the right to education
I live in a country that is systematically defunding public education. As a result, access to quality education is increasingly becoming a privilege of only those who can afford it. As tragic as these circumstances are, they pale in comparison to what is playing out in Iran today, where denial of education has been adopted as a state strategy to block the progress and undermine the well-being of Iran’s largest religious minority.
Throughout Iran, Bahá’í school children are systematically harassed and intimidated by teachers and administrators who, under government instruction, are trying to obstruct their educational advancement. When they persevere and graduate from high school, they are then denied entrance to institutions of higher education.
In response, the Bahá’í community of Iran established a decentralized virtual university – the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education – run out of Bahá’í homes and other informal spaces, that is providing high-quality university education to large numbers of Bahá’í students. This response reflects a non-confrontational strategy of constructive resilience that Bahá’ís adopt in the face of injustice and oppression.
The oppression of Bahá’ís in Iran extends beyond denial of access to education. In the past 30 years, hundreds of Bahá’ís have been executed; thousands have been detained or imprisoned; tens of thousands have lost their homes, property, and livelihoods; and several hundred thousand have been the target of hostile propaganda from the media and the pulpit. And yet Bahá’ís are law-abiding citizens. Their only crime is belief in the oneness of humanity, the oneness of religion, the equality of men and women, the harmony of science and religion, the need for universal education, and other related principles which they strive to translate into action through service to the nations in which they live.
As a result of these beliefs, even those who arise to teach courses like mathematics or engineering at the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education are arrested, as the Iranian government strives to deny Bahá’í youth this sole venue for educational advancement. But the Bahá’ís persevere.
Against this backdrop, someone recently asked me: “If Bahá’ís are law-abiding citizens, why do they resist the state’s effort to close down their decentralized university?” This is an excellent question, because it requires us to think carefully about the limits of what it means to be a law-abiding citizen. Toward this end, the following comments reflect my personal exploration of this theme:
The teachings of the Bahá’í Faith are unambiguous regarding the essential role that good government and obedience to the rule of law must play in maintaining the welfare and advancing the orderly progress of human society. “What mankind needeth in this day,” Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “is obedience unto them that are in authority, and a faithful adherence to the cord of wisdom. The instruments which are essential to the immediate protection, the security and assurance of the human race have been entrusted to the hands, and lie in the grasp, of the governors of human society.”
Nevertheless, for Bahá’ís, obedience to government is not absolute. As a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi explains, “whereas the friends should obey the government under which they live, even at the risk of sacrificing all their administrative affairs and interests, they should under no circumstances suffer their inner religious beliefs and convictions to be violated and transgressed by any authority whatever. A distinction of a fundamental importance must, therefore, be made between spiritual and administrative matters. Whereas the former are sacred and inviolable, and hence cannot be subject to compromise, the latter are secondary and can consequently be given up and even sacrificed for the sake of obedience to the laws and regulations of the government.”
Among the most sacred spiritual convictions inculcated by the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is the central role that knowledge and learning play both in the development of the human soul and in the progress of society. As Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “Knowledge is one of the wondrous gifts of God. It is incumbent upon everyone to acquire it.” And again, “Knowledge is as wings to man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone.”
As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá elaborated, “There are certain pillars which have been established as the unshakeable supports of the Faith of God. The mightiest of these is learning and the use of the mind, the expansion of consciousness, and insight into the realities of the universe and the hidden mysteries of Almighty God. To promote knowledge is thus an inescapable duty imposed on every one of the friends of God.” Thus “education and training are recorded in the Book of God as obligatory and not voluntary.” Hence Bahá’ís are exhorted to “Make every effort to acquire the advanced knowledge of the day, and strain every nerve to carry forward the divine civilization.” “Let the loved ones of God,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá further counsels, “whether young or old, whether male or female, each according to his capabilities, bestir themselves and spare no efforts to acquire the various current branches of knowledge, both spiritual and secular, and of the arts.”
“All blessings are divine in origin,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá continues, “but none can be compared with this power of intellectual investigation and research, which is an eternal gift producing fruits of unending delight. Man is ever partaking of these fruits. All other blessings are temporary; this is an everlasting possession. Even sovereignty has its limitations and overthrow; this is a kingship and dominion which none may usurp or destroy. Briefly, it is an eternal blessing and divine bestowal, the supreme gift of God to man. Therefore, you should put forward your most earnest efforts toward the acquisition of science and arts. The greater your attainment, the higher your standard in the divine purpose. The man of science is perceiving and endowed with vision, whereas he who is ignorant and neglectful of this development is blind. The investigating mind is attentive, alive; the callous and indifferent mind is deaf and dead. A scientific man is a true index and representative of humanity, for through processes of inductive reasoning and research he is informed of all that appertains to humanity, its status, conditions and happenings. He studies the human body politic, understands social problems and weaves the web and texture of civilization. In fact, science may be likened to a mirror wherein the infinite forms and images of existing things are revealed and reflected. It is the very foundation of all individual and national development. Without this basis of investigation, development is impossible. Therefore, seek with diligent endeavour the knowledge and attainment of all that lies within the power of this wonderful bestowal.”
Thus, while Bahá’ís are exhorted to obey the laws of the lands in which they live, learning and the acquisition of knowledge are prescribed as “incumbent” and “inescapable” duties that are “obligatory and not voluntary.” For Bahá’ís, these sacred duties cannot be “violated or transgressed by any authority” and, unlike purely administrative matters, they are “not subject to compromise.”
Moreover, the inalienable rights to education, learning, and the acquisition of knowledge are upheld by various United Nations’ declarations and covenants, including Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
In light of these widely recognized human rights, along with fundamental Bahá’í beliefs and convictions, the Bahá’í community in Iran has strained every nerve to ensure educational opportunities for its children and youth in the face of government policies designed to deal with “the Bahá’í question” by ensuring “that their progress and development are blocked.”
The Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education is a clear illustration of the constructive resilience demonstrated by the Iranian Bahá’ís in the face of systematic oppression. Furthermore, it reflects the judicious balance that Bahá’ís strive to achieve between, on one hand, their civic duties as law-abiding citizens and, on the other hand, their conviction that education is a spiritual right that cannot be denied.
