"Contradiction has and will not ever have a way in the sanctified realm of the Divine Manifestations."

Bahaullah, Badi, p. 126

1. Is the Principle "Religion Must Be the Source of Unity and Fellowship in the World" New?

Abdul Baha: This is a new principle brought forth by my father.
"He sets forth a new principle for this day in the announcement that religion must be the cause of unity, harmony and agreement among mankind. If it is the cause of discord and hostility, if it leads to separation and creates conflict, the absence of religion would be preferable in the world," Abdul Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 454-455

Abdul Baha: All prophets came to create love and kindness among the people.
"All the Prophets came to nurture the people so that the immature individuals could reach maturity and to bring about kindness and love among the people, not hatred and enmity," `Abd al-Hamid Ishraq Khawari, Payam-i malakut, p. 65.

2. Is Babism a Religion?

Abdul Baha: If religion causes enmity and war, it is not a religion.
"Religion must be the cause of unity and fellowship. If religion causes enmity it will have no result and having no religion is better. For it becomes the cause of enmity and hatred between humanity and whatever causes enmity is hated by God and whatever causes unity and fellowship is accepted and praised. If religion causes killing and savagery it is not religion and having no religion is better than that. For religion is meant to be a cure. If a cure causes sickness then of course, no cure is better than it. Thus, if religion causes war and slaughter, then of course, it is better to have no religion," `Abd al-Hamid Ishraq Khawari, Payam-i malakut, pp. 44-45

Ponder on: The conflicts among the Babis over the title of Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest. The massacres and bloody wars that were started on the Bab’s orders in three different parts of Iran. The Bab’s orders to behead and massacre those who did not believe in him.
Twenty seven people among the Babis brought themselves forth as the Promised One in the Book of Bayan, such as Mirza Yahya Subhe Azal, Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri (Bahaullah), Mirza Asad-Allah Dayyan, Mirza Muhammad Nabil Zarandi, Mirza Ghugha Darwish, and Sayyid Baqir Hindi. See Muhammad `Ali Fayzi, Hazrat Bahaullah, pp. 103-104.
See Nabil Zarandi, The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha’i Revelation, chapters XIX, XXII, XIV.
"The utterance of the [book or religion] of Bayan in the day of the appearance of his Highness Ala (meaning the Bab) was to behead, burn the books, destroy the monuments, and massacre [everyone] but those who believed [in the Bab’s religion] and verified it," Abdul Baha, Makatib (Egypt: 1330 AH), vol. 2, p. 266; "The unbelievers and the faithless have set their minds on four things: first, the shedding of blood [beheading]; second, the burning of books; third, the shunning of the followers of other religions; fourth, the extermination of other communities and groups. Now however, through the strengthening grace and potency of the Word of God these four barriers have been demolished, these clear injunctions have been obliterated from the Tablet and brutal dispositions have been transmuted into spiritual attributes." Bahaullah, Tablets of Bahaullah Revealed After the Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 91

3. Were the Babi Wars Solely Defensive?

Baha’i History books: The Bab’s followers were a peaceful oppressed people who only defended their women and children against the evil Persians.
"That humiliating episode was soon followed by a number of similar attempts on the part of the supporters of the governor, all of which utterly failed to achieve their purpose. Every time they rushed to attack the fort, Hujjat would order a few of his companions, who were three thousand in number, to emerge from their retreat and scatter their forces. He never failed, every time he gave them such orders, to caution his fellow-disciples against shedding unnecessarily the blood of their assailants. He constantly reminded them that their action was of a purely defensive character, and that their sole purpose was to preserve inviolate the security of their women and children. "We are commanded," he was frequently heard to observe, "not to wage holy war under any circumstances against the unbelievers, whatever be their attitude towards us," Nabil Zarandi, The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha’i Revelation, p. 546

Bahaullah and Abdul Baha: The Bab gave the order to massacre and behead all non-Babis.
"The utterance of the [book or religion] of Bayan in the day of the appearance of his Highness Ala (meaning the Bab) was to behead, burn the books, destroy the monuments, and massacre [everyone] but those who believed [in the Bab’s religion] and verified it," Abdul Baha, Makatib (Egypt: 1330 AH), vol. 2, p. 266; "The unbelievers and the faithless have set their minds on four things: first, the shedding of blood [beheading]; second, the burning of books; third, the shunning of the followers of other religions; fourth, the extermination of other communities and groups. Now however, through the strengthening grace and potency of the Word of God these four barriers have been demolished, these clear injunctions have been obliterated from the Tablet and brutal dispositions have been transmuted into spiritual attributes." Bahaullah, Tablets of Bahaullah Revealed After the Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 91.

