Intro and Material:
- Early core group of Babis and Baha’is were mysteriously prepared to accepted the Bab and Baha’u’llah based on messianic expectation. Polemic argumentation did not play a role in the conversion of early Babis and Bahais.
- There was great difficulty conveying the Babi and Baha’i Message to Muslim population in the Middle East. This is partly because Islam has a systematic and well-defined theological framework.
- Baha’i teachers gradually developed solid textual arguments and interpretations of the Qur’an that constituted Baha’i proofs. In fact, all of the concepts that the teachers developed were found in the writings of the Bab and Baha’u’llah.
- The following presented below only focuses on the historical and theological development of Mírzá Abu’l-Fadl Gulpáygání’s dalíl-i-taqrír (proof based on establishment) and hujjiyyat-i-ayát (proof based on verses).
- This includes Kitáb al-Fará’id (The Book of Priceless Pearls) and the Fasl ul-Khitáb (That which Separates Between Truth and Falsehood).
- The Fará’id is the best apologetic defense of the Bahá’í Faith ever written.
- All other apologetic works in Persian rely on this book.
- A number of anti-Baha’i polemic were developed as a refutation of the Fará’id.
- dalíl-i-taqrír : If a person claims to found a religion and that religion gains influence and becomes established and doesn’t disappear, it is proof of its truth.
dalíl-i-taqrír overview:
1. Concept of the Manifestation of God.
- God has undisputed sovereignty over creation and the Manifestations of God are possessors of God’s attributed, including sovereignty. Therefore, the Manifestations will achieve sovereignty in the world (nasut) over the enemies. In other words, a divinely inspired religion cannot be permanently stopped.
2. Definition of dalíl-i-taqrír
- a divinely inspired religion cannot be stopped: “Should a person claim to be the founder of a religion, and proceed to establish a religion, and claim a relationship between that religion and God (Blessed and Exalted be He), and that religion gains influence in the world and becomes established, this is sufficient proof regarding its truth.” (Abu’l-Fadl)
- requires that false claimants disappear
- counter-claimants of Jesus, Muhammad, and Baha’u’llah faced rapid demise
- false religions have existed before and they have disappeared
- “Conversely, non-establishment and lack of influence indicate the falsity of a fading and temporary claim” (Abu’l-Fadl)
- Abu’l-Fadl is so confident of the validity of the dalíl-i-taqrír that he claims that without it the truth of no religion can be established
- “if one ignores the proof of establishment, then it is in no wise possible for one to distinguish between Truth and falsehood.” (Abu’l-Fadl)
Scriptural sources for dalíl-i-taqrír:
1. Writings of Baha’u’llah
- Kitáb-i-Íqán, pages 107-108 : Muhammad’s sovereignty “is today apparent and manifest amongst the people” and the Qa’im’s sovereignty will “in due time reveal itself” (written in 1852).
- Kitáb-i-Íqán, pages 110-111 : Sovereignty of Muhammad is Islam’s establishment and ascendancy.
- Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, LII : Proofs for validity of Baha’u’llah’s mission are (1) “His own Self”, (2) “His Revelation”, (3) establishment of “the words He hath revealed as proof of His reality and truth”.
- Promised Day is Come, page 87 : “If this Cause be of God, no man can prevail against it; and if it be not of God, the divines amongst you, and they that follow their corrupt desires, and such as have rebelled against Him, will surely suffice to overpower it.”
2. Qur’an
- Qur’án, XVII.81 : “And say: Truth has come and falsehood hath vanished. Verily falsehood is by its nature bound to perish.”
- Qur’án, XXXVII.171-172 : “Our Word had already been given before to Our servants, the Messengers, That they would be assisted, And that certainly Our hosts shall be victorious.”
- Qur’án, XIV.24-26 : “Do you not see how God compareth a good Word with a good tree whose roots are firm and branches in the sky, Which yields, by the leave of its Lord, its fruits in all seasons. God presents similitudes to men that they might reflect. An evil word is like a rotten tree torn out of the earth. It has no stability.”
- Qur’án, XXI.18 : “Verily, We set the truth against falsehood, which shatters it, and falsehood disappears. Woe unto you for what you attribute to God!”
- Qur’án, IX,32-33 : “Fain, they wish to extinguish the light of God by their mouths; but God will not have it so, for He wills to perfect His light, albeit the unbelievers be averse. It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the True Religion in order to make it victorious over every other religion, even though the unbelievers be averse.”
3. Bible
- Proverbs 19:5-9 : “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape…A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.”
- 1 Corinthians 4:11 : “For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
- 1 John 5:4 : “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
- Matthew 15:13 : “Every tree, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.”
- Acts 5:33-39 : “But if it be of God, ye can not overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.”
source: An Introduction to Bahá’í-Muslim Apologetics by Kavian Sadeghzade Milani and Leila Rassekh Milani
