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From earliest childhood, 'Abbas Effendi, the eldest son of
Bahá'u'lláh, shared His father's sufferings and banishments. He took as His
title 'Abdu'l-Báhá, the "servant of Baha." Bahá'u'lláh appointed Him
as the lone authorized interpreter of the Bahá'í teachings and Head of the
Faith after His own passing. In 'Abdu'l-Bahá is a perfect example of the Bahá'í
way of life.
While 'Abdu'l-Bahá was still a prisoner of the Ottomans, the
first Bahá'í pilgrims from the western world arrived in 'Akka in 1898. After
His release in 1908, 'Abdu'l-Bahá set out on a series of journeys which, from
1911 to 1913, took Him to Europe and America. There He proclaimed Bahá'u'lláh's
message of unity and social justice to church congregations, peace societies,
members of trade unions, university faculties, journalists, government
officials, and many public audiences.
Throughout the Occident and the Orient, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was
known as an ambassador of peace, a champion of justice, and the leading
exponent of a new Faith. 'Abdu'l-Báhá — by word and example — proclaimed with
persuasiveness and force the essential principles of His Father's religion.
Affirming that "Love is the most great law" that is the foundation of
"true civilization," and that the "supreme need of humanity is
cooperation and reciprocity" among all its peoples, 'Abdu'l-Bahá reached
out to every soul who crossed His path, leaders and the meek alike.
An American commentator wrote:
He found a large and sympathetic
audience waiting to greet Him personally and to receive from His own lips His
loving and spiritual message. Beyond the words spoken there was something
indescribable in His personality that impressed profoundly all who came into
His presence. The dome-like head, the patriarchal beard, the eyes that seemed
to have looked beyond the reach of time and sense, the soft yet clearly
penetrating voice, the translucent humility, the never failing love,— but above
all, the sense of power mingled with gentleness that invested His whole being
with a rare majesty of spiritual exaltation that both set Him apart, and yet
brought Him near to the lowliest soul,— it was all this, and much more that can
never be defined, that have left with His many... friends, memories that are
ineffaceable and unspeakably precious.
Yet, however magnetic His personality or penetrating His
insights into the human condition, such characteristics cannot adequately
capture 'Abdu'l-Báhá's unique station in religious history. In the words of
Bahá'u'lláh Himself, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was the "Trust of God," "a
shelter for all mankind," "the most great Favour," and God's
"ancient and immutable Mystery." The Bahá'í writings further affirm
that "in the person of 'Abdu'l-Bahá the incompatible characteristics of a
human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are
completely harmonized."
The question of religious succession has been crucial to all
faiths. Failure to resolve this question has inevitably led to acrimony and
division. The ambiguity surrounding the true successors of Jesus and Muhammad,
for example, led to differing interpretations of sacred scripture and deep
discord within both Christianity and Islam. However, Bahá'u'lláh prevented
schism and established an unassailable foundation for His Faith through the
provision of His will and testament, entitled Book of the Covenant. He writes:
"When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is
ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hast branched from
this Ancient Root. The object of this sacred verse is none other except the
Most Mighty Branch ['Abdu'l-Báhá]."
Bahá'u'lláh's appointment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as His successor
was the means for diffusing His message of hope and universal peace to all
corners of the world, for realizing the essential unity of all peoples.
'Abdu'l-Bahá was, in short, the Centre of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenan t— the
instrument for ensuring the unity of the Bahá'í community and preserving the
integrity of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings.
In retrospect, it is clear that Bahá'u'lláh had carefully
prepared 'Abdu'l-Bahá to succeed Him. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was born on 23 May 1844, the
very night that the Báb had declared the beginning of a new religious cycle in
history. As a child, He suffered along with His Father during the persecutions
against the Bábís. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was eight years old when Bahá'u'lláh was first
imprisoned for His role as a leading exponent and defender of the Bábí Faith.
He accompanied Bahá'u'lláh throughout His long exile from Persia, first to the
capital of the Ottoman empire and, ultimately, to Palestine. As He grew older,
'Abdu'l-Bahá became His Father's closest companion and emerged as His deputy,
shield, and principal representative to the political and religious leaders of
the day. 'Abdu'l-Báhá's extraordinary demonstration of leadership, knowledge,
and service brought great prestige to the exiled Bahá'í community. He assumed His role as the Head of the Bahá'í Faith following Bahá'u'lláh's passing in May 1892, in accordance with the wishes of His father.
Among the ideals that 'Abdu'l-Bahá tirelessly proclaimed to leaders of thought as well as countless groups and the masses at large were (as described by Shoghi Effendi):
The independent search after
truth, unfettered by superstition or tradition; the oneness of the entire human
race, the pivotal principle and fundamental doctrine of the Faith; the basic
unity of all religions; the condemnation of all forms of prejudice, whether
religious, racial, class or national; the harmony which must exist between
religion and science; the equality of men and women, the two wings on which the
bird of humankind is able to soar; the introduction of compulsory education;
the adoption of a universal auxiliary language; the abolition of the extremes
of wealth and poverty; the institution of a world tribunal for the adjudication
of disputes between nations; the exaltation of work, performed in the spirit of
service, to the rank of worship; the glorification of justice as the ruling
principle in human society, and of religion as a bulwark for the protection of
all peoples and nations; and the establishment of a permanent and universal
peace as the supreme goal of all mankind.
On 29 November 1921, 10,000 people — Jews, Christians, and
Muslims of all persuasions and denominations — gathered on Mount Carmel in the
Holy Land to mourn the passing of One who was eulogized as the essence of
"Virtue and Wisdom, of Knowledge and Generosity." On this occasion,
'Abdu'l-Báhá — Bahá'u'lláh's Son and chosen successor — was described by a Jewish
leader as a "living example of self-sacrifice," by a Christian orator
as One who led humanity to the "Way of Truth," and by a prominent
Muslim leader as a "pillar of peace" and the embodiment of
"glory and greatness." His funeral, according to a Western observer,
brought together a great throng "sorrowing for His death, but rejoicing
also for His life."
Source
This article, adapted from "The
Bahá'í World" website, official site of the Bahá'í International
Community, is reproduced, with slight changes, from the Canadian Bahá'í website.
Further information
An account of the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá is given in the third
section of Shoghi Effendi's book, "God Passes By".
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