Social & Economic Development in the Baha'i Faith. SED is fundamentally Baha'i.

1. Principles and History

2. Overview
SED is Baha’i
Guiding Principles
History – Where we’ve been
History – What we’ve learned
Our ever-advancing Civilization

3. Our Source of Power
Is it within human power, O Hakim, to effect in the
constituent elements of any of the minute and indivisible
particles of matter so complete a transformation as to
transmute it into purest gold? Perplexing and difficult as
this may appear, the still greater task of converting satanic
strength into heavenly power is one that We have been
empowered to accomplish. …The Word of God, alone, can
claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity
required for so great and far-reaching a change.
Bahá'u'lláh,
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 200

4. The Concept of SED is Enshrined in the
Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh
All human beings are created to carry forward an
ever-advancing civilization.
The creation of a peaceful global society that fosters both
individual and collective well-being is at the heart of the
Bahá'í vision of the future. Within the framework of a
growing community concerned with moral and spiritual
transformation, social and economic development is one
expression of the Bahá'í commitment to realizing this
vision.

5. The Concept of SED is Enshrined in the
Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh
“This readjustment of the
social economic is of the
greatest importance
inasmuch as it insures the
stability of the world of
humanity; and until it is
effected, happiness and
prosperity are
impossible.”
‘Abdu'l-Bahá,
Bahá'í World Faith,
‘Abdu'l-Bahá Section, p. 240

6. Principles
The fundamentals of the whole economic condition are divine in
nature and are associated with the world of the heart and spirit …
without knowledge of [Bahá’í] principles, no improvement in the
economic state can be realized. The Bahá’ís will bring about this
improvement and betterment but not through sedition and appeal
to physical force—not through warfare, but welfare. Hearts must
be so cemented together, love must become so dominant that the
rich shall most willingly extend assistance to the poor and take
steps to establish these economic adjustments permanently. If it is
accomplished in this way, it will be most praiseworthy because
then it will be for the sake of God and in the pathway of His
service.
‘Abdu'l-Bahá,
The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 238

7. Guiding Principles: Service
Now they (the members) must, in perfect spirit and fragrance, in
sincerity of heart, in attraction by the fragrances of God and by the
confirmations of the Holy Spirit, engage in service; in the promotion
of the Word of God; the diffusion of the fragrances of God; the
training of souls; the promulgation of the Most Great Peace. They
must raise the Banner of Guidance and become the host of the
Supreme Concourse.
‘Abdu'l-Bahá,
Bahá'í World Faith, p. 403
Service to the community should be the prime objective for selecting
projects and this should be made clear to the local inhabitants.
Universal House of Justice,
Office of Social and Economic Development, 12 Dec. 1983, p. 3

8. Guiding Principles: Consultation
Consultation bestoweth greater awareness and
transmuteth conjecture into certitude. It is a
shining light which, in a dark world, leadeth the
way and guideth. For everything there is and will
continue to be a station of perfection and maturity.
The maturity of the gift of understanding is made
manifest through consultation.
Bahá’u’lláh,
Consultation, Compilation of Compilations, p. 93

9. Guiding Principles: Consultation
From the beginning, Bahá'í
activities in the development area
have emphasized collective
decision-making and collective
action at the grassroots level.
Consultation among all the
members of a community is central
to the success of every Bahá'í
development project. The use of
consultative methods often who have been historically excluded from
promotes novel solutions to decision-making.
community problems and greater Experience has shown that consultation
fairness in the distribution of is an indispensable tool that enables
community resources, and serves to communities to sustain and modify
uplift those members of a development initiatives and thereby
community, such as women and contributes to self-sufficiency and a higher
minorities, quality of life.

10. Guiding Principles: Unity
The first duty of the members is to effect
their own unity and harmony, in order to
obtain good results. If there be no unity, or
the Committee becomes the cause of in-
harmony, undoubtedly, it is better that it
does not exist… Therefore, when the unity
of the members of the Committee is
established, their second duty is to read the
verses and communes, to be in a state of
commemoration and mindfulness, that they
may see each other as if in the presence of
God.
‘Abdu'l-Bahá,
Star of the West, vol. VII. 9, p.114

