First Trustee of Huququ’llah - Jinab-i-Shah Muhammad from Manshad, received from Baha’u’llah the title of Aminu'l-Bayan (Trustee of the Bayan)

To receive Huququ'lláh, Bahá'u'lláh brought into being one of the great institutions of the Faith, the Trusteeship of Huququ'lláh.

The first to be honoured with being appointed Trustee of Huququ'lláh was Jinab-i-Shah Muhammad from Manshad, Yazd, who eventually received from the Blessed Beauty the title of Aminu'l-Bayan (Trustee of the Bayan). Aminu'l-Bayan had embraced the Faith in its early years and had the bounty of entering the presence of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad. The fire of love kindled in his heart made him impatient to offer his services to the Threshold of his Beloved, and this undertaking he followed until the last moment of his life, surrendering all material belongings in the path of service. Encompassed by hardship, danger and lack of means, this trusted servant of Bahá'u'lláh, in journey after journey, would carry the friends' donations of Huququ'lláh and their petitions to the Sacred Threshold and, in return, bring them news and Tablets from the Blessed Perfection.

Huququ’llah (The Right of God) -- a talk by the Hand of the Cause Dr. ‘Ali-Muhammad Varqa at the Sixth International Convention, Haifa, May 1, 1988

Dearly loved friends,

At the inception of the Six Year Plan of the Universal House of Justice, which coincided with dramatic changes in many aspects of society, a new arena for rapid development of the Faith of God has been attained and the purpose and aim of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation have been unveiled before the very eyes of Government Authorities, Heads of States and Scholars who were not even aware of its existence.

At this rightful time the Universal House of Justice has emphasized the importance of acquiring knowledge of the laws and ordinances revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, and adopted the translation of the most Holy Book, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, into English as one of the sublime goals of this new plan.

Among the commandments and decrees revealed in this sacred Book is the law of Huququ'lláh, previously applicable only to the friends in the East. The Western friends became aware of this law with the dissemination of the compilation of the Holy text and the Sacred writings prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice.

Huququ'lláh is an Arabic word composed of two words, "Huquq" meaning "Rights" and "Allah" meaning "God". Therefore, Huququ'lláh means "The Rights of God", a part of the individual's possessions and income offered at the Threshold of the Lord.

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Spiritual condition of believer with respect to Huquq

The one true God -- exalted be His glory -- hath ever been and will continue to be exalted above every expression of praise and is sanctified from the world of existence and all the riches therein. Whatsoever proceedeth from Him produceth a fruit the benefits of which revert to the individuals themselves. Ere long will they perceive the truth of that which the Tongue of Grandeur hath uttered aforetime and will utter hereafter. And such benefits will indeed accrue if the Huquq is offered with the utmost joy and radiance and in the spirit of perfect humility and lowliness. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Compilation of Compilations, vol. 1, Huququ’llah)

God preserves everything we offer Him

O peoples of the world! Whatsoever ye have offered up in the way of the One True God, ye shall indeed find preserved by God, the Preserver, intact at God's Holy Gate. O peoples of the earth! Bear ye allegiance unto this resplendent light wherewith God hath graciously invested Me through the power of infallible Truth, and walk not in the footsteps of the Evil One, [1] inasmuch as he prompteth you to disbelieve in God, your Lord, and verily God will not forgive disbelief in Himself, though He will forgive other sins to whomsoever He pleaseth. [2] Indeed His knowledge embraceth all things... 

- The Báb  (Excerpts from Qayyumu’l-Asma, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)

[1] cf. Qur'an. 2:204

[2] cf. Qur'an. 4:51  

The “progress and promotion of the cause of God depend on material means.”

Nothing that existeth in the world of being hath ever been or ever will be worthy of mention. However, if a person be graciously favoured to offer a penny-worth -- nay even less -- in the path of God, this would in His sight be preferable and superior to all the treasures of the earth. It is for this reason that the one true God -- exalted be His glory -- hath in all his heavenly Scriptures praised those who observe His precepts and bestow their wealth for His sake. Beseech ye God that He may enable everyone to discharge the obligation of Huquq, inasmuch as the progress and promotion of the cause of God depend on material means. If His faithful servants could realize how meritorious are benevolent deeds in these days, they would all arise to do that which is meet and seemly. In His hand is the source of authority and He ordaineth as He willeth. He is the Supreme Ruler, the Bountiful, the Equitable the Revealer, the All-Wise.

- Baha’u’llah  (The Compilation of Compilations, vol.1, Huququ’llah)

Story: Every Penny Counts...

