Justice, Unity and Peace

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Cover image: Earthrise NASA Apollo 8/Bill Anders

eBook version: 1 – 2022

Contents

‘Abdu’l-Bahá Champion of Universal Peace

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Reading of Social Reality

A Power of Implementation

Spiritual Foundations of Peace

Strategic Plan for the Achievement of Peace

Significance of the Tablets of the Divine Plan

Looking Ahead

Spatial Strategies for Racial Unity

The Bahá’í Plans and Spatial Unity

Place and the Institute Process

Addressing Racial Unity through Institutes

Furthering the Racial Unity Agenda

The Bahá’í Response to Racial Injustice and Pursuit of Racial Unity 19121996 (Part 1)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Visit: Laying the Foundation for Racial Unity, 1912-1921

Race Amity Activities: The Bahá’í Community’s Responses to Racial Crises, 1921-1937

The Most Challenging Issue: Preparing the American Bahá’í Community to Become a Model of Racial Unity

A Steady Flow of Guidance on Race Unity: The 1950s and the Turbulent 1960s

Expanding the Circle of Unity: Multiracial Community Building, 1970s and 1980s

The 1990s: Models and Visions of Racial Unity and the Los Angeles Riots

Conclusion

The Bahá’í Response to Racial Injustice and Pursuit of Racial Unity 19962021 (Part 2)

1996 – 2006: Building capacity through focus on a single aim

2006 – 2016: Unlocking the “society-building powers of the Faith”

2016 – 2021: Envisioning the movement of populations

Conclusion: Forging a Path to Racial Justice

Reading Reality in Times of Crisis ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Great War

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Radical Analysis of the Causes of War

The Great War

The Birth of a New Society

Addressing the immediate needs

Reading Reality in Times of Crisis

The Cause of Universal Peace ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Enduring Impact

A Vision of Peace Stories from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

A path to collective prosperity

Towards unity, youth lead the way

A village named ‘Peace’

A luminous community

Rethinking Migration from a Global Perspective

Migration and Social Transformation

Humanity’s response to migration and displacement

Replacing the Sword with the Word Bahá’u’lláh’s Concept of Peace

Bahá’u’lláh and the Removal of the Sword

From Word Order to World Order

Main Theories of Peace

Bahá’u’lláh’s Approach to Peace

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Champion of Universal Peace

BY

HODA MAHMOUDI AND JANET KHAN

FRIDAY OCTOBER 22, 2021

‘Abdu’l-Bahá with a group of friends in Stuttgart, Germany, 4 April 1913.

In October 1911, as the world teetered towards collapse and the prospects of war loomed large, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá delivered a speech in Paris to a group of individuals who were seeking creative solutions to the issues of the day. He spoke about the pragmatic relationship between “true thought” and its application. “If these thoughts never reach the plane of action,” ‘Abdu’lBahá explained, “they remain useless: the power of thought is dependent on its manifestation in deeds.”2

In this paper we explore ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s active promotion of the broad vision of peace set out in the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith and examine His contributions to mobilizing widespread support for the practice of peace. The realization of peace, as outlined in the Bahá’í writings and elucidated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is dependent on spiritual thoughts based on spiritual virtues expressed through human deeds.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Reading of Social Reality

‘Abdu’l-Bahá is a figure unique in religious history. Understanding His critical role is essential to understanding the workings of the Bahá’í Faith –in its past, present, and future.

For forty years ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire, having been exiled as a nine-year-old child, when members of Bahá’u’lláh’s family

were expelled from Iran to the Ottoman domains. Undeterred by the restrictions to His freedom and the challenges of daily life, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá directed His attention to administering the affairs of the growing Bahá’í community and to easing the plight of humanity by actively promoting a vision of a just, united, and peaceful world.

