IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT, THE MOST MERCIFUL |
1- Bahais and Compulsory Education
It is necessary that the guidelines and laws of education be the same [everywhere] so that all humankind are given the same education. This means education and nurturing must be the same in all schools. All elements and methods must be the same.
This method has not been implemented in Bahai communities to any extent. Bahais receive the same tutoring and education that all non-Bahais receive. There exists no compulsion nor equality in the methods and degrees of education a Bahai receives. Since this teaching is completely impractical using the aforementioned format, Abdul Baha changed his mind and announced that there is no need for equal methods and degrees of education for all, rather education must be according to capacity: Among other teachings and principles Bahaullah counsels the education of all members of society. No individual should be denied or deprived of intellectual training, although each should receive according to capacity. None must be left in the grades of ignorance, for ignorance is a defect in the human world. All mankind must be given a knowledge of science and philosophy-that is, as much as may be deemed necessary. All cannot be scientists and philosophers, but each should be educated according to his needs and deserts.
There is nothing exciting or outstanding about this order. All systems of education have been and still are based on the capacity of the student. How Abdul Baha hadn’t come by this order in the first place-with all his superhuman knowledge-is a question that the Bahais must answer. 2- The Babi Meaning of Education
3- Education and Nurturing Will Not Dispel Ignorance
If today, someone grasps all of the knowledge on earth but stops at the word ‘yes’ (meaning does not become a Bahai), the Lord will not pay attention to him (ladi l-haqq madhkur na) and he will be considered as the most ignorant amongst the people.
From now on nobody is to be called knowledgeable, except those who have decorated themselves with the garment of this New Affair (meaning those who have become Bahais).
The general criterion is what we mentioned and any soul who has success in it, meaning recognizes and realizes the Sunrise of Manifestation (meaning himself), will be mentioned in the Divine Book as someone who possesses reason or else he will be (mentioned as) ignorant even if he himself thinks that his reason equals that of the whole world.
4- The Outcome of the Education Bahai Leaders Received
5- The Manners of Bahaullah and Abdul Baha as Two Examples of Bahai Education and Nurturing
"When Mirza Yahya Azal started opposing the works, deeds, and words of his esteemed brother (Bahaullah) in Edirne . . . he dropped down from his [high] stature and the rank of union and agreement [that he had with Bahaullah] and was gradually - in the tablets, works, and revelations [from Bahaullah] - referred to with codes, references, and names such as the polytheist, the calf, the scarab (dung beetle), the tyrant, the Satan, the devil, the foul swamp, the buzzing of a fly, and similar names," Asad-Allah Fazil Mazandarani, Asrar al-athar khu?u?i, vol. 5, p. 345-346. "Whoever denies this apparent exalted luminous grace (meaning Bahaism), it is worthy that he asks his state from his mother and he will soon be returned to the bottom of hell," `Abd al-Hamid Ishraq Khawari, Ma’idiy-i asimani, vol. 4, pp. 355 and `Abd al-?amid Ishraq Khawari, Ganj-i shaygan, p. 78; "Whoever has the enmity of this servant (meaning Bahaullah) in his heart, certainly Satan has entered their mother’s bed," `Abd al-Hamid Ishraq Khawari, Ganj-i shaygan, p. 79. For example, "Today, according to the decree of the Point of Bayan (meaning the Bab), those individuals who turn away from this Novel Affair (meaning Bahaism) are deprived of the garb of being called and described [as humans?] and are assembled and mentioned as animals in the presence of God," Bahaullah, Badi, p. 213.) We should point out again that this degree of manners and politeness emanates from the same Bahaullah that says: Politeness is one of mankind’s traits that distinguishes him from other [creatures]. He who has no success in [being polite] then his demise certainly has-and will have-priority over his existence.
Abdul Baha followed his father’s example and used the same rude trend of name-calling towards his opponents: They are senile like arrogant fools and not seashells full of gems. They are ecstatic from the smell of garbage like dung beetles and not from the scent of a flower of gardens. They are lowly earthworms buried beneath the great earth not high flying birds. They are bats of darkness not the searchlights of clear horizons. They always make excuses and like ravens, have nested in the landfills of fall (autumn) . . . so you Oh true friend and spiritual helper . . . attack these unjust foxes and like a high soaring eagle drive away these hateful ravens from this field.
The words of Abdul Baha best describe this situation: We should be fair. How can we expect a person that has failed in nurturing his children, spouse, and family to succeed in nurturing the people of the world? Is there any doubt or uncertainty about this issue? By God, no!
How can someone be a promoter of universal compulsory education when he fails to educate himself and his children?! According to Abdul Baha, the validity of a prophet’s claim can be verified by observing his ability in educating and nurturing human kind: Prophets are public teachers. If we want to see that prophets are teachers we must independently seek the truth. If [prophets] nurture the souls and take them from the depths of ignorance to the peaks of knowledge, then they are surely true prophets.
6- Bahais Must be Educated Only in Bahai Schools
It is absolutely prohibited for the children of the friends to go to the schools of others (meaning non-Bahais).
Is this the meaning of the Oneness of Humanity and not having prejudice? Why is this distinction made between Bahais and non-Bahais? What is more interesting is the fact that Abdul Baha, as usual, did not mind not practicing what he preached. Although he strictly ordered Bahais to not enroll their children in non-Bahai schools, he enrolled Shoghi in non-Bahai schools himself: It was here that Shoghi Effendi had a very significant dream which he recounted to me and which I wrote down. He said that when he was nine or ten years old, living with his nurse in this house and attending school in Haifa, he dreamed that he and another child, an Arab schoolmate, were in the room in which 'Abdu'l-Baha used to receive His guests in the house in Akka . . .
This trend continued until Shoghi finished high school and college: Shoghi Effendi entered the best school in Haifa, the College des Freres, conducted by the Jesuits. He told me he had been very unhappy there. Indeed, I gathered from him that he never was really happy in either school or university. In spite of his innately joyous nature, his sensitivity and his background - so different from that of others in every way - could not but set him apart and give rise to many a heart-ache; indeed, he was one of those people whose open and innocent hearts, keen minds and affectionate nature seem to combine to bring upon them more shocks and suffering in life than is the lot of most men. Because of his unhappiness in this school 'Abdu'l-Baha decided to send him to Beirut where he attended another Catholic school as a boarder, and where he was equally unhappy. Learning of this in Haifa the family sent a trusted Baha'i woman to rent a home for Shoghi Effendi in Beirut and take care of and wait on him. It was not long before she wrote to his father that he was very unhappy at school, would refuse to go to it sometimes for days, and was getting thin and run down. His father showed this letter to 'Abdu'l-Baha Who then had arrangements made for Shoghi Effendi to enter the Syrian Protestant College, which had a school as well as a university, later known as the American College in Beirut, and which the Guardian entered when he finished what was then equivalent to the high school.
The articles have been based on the book "Avaze Dohol" - the Beating of the Drum by Masoud Basiti, Zahra Moradi.
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