult is like a “Soda” and your religious symbols are “Trademarks”. I See. Thank you for providing such a thoughtful example of your covenant. Great !

            You should read the book “A Lost history of Baha’i Faith”. It is indeed a great work by Negar Baha’i Amsalem and Shua’u’llah Bahai, the descendents of Hosein Ali Nari.

            Thank you Donald again for your examples.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Surely Allah is not ashamed to set forth any parable, that of a gnat or anything above that.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Jesus Christ).

          • Author’s gravatar

            You forgot the second part. By their fruits you shall know them.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Here the the fruits of Baha’u’llah
            https://bahai-scandals.blogspot.com

          • Author’s gravatar

            So? No faith is immune. If you expect all people of a faith to be perfect, than you wouldnt belong to any religion. You couldnt be a Moslem because Moslems killed Ali and Husayn and the other imams. You couldnt be a Christian because constantine killed his own son for sleeping with his wife. You couldnt be a jew because david had an adulteeous affair with the wife of a general. You couldnt be a Hindu because it was a Hindu who killed Mahatma Gandhi, etc etc etc

          • Author’s gravatar

            Ok. So you mean this tree is not immune. Even this tree has bad fruits like so many other trees. Then why do we need one more tree with bad fruits? There are already so many such!

          • Author’s gravatar

            All of us, to some degree are bad fruits, all we can do is try to follow the spiritual path. The older faiths have been so overlaid with manmade ideas and doctrines, and the laws out of date, faith has to be restored so mankind can climb out of its spiritual hole.

          • Author’s gravatar

            It would be better if you make your fellow Baha’is understand this first. Try to enlighten your own house first.

          • Author’s gravatar

            That is faulty logic. One must be perfect in order to teach the faith, therefore I will not teach the faith. The best example I can use is a map. I have a map to a spiritual destination. I have just begun my journey and am nowhere near my destination. Does that mean I should not share the map with another soul. Who knows? He might use the map, and make more progress than I?

          • Author’s gravatar

            Dear Donalnd. I did not say that in order to teach you must be perfect. Please read my comment carefully again. My comment meant “Charity begins at home”.

          • Author’s gravatar

            If we could, most of us would be Meccan, but sometimes the situation forces us to be Medinans. It is unpleasant and we would prefer not to, but there is no other way.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Let us talk about Persians. You must be knowing that Persians are beautiful people. And the one who is Blessed Perfection and Blessed Beauty and Manifestation of God and so much… should be most beautiful naturally… here is a picture of the manifested God for you and others to see. See it yourself and conclude this argument.

            Thank you.

          • Author’s gravatar

            It is not the cover of the book that is important, it is the contents. And by the way, that pic was taken after years of imprisonment and He was poisoned and He was reduced to penury. Baha’u’llah gave everything in the path of God. Would you reject Jesus because he looked unkempt on the day of his crucifixion? How superficial can you be?

          • Author’s gravatar

            Dear Donald, Earlier you gave the example of Soda and its label for your Cult. Now I wish to use the same example for you. If the Soda bottle is dirty / ugly would anybody feel like buying it or looking at it? You want to say that Baha’u’llah’s nose, eyes, lips, mustache and beard etc. got effected by the poison? Show me where it is mentioned in the Baha’i history. The only effect mentioned in the Baha’i history is “Shaking hand” till the time of his death. Please enlighten. God Bless.

          • Author’s gravatar

            So, I guess you should only follow the spiritual path of hollywood actors. Good luck on that. You can get your guidance from Taylor Swift, but i will continue to follow the teachings of Baha’u”llah.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Good luck to you dear Donald. If you are serious in that then try to learn Arabic / Persian and read his untranslated writings also. You will be “Enlightened”. Do you know the official Baha’i Holy Book was officially translated into English in 1992. You are a way behind.

