Baháʼu'lláh,áʼí the prophet-founder of the Baháʼí Faith, called for global agreement on human rights protection nearly eighty years before the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. He taught that "an equal standard of human rights must be recognized and adopted.” Baháʼu'lláh called for governments to protect the human rights of their populations and to ensure their welfare. To safeguard human rights, Bahá'u'lláh urged global leaders to establish a world commonwealth that would include a system of collective security to protect populations against tyranny and oppression.
Divine basis for human rights
The Baháʼí Writings make clear that human rights are not merely a political or social concept that is contingent on recognition by governments. Rather, the Baháʼí perspective is that human rights exist with or without governments; indeed, they are a divine endowment flowing from the creation of all human beings with the potential to reflect the attributes of God. All human beings have for this reason an equal spiritual dignity. Accordingly, governments have a moral obligation to respect this divine endowment, an obligation that would exist even in the absence of treaties or customary legal norms obligating them to do so. Baháʼu'lláh impressed upon rulers this sacred duty: “For is it not your clear duty to restrain the tyranny of the oppressor, and to deal equitably with your subjects, that your high sense of justice may be fully demonstrated to all mankind? God hath committed into your hands the reins of the government of the people, that ye may rule with justice over them, safeguard the rights of the down-trodden, and punish the wrong-doers.” These are divinely ordained responsibilities that no government can legitimately shirk.
Bahá'u'lláh also teaches that because of this equal spiritual dignity, all human beings are members of a single human family that should be unified. This means that all should treat one another as brothers and sisters, and in turn honor and respect the rights of all other human beings, not only as co-equals, but as spiritual relatives. He declares, “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.” Recognition of this fundamental connectedness is a precondition, according to the Baháʼí teachings, for the full realization of human rights. Baháʼu'lláh asserts in this connection: “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” Human Rights will remain no more than a morally admirable concept so long as they are not anchored in such an appreciation for human unity. That unity provides the impetus, the motivation, the will, to uphold and defend the rights of others. And it implies that human rights are the concern of everyone, not just governments.
Background
The earliest use of the terminology of human rights in publications by Baháʼí institutions coincided with the inception of their official relationship with the United Nations. Three of the first four documents submitted to the newly established international organization in 1947 and 1948 were statements on various aspects of human rights intended as contributions to the preparatory work on the UDHR. The first of these was an eight-page statement entitled “A Baháʼí Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights” which was presented to the Human Rights Commission in February 1947 on behalf of eight national Baháʼí administrative bodies.
The Baháʼí International Community (BIC) explains that concern for human rights can be found throughout the Baháʼí Writings. Baháʼu'lláh, urged the rulers of the earth to “rule with justice ... safeguard the rights of the down-trodden, and punish the wrong-doers.” He taught that “there shall be an equality of rights and prerogatives for all mankind.”
Shoghi Effendi, the authorized interpreter of Bahaʼu'lláh's teachings, states that: “[t]he unity of the human race, as envisaged by Baháʼu'lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which .... the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, and will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples.”