Baha'u'llah: All from the same dust



Bahaullah's Banishments (By: Jeff3000) 

Long before there was a United Nations, there was Baha'u'llah.  Throughout the 1800s, he preached the coming together of all humanity into one harmonious global society.

Lest the Levins and Limbaughs of today’s world begin finger-pointing “Socialist!  Marxist!  Leftist!” – it seems important to bear in mind that Baha'u'llah was much more of a spiritual leader than a political one.  In fact, he spent the last 24 years of his earthly existence as a political prisoner of the Persian and Ottoman empires.

Baha'u'llah was born in Persia (modern-day Tehran, Iran) in1817, and Wikipedia states that “his ancestry can allegedly be traced back to Abraham through Abraham’s wife Keturah.”  Zoroaster and Jesse (father of Israelite King David, plus a biblically-named ancestor of Jesus) are also mentioned within this explanation of Baha'u'llah’s lineage.  Thirteen long hard years passed after the 1850 execution of his immediate spiritual predecessor, the Bab, before Baha'u'llah declared himself to be not only “the one whose coming the Bab had prophesized,” but also “Him Whom God shall make manifest.”

These types of declarations did not sit too well with the political powers that were, thus explaining Baha'u'llah’s long periods of exile and imprisonment.  This worldly deprivation only served to strengthen his spiritual resolve.  He continued making statements such as this:  O Children of Men!   Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust?  That no one shall exalt himself over the other…  Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth, and dwell in the same land…

Baha'u'llah followed through with a series of letters to world leaders such as the Shah of Iran, Queen Victoria, Napoleon III, Pope Pius IX, and Tsar Alexander II.  In some of these letters, he not only declared himself to be “the promised one of all religions,” but also elaborated upon social principles. He called upon leaders to be just, to resolve problems diplomatically, to reduce the need for ever-growing armies, to take care of the poor, and to unify people through one world religion.       

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1b

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1'u'll%C3%A1h

http://www.dgreetings.com/baha/quotes.html

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bhkings.htm

Copyright May 29, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved