Gods command for whose relatives? Disregard for it in real life!
Kitab-i-Aqdas : Verse 61
Authorized Translation : God hath bidden you to show forth kindliness towards My kindred, but He hath granted them no right to the property of others.
Haddad translation: Ye are commanded by God to show love and affection towards the relatives (kinsmen of the Manifestation and the Bab) but God hath not ordained unto them any right over the properties of others:
Earl E. Elder translation: Indeed, God has commanded you to love your relatives, but He has not decreed for them a right in one’s property.
Critique 1: It is really confusing that kindness is to be shown to whose relatives.
- The authorized translation says: My kindred. Indicating kindness is to be shown to the relatives of Bahaullah.
- Haddad translation explains: kinsmen of the Manifestation and the Bab. Indicating kindness is to be shown to the relatives of Bab as well as Bahaullah.
- Earl E. Elder translation escapes from this discussion and mentions: your relatives
Poor Bahai’is are now confused as to what to understand from the content of this verse?
Critique 2: When we actually see the behaviour of Bahaullah himself to his own real brother Mirza Yahya Noori (Subhe Azal) we find that there is absolutely no kindness between them. In fact, there exist acrimony and enmity of the highest level. Bahaullah calls Subhe Azal and his followers as Donkeys in the following words:
Oh you donkeys! Whatever God says is the truth and will not become void by the words of the polytheists.
[Qurayshi, Mohammad Alam, Baha’u’llah’s Attitude Towards his brother Subh Azal and his Followers, retrieved from; https://thebahaitruth.com/bahaullahs-attitude-towards-his-brother-subh-azal-and-his-followers/ (7th November,2022)]
When the rupture took place between Subhe Azal and Baha, the latter stopped to provide food to Subhe-Azal’s family for their sentence in a bid to starve Subhe Azal into submission through pressure thus brought to bear on the members of Subhe Azal‘s family. This pressure was maintained relentlessly. Subhe Azal‘s young children fell sick. Their mother, without Subhe Azal‘s “permission “, visited the governor’s wife in her home and pleaded her case to save her children from their unenviable plight, into which they were driven by Baha himself.
[http://bayanic.com/notes/alleg/alleg2-3.html (7th November,2022)]
The conflicts, feuds, and bloodshed between Baha’u’llah and his brother Mirza Yahya Subh Azal and their followers resulted in the exile of the Azalis (the supporters of Mirza Yahya Subh Azal) to Cyprus and the Baha’is to Palestine.
[Qurayshi, Mohammad Alam, The Babi and Baha’i fight clubs, retrieved from : https://thebahaitruth.com/the-babi-and-bahai-fight-clubs/(7th November,2022)]
These clashes are carried on to the immediate next generation by Abdul Baha who fought badly with his brother Muhammad ‘Ali Effendi.(Called as Ghusn Akbar by Bahaullah)
[Qurayshi, Mohammad Alam, The Babi and Baha’i fight clubs, retrieved from : https://thebahaitruth.com/the-babi-and-bahai-fight-clubs/(7th November,2022)]
The poor Bahai’s are now in perpetual confusion whether to follow the instructions of Aqdas for being kind to the relatives of Bahaullah as interpreted by the authorized translation and Haddad translation or follow the practical examples of Bahaullah
Or as Baha’u’llah and his son have gone against the Earl E. Elder translation by being rude and acrimonious to their own relatives…
Confusion and total Confusion!!!