11. Guiding Principles: Example
Our task is to build the Order of Bahá'u'lláh.
Undeflected by the desperate expedients of those
who seek to subdue the storm convulsing human life
by political, economic, social or educational
programs, let us, with single-minded devotion and
concentrating all our efforts on our objective, raise
His Divine System and sheltered within its
impregnable stronghold, safe from the darts of
doubtfulness, demonstrate the Bahá'í way of life.
Wherever a Bahá'í community exists, whether large
or small, let it be distinguished for its abiding sense
of security and faith, its high standard of rectitude,
its complete freedom from all forms of prejudice,
the spirit of love among its members and for the
closely knit fabric of its social life.
Universal House of Justice,
Messages 1963 to 1986, p. 137

12. Guiding Principles: Transformation
It is not enough to proclaim the Bahá'í message,
essential as that is. It is not enough to expand the rolls
of Bahá'í membership, vital as that is. Souls must be
transformed, communities thereby consolidated, new
models of life thus attained. Transformation is the
essential purpose of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, but it
lies in the will and effort of the individual to achieve it
in obedience to the Covenant.
Universal House of Justice,
1989 Ridvan Message

13. Guiding Principles: Balance
We must seek a balance between the spiritual and practical
requirements of life:
The oneness of mankind, which is at once the operating principal
and ultimate goal of Bahá'u'lláh’s Revelation, implies the
achievement of a dynamic coherence between the spiritual and
practical requirements of life on earth.
Universal House of Justice,
16 Sept. 1993
The eagerness of the friends to serve, often carries them away, and
they forget that a sound sense of business management is also
much needed, if we are to harbor our resources and accomplish
all our goals.
Shoghi Effendi,
Lights of Divine Guidance: vol. 1, p. 216

14. Guiding Principles: Self-Sufficiency
…the long-term conduct of the project should aim
at self-sufficiency and not be dependent upon
continuing financial support from outside
Universal House of Justice,
Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 552
The goal is to cultivate self-sufficiency through
community awareness in order to reduce
dependency on outside aid and advice.
Bahá‘í International Community,
1994 Aug 17, Human Rights Extreme Poverty

15. Guiding Principles: Dignity and Happiness
Projects should be seen as means of rendering assistance
and help. Through them, the participants should be able to
gain in experience and confidence; in self-respect and
dignity.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the USA
Developing Distinctive Baha'i Communities
No matter how far the material world advances, it cannot
establish the happiness of mankind. Only when material
and spiritual civilization are linked and coordinated will
happiness be assured.
‘Abdu'l-Baha,
The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 109

17. History
The earliest documented Bahá'í development projects were schools
established by the Bahá'ís of Iran at the turn of the century. These were
established in response to a stream of letters from `Abdu'l-Bahá
extolling the importance of education, especially for women.
More than ten schools in urban areas and approximately forty rural
schools were operated by the Bahá'ís between 1888 when the first
kindergarten opened in Ishqabad, Russia and 1934 when all Bahá'í
schools were forced to close because they would suspend classes on
Bahá'í Holy Days.
Holly Hansen,
Overview of Bahá'í Social and Economic Development

18. The Reality of Illiteracy
There are no reliable numbers for the early part of
the last century, as it wasn’t kept track of, but
certainly less than 40% of Iranians could write.
Literary statistics are different for men and women
as well, with women’s overall literacy rate
consistently being much lower than men’s.
And there was an overall poor level of literacy
around the world 100+ years ago.

19. From the early 1920s to 1963, the
Bahá'í community outside of Iran,
although few in numbers and with
extremely limited resources, a number
of Bahá'í schools and student hostels
were established around the world.
The first of these was the New Era
Bahá'í School in Panchgani, India,
which began as a student hostel in
1945.
It was followed by others in the Pacific,
Latin America, and Africa. During this
same period, the Bahá'ís of Iran,
constrained by religious intolerance
and persecution from carrying out any
publicly visible projects at that time,
virtually eliminated illiteracy within the
A Bahá'í kindergarten class in Uganda.
Bahá'í community and implemented an
The two year kindergarten program was
extensive program of moral education
established in 1957 and now has 140
for children and adults.
students.
Processes of Development: The Bahá'í
Approach, One Country Magazine

20. Springboard to the Future
The innovative but diffuse efforts of Bahá'ís, up to this point, were
transformed by the 20 October 1983 letter of the Universal House of Justice
which called on individuals and Bahá'í communities to apply the teachings
of Bahá'u'lláh systematically to the problems of their societies. This seminal
statement pointed to:
the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh as a source of order in the world,
asserted the coherence of the spiritual and material dimensions of
human life,
praised the social and economic progress achieved by the Bahá'í
community of Iran,
announced the formation of an Office of Social and Economic
Development at the Bahá'í World Centre,
and defined the role of various Bahá'í agencies in fostering
development.
Holly Hansen,
Overview of Bahá'í Social and Economic Development