During one of Hájí Amín’s journeys to the Holy Land to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the late 19th or early 20th century — delivering the offerings of the Bahá’ís in payment of Huqúqu’lláh, as part of his duties as Trustee of the Right of God — the experience turned into discontent. Upon handing over the funds he had collected to the beloved Master, he was asked, “Hájí, was there anything else?”

At the time, the Trustee’s whole life flashed before his eyes. Most probably, he would have wished to be anywhere else in the world, rather than being challenged on his trustworthiness. Of course, the Master had full trust in him. But He knew something was missing. 

Back in his quarters that evening, dear Hájí Amin knelt down to God in subjugation and prayer, asking for guidance. At the moment he knelt, a piece of metal hit the hard surface of the naked floor, and the chiming sound grabbed his attention and interrupted his prayers.

It turned out that a penny had slipped through a tear in the lining of his overcoat, making his delivery of the Huqúqu’lláh payments short by one penny, in the presence of his beloved. The love of God came to safeguard him in less than 24 hours, and with that missing payment found, Hájí’s face was saved…

“Economic life is an arena for the expression of honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, generosity, and other qualities of the spirit.”

In the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, the nobility inherent to every human being is unequivocally asserted; it is a fundamental tenet of Bahá’í belief, upon which hope for the future of humankind is built. The soul’s capacity to manifest all the names and attributes of God—He Who is the Compassionate, the Bestower, the Bountiful—is repeatedly affirmed in the Writings. Economic life is an arena for the expression of honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, generosity, and other qualities of the spirit. The individual is not merely a self-interested economic unit, striving to claim an ever-greater share of the world’s material resources. “Man’s merit lieth in service and virtue”, Bahá’u’lláh avers, “and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches.” 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 1 March 2017)

"…payment of the Huqúq will enable the donors to become firm and steadfast and will exert a great influence on their hearts and souls.”

O my heavenly friends! It is certain and evident that the Incomparable One is always praised for His absolute wealth, distinguished for His all-embracing mercy, characterized by His eternal grace, and known for His gifts to the world of existence. Nonetheless, in accordance with His inscrutable wisdom and in order to apply a unique test to distinguish the friend from the stranger, He hath enjoined the Huqúq upon His servants and made it obligatory.

Those who have observed this weighty ordinance have received heavenly blessings and in both worlds their faces have shone radiantly and their nostrils perfumed by the sweet savours of God's tender mercy. One of the tokens of His consummate wisdom is that the payment of the Huqúq will enable the donors to become firm and steadfast and will exert a great influence on their hearts and souls. Furthermore the Huqúq will be used to charitable purposes. 

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá  (From a Tablet, The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Huququ’llah)

Story: "...thousands of worlds of incomparable splendor were unveiled to my eyes…” – a spiritual experience by a youth

Mirza Aqa Jan embraced the religion of the Báb when he was about sixteen years old and became instantly “aflame with devotion.” He was neither learned nor rich and made his living in his hometown of Kashan making and selling soap. Soap-making was a humble trade in those days, often carried out at home by people who were not well educated.

Mirza Aqa jan was also a seeker of truth who had seen the Báb in his dreams and believed in Him. He had also read the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and felt the urge to attain His presence. He left his home in Kashan unexpectedly and traveled to Iraq.

When he reached Baghdad, he learned that Bahá’u’lláh was visiting the Babís in the neighboring town of Karbila, and there He was the guest of one of the resident Bábis. This was before Baha’u’llah’s Declaration in the Garden of Ridvan. Mirza Aqa Jan followed Baha’u’llah to Karbila.

This is Faith -- a poem by Ruhiyyih Khanum

To walk where there is no path,

To breathe where there is no air,

To see where there is no light-

This is Faith.

To cry out in the silence,

The silence of the night,

And hearing no echo believe

And believe again and again

This is Faith.

To hold pebbles and see jewels

To raise sticks and see forests

To smile with weeping eyes

This is Faith.

We should thank Baha’u’llah for allowing us to “offer Him the Right of God”

Thank thou and bless thou the Lord for He hath allowed thee to offer Him the Right of God [1].  This is verily a special favour on His part, for thee; praise Him then for this commandment that is set forth in the Scriptures of thy Lord, of Him that is the Ancient of Days. Verily is He the Loving, the Tender, the Ever-Bestowing. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)

[1] Huququ’llah

Huqúqu’lláh Conference at Landegg Academy, Switzerland--August 1991

Ridvan 1991: The Universal House of Justice announces that “as of Ridván 1992, the beginning of the Holy Year, the Law of Huqúqu’lláh, the Right of God, will become universally applicable.”

