gradually introducing a fundamental change in your daughter’s life, and
also in making of her a better and truer believer. He is fervently praying
on her behalf that she may fully attain this station.
(From a letter dated 26 January 1935 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to an individual believer) [116]
“117: The Guardian sees no objection that reference be made to the fact
that the...”
The Guardian sees no objection that reference be made to the fact that the
teaching classes and conferences which the believers are now organizing
might evolve in the distant future into departments of education, or such
institutions of learning as will be established in the future Bahá’í
social order.
(From a letter dated 12 July 1938 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer) [117]
“118: As regards your plans: the Guardian fully approves indeed of your
view...”
As regards your plans: the Guardian fully approves indeed of your view
that no matter how urgent and vital the requirements of the teaching work
may be you should under no circumstances neglect the education of your
children, as towards them you have an obligation no less sacred than
towards the Cause.
Any plan or arrangement you may arrive at which would combine your twofold
duties towards your family and the Cause, and would permit you to resume
active work in the field of pioneer teaching, and also to take good care
of your children so as to not jeopardize their future in the Cause would
meet with the whole-hearted approval of the Guardian.
(From a letter dated 17 July 1938 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer) [118]
“119: The Guardian wishes me to assure you, in particular, of his
supplications...”
The Guardian wishes me to assure you, in particular, of his supplications
on behalf of your children, that they may, through Divine confirmations
and assistance, and under your loving care and protection, receive such
training as may lead them to fully recognize and unreservedly accept the
Faith, and provide them with the necessary spiritual equipment to
effectively and loyally serve and promote its interests in the future.
As a Bahá’í mother you have certainly a most sacred and weighty
responsibility for their spiritual development in the Cause, and you
should from now endeavour to instil into their hearts the love of
Bahá’u’lláh and thus prepare them for the full recognition and acceptance
of His Station once they attain the age and capacity to do so.
(From a letter dated 20 April, 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer) [119]
“120: With regard to your activities in connection with the training
and...”
With regard to your activities in connection with the training and
education of Bahá’í children: needless to tell you what a vital importance
the Guardian attaches to such activities, on which so much of the
strength, welfare and growth of the Community must necessarily depend.
What a more sacred privilege, and also what a weightier responsibility
than the task of rearing up the new generation of believers, and of
inculcating into their youthful and receptive minds the principles and
teachings of the Cause, and of thus preparing them to fully assume, and
properly discharge the weighty responsibilities and obligations of their
future life in the Bahá’í Community.
(From a letter dated 28 April, 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
a National Committee and an individual believer) [120]
“121: You have asked him for detailed information concerning the
Bahá’í...”
You have asked him for detailed information concerning the Bahá’í
educational programme: there is as yet no such thing as a Bahá’í
curriculum, and there are no Bahá’í publications exclusively devoted to
this subject, since the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá do not
present a definite and detailed educational system, but simply offer
certain basic principles and set forth a number of teaching ideals that
should guide future Bahá’í educationalists in their efforts to formulate
an adequate teaching curriculum which would be in full harmony with the
spirit of the Bahá’í Teachings, and would thus meet the requirements and
needs of the modern age.
These basic principles are available in the sacred writings of the Cause,
and should be carefully studied, and gradually incorporated in various
college and university programmes. But the task of formulating a system of
education which would be officially recognized by the Cause, and enforced
as such throughout the Bahá’í world is one which [the] present-day
generation of believers cannot obviously undertake, and which has to be
gradually accomplished by Bahá’í scholars and educationalists of the
future.
(From a letter dated 7 June, 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer) [121]
“122: With regard to the statement attributed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and which
you...”
With regard to the statement attributed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and which you have
quoted in your letter regarding a “problem child”: these statements of the
Master, however true in their substance, should never be given a literal
interpretation. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá could have never meant that a child should be
left to himself, entirely free. In fact Bahá’í education, just like any
other system of education, is based on the assumption that there are
certain natural deficiencies in every child, no matter how gifted, which
his educators, whether his parents, schoolmasters, or his spiritual guides
and preceptors, should endeavour to remedy. Discipline of some sort,
whether physical, moral or intellectual, is indeed indispensable, and no
training can be said to be complete and fruitful if it disregards this
element. The child when born is far from being perfect. It is not only
helpless, but actually is imperfect, and even is naturally inclined
towards evil. He should be trained, his natural inclinations harmonized,
adjusted and controlled, and if necessary suppressed or regulated, so as
to ensure his healthy physical and moral development. Bahá’í parents
cannot simply adopt an attitude of non-resistance towards their children,
particularly those who are unruly and violent by nature. It is not even
sufficient that they should pray on their behalf. Rather they should
endeavour to inculcate, gently and patiently, into their youthful minds
such principles of moral conduct and initiate them into the principles and
teachings of the Cause with such tactful and loving care as would enable
them to become “true sons of God” and develop into loyal and intelligent
citizens of His Kingdom. This is the high purpose which Bahá’u’lláh
Himself has clearly defined as the chief goal of every education.