          • Author’s gravatar

            I really wish I could but I am 64, and have to work until my 70s. I tried learning Arabic but to reach that level of understanding where I could understand the nuances of the Quran would take a long, long time. In the meantime, I have to be content with the new book that came out, the study Quran, put out by the Islamic soceity of the US.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Just one note, translation has to be done very, very carefully, otherwise you can cause major problems. There was huge conflict over the station of Christ at the council of Nicea, because of an ambiguous translation. Sometimes, though, it is not sufficient to know Arabic. I know Moslems in the US that know Arabic and are well-versed in the literal meaning of the Quran but don’t seem to get the underlying spiritual message. For example, “That they said [in boast], “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah,” but they killed him not, nor crucified him. Only a likeness of that was shown to them. And those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no [certain] knowledge. But only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not ”
            A devout Moslem told me that this means that the Romans cruficifed an impostor
            which makes makes no sense at all. Honestly, it is dumb. First, it impugns Jesus character because he allowed someone else to take the rap. Second, crucifixion is a very painful and deeply personal experience that takes days. There really is no case of mistaken identity. Third, Judah,was a relatively closed soceity where the Jews had lived for hundreds of years since they returned from Babylon. In that type of soceity everyone knows everyone else; it was not an anonymous society like New York or Chicago. The man understood Arabic but did not understand the meaning of the above passage, which is really clear. In an extremely, clever way, Mohammed was teaching that the true reality of Jesus was his spiritual reality, not the body. The body is the impostor of the soul, so to speak. In one swoop he denied the Christian’s belief in the bodily resurrection (as did Paul in Corinthians) and magnified the true glory of Jesus.

          • Author’s gravatar

            So what is your point? Read this :

            https://bahaism.blogspot.com/2014/12/why-i-know-bahaullah-isnt-manifestation.html

            Thank you. God bless you.

          • Author’s gravatar

            I Read the blog. A lot of subjective experiences and faulty logic by someone not very knowlegeable in the faith

          • Author’s gravatar

            Here is something more for you. This is by Larry Rowe (an Ex-Baha’i)

            “Nowhere but in the purity of its precepts, the sublimity of its
            standards, the integrity of its laws, the reasonableness of its claims,
            the comprehensiveness of its scope, the universality of its program, the
            flexibility of its institutions, the lives of its founders, the heroism
            of its martyrs, and the transforming power of its influence,” OK, lets examine each of these claims to measure their merit.

            1: “Purity of it’s precepts” – The precept of the oneness of humanity
            which is directly contradicted by the Baha’i doctrine of shunning as
            well as the Baha’i religious practice of labeling those whose religious
            interpretations are diverse from the Haifan Baha’i elite as being
            spiritually contagious lepers.

            2: “Sublimity of it’s standards” – The supposed standard of the removal
            of the past religious practice of dividing humanity the “pure tree” from
            the “evil tree”, a religious practice which the founders of the Baha’i
            Faith as well as Shoghi Effendi, as well as the UHJ today, and in turn
            all Baha’is who religiously follow these exemplars directly contradict
            though continuing to divide humanity the chosen from those nasty evil
            covenant breakers, as well as the supposed standard of the abolition and
            nullification of the past religious practice of shunning a religious
            practice that the Baha’i founders practiced religiously, and which
            Shoghi Effendi applied to his entire family, his own parents included.

            3: “The integrity of it’s laws.” Bigamy allowed for men, inequality for
            women in inheritance, as well as the burning alive of arsonists.

            4: “The reasonableness of it’s claims” – The claim that Baha’u’llah was
            not only a manifestation of god but god incarnate, an idolatrous claim
            which Baha’u’llah himself refused to dissuade his delusional followers
            from holding as well as the claim that in spite of all the many
            contradictions and even hypocrisy between Baha’i teachings and the
            manner that the founders conduced their own lives that Baha’u’llah’s
            spiritual station was higher than any human beings spiritual station,
            former manifestations included.

            5: “The comprehensiveness of it’s scope” How can any ideology which
            makes the claim that all of humanity which does not bend the knee to
            that ideology is ignorant and deserving of being “cleansed” by their god
            be comprehensive? Quite the opposite.

            6: “The universality of it’s program”- An exclusivistic and
            triumphalistic program which excludes the majority of humanity can not
            be universal and is truly the antithesis of universality.

            7: “The flexibility of it’s institutions” – Lol!!! This is truly a joke.
            The Guardianship which was to be central to that flexibility is no
            more, the present UHJ has shown no flexibility whatsoever, not even a
            desire to be just, to respect due process, to actually have the
            integrity to inform those Baha’is it has so callously rubbed out, erased
            from Baha’i membership roles, of exactly what they have done or said to
            offend them.