Keenly aware of the events transpiring in the world at large, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá viewed the establishment of universal peace as one of the most critical issues of the day. His writings and public talks outline the Bahá’í approach to peace and methods for its attainment and explain and illuminate the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. They reflect a profound and sensitive understanding of the state of the world and demonstrate the relevance of the Bahá’í teachings to the alleviation of the human condition. The Bahá’í approach stresses a reliance on the constructive power of religion and on the forces of social and spiritual cohesion as a way to impact the world.3

‘Abdu’l-Bahá saw in World War I a harrowing lesson of the human necessity for peace – and of the darkness that can ensue without peace. He knew and wrote extensively that nothing short of the establishment of the spiritual foundations for peace could result in lasting peace and security for humanity. In His written works, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá repeatedly draws our attention to the need for establishing the spiritual prerequisites for peace, requisites which, in turn, remove the barriers to peace, such as racial prejudice, sexism, economic inequalities, sectarianism, and nationalism.

That remarkable time in the history of the world provides the backdrop to the Tablets of the Divine Plan, a series of letters ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed to the Bahá’ís of North America. A study of these letters together with two

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detailed letters4 on peace addressed to the Executive Committee of the Central Organization for a Durable Peace at The Hague provides an opportunity to better understand the nature of universal peace as envisioned in the Bahá’í writings, the prerequisites of peace, and how peace can be waged. The Tablets of the Divine Plan set out a systematic strategy aimed at strengthening embryonic Bahá’í communities, founded on the principle of the oneness of humankind, and mobilizing their members to engage in activities associated with spreading the values of peace. The Tablets to The Hague are examples from among ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s tireless efforts to contribute to the most relevant discourses of His time and to engage likeminded individuals and groups throughout the world in the pursuit of peace.

A Power of Implementation

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s caveat that “the power of thought” depends on “its manifestation in action,”6 is particularly relevant to the idea of peace. Consider! Nearly 20 million men, women and children were killed during the four years of World War I!

‘Abdu’l-Bahá took the principles of global peace revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and shaped them into a practical grand strategy for how to understand, practice, and pursue peace. Among the voluminous writings of ‘Abdu’lBahá, the fourteen letters of the Tablets of the Divine Plan outlined detailed instructions and systematic actions for the spread of the spiritual teachings of the Bahá’í Faith throughout the world. Their aim was the establishment of growing communities throughout the world that would embody the values of peace, would comprise the diverse populations of the human

Spatial Strategies for Racial Unity

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

A few portions of this paper were previously published by the author in “Race, Place, and Clusters: Current Visions and Possible Strategies,” The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 27, no. 3 (2017): 85-124.

Lack of unity among people of various races, ethnicities, and classes is a major problem for human society. Many nations face such disunity, which can cause social conflict, lack of empathy for “others,” discrimination, and exploitation. Bahá’ís think of such problems as symptoms; the illness is absence of the unity of the human race. One subset of the unity that is necessary is racial unity. As the term is used here, racial unity focuses on unity among various racial and ethnic groups.

Eliminating individual prejudice is a necessary, but insufficient, part of promoting racial unity. Human beings have embedded racial disunity within geographic space, where it is hard to change and is reinforced by political, economic, and social boundaries. Thus, individual people may believe

themselves free of racial prejudice, but they may face no or weak testing of this belief if they are isolated in geographic circumstances that solidify racial disunity. Spatial geography can reinforce systemic racial discrimination. This is a difficult problem, but throughout its history the Bahá’í Faith has always championed racial unity, even in difficult circumstances. Direct guidance from the Head of the Faith, in each period of Bahá’í history, has consistently counseled the Bahá’ís to abandon prejudice against different races, religions, ethnicities, and nationalities. In addition, the Bahá’í community has purposefully aimed to increase diversity within its own religious community by inviting people of diverse races, ethnicities, and nationalities into its ranks. The approach that the worldwide Bahá’í community now uses builds on these historic principles and strategies, while extending beyond them to offer lasting social transformation for all people in a community. It offers the world a process that can help promote racial unity, even in situations of geographic disunity. Considering how to accomplish this requires strategic thinking.

The Bahá’í Plans and Spatial Unity

The worldwide Bahá’í community’s dedication to the principle of racial unity dates back to the founding of the religion. Bahá’ís have held fast to key principles related to the unity of humanity, in general, and to racial unity, specifically, while learning to develop flexible new strategies that recognize contemporary challenges. They have done so within the framework of global plans that guide the growth and development of the Bahá’í community worldwide.