(From a letter dated 9 July 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an
individual believer) [122]
“123: The task of bringing up a Bahá’í child, as emphasized time and again
in...”
The task of bringing up a Bahá’í child, as emphasized time and again in
Bahá’í writings, is the chief responsibility of the mother, whose unique
privilege is indeed to create in her home such conditions as would be most
conducive to both his material and spiritual welfare and advancement. The
training which a child first receives through his mother constitutes the
strongest foundation for his future development, and it should therefore
be the paramount concern of your wife...to endeavour from now imparting to
her new-born son such spiritual training as would enable him later on to
fully assume and adequately discharge all the responsibilities and duties
of Bahá’í life.
(From a letter dated 16 November 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to an individual believer) [123]
“124: With regard to your little daughter ...; he is truly rejoiced
and...”
With regard to your little daughter ...; he is truly rejoiced and
encouraged to realize how eager you both are to provide her with a
thoroughly Bahá’í training, and is confident that under your wise and
devoted care, and through the unfailing protection and guidance of
Bahá’u’lláh she will in time develop into a devoted and loyal servant of
the Faith.
With this in mind, the Guardian thinks it would be preferable not to place
the child in a purely Catholic institution, and to give her instead a
broad spiritual and intellectual training that would enable her, at a
later age, to fully appreciate the spirit of the Cause. While it should be
your constant endeavour to bring her up in a thoroughly religious
atmosphere, you should also be careful in keeping her away from all such
influences that would tend to breed in her the spirit of religious
bigotry, and thus narrow down the horizon of her spiritual understanding.
(From a letter dated 12 December 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to two believers) [124]
“125: With reference to the question of the training of children: given
the...”
With reference to the question of the training of children: given the
emphasis placed by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the necessity for the
parents to train their children while still in their tender age, it would
seem preferable that they should receive their first training at home at
the hand of their mother, rather than be sent to a nursery. Should
circumstances, however, compel a Bahá’í mother to adopt the latter course
there can be no objection.
(From a letter dated 13 November 1940 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to an individual believer) [125]
“126: The question of the training and education of children in case one
of the...”
The question of the training and education of children in case one of the
parents is a non-Bahá’í is one which solely concerns the parents
themselves, who should decide about it the way they find best and most
conducive to the maintenance of the unity of their family, and to the
future welfare of their children. Once the child comes of age, however, he
should be given full freedom to choose his religion, irrespective of the
wishes and desires of his parents.
(From a letter dated 14 December 1940 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma) [126]
“127: The Guardian was delighted to hear of your youth group. The children
who...”
The Guardian was delighted to hear of your youth group. The children who
are trained in the world-embracing teachings of Bahá’u’lláh cannot but
grow up to be a truly new race of men. He hopes these young people will
prepare themselves for the great task which will face them in the future,
that of helping to rebuild the world with the aid and inspiration of the
Bahá’í teachings.
(From a letter dated 25 December 1941 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to the Bahá’ís of Hobart, Australia) [127]
“128: These Bahá’í children are of such great importance to the future.
They...”
These Bahá’í children are of such great importance to the future. They
will live in times, and have to meet problems, which never faced their
elders. And the Cause alone can equip them to properly serve the needs of
a future, war-weary, disillusioned, unhappy humanity. So their task will
be very great and a very responsible one, and too much care cannot be
devoted to their upbringing and preparation.
(From a letter dated 11 January 1942 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to an individual believer) [128]
“129: ...The Guardian feels that it would be better for either the mothers
of...”
...The Guardian feels that it would be better for either the mothers of
Bahá’í children—or some Committee your Assembly might delegate the task
to—to choose excerpts from the Sacred Words to be used by the child rather
than just something made up. Of course prayer can be purely spontaneous,
but many of the sentences and thoughts combined in Bahá’í writings of a
devotional nature are easy to grasp, and the revealed Word is endowed with
a power of its own.