Such an exceptional confluence of imminent achievements—the publication of the Kitáb-i- Aqdas, the progress of the building projects on Mount Carmel, the conclusion of the Six Year Plan, the inception of the Holy Year—animates the expectations of the Bahá’í world, sets the stage for mightier endeavours than have already been attempted, and points us all to the opening of a new phase of history. It seems fitting, then, that the sacred law which enables each one to express his or her personal sense of devotion to God in a profoundly private act of conscience that promotes the common good, which directly connects the individual believer with the Central Institution of the Faith, and which, above all, ensures to the obedient and the sincere the ineffable grace and abundant blessings of Providence, should, at this favourable juncture, be embraced by all who profess their belief in the Supreme Manifestation of God. With humility before our sovereign Lord, we now announce that as of Ridván 1992, the beginning of the Holy Year, the Law of Huqúqu’lláh, the Right of God, will become universally applicable. All are lovingly called to observe it. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (Ridvan 1991)

Offering of Huqúqu'lláh should be made “willingly, with joy and awareness”

After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas had been revealed in response to the pleas of the friends, Bahá'u'lláh withheld it from publication for some time and even then, when a number of devoted Bahá'ís, having learned of the law, endeavoured to offer Huqúqu'lláh, the payment was not accepted. The Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh show His acute consciousness of the way in which material wealth has been permitted to degrade religion in the past, and He preferred the Faith to sacrifice all material benefits rather than soil to the slightest degree its dignity and purity. Herein is a lesson for all Bahá'í institutions for all time.

However, as the beloved Guardian explained, funds are the life-blood of the Cause. God Himself, as Bahá'u'lláh stated, has made achievement dependent on material means. Therefore, as the awareness of the friends grew, He permitted Huqúqu'lláh to be accepted, provided the donor made the offering willingly, with joy and awareness. 

(From a document titled "The Development of the Institution of Huqúqu'lláh ", prepared by the Research Department at the Bahá'í World Centre and sent by the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies on 25 March 1987. A revised version was subsequently prepared and sent to all NSAs on 31 July 2002)

Huqúqu'lláh - “…ranking in importance immediately after the two great obligations of recognition of God and steadfastness in His Cause...”

In one of His Tablets Bahá'u'lláh refers to the law of Huququ'lláh as ranking in importance immediately after the two great obligations of recognition of God and steadfastness in His Cause, and yet the introduction and implementation of this law are characterized by kindness, forgiveness, tolerance and magnanimity. Although it deals with the material things of this world, it is placed among those spiritual obligations resting on the individual soul, such as prayer and fasting, the fulfilment of which is a direct responsibility of each believer towards God, not subject to the sanctions or impositions of His institutions in this world. It is, indeed, a clear expression of the priorities with which Bahá'u'lláh views the duties of mankind. First comes the spiritual, and then the material -- however important in practice the latter may be. 

(From a document titled "The Development of the Institution for the Huququ'lláh", prepared by the Research Department at the Bahá'í World Centre and sent to all National Spiritual Assemblies on 25 March 1987. A revised version was subsequently prepared and sent to all NSAs on 31 July 2002)

January 1987: First Huqúqu'lláh Conference in the Holy Land

"...nineteen per cent of one's capital is payable as Huqúqu'lláh..."

This Law [Huqúqu'lláh] of the Aqdas stipulates that nineteen per cent of one's capital is payable as Huqúqu'lláh when such capital has reached an amount of at least "nineteen mithqáls in gold".... In determining the amount a believer should pay, he should first deduct any debts and expenses he may have, and pay nineteen per cent of the remainder of his capital if it is equal to at least nineteen mithqáls of gold. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 21 January 1973; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Huququ’llah)

Huqúqu'lláh is the "source of blessings", the "mainspring of God's loving-kindness and tender love vouchsafed unto men"

As to the Huqúqu'lláh: This is the source of blessings, and the mainspring of God's loving-kindness and tender love vouchsafed unto men. Verily He can dispense with whatsoever hath been and will be. Until two years ago the matter of Huquq was undisclosed. When it was revealed it was by virtue of His grace. If a person be privileged to fulfil that which is prescribed in the Most Holy Book, it would assuredly be better for him, and to his greater behoof. However the observation of this injunction dependeth upon one's circumstances. Verily He speaketh the truth and guideth aright. 

- Baha’u’llah  (The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Huququ’llah)