A Critical Analysis: Some Answered Questions

IMRAN SHAYKH

Some Answered Questions authored by Abdul Baha is one of the sacred books of the Baha’is and has a special significance among other works due to its being authenticated by Abdul Baha himself (foreword, page XIII).

For the present analysis, I have used the English version, collected and translated from Persian by Laura Clifford Barney, published by US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990.

An intelligent reading of this book will open a person’s eyes to the reality of the Baha’i Faith, being falsehood and deceit.

Let us begin by asking, ‘Who is Bahaullah?’ There are four answers. 
1. Divine Manifestation like Moses and Christ 
2. Supreme Manifestation of the Adamic cycle (page 58) 
3. Proclaimer of the word of Bab (page 14) 
4. God (in Bahaullah’s own words) (page 15)

Such fallacies, which betray the baselessness of this man made religion, are abundant throughout this book.

Abdul Baha on pages 34 acknowledges and praises the 12 Imams of the progeny of Mohammed (peace be upon him) as promoters of the Law of God (Islam). The Bab in his ‘Qayyamul Asma’ as well as \'Sahife Adaliyya\' claims to be in the humble service of the 12th Imam. (For more details refer my analysis on ‘God Passes By’). But Abdul Baha calls Bab an independent prophet with his own law (page 74).

Now if we believe Bab, then there is no new prophet and Bahaullah gets thrown out as a fraud. And is we believe Abdul Baha, then Bab is a liar and therefore the claim of Bahaullah as the promised one of Bab falls apart.

Another example of Abdul Baha’s blunders is regarding the crucifixion of Jesus (peace be upon him). On page 49, he acknowledges the martyrdom of Christ and goes on to explain his resurrection after death metaphorically, denying physical ascension altogether. If he had gone through Iqan (by Bahaullah), he would have known that Christ ascended to the fourth heaven (Iqan, page 83). And if he had taken the trouble of browsing through the Quran, he would have certainly read Allah\'s clear cut assertion, \'and they did not kill him (Jesus), and they did not crucify him, but it appeared to them as such.\'

The ‘divinely guided’ leaders of the Baha’is keep falling over their words, and the current generation of Baha’i preachers are busy in keeping this truth as far away as possible from the general masses.

Let us see how this ‘sacred literature’ and ‘priceless resource’ twists facts and presents biased views to mislead the people.

On page 7 Abdul Baha says, “He (the universal educator’ i.e., prophet of God) must posses a supernatural power so that he may hold the position of a divine teacher. If he does not show forth such a holy power, he will not be able to educate”.

But on page 47, he says, “for the manifestations (prophets), these miracles and wonderful signs are of no importance”. And on page 48, he further justifies himself, “the outward miracles have no importance for the people of reality. If a blind man receives sight for example, he will finally become sightless, for he will die and be deprived of all his senses and powers”.

Why do the Baha’is shy away from narrating and acknowledging miracles, despite assertion of the divine position of their prophet, Bahaullah?

Abdul Baha says on page 19, “I do not wish to mention the miracles of Bahaullah, for it may perhaps be said that these traditions, liable both to truth and error, like the accounts of the miracles of Christ in the Gospel which come to us from the apostles and not from anyone else are denied by the Jews. Meaning that Abdul Baha did not have any witness of any miracle of Bahaullah.

Further on the same page, he says, “Extra ordinary feats have also been narrated of some conjurors”.

Abdul Baha is trying to play down the importance of miracles, simply because this ‘Supreme Manifestation’ unlike other prophets did not have any miracles of quality to his name. If there was, then rest assured, the Baha’is would have shouted themselves hoarse about it.

The best Abdul Baha can mange is, 
1. “It is this that this illustrious being uplifted his cause in the greatest prison (Acca)”. (page 18) This statement even at factual value is ordinary. As a matter of fact, the government prevailing at the time did not allow him to be placed anywhere else, due to the distress he had caused. 
2. “The eloquence and elegance of his blessed expositions in Arabic, as well as his Arabic writings caused astonishment and stupefaction of the ost accomplished Arabic scholars” (page 34). For illustrations of Baha\'s eloquence and elegance of his blessed expositions in Arabic refer writings of Bahaullah

Finally Abdul Baha says on page 17, “Even now in the East there are some people who though do not believe, in his (Bahaullah) manifestation, nevertheless believe him to be a saint and relate miracles attributed to him” 
Note the absence of details of any miracles from Bahaullah. Also, Abdul Baha has already undermined the significance of miracles and does not feel they are important, then why is he making such an assertion.

To retain some respect, Abdul Baha tried to do away with the miracles of the Last Prophet Mohammed Mustafa (peace be upon him). He writes, “Also the traditions which the clergy quote and the incidents with which they find faults are all exaggerated, if not entirely without foundation” (page 12).

