 Thank you so much for your very generous introduction and remarks, which I don't deserve it. Can you see me? This podium is tall, and probably some of you can see my mustache and eyeglasses. That is all right, really. I was thinking of walking with a mobile microphone, but apparently I have to be stuck here and give my lecture. So ironing my trousers has been useless, because you cannot see it. Friends, it is my pleasure and privilege to come to this marvelous gathering and address the issue of the evolution of the Bahá'í scholarship. I'm thankful to the organizers of the Association of Bahá'í Studies and wholeheartedly, really. I do hope that this presentation will be a humble contribution to the study of the background phases of progress and the future of the Bahá'í scholarship. I do hope that in the course of my presentation my comments will shed sufficient light on the required endeavors of the younger generation of the Bahá'í scholars and the role that they will have to play in its development. Bahá'í scholarship, like the Bahá'í teachings, Bahá'í writings, Bahá'í history has a very strong root and mighty connections with Islamic scholarship and the role that the olama, Muslim clergy, Muslim doctors, theologians, jurists, olama can be translated in many ways. I prefer the olama rather than the English translation of it. And olama is not, I think it's Englishized anyhow. And the role that olama played in Islamic civilization. In the Quran, the seeds of Islamic philosophy, theology, mysticism, jurisprudence were cultivated. It was upon the scholarly efforts of generations after generations of Muslim scholars that those seeds were developed, nourished, and matured. At the same time, it is a simple fact that the Muslim scholars where and still are primarily responsible for the misinterpretation of the Quran, the hadiths, oral sayings of the prophet and the imams, which have been conducive to Islamic sectarianism, this unity and even enmity among the Muslims themselves and in their approach towards other religions. In a letter written on behalf of the beloved guardian on the 14th of March 1927 to the spiritual assembly of the Bahá'ís of Istanbul, it is pointed out how in the past it was certain individuals who accounted themselves as superior in knowledge and elevated in position who caused division and that it was those who pretended to be the most distinguished of all who always proved themselves to be the source of content. When the Bab advanced his claim, he was accepted and admired by a group of ulama and received the greatest enmity from the ulama also. And we don't forget that those ulama in Tabriz who sentenced him to death were among the highest level of ulama of that time. During the time of Bahá'u'lláh we see the continuation of the same trend. He was accepted, supported and admired by some distinguished ulama such as Mirzab al-Fazgul-Paigani, Fazil Qa'ini and many others who also, while also, being severely attacked and opposed by the other scholars such as Muhammad Bagher Najafi known as Wolff in the Bahá'í writings. His son, Muhammad Taghi Najafi, the son of the Wolff in Islam. Hajj Karim Khan Kehrmani, the head of the Shaykh community whose behavior is even reflected in the most holy book of Bahá'u'lláh of the Kitab-e-Aghdas and of course, Sheikh Muhammad Hassan and others. But the Kitab-e-Aghdas refers to Hajj Muhammad Karim Khan and Sheikh Muhammad Hassan to distinguish ulama of the time of Bahá'u'lláh. In fact, one of the greatest challenges of Bahá'u'lláh was on the one hand to attract the ulama and on the other hand to show forth the shortcomings, prejudice and the lack of credibility. In addition to dealing with the ulama and Islamic scholarship in his major books such as the Kitab-e-Aghdas and the Kitab-e-Ighán, some of the leading tablets of Bahá'u'lláh are specifically revealed to the most influential clerics of his time such as the Tablet of Burhan, the Tablet of Proof and the Tablet of Qena, the Tablet of the Veil and many, many, many other tablets that I don't want to give the all the least here to Sadegh-e-Sangelaji, Ola Ali-e-Kani to Hajm-ul-Ladi-e-Sab-Zawari and many other distinguished ulama of his time. In fact, a very important portion of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh has to do with the ulama of his time and some of them have been the recipient of a specific Tablet. In fact, one of the most extensive Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh and most recent Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh revealed a year before his passing is the epistle to the Son of the World. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that Bahá'u'lláh in his 40 years of messengership had nothing more substantive than challenging, abrogating and changing the status, the role and the authority of the ulama in the face of his efforts towards the liberation and democratization of the institution of the human being on this planet Earth. It's obvious that in Islam, particularly among the Shi'is and my talk tonight, more or less focusing on the Shi'i sect of Islam and I don't deal that much with the Sunnis. It is obvious that in Islam, particularly among the Shi'is, the ulama have assigned themselves to be the in charge of the private, social, political and religious lives of the Muslim communities and conveniently the role of ulama among the Shi'is became distinguished around 2060, 8, 7, 2 then according