Bahá’í Laws and Principles

Bahá’u’lláh teaches that one should not think of Bahá’í laws as a series of do’s and don’ts. Instead He tells us that His laws are “the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures.”

To clarify these ideas, here are a few examples of Bahá’í laws.

In the physical world, human beings have to eat everyday. This is a requirement of the human body; if we don’t, we will get sick and quickly die. We can say, then, that eating daily is a law of physical existence which has to be obeyed. In the same way one of the commandments of Bahá’u’lláh is that we should pray every day. Like our body, our soul needs constant nourishment, and prayer provides the nourishment for our spiritual growth. There are many beautiful prayers revealed by the Báb, by Bahá’u’lláh and by `Abdu’l-Bahá which we can say when we are alone or recite in meetings.

Some of these prayers are special, and some are obligatory. One obligatory prayer is recited by Bahá’is everyday sometime between noon and sunset. It says:

In another commandment, Bahá’u’lláh prohibits backbiting and calumny. This is important because, if you think about it, one of the greatest enemies of unity is backbiting. And unfortunately, it has become an established practice among most of humanity to talk about other people’s faults in their absence. Everybody seems to be concerned with everybody else’s shortcomings, which are made bigger and bigger as they are constantly mentioned. `Abdu’l-Bahá tells us to do just the opposite. If we see ten good qualities in someone and one fault, we should concentrate on the ten, and even if a person has ten faults and only one good quality we should focus on that one quality.

Bahá’u’lláh prohibits the drinking of alcohol and, of course, substance abuse. Drinking alcohol is one of the greatest social ills that exists today in the world. It is one of the most common causes of violence and the ruin of healthy family life. In truth, it is difficult to understand why people would take something that interferes with their minds and makes them lose their ability to think clearly. Drinking makes people capable of acting in shameful ways, when humans have actually been created noble.

Another commandment of Bahá’u’lláh is about the obligation of parents and society to educate children.

Reflecting on this great commandment, many individual Bahá’í's have decided to do somthing about it. So they hold weekly Bahá’í Children's Classes in their neighbourhood. You are warmly invited to participate, with your children, in these classes which are open to everyone.