            8: “The lives of it’s founders” – Men who said one thing but in their
            own lives did another thing. Men who said that shunning was nullified
            and abolished yet religiously shunned in their own lives. Men who said
            that we should draw no lines between ourselves and others, that we
            should see no one as an enemy but who did exactly this in their own
            lives drew lines and saw enemies, even among their own family members.

            8: “The heroism of its martyrs” – The martyr complex in religion has as
            many negative manifestations as it does positive ones, the Baha’i Faith
            included.

            9: “The transforming power of it’s influence” – What influence I would
            have to ask. 150 years after it’s inception the Baha’i Faith still
            remains a disappearingly minor influence in the world. What exactly has
            the Baha’i faith transformed except the hillside of Mount Carmel?

            Cheers

          • Author’s gravatar

            If he was a Baha’i at all, he was not a very learned one. Baha’u’llah never claimed to be God incarnate, because that would be impossible(God is infinite and essentially unknowable, he is beyond attributed).

          • Author’s gravatar

            That is as clear as day. But Hossein Ali claimed that. Here are some of his claims :

            1. Earlier Babis / Baha’is called Baha’u’llah as “Haqqe Taála”
            (The True God).

            2. Baha’u’llah mentions in Aqdas, page 43, “There is no God but I the Honoured , the Wise”.

            3. He again writes in Aqdas, page 144 “Accept whatever is commanded by Baha (himself) the Lord of Eternity”.

            4. In Aqdas, page 8, “We have sent down all the Messengers and we have revealed all the Books”.

            5. In Istadaaraat, page 34, Baha’u’llah writes, “The Master of Eternity lies in prison”.

            6. In his Tablets, Page 217, Baha’u’llah writes, “All save me are created from my command”.

            7. In his Al-Mubeen, page 34, Baha’u’llah writes “All praise is for you O Baha’u’llah, the Creator of existence”.

            8. In the same book, page 190, he says, “Obey the commands of your Elevated, Splendorous God, Baha’u’llah.

            9. Again in Al-Mubeen, page 297, he again refers to himself as, “You Most beneficent Lord, Baha’u’llah”,

            10. In his Tajalliyaat (Tajalli number 4), page 5, Baha’u’llah decrees, “Most surely I am Allah. There is no God save me. I am the Lord of everything. Then O my creatures, you worship me alone”.

            11. Abdul Baha writes in Badaaiul Aasaar, page 139, Baha’u’llah is unique, Incomparable. It is necessary for everyone to turn towards Baha’u’llah in his prayers.

            12. In Maftoon, page 15, Baha’u’llah writes to his son Abdul Baha, “This s a letter from Allah, the Honoured and the Wise (Baha’u’llah) to Allah the Gracious, the Aware (Abdul Baha).” This is interesting – one God greets another one!

          • Author’s gravatar

            It is qualified only about a million times in the writings. Whem He uses We, it is understood that He is speaking for God. No Bahai believes that Bahaullah is God incarnate. Literalists, that fail see the big picture are the biggest problem!

          • Author’s gravatar

            Here is one more again from a prominent Ex-Baha’i Larry Rowe

            Baha’i Idolatry

            I’ve read all the available Baha’i texts, many times: “The door of the
            knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in the face of all
            beings,”

            Mmmmmm. Don’t know if Baha’u’llah could be much clearer about the way he
            saw the human relationship with the divine, or I should say the lack of
            a possible relationship, except vicariously through him. To place
            oneself between humanity and god in this manner is one thing, my opinion
            of it is not very high, it is a delusional attempt to place a human
            limit on the divine when the divine can never be so limited. Baha’u’llah
            even went so far as to identify himself with god him/herself:

            Such a man hath attained the knowledge of the station of Him Who is “at
            the distance of two bows,” Who standeth BEYOND the Sadratu’l-Muntaha.
            Whoso hath failed to recognize Him will have condemned himself to the
            misery of remoteness, a remoteness which is naught but utter nothingness
            and the essence of the nethermost fire. Such will be his fate, though
            to outward seeming he may occupy the earth’s loftiest seats and be
            established upon its most exalted throne. (Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from
            the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 70)

            **** which delusion is made quite evident from the fact that there was a
            major Baha’i school of thought which from such words of Baha’u’llah’s
            believed him to be god incarnate. Not only did Baha’u’llah put this
            idolatrous concept forward, when Baha’is debated this concept and
            questioned this idolatry Baha’u’llah went so far as to say that it was
            OK for Baha’is to believe he was god incarnate.

