The Synopsis and Codification of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, which
the House of Justice has just published, was one of the goals of the Nine Year
Plan, and this goal was carried over from the Ten Year Crusade of the beloved
Guardian.
The book itself consists of four main divisions. In addition
to the preface, there is an introduction written by the House of Justice which
I consider to be extremely important, and I think that it should be the subject
of a study by the friends. Then we have passages from the Kitab-i-Aqdas
translated by Shoghi Effendi. No translations were included in this section by
other translators, including the House of Justice itself, which has during the
past years translated certain passages from the Aqdas and made them available
to the friends. This section comprises only those passages that were translated
by the Guardian at different times during his ministry. The next section is the
synopsis and codification itself. Then there is a fourth section consisting of
notes. These notes were written by the House of Justice; they were not
originally envisaged in the original goals, and they have been given to the
friends as an additional bonus. The House felt that these notes would be of
interest to the friends and would help to clarify certain of the laws and
ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas.
Now, what the Book is not is a codification of [all] the
Laws of Baha'u'llah. That will have to come later. What this book is, is
exactly what its title states: A Synopsis and Codification of the
Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book of Baha'u'llah. In other words, it is a
codification of the contents of one Book, not of the entire subject of Baha'i
laws. These are two different things -- not the same. The time will come when
we will have, I am sure, a codification of [all] the laws of Baha'u'llah -- the
Laws of the Baha'i Faith. That is not what is here before us.
The way the Guardian had envisaged this was to present this
to the friends in the West in a gradual way, and this is how it has been done.
Just to give you an idea of what the codification of the laws would involve:
the Kitab-i-Aqdas will have questions and answers, and, as it happens, the
questions and answers have also been added in this book [not in the same format
as in the 1993 edition of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, but more like notes regarding
certain of the laws]. But it is not in the title. It will have to include the
Kitab-i-Aqdas; the Questions and Answers; the Tablets of Baha'u'llah -- Himself
elucidating certain laws -- questions that have been put to Him; Tablets of
Baha'u'llah revealing subsidiary laws and ordinances to supplement the original
laws; interpretations of 'Abdu'l-Baha; interpretations by Shoghi Effendi; and,
any additional explanations and annotations that would be required to make the
picture complete by giving background information about certain laws that
relate, say, to previous Dispensations. That bigger subject requires a lot of
work and research which was not envisaged from the very beginning by the
Guardian, nor was it envisaged by the House of Justice when it gave it in the
Nine Year Plan -- this goal of publishing the Synopsis and Codification.
I refer [now] to the Questions and Answers. The Questions and Answers is a very interesting document. One of the Persian friends, Zaynu'l-Muqarrabin, whose biography you will find in one of the chapters of Memorials of the Faithful [p. 150, 1971 ed.], who asked questions from Baha'u'llah. Actually it was the other way round. Baha'u'llah instructed him to ask questions, and he was possibly the only believer at that time, residing in the Holy Land, who had been given this instruction by Baha'u'llah. He had revealed His Book, and He asked Jinab-i-Zayn to ask questions. And, over the several years, Jinab-i-Zayn asked these questions from Baha'u'llah. The answers were given by Baha'u'llah in the Tablets revealed in the name of Jinab-i-Zayn. Then, later on, after several years, Jinab-i-Zayn arranged all these various answers he had received from Baha'u'llah. As he knew the questions, he arranged this book as Questions and Answers by putting his questions and the replies by Baha'u'llah -- sometimes permitting certain sentences, which were in further elucidation of the first sentence -- he would just give the first sentence without the second to make the document brief. And, he presented this document to Baha'u'llah, and it was approved by Him, and then it was released to the friends, many years after the Kitab-i-Aqdas had been released to the friends and transcribed and made available to them.