to their belief the son of the 11th Imam went into occultation. The period of this occultation which is called the minor occultation Ghaibate Soura for the sake of the Persian friends here lasted for 70 years when the religious leaders of the time proclaimed that the hidden Imam had gone from the minor occultation to major occultation Ghaibate Kobra in 329 AH 939 which has lasted for centuries and still continues to the present moment. After the occultation of the hidden Imam the leadership in charge of the affairs of the community became a very crucial issue about who is going to be the interpreter of the Quran who is going to protect the community who is going to issue the fatwa religious order, religious sentences religious opinion, religious order and who is going to issue fatwa for jihad or the holy war against the infidels who will be in charge of the social, political and educational affairs of the community and who will deal with the daily running of the holy shrines, mosques and other religious endowments. In brief, who is going to carry on the responsibilities and the duties of the Imam who is now hidden? From this point onward Ulamar came to play an active role in the individual social political issues of the community and gradually they developed tens of positions among the Shi'is and also the same institutions the same positions are among the Sunnis and Sunni communities such as Imams, Grand Imams Muftis, Hojjatul-Islam, Mushdahed, Ayatollah, Grand Ayatollah Seratul-Islam and these are the titles of different Ulamas according to their rank and knowledge and experience among the Sunnis and the Shi'is and they are generally called particularly among the Shi'is as Rohaniyoon, the spiritual leaders of the community. They also claim to be the supporters of the Sharia and spiritual leaders of the community and even to be in a position to legitimize the government and the political establishment. Velayat-e-Faqih, mandate of the jurist or the guardianship of the learned which has been a controversial institution particularly in the past 30 years in Iran is the embodiment of the role of Ulamar in the community. Regardless of the rank, position, religious and social status the hierarchy of the Rohaniyoon this spiritual leaders Ulamar is responsible for protection, propagation, education, guidance, economic, social, political affairs of the community. Bahá'u'lláh from the early days of his mission try to challenge and abrogate the Ulamar's role and authority. For example, in his tablet of Besharat, Glad Tidings he says, the first Glad Tidings is that the law of Holy War which was under the control of Ulamar has been blotted out from the book. This is in the tablets of Bahá'u'lláh revealed after Iqat-e-Faqih. The principle of Jihad, Holy War for centuries has been the most important religious institutions under the authority of the Ulamar. To cite a few more examples related to the role and the status of the Ulamar I confine myself to several teachings of Bahá'u'lláh particularly in the Kitab-e-Aqdas. In the Kitab-e-Aqdas, he prohibited his followers to ascend to the Mambar pulpit. This is one of the rules of the Kitab-e-Aqdas. He prohibited in the Kitab-e-Aqdas his followers to ascend to the Mambar or pulpit while lecturing people or reciting the writings. In this book he says ye have been prohibited from making use of pulpit. We know that Mambar pulpit has been a public scene for the Ulamar for centuries to advise, to educate, to agitate, to lead and to mislead the public in the mosques. In the Kitab-e-Aqdas, number two In the Kitab-e-Aqdas, are you getting tired? If you are, please have a short nap. It's alright with me because I cannot see you from here. And if you are having a nap I'll continue speaking and if I come to a very important point I will raise my voice to wake you up. So in the Kitab-e-Aqdas, number two in the Kitab-e-Aqdas he prohibited the congregational prayer saying it had been ordained that obligatory prayer is to be performed by each of you individually save in the prayer for the dead. The practice of congregational prayer has been annulled and this is the exact verse of the Kitab-e-Aqdas and even if the prayer for the dead is a congregational prayer a congregational prayer for the Baha'is but is not performed by an Imam a member of the family of the deceased a member of the local spiritual assembly a friend, somebody can say it even in that prayer turning the attention towards Gheble is not necessary. We know that Salat or Namaz and Namaz-e-Jum a particularly Friday prayer or the prayer of the assembly all together congregational prayer has been one of the most important institution in Islamic civilization and it is performed by the Imam or the leader of prayer usually in the masjids, mosques and a sermon is given which is delivered at the particularly meridian prayer the sermon has the role of advising encouraging and at the same time agitating the crowd to revolt and to rise against social and political authorities and institutions number three in the Qataba-Aqdas regarding the olama has to do with this fact that Baha'u'llah prohibited the question of ta'a'vil ta'a'vil means interpretation means personal understanding of the sacred text Baha'u'llah in the Qataba-Aqdas says that ta'a'vil or interpretation of the sacred writings about the ta'a'vil he says who so interpreted that which has been sent down from the heaven of revelation and