(From a letter dated 8 August 1942 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles) [129]
“130: You Bahá’í children and young people have both great privileges
and...”
You Bahá’í children and young people have both great privileges and great
obligations ahead of you, for your generation will be the ones to help
build up a new, better and more beautiful world after the dark years of
this war are passed. You should prepare yourselves for this great task by
trying to grasp the true meaning of the teachings and not just merely
accepting them as something you are taught. They are like a wonderful new
world of thought just beginning to be explored, and when we realize that
Bahá’u’lláh has brought teachings and laws for a thousand years to come,
we can readily see that each new generation may find some greater meaning
in the writings than the ones gone before did.
(From a letter dated 14 October 1942 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to some individual believers) [130]
“131: The Guardian, in his remarks to ... about parents’ and children’s,
wives’...”
The Guardian, in his remarks to ... about parents’ and children’s, wives’
and husbands’ relations in America, meant that there is a tendency in that
country for children to be too independent of the wishes of their parents
and lacking in the respect due to them....
(From a letter dated 22 July 1943 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer) [131]
“132: Regarding your question about children fighting: the statement of
the...”
Regarding your question about children fighting: the statement of the
Master, not to strike back, should not be taken so extremely literally
that Bahá’í children must accept to be bullied and thrashed. If they can
manage to show a better way of settling disputes than by active
self-defence, they should naturally do so.
(From a letter dated 11 May 1945 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an
individual believer) [132]
“133: You ask him about the fear of God: perhaps the friends do not
realize...”
You ask him about the fear of God: perhaps the friends do not realize that
the majority of human beings need the element of fear in order to
discipline their conduct? Only a relatively very highly evolved soul would
always be disciplined by love alone. Fear of punishment, fear of the anger
of God if we do evil, are needed to keep people’s feet on the right path.
Of course we should love God—but we must fear Him in the sense of a child
fearing the righteous anger and chastisement of a parent; not cringe
before Him as before a tyrant, but know His mercy exceeds His justice!
(From a letter dated 26 July 1946 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer) [133]
“134: He is sorry to hear your little boy is not developing
satisfactorily;...”
He is sorry to hear your little boy is not developing satisfactorily; very
few children are really bad. They do, however, sometimes have complicated
personalities and need very wise handling to enable them to grow into
normal, moral, happy adults. If you feel convinced your son will really
benefit from going to Father Flanagan’s school you could send him there.
But in general we should certainly always avoid sending Bahá’í children to
orthodox religious schools, especially Catholic, as the children receive
the imprint of religious beliefs we as believers know are outdated and no
longer for this age. He will especially pray for the solution of this
problem.
(From a letter dated 30 May 1947 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an
individual believer) [134]
“135: Regarding the questions you asked him: there is no objection to
children...”
Regarding the questions you asked him: there is no objection to children
who are as yet unable to memorize a whole prayer learning certain
sentences only.
He does not feel that the friends should make a practice of saying grace
or of teaching it to children. This is not part of the Bahá’í Faith, but a
Christian practice, and as the Cause embraces members of all races and
religions we should be careful not to introduce into it the customs of our
previous beliefs. Bahá’u’lláh has given us the obligatory prayers, also
prayers before sleeping, for travellers, etc. We should not introduce a
new set of prayers He has not specified, when He has given us already so
many, for so many occasions.
Your work for child education is certainly important, and he urges you to
keep it up.
(From a letter dated 27 September 1947 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to an individual believer) [135]
“136: In regard to your question: he feels this is a matter for you and
your...”
In regard to your question: he feels this is a matter for you and your
husband to decide, especially in view of his attitude towards the Cause;
the children, being minors, are under your jurisdiction, and you both have
sacred rights and responsibility as regards their future.
(From a letter dated 24 November 1947 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to an individual believer) [136]
“137: Any Bahá’í can give to the Cause’s Funds, adult or child. No
statement...”
Any Bahá’í can give to the Cause’s Funds, adult or child. No statement is
required on this subject; Bahá’í children have always given to the Cause,
everywhere. Whatever situation may arise in a class which non-Bahá’í
children attend is for the teacher of the class to solve. No ruling should
be made to cover such things.
(From a letter dated 18 August 1949 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States) [137]
“138: Just because you are children does not mean you cannot serve the
Faith,...”
Just because you are children does not mean you cannot serve the Faith,
and teach it, by your example and by the way you let people see that you
are better and more intelligent than most other children.
