The Damned

What Happens to the Damned?

By John Taylor; 2007 Jan 26

Last Sunday midnight I was weak and tired and strayed over to the Web to do some surfing. I wandered into the soc.religion.bahai discussion group, which has many, many basic questions about the Baha'i Faith being discussed by a small coterie of learned and polite scholars of the Faith. It has been so many years since I was caught up in the Q&A there that back then it was still part of Usenet. I spent much time there, but finally the need to have everything vetted by a moderator became too annoying, and I jumped over to another discussion group called "Baha'i Scholars." That was even more interesting, so much so that eventually the time drain became too much and I gave up discussion groups completely. Now soc.religion.bahai and tens of thousands of other conversations about everything under the sun are all called "Google Groups." Anyway, one question caught my eye,

"Do Baha'is believe that God would punish atheists no matter how good they are as people? Just curious."

There had been many learned responses in the weeks since the question was asked. The questioner certainly got his money's worth, and more. One of the best answers simply cited the Master as saying:

"... How ignorant, therefore, the thought that God, Who created man, educated and nurtured him, surrounded him with all blessings, made the sun and all phenomenal existence for his benefit, bestowed upon him tenderness and kindness and then did not love him. This is palpable ignorance, for no matter to what religion a man belongs, even though he be an atheist or materialist, nevertheless, God nurtures him, bestows His kindness and sheds upon him His light." (Promulgation, 267)

Another mentioned the Master's saying that, "Service to humanity is service to God." (Promulgation, 8) However, I could not resist pointing out that the Bab was pretty adamant that disbelief in God is an unforgivable sin. "...God will not forgive disbelief in Himself, though He will forgive other sins to whomsoever He pleaseth. Indeed His knowledge embraceth all things..." (The Bab, Selections, 48) Nor, according to another quote of the Bab, are any good deeds an atheist offers of any avail. Severe stuff. As one person pointed out, the Arabic word for unbeliever is Kafir, which means ungrateful. Since God's favors are manifest, it is not a question of believing or not believing, it is one of responding or being a callous ingrate. Nor is Baha'u'llah, at times, any less severe than the Bab was. In the Iqan He compares the proofs of God to the sun and only the blind can deny the light of the sun, though not its heat.

"Such is the sway of their desires, that the lamp of conscience and reason hath been quenched in their hearts, and this although the fingers of divine power have unlocked the portals of the knowledge of God, and the light of divine knowledge and heavenly grace hath illumined and inspired the essence of all created things, in such wise that in each and every thing a door of knowledge hath been opened, and within every atom traces of the sun hath been made manifest." (Iqan, 29-30)

All of this will be familiar to anybody with a copy of Ocean. I want to close with a new provisional translation of a Tablet of the Master to Jinab-i-Fazel, from the relatively recent biography of the latter. It seems that Fazel asked about this and about the 12th Imam and a belief of the "sect of the twelve" that,

"the Imam disappeared into an under-ground passage in Surra-man-Ra (Samarra) over a thousand years ago and still lives in one of those mysterious cities, Jabulqa and Jabulsa and will come forth in the fullness of time to fill the world with Justice."

The biography continues,

"In this letter Fadil, referring to the harbinger of the Bab's Revelation, "that luminous star of divine guidance, Shaykh Ahmad-Ahsa'i", asks 'Abdu'l-Baha to "... graciously reveal the mysteries hidden in the allusions made by that light of knowledge and guidance regarding the twelfth Imam, the Qa'im." Fadil, in his letter, goes on to say, "So far no one has unravelled the mysteries concealed within the allusions made by that source of knowledge and understanding. May 'Abdu'l-Baha's pen which is the bearer of the Supreme Pen reveal the meaning of this mystery which would gladden the hearts of the friends and thereafter no one would put forth vain imaginings and worthless sayings." In the same letter Fadil had asked another question regarding the state, after death, of all those souls who remain heedless. What follows is the Master's reply:

His honour Fadil-i-Shirazi, upon him be the glory of God!

He is God!

O thou who art attracted by the fragrances of God! I noted the contents of thine epistle and the purpose of thy call, and praised God for having inspired the pure in heart with divine susceptibilities and perfumed the senses of the people of light with a fragrance that hath enveloped the whole earth. I beseech Him to assist thee through that spirit which quickeneth the hearts, the minds, and the souls of men. He, verily, is wont to hear and to answer the prayers of whomsoever invoketh Him.

Thou hadst asked concerning the twelfth Imam. Know thou that this perception did not originally exist in the physical world. The twelfth Imam existed in the Unseen realm, but had no reality on the material plane. However, some of the Shi'ah elders of the time deemed it advisable, solely for the protection of the weak elements among the people, to portray a person existing in the Unseen realm as being possessed of a corporal existence. "For the world of existence is a single world; it cannot be hidden, except from your eyes, and cannot be manifest, except to your eyes." Such was their thought, their perception, and their design. Ibn-i-Hajar hath a verse in the Sawa'iq, saying:

"A cellar cannot engender a creature such
As fancy prompteth you to call a man, O fools!
May then your feeble minds be excused, for ye have
Added a third to the phoenix and the ghouls."

In any case, were one to refer to the accounts and carefully reflect upon their meaning, it would become clear and evident that this magnanimous Imam, peace be upon him, hath never existed in the physical realm.

As to the question of the immortality of negligent souls once they have cast off their earthly frame, their immortality is tantamount to extinction, inasmuch as they are deprived of a heavenly life. They are even as the mineral, which endureth in the mineral realm, but which is utter nonexistence when compared to human existence. The other worlds are not a place where realities are transformed, or natures transmuted, or creation renewed. It is clear, however, that souls will progress in degrees and become the object of divine pardon and forgiveness.

This reply hath been made brief due to lack of time. Through careful thought and examination thou wilt no doubt elucidate and elaborate upon it.

For now, choose Tihran as thy place of residence. From time to time, do thou travel to one of the other provinces and return. Convey My loving greetings to Fathu'llah Khan-i-Mushir. His presence here would not be advisable at this time. God willing, in due course permission will be granted.

Abdu'l-Baha, Abbas

from pp. 86-89 of Houri Falahi-Skuce, A Radiant Gem, A Biography of Jinab-i-Fadil-i-Shirazi, Trafford Publishing, Victoria, BC, 2004