alternate its evident meaning he verily is of them that have perverted the sublime word of God and is of the last ones in the lucid book this is the exact verse of the Qataba-Aqdas prohibiting the question of ta'a'vil and ta'a'vil is one of the major role of the olama the ta'a'vil interpretation of the Quran and hadith has been throughout centuries the main cause of sectarianism has been the main cause for enmity has been the main cause and a tool and a powerful tool by which the individual understanding of the olama has been dictated to the public number four Baha'u'llah in the Qataba-Aqdas prescribes that all people deal not faithlessly with the rights of God nor without his leave his leave make free with its disposal in Islam the individual olama were in a position to receive and administer the financial contributions of the community and in a very clear verse of the Qataba-Aqdas Hu'u'llah is not referred to individual Baha'is anymore number five in Islam the system of auqaf auqaf means endowments contribution for good things in Islam the system of auqaf religious donations or contributions constitute the common source of income for the olama whereas in the Qataba-Aqdas Baha'u'llah says endowments dedicated to charity revered to God the revealer the revealer of science none had the right to dispose of them without leave from him who is the downing place of revelation then we come to number six it is well established in the history of Shiz in particular after the major occultation in 941 that I referred to before the Shiites were obliged to observe the taglid taglid means imitation means to follow someone on religious matters the question of taglid imitation in Islamic legal context this taglid is very very important means to follow the decision of a religious expert much the head or jurist without necessarily examining the scriptural basis or reasoning of the decision blind imitation although the practice of imitation has been enforced throughout the Shiite history particularly since the Favid dynasty in the 16th, 17th centuries Ulamar required the believers to turn to the source of taglid or to imitate or to follow the religious reference and religious reference is Marjai taglid every believer is supposed to have a Marjai taglid and follow the decision on religious affairs the decisions of that source of that authority they are supposed to do that for the religious practices for guidance as a model to be imitated the institution of taglid and the Marjai taglid has been all together abrogated Baha'u'llah in so many of his writings putting an end to the religious authority of the Ulema to advise and to be followed in religious laws for example Baha'u'llah in the Tablet of Aslekul al-Qayr he says the essence of all that we have revealed for the is justice is for man to free himself from the idol fancy and imitation discern with the eye of oneness his glorious handiwork and look into all things with a searching eye thus have we instructed thee manifested unto thee words of wisdom that you mayest be thankful unto the Lord by God and glory therein admits all peoples this is Tablet of Baha'u'llah revealed after the Gita of Agdas and this is one of the profoundest section of Aslekul al-Qayr as living out the question of imitation number seven in many Islamic communities around the world Muslimologies act as judges and they are in charge of enforcing religious laws and conducting religious ceremonies such as performing marriage ceremonies divorce procedures inheritance funeral and in fact the jobs of the olama is the interpretation and maintenance of Sharia law in those communities in the Baha'i faith religious laws are applied by the Baha'i institution at the local and national assemblies in this regard the Gita of Agdas says the Lord had ordained in every city a house of justice be established where in shall gather counselors to the number of Baha'u'llah nine and should it exceed this number it do not matter it behooved them the members of the assembly to be trusted once of the merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardian and the guardianship among the she's is the role of one of the olama the guardian appointed of God for all that dwell on earth the underlying factors in this regard is the divine laws are God given but it's interpretation, implementation expansion and application are the humans job not individually but collectively on the basis of consultation of the selected institutions that pronounce the results of the legislative decision authoritatively and that is binding by the individuals and communities in this regard the output of the learned religious experts and the scholars are essential but new authoritative pronouncements on the religious needs come from the elected body i.e. the universal laws of justice which is the embodiment of people's will the guardian in the letter that has been written on his behalf on the 14th of March 1927 states that praise be to God that pen of glory has done away with the unyielding and dictatorial views of the learned and the wise dismiss the assertions of individuals as an authoritative criterion even though they were recognized the most accomplished and learned among men an ordained that all matters be referred to the authorized centers and specified assemblies even so no assembly has been invested with the absolute authority to deal with such general matters as affect the interest of nations nay, rather