Islam,
Muhammad and the Qur’ān: Some Introductory Notes
Stephen
Lambden
NOW BEING
REVISED AND EXPANDED FROM THE VERSION IN BSR VOL.1 (1991)
2006-7
The spirit of Islam, no doubt,
was the living germ of modern Civilization; which derived its
impetus from the Islamic culture in the Middle Ages, a culture
that was the fruit of the Faith of Muhammad. (From a letter
written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer
dated July 30, 1941 published in Lights of Guidance 1665)
The Bahā'ī Faith
or religion has its most central
roots in Islām, in Shi`i Islam. Baha'is revere those they
consider the twin divine Manifestations of this age, Sayyid `Ali
Muhammad Shirazi (1819-1850) who was entitled the Bāb (Ar. Gate) and
Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri entitled Baha'-Allah or Bahā'u'llāh (Ar.
"The Splendor of God"). They were both born Muslims in an Islamic society. They
both wrote and spoke Persian, one of the major languages of
the Islamic world, and wrote or revealed many thousands of verses in
Arabic, the language of the Holy Qur'ān and the most important language
of Islamic civilization. The Bāb and Bahā'u'llāh frequently quoted the
Qur'ān. Thousands of their scriptural writings are permeated with Qur'ānic language and style.
The Arabic language was highly elevated by
the Bab and Baha'u'llah. Along with Persian it is viewed by Baha'is as one of the twin Bābī-Bahā'ī languages of
revelation. The first major revelation of the Bāb, the Commentary on the
[Qur'ānic] Sūrah of Joseph, [1] referred to by Bahā'u'llāh in
his Book of
Certitude (Kitāb-i īqān) as "the first, the greatest, the
mightiest of all books" (231) is in the Arabic language. So too is Bahā'u'llāh's mightiest Book, the Most Holy Book, al-Kitāb al-Aqdas
(Per. = Kitab-i aqdas,
c.1873). Many other of his perhaps 20,000 scriptural texts or alwāḥ
("Tablets"), including all but one of his 'Tablets to the
Kings' (i.e. that to the Persian Nāsir al-Dīn Shāh which
is largely in Persian
with a prolegomenon and other passages on Arabic ) are also in Arabic.
The Christian Bible is very largely in two languages: (1) the
Hebrew [Bible = 'Old Testament'], a Semitic language and 2) The
Greek ['New Testament'] an Indo-European language. The twin
languages of the Bahā'ī revelation are likewise in a Semitic (Arabic)
and an Indo-European (Persian) language. In a certain sense this
parallels Christian scripture although the Bahā'ī 'Bible'
consisting primarily of the scriptural writings of the Bab and
Baha'u'llah [2],
derives directly from the twin Prophet founders of these successive
religions: the religion of the Bab, sometimes referred to in the west
today as Babism and that founded by Baha'u'llah known globally as the
Baha'i Faith or Baha'i religion. Within Baha'i theology the Arabic and
Persian languages are regarded as equally important vehicles of divine
Revelation to the founder Prophets, the Bab and Baha'u'llah. A
considerable number of Bahā'u'llāh's Tablets are in a mixture of
Arabic and Persian. Some of the interpretive Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahā
are, furthermore, in Turkish, a third major Islamic language spoken and
written by Baha'u'llah's son along with Persian and Arabic.
It is presupposed in a good many passages within Bahā'ī Scripture and in
a multitude of the letters of Shoghi Effendi that it is a religious duty
of Bahā'īs to study the Qur'ān and Islām. This study in fact should not
only facilitate the true appreciation of the grandeur of Islām and the
greatness of its Holy Scripture but also greatly aid the understanding
of many important Bahā'ī doctrines and practices. For Bahā'ī deepening
in certain areas, knowledge of the Qur'ān and Islām is indispensable.