In the introduction there is a very important passage that
the House of Justice had quoted from the Writings of Baha'u'llah which I think
is a key to the Synopsis itself: a key to our understanding of what the
Kitab-i-Aqdas is about, really, and what the policy was of Baha'u'llah in
revealing His Book of Laws, which He calls the Mother Book -- the Mother Book
of the Baha'i Revelation. I refer to Page 5 of the Introduction:
"Know of a certainty that in every Dispensation the
light of Divine Revelation hath been vouchsafed to men in direct proportion to
their spiritual capacity. Consider the sun. How feeble its rays and the moment
it appeareth above the horizon. How gradually its warmth and potency increase
as it approacheth its zenith, enabling meanwhile all created things to adapt
themselves to the growing intensity of its light. How steadily it declineth
until it reacheth its setting point. Were it all of a sudden to manifest the
energies latent within it, it would no doubt cause injury to all created
things.... In like manner, if the Sun of Truth were suddenly to reveal, at the
earliest stages of its manifestation, the full measure of the potencies which
the providence of the Almighty hath bestowed upon it, the earth of human
understanding would waste away and be consumed; for men's hearts would neither
sustain the intensity of its revelation, not be able to mirror forth the
radiance of its light. Dismayed and overpowered, they would cease to
exist."
The House of Justice, before quoting this passage, makes the
remark that this quotation from Baha'u'llah points out to us the principle of
progressive revelation, which applies even within the ministry of the Prophet
Himself. It other words, when we speak about progressive revelation, it isn't
only the relation of one Manifestation -- one Dispensation with the other and
to those following -- but within the Dispensation itself. And, particularly
within the ministry of the Manifestation of God, Himself, you will find this
progressiveness, this gradualness, of revelation. This is a very important
point to consider. Because, when you look at the way Baha'u'llah revealed His
Laws, you will see how very careful He was in observing the systematic, planned
program of disclosing the provisions of the Book and gradually implementing them.
With this principle in mind, I will now explain to you how
this has happened. The [revelation of the] Kitab-i-Aqdas took place in 1873. We
know He first received the intimation of His Revelation in 1852-53, in the Siyah-Chal.
Twenty years passed and nothing happened. If you take the point of His
Declaration in Baghdad, you have ten years with no revelation of any laws.
Although He planted the idea when revealing His Kitab-i-Iqan, which was before
the revelation -- before the Declaration -- in which He makes it clear that
"Him Whom God will make manifest" will also have His Book of Laws,
just as the Point of the Bayan had His Book of Laws, the Bayan. So, He hints at
this, that there will be a Book. For twenty years He withheld its text. In one
of the passages quoted here we see that the friends asked Him repeatedly to
give laws, but He refused. He felt that the time had not come to give the laws
to the friends.
Then we have the time of the revelation. Again, it did not
all happen in one day. It happened gradually, over a period of two years. As
you know, Baha'u'llah arrived in 'Akka at the end of August in 1868. He spent
two years, two months in the barracks prison. Following that, He spent about
ten months in three different homes in 'Akka. That totals about three years. Then
He went to the House of 'Udi-Khammar. For those of you who have been on pilgrimage
know that the House of 'Abbud is divided into two parts: the eastern section
and the western section. The eastern section is the House of 'Udi-Khammar.
Baha'u'llah went first to the eastern section of the house. He had half of that
house that we now call the House of 'Abbud. He went into that room around
September 1871 and from that time until 1873, we have the revelation of the
Kitab-i-Aqdas.
I would like to point out a very interesting phenomenon.
During those two years Baha'u'llah went through intense suffering. If you read
God Passes By carefully you see that those three years coincided with the time
when three followers of Baha'u'llah killed three Azalis. Of course, the Azalis
made a lot of trouble for the Baha'is. Baha'u'llah had warned that they should
do nothing like that. They disobeyed Him. They planned it secretly. They killed
the Azalis, and there was a scandal in 'Akka.
The government troops came to the House of 'Udi-Khammar, to
the courtyard on the eastern side of the House. They had already taken
'Abdu'l-Baha. 'Abdu'l-Baha was in chains. And from the courtyard down there,
'Abdu'l-Baha explained to Baha'u'llah what had happened. Baha'u'llah [had been]
in His room dictating to His amanuensis, who had recently arrived in the house,
and He was taken to be interrogated. He was imprisoned -- actually imprisoned
-- for three nights with 'Abdu'l-Baha. This event saddened the heart of Baha'u'llah
so much that we have several references to it in God Passes By.
It is important for us to remember this synchronization of
events in these times. Tragic on the one hand, and the flowering of His
Revelation and the ascendancy of His thought, on the other.
Shoghi Effendi refers to this as a [major] crisis in God
Passes By [see page 185]:
"...characterized by bitter suffering, severe restrictions,
and intense turmoil, which, in its gravity, surpassed even the agonies of the
Siyah-Chal of Tihran, and to which no other event, in the history of the entire
century can compare... [Baha'u'llah said], "Know thou that upon Our
arrival at this Spot, We chose to designate it as 'The Most Great Prison.'
