After the Israelites had advanced along every level of
civilization, and had achieved success in the highest possible degree, they
began little by little to forget the root-principles of the Mosaic Law and
Faith, to busy themselves with rites and ceremonials and to show forth
unbecoming conduct. In the days of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, terrible
dissension broke out among them; one of their number, Jeroboam, plotted to get
the throne, and it was he who introduced the worship of idols. The strife
between Rehoboam and Jeroboam led to centuries of warfare between their
descendants, with the result that the tribes of Israel were scattered and
disrupted. In brief, it was because they forgot the meaning of the Law of God
that they became involved in ignorant fanaticism and blameworthy practices such
as insurgence and sedition. Their divines, having concluded that all those
essential qualifications of humankind set forth in the Holy Book were by then a
dead letter, began to think only of furthering their own selfish interests, and
afflicted the people by allowing them to sink into the lowest depths of
heedlessness and ignorance.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘The Secret of Divine Civilization’)