In certain respects it is true to say
that the Bahā'ī Faith is neo-Islamic. Such doctrines, for example, as tawhīd
("the Oneness of God"), the progressive continuity of major world
religions ("progressive revelation") and the notion of
the power and sanctity of al-ism al-a'zam, the 'Mightiest Name
(for many Muslims = the qur'anic Arabic personal name of God = Allah) or
'Greatest Name' ( for Baha'is = the title assumed by its Founder Prophet
= Bahā' namely radiant `Glory' / Splendor' ) are obviously Islamic
rooted though this concept also has Jewish roots as have. The
centrality of prayer, fasting and pilgrimage in the Bahā'ī
religion is
largely the result of its Islamic-Bābī background. Having made this
point, however, it should not be forgotten that many detailed Bābī-Bahā'ī
aspects of these religious practices are radically different from
Islamic norms. Pilgrimage, for example, is not to Mecca but to the
Haifa-`Acre (or Akka ) region in western Galilee, Israel.
Whether they be from the Orient or from
the Occident, Bahā'īs are exhorted to fully recognize and strive to appreciate
the sublime greatness of Muhammad and Islam the religion he founded. For
Baha'is the Arabian Prophet was not an
ordinary or merely exceptional man but a "Manifestation of God" with
all that this implies. Bahā'īs need not lower Muhammad in order to
elevate Bahā'u'llāh. They need not lessen their love for Jesus Christ in
order to recognize the God inspired or divine person of Muhammad.
To denigrate
Islamic doctrines or practices in order to highlight the modernity of Bahā'ī teachings is largely mistaken and can create prejudicial
attitudes. All aspects of true, balanced aspects of Islamic
civilization and learning should be beloved of Bahā'īs.
As Christians study and revere Judaism and the Hebrew Bible(['Old
Testament') so likewise should Bahā'īs study and revere Islām and the
Holy Qur'ān when observant of the exhortations of their sacred
scriptures,
When the Bābī-Bahā'ī religions come to
be attacked in the West by freethinkers, Christians and others, there will
undoubtedly be a recrudescence of anti-Islamic sentiments.
Fundamentalist Christians who have a false or an unbalanced view of Islam and its Prophet – as 'satanic'
or the like !!! – will attempt to weaken the faith
of Bahā'īs from a Christian background by repeating age-old occidental
anti-Islamic prejudices. The Islamic aspects or background of the Bahā'ī Faith will
be ridiculed and attacked. In maintaining faith and countering such prejudicial
arguments Bahā'īs will need to have an appreciation of Islām and an
understanding of its true history and teachings.
Bahā'īs
are exhorted to love Muslims just as they
should love all human beings whatever their cultural, religious or
geographical background. It should always be remembered by Bahā'īs that
many Muslims are and have been wonderful and religiously learned and devout human
beings. This loving and friendly attitude is not altered by the sad
history of the Bahā'ī persecutions, which have no relationship to true Islam. What a distortion of the Bahā'ī Faith it would be if it became
anti-Islamic! Negative views of Islām have no place in the Bahā'ī world.
There should be nothing paralleling that engrained anti-Semitism which
became a foul distortion of the spirit of Christendom. Bahā'īs
should neither fear nor despise Muslims. Muslim converts to the Baha'i
religion should be greatly treasured. It is well known that Bahā'īs exert
themselves to bring the world to a recognition of the glory of Bahā'u'llāh
though less well known is the fact that Shoghi Effendi gave
Bahā'īs the secondary task of enabling Westerners to understand and
appreciate Islām.
Islām
The word (verbal-noun) Islām occurs eight times in the Qur'ān. It
signifies the Religion which God eternally and from age to age
communicates to man.[3] All past religions have been expressions of
Islām. According to the Qur'ān, Abraham declared himself a Muslim[4] as
did the apostles of Jesus.[5] In a sense the Bahā'ī Faith is a
contemporary expression of Islām. It is the latest expression of the
'progressive revelation' of the Divine Providence or God's unfolding
purpose. The Bābī and Bahā'ī Faiths supersede and fulfil historical
Islām but carry forward the eternal "Islām" of God.
