‘The Secret of Wealth’: The Baha’i Work Ethic

You’ve probably heard of the Protestant work ethic from the renowned sociologist Max Weber’s classic treatise, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,” which links Puritanism to modern capitalism. 

But did you know that Baha’is have their own work ethic? 

The Baha’i work ethic, as I understand it, consists of three important elements: 

(1) independence – acquiring and practicing a self-sustaining livelihood; 

(2) excellence – striving for and achieving a high standard of skill and quality workmanship in pursuit of one’s profession; and 

(3) service – performing work in the spirit of contributing to the welfare of humanity.

RELATED: Is Accumulating Wealth the Point of Life?

In further exploring this distinctive Baha’i principle, let’s revisit Abdu’l-Baha’s brief presentation of this new and distinctive Baha’i teaching in his November 15, 1912 discourse:

… [Baha’u’llah] teaches that it is incumbent upon every soul to be qualified as the practicer of some useful trade, craft or profession and that the honest practice of such trade, craft or profession is to be regarded as an act of devotion. 

But the teachings of [Baha’u’llah] are limitless and there is no time now to go into further details. The point is that these teachings are new and that they are not to be found in any of the religious books of the past.

Let’s look at each of the three key elements of the Baha’i work ethic:

Independence

Baha’u’llah wrote the “Words of Wisdom,” a series of spiritual, moral, and otherwise practical maxims, one of which concerns the duty and virtue of earning one’s livelihood:

True reliance is for the servant to pursue his profession and calling in this world, to hold fast unto the Lord, to seek naught but His grace, inasmuch as in His Hands is the destiny of all His servants.

Here, “true reliance” can be understood to mean “self-reliance,” which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as: “Reliance on one’s own abilities and resources rather than those of others; independence, self-sufficiency.” 

Is there a greater social good involved in the independent, self-reliant pursuit of one’s chosen profession and means of livelihood? In the work known as the Glad-Tidings, which Baha’u’llah addressed to the people of the world, work is exalted to the rank of the worship of God. In the twelfth Glad-Tidings, Baha’u’llah wrote:

It is enjoined upon every one of you to engage in some form of occupation, such as crafts, trades and the like. We have graciously exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship unto God, the True One. Ponder ye in your hearts the grace and the blessings of God and render thanks unto Him at eventide and at dawn. Waste not your time in idleness and sloth. Occupy yourselves with that which profiteth yourselves and others. Thus hath it been decreed in this Tablet from whose horizon the daystar of wisdom and utterance shineth resplendent. 

In other words, earning a living now becomes a sanctified undertaking with spiritual, as well as social, value — perhaps considered sacred because of its social value. In the Baha’i writings, the pursuit of one’s livelihood is accounted as worship of God not only since it is self-sustaining — thus exemplifying the virtue of “true reliance” — but because it is also for the good and well-being of others, for their welfare and benefit, and not intrinsically due to any capital or personal gain:

For Baha’is, independence is its own virtue. Beyond that, excellence endows independence with an even greater purpose and value.

Excellence

Earning your livelihood in pursuit of your profession not only has intrinsic value, but potentially and ideally contributes to beauty and perfection in society, as indicated by Abdu’l-Baha in the following passage:

O thou servant of the One true God! In this universal dispensation man’s wondrous craftsmanship is reckoned as worship of the Resplendent Beauty. Consider what a bounty and blessing it is that craftsmanship is regarded as worship. In former times, it was believed that such skills were tantamount to ignorance, if not a misfortune, hindering man from drawing nigh unto God. Now consider how His infinite bestowals and abundant favors have changed hellfire into blissful paradise, and a heap of dark dust into a luminous garden.

It behooveth the craftsmen of the world at each moment to offer a thousand tokens of gratitude at the Sacred Threshold, and to exert their highest endeavor and diligently pursue their professions so that their efforts may produce that which will manifest the greatest beauty and perfection before the eyes of all men.

After independence and excellence, service sanctifies work even further.

RELATED: 4 Quotes on Spiritual Service that Guide My Professional Work

Service

The Universal House of Justice, the democratically-elected global leadership body of the world’s Baha’is, wrote in 2017: “Indeed, service to others and to society is a hallmark of the Baha’i life.” This includes service to others in the course of work or during one’s free time as well. Service is of such paramount importance that Baha’u’llah has written: 

That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth.

So important is work in the Baha’i hierarchy of values that the final three Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah declare:

O My Servants! Ye are the trees of My garden; ye must give forth goodly and wondrous fruits, that ye yourselves and others may profit therefrom. Thus it is incumbent on every one to engage in crafts and professions, for therein lieth the secret of wealth, O men of understanding! For results depend upon means, and the grace of God shall be all-sufficient unto you. Trees that yield no fruit have been and will ever be for the fire.

O My Servant! The basest of men are they that yield no fruit on earth. Such men are verily counted as among the dead, nay better are the dead in the sight of God than those idle and worthless souls.

O My Servant! The best of men are they that earn a livelihood by their calling and spend upon themselves and upon their kindred for the love of God, the Lord of all worlds.

Earlier in this series, I noted that Baha’u’llah’s principles may be seen as prophecies for the simple reason that they are such powerfully transformative socio-moral forces that they will “write the future,” as the saying goes. If the Baha’i work ethic, incorporating these three interlinked principles regarding work as worship — independence, excellence, and service — can be implemented in the world, just imagine what this ideal work ethic could do for humanity.

This is the true “secret of wealth” — of economic, spiritual, and social prosperity — according to Baha’u’llah.