Much of what distinguishes African life
is to be found in patterns of behaviour displayed in the tribe and particularly
in the family. Increasingly, urban life threatens to destroy the positive
qualities of such patterns. Since change is inevitable if progress is to be
made by any African society, a primary challenge to Bahá'ís is to preserve and
improve those wholesome aspects of tribal and family custom that are in accord
with the Bahá'í Teachings and to dispense with those that are not. Such a
challenge must be embraced with the understanding that the Book of God is the
standard by which to weigh all forms of behaviour. While unwavering action is
necessary, wisdom and tact and patience must, of course, be exercised. Let it
be understood, too, that Africans are not alone in the struggle to change
certain age-old practices. People everywhere have customs which must be
abandoned so as to clear the path along which their societies must evolve
towards that glorious, new civilization which is to be the fruit of
Bahá'u'lláh's stupendous Revelation. Indeed, in no society on earth can there be
found practices which adequately mirror the standards of His Cause. His own
truth-bearing Words clarify the matter: "The summons and the message which
We gave were never intended to reach or to benefit one land or one people only.
Mankind in its entirety must firmly adhere to whatsoever hath been revealed and
vouchsafed unto it. Then and only then will it attain unto true liberty. The
whole earth is illuminated with the resplendent glory of God's
Revelation."
(The Universal House of Justice, Ridván 1996 message
to the Bahá'ís of Africa; a compilation on ‘Traditional Aspects of African Culture’, prepared by the Research
Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1998)