The Arabic words Islām and Muslim are closely related. They both derive
from the Arabic triliteral root S-L-M which connotes "to
submit/surrender ['to the Will of God']".[6] Hence, Islām signifies
"Surrender" or "Submission" to the Will of God. The word Muslim is an
Arabic active participle. It indicates one who "actively submits" to the
Will of God as it is expressed in Islām. Islam is not a
naive passivity but an active desire to serve God according to His
religion. From the Bahā'ī point of view
the true Muslim is one who humbly submits before or accepts the
Manifestation of God Who is the locus and mediator of the Will of God. A
person becomes a Muslim by uttering the formula "There is none other god
but God (Allāh)"; by submitting to the truth of theism /monotheism as
communicated by the Prophet Muhammad. For Bahā'īs today the utterance of
this testimony (the shahada) signifies, among other things, the
confession of the essential oneness of the Divine Manifestations of
God.[7] Both the Bāb and Bahā'u'llāh wrote a very great deal about the
mystical and symbolic import of this Arabic twelve letter confession of
Faith.
ALLĀH is the main Arabic word for God.
It is the second component of the title Bahā'u'llāh – the
contemporary
Manifestation of God and founder of the Bahā'ī religion. Theologically,
for Baha'is the title and person of Bahā'u'llāh are the "Greatest Name" of God. Linguistically it is a
genitive expression: i.e. Baha' + Allah = 'the Glory of God'. Allāh [8]
is mentioned hundreds of times in the Qur'ān. It is a way of referring
to God which is not linguistically alien to the Bible. More than ten
different words for God occur in the Hebrew Bible. Among them are the
divine designations 'EL, 'ELOAH, and 'ELOHIM: the latter a feminine
plural with singular significance and the first word for God in the
TORAH .[9] The word ALLĀH[10] and these latter Hebrew designations for
the Divinity are linguistically related and essentially synonymous. The
Muslim God and the God of the Bible are not different Deities. The One
Ultimate Godhead has diverse Names and is worshipped in diverse ways by
several billion religionists. It is the result of ignorance and
prejudice that some western Europeans imagine that the word ALLĀH is the
false name of a false God.
Muhammad and the Qur'ān
The Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca in about 570 CE. He was the
posthumous son of 'Abd Allāh b. 'Abd al-Muttalib (an important Meccan
leader) and Amina b. Wahb. Tradition has it that it was while He was
meditating on Mt. Hirah in the year 610 CE. He was summoned by the angel
Gabriel with the opening words of Sūra 96 of the Qur'ān : "Recite![11]
in the name of your Lord. . ." Despite considerable persecution over the
next 22 years he revealed the Qur'ān [12] which is made up of over 6,000
Arabic verses collected together and committed to writing shortly after
Muhammad's death in the year 632 C.E.
Inasmuch as Muhammad sealed or came at the end of a succession of
prophets from Adam (for Muslims the first man and Messenger of God) [13]
he was entitled khātam
al-nabbiyīn "ADD ARABIC, the "Seal of the Prophets in the Qur'ān.[14] Like certain other
great Messengers or Manifestations of
God, Muhammad is referred to in the Qur'ān, as both a Prophet (nabī) and a
Messenger (rasūl). As the Bāb and Bahā'u'llāh represent the coming of
"God" on the "Day of God", the term "Seal of the Prophets" in no way
precludes their manifestation. Rather, it highlights the greatness of
the Arabian Prophet and indicates the magnitude of the Bahā'ī
Dispensation. For Baha'is God never leaves humanity with divine guidance
in accordance with the changing needs of ever modernizing humanity.
The Arabic word Qur'ān denotes the book
which constitutes the "Word of God" for Muslims, Islamic
sacred Scripture, cf.
the Arabic word Bayan which means "Exposition" and is a term
used in the writings of the Bab signifying (among other things) the totality of
his divine revelations.
Both Muslims and Bahā'īs consider the Qur'ān to be the pristine "Word of
God", communicated by the Prophet Muhammad on behalf of God who is its
actual Author. Muslims do not say "Muhammad said in the Qur'ān . . ."
but "God, exalted be He, revealed in the Qur'ān. . . (or the like)".
