God’s servants don’t seek our worldly goods.

 

83. God’s servants don’t seek our worldly goods. Solicitation of property and money is not appropriate for religion in the sight of god: In the Bahá’í Faith we view it as wrong to solicit for money or property in the name of God. It is the right of every Bahá’í to choose for him or herself whether they wish to give to the fund or not. Giving to the faith is a private matter and the action of giving to God is a gift and a bounty for the person that is giving.  Christianity: 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” God loves those that give of their own free will, not because giving is dictated to them.

BAHA’I FAITH: “Should it ever please Us to appropriate to Our own use all the treasures of the earth, to none is given the right to question Our authority, or to challenge Our right. It would be impossible to conceive any act more contemptible than soliciting, in the name of the one true God, the riches which men possess.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 201)

 BABI RELIGION: “I have no desire to seize thy property, even to the extent of a grain of mustard, nor do I wish to occupy thy position.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 25)

 CHRISTIANITY: Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” Matthew 8:20 “And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Jesus was so poor that he didn’t even have a place to rest his head, but when a wealthy man ask him what he should do to become a servant of God Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give it to the poor. Jesus didn’t even for a minute think of asking something for himself in his quest to promote the work of God. Worldly possessions didn’t matter to Jesus or those that followed him.  Judaism: Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:” Sirach 40:26 “Riches and strength lift up the heart: but the fear of The Lord is above them both: there is no want in the fear of The Lord, and it needeth not to seek help.” 23:1 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Deuterocanonical Apocrypha, and Psalms 23:1)

BAHA’I FAITH: “It is improper for Bahá’ís to solicit funds from non-Bahá’ís in the name of the Faith for any purpose.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 121)

 BABI RELIGION: “Beseech The Lord your God to grant that no earthly entanglements, no worldly affections, no ephemeral pursuits, may tarnish the purity, or embitter the sweetness, of that grace which flows through you.”

The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 93)

 ISLAM: 36. “The life of this world is but play and amusement: and if ye believe lend guard against evil, He will grant you your recompense, and will not ask you (to give up) your possessions.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  47)

 ZOROASTRIANISM: “I do not ask you to bestow gifts on me, nay, I ask you to be worthy of the gifts that I intend to give to you.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 281)

 Zoroastrianism: “Mazda (God) has no greed for wealth. All wealth is His creation. (Why should Mazda desire that which is only transitory) (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 471)

 HINDUISM: 27. “From Brahmanas (who live as) ascetics, let him receive alms, (barely sufficient) to support life, or from other house-holders of the twice-born (castes) who reside in the forest.”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 4)

 Hinduism: 55. “Let him go to beg once (a day), let him not be eager to obtain a large quantity (of alms); for an ascetic who eagerly seeks alms, attaches himself also to sensual enjoyments.”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 6)

 BUDDHISM: “Cultivate a mind that is independent of material circumstances. And why? Because, all sensuous conditions and material circumstances are only manifestations of mind and are alike dream-like and imaginary.” (Buddha, Diamond Sutra)

 Buddhism: 18. “One does not become an ascetic outwardly; the perfected ones are free from worldliness.”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards))

 SABEANISM: “Be no son of the House, the world.” “Adam, look upon the world which is a completely unreal thing. It is a unreal thing, in which you can put no trust.” (Sabeanism, Instruction of Adam)

Sabeanism: “Settest my soul free From transitory things.” “Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 93)

 BABI RELIGION: “Methinks thou dost imagine that I wish to gain some paltry substance from this earthly life. Nay, by the righteousness of My Lord! In the estimation of them that have fixed their eyes upon the merciful Lord, the riches of the world and its trappings are worth as much as the eye of a dead body, nay even less.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 19)

 Babi Religion: “I know very well that all I have acquired has been obtained through force and all that I have belongs to the Sáhibu’z-Zamán. I therefore give it all to thee, thou art the Master of Truth and I ask of thee the privilege of ownership.” He even took the ring off his finger and gave it to me. I took it and gave it back to him and I sent him away in possession of all his goods. God is witness of the truth of this testimony. I do not wish for a dinar of his wealth, that is for you to dispose of; but as, in any dispute, God requires the testimony of two witnesses.”

The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 248)

BAHA’I FAITH: “Praise be to God, the world of existence does not culminate here. If this were so, existence itself would be sterile. There are many worlds of light. For even as the plant imagines life ends with itself and has no knowledge of our existence, so the materially-minded man has no knowledge of other worlds of consciousness.” “But some there are who have found divine intelligence and have obtained spiritual understanding. They have the real sight. They know of the other worlds. That is why the prophets of God forfeited this world, renounced everything material and gave their hearts to the heavenly world.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 123)