{"title":"Bahá’u’lláh and the God of Avicenna","authors":"Joshua D. Hall","doi":"10.31581/jbs-31.3.307(2021)","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31581/jbs-31.3.307(2021)","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyzes and compares the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh on the nature and existence of God with the core metaphysical positions of Avicenna, the preeminent philosopher of Islam. In three parts, it argues that Bahá’u’lláh validates the metaphysical principles underlying Avicenna’s argument for the existence of God as the vájib al-vujúd or “the Necessarily Existent”; that His statements affirm Avicenna’s deductive account of the divine attributes; and that He confirms the central content of Avicenna’s arguments regarding the nature of God’s creative act, His relation to the world, and the limitless duration, into the past and future, of His creation. It furthermore submits that Avicenna’s philosophy sheds a uniquely informative light on Bahá’u’lláh’s metaphysics and theology, insofar as his theological analysis helps one understand the philosophical content and significance, and rational rigor, of Bahá’u’lláh’s own statements on God’s existence, nature, and creative act.","PeriodicalId":393019,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Bahá’í Studies","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123495154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bahá’u’lláh’s “Long Healing Prayer” (“Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí”) in Light of a Metaphysics of Unity","authors":"Daniel Azim Pschaida","doi":"10.31581/jbs-31.3.302(2021)","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31581/jbs-31.3.302(2021)","url":null,"abstract":"Designated as having “a special potency and significance,” the Long Healing Prayer or “Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí” calls on 119 names of God in second-person invocations, supplicating spiritual forces for healing, protection, and guidance. While acknowledging those elements of Islamic worship with which this prayer engages, the author explores the originality and deep coherence of the prayer as expressed by its rhyme schemes, frequent alliterations, and structures organized around the number nineteen. Overall, this article aims to shed light on how the prayer functions as an invitation to meditate on God’s names—names which not only give shape to the human capacity to recognize an ultimately unknowable God, but also represent for Bahá’ís the underlying significance of spiritual and physical reality in a metaphysics of unity and wholeness.","PeriodicalId":393019,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Bahá’í Studies","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127630449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mind, the Heart, and the Infinite","authors":"M. Sabet","doi":"10.31581/jbs-31.3.474(2021)","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31581/jbs-31.3.474(2021)","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":393019,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Bahá’í Studies","volume":"29 6","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132984232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From the Study in the Shrine","authors":"Bruce K. Filson","doi":"10.31581/jbs-31.3.475(2021)","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31581/jbs-31.3.475(2021)","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":393019,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Bahá’í Studies","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122381997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Need for an Integrative Conceptual Framework for Addressing Mental Health Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"Bayan Jalalizadeh","doi":"10.31581/jbs-31.1-2.297(2021)","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31581/jbs-31.1-2.297(2021)","url":null,"abstract":"The burden of mental illness across the globe, already significant, has grown dramatically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is, in part, due to limitations in the current conceptual frameworks for understanding mental illness and resulting methods of practice. This paper provides an overview of the state of mental health and illness in the world, summarizes the prevailing frameworks and practices, and introduces a potential framework which could guide a response to the mental health challenges of the pandemic.","PeriodicalId":393019,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Bahá’í Studies","volume":"64 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123905187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"For Once","authors":"John S. Hatcher","doi":"10.31581/jbs-31.1-2.408(2021)","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31581/jbs-31.1-2.408(2021)","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":393019,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Bahá’í Studies","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133850148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Discourse on Bahá’í Theology","authors":"Vargha Bolodo-Taefi","doi":"10.31581/jbs-30.4.298(2020)","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31581/jbs-30.4.298(2020)","url":null,"abstract":"Translation and annotation by Vargha Bolodo-Taefi","PeriodicalId":393019,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Bahá’í Studies","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125767688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reflections on The Four Valleys of Bahá’u’lláh","authors":"Amrollah Hemmat","doi":"10.31581/jbs-30.4.300(2020)","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31581/jbs-30.4.300(2020)","url":null,"abstract":"The Four Valleys was revealed in Bagdad in a mystical language and style, in response to a request made by a prominent Sufi. Yet, despite the traditional Sufi concepts, language, and symbolism employed by Bahá’u’lláh, studying the text in light of the totality of Bahá’í writings demonstrates that its main purpose is to guide the wayfarers to the recognition of the Manifestation of God, soon to be revealed to be Bahá’u’lláh Himself. Furthermore, understanding the text as portraying two complementary paradigms—four parallel paths towards God and the four stages of a single path—leads to integrative and holistic perspectives and practices prescribed in the Bahá’í writings.","PeriodicalId":393019,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Bahá’í Studies","volume":"66 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124335612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}