4. Is Baha'ism a Religion?

Abdul Baha: If a religion causes divisions it is not a religion.
"Religion should create unity and create links between the hearts. Jesus and the other divine prophets came to create unity and fellowship. If religion causes divisions, its non-existence is preferred.," `Abd al-Hamid Ishraq Khawari, Payam-i malakut, p. 59.

Ponder On: The conflicts between Bahaullah and his brother Mirza Yahya. The conflicts between Abdul Baha and his brother Muhammad `Ali. The disputes between Shoghi and those who opposed his successorship. The dispute between Ruhiyyih Maxwell and Mason Remey.
The conflicts, feuds, and bloodshed between Bahaullah and his brother Mirza Yahya Subhe Azal and their followers resulted in the exile of the Azalis (the supporters of Mirza Yahya Subhe Azal) to Cyprus and the Baha’is to Palestine.
Bahaullah had willed that his successor would be Ghusn Azam (Abdul Baha’) and after him Ghusn Akbar (Abdul Baha’s brother Muhammad `Ali): "God has destined the station [for] Ghusn Akbar after his position (meaning Abdul Baha’), for He is the Commanding Wise. We chose the Akbar after the Azam, an order from the All Knowing and Aware (God). All must show kindness towards the two Ghusns . . . All must respect and admire the two Ghusns," Bahaullah, Majmu`iy-i alwah-i mubarak-ih, pp. 302-303. After Bahaullah’s death the two brothers differed on the amount of authority they had and fights ensued between them and their followers.
According to Bahaullah’s orders the successor after Abdul Baha was supposed to be his brother Ghusn Akbar. Abdul Baha disobeyed this decree and instead appointed his own grandson Shoghi Effendi as his successor. This resulted in many differences and conflicts between Shoghi and many Baha’is who didn’t accept his authority.
In contrast to what Abdul Baha had prophesized, Shoghi was sterile and had no children to succeed him. In a bid to become his successor, an internal conflict erupted between Bahaullah’s followers. Amongst these conflicts, the most intense was the one between Shoghi’s widow (Ruhiyyih Maxwell) and Mason Remey (President of the International Baha’i Council). Mason Remey claimed that the UHJ established by Ruhiyyih Maxwell was illegitimate and in a countermove the UHJ excommunicated Mason Remey from the Baha’i community.

5. Is Baha'ism the Cause of Hatred and Having No Religion Is Better than Being a Baha'i?

Abdul Baha: If religion causes enmity and hatred it is not a religion.
"Religion must be the cause of unity and fellowship. If religion causes enmity it will have no result and having no religion is better. For it becomes the cause of enmity and hatred between humanity and whatever causes enmity is hated by God and whatever causes unity and fellowship is accepted and praised. If religion causes killing and savagery it is not religion and having no religion is better than that. For religion is meant to be a cure. If a cure causes sickness then of course, no cure is better than it. Thus, if religion causes war and slaughter, then of course, it is better to have no religion," `Abd al-Hamid Ishraq Khawari, Payam-i malakut, pp. 44-45.

Bahaullah: When I claimed to be He Whom God Shall make Manifest, such hatred and envy occurred that had never existed to such a degree from the beginning of creation and never will occur again. I want to incite the fire of hatred in the chest of non-Bahais.
"In these days, however, such odours of jealousy are diffused, that-I swear by the Educator of all beings, visible and invisible-from the beginning of the foundation of the world-though it hath no beginning-until the present day, such malice, envy, and hate have in no wise appeared, nor will they ever be witnessed in the future," Bahaullah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 249.
"We did not want to meet you except to complete God’s proof upon you and those who are around you so that the fire of hatred would dwell in your chest and the chest of those who do not believe in the Lord of the Lords," Bahaullah, Athar-i Qalam-i Ala, vol. 1, no. 97, p. 339.

6. Are Other Peoples' Beliefs Any of Our Business?

Abdul Baha: Other people’s beliefs are none of our business. Issues of faith are relevant to God and he will handle them on the Day of Judgment. God has not made us the police of the peoples’ actions.
"Why should we say this [person] is a follower of Moses and that [person] a follower of Jesus, this [person] is a follower of Mohammad, and that [person] is a follower of Buddha? This is none of our business. God has created everyone and it is our duty to be kind to all. Belief related issues are God’s business and he will give rewards and punishments on the Day of Judgment. God has not made us in charge of them," Abdul Baha, Khatabat (Tehran), vol. 2, pp. 284-285.

