Bahá'í Faith

Abstract

The Bah a ’ i religion had established ethical and social principles for the ennobling of individuals and the ordering of societies well before “ social justice ” emerged as a dominant value in modern democracies. Indeed, the Bah a ’ i Faith claims to be a religion “ endowed with a system of law, precept, and institutions capable of bringing into existence a global commonwealth ordered by principles of social justice ” (Bah a ’ i World Centre, 1993 : 107). In the Bah a ’ i hierarchy of moral values, social justice ranks as a central and guiding principle. The distinctively pragmatic Bah a ’ i approach is to promote social justice through coordinated initiatives of “ social action. ” Bah a ’ i s generally prefer to speak of “ social action ” rather than “ social justice ” because they view the former as proactive and the latter as reactive. Social action, as they speak of it, anticipates social issues and addresses them prospectively; social justice aims at remediating injustices that have already occurred. Seen in this light, engaging in social action could be expected to reduce the need to redress social injustices. If “ social justice ” is conceived broadly (i.e., not simply as remedial or corrective), then “ social action ” is the name that Bah a ’ i s use to articulate a proactive model for achieving social justice. This proactive orientation to social justice involves acting on the basis of a vision and core values to reorder society by means of a multifaceted, systematic, and progressive plan of social engagement: multifaceted in that it involves undertaking different kinds of initiatives and projects simultaneously around the world; systematic in that it involves coordinating complementary initiatives and programs; and progressive in that it extends successful local and regional initiatives to communities around the globe. The centrality of justice in Bah a ’ i thought is evident in the declarations of the religion ’ s early leaders. Its founder, Bah a ’ u ’ ll a h (1817 – 1892), elevated justice by linking it in several ways to God and by citing its practical utility: “ The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice . . . turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it