Great emphasis is laid in Bahā'ī texts on the study of the Qur'ān,
its sublimity and inimitability.
A Latin paraphrase of the Qur'ān was
completed by Robertus Ketenesis at the behest of Peter the Venerable in
1143 CE. The Qur'an has many times been directly or indirectly translated into
modern European languages: into Italian for example, by Andrea Arrivabene (1647>) and English by Alexander Ross (1649). Among the more
than forty complete English translations of the Qur'ān, Shoghi Effendi
recommended those made directly from the Arabic by George Sale (1734;
many reprints, even translated back into Arabic by Protestant
missionaries in Egypt) and Rev. J. M. Rodwell (1861; also frequently
reprinted). In 1938 the Guardian spoke very highly of Sale's translation
referring to it as "the most accurate rendering available" (Directives
170) and subsequently as "an admirable translation" (Directives 172).
Since Shoghi Effendi's recommendation of the once widely available
translation of Sale another superb and widely
academically respected translation was made directly from the Arabic (in 1955; many reprints and
currently available) by A.J. Arberry. (d. 1969). As far as English translations of
the Qur'ān go this version has (with others) been used by Hanna E. Kassis to frame an excellent English Concordance of the Qur'ān.[15] The
later volume provides an excellent thematic basis for English language
Qur'ānic study: a method of study recom-mended by Shoghi Effendi (see
below).
Islām: Some Selected Letters of Shoghi
Effendi
Shoghi Effendi hopes that your lectures will not only serve to deepen
the knowledge of the believers in the doctrines and culture of Islām,
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 Islām 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'ān, 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 Islām in the history
of civilization.
The Bahā'ī 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 Bāb and Bahā'u'llāh. 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, Islām 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 kind 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 Islām far surpasses true
Christianity as we know it in the Gospels. There are infinitely more
laws and institutions in the Qur'ān than in the Gospel. While the
latter's emphasis is mainly, not to say wholly, on individual and
personal conduct, the Qur'ān stresses the importance of society. This
social emphasis acquires added importance and significance in the Bahā'ī
Revelation. When carefully and impartially compared, the Qur'ān 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 Bahā'īs should try to study history anew, and to base
all their investigations first and foremost on the written Scriptures of
Islām and Christianity.
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
believer
dated April 27, 1936 published in Lights of Guidance 1664)
The friends should uphold Islām as a revealed Religion in teaching the
Cause but need not make, at present, any particular attempt to teach it
solely and directly to non-Bahā'īs at this time.
The mission of the American Bahā'īs is, no doubt, to eventually
establish the truth of Islām in the West.
The spirit of Islām, no doubt, was the living germ of modern
Civilization; which derived its impetus from the Islamic culture in the
Middle Ages, a culture that was the fruit of the Faith of Muhammad.
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
believer dated July 30, 1941 published in Lights of Guidance 1665)
As regards the [Summer School] courses,
he would advise you to continue laying emphasis on the history and
teachings of Islām, and in particular on the Islamic origins of the
Faith.
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
believer dated October 14, 1936 published in Bahā'ī Institutions 95)
... We must remember that every
religion sprang from some root, and just as Christianity sprang from
Judaism, our own religion sprang from Islām, and that is why so many of
the teachings deduce their proofs from Islām.
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
believer dated March 5, 1957 published in Compilation no. 66)
The Study of the Qur'ān
With regard to the school's program (Louhelen)
for the next summer; the Guardian would certainly advise, and even urge
the friends to make a thorough study of the Qur'ān, as the knowledge of
this sacred Scripture is absolutely indispensable for every believer who
wishes to adequately understand and intelligently read the writings of
Bahā'u'llāh. Although there are very few persons among Western Bahā'īs
who are capable of handling such a course in a scholarly way, the mere
lack of such competent teachers should encourage and stimulate the
believers to get better acquainted with the Sacred Scriptures of Islām.