Though previously subjected in another land (Tihran) to chains and fetters, We
yet refused to call it by that name....""
In one of his writings He calls it [Siyah-Chal] "The
Greater Prison." He says He has reserved this title [The Most Great
Prison] for 'Akka. "O ye endowed with understanding!" This fresh
crisis was marked throughout, not only by the assaults of adversaries from without,
as it happened in the Siyah-Chal, but by the machinations of His enemies from
within, as well as by the grievous misdeeds of those, who, though bearing His
Name, perpetrated what made His heart and His pen alike to lament. It was at
this time of deep sorrow that Baha'u'llah sat down and wrote the Kitab-i-Aqdas.
It is interesting that we have this. Shoghi Effendi, in one
of his writings says: "Joy and sadness embrace each other." Crisis
and victory follow each other [see GPB, xiii, and 409]. This is what happened
in the Siyah-Chal. The imprisonment of Baha'u'llah was a very low point in His
life, yet under those circumstances He received the intimation of His
Revelation.
In Baghdad: He is at the point of being exiled to that
country, Constantinople. He has to leave the country. Yet, at that point, He
declared His Mission. In Adrianople: the time when He wanted to send His
letters to the Kings at the beginning of the Proclamation period coincided with
the breaking of the Covenant by Azal (his attempt to poison Baha'u'llah). And
now in 'Akka, He decides to reveal His Book of Laws -- He has this other
crisis. And, in this suffering, He writes and produces this Book.
Take 'Abdu'l-Baha, His Will and Testament: He, again, wrote
it at a time of crisis, of danger. He said, "I don't have a moment's hope
of life." He wasn't sure what was going to happen. He was standing to be
deported. He was standing to be crucified. He writes His Will: the potent
instrument of World Order. You see, this happens all the time. And it's going
to happen again.
I spoke of opposition. It will happen. But at the time it
will be a great victory for the Cause. This opposition is going to inspire and
instill further victory. It's a "pulsation," Shoghi Effendi says.
Crisis and victory.
After the Revelation [of the Kitab-i-Aqdas], what does He
[Baha'u'llah] do? He doesn't send it to Persia. For about a year He kept it in
'Akka. But He wrote about it to the friends. He told them that The Book had
been revealed. It will be sent. Again we have this idea He ordered Zayn to ask
questions so that clarifications could be made. In the meantime, the Book has
gone to Persia, so some of the friends in Persia write to Baha'u'llah, and He
elucidates some of His laws in response to those questions. And then He reveals
some subsidiary laws in Tablets such as Ishraqat (Splendours), Bisharat
(Glad-Tidings), Tarazat (Ornaments), Tajalliyat (Effulgences),
Kalimat-i-FirdawsIyyih (Words of Paradise), Law-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Tablet),
Law-i-Dunya (Tablet of the World), and Law-i-Maqsud (Tablet of Maqsud). These
laws are revealed at this time, but they should be regarded as a part of the
Kitab-i-Aqdas.
He did not allow the translation of the Book. He didn't say
this about His other Writings, but about this, He did. He sent a copy of the
Book to India and had it published there. The official publication we have of
the Kitab-i-Aqdas, in Arabic, which is the language in which the Book was
revealed, was [published] in the time of Baha'u'llah and in India.
"In carrying out these provisions, use tact and
wisdom," He tells them. "You should obey these laws in a way that
will not cause disturbance, will not raise clamor among the heedless."
Then Zayn compiled, in another book, the answers he has received -- and
presents them to Baha'u'llah -- and He approves them. These are the various
stages Baha'u'llah went through in giving this Book and its provisions out.
And finally we have Shoghi Effendi commenting about this
whole affair -- and commenting about the work of Baha'u'llah and the Cause with
illuminating comments. He says that Baha'u'llah has deliberately left gaps in
the laws. These He left for the Universal House of Justice to fill. This was
the policy of Baha'u'llah about this Book.
Then came 'Abdu'l-Baha. What did He do? He said, "No,
you cannot publish the Book." But He answered many, many questions the
friends asked Him about the laws. He interpreted them. He elucidated them.