he has brought all the assemblies together under the shadow of the universal house of justice one divine appointed center so that there would be only one center and all the rest integrated into a single body revolving around one expressly designated pivot thus making them all prove against schism and divisions the end of the quotation from the Guardian by considering these rules of the Kitaba Agdas one can see that Bahá'u'lláh in fact either eliminated the legal and social status of Olamá or gave the role of Olamá to the Bahá'í administration as individual authority was absolutely abundant unlike many religions of the past the elected institution of the Bahá'í faith are divinely confirmed to direct the affairs of the faith on local, national and finally international levels the power to act however resides at the level of individual initiative and collective volition in other words the individual believers is tasked with converting into action the decisions that are made by the consultative bodies despite the fact that individual Bahá'ís have no role to play like the Olamá among the she is the Bahá'ís are however encouraged to study the writings Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitá'u'lláh that says recite ye the verses of God every morning and eventide who so failed to recite them had not been faithful to the covenant of God and his testament and who so turned away from the holy verses in this day is of those who throughout eternity turned away from God exact verse of the Kitá'u'lláh in this regard the individual believer draws upon his love for Bahá'u'lláh the power of the covenant and the dynamics of the prayers the inspiration and education derived from the regular study of the holy texts and the transformative forces that operate upon his soul as he strives to behave in accordance with the divine laws and principles as such to effectively translate the writings into action no individual believer can afford ignorance the responsibility to study the writings the responsibility to be inspired by them the responsibility to translate them into action these responsibilities fall on the shoulders of every individual Bahá'u'lláh in the Bahá'u'lláh writings it is abundantly clear that the human intellect acquiring knowledge scientific research and academic study of the faith are highly admired and encouraged as one of the vital sources for the ever advancement of human civilization Bahá'u'lláh have a very important role to play in the education and consolidation of the community enrichment of the intellectual life of the community and protection of the community against intellectual and religious attacks of others provided that they have no right to govern the individuals to impose their understanding upon the community and to struggle among themselves for power and leadership according to the Bahá'u'lláh writings and the messages of universal justice there exist no conflict between true science and religion and human understanding of scientific and religious phenomena is limited Bahá'is are not supposed to blindly accept the materialistic theories of the modern thinking as the harmony and the unity of the Bahá'í community upholds the most important goal of the Bahá'í faith we read in the writings of the faith very often that the scholars have the responsibility to act tactfully by fully utilizing their wisdom moderation and humility the scholars in the Bahá'í faith like any individual and groups are supposed to be followers or the adherent to the basic principle of Bahá'í ethics that means that the Bahá'í scholars are asked to be humble a steadfast in the covenant fighters against their egos just and generators of knowledge in the community they are to be the embodiment of the Bahá'í virtues in this regard we call into mind the greatest illness of the olama of the past dispensations i.e. egoism which poisoned and spiritually killed the learneds this illness represents itself to the Bahá'í scholars as their most important enemies the Bahá'í scholars are advised to write apologetic works describing the truths of the Bahá'í faith and convincingly defend its principle regarding the institution of Bahá'u'lláh in its tablet to Hajj Karim Khan Kiermani the tablet of Qainá the tablet of the veil Bahá'u'lláh states the following a long certain learned souls will appear who will arise to render assistance on to God who will answer every objection with conclusive and convincing proofs for their hearts will be inspired by the divine breath of the spirit he also in the tablet of Salman says it is absolutely incumbent on all persons to write whatever they can in rebuttal of those who have sought to refute God shall anyone pen a single word in rebuttal of a polemic against God a station would be bestowed upon him such as would be the envy of the concourse on Hajj this is a provisional translation of the tablet of Salman writings I cannot read I'm sorry sometimes I get emotional I was not supposed to get emotional at this point writings of the central figures of the Bahá'u'lláh faith and the beloved guardian leaves no doubt that the Bahá'u'lláh scholars are responsible to protect and propagate the faith they are to be in the front rows fostering the Bahá'u'lláh education collaborating with other learnedness of the world for the betterment of the human condition to work with each other within the Bahá'u'lláh community to increase the prestige of the faith and to