But Allah, glorified be He, has guarded the divine religion of this prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). On page 22, the very same page, Abdul Baha is forced to accept the miracles of the Holy Quran.

“Amid such barbarous tribes, an illiterate (ummi) man, i.e., Mohammed (peace be upon him) produced a book in which, in a perfect and eloquent style, he explained the divine attributes and perfection, the prophethood of the Messengers of God, the divine laws and some scientific facts”. Further on page 12, Abdul Baha himself witnesses to the miracle of the Quran, “Nearly 900 years after Mohammed (peace be upon him), that famous astronomer made new observations and important discoveries by the aid of the telescope, which he had invented. The rotation of the earth, the fixity of the sun and also its movement were discovered. It became evident that the verses of the Quran, agreed with the existing facts”.

Such acknowledgements by a person who believes in the abrogation of Islam only go to show the power of this divine religion over man-made beliefs. Though Baha’is go to great heights to equate themselves with Islam – why else would they try to project Bab as an illiterate prophet, when actually he took lessons in his childhood like other children , and attended lectures of Sayyed Kazim as a young man? Refer article on Bab\'s claims of beingUmmi.

Also they try to make Bab a very eloquent and knowledgeable personality (as what is expected from a prophet). On page 13 Abdul Baha says, “Although he (Bab) was but a merchant, he confounded all the ulema (scholars) of Persia”. Professor E. G. Browne, a research scholar, has brought a debate in the foot notes to the book ‘A Traveller’s Narrative’, where some ulema in front of the Prince has a debate with Bab and humiliated him without much difficulty.

Further Abdul Baha says that Bab instituted new rules and a new religion and, “His moon arose, His star shone forth, His foundation became firmly established”. Actually Bab never completed his important literary work (which is claimed to be revelation by the Baha’is) – The Bayan and it is supposed to have been completed by his successor. After his death, his followers split into several groups, the largest of which was taken over by Bahaullah soon after, who abrogated the Bayan even before its completion, but only after competing with 25 other claimants.

To proceed further, once the Baha’is have Bab as a prophet, Bab heralds the coming of ‘He whom God shall manifest’.

And with no further use for Bab, Bahaullah promptly abrogated his religion and established himself as “He who God shall manifest”. It is to prove these successive claims at one go that perhaps Abdul Baha has taken great pains to establish his faith as the natural successor of Islam using Biblical prophecies (though logically, he should be using Islamic proofs to establish this claims).

On page 21, Abdul Baha quotes the Bible. “The day of the Lord is 1 year”.

On page 22, Abdul Baha quotes a prophecy to prove the manifestation of Bahaullah, “….sware by Him, who liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times and a half”. Then Abdul Baha says, “Thus 32½ years make 42 months and 42 months are 1,260 days. The Bab, the precursor of Bahaullah appeared in the year 1260, from the Hijra of Mohammed (peace be upon him), by the reckoning of Islam.

Then he quotes another prophecy from the Bible, “And (after) the abomination that maketh desolation be set upon, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days (page 43). Using this he concludes, “Bahaullah in the year 1290 from the proclamation of the mission of Mohammed (peace be upon him) caused his (Bahaullah’s) manifestation to be known. 
I would like to bring to your notice a few points;

Firstly, the prophecies do not relate to Islam in any context, more so because they are made before Christ to Prophet Daniel.

Secondly, “the abomination that maketh desolation” can never refer to Islam.

Thirdly, these are Biblical prophecies, but the explanation of Abdul Baha is by using the Islamic lunar calendar and not the Christian calendar, as logic should suggest.

Fourthly, the calculation of the 1st prophecy goes like this; 
3 ½ days = 3 ½ years 
3 ½ years = 42 months 
42 months = 1260 days (every month is assumed to be of 30 days, of course!) 
1260 days = 1260 years (referring to 1260 AH)

In the second prophecy, the calculation goes thus; 
1290 days = 1290 years (referring to 1290 years after proclamation of Mohammed (peace be upon him))

Now which is the correct method.

If we take the first method as trues, then for the 2nd prophecy the calculation goes like this; 
1290 days = 1290 years 
1290 years = 15480 months 
15840 months = 464400 days 
46440 days = 464400 years

Therefore to say the least, Islam will still last many centuries and the second prophecy refers entirely to something else.

If we take the 2nd method for the 1st prophecy, then the calculation will move thus; 
3 ½ days = 3 ½ years (i.e., 3 ½ AH)

Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) was alive in 3 ½ AH. Therefore there is no question of abrogating Islam. The second prophecy may therefore be for some actual abomination made by man.

The 1260 years referred to in the first prophecy are called ‘the cycle of Quran’ (page 23). But Quran started being enforced 13 years before Hijrat. Moreover what the Bab proclaimed in the year 1260 was the service of the 12th Imam of Islam, i.e., in the year 1260, he was still a Muslim himself.

