3 March 1908

(Before Asr Prayer)

The Essence of Bai’at and Its Aims and Objectives

A person submitted that he had performed the Bai’at previously by letter and asked whether that alone was sufficient?

The Promised Messiah (as) replied that:

There are thousands of people for whom travel to Qadian is arduous because they do not have the capability due to worldly difficulties and they have done Bai’at only through correspondence. The purpose of doing Bai’at is to become cognizant of the essence of Bai’at. A person who does the Bai’at by sitting face to face and putting his hand in mine, but does not comprehend the real aim and objective or does not care about it—his Bai’at is of no benefit and has no value in the sight of God. But another person who does Bai’at while sitting a thousand miles away with sincerity of heart and having embraced the essence of Bai’at and its aim and objective, and then reforms his life accordingly by acting upon this declaration, such a person is a thousand times better than the one who does Bai’at face to face but does not act upon its essence.

Look at the example of Maulawi Abdul Latif, the Martyr. He was stoned to death because of this very Bai’at. For one full hour, he was pelted with stones continuously till his body became hidden in them, but he did not utter any sound of distress. He did not scream even once. Before this most cruel act, the king himself had asked him three times to recant from this matter, and promised that he would be forgiven if he repented, and even greater honour and rank would be bestowed upon him than before. But he was such that he gave God precedence and cared naught for any grief that was about to befall him for the sake of God. By remaining steadfast, he left behind a most excellent and living example of his perfect conviction. He was a great scholar, an eminent learned man and a recipient of Divine revelations. It is reported that when he was about to be taken away after his arrest, he was told that he could meet and see his wife and children, but he said that there was now no need for it. This is the true essence of Bai’at, and its aim and objective.

I receive letters from some people saying that someone was a mullah of a certain mosque, and because of doing your Bai’at people are displeased with him and are opposing him; in short, he was in great distress due to having done the Bai’at. And yet the fact is that very little harm can be done to anyone in this age and government of freedom and peace. At most, someone would have abused him with his tongue. What harm can such things do? But they consider it to be hardship, and complain that they have suffered this hardship on account of the Bai’at.

In short, some people cannot withstand even a little opposition. The fact is that they have not understood the true meaning of Bai’at at all.1