Each Human Being Is A Noble Creation Of God

Photo taken at Big Basin Redwoods State Park. This picturesque scene no longer looks like this
after a lightning-caused fire in 2020. © Glenn Franco Simmons. Please share, if so inclined.

The Bahá’í Faith’s concepts of “social justice” and “equality” are a bit different than the way the terms are so casually recited and written about but rarely explained in Western media.

Fundamental to the Faith’s concepts of justice and equality is the belief that all humans are noble creations of God.

Bahá’u’lláh speaks to humanity in The Hidden Words, from The Arabic: “O Son of Spirit! Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.”

Why is recognizing each person’s nobility important? William E. Davis explains why in his recently published book, titled In Service to Justice: Striving to Bring Forth Our Nobility, which is the inspiration for this brief post.

“Only if you perceive honor and nobility in every human being … will you be able to champion the cause of justice,” stated The Universal House of Justice as cited by Davis in his book.

The importance of justice in the Bahá’í Faith is explained by Bahá’u’lláh in The Hidden Words, from The Arabic: “O Son of Spirit! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.”

AI art: CC BY-NC-SA/© Bahá’í Writings As Art. Excerpt © Bahá’í International
Community. Used with permission and in accordance with BIC terms.

Justice involves fairness and anything that separates people into “inferior” and “superior” classes, for example, are alien concepts to the Bahá’í Faith; on the other hand, perfect equality in terms of the capacity of individuals is neither obtainable nor desirable as explained by `Abdu’l-Bahá, son of Bahá’u’lláh, in Paris Talks:

“Equality is a chimera!” He said. “It is entirely impracticable! Even if equality could be achieved it could not continue — and if its existence were possible, the whole order of the world would be destroyed. The law of order must always obtain in the world of humanity. Heaven has so decreed in the creation of man.”

`Abdu’l-Bahá explains further.

“Some are full of intelligence, others have an ordinary amount of it, and others again are devoid of intellect,” He said in Paris Talks. “In these three classes of men there is order but not equality. How could it be possible that wisdom and stupidity should be equal? Humanity, like a great army, requires a general, captains, under-officers in their degree, and soldiers, each with their own appointed duties. Degrees are absolutely necessary to ensure an orderly organization. An army could not be composed of generals alone, or of captains only, or of nothing but soldiers without one in authority. The certain result of such a plan would be that disorder and demoralization would overtake the whole army.”

In terms of the equality opportunity of men and women,  `Abdu’l-Bahá in Selections from the Writings of `Abdu’l-Bahá, states, “Yet another of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is the equality of men and women and their equal sharing in all rights. … Ye who are servants of the human race, strive ye with all your heart to deliver mankind out of this darkness and these prejudices that belong to the human condition and the world of nature, so that humanity may find its way into the light of the world of God.” 

The Faith is clear with regard to equality before the law.

“The seventh principle of Bahá’u’lláh is: The Equality of Men — equality before the Law,” states `Abdu’l-Bahá in Paris Talks. “The Law must reign, and not the individual; thus, will the world become a place of beauty and true brotherhood will be realized. Having attained solidarity, men will have found truth.”

In Paris Talks, `Abdu’l-Bahá addresses the Bahá’í social-justice concept  of eliminating poverty:  “The sixth principle of Bahá’u’lláh is: Equal opportunity of the means of Existence. Every human being has the right to live; they have a right to rest, and to a certain amount of well-being. As a rich man is able to live in his palace surrounded by luxury and the greatest comfort, so should a poor man be able to have the necessaries of life. Nobody should die of hunger; everybody should have sufficient clothing; one man should not live in excess while another has no possible means of existence.

“Let us try with all the strength we have to bring about happier conditions, so that no single soul may be destitute.”