Some additional points dear Shirley for your correspondent to be shared with him gradually.
1] from a Collection of Hadiths [kept in University of SC] and availavle on the WWW. http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/abudawud/040.sat.html#040.4579 ***Book 40, Number 4579: Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The Jews were split up into seventy-one or seventy-two sects; and the Christians were split up into seventy one or seventy-two sects; and my community will be split up into seventy-three sects. *** 2] "The Apostle of God said: `There will come a time for my people when there will remain nothing of the Qur'an except its outward form and nothing of Islam except its name and they will call themselves by this name even though they are the people furthest from it. The mosques will be full of people but they will be empty of right guidance. The religious leaders (Fuqaha) of that day will be the most evil religious leaders under the heavens; sedition and dissension will go out from them and to them will it return.'" Ibn Babuya, Thawab ul-A'mal Also, in Al-Bihar, by Al-Majlisi, Vol 13, Page 155 Also, in Kanz Al-amal #766 3] God's Covenant The word covenant is used in different accounts in the Holy Qur'an to describe many kinds of relationships and agreements. In many verses for example, we read about God's ancient covenant with mankind, that in return for God's protection, favors and guidance, we need to abide by His laws, live according to His commandments and accept and obey His Messengers. God's Covenant with Mankind: "And when We made a covenant with the children of Israel: You shall not serve any but God and (you shall do) good to (your) parents, and to the near of kin and to the orphans and the needy, and you shall speak to men good words and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate. Then you turned back except a few of you and (now too) you turn aside." Qur'an 2:83 "It is not piety, that you turn your faces to the East and to the West. True piety is this: to believe in God, and the Last Day ... to give of one's substance ... and to ransom the slave, to perform the prayer, to pay the alms. And they who fulfill their covenant ... and endure with fortitude." Qur'an 2:177 "..., but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path),- Those who break God's Covenant after it is ratified, and who sunder what God Has ordered to be joined, and do mischief on earth: These cause loss (only) to themselves." Qur'an 2:27 Part of this covenant is to accept God's Messengers: Certainly We made a covenant with the children of Israel and We sent to them apostles; whenever there came to them an apostle with what that their souls did not desire, some (of them) did they call liars and some they slew. Qur'an 5:70 "O children of Adam! When Messengers come to you from among you, who convey my verses, then those who take heed and amend will have neither fear nor regret." Qur'an 7:35 Another translation of this verse (by Yusuf Ali) is: O ye Children of Adam! whenever there come to you messengers from amongst you, rehearsing My signs unto you,- those who are righteous and mend (their lives),- on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve. Palmer's translation: "O sons of Adam! verily, there will come to you apostles from amongst you, narrating unto you my signs; ..." And another translation: "O children of Adam! there shall come to you Apostles from among yourselves, rehearsing my signs to you; ..." All of these translations convey the feeling of inevitability portrayed in the Arabic "imma ya'ti yannakum", a form of the future tense of the verb "to come" used to impart emphasis. Does this verse include Muslims? It would seem that the term "children of Adam" should be inclusive of all people. _____________________________________ This covenant is established through allegiance to the Messenger, and through obedience to the Teachings He brings: "Surely those who swear allegiance to you do but swear allegiance to God; the hand of God is above their hands. Therefore whoever breaks (his faith), he breaks it only to the injury of his own soul, and whoever fulfills what he has covenanted with God, He will grant him a mighty reward." Qur'an 48:10 _____________________________________ God has also made a Covenant with His Prophets: And call to mind when We took from the Prophets their covenant, and from thee (Muhammad), and from Noah and Abraham, and Moses and Jesus, son of Mary, and WE indeed, took from them a solemn covenant; Qur'an 33:8 This covenant with the prophets is explained in this verse: And when God made a covenant through the prophets: Certainly what I have given you of Book and wisdom-- then an apostle comes to you verifying that which is with you, you must believe in him, and you must aid him. He said: Do you affirm and accept My compact in this (matter)? They said: We do affirm. He said: Then bear witness, and I (too) am of the bearers of witness with you. Whoever therefore turns back after this, these it is that are the transgressors. Qur'an 3:81-82 On the positive point of affirming and seeing the extreme sense of fairness in the Baha'i Faith [the Promise, the Unifier, the Reconciler, and the Essence of all Faiths] TOWARDS ISLAM Not only have the peoples of the earth ignored, and some of them even assailed, a Faith which is at once the essence, the promise, the reconciler, and the unifier of all religions, but they have drifted away from their own religions, and set up on their subverted altars other gods wholly alien not only to the spirit but to the traditional forms of their ancient faiths. (Shoghi Effendi: The Promised Day is Come, Page: 112) OUR FAIRNESS TO MOSLEMS "Shoghi Effendi hopes that your lectures will not only serve to deepen the knowledge of the believers in the doctrines and culture of Islam, but will set their hearts afire with the love of everything that vitally pertains to Muhammad and His Faith. "There is so much misunderstanding about Islam in the West in general that you have to dispel. Your task is rather difficult and requires a good deal of erudition. Your chief task is to acquaint the friends with the pure teachings of the Prophet as recorded in the Qur'an, and then to point out how these teachings have, throughout succeeding ages, influenced nay guided the course of human development. In other words you have to show the position and significance of Islam in the history of civilization. "The Baha'i view on that subject is that the Dispensation of Muhammad, like all other Divine Dispensations, has been fore-ordained, and that as such forms an integral part of the Divine plan for the spiritual, moral and social, development of mankind. It is not an isolated religious phenomenon, but is closely and historically related to the Dispensation of Christ, and those of the Bab and Baha'u'llah. It was intended by God to succeed Christianity, and it was therefore the duty of the Christians to accept it as firmly as they had adhered to the religion of Christ. "You should also cautiously emphasize the truth that due to the historical order of its appearance, and also because of the obviously more advanced character of its teachings, Islam constitutes a fuller revelation of God's purpose for mankind. The so-called Christian civilization of which the Renaissance is one of the most striking manifestations is essentially Muslim in its origins and foundations. When medieval Europe was plunged in darkest barbarism, the Arabs regenerated and transformed by the spirit released by the religion of Muhammad were busily engaged in establishing a civilization the like of which their contemporary Christians in Europe had never witnessed before. It was eventually through Arabs that civilization was introduced to the West. It was through them that the philosophy, science and culture which the old Greeks had developed found their way to Europe. The Arabs were the ablest translators, and linguists of their age, and it is thanks to them that the writings of such well-known thinkers as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were made available to the Westerners. It is wholly unfair to attribute the efflorescence of European culture during the Renaissance period to the influence of Christianity. It was mainly the product of the forces released by the Muhammadan Dispensation. "From the standpoint of institutionalism Islam far surpasses true Christianity as we know it in the Gospels. There are infinitely more laws and institutions in the Qur'an than in the Gospel. While the latter's emphasis is mainly, not to say wholly, on individual and personal conduct, the Qur'an stresses the importance of society. This social emphasis acquires added importance and significance in the Baha'i Revelation. When carefully and impartially compared, the Qur'an marks a definite advancement on the Gospel, from the standpoint of spiritual and humanitarian progress. "The truth is that Western historians have for many centuries distorted the facts to suit their religious and ancestral prejudices. The Baha'is should try to study history anew, and to base all their investigations first and foremost on the written Scriptures of Islam and Christianity." (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, April 27, 1936) (Multiple Authors: Lights of Guidance, Pages: 496-497) ---------- You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