qualitatively enrich the social fabric of the Bahá'u'lláh communities regarding God's purpose for the human race the House of Justice in the Resvan of 1967 said this is the theme we must pursue in our efforts to deepen in the cause what is Bahá'u'lláh's purpose for the human race for what ends did he submit appalling cruelties and indignities heaped upon him what does he mean by a new race of man what are the profound changes which he will bring about the answers are to be found in the sacred writings of our faith and in the interpretation by Abdul-Bahá and our beloved guardian let the friends immerse themselves in the ocean let them organize regular study classes for its constant consideration and as reinforcement to their effort let them remember conscientiously the requirements of daily prayers and reading of the word of God enjoyed upon all the Bahá'u'lláhs by Bahá'u'lláh the end of the quote from the message of 1967 it has been also leveled upon the scholars of the Bahá'í faith to identify the good and the evil and to show forth the ways that evil can be defeated it is upon the Bahá'í scholarship to do research on the substantial needs of the world defined the deficiencies in such areas as electricity poverty armament inequality between men and women social injustice and share its expertise to eliminate them in another word analytical approach towards current issues of social, political and particularly educational concern from the Bahá'í perspective is one of the most urgent contributions that the Bahá'í scholarship can make in our time in the message of the universal laws of justice to the world religious leaders in April 2002 it was brought to the attention of the it was brought to the attention the urgent need of the religious leadership to address the problem of religious prejudice a problem that is becoming a steadily a more serious danger to human well-being other responsibilities of the Bahá'í scholarship could be in building and expanding the human capacity bringing about awareness of the necessity of moderation and justice to the communities of human race working on social development in local, regional, international levels upraising the level of general knowledge of humanity regarding the purpose and the goal of life of the human being and to do research on different aspects of change in the new system of individuals and communal levels the ethical question of human transformation to be naturally a fighter of evil and to be builder of good comes to mind as another responsibility of the Bahá'í scholarship when its role or roles are concerned in this gathering now here is the point that I'm getting emotion in this gathering which is devoted to Bahá'í scholarship one cannot forget the great contribution of in-house Bahá'í scholars such as Muzab al-Fazl Fazil Mazandarani and Eshaq Habari in the east in the various fields of Bahá'í scholarship Abul Fazl was a greatest scholar he devoted his entire scholarly efforts to the awakening of his countrymen defending the Bahá'í principles and establishing the righteousness of the Bahá'í faith in accordance with the previous sacred books he devoted his entire time and energy to educating uplifting encouraging the Bahá'ís and developing their communities he was responsible to show the non-Bahá'í religious scholars of his time the meaning of a new day new dispensation and the necessity new approaches towards the meaningful practice of religion he was a champion of defending the covenant and defeating the claims of the covenant breakers he left behind dozens of books and treatises in about 40 years of his solid scholarship on historical doctrinal the proofs of the Bahá'í and the Bahá'í movements Fazl Mazandarani who passed away in 1957 came into the faith from a learned family he devoted his entire life either in the west or when he was in the east he traveled to the west he collected historical documents and to study understand and describe the nature of the Bahá'í and the Bahá'í histories after historians and chronicleers such as Nabil Zarandí he produces his Zuhour al-Haq the advent of the truth the most extensive historical study of the Bahá'í and the Bahá'í faith in nine volumes of several thousand pages he categorized the writings of the central figures of the faith under hundreds of titles in four volumes of his Amr Bahá'u the realms of command and realms of creation he wrote the history of religions from the Bahá'í perspective and he left behind his magnificent encyclopedic work with hundreds of entries in five volumes of more than 1600 pages he served the Bahá'í administration and was commissioned by Abdul Bahá and Zuhour al-Haq to carry on several important missions around the world from 1926 to 1972 E'sh'aqabah who passed away in 1972 and reached the quality and the quantity of Bahá'í scholarship by writing historical works apologetic by working on the Bahá'í jurisprudence by writing commentaries on the leading works of Bahá'u'lláh, Abdul Bahá and the Guardian and by classification and publication of the writings of the faith in more than a dozen volumes which contain hundreds of tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, Abdul Bahá and the letters of Shoghi Effendi he traveled extensively promoted the faith energetically and uplifted the spirit of the Bahá'í communities wherever he went he was a devoted, selfless and energetic teacher and scholar for about half a century in various fields