Land belongs to all people

 

Bahá’u’lláh, recognised by Bahá’ís as the Messenger of God for the new age, was sent to the prison-city of Akká (shown above) in the year 1868. Akká was in the Turkish province of Palestine, and Bahá’u’lláh was banished there by the Sultan of Turkey. Although Bahá’u’lláh’s family and a number of followers were sent with Him, they were not allowed to spread the Bahá’í message in this territory. To this day, this restriction has been observed by the Bahá’ís.

In all other territories of the world, the Bahá’ís have set up Bahá’í communities in towns, cities and villages, and wherever possible they engage in community-building activities designed to bring together people from different backgrounds. But in the Holy Land, where this sort of activity is so desperately needed, there are no local Bahá’í communities at all. This situation arose because of the ban on the Bahá’ís teaching their religion. The Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh is in the Holy Land, as are various other properties which are connected with Bahá’u’lláh and His family, and the Bahá’ís have been allowed to establish the Bahá’í World Centre there, but all the Bahá’ís working at the World Centre are volunteers from overseas. The community-building activities which are the hallmark of the Bahá’ís in so many areas of the world simply do not exist in the Holy Land.

In contrast to the way in which He was treated by the Iranian and Turkish authorities, Bahá’u’lláh’s message to the world was that mankind is one people, that the followers of all religions worship the same God, and that now is the time to end quarrels between religions and between peoples. When Bahá’u’lláh wrote to the political rulers of the time, He said that there should be a world peace conference where all the national boundaries should be agreed and fixed by a universal peace treaty. He said that the rulers should attend the universal peace conference themselves, or send their most important ministers. He explained that all the world’s governments should unite to remove any government which might break the resulting peace treaty. This agreement would result in peace and security for all. Over one hundred and fifty years later, we are still suffering from war and political instability, and this universal peace conference and treaty are needed more than ever.

Bahá’u’lláh was sent to Palestine as a prisoner, but became so respected that before the end of His life, He was allowed to live outside the prison walls. When Bahá’u’lláh died, in 1892, although He was technically still a prisoner, hundreds of the local inhabitants camped outside His house in mourning for nine days. Recognising the far-reaching implications of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, and realising the depths of Bahá’u’lláh’s spiritual insights, the Russian writer Tolstoy wrote that: “We spend our lives trying to unlock the mystery of the universe, but there was a Turkish prisoner, Bahá’u’lláh, in Akká, Palestine, who had the key.”

Bahá’u’lláh’s son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, had been appointed as the one to Whom the Bahá’ís should turn, and He oversaw the spread of the Bahá’í Faith into other parts of the world. He introduced Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings on the oneness of mankind to Europe and to North America, where breaking down the barriers between black and white communities was one of His foremost concerns. Whilst at home in the Akká/Haifa area, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was well-known as someone who personally tended the sick and fed the poor. As He had devoted His life to helping others and to promoting unity, when He in turn passed away in 1921, His funeral was attended by over ten thousand people: Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Bahá’ís (photo below).

As is apparent from the above, during Turkish rule there were groups of Muslims, Christians, Jews and other minorities living in Palestine. However, since the First World War took the territory of Palestine from the Turkish Empire, there have been competing claims to the land, and it has been fought over a number of times. The idea has taken hold in the minds of many people that the land should belong to one group of people, or else to a different group. In the Bahá’í Writings it states that, “Land belongs not to one people, but to all people.” Whatever political solutions may seem possible in the short term (if there are any political solutions), Bahá’ís see the acceptance of Bahá’u’lláh’s principles as essential for the world to move forward, and become one in spirit. When the universal peace conference is set up, the world will decide on the permanent boundaries of the Holy Land, and possibly boundaries within it. But the real and lasting solution, which must happen at some point, is that all human beings should be seen as one, and that land belongs not to one people, but to all people.