The ''Tablet to The Hague'' is a letter which

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: ‎, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás ( fa, عباس), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh and served as head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was later canonized as the ...

wrote to the

Central Organisation for Durable Peace The Central Organization for a Durable Peace was established at The Hague, The Netherlands, in April 1915. Its members were individuals from ten European states, Germany, Belgium, England, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 17 December 1919.

Historical background

When the Central Organization for Durable Peace came together, it published its constitution in newspapers all over the world. This was read by Mr. Ahmad Yazdání who in consultation with Hand of the Cause Mr.

Ibn-i-Asdaq Mírzá ʻAlí-Muḥammad-i-K͟hurásání ( ar, ; died 1928), known as Ibn-i-Aṣdaq, was an eminent follower of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was appointed a Hand of the Cause and identified as one of the nineteen Ap ...

wrote a paper to the organization informing them about the Baháʼí Principles and suggesting they seek guidance from ʻAbdu'l-Bahá regarding their aim to establish universal peace. The organization wrote a letter through Mr. Yazdání to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá dated February 11, 1916. When the letter arrived ʻAbdu'l-Bahá revealed the "Tablet to The Hague" which was delivered in person to the organization by Mr. Yazdání and Mr. Ibn-i-Asdaq in June 1920. The letter was dated February 11, 1916, but this letter did not arrive for many years due to the war. By the time the letter arrived the organization had already been disbanded in June 1919 after the signing of the

treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

Content of the Tablet

In the tablet, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá gives an overview of Baháʼí principles, which include the following: * Declaration of universal peace. * Independent investigation of reality. * Oneness of humanity. * Religion must be the cause of fellowship and love. * Religion must be in conformity with science and reason. * Abandonment of religious, racial, political, economic and patriotic prejudices. * One universal language. * Equality of women and men. * Voluntary sharing one's property. * Man's freedom from the captivity of the world of nature. * Religion is the ideal safeguard. * Material civilization should be combined with Divine civilization. * Promotion of education. * Justice and right. He declares that the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

is "incapable of establishing universal peace", and calls for the establishment of a Supreme Tribunal, representing all countries:

Second Tablet to the Hague

The organization wrote a response to the "Tablet to the Hague" on the 12th of June 1920. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá responded with a second, shorter tablet to the Hague on the July 12, 1920.

Notes

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