`Abdu’l-Bahā says:

Put all your beliefs into harmony with science; there can be no opposition, for truth is one. When religion, shorn of its superstitions, traditions, and unintelligent dogmas, shows its conformity with science, then will there be a great unifying, cleansing force in the world which will sweep before it all wars, disagreements, discords and struggles—and then will mankind be united in the power of the Love of God.[1]

One of the twelve principles that Baha’i’s put great effort in propagating and consider the intellectual masterpiece of their faith is the accordance of religion with science and reason.

Baha’i’s claim that their beliefs are firmly based on the foundation of science and reason and that there is no contradiction between Baha’ism and scientific knowledge.

This principle is one of the most attractive principles for Baha’i youth because they claim with utmost pride that they have chosen a religion that in contrast to other faiths, is both in harmony with science and human progress and with whatever reason and intellect arrive at.

If someone accepts this principle, then, they too must accept the following results:

1. Nothing that is against reason exists within the Baha’i scripture, particularly the works of the leaders of this faith.
2. Nothing that contradicts science can be found in Baha’ism.
3. If something is found in Baha’i works that is against science or reason, Baha’i’s should put aside their religion, for according to their own beliefs, their religion is no longer a valid religion.

When Baha’i’s use this principle to preach their faith, they start by criticizing other faiths for being incompatible with modern sciences[2] and claim that it is only Baha’ism that can answer the needs of the modern world.[3] However whenever these same criticisms are made of Baha’ism, the answer given is that the problem is not our religion, but rather your understanding.[4]

In essence, Baha’i’s try to attract the attention of the youth to their faith with the slogan of the necessity of the conformity of science and reason with Baha’ism. They claim:

Since the Baha’i movement is in accordance to reason and defends science, and is completely free from the [superstitions] inherited from the past . . . the Baha’i movement has had an extraordinary influence on university students around the world.[5]

Strangely when it is asked from them that, given that mankind’s knowledge is always changing and altering and that scientific theories are constantly being revised, which scientific theories is Baha’ism supposed to be in accordance with, they reply: What we mean by science is ‘true science’ not human knowledge. What we mean by reason is the perfect Divine Reason, not human reason.[6] They claim that if a principle or wisdom in Baha’ism is not in accordance to today’s science and reason, the shortcoming is from man’s errors and reasoning.[7] This is how `Abdu’l-Bahā explains it:

Everything must be measured using the yardstick of knowledge and reason, for religion and reason are the same thing and will never be separated. Sometimes, a weak intellect cannot perceive [a concept]. In such a case, intellect has a shortcoming by being imperfect, not religion.[8]

Apparently, `Abdu’l-Bahā had completely forgotten that in their proselytization efforts, Baha’is had defined science as modern science and technology[9] and that they had considered other religions old and outdated because, they were not in harmony with modern science and knowledge.[10] One wonders, given the above mentioned explanation regarding weak intellects, what is the Baha’i creed’s superiority over other religions? What religion would openly claim that its commands and contents are against reason and unscientific?

In Third Perspective we will cover this issue with more detail. But for now, based on the normal procedure, we will start off by analyzing whether this principle is new or not.

[1] `Abdu’l-Bahā, Paris Talks, p. 146.

[2] For example: “Islam which has to date taken itself forward with power and pride, is now afflicted by the strike of new scientific knowledge. The same scientific knowledge that rang the death-bells of all the world’s great religions. Intellectual and educated Muslims are rapidly furthering themselves from their religion . . . Those that still abide by and believe in their religion are trying to change it to make it in conformity with modern sciences,” Stanwood Cobb,  Ārāmish barāy-i jahān-i pur āshūb, 5^th ed.  trans. Jamshīd Fanāyiān (New Delhi: Mu’assisiyi Chāp Wa Intishārāt Mir`āt, 1994), pp. 76–77. The aforementioned book was originally written in English with the title Security For a Failing World. Unfortunately, we failed to obtain the original English manuscript and have retranslated the official Farsi translation back to English. The Farsi translation can be found at http://reference.bahai.org/fa/t/o/AJPS/ajps-1.html (retrieved 13/1/2014).

[3] “All things are renewed thus the essence of divine religion must be renewed too. Imitations must be completely put aside and the light of reality must shine. Teachings that are the soul of this era must be propagated and those are the teachings of Bahā’u’llāh which are famous in the horizons and are the breath of the Holy Spirit,” `Abd al-Bahā, Makātīb, vol. 3, p. 332.

[4] “Everything must be measured using the yardstick of knowledge and reason, for religion and reason are the same thing and will never be separated. Sometimes, a weak intellect cannot perceive [a concept]. In such a case, intellect has a shortcoming by being imperfect, not religion,” `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Payām-i malakūt, p. 93 (citing `Abd al-Bahā); “One of the fundamental teachings of Bahā’u’llāh is that true science and true religion must always be in harmony. Truth is one, and whenever conflict appears it is due, not to truth, but to error. Between so-called science and so-called religion there have been fierce conflicts all down the ages, but looking back on these conflicts in the light of the fuller truth we can trace them every time to ignorance, prejudice, vanity, greed, narrow-mindedness, intolerance, obstinacy or something of the kind,” J. E. Esslemont, Bahā’u’llāh and the New Era, p. 197.

[5] Stanwood Cobb, Ārāmish barāy-i jahān-i pur āshūb, p. 160.

[6] “What is meant by knowledge, is Divine Knowledge, and what is meant by reason is the perfect Divine Reason that religion must be in accord to,” `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Payām-i malakūt, p. 91 (citing `Abd al-Bahā).

[7] “Truth is one, and whenever conflict appears it is due, not to truth, but to error,” J. E. Esslemont, Bahā’u’llāh and the New Era, p.197.

[8] `Abd al-Ḥamīd Ishrāq Khāwarī, Payām-i malakūt, p.93.

[9] Some instances have been mentioned in Third Perspective.

[10] “Islam which has to date taken itself forward with power and pride, is now afflicted by the strike of new scientific knowledge. The same scientific knowledge that rang the death-bells of all the world’s great religions. Intellectual and educated Muslims are rapidly furthering themselves from their religion . . . Those that still abide by and believe in their religion are trying to change it to make it in conformity with modern sciences,” Stanwood Cobb,  Ārāmish barāy-i jahān-i pur āshūb, pp. 76–77.