Knowledge into Action: The Bahá’í Imperative to Serve Humanity

Abstract

Although the Bahá’í community is at the beginning of its understanding of how to apply Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings to heal the ills of the world, exciting learning has taken place regarding the development of patterns of community life and the application of Bahá’í principles to provide relief to the suffering of humanity. Still in a stage of infancy, experiments in Bahá’í-inspired social and economic development, or “social action,” have been reinforced by recent encouragement from the Universal House of Justice to engage in social action as a natural outgrowth of the maturation of community life and grassroots expressions of need. It is an exciting time to be a part of the Bahá’í community, as we are at the beginning of our learning regarding the implementation of social action as a tool for the well-being of society. This article examines the history of experience and evolution in thinking regarding social action in the Bahá’í community, focuses on the Tahirih Justice Center’s experience as one example of such learning, and critically examines the culture of service we must embody as a Bahá’í community.