cherileex
New Member
Bahá'ís, why do you believe "Bahá'u'lláh" was the one promised in the Bayán?
This is not a subject that gets discussed very often, quite unfortunately. Bahá'ís always seem very hesitant about the Bayán. When ALM Nicolas translated the Bayán Abbas Effendi, "‘Abdu'l-Baha" attacked him for it, and he did the same when E.G. Browne published the Bayání history, the Nuqtatu'l-Káf.
There's a story about a Bayání named Mirza Mahdi Amin. He became a follower of the Primal Point after a discussion with his father. He devotes his time and energy to studying and researching the religion of the Bayán, and during his study he comes across the Baha'i claim and cross-examines it with the Bayán.
He decides at a point to meet the Bahá'ís and test their claims. He approaches a group of Bahá'ís pretending to be a Muslim who wants to learn about their religion. The Bahá'ís, wishing to convert him, quickly welcome him into their gathering, and as per Baha'i custom they quickly skip over the Religion of Bayán and do not mention a word of the Book of Bayán. This is and was all too prevalent.
Mirza Mahdi pushes to them to slow-down and forces the Bahá'í speakers to take a step back and tries to extract the Bayán from them. He requests for a copy of it to study, reasoning that he should not skip the faith of the Bayán before becoming a Baha'i and that he first must study the book of the Bayán. Initially, the Bahá'ís deny that the Book of the Bayán is even in their possession, but eventually they admit to having it and promise to bring it at the next meeting.
They meet several times again, and meeting after meeting, the Bahá'ís make up excuses as to why they cannot bring him the Bayán. Finally, however, he gets it from them. Then, Mirza Mahdi proceeds to quote various passages from the Bayán, telling the Bahá'í audience that the Bahá'í claims are in violation of the Bayán.
At this time, the leader of the Bahá'ís at the meeting suspects that Mirza Mahdi is an "Azali" and says that he should be thrown out, but the other members disagree and request their leaders to respond to the Bayáí objections.
The Bahá'í leader is unable to justify the Bahá'í claims in light of the Bayán and becomes agitated. Towards the end, the Bahá'ís, except for their leader, have a change of heart and express gratitude to Mirza Mahdi for having opened their eyes, and they deeply regret that they have been kept misinformed for so long. This is all recorded in the book "The Cause of the Bewildered Ones" (دلیل المتحیّرین).
I think most Bahá'ís are good in heart, and they have pure intentions, judging from my personal experiences with them back when I was a Bahá'í, so I am going to try to present this evidence to you in hopes that you might consider it and that it might inspire something in you, whether it is a refutation which will prove my claims incorrect and guide me back towards the truth, or whether you accept this proof.
Examining the circumstances of the Bahá'í claims, the Primal Point made his declaration in 1844, and it is alleged that Bahá made his in 1863 which was not even 20 years later. It seems most strange that the Creator of Heaven and Earth would send down a Prophet along with Revelation, leave it for nineteen years, and then abrogate it. William Miller makes this analogy: that it is as if one were to plant a vineyard, tear it down, and plant a new one before any fruits could be reaped from the first. The mind of a Bayání, or a Christian, or a Jew — no one else can simply tolerate these assertions — it is only the Bahá'ís who make these unprecedented claims.
We see in the history of the religion of Abraham, Moses was separated by Jesus by over a thousand years, Jesus from Muhammad by over five hundred, and Muhammad from the Primal Point by over a thousand like unto Moses. No doubt can be had about the fact that the Primal Point "expected that the next Manifestation would be separated from his own by an interval of time more or less commensurate with those intervals which had separated previous Dispensations [...] texts from the Persian Bayán afford some ground for supposing that this interval was expected to be 1511 or 2001 years, these being the numbers represented by the numerical values of the words "Ghiyáth" (ﻏﯿﺎث) and Mustagháth (ﻣﺴﺘﻐﺎث)" (E.G. Browne).
In the Bayán we see that it is predicted that world leaders will adopt Bayán as the state religion, they will reform their countries according to the teachings of the Bayán, with a Bayání ruler overseeing the land, advised by a council of 25 Bayání scholars well-versed in the Bayán (Persian Bayán 5:18; 5:19; 6:12; 7:3; 7:16. Arabic Bayán 9:3; 11:2); and we see that it is predicted that Bayání judges, sheikhs, imams, divines, etc. will appear (Persian Bayán 5:8). "[T]he Bayán," E.G. Browne says, "contains regulations for the conduct of the Bábi state, and implicitly assumes a time when Persia at least shall have adopted Bábism as the state religion."
Furthermore, let us examine this passage of the Bayán where the following is said:
"If He [whom God shall manifest] shall appear in the number of Ghiyáth and all shall enter in, not one shall remain in the Fire. If He tarry until [the number of] Mustagháth, all shall enter in, not one shall remain in the Fire, but all shall be transformed into His light [...] None knoweth [the time of] the Manifestation save God: whenever it takes place, all must believe and must render thanks to God, although it is hoped of His Grace that He will come ere [the number of] Mustagháth" (Persian Bayán 2:17; 3:15).
By the word "Ghiyáth" is meant 1511 years, according to its numerical value in the ABJAD system, and by the word "Mustagháth" is meant 2001 years, according to its numerical value. From this, the People of the Bayán conclude that 1511 years in the Bayán must pass before He Whom God shall make manifest appears, and he shall appear no later than 2001 years. The question is: what conclusion will you make, Bahá'ís?
