Eschewment of fellowship with ungodly

Eschew all fellowship with the ungodly

"O FRIEND!

"In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the nightingale of affection and desire loosen not thy hold. Treasure the companionship of the righteous and eschew all fellowship with the ungodly."

(Bahá'u'lláh, Hidden Words from the Persian, no. 3)

The company of the ungodly increases sorrow

"O MY SON!

"The company of the ungodly increaseth sorrow, whilst fellowship with the righteous cleanseth the rust from off the heart. He that seeketh to commune with God, let him betake himself to the companionship of His loved ones; and he that desireth to hearken unto the word of God, let him give ear to the words of His chosen ones."

(Bahá'u'lláh, Hidden Words from the Persian, no. 56)

Do not walk with or seek fellowship with the ungodly, as it turns the heart's radiance into fire

"O SON OF DUST!

"Beware! Walk not with the ungodly and seek not fellowship with him, for such companionship turneth the radiance of the heart into infernal fire."

(Bahá'u'lláh, Hidden Words from the Persian, no. 57)

Guard oneself from approaching wayward souls with evil deeds

"O servants! This nether world is the abode of demons: Guard yourselves from approaching them. By demons is meant those wayward souls who, with the burden of their evil deeds, slumber in the chambers of oblivion. Their sleep is preferable to their wakefulness, and their death is better than their life."

(Bahá'u'lláh, Tabernacle of Unity, par. 4.7)

Shun those who disbelieve in god and are wayward

"In the passage 'eschew all fellowship with the ungodly,' Bahá'u'lláh means that we should shun the company of those who disbelieve in God and are wayward. The word 'ungodly' is a reference to such perverse people. The words 'Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones' should not be taken in their literal sense. Bahá'u'lláh's advice is that again we should flee from the enemies of God and instead seek the fellowship of His lovers."

(Shoghi Effendi, Dawn of a New Day, p. 200; in Lights of Guidance, no. 1608)

Note

• The sources within the quote are from the Hidden Words and Lawh-i-Ahmad (Arabic), respectively.

For some wrongdoers, with discretion and tact, one can try to warn and educate them, but for some, only people with perfect integrity should associate with them; institutions should protect public from such individuals; associate with people of all religions and races but do not have fellowship with the wicked/people of negation/denial

"Question: `How should one associate with people of bad character?' `Abdu'l-Bahá replied:

"This, too, has two aspects. There are certain evils whose consequences affect the doer only and do not extend to others. Of course, with discretion and tact, we must try to warn and educate wrongdoers. They are sick; we must bring healing to them. But there are actions which are injurious to others. Association with persons who commit such deeds leads to a deterioration of morals and therefore to mingle with them is not advisable, except for persons of perfect integrity, who can also impart education. They should be exhorted to exert themselves to modify their morals and refine their behavior. The public should be protected from such harmful conduct by the institutions which administer justice. Thus, in the Tablets of the Blessed Beauty, although He commends association with people of all religions and races, He also forbids fellowship with the wicked, admonishing us to shun the people of negation and denial."

(`Abdu'l-Bahá, Mahmúd's Diary, Thursday, May 2, 1912, Chicago, p. 74)

"Another friend asked about association with the wicked or evil—doers. “These are of two kinds,” explained ’Abdu’l-Baha, “one kind where the harm returns to the evil—doer himself, and he is not an assailant. Undoubtedly such an evil—doer must be awakened and trained with wisdom. He is sick; he must be cured. But the other kind, whose menace reaches others, and when association with such a person becomes the cause of immorality—in this case association with such a person is not permissible, except for those who are able to stop, train and win him, and as much as possible strive to improve his morals and uplift his character; otherwise, appeal should be made to the Centers of Justice to protect human society from the menacing deeds of such persons. In the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, too, association with all the people of different religions and the recognition of the oneness of mankind is enjoined; but also association with the wicked is prohibited, and it is shown how it is necessary to be careful of the deniers and negative people.”

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Star of the West, vol. 19, issue 4, pp. 112-113)

Continuing dialogue with those who show a fixed antagonism to the Faith and who demonstrate to be impervious to any other ideas, is usually fruitless and even spiritually corrosive

"Discussion with those who sincerely raise problematic issues, whether they be Bahá'ís or not, and whether -- if the latter -- they disagree with Bahá'í teachings, can be beneficial and enlightening. However, to continue dialogue with those who have shown a fixed antagonism to the Faith, and have demonstrated their imperviousness to any ideas other than their own, is usually fruitless and, for the Bahá'ís who take part, can be burdensome and even spiritually corrosive."

(On behalf of the Universal House of Justice, on Academic Methodologies, at https://bahai-library.com/uhj_academic_methodologies )

If we see an evil person is not influenceable by us, we should shun his company due to it being unhealthy

"We know absence of light is darkness, but no one would assert darkness was not a fact. It exists even though it is only the absence of something else. So evil exists too, and we cannot close our eyes to it, even though it is a negative existence. We must seek to supplant it by good, and if we see an evil person is not influenceable by us, then we should shun his company for it is unhealthy."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, October 4, 1950: Spiritualism, Psychic Phenomena and Related Subjects, A Compilation from the Universal House of Justice, February 14, 1973 to National Spiritual Assemblies, in Lights of Guidance, nos. 1341, 1734)

Need to develop ability to detect good people from evil ones

"As Bahá’u’lláh says often in His Tablets the friends should develop a flair wherewith they can detect the good from the evil person. Mere name of Bahá’í does not constitute a Bahá’í. His character also has to be Bahá'í."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, December 18, 1932, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1406)

A true seeker should cherish avoiding boastful and worldly people

"a true seeker...should...regard avoidance of boastful and worldly people a precious benefit."

(Kitáb-i-Íqán, par. (213)-214)

May associate publicly with those engrossed in sensuality but may be tempted if closely associating; do not shun ill-tempered or those who lie but teach them and pray to be immune; associate with heedless who may be awakened and instructed

Question: "Are we called to associate with those with evil habits?"

"Answer: "There are various grades of evil habits. There are certain souls whose moral lives are petrified and immersed in a sea of sensuality. You may meet these people in public but there is no need of close association; because if one's character is not strong enough to be proof against temptation one may be slowly led into those risky paths. Sensuality is like leprosy. It is contagious. There are other people who are ill-tempered, who are accustomed to tell lies or fibs. We must not shun these people. Gently we must teach them—and pray every night that we may not become inoculated with these poisonous social microbes—and show them by example, by word and by deed the benefits of veracity and truthfulness. There are yet other souls who are heedless, who have been led to the edge of dangerous precipices through their own carelessness; one word of warning will bring them the realization of their critical conditions and immediately they retreat. One must associate with these people and try his best to awaken them and instruct them in the better rules of life."This content belongs to Pilgrim's notes, notes known not to have an original language text or transcript and which "may be interesting but not authoritative" to Bahá'ís

(Attributed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Diary of Mírzá Ahmad Sohrab, 1913-05-17)

See also

• Ungodly
• Occasions for preference to Bahá'ís#General non-preference to Bahá'ís (how friendship not to be restricted to believers)
• Detachment (re: individuals who may keep from the truth)
• Association with righteous
• Sex and the arts#Dance/Cultural-Entertainment Centers/Halls (avoiding the atmosphere of dance halls where drinking and promiscuity go on)
• Film (Avoiding corruption in current acting profession)

To-dos for this page

• There are other passages about the importance of respecting other's rights, being kindly to all, etc.; this is about willful association; a lot of quotations are relevant to be added to give a fuller picture here
• Include https://bahai-library.com/uhj_definition_word_ungodly