Bahá'í Websites

Support

(Unofficial)

Payment Gateways

"Wealth is highly commendable if it is acquired through a person's own efforts and through God's grace in business, agriculture, art, and industry, and if it is used for charitable purposes. Above all, if a wise and prudent person were to take measures that would enrich the majority of people, no undertaking could be greater than this, and it would be regarded in God's eyes as the utmost achievement, for such a benefactor would meet the needs of many and ensure their welfare and well-being. Wealth is very commendable, provided that the entire population is prosperous. But if a few are disproportionately rich while the rest are very poor, and no fruit or benefit comes from this wealth, it is merely a burden to the owner. On the other hand, if it is used to promote knowledge, establish schools, advance art and industry, and educate the orphaned and the poor — in short, if it is dedicated to the betterment of society, the owner will stand out before both God and humanity as the greatest of all the inhabitants of the earth and will be considered one of the people of paradise." ('Abdu'l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 29). The booklet Social Action, a collection of quotations prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, Original title: Social Action August 2020, No. 171).