Hasan wrote on 8/23:
>Does the suffering of Manifestations caused by a particular group of people
> (religion, sect, etc.) is a real reason which causes suffering to the entire world
> (including innocent people)?
> This quote of the Guardian is related to this issue:
> Islam, at once the progenitor and persecutor of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, is, if
> we read aright the signs of the times, only beginning to sustain the impact of
> this invincible and triumphant Faith. We need only recall the nineteen hundred
> years of abject misery and dispersion which they, who only for the short space
> of three years persecuted the Son of God, have had to endure, and are still
> enduring. We may well ask ourselves, with mingled feelings of dread and awe,
> how severe must be the tribulations of those who, during no less than fifty
> years, have, "at every moment tormented with a fresh torment" Him Who is
> the Father, and who have, in addition, made His Herald--Himself a
> Manifestation of God--to quaff, in such tragic circumstances, the cup of
> martyrdom.
Hasan,
Shoghi Effendi didn't make up this warning. The Guardian only echos the warning made by God Himself in the Qur'an. God says that He is the one who punishes the people after He sends His Messenger. "...nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent an apostle." Qur'an 17:15
"Who receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit: who goeth astray doth so to his own loss: No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another: nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent an apostle. " Qur'an 17:15 (Yusuf Ali)
Please read the stories of the Prophets in the Old Testament and the Qur'an. A punishment always accompanies their coming. And isn't this one of the definitions of a Messenger, to warn people of an impending disaster?
I don't know of a place in the Quran where people are punished for things they haven't done. I think that an essential part of the problem is the generational aspect. It was one thing to say that Caiphas and the specific Jewish people 2000 years ago tried to plot his death. It's another thing to say that Jews today are still deserving of punishment for the same effect. By the same token, why should Muslims today be punished for persecution of the Bab and Bahaullah?
It seems that this is just the system God uses, and will continue to use, since He says that His method will never change. "...no change wilt thou find in God's way (of dealing): No turning off wilt thou find in God's way (of dealing)." Qur'an 35:43 (Yusuf Ali)
Peace
