During World War I, Abdu’l Baha had a busy time in ministering to the material and spiritual wants of the people about Him. He personally organized extensive agricultural operations near Tiberias, thus securing a great supply of wheat, by means of which famine was averted, not only for the Baha’is but for hundreds of the poor of all religions in Haifa and Akka, whose wants He liberally supplied. He took care of all, and mitigated their sufferings as far as possible. To hundreds of poor people, He would give a small sum of money daily. In addition to money He gave bread. If there was no bread He would give dates or something else. He made frequent visits to Akka to comfort and help the believers and poor people there. During the time of war, He had daily meetings of the believers, and through His help the friends remained happy and tranquil throughout those troublous years.
(Baha’u’llah and the New Era, p. 63)
Abdu’l Baha in his entire life never claimed any special station for himself, beyond the station of servant. When the British government knighted him for his efforts averting famine during the war, he declined to be called Sir, and simply continued giving food to the hungry, tender care to the sick and warm clothes to the homeless. He humbly encouraged others to selflessly act as servants to God by being servants to God’s creation, humanity.
He explained that the Baha’i Faith called us all to bring about peace, unity and love:
“My admonition and exhortation to you is this: Be kind to all people, love humanity, consider all mankind as your relations and servants of the most-high God. Strive day and night that animosity and contention may pass away from the hearts of men, that all religions shall become reconciled and the nations love each other so that no racial, religious or political prejudice may remain and the world of humanity behold God as the beginning and end of all existence. God has created all, and all return to God. Therefore, love humanity with all your heart and soul. If you meet a poor man, assist him; if you see the sick, heal him; reassure the affrighted one, render the cowardly noble and courageous, educate the ignorant, associate with the stranger. Emulate God. Consider how kindly, how lovingly He deals with all, and follow His example. You must treat people in accordance with the divine precepts — in other words, treat them as kindly as God treats them, for this is the greatest attainment possible for the world of humanity.”
(Abdu’l Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 290)
Keeping the above incident and the Master’s quote in mind, we the Free Baha’is invite all the Baha’I friends around the world to use their Huququ’llah money for the betterment of the society, instead of giving it in the hands which are not liable to collect them. By doing this, we all can in fact work on the footsteps of Baha’u’llah and the Master and play a leading role in spreading the Baha’i religion around the world.
This article has been sourced from The Caravan Magazine, Volume 3, Edition 2. Click here to download the magazine for free!
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