Bahaullah: Torment the deniers of Bahaism.
""And you, oh friends of God, be clouds of grace for those who believe in God and his signs, and be certain torment for those who do not believe in God and are polytheists (deniers of Baha’ism)," Bahaullah, Majmu`iy-i alwah-i mubarak-ih, p. 216.

7. Befriending the Enemies or Being like Flame of Fire to Them?

Bahaullah: "If, God forbid, you have an enemy, do not see him as an enemy but rather a friend. Deal with your friends in the same way you deal with your enemy."
Abdul Baha, Khatabat (Egypt), vol. 1, p. 154.

Bahaullah: "Be like a flame of fire to my enemies and a river of eternal life to my friends." "We did not want to meet you except to complete God’s proof upon you and those who are around you so that the fire of hatred would dwell in your chest and the chest of those who do not believe in the Lord of the Lords."
Bahaullah, Ad`iyyih-i Hazrat-i mahbub (Egypt: Published by Faraj-Allah Dhaki al-Kurdi, 1339 AH), p. 184. Bahaullah, Athar-i Qalam-i Ala, vol. 1, no. 97, p. 339.

8. Kindness or Violence?

Abdul Baha: When everyone was in utmost hatred and spite, Bahaullah invited the word to kindness and fellowship and brought about unity and agreement.
"We consider Bahaullah to be the highest mentor of the human world. At a time that the darkness of division had overwhelmed the East and the nations of the East were in utter enmity and hatred, the religions were in utter avoidance with each other and thought of each other as impure and were always busy with war and quarrels, it was as this time that Bahaullah rose like the sun from the Eastern horizon. He invited all to kindness and socialization and commenced on advising and nurturing them, and guided [people] from all nations and faiths. He healed the different nations and faiths and made them reach utter unity and harmony, such that when you enter their communities you wouldn’t know which is an Israelite and which a Muslim," Abdul Baha, Khatabat (Tehran), vol. 2, p. 54.

Bahaullah’s Sister: Bahaullah and his followers murdered many people in Baghdad.
"They gathered a group of hooligans from different provinces of Iran and from the same places fugitives who had never believed in any religion and had no faith in any prophet and had no work but manslaughter and had no occupation but stealing peoples’ property. Even though they claimed they were following [the customs] of Husayn (the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who was ruthlessly murdered by Shimr on the orders of Yazid) they summoned a group of Shimr-like people around themselves. The breath of any soul who uttered anything but what they were satisfied with was suffocated. They beat any head which made the slightest sound other than accepting their guardianship. They cut every throat which showed other than humbleness towards them. They pierced every heart which had love towards other than them," `Izziye Khanum (Khanum Buzurg), Tanbih al-na’imin, pp. 11-12.

9. Is Religion a Cause of Fellowship or Fear?

Abdul Baha: Religion must be a cause of fellowship. It must cause kindness. It must cause links among humanity.
"The third principle of his highness Bahaullah is that religion must be the source of fellowship. It must cause links among humanity," Abdul Baha, Khatabat (Tehran), vol. 2, p. 146.

Abdul Baha: In Iraq, Bahaullah had caused such fear in the heart of the Muslims, that not a single person dared to protest against him.
"He threw an earthquake upon the pillars of Iraq and always left the people of discord (the Shia) in fear and apprehension. His grandeur had infiltrated the arteries and nerves to such an extent that not a single person dared to disapprove of him nor had the audacity to speak bad of him in the middle of the night in Karbala and Najaf," Abdul Baha, Makatib (Egypt), vol. 2, p. 177

Bahaullah: Once my followers conquer the lands they will cleanse them from non-Bahais and everyone will fear them!
"God will soon take out from the sleeves of power the hands of strength and dominance and will make the Servant (Bahaullah) victorious and will cleanse the earth from the filth of every rejected polytheist (deniers of Baha’ism). And they will stand by the cause and will conquer the lands using my mighty eternal name and will enter the lands and they will be feared by all the servants," Bahaullah, Athar-i Qalam-i Ala, vol. 2, no. 90, p. 587.

• Religion Must be the Source of Unity: Introduction
• Is This a New Principle
• Did the Founders of Bahaism Act Upon These Principles?
• Is This Principle Correct From a Rational and Logical Perspective?
• Contradictions in Bahai Faith?
• Conclusion

The articles have been based on the book "Avaze Dohol" - the Beating of the Drum by Masoud Basiti, Zahra Moradi.