This is not a subject that gets discussed very often, quite unfortunately. Bahá'ís always seem very hesitant about the Bayán. When ALM Nicolas translated the Bayán Abbas Effendi, "‘Abdu'l-Baha" attacked him for it, and he did the same when E.G. Browne published the Bayání history, the Nuqtatu'l-Káf.
There's a story about a Bayání named Mirza Mahdi Amin. He became a follower of the Primal Point after a discussion with his father. He devotes his time and energy to studying and researching the religion of the Bayán, and during his study he comes across the Baha'i claim and cross-examines it with the Bayán.
He decides at a point to meet the Bahá'ís and test their claims. He approaches a group of Bahá'ís pretending to be a Muslim who wants to learn about their religion. The Bahá'ís, wishing to convert him, quickly welcome him into their gathering, and as per Baha'i custom they quickly skip over the Religion of Bayán and do not mention a word of the Book of Bayán. This is and was all too prevalent.
Mirza Mahdi pushes to them to slow-down and forces the Bahá'í speakers to take a step back and tries to extract the Bayán from them. He requests for a copy of it to study, reasoning that he should not skip the faith of the Bayán before becoming a Baha'i and that he first must study the book of the Bayán. Initially, the Bahá'ís deny that the Book of the Bayán is even in their possession, but eventually they admit to having it and promise to bring it at the next meeting.
They meet several times again, and meeting after meeting, the Bahá'ís make up excuses as to why they cannot bring him the Bayán. Finally, however, he gets it from them. Then, Mirza Mahdi proceeds to quote various passages from the Bayán, telling the Bahá'í audience that the Bahá'í claims are in violation of the Bayán.
At this time, the leader of the Bahá'ís at the meeting suspects that Mirza Mahdi is an "Azali" and says that he should be thrown out, but the other members disagree and request their leaders to respond to the Bayáí objections.
The Bahá'í leader is unable to justify the Bahá'í claims in light of the Bayán and becomes agitated. Towards the end, the Bahá'ís, except for their leader, have a change of heart and express gratitude to Mirza Mahdi for having opened their eyes, and they deeply regret that they have been kept misinformed for so long. This is all recorded in the book "The Cause of the Bewildered Ones" (دلیل المتحیّرین).
I think most Bahá'ís are good in heart, and they have pure intentions, judging from my personal experiences with them back when I was a Bahá'í, so I am going to try to present this evidence to you in hopes that you might consider it and that it might inspire something in you, whether it is a refutation which will prove my claims incorrect and guide me back towards the truth, or whether you accept this proof.
Examining the circumstances of the Bahá'í claims, the Primal Point made his declaration in 1844, and it is alleged that Bahá made his in 1863 which was not even 20 years later. It seems most strange that the Creator of Heaven and Earth would send down a Prophet along with Revelation, leave it for nineteen years, and then abrogate it. William Miller makes this analogy: that it is as if one were to plant a vineyard, tear it down, and plant a new one before any fruits could be reaped from the first. The mind of a Bayání, or a Christian, or a Jew — no one else can simply tolerate these assertions — it is only the Bahá'ís who make these unprecedented claims.
We see in the history of the religion of Abraham, Moses was separated by Jesus by over a thousand years, Jesus from Muhammad by over five hundred, and Muhammad from the Primal Point by over a thousand like unto Moses. No doubt can be had about the fact that the Primal Point "expected that the next Manifestation would be separated from his own by an interval of time more or less commensurate with those intervals which had separated previous Dispensations [...] texts from the Persian Bayán afford some ground for supposing that this interval was expected to be 1511 or 2001 years, these being the numbers represented by the numerical values of the words "Ghiyáth" (ﻏﯿﺎث) and Mustagháth (ﻣﺴﺘﻐﺎث)" (E.G. Browne).
In the Bayán we see that it is predicted that world leaders will adopt Bayán as the state religion, they will reform their countries according to the teachings of the Bayán, with a Bayání ruler overseeing the land, advised by a council of 25 Bayání scholars well-versed in the Bayán (Persian Bayán 5:18; 5:19; 6:12; 7:3; 7:16. Arabic Bayán 9:3; 11:2); and we see that it is predicted that Bayání judges, sheikhs, imams, divines, etc. will appear (Persian Bayán 5:8). "[T]he Bayán," E.G. Browne says, "contains regulations for the conduct of the Bábi state, and implicitly assumes a time when Persia at least shall have adopted Bábism as the state religion."
Furthermore, let us examine this passage of the Bayán where the following is said:
"If He [whom God shall manifest] shall appear in the number of Ghiyáth and all shall enter in, not one shall remain in the Fire. If He tarry until [the number of] Mustagháth, all shall enter in, not one shall remain in the Fire, but all shall be transformed into His light [...] None knoweth [the time of] the Manifestation save God: whenever it takes place, all must believe and must render thanks to God, although it is hoped of His Grace that He will come ere [the number of] Mustagháth" (Persian Bayán 2:17; 3:15).
By the word "Ghiyáth" is meant 1511 years, according to its numerical value in the ABJAD system, and by the word "Mustagháth" is meant 2001 years, according to its numerical value. From this, the People of the Bayán conclude that 1511 years in the Bayán must pass before He Whom God shall make manifest appears, and he shall appear no later than 2001 years. The question is: what conclusion will you make, Bahá'ís?