            *
            This fact as well his statement that if a person fails to recognize his
            personal spiritual station they will automatically be remote from god
            is to me is the height of human hubris, human vanity. ——– *

            It was perhaps owing to this inadequacy that, at one stage during the
            ministry of Bahá’u’lláh, there were two major schools of thought among
            the believers concerning His station. Some believed Him to be the
            Supreme Manifestation of God, while others went further than this. When
            Bahá’u’lláh was asked about His station, He confirmed that as long as
            individuals were sincere in their beliefs, both views were right, but if
            they argued among themselves or tried to convert each other, both were
            wrong. This indicates that man because of his finite mind will never be
            able to understand the true station of the Manifestation of God. The
            criteria are sincerity and faith. Knowing man’s limitations, God accepts
            from him what he is able to achieve.

            (Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah v 1, p. 303)

          • Author’s gravatar

            [1 The Sadratu’l-Muntaha, translated inter alia as the Sidrah Tree which
            marks the boundary, and the Lote-Tree of the extremity. Cf. Qur’án
            53:14. It is said to stand at the loftiest point in Paradise, and to
            mark the place beyond which neither men nor angels can pass. In Bahá’í
            terminology it refers to the Manifestation of God.]

            (Abdu’l-Baha, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 175)

            328. By
            my life! This is a day wherein the Sadrat doth not desire but to utter
            to the world, “There is no God but Me, the Peerless, the Informed.” Had
            it not been for My love unto thee, I would not have mentioned what is
            herein. Know, therefore, this station! Then keep it as thou keepest thine own eyes and be grateful.

            (Compilations, Baha’i Scriptures, p. 197)

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            Jesus said, “I am the truth, the light and the way. No man cometh to God except by me.” Literally, it means that Christ is the only way. I am not a literalist, however. If I we were, I would not belong to any religion. I would be an Atheist because literally all religuons are false. Only when the scriptures are they read with a spiritual do they make any sense at all.

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            Hi Donald. Here is an example of how a so called “Baha’i scholar” who has his own thinking about various Baha’i writings taught a lesson by a Real Scholar who knows Arabic and Persian very well. Good luck to you. Read this :

            https://bahaism.blogspot.com/2015/11/sen-mcglinn-self-proclaimed-bahai.html

            Thank you.

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            And here is a quote from the New Testament, “And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Guess I can’t follow that either.

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            Also, about the statistics, typically Baha’is give a lower number than other sources like “The association of religious data archives”, which tends to give higher numbers than the Baha’is. Also, some people go throught periods of inactivity(myself), some consider themselves Baha’i but dont attend meetings regularly(like any other religious faith), some people that regularly attend meetings but have never formally declared. What is definitely true, is that a person has to formally declare him or herself a Baha’i at the age of 15, even though the entire family is a Bahai. This is completely different from Christianity or Islam where you are born into a faith, regardless of whether you believe or follow it. In fact I am probably still on the roles of the Catholic church because I was baptized a Catholic, received my first communion and confirmation and never told the church that I became a Baha’i.

            Also, in places where it is persecuted, numbers are naturally lower because people don’t publish it because of reprisals by the state(Iran). I in fact know some Moslems in Tehran that would probably become Baha’is if the political climate were a different.

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            Hello Donald, Greetings to you.

            Please try to speak the truth. I know it is very difficult for Haifan Baha’is to speak truth when it comes to statistics. Your statement “Baha’is give a lower number than other sources” is again a lie. Only true statistics are what government sources indicate. You know that very well. Beow blog is full of verifiable governmental sources. Please increase your knowledge regarding this. Thank you.
            Visit : worldbahaicensus.blogspot.com

          • Author’s gravatar

            And who are the Orthodox Baha’is? What was the court case that NSA of United States lost against them? How did the Local House of Justice (I mean NSA) lost against the Covenant Breakers? What made your case so weak?