(From a letter dated 16 March 1952 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
the Santa Monica Children’s Class) [138]
“139: The general principle ... is that a request for excuse from School
sessions on...”
The general principle ... is that a request for excuse from School
sessions on Bahá’í Holy Days is desirable. This applies to all Bahá’í
children regardless of their age. Children of Bahá’í parents, under the
age of 15, are considered Bahá’ís.
What a Bahá’í parent or your Assembly should do is apply to the School
Board to grant to their children permission to remain away from School on
Bahá’í Holy Days, and then abide by whatever decision the School Board may
make, and not try in any way to force the matter.
(From a letter dated 19 August 1952 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer) [139]
“140: The beloved Guardian was greatly delighted to learn of the success
of the...”
The beloved Guardian was greatly delighted to learn of the success of the
institute for teaching the Indian children. He feels this is a very fine
method of implanting the teachings of the Faith in the hearts and the
minds of the young children, so that they may grow and develop into strong
and virile men and women who will serve the Cause. Likewise through this
effort, he hopes you will be able to attract some of the parents.
(From a letter dated 18 February 1954 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to an individual believer) [140]
“141: The Guardian will pray for the spiritual development of your dear
son. On...”
The Guardian will pray for the spiritual development of your dear son. On
the shoulders of the youth today rests the future of the Faith. Therefore
they should be well educated and trained not only in the Teachings of the
Faith, but also in secular matters.
(From a letter dated 24 May 1954 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an
individual believer) [141]
“142: The Guardian is happy to see you are teaching the children, as a
firm...”
The Guardian is happy to see you are teaching the children, as a firm
foundation of the Teachings in their minds will greatly assist in forming
their characters, and enable them to become well-balanced and useful
believers when they mature.
(From a letter dated 6 March 1955 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer) [142]
“143: In explaining the fear of God to children, there is no objection
to...”
In explaining the fear of God to children, there is no objection to
teaching it as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá so often taught everything, in the form of
parables. Also the child should be made to understand that we don’t fear
God because He is cruel, but we fear Him because He is just, and, if we do
wrong and deserve to be punished, then in His justice He may see fit to
punish us. We must both love God and fear Him.
(From a letter dated 15 February 1957 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
to some individual believers) [143]
“144: Individual Bahá’ís may press for getting religion taught in the
public...”
Individual Bahá’ís may press for getting religion taught in the public
schools, but this should not be done officially, as we don’t yet carry
enough weight.
(From a letter dated 15 August 1957 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer) [144]
SUPPLEMENT: EXTRACTS FROM THE TALKS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ:
“145: Among these children many blessed souls will arise, if they be
trained...”
Among these children many blessed souls will arise, if they be trained
according to the Bahá’í Teachings. If a plant is carefully nurtured by a
gardener, it will become good, and produce better fruit. These children
must be given a good training from their earliest childhood. They must be
given a systematic training which will further their development from day
to day, in order that they may receive greater insight, so that their
spiritual receptivity be broadened. Beginning in childhood they must
receive instruction. They cannot be taught through books. Many elementary
sciences must be made clear to them in the nursery; they must learn them
in play, in amusement. Most ideas must be taught them through speech, not
by book learning. One child must question the other concerning these
things, and the other child must give the answer. In this way, they will
make great progress. For example, mathematical problems must also be
taught in the form of questions and answers. One of the children asks a
question and the other must give the answer. Later on, the children will
of their own accord speak with each other concerning these same subjects.
The children who are at the head of the class must receive premiums. They
must be encouraged and when any one of them shows good advancement, for
the further development they must be praised and encouraged therein. Even
so in Godlike affairs. Oral questions must be asked and the answers must
be given orally. They must discuss with each other in this manner.
(“The Bahá’í World”, Vol. 9 (1940–1944) (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing
Committee, 1945), p. 543) [145]
“146: Educate the children in their infancy in such a way that they may
become...”
Educate the children in their infancy in such a way that they may become
exceedingly kind and merciful to the animals. If the animal is sick they
should endeavour to cure it; if it is hungry they should feed it; if it is
thirsty, they should satisfy its thirst; if it is tired they should give
it rest.
Man is generally sinful and the animal is innocent; unquestionably one
must be more kind and merciful to the innocent. The harmful animals, such
as the bloodthirsty wolf, the poisonous snake and other injurious animals
are excepted, because mercy towards these is cruelty to man, and other
animals.
(“The Bahá’í World”, Vol. 9, p. 544) [146]
“147: The art of music is divine and effective. It is the food of the soul
and...”