In this way, there will gradually appear some distinguished Bahā'īs who
will be so well versed in the teachings of Islām as to be able to guide
the believers in their study of that religion.(From a letter written on
behalf of the Guardian, Directives 171)
It is certainly most difficult to thoroughly grasp all the Surihs
[='chapters'] of the Qur'ān, as it requires a detailed knowledge of the
social, religious and historical background of Arabia at the time of the
appearance of the Prophet. The believers cannot possibly hope,
therefore, to understand the Surihs after the first or even second or
third reading. They have to study them again and again, ponder over
their meaning, with the help of certain commentaries, and explanatory
notes as found for instance in the admirable translation made by Sale,
endeavor to acquire as clear and correct understanding of their meaning
and import as possible. This is naturally a slow process, but future
generations of believers will certainly come to grasp it. For the
present, the Guardian agrees, that it would be easier and more helpful
to study the book according to subjects, and not verse by verse and also
in the light of Bāb, Bahā'u'llāh and 'Abdu'l-Bahā's interpretations
which throw such floods of light on the whole of the Qur'ān.(From a
letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer dated
August 22, 1939 published in Lights of Guidance 1666)
As to the question raised by the
Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles concerning the best English
translation of the Qur'ān, the Guardian would recommend Sales'
translation which is the most accurate rendering available, and is the
most widespread.(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian,
Directives 170)
Islām
Islām attained a very high spiritual
state, but western scholars are prone to judging it by Christian
standards. One cannot call one world Faith superior to another, as
they all come from God; they are progressive, each suited to certain
needs of the times.
(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian
by his secretary to an individual believer dated November 19, 1945
published in Directives from the Guardian 106 and Lights of Guidance
663)
Shoghi Effendi wrote the above words in
1945. In the last few decades however, a good proportion of Western
academic Islamicists and religious studies specialists have
manifested a commendable degree of empathy and balanced objectivity
towards Islām. Certain of them have put forth scholarly tomes which
basically support Bahā'ī or quasi-Bahā'ī perspectives. Two chapters
in the excellent volume by Geoffrey Parrinder, Encountering World
Religions [16] would form the basis of excellent deepening classes:
chapters 8 (Prophet of Islām) and 9 (Koran and Bible). The following
list of books is only a very small proportion of useful volumes for
study. Some of them are in print. Alternatively, they may be
borrowed from public libraries or obtained through inter-library
loans.
Islam
A selected list of Bahā'ī materials touching upon Islām can
be found by consulting J. Heggie (comp.), Bahā'ī References to
Judaism, Christianity & Islām.[17]
Jacques Jomier.
- How to Understand Islām.[18]
A readable and excellent, wide-ranging introduction – ignore the
unsatisfactiory few pages headed Bahā'ī (pp. 100-101).
W. Montgomery Watt.
- Islamic Philosophy and Theology [19];
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
(ed.),
- Islamic Spirituality: Foundations/Manifestations.[20] These
volumes contain much that is of interest to Bahā'ī students of Islām;
the articles within them were largely written from the Shī'ī Muslim
perspective.
Marzieh Gail. Six Lessons on Islām. [22]
Heshmat Moayyad (Ed.).
- The Bahā'ī Faith
and Islām.[23] A pioneering collection of essays by Bahā'ī and non-Bahā'ī
scholars including some leading academics – not however, particularly
comprehensive or drawing very much on the wealth of primary scriptural
Bābī-Bahā'ī material. The essays are of varying quality and do not cover
by any means all aspects of the relationship between the Bahā'ī Faith
and Islām.
Muhammad
Michael Cook.
- Muhammad. [24]
Fairly easy reading and academically sound.
W. M. Watt.
- Muhammad Prophet and Statesman.[25] A first class and very
readable book.
M. Lings,
- Muhammad, His Life based
on the Earliest Sources.[26]
An excellent and detailed
biography of Muhammad based on original [early Arabic] source materials.
Anniemarie Schimmel,
- And
Muhammad is His Messenger, The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic
Piety [27]
A particularly brilliant
exposition of Muslim views of Muhammad is
Hasan Balyuzi,
- Muhammad and
the Course of Islām.[28]
- More or less the only English language overview
of the life of Muhammad and the historical growth of Islām. Written by a
Bahā'i.
