Jamál, 18 Asmá’ (Names), 183 B.E.
Quotes for Reflection
Every meeting which is organized for the purpose of unity and concord will be conducive to changing strangers into friends, enemies into associates, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá will be present in His heart and soul with that meeting. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá [1]
Question for Consideration
When following guidelines and principles for Baháʼí consultation, how does a group select particular solutions or lines of action to pursue out of several viable alternatives? What role does facilitation play? [2] [3]
Perplexity Computer Response:
A Baháʼí-consulting group does not ordinarily choose among viable alternatives by bargaining for personal preferences or trying to “win” an argument. It treats every proposal as a shared resource, investigates it in light of the group’s purpose and the relevant reality, seeks unity around the course that seems wisest, and then acts together—learning from results and adjusting when experience calls for it. [4] [5]
How selection happens
A useful sequence is:
- Clarify the question and purpose.
Before comparing options, the group identifies what it is actually trying to accomplish: What need is being addressed? Who is affected? What principles, constraints, capacities, and facts matter? Consultation is described as an investigation of truth, not merely an exchange of preferences. [4] - Bring forward alternatives freely.
Participants offer views candidly, courteously, and without needing to defend an idea as their own. Once expressed, an idea is understood to belong to the group: it can be adopted, combined with another proposal, revised, postponed, or set aside without implying a judgment of the person who raised it. This detachment allows the group to compare real possibilities rather than form camps around people. [4] [6] - Test alternatives against the common good.
The group asks which line of action most coherently serves the purpose, promotes justice and unity, is feasible with available capacities, and responds to the facts. It should give serious consideration to differing perspectives, particularly because a minority insight may reveal something a majority has overlooked. The aim is not a compromise that merely divides differences, but a clearer collective understanding that may produce a new or blended option. [4] [5] - Seek consensus or unanimity.
Unanimity is the ideal—not as artificial agreement or pressure to conform, but as the result of honest inquiry, humility, and willingness to change one’s view when a better one emerges. Consultation is to be prayerful, loving, sincere, and free from insistence on one’s own opinion. [4] [5] - If necessary, decide by majority.
In the formal consultation of a Spiritual Assembly, if full agreement cannot be reached after adequate consultation, the majority view prevails. All members are then expected to support and carry out the decision wholeheartedly, including those who initially favored another option. This united implementation is important: the group can only fairly learn whether a decision works if it is actually given a coherent trial. [4] - Treat action as part of learning.
Selecting a line of action is not necessarily a permanent verdict. The group can observe results, consult again, and modify or replace the decision as new knowledge arises. Baháʼí consultation is therefore connected to systematic action: decide, act, reflect on experience, and refine. [5]
Choosing among several good options
When alternatives are all reasonable, the group need not establish that one is perfect before moving. It can select a next best experiment—the option that is most aligned with the purpose, most timely, most likely to build capacity or unity, and most practical to carry out now.
For example, if a community group agrees it should support youth but has three workable proposals—weekly study space, arts activities, or a neighborhood-service project—it might consult on:
- The needs youth themselves have expressed.
- The human and material resources actually available.
- Which option can begin simply and reliably.
- Which will create learning or capacity useful for later efforts.
- Whether two proposals can be sequenced rather than forced into competition.
It might then say: “For the next three months, let us undertake the service project, review participation and outcomes monthly, and revisit the other two possibilities afterward.” That is a decision, not indecision; it is also humble enough to remain teachable.
The standard is therefore not “Which alternative proves that my judgment was correct?” but “What can this body, acting in unity, responsibly do now in service of the common purpose?”
Facilitation’s role
Facilitation is procedural and enabling, not directive. A facilitator helps the group practice consultation well; they do not become the owner of the outcome, a partisan advocate, or a substitute decision-maker.
A good facilitator can:
- Help define the question before solutions dominate the conversation.
- Ensure relevant information, perspectives, and quieter voices are included.
- Protect the atmosphere of dignity, courtesy, candor, and detachment.
- Distinguish ideas from their proponents, so proposals can be examined without personal defensiveness.
- Summarize emerging points of agreement, unresolved questions, and the practical implications of each option.
- Notice when discussion is becoming repetitive, polarized, rushed, or argumentative.
- Help the group state a clear decision: what will be done, by whom, by when, with what resources, and how learning will be reviewed.
- Encourage the group to defer a matter when the discussion has become prolonged or contentious and a more receptive moment is needed. Baháʼí guidance explicitly advises postponing consultation when it is giving rise to disputation. [4] [5]
In a formal Spiritual Assembly, facilitation should not create a hierarchy of opinions. The authority to make the decision belongs to the elected body collectively, not to whoever chairs or facilitates. More broadly, Baháʼí administrative guidance emphasizes “humble fellowship” and frank, loving consultation rather than dictatorial authority or the imposition of plans. [7]
A practical meeting pattern
For a group selecting one action from several credible alternatives, this compact structure fits Baháʼí principles:
- Open in a prayerful, receptive spirit.
- State the shared purpose and decision question.
- Review facts, experience, and affected people’s perspectives.
- Put all options on the table without attaching them to individuals.
- Explore strengths, risks, resources, and implications for unity and justice.
- Ask whether a new combined, staged, or pilot approach has emerged.
- Seek consensus; if a formal body cannot reach it, take the required majority decision.
- Record the action, responsibilities, timeline, and review point.
- Support the decision unitedly and revisit it through experience rather than recrimination.
Thus facilitation serves the spiritual and practical conditions in which a group can discover a course together. The group’s task is not to eliminate diversity, but to transform diverse views into informed, unified action. [4] [5]
Be the Voice of…
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. [8] 8
Footnotes
[1] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/435024988
[2] Perplexity Computer. “Selecting solutions or lines of action during Baháʼí consultation.” Edited by Steve Bosserman. September 3, 2026. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/cf6d492e-690d-445c-baf0-6505fff414fd
[3] Transformative Leadership Education Staff. “Unite, Decide, Thrive: Using Consultation to Improve Decisions.” (Free Online Course). Transformative Leadership Education. https://tinyurl.com/courseconsultation
[4] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/249611345
[5] The Bahá’í Faith Staff. “Spaces of Consultation.” Bahá’í International Community. https://www.bahai.org/action/institutional-capacity/spaces-consultation
[6] Bahá’í World News Service Staff. “Baha’is offer decision-making model at UN commission.” BWNS, February 10, 2010. https://news.bahai.org/story/758/bahais-offer-decision-making-model-un-commission
[7] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/419079542
[8] ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. THE PROMULGATION OF UNIVERSAL PEACE. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/628985716
Frameworks for Understanding the World 