The Babi and Baha'i Religion — Page 104
THE B Ā B Ī AND BAH Ā ’ Ī RELIGION 104 The sharia of B a b is embodied in Al-Bay a n. That of Bah a ’ull a h is embodied in Aqdas. Departures from Islam seems to have been made merely for the sake of making departures, for they do not confer upon mankind any additional benefit as compared to the Islamic Law which these sharias seek to replace. Taken on an intellectual plane, these sharias ex- pose themselves as crude and clumsy attempts to take the place of the Holy Qur’an. Departures made in regard to polygamy, Interest, number of daily prayers, their timing, instructions in regard to ablutions and personal hygiene, and the law of inheritance are either pointless, arbitrary, without any basis on sound reason that anyone can see, or simply absurd. Or they seem to cater for certain superficial social trends which half- baked and ignorant people take as signs of culture, civilization and progress. Neither the B a b nor Bah a ’ull a h claimed to be a prophet of God. Nor do their followers hold faith in them as such. Bah a ’ull a h ended by claiming Divinity for him- self, and no very great amount of intelligence is needed to reject outright the claim of a person who claims Divinity.