succession to abdul baha

`Abdu'l-Baha as Haykal from Baha'u'llah's pen. (White, 1981, pg. 751)

little known to the Baha'i community `Abdu'l-Baha's brother, Muhammad-`Ali and descendants, question the succession of `Abdu'l-Baha by Shoghi Effendi, they argue that the succession should have been from `Abdu'l-Baha to Muhammad-`Ali. However, the text they point to as succession does not connote an appointment of succession by Baha'u'llah of Muhammad-`Ali after `Abdu'l-Baha. It refers to the station (maqam) of Muhammad-`Ali being less than that of `Abdu'l-Baha the disputed text appears in the Book of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah (Kitab-i `Ahd, farsi):

The Will of the divine Testator is this: It is incumbent upon the Aghsán, the Afnán and My Kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book: ‘When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root.’ The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch [‘Abdu’l-Bahá]. Thus have We graciously revealed unto you Our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful. Verily God hath ordained the station (مقام ) of the Greater Branch ( الغصن الاکبر) [Muḥammad ‘Alí] to be beneath ( بعد) that of the Most Great Branch (غصن اعظم) [‘Abdu’l-Bahá]. He is in truth the Ordainer, the All-Wise. We have chosen ‘the Greater’ after ‘the Most Great’ (الاکبر بعد الاعظم), as decreed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/TB/tb-16.html

source: http://reference.bahai.org​/fa/t/b/TB/tb-15.html (accessed 7/15/2011)

You will notice that this statement defines their stations and then immediately re-iterates for clarity and emphasis, rather then the first being an explanation of station immediately followed by a statement of leadership succession. This becomes even clearer when one reads the entire Kitab. The key term to pay attention to is بعد which means to be more distant or beneath, the confusion comes from "'the Greater' after 'the Most Great'" when it should probably be more clearly translated as it's first occurence "'the Greater' beneath 'the Most Great'". It would be my supposition that if this were about succession another term more appropriate would be used such as khalafa, to follow after or succeed as in the noun "Khalif" (Caliph)

A'zim and Akbar in Sufism:

Anatolia in the 16th century the sons of the shaykhs were depicted as a “first degree son” and a “second degree son” (derece-i evvel, derece-i sani) [Savaş 1980: 52]. Regarding the other possible candidates coming from lateral branches of the shaykh-family, they were also categorized as a “son from the female branch” (evlâd-i inas) or a “son from the malebranch” (evlâd-i zükûr) [Savaş 1992: 52]. (see silsilah)

Hans Wehr Arabic-English Dictionary

Unitarian Baha'i Argument:

In Bahaullah’s will, Ghusn-i-Akbar was chosen as second in rank, after his elder brother: “Truly, God has ordained the station of Ghusn-i-Akbar after the station of the former [Ghusn-i-Azam, Abbas Effendi]. We have surely chosen Akbar after Azam as a command from the All-Knowing, the All-Wise!” (literal translation from the Arabic, which differs from the Haifan Baha’i Faith translation that is designed to make it look like Ghusn-i-Akbar is inferior to Abdul-Baha).

source: http://www.uubahai.com/2010/03/ghusn-i-akbar-part-1-the-facts/ (accessed 7/16/2011)

Although this is an interesting argument there is no duality in the previous sentences as can be seen from the clear context of the full paragraph in question. No where in the Kitab-i `Ahd is there mention of dual authorities or a shared responsibility of leadership of the community as suggested by Unitarian Baha'is. The fact remains that the term translated literally as "after" has the clear connatation of "distance" not one of succession.

A confessional written by Badi'ullah, the brother of Muhammad `Ali repudiating Muhammad `Ali's claims against `Abdu'l-Baha, Badi'ullah supported Muhammad `Ali then recanted and placed his allegiance with `Abdu'l-Baha, then recanted his recantation and informed on `Abdu'l-Baha for Muhammad-`Ali.

Eyewitness account, Khatirat-i Hayat of Habibu'llah Afnan, to these events from an early Baha'i that supported `Abdu'l-Baha, showing the uniqueness with which Baha'u'llah held his son `Abdu'l-Baha:

Even more examples of dictionary definitions of bu'd:

And an example showing the difference between "distance" and the seemingly same, but notice the difference in the spelling with the addition of a an 'h' on the end for "after":