‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Secret of Divine Civilization

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Up to now the religious law has not been given a decisive role in our courts, because each of the ‘ulama has been handing down decrees as he saw fit, based on his arbitrary interpretation and personal opinion. For example, two men will go to law, and one of the ‘ulama will find for the plaintiff and another for the defendant. It may even happen that in one and the same case two conflicting decisions will be handed down by the same mujtahid, on the grounds that he was inspired first in one direction and then in the other. There can be no doubt that this state of affairs has confused every important issue and must jeopardize the very foundations of society. For neither the plaintiff nor the defendant ever loses hope of eventual success, and each in turn will waste his life in the attempt to secure a later verdict which would reverse the previous one. 24 It becomes clear that for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at this stage of the development of humanity, some universal principles are imperative for all societies and cultures. In addition to rationalization of law and judiciary, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá calls for political rationalization as well. For Him, equality of all citizens in terms of basic rights, and political democracy are among the objective and universal features of development of modern societies. If internal tradition is one of discrimination and violation of individual rights, or if it maintains an oppressive political structure, it is then the tradition which should change and adapt to the imperatives of an emerging complex and international world order. It is interesting that historicist theory is usually a critique of ethnocentrism and imperialism. But if historicist theory wants to maintain its protest against cultural and political imperialism, then it must respect the inherent rights and dignity of the individuals as well. Then the same historicist theory must defend equality of rights of individuals as a universal principle of development. It is important to recognize that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s call for political democracy in Iran was an innovation in the intellectual currents of 19 th century Iran. 25 The next call for political democracy in Iran was made by Malkum Khan in his article in Qanun newspaper, published in London, in 1892, about 17 years after The Secret . 26 It is also important to note that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s discussion of political democracy follows neither the Western nor the Eastern model. In modern Western political tradition the question of political power is primarily the question of representative government and universal election. In the traditional Eastern model, the question of leadership has concentrated on the moral preconditions and characteristics of the leader. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá emphasizes both issues and insists on both universal participation and moral requisite of the elected. 27 Similar to His invitation for political reform, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also encourages administrative reform by attacking corruption and nepotism, and calling for moral and institutional changes which will make arbitrary and abusive policies impractical. 28 Technological and economic reforms is frequently discussed in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s text. He advocates industrial expansion, technological and scientific consolidation, social planning on the basis of rational prediction of the future, universal protection of the rights and freedom of all individuals, and infrastructural reform. 29

An important issue discussed by The Secret is the question of work ethics. Unlike the prevailing norms of Iranian society which encouraged unproductive pursuits and poverty, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

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