Then came Shoghi Effendi. And he did exactly like
'Abdu'l-Baha. He wouldn't allow the publication of the Book. He continued the
process of further elucidating, answering questions, explaining what is meant
by the statements of Baha'u'llah. Some wonderful questions have been presented
to Shoghi Effendi, and he has answered them. And we thank God for these
wonderful people who have asked these questions from 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi
Effendi because we have a mine of information and elucidation about the provisions
of the Book.
But Shoghi Effendi started a new process. We are now at one
stage of what he started. How did it all start?
It happened with an event in Egypt. It happened around the
year 1935 when one of the religious courts in Egypt said that the Baha'is were
heretics and can't be regarded as Muslims. He saw in this a great opportunity
-- a victory for the Cause. He started telling the friends everywhere that,
"This is a great victory. They're telling us we are a distinct religion.
They are telling us we are an independent religion. We have to prove it. This
is our time."
So what did the Guardian do? He immediately instructed the
Egyptian National Assembly to sit down and compile a codification of the laws
of the Kitab-i-Aqdas on personal status only, which is marriage, divorce,
inheritance. Later, he added burial. And he told them to prepare this
codification -- and they did. They presented it to him, and he approved it.
Just a comment here: This codification, which was made in
the twenties, is not a codification of the laws of the Kitab-i-Aqdas only. It
is a codification [of some] Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha and tablets of Shoghi
Effendi. They tried to make it as complete as they could but as simple as they
could. They presented it to Shoghi Effendi, and he approved it. He immediately
sent a copy of this document to several National Spiritual Assemblies. The
records show that he even sent a copy to the American NSA. A copy of this
document was presented to the Egyptian cabinet. Of course, the result was that
it was turned down, but we are not interested in that. We are interested in the
evolution of the disclosure of the contents of this Book.
What does the Guardian do next? He published the [Arabic]
codification in Baha'i World [Vol. VI, 1934-36, pp. 363-379].
This is what Shoghi Effendi did in this gradual disclosure
and implementation. Then he explained to the friends that there are certain
laws which have been revealed by Baha'u'llah in anticipation of a future
society.
There are certain laws which are not binding upon the
friends because they may be in direct conflict with the civil law. So he made
two categories of laws immediately: Those which, in his view, were revealed by
Baha'u'llah in anticipation of a future society -- such as the laws on manslaughter,
on arson, or adultery, on theft. We cannot possibly carry out these laws. We
need a Baha'i state to carry them out. Baha'u'llah has given these laws in
anticipation of a future society, and they are not binding upon us today. So,
Shoghi Effendi set them aside. This is true about every country in the whole world.
There isn't a single Baha'i state in the world yet.
Then we have those laws which, in certain countries conflict
with civil law, such as the law of inheritance. In most countries of the world
today, inheritance has become a part of the civil law, not a religious law.
Therefore you cannot take the law of Baha'u'llah and say if a man dies
intestate -- without leaving a will -- his estate should be divided in [a
certain] way. Many governments of the world, including the United States, will
not accept that. So, it is in direct conflict with the civil law.
In certain countries, giving a dowry by a husband to his
wife is against the law. So, to bring this in at this point, and [to] want to
have it recognized by a government along with Baha'i marriage, was propitious,
but probably in direct conflict with the civil law. So this is another
category.
So, what was left, then, he divided into two. Those which,
in his view, in that particular country, in that part of the world, was not
quite ready to carry out. For example, the Huququ'llah was not to be applied in
the West. He felt that the time had not come for the West to have ablutions
before the obligatory prayer. In Africa, for example, where the Baha'is were
tied down by tribal law, he said it was not important that the tribal marriage
ceremony and the Baha'i ceremony occur on the same day, whereas this is binding
in the West. He said that tribal marriage was quite satisfactory. Tribal
marriage is not legally recognized as such in the country -- either civil
marriage or church marriage -- not tribal marriage. [But] Shoghi Effendi said
it's quite all right -- if they have tribal marriage plus Baha'i marriage, it's
all right. There [are] relaxations that he allowed in certain countries, as if
he were taking the pulse of each country and deciding what was propitious and
what wasn't.
And in the final category was those laws which were to be
binding and universally applicable. The House of Justice has made it very clear
that, by publishing this book, no addition has been made to the number of laws
to be applied in the West, or to become binding in the West. This will be the
subject of careful study by the Universal House of Justice and, from time to
time, as deemed wise and propitious, the communities in various parts of the
world will be informed which laws of the third category will be applicable --
the third category being those that are neither in anticipation of a future
society (Category I), nor in direct conflict with civil law (Category II), but
fall in this particular category of wisdom.
