Dissemble one’s faith (Taqiyya)

“In this Day, We can neither approve the conduct of the fearful that seeketh to dissemblehis faith, nor sanction the behaviour of the avowed believer that clamourously assertethhis allegiance to this Cause. Both should observe the dictates of wisdom and strivediligently to serve the best interests of the Faith.” ¹

“For whereas the friends should obey the government under which they live, even at the risk of sacrificing all their administrative affairs and interests, they should under no circumstances suffer their inner religious beliefs and convictions to be violated and transgressed by any authority whatever. A distinction of a fundamental importance must, therefore, be made between spiritual and administrative matters. Whereas the former are sacred and inviolable and hence cannot be subject to compromise, the later are secondary and can consequently be given up and even sacrificed for the sake of obedience to the laws and regulations of the government. Obedience to the state is so vital a principle of the Cause that should the authorities in ... decide to-day to prevent Baha’is from holding any meeting or publishing any literature they should obey ... But, as already pointed out, such an allegiance is confined merely to administrative matter which if checked can only retard the progress of the Faith for some time. In matters of belief, however, no compromise whatever should be allowed, even though the outcome of it be death or expulsion” ²

“Baha’is obey the laws, Federal or state, unless submission to these laws amounts to a denial of their Faith” ³

“We must obey in all cases except where a spiritual principal is involved, such as denying our Faith. For these spiritual principals we must be willing to die” ⁴