God's Right

Standing Up for God's Right (Sweet Spot of Happiness Series)

By John Taylor; 4 August, 2005

In this series we have been exploring the bases of happiness, one of
the most important of which is some sense of sound financial security.
Baha'u'llah in the Most Holy Book addresses this aspect of life when
He institutes the Huqququ'llah, a nineteen percent levy on the growth
of one's net worth. The wisdom of this law is writ so large, He says,
that it can never fully unfold in this world. Its mystery will be
clear only in a future life. He says,

"He, verily, hath willed for you that which is yet beyond your
knowledge, but which shall be known to you when, after this fleeting
life, your souls soar heavenwards and the trappings of your earthly
joys are folded up. Thus admonisheth you He in Whose possession is the
Guarded Tablet." (Kitab-i-Aqdas, para 97, p. 55)

Note that He does not say "trappings of your earthly effects,"
tallying up of mere goods and chattels. He talks instead about the
trappings of "earthly joys." These trappings include more than mere
physical possessions. Earthly joys are your jollies, what thrilled
you, the myriad little pleasures that you not only felt but felt and
then sought after more of them. Earthly joys include not only actual
pleasures of this fleeting life but also potential ones, the many more
happy-happy-joy-joys that we missed, that we sacrificed in order to
grow and increase our net worth. These joys are all those lovely sunny
days at the beach that we miss as we slave away in the office or
factory. These joys are the motivators that will never carry a price
tag and therefore that nobody can estimate, much less tax. No, not
even God can tax them, at least not in this life. Instead, there is
the Huqquq.

For interestingly, the Huqquq is built upon one big assumption, that
we actually increase our wealth. It is quite possible to gain bigger
joys, greater pleasures by avoiding Huqquq completely and coasting
through. One can always put one's career on hold, struggle for just
enough wealth to survive and then quit, sit back and relax. I think is
safe to say that everything being equal most people, even those who
live outside tropical climes, would gladly enjoy a life of leisure
without a worry for tomorrow, given that choice. This is why, I think,
Baha'u'llah talks about the purification of money. Earlier in the same
paragraph of the Aqdas He says,

"Say: By this means [Huqquq] He hath desired to purify what ye possess
and to enable you to draw nigh unto such stations as none can
comprehend save those whom God hath willed. He, in truth, is the
Beneficent, the Gracious, the Bountiful."

Purity of ownership, then, is the goal of the Right of God. This goal
has a further purpose, to allow the proprietor to attain to a series
of mystic stations that only a blessed few can grasp. For want of a
better term, we can call them "super-proprietary stations." So again,
He makes it very clear that the Huqquq is a money purifier, and that
purity is only way to attain to super-proprietorship. Only by shucking
off, by cleaning and purification of money, possessions and joys can
we enter into these ineffable conditions. The Bab, in the Persian
Bayan (V, 14) defines purity as something intimately linked to "joy
and radiance,"

"God loveth those who are pure. Naught in the Bayan and in the sight
of God is more loved than purity and immaculate cleanliness.... God
desireth not to see, in the Dispensation of the Bayan, any soul
deprived of joy and radiance. He indeed desireth that under all
conditions, all may be adorned with such purity, both inwardly and
outwardly, that no repugnance may be caused even to themselves, how
much less unto others." (The Bab, Selections, 80)

Purity, they say, is part of godliness, but here we learn that
godliness is whatever is loved of God, whatever He finds desirable. In
human terms, it is a special purity defined by whatever we deem to be
clean and attractive, as that which leads to "joy and radiance" in our
heart. Conversely, impurity is what causes repugnance in oneself and
in others. A recent study sheds light on this definition of purity.
Researchers showed various close-up photos of different ugly and
repulsive objects to representative viewers. Invariably the most
disgusting were deemed to be the images of infections and sepsis, that
is, dangerously contagious substances.

In this sense, money too can be deemed infectious and dangerous to
happiness and joy, if it is not handled with proper precautions. Most
famously, long before the Huqquq was instituted, Paul warned,

"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things;
and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
meekness." (1 Timothy 6:10-11, KJV)

In the course of history we know that this warning was a blank cheque,
as it were, against money. It led to ascetic and monastic movements
designed to remove completely from the economic equation all who
aspired after spirituality. Nonetheless, Paul was substantially
correct, immoderate love of money is the root of the insatiable evil
in the world today. To it traces the repulsive infection of industrial
pollution, our senseless struggle for blind progress and endless
growth at the cost of the natural environment. Instead of an
instrument of purity, commercial endeavor is an instrument of
destruction. A vision of spirituality mixed into commercial endeavor
aiming at moderate growth is inculcated in the Qu'ran,

"And seek by means of what Allah has given you the future abode, and
do not neglect your portion of this world, and do good (to others) as
Allah has done good to you, and do not seek to make mischief in the
land, surely Allah does not love the mischief-makers." (Q28:77,
Shakir)

Our theme is not ended; we shall continue it presently.

--
John Taylor

badijet@gmail.com