This is always under consideration by the House; and, when
the time is propitious and opportune, the House will inform the friends which
laws are additionally applicable in their case.
When it came to those laws which were now to be enforced, he
said [in essence], "We are serious about it. We are going to have
sanctions." He authorized National Spiritual Assemblies to impose
sanctions on transgressors, whenever they were breaking laws which were binding
upon them. He went that far. Then the next step in this gradual disclosure of
the laws was when he decided that one of the goals of the Nine Year Plan would
be a synopsis and codification of the laws of the Kitab-i-Aqdas -- not the laws
of the Baha'i Revelation. And he said that the publication of this book will be
a prelude to the translation and publication of the entire Book with full
annotation and explanations. This will be done by a body of experts.
He translated everything. He was our interpreter, our
translator -- the most-great translator we have ever had -- yet here, when it
came to these laws, he delegates this to a body of experts to do this
particular task.
Finally, in the years preceding his passing, he worked on
the fulfillment of the goals he had, himself, included with the Plan, and he
left, after his passing, precious, precious notes in his own handwriting, both
in Persian and English. And the House, of course, values and has valued
greatly, and was able to base this book on the precious notes of the beloved
Guardian.
Now what did the House of Justice do? In its Nine Year Plan
it re-included the goal of the Ten Year Crusade -- carried it over. It took the
notes that the Guardian had left (they were obviously incomplete) and completed
them according to the pattern he had already begun, and was able to complete
this document which is now in your hands. They have also informed the friends
that they would be notified when additional laws would become binding, and will
provide supplementary legislation to fill those gaps that Shoghi Effendi
mentioned that Baha'u'llah left deliberately in the body of His Laws.
In the Introduction there are several new translations that
had not yet been released to the friends. Page 3: the passage at the beginning
of the last paragraph is new. Page 4: at the end of the page and at the top of
Page 5 is new. The entire section of the last paragraph on Page 7 is new.
In the Notes: Page 57, point 5; Page 58, point 8; Page 10;
Page 59, top of the page, 59; 61, item 26, visiting Holy Places (from
'Abdu'l-Baha), new translation; Page 62, passage at the top of the page under
item 27 was released by the House of Justice at an earlier date -- it has been
repeated here. Item 30, Page 62 is new; Page 64, Item 40 is new. These are new
passages that have been translated by the House of Justice in connection with
these notes that the House felt would be of interest to the friends as
additional information and explanation of some of these laws.
The first entry of the Synopsis is the appointment of
'Abdu'l-Baha as the Successor to Baha'u'llah and Interpreter of His Teachings.
This goals has been with us for nine years. I was so
interested in this because I have seen Shoghi Effendi's notes, and the first
item of the Kitab-i-Aqdas to be codified was the appointment of 'Abdu'l-Baha
with Roman I. Shoghi Effendi considered the appointment of 'Abdu'l-Baha as the
most important item of the Kitab-i-Aqdas. It is the Covenant. He could see the
relative importance of things that we could not.
Under that he has two entries: "The faithful are
enjoined to turn their faces to the One Whom God hath purposed, Who hath
branched from this Ancient Root." Point 2: The faithful are bidden to
refer whatsoever they do not understand in the Baha'i Writings to "Him Who
hath branched from this Mighty Stock." One would think they are the same.
They are not. Both appear in the "Dispensation of Baha'u'llah." These
verses are not the same. If you look at them carefully, Point I is to
"turn to" and Point II is "to refer to." To turn to, as the
Center of the Cause or as the Center of the Covenant, is one thing. The second
point is to refer to Him what you do not understand. You are asking Him a
question here, for elucidation, for interpretation. Therefore, you are not
referring to Him as the Center of the Cause, but you are referring to Him in
His capacity as the Interpreter of the Writings...
[1] These notes were transcribed by Bob Hart from a taped
talk in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1973 when The Synopsis and Codification of
the Kitab-i-Aqdas was released. Regrettably, the tape ran out before the talk
was completed (about five minutes later). Gwyn Magaditsch reformatted it by
changing some paragraphing and added a few explanatory in square brackets.