of Bahá'í scholarship in the Persian language there is no time to even touch upon the contributions of Sadr al-Sudur Muhammad Ali Faizi Azizullah Soleimani Mr. Balyouzi and so on and many, many other scholars historical study of the Bahá'í faith in the last century the contribution and the enrichment of the scholarly heritage of these scholars is another important responsibility of the present and the future generation of the Bahá'í scholars Development of the Bahá'í Scholarship in the East which lasted for decades until the early 1970s when the Shah Al-Ali passed away faced the waves of opposition and persecution of the Bahá'í communities in Iran from 1970s onwards and since then for more than three decades it has considerably showed slowed down in Iran but the Bahá'í Scholarship in the West has been active during the last several decades thanks to the western veteran and new generation of Bahá'í scholars the name of some of whom were just mentioned before my talk particularly in the areas of historical research and academic papers that have been published on a variety of issues and critical commentaries that they have produced on many sacred texts of the faith is beyond the scope of my presentation in discussing the evolution role, evolutionary role of the Bahá'í Scholarship one cannot avoid a brief look at the future role and responsibilities of the Bahá'í Scholarship as has been envisioned in the writings of the central figures of the faith and the messages of the universal laws of justice characteristics of today's human race is as referred to by the universal laws of justice in the Resvan message of 1988 is the hunger for meaning and yearning of the soul a spiritual hunger is characterized by restlessness and this satisfaction with the moral state of society it is also evident in the upsurge of fundamentalism among various religious sects hunger is also responsible for the creation of new movements posing as religions or aspiring to take the place of religion you know what I mean in the face of the hunger or meaning in the face of the hunger for meaning and yearning of soul what would be expected from the Bahá'í Scholarship in answering such a question one might refer to the letter of the October 21st of 1943 of the Beloved Guardian which says the cause needs this has been repeatedly quoted in this conference the cause needs more Bahá'í Scholars people who not only are devoted to it to it and believe in it and are anxious to tell others about it but also who have a deep grasp of the teachings and their significance and who can correlate its belief with the current thoughts and problems of the people of the world he further says in a letter written on his behalf on the 5th of July of 1949 saying that if the Bahá'í want to be really effective in teaching the cause they need to be much better informed and able to discuss intelligently intellectually the present condition of the world and its problems we need Bahá'í Scholars not only people far far more deeply aware of what our teachings really are but also well read well educated people capable of correlating our teachings to the current thoughts of the leaders of society we Bahá'í should in other words arm our minds with knowledge in order to better demonstrate to especially the educated classes the truth enshrined in our faith the end of the quote from the Guardian in order to materialize the recommendation and the wishes of the Beloved Guardian the House of Justice wrote in the Resmond message of 1984 that there can be no doubt that the progress of the cause from this time on world will be categorized by an ever increasing relationship to the agencies activities institutions and leading individuals of the non Bahá'í world we shall acquire greater status a stature at the United Nations become better known in the deliberation of governments a familiar figure to the media a subject of interest to the academics and inevitably the envy of failing establishment our preparation for and response to this situation must be continual depending on our faith and on wavering adherence to its principles of abstention from partisan politics and freedom from prejudice and above all in an increasing understanding of its fundamental varieties and relevance to the modern world the themes of this message have received much more elaboration and explanation the following message of the House of Justice since the 1980s and up to the present time many of these messages particularly since the mid 90s call for fostering a culture of learning consultation and action aiming at construction of a global civilization to achieve these goals openness of the Bahá'í communities to the wider society and utilizing the expressive the experiences and the spiritual secular knowledge the learned Bahá'ís are needed to contribute to the process of the integration of the human society in its struggle towards reaching its destined goal which is the new world order that the faith must establish the integration is one of the twofold processes of integration that Shoghi Effendi describes their forces in his world order of Bahá'u'lláh while the Bahá'í individuals communities and institutions have a constructive role to play in the process of the integration the destructive forces that characterize the disintegration should be identified with the civilization that has refused to answer to the expectations of a new age and is consequently falling into chaos