21. The response to this letter of the Universal House of Justice resulted in
exponential growth in the number of development activities reported
to the Bahá'í World Centre--a rise from 127 in 1979 to 1,344 in 1986.
More than 1000% growth in activities in just seven years.
Most of these were small-scale, community-initiated activities, but the
number of more ambitious projects, with physical infrastructure and
full-time staff, also increased dramatically during this period.
1400
1200
1000
800 1979
600 1986
400
200
0
Number of Documented Activities

22. What is real Development?
The New Era Development Institute (NEDI) in Maharashtra, India has used a
simple but revealing exercise to help individuals define what their community
needs. All participants are asked to draw a picture of what their villages are
like. According to an article in One Country magazine, “The drawings are
often done with childish simplicity, showing stick figures and little regard for
perspective, and the subjects are usually quite similar: they mostly depict a
series of huts along a dirt road, surrounded by garbage and undernourished
children.”
The individuals are then asked to draw a picture of what they would like their
villages to become. The first time they do this, most of the students will draw
straight roads, electric utility poles, and big buildings such as schools or
hospitals. Their drawings are also full of vehicles and nice houses with
television sets inside. Interestingly enough, the drawings of the “developed
villages” often lack people.

23. The NEDI instructors then ask if the
big buildings, electricity and television
are what make people happy. After
some discussion, the students realize
that they have simply drawn what
they’ve seen on television and further
that these virtually unattainable
material gains aren’t necessary for the
actual betterment of their community
or its happiness. The students are
asked if the people on television in the
developed areas are happy and the
answers soon surface: “No, they are
A developed village, city- not happy.” There is crime, pollution,
corruption, and people are afraid to go
style, big buildings. out at night in these cities.

24. Thus, it becomes clear that the changes
they’ve drawn for their villages are only
changes in the physical environment, and
not in the people themselves. It is finally
clear that people would almost certainly
be happier if these material things were
not in the village. At the end of the
discussion, the individuals are asked to
draw another picture of what a
“spiritually developed” village would be
like. They then draw a new kind of
village with lots of people in it who are
all working together and cooperating.
The village is also cleaner and more
orderly as a significant change to the
physical environment.
A developed village where
Bahá'í International Community,
“What is Real Development?”, One Country, 9, 3 people are the focus.
(October-December 1997)

25. Balancing Act: Spirit and Mind
From the Bahá'í perspective, then, the set of capacities necessary for building
up the social, economic, and moral fabric of collective life must draw upon the
resources of both the mind and the heart.
By fully integrating spiritual principles into community development
activities, ideas, values, and practical measures will emerge that promote self-
reliance and safeguard human dignity. These, in turn, encourage and in fact
establish a strong foundation for sustainability. In this way, patterns of
dependency are avoided and conditions of inequality are progressively
eliminated.
Thus, in steps this idea of the upraising of the standard of living—which is not
defined or measured by the contents of one’s pocket book or whether or not
one has electricity, but by the condition and the content of their hearts and
minds. This is primary.

26. Ever-advancing Civilization
Bahá'u'lláh refers to the human being "as a mine rich in
gems of inestimable value," and states that the purpose of
life and society is to generate creative processes which
serve to release those "gems" of human potential. As
individuals begin to cultivate their innate capacities, so the
community around them is transformed, and impetus is
given to "an ever-advancing civilization." It is therefore
the hope of the Bahá'í community that its current modest
efforts in the development field will serve to promote a
model of capacity building that results in widespread
moral and material advancement.

27. Overview
SED is Baha’i
Guiding Principles
History – Where we’ve been
History – What we’ve learned
Our ever-advancing Civilization

28. The Future Is Clear
Even or odd, thou shalt win the wager. The friends of God
shall win and profit under all conditions, and shall attain
true wealth. In fire they remain cold, and from water they
emerge dry. Their affairs are at variance with the affairs
of men. Gain is their lot, whatever the deal. To this
testifieth every wise one with a discerning eye, and every
fair-minded one with a hearing ear.
Baha’u’llah
Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 154