In one of His Tablets Bahá'u'lláh refers to the law of Huququ'lláh as ranking in importance immediately after the two great obligations of recognition of God and steadfastness in His Cause, and yet the introduction and implementation of this law are characterized by kindness, forgiveness, tolerance and magnanimity. Although it deals with the material things of this world, it is placed among those spiritual obligations resting on the individual soul, such as prayer and fasting, the fulfilment of which is a direct responsibility of each believer towards God, not subject to the sanctions or impositions of His institutions in this world. It is, indeed, a clear expression of the priorities with which Bahá'u'lláh views the duties of mankind. First comes the spiritual, and then the material -- however important in practice the latter may be.
(From a document titled "The Development of the Institution for the Huququ'lláh", prepared by the Research Department at the Bahá'í World Centre and sent to all National Spiritual Assemblies on 25 March 1987. A revised version was subsequently prepared and sent to all NSAs on 31 July 2002)