The Qur'ān
... Muhammadanism [Islam] is not only
the last of the world religions, but a fuller Revelation than any one
preceding it. The Qur'ān is not only more authoritative than any
previous religious gospel, but it contains also many more ordinances,
teachings and precepts, which taken together constitute a fuller
Revelation of God's purpose and law to mankind than Christianity,
Judaism or any other previous Dispensation. This view is in complete
accord with the Bahā'ī philosophy of progressive revelation, and should
be thoroughly accepted and taught by every loyal Christian Bahā'ī.
(From
a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer
dated November 12, 1933 published in Lights of Guidance 1670)
The Bahā'ī study of the
Qur'ān should go hand in hand with the study of important Bahā'ī
exegetical scripture; such as the Book of Certitude (Kitāb-i-Iqān). A
Western Bahā'ī booklet devoted to Qur'ānic study is the slight and now
quite difficult to obtain Introduction to a Study of The Qur'ān. [29] As
far as the general study of the Qur'ān goes there are today many first
class volumes available written by non-Bahā'īs. Academically sound is
the W. M. Watt (Rev.) Bell's Introduction to the Qur'ān. [30] Certain
major commentaries have become [partially] available in English in
recent years including the centrally important work of Al-Tabari [d. 924
C.E.], The Commentary on the Qur'ān Vol.1.[31]
The following volumes
contain a useful selection of Muslim Qur'ān commentary (tafsir):
H. Gätje, [Tr. A. Welch]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End Notes (Use [BACK] to return to
article.)
'chapter' 12 of the Qur'ān, Tafsīr Sūra yūsuf; mid. 1844.
literally 'a collection of books'.
Qur'ān 3:19.
Qur'ān 3:67.
Qur'ān 5:111.
in forms II, IV and X (among other things).
cf. Bahā'u'llāh's "Tablet of the City of the Divine Oneness" or [Lawh-i]
Madīnat al-Tawhīd.
= [the] God.
Genesis 1:1.
very likely a contraction of the [ al-]+ god [masculine, ilāh].
"iqra"; cf. Qur'ān.
= " the Recitation".
from Adam to Muhammad.
Qur'ān 33:46.
University of California Press, 1983.
Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1987. [ISBN O-567-29137-5] [Pbk. £7.95].
Oxford: George Ronald, 1986.
[Tr. from French by John Bowden] London: SCM Press Ltd., 1989. [ISBN
0-334-02070-0] [Pbk. £6.95].
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1979. [ISBN 0-85224-358-8].
2 Vols. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987/1990.
Oxford: George Ronald, 1986.
Wilmette: Bahā'ī Publishing Committee, 1953; and Wilmette: Bahā'ī
Publishing Trust, 1969/73 [now out of print].
Ottowa: Association for Bahā'ī Studies, 1990.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983. [ISBN 0-19-287605-8] (Past
Master's Series).
London: Oxford University Press, 1961/78. [ISBN 0-19-881078-4].
London: Unwin Paperbacks, 1988. [ISBN 0-04-297050-4].
Chapel Hill & London: The University of N. Carolina Press, 1985. [ISBN
0-8078-4128-5].
Oxford: George Ronald, 1976.
Wilmette: Bahā'ī Publishing Trust, 1941/ 1964.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1977. [ISBN 0-85224-335-9].
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. [ISBN 0-19–9201-42-0].
London & Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971.
Albany: SUNY, 1984. [ISBN 0-87395-727-X].
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bahā'ī Institutions: a Compilation. New Delhi: Bahā'ī
Publishing Trust, 1973.
Directives from the Guardian. Comp. Gertrude Garrida, New Delhi: Bahā'ī
Publishing Trust, 1973.
Bahā'u'llāh. Kitāb-i-Iqān: The Book of Certitude. Trans. Shoghi Effendi.
Wilmette: Bahā'ī Publishing Trust, 1983.
The Compilation of
Compilations prepared by the Universal House of Justice 1963-1990, v. 1.
Australia: Bahā'ī Publications Australia, 1991
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