and decline this is the end from the world order of Bahá'u'lláh page 17 the exact word of the Guardian it's important to know to now look closer into the requirements and prerequisites for Bahá'í who would like to contribute which colorily works of the faith it's clear that the deep knowledge of the Bahá'í writings works of Shoghi Effendi messages of the House of Justice are the foundation of Bahá'í scholarship in addition it is also necessary I'm calling the younger generation of Bahá'í scholars here and those who are going to rise it is also necessary for the serious students of the Bahá'í scholarship to have the thorough knowledge and sound understanding of the history of the Bahá'í and the Bahá'í faith it's challenges developments and the spirit and the energies that were generated in those movements full familiarity with the historical sources nature and cornology of the events achievements changes expansion persecution and the development of the high women particularly and the Bahá'í institutions are bought a few leading areas of research for the Bahá'í scholars who are interested in its history in order to efficiently to effectively working on the Bahá'í scholarship it is essential to consider the thoughts of Shoghi Effendi when he was asked about his advice and recommendations he would reply to a study history, economics and sociology in order to be familiar with the progressive movements and thoughts being put forth today so that the Bahá'í could correlate these to the Bahá'í teachings in addition to those specific fields that Shoghi Effendi refers to it adds an extra dimension to one's scholarship if he or she acquires special skills and expertise in the languages of the revelation i.e. Arabic and Persian and sound knowledge of the history of religions particularly Islam and the Quranic sciences in which the Bahá'í faith is rooted knowing the methodology of research and critical scholarly work is also essential it is worth looking for a moment into those factors that can foster and develop the Bahá'í scholarship the Universal House of Justice says believers the Universal House of Justice believes that both international teaching center and the board of counselors can render valuable services in the field of Bahá'í scholarship by encouraging budding scholars and also by promoting within the Bahá'í community an atmosphere of tolerance for the views of others in addition to those institution it is vital as a personal initiative to establish research centers research funds and research scholarship for Bahá'í and non-Bahá'í who are interested in Bahá'í scholarship to facilitate and finance the research projects more than the support encouragement and financial assistance of the Bahá'í institutions and contributions of the individuals there are a few other elements that have to be taken into consideration one it is the role of the Bahá'í scholarship to show what is necessary to further develop and expand the growth of the faith two how to nourish the Bahá'í scholarship and how to bring forth the new generation of Bahá'í scholars three how in the light of new technology and web sciences new tools and skills can become available to the Bahá'í scholars number four how intellectual creativity and innovative critical thinking of the Bahá'í intellectuals can be encouraged supported and receive necessary attention and finally what would be the role and the contribution of the collective attitude of the Bahá'í towards the creation of an environment which will be conducive to a larger and deeper of the scholarship and scholarly activities and finally how scholarly efforts of the Bahá'í scholars can be more harmonized to aim at the attraction of more people to the faith and particularly to aim at the areas which impact the non-Bahá'í intellectuals I leave you with those heart and challenging questions and would like to end this humble presentation by tagging again the ABS organizers who gave me this opportunity to address the issue of the evolution of the Bahá'í scholarship and to quote from the guardian the beloved guardian the following excerpt from his letter that was written on his behalf in August 1943 where he stated we need profound Bahá'í scholars in the future both to teach and to administer the cause and to answer questions of the public and help rebuild the world this is a great challenge to you all and presents a wonderful opportunity for service to humanity the end of the quotation of the guardian my final point that I would like to present to you you as the rebuilders of the world and the major contributors to its spiritual awakening comes from the charter of the future world civilization where Bahá'u'lláh says happy are ye O ye the learned ones happy are ye O ye the learned ones in Bahá'u'lláh by the Lord ye are the blows of the most mighty ocean the stars of the firmament of glory the standards of triumph waving bewitched earth and heaven ye are the manifestations of a steadfastness amidst men and the day spring of divine utterance to all that dwell on earth what is it with him that turned it on to you and woe betide the forward this day it behooved whoso had coiffed the mystic wine of everlasting life from the hands of the loving kindness of the Lord his God the merciful to pulsate even as the throbbing archery in the body of mankind that brought him that through him may be quickened the world and every crumbling boom thank you so much for your attention