1- Confiscating the wealth of all non-Bābīs:

Bab had given orders to confiscate the wealth of all who didn’t believe in him:

The fifth chapter of the fifth unit which is about the decree of taking the property of those who do not believe in [the religion] of Bayan and giving it back if they become believers in this religion, except in the lands where taking [property] is not possible.[1]

2- All kinds of outrageous fines for Bābīs

In the book of Bayān, for every misdemeanor committed, an outrageous fine has to be paid to the Bāb. For instance:

You have been prohibited in the Bayān from having more than nineteen books. If you do so, you will be fined 19 mithqāls[2] of gold.[3]

He who deliberately saddens another [follower of the Bāb], must pay a fine of nineteen mithqāls of gold, or else silver, or else must repent to God nineteen times.[4] 

It has been destined in the sixth chapter to remember God’s Oneness nineteen times [every day] from the beginning of night to the end of day. If you do not perform this [deliberately] after you have been informed, a fine of 19 mithqāls of fine diamonds will be imposed.[5]

After the aforementioned decree, he continues to order the remembrance of himself, and other figures every day for nineteen times and imposes the following fines if such an act is not performed: nineteen mithqāls of gold, five mithqāls of red rubies, and five mithqāls of yellow rubies. The Bab’s writings are replete with fines of this form.

3- Loans with Interest and Usury

Usury has been prohibited in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam:

If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.[6]

Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit.[7]

And for taking interest, which was forbidden, and for consuming the people’s money unjustly, we have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful retribution.[8]

Although lending with interest and usury are profitable for the lender, they are a pain and cause of hardship for the borrower who is usually in need and has financial problems. Bahā’u’llāh, without foreseeing the outcomes of his actions, announces that loans with interest are permissible:

We see many people who are in need of [these kinds of loans]. If there is no profit [in the loan] the affairs will not move forward. It is very rare that someone becomes successful in tolerating and heeding someone who is the same gender as himself, his countryman, or brethren, and gives them a loan without interest. So, as a favor to [God’s] servants, we made loans with interest like all other forms of deals which people make with each-other. The profit gained [by lending] money, is now permissible, pure, and clean, because this order has been revealed from the Sky of Ordinance, so that the people of earth can be engrossed in remembering/speaking about the Beloved of the World, with utmost peace, tranquility, happiness, and pleasure.[9] 

Bahā’u’llāh’s justification for allowing interest is “If there is no profit [in the loan] the affairs will not move forward.” Didn’t God know this when He prohibited this act in all other religions?

He further claims that lending with interest is a favor from God so that people would become engrossed in remembering him with peace and tranquility. The only thing that is clear is having a loan with interest neither brings peace nor tranquility.

Apparently, this new law decreed by Bahā’u’llāh had a devastating effect on the livelihood of Baha’is who adhered to it. This effect was such that `Abdu’l-Bahā ordered his followers to refrain from these kinds of loans in the strictest sense:

From now on do not give loans with interest to anyone because `Abdu’l-Bahā dislikes interest even though it is legitimate. Only give [loans] without interest and take no loan with interest from anybody.[10]

Again, there is a clear contradiction between Bahā’u’llāh and his son. It is not clear why `Abdu’l-Bahā, who is only allowed to interpret Bahā’u’llāh’s laws, directly orders his followers to disobey his father’s orders and deprives them of the “favor to [God’s] servants.”

4- Outrageous fines for fornication and adultery

God hath imposed a fine on every adulterer and adulteress, to be paid to the House of Justice nine mithqāls of gold, to be doubled if they should repeat the offence . . . Although the term translated here as adultery refers, in its broadest sense, to unlawful sexual intercourse between either married or unmarried individuals (see note 36 for a definition of the term), `Abdu’l-Bahā has specified that the punishment here prescribed is for sexual intercourse between persons who are unmarried . . . In relation to the application of the fine, Bahā’u’llāh clearly specifies that each succeeding fine is double the preceding one; thus the fine imposed increases in geometrical progression.[11]

Unmarried people who engage in acts of sexual intercourse—especially teenagers— will likely frequently perform such acts. The number of times copulation occurs in a year can easily reach one hundred times if this shameful act is performed only twice a week. The amount of gold payable by each of these two people equals to: 3.6 grams * 9 * 2^100 =   41071879447394632608493183854 kilograms, which is fairly equal to 8000 times the weight of the earth. Just in case you are wondering, the fine will be about 34000 kilos of Gold if copulation is performed only 20 times. We’ll leave it to up to the readers to judge the practicality of these luminous laws. One wonders how a society governed by this law will ever be able to get closer to economic justice and attaining a means of livelihood for all people.

In fact this law is so outrageous that, as is standard for problematic Baha’i laws, its implementation has been postponed until a future time:

The imposition of this fine is intended for a future condition of society, at which time the law will be supplemented and applied by the Universal House of Justice.[12]

5- Excommunication and Shunning

Excommunicated members of the community have to break all ties with their family members. If the breadwinner of the family is excommunicated, his/her family will be left with no source of income. Likewise, if a dependent is excommunicated, they will have to fend off for themselves and find an alternative source of sustenance. Is this how the means of livelihood are equalized in this creed?

6- Deceased’s living residence

According to Baha’i law a deceased’s living residence is solely the property of his oldest son even if the deceased has left no other wealth behind:

The living residence belongs to the oldest living son, whether or not the deceased has any other wealth. The oldest living son also takes his share from the other belongings.[13]

How can the Equalization of the Means of Livelihood for All Humanity be achieved by such laws?

7- Treatment of Thieves

Where does a thief receive sustenance from after being punished according to Baha’i law?

Exile and imprisonment are decreed for the thief, and, on the third offence, place ye a mark upon his brow so that, thus identified, he may not be accepted in the cities of God and His countries.[14]

If a thief is caught for the third time a mark must be put on his brow so that he will not be accepted in any city or country. Thus he will be completely deprived of all means of livelihood! Is this law problematic? No problem, this is how it is resolved:

The punishments for theft are intended for a future condition of society, when they will be supplemented and applied by the Universal House of Justice.[15]

[1] The Bāb, Farsi Bayān, unit 5, chap. 5.

[2] Each mithqāl is equal to about 3.6 grams.

[3] The Bāb, Arabic Bayān, unit 11, chap. 7.

[4] The Bāb, Farsi Bayān, unit 7, chap. 18.

[5] The Bāb, Lauḥ haykal al-dīn, chap. 6, p. 3.

[6] Exodus, 22:25

[7] Leviticus, 25:36–37

[8] Quran 4:161

[9] `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganjīniy-i ḥudūd wa aḥkām, chap. 24, p. 202.

[10] `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganjīniy-i ḥudūd wa aḥkām, chap. 24, p. 204.

[11] Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, pp. 200–202.

[12] Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, p. 201.

[13] `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Ganjīniy-i ḥudūd wa aḥkām, chap. 10, p. 128.

[14] Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, pp. 35–36.

[15] Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, p. 198.