Reform, restraint, and the common good

It doth not beseem man to become a source of sedition; nay, rather, he should endeavor towards that which will cause the affairs of all that dwell on earth to prosper; thus hath the True One proclaimed, He, verily, is the Ever-Forgiving, the Compassionate.

The membership of the friends in parliament was desirable, because what is intended by not interfering in politics is not for the believers to refrain from serving the nation and the government; indeed service to the nation and government is an obligation. What is intended is that the friends should not form political parties or rise against the presiding government, and should not, like other groups, create agitation or engage in rebellion and sedition. The intention is not for them to eschew membership in parliament and service to the people and the government with heart and soul.

Thou didst mention that we should be safe from the evil of sedition. It would appear that thou hast considered all divine manifestations from Adam to the Seal as sedition, believing that to speak the word of truth is sedition. But between that sedition and this sedition there is an immense difference that none can understand save those endowed with insight. The sedition of truth is a sedition from which flow a hundred thousand streams of security and peace. By God! Were anyone possessed of spiritual sense to be found, he would inhale from this sedition the fragrances of the One True God. Furthermore He says, exalted be His glory: "Do men think that they will be left alone on saying 'We believe' and will not be tested?"

And yet again in another connection: "O people! Spread not disorder in the land, and shed not the blood of any one, and consume not the substance of others wrongfully, neither follow every accursed prattler."

The basest and most rejected of souls in the sight of God have been and will be the treacherous ones. He who betrayeth shall be betrayed and shall find no blessing even if all the wealth of the world should gather unto him. God will make it the portion of another.

Say: O My loved ones, take heed lest ye spread corruption in the land after its reformation.

In any case, transgression of divine bounds has been and will be the cause of loss in this world and the next.

The deeds of those who act without obedience to you shall profit them not, for God has made obedience to you identical with obedience to the Imams who are guided by His command. He has joined the knowledge of you with knowledge of them, and disobedience to you with disobedience to them. Whosoever opposes you has opposed them, and whosoever wages war against you has waged war against them.

Obedience to government orders is obligatory upon every Baha'i, otherwise danger will befall the entire person of the disobedient one, for the law of governments decrees death for those who are disobedient in times of war. Yes, one must first strive to obtain permission for non-participation in the field of battle, but when the government issues the command for war, one must respond with complete trustworthiness.

For thirty years there has been no rumor of disturbance or rebellion, nor any sign of sedition. Notwithstanding the duplication of adherents and the increase and multiplication of this body, through many admonitions and encouragements to virtue this sect are all in the utmost repose and stability: they have made obedience their distinctive trait, and in extreme submissiveness and subordination are the loyal subjects of the King. On what lawful grounds can the government further molest them, or permit them to be slighted?

How aptly, even after the lapse of half a century, Shoghi Effendi's views, as conveyed by his secretary, fit the contemporary scene: "Our present generation, mainly due to the corruptions that have been identified with organizations, seem to stand against any institution. Religion as an institution is denounced. Government as an institution is denounced. Even marriage as an institution is denounced. We Baha'is should not be blinded by such prevalent notions. If such were the case, all the divine Manifestations would not have invariably appointed someone to succeed Them. Undoubtedly, corruptions did enter those institutions, but these corruptions were not due to the very nature of the institutions but to the lack of proper directions as to their powers and nature of their perpetuation. What Baha'u'llah has done is not to eliminate all institutions in the Cause but to provide the necessary safeguards that would eliminate corruptions that caused the fall of previous institutions.

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