As for the second prophecy, 1290 years are counted from the proclamation of Islam which is actually 13 years before Hijrat as Abdul Baha himself admits (page 22). But says that the first 3 years should not be counted as only Janabe Khadija – the wife of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and Ibne Naufal knew of the mission of Mohammed (peace be upon him) (page 22).

Its sounds very childish that the first three years should be discounted to fit the prophecy to Bahaullah. Also it is a deliberate lie to say that only 2 persons knew of the mission of Mohammed (peace be upon him). Even an orthodox Christian scholar like Sir William Muir in his book ‘The Coran’ written in 1878 says that after the revelation of the second sunnah itself, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) started the propagation of Islam.

The concoction of such false prophecies by Abdul Baha goes to prove that he was certain of the divine nature of Islam and hence by linking the Bahai Faith some how with Islam was trying to ‘extend’ the divinity to this new faith..

Eloquent speech is valuable only if it makes sense. Use of sweet language, charishma etc. arte only as valuable as the matter of the speech. The divine leader of Babis and the successor of Bahaullah (i.e., Abdul Baha) is a perfect example of this ‘Only noise no matter approach’.

1. On pages 51, 52, 53 and various other places, Abdul Baha says that Divine Manifestations are like mirrors which reflect the perfect image of the sun. Here Sun = God and Mirrors = Prophets. This is nonsense. Prophets were humans and not ‘clones’ of God. Moreover this example has logical flaws;

a. What is the need for the mirror when the sun is always shining. God is, was and always will be, so what is the point in sending mirrors.

b. Mirror images lack many attributes of the original. A mirror will show the moon to be cheese and the sun to be a bulb.

c. Since Bab and Bahaullah and all prophets for that matter are like mirrors, then what supremacy does one hold over the other? None. So then why is Bahaullah called as the ‘Supreme Manifestation’?

d. When the divine heir of Bahaullah cannot explain Bahaullah’s prophethood properly, how can the Baha’i Faith claim to be a divine religion?

e. Also, if all the prophets are mirrors to the same source, why is there no unity in their discourses? The sun has remained constant over the years, why has the reflection from the mirrors changed?

2. Pages 108 to 109 are devoted to explaining the influence of stars without coming to any coherent conclusion.

3. On page 106 explaining eternal life Abdul Baha says that heaven actually does not exist. “(it is) not a reality or fact, for the kingdom is not a material place. It is sanctified from time and place. And he adds, “This is because the spirit has no place, it is placeless, and for the spirit the earth and the heaven are one, since it makes discoveries in both”.

Again he explains that the spiritual life is real life. “Although material life exists, its is pure non-existence and absolute death for the Holy saints”

Finally on page 107, he concludes, “The souls who are veiled from God, although they exist in this world and the world after death, are in comparison with the Holy existence of the children of the Kingdom of God, non-existent and separated”.

This is incomprehensible talk, far away from the concepts of reward and punishment, heaven and hell, death and after life. Also for the human spirit, heaven and earth is all the same, so why bother?

4. Describing the effect of the promised Mahdi foretold by world religions, Abdul Baha says “War will give place to peace, enmity will be conquered by love, the causes of dispute and wrangling will be completely removed and true felicity will be attained. The world will become the mirror of the Heavenly Kingdom, humanity will be the throne of divinity, all nations will become one, all religions will be united” (page 20).

Since the above conditions have not appeared in the world, the promised Mahdi is yet to come. Though many claimants of Mahdi, including Bab and Bahaullah came and went, the world is yet to see a glimpse of the ‘utopian’ time which Abdul Baha promises will dawn by the advent of Mahdi. This goes a long way in proving the falsity of the claims of all the previous claimants of Mahdi.

The Baha’i Faith, like all false religions refuses to be examined on the basis of reason. In fact Abdul Baha says that man cannot gain knowledge or differentiate on the basis of reason. Enumerating the four methods of comprehension, he writes on pages 129-130 that the first method is of the senses, which is imperfect and commits errors, the second is the reason which is imperfect, the third way of understanding is by way of traditions, i.e., Holy Scriptures. This method is also liable to error, hence he says that there is no standard in the hands of the people by which we can rely. And the only true method of comprehension is the fourth one – comprehension through the Holy Spirit. Moreover the descent of the Holy Spirit is “an expression and a simile rather than an exact or literal image” (page 50).  Hence we can safely conclude that if any Baha’i says anything, however foolish and unscientific it may sound, and attributes it to the Holy Spirit, we must accept it. Even the Baha’is cannot deny it on any ground.

Abdul Baha in this book, has unwittingly shown that the Baha’i Faith is concocted by like-minded people to further their interests. Whatever his intention, there is one question answered by finality – Is the Baha’i Faith a divine one? The answer is a resounding ‘NO’.

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