HUQUQULLAH (THE RIGHT OF GOD) AND ITS DISPOSITION
HUQUQULLAH
There is a great importance of
Huququllah in the Bahai Faith.
Huququllah is an Arabic word
comprised of two words. Huquq meaning “Right” and “Allah” meaning “God”.
Therefore Huququllah means “Right of God”, a part of the individuals possession
and income offered at the Threshold of God.
Huququllah being the Right of God
and bounty for the people is clear from the Bahai Holy writings of sayings of
The Bab, Bahaullah and Abdul Baha
Writings of The Bab
O
people of the world, whatever ye have offered up in the way of the one true
God, ye shall indeed find preserved by God, The Preserver, and Intact at Gods
Holy Gate.
Thus the embryo of the sacred law of
Huququllah was established by the Bab in the Persian Bayan, His book of Laws.
Bahaullah brought some modifications in its content and fashioned it as one of the worlds shaping ordinances of His stupendous Revelation.
Writings of Bahaullah:
Bahaullah affirms “….the payment
to the Right of God is conducive to prosperity, to blessing and to honour and
divine protection”
"As
to Huququllah, this is the source of blessing and the mainspring of God’s
loving kindness and tender love vouchsafed unto men”.
In Kitab-i Aqdas verse 97, it has
been revealed by Bahaullah:
Should anyone acquire one hundred
mithqals of gold, nineteen mithqals thereof are Gods and to be rendered unto
him, the fashioner of the earth and heaven. Take heed o people, lest you deprive
yourselves of such a great bounty. This we have commanded you, though though we are well
able to dispense with you and with all those who are in the heavens and on
earth, in it there are benefits and wisdoms beyond the ken of anyone but God,
The Omniscient, the All-informed Say, By this means He hath desired to purify
what ye possess and to enable you to draw nigh unto such stations as none can
comprehend save those whom God hath willed, He in truth is the Beneficent The
Gracious, The Merciful .O people deal not faithlessly with the Right of God , Nor without His
leave , make free with its disposal .Thus hath his commandments been
established in the holy tablets and in this Exalted book .He who dealeth
faithlessly with God shall in justice meet with faithlessness himself , He ,
however , who acteth in accordance with Gods bidding shall receive a blessing
from the heaven of the bounty of His lord , the Gracious , the Bestower , the
Generous , the Ancient of Days.He verily hath willed for you that which is yet
beyond your knowledge , but shall be know to you when , after this fleeting
life , your souls shall soar heaven wards and the trappings of your earthly
joys are folded up.Thus admonished you He in Whose possession is the Guarded
Tablet.
Writings of Abdul Baha: -
O friends of Abdul Baha The Lord as
a sign of his infinite bounties hath graciously favoured His servants by
providing for a fixed money offering (Huqooq) to be dutifully presented unto
Him, through He m, the true One and His servants have been at all times
independent of all created things, and God verily is the all-possessing,
exalted above the need of any gift from His creatures. This fixed money
offering however causeth people to become firm and steadfast and draweth Divine
increase upon them
(Will and Testament of Abdul Baha )
Abdul Baha commenting on the
manifold powers latent in the Law of Huququllah writes"
“…In accordance with His inscrutable
wisdom and in order to apply a unique test to
distinguish the friend from the stranger, He hath enjoined the Huqooq upon
His servants and made it obligatory.”
From all the above quotations it is
amply clear that the source of energy for upholding the law of huqullah is the
individuals love and loyalty to the covenant.
As Abdul Baha, Himself says that it
distinguishes the friend from the stranger; this is nothing more or less than a
test of ones firmness in the covenant.
DISPOSITION OF
HUQUQULLAH
Now we come to a
very important question regarding the Disposition of this Huquq .
Abdul Baha in one of his tablets has stated
“Disposition
of the Huquq, wholly or partly is permissible but this should be done by
PERMISSION OF THE AUTHORITY IN THE CAUSE TO WHOM ALL
MUST TURN “
Thus provision in His Will and
Testament that the Huququllah is to be offered through the GUARDIAN OF THE CAUSE OF GOD.
This clearly indicates that
Huququllah is the Right of the Guardian.
CONCLUSION
This bring us to an important point
that those misled Bahais who are paying Huququllah to some other entities other
than the Guardian, are they doing the right thing?
Unfortunately these Bahais are not
only misled but also are orphaned, as they do not believe in the Guardian. The entities who are claiming Huququllah
other than Guardian are not the “Recipient of the Right of God”, but are
actually “Usurpers of the Right of God”.
Arranged by:
Committee for the Study of Holy Text
PNBC of India
The Right of God is also the right of a Baha'i.
The post above says
"Bahaullah affirms “….the payment to the Right of God is conducive to prosperity, to blessing and to honour and divine protection”
"As to Huququllah, this is the source of blessing and the mainspring of God’s loving kindness and tender love vouchsafed unto men”.
"Take heed o people, lest you deprive yourselves of such a great bounty."
Take heed indeed o people that the guardian Joel deprives you of this bounty by not accepting huquq from you.
Can you imagine the Guardian depriving you of the bounties of God???
Robert Clifton
Posted by: Robert Clifton | March 07, 2008 at 02:46 PM