Being Human: Baha'i Perspectives on Islam, Modernity, and Peace.

• Author: Heern, Zackery Mirza

Being Human: Baha'i Perspectives on Islam, Modernity, and Peace. By TODD LAWSON. Studies in the Bábi and Bahá'i Religions, vol. 25. Los Angeles: KALIMÁT PRESS, 2019. Pp. xxi + 172. $39.95 (paper).

Todd Lawson's Being Human: Baha'i Perspectives on Islam, Modernity, and Peace is a meditation on the relationship between the Baha'i faith and Islam. This book is a collection of four articles, now lightly revised, that were published over the course of the past fifteen years. The starting point of this contemplative journey for Lawson is the injunction from the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi Effendi (1897-1957), for Baha'is to obtain "'a sound knowledge of the history and tenets of Islam" (p. 1). Lawson concludes that the Baha'i faith "owes a great debt to Islam and its Prophet, Muhammad (p. xiv)." He, therefore, approaches Islam with supreme respect as the matrix from which the Baha'i faith was born. Lawson's career, as Professor of Islamic Thought at the University of Toronto, demonstrates his long commitment to the study of Islam, the Quran, Shi'ism, and the Babi-Baha'i tradition. His many books and articles approach these topics with a thoughtful and mystical gaze. Having written four books on the Quran, he has established himself as an influential scholar on Islamic thought.

In Being Human, Lawson charts a way of understanding the Baha'i tradition within the context of Islam. His methodology partially entails reading Baha'i texts in the glow of the Quran. He refers to the relationship between the Baha'i faith and Islam as one marked by "kinship" in which Islam is the "parent religion," which means that the Baha'i faith would not exist without Islam (p. xiii). However, the Baha'i faith is also an independent religion that explicitly champions modern ideas, such as gender and racial equality and industrial justice. Additionally, the founders of the Baha'i faith are critical of Muslim clerics and claim to have abrogated Islamic laws. Lawson, therefore, describes the Baha'i faith as post-Islamic and suggests that it is the only "Islamicate" movement in modern history that has so thoroughly separated itself from Islam (p. 9). This relationship to Islam has resulted in the persecution of Baha'is in several Islamic countries, especially in Iran where Baha'is are the largest religious minority. Such a paradox in the relationship between Islam and the Baha'i faith is at the heart of Lawson's analysis. He squarely places his emphasis on their...