Exploring The Bahai Faith: A Beginner's Guide

The Bahá’í Faith is a monotheistic religion with approximately 8 million adherents worldwide. It was founded in the 19th century by Baháʼu'lláh, who is regarded as the latest in a line of divine educators or Manifestations of God, which include Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Baháʼís believe that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, but that God's messengers, including Baháʼu'lláh, provide a way for humans to know and love God. The Baháʼí Faith teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people, and it explicitly rejects notions of racism, sexism, and nationalism. Baháʼís believe that the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the future of society and of the nature and purpose of life.

Bahá'u'lláh's teachings

Theological Teachings

Bahá'u'lláh's theological teachings include statements about God, prophets/messengers, and humanity. Bahá'u'lláh taught that there is a single, all-powerful God, and that God is inaccessible, omniscient, omnipresent, imperishable, almighty, and the creator of all things in the universe. God's image is reflected in creation, and the purpose of creation is for the created to know and love its creator. Bahá'u'lláh taught that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, and that human understanding of God is achieved through His revelations via His Manifestations.

Social and Ethical Teachings

Bahá'u'lláh's social and ethical teachings include the equality of all human beings, regardless of gender, race, nation, colour, or social class. Other social and ethical teachings include the harmony of science and religion, gender equality, compulsory education, and the elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty.

Oneness

Other Teachings

Other notable teachings of Bahá'u'lláh include the need for independent investigation of truth, the importance of spiritual education, the need for a universal auxiliary language, and the importance of service to others, purity of motive, and work as a form of worship. Bahá'u'lláh also forbade drinking alcohol, gambling, drug abuse, gossip, and participation in partisan politics.

Bahá'í history

The Baháʼí Faith is a monotheistic religion founded in the 19th century by Baháʼu'lláh, an Iranian religious leader born in Tehran in 1817. Baháʼu'lláh's original name was Ḥusayn-ʻAlí, and he was known as Mírzá Ḥusayn-ʻAlí Núrí. Baháʼu'lláh was raised with no formal education but was well-read and devoutly religious. He was born into an aristocratic family and, at the age of 22, turned down a position in the government, instead choosing to manage family properties and donate his time and money to charities.

In 1848, Baháʼu'lláh took the title Bahá, meaning "glory" or "splendor" in Arabic, and which is the root of the word Baháʼí. In 1852, Baháʼu'lláh was imprisoned in Tehran, where he received several mystical revelations from God. He was released in 1853 and exiled to Baghdad, where his leadership revived the persecuted followers of the Báb, a merchant from Shiraz who had begun preaching in 1844 that he was the bearer of a new revelation from God. Baháʼu'lláh's leadership of the Báb's followers, known as Bábís, led to his expulsion from Iran, and he travelled to Baghdad in the Ottoman Empire.

In 1863, Baháʼu'lláh announced his claim to divine revelation and prophethood to his family and followers, stating that he was the prophet similar to Jesus and Muhammad that the Báb had foretold. Baháʼu'lláh was subsequently exiled to Constantinople (now Istanbul), and then to Adrianople (now Edirne). In 1868, a royal decree banished all Bábís to either Cyprus or ʻAkká, an Ottoman penal colony in present-day Israel. Baháʼu'lláh spent the remainder of his life in ʻAkká, where he died in 1892.

Baháʼu'lláh wrote at least 1,500 letters, some of book-length, that have been translated into at least 802 languages. His teachings revolve around the principles of unity and religious renewal, ranging from moral and spiritual progress to world governance. Baháʼís regard Baháʼu'lláh as a Manifestation of God in succession to Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Baháʼís believe that God periodically reveals His will through divine messengers, and that Baháʼu'lláh was the latest manifestation of this.

Baháʼu'lláh's teachings include the need for a united world federation, the equality of men and women, the elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty, compulsory education, a universal auxiliary language, and a universal tribunal to settle disputes between nations. Baháʼu'lláh's son, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, continued to spread the religion after his father's death, and today there are an estimated 8 million Baháʼís worldwide.

Bahá'í community

The Bahá'í community is governed by general principles proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh, and through institutions created by him that were later elaborated and expanded on by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Local Bahá'í communities elect a local spiritual assembly with jurisdiction over all local affairs of the community. National spiritual assemblies are also elected annually, with jurisdiction over Bahá'ís throughout an entire country. Every five years, an election is held for the Universal House of Justice, the nine-member governing institution of the worldwide Bahá'í community. This body applies the laws promulgated by Bahá'u'lláh and legislates on matters not covered in the sacred texts.

The Bahá'í community is open to all who profess faith in Bahá'u'lláh and accept his teachings. There are no initiation ceremonies, sacraments, or clergy. However, Bahá'ís are under spiritual obligation to pray daily, abstain from substances that affect the mind, practice monogamy, obtain parental consent to marry, and attend the Nineteen Day Feast on the first day of each month of the Bahá'í calendar. Bahá'ís between the ages of 15 and 70 are also required to fast for 19 days a year, from sunrise to sunset. The Nineteen Day Feast, originally instituted by the Báb, brings Bahá'ís together for prayer, scripture reading, community activity discussion, and socialising.

The Bahá'í community is present in more than 100,000 localities in almost every country and territory worldwide. As of 2024, there are approximately 8 million Bahá'ís worldwide.

Bahá'í principles

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded in the 19th century by Bahá'u'lláh, which teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. The Bahá'í Faith has three central figures: the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, and his son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

Bahá'u'lláh taught that religion is orderly and progressively revealed by one God through Manifestations of God, who are the founders of major world religions. Bahá'ís regard the world's major religions as fundamentally unified in their purpose, but divergent in their social practices and interpretations.

Bahá'u'lláh's teachings revolve around the principles of unity and religious renewal, ranging from moral and spiritual progress to world governance. Bahá'ís believe that all the founders of the world's great religions have been manifestations of God and agents of a progressive divine plan for the education of the human race. Bahá'u'lláh's peculiar function was to overcome the disunity of religions and establish a universal faith.

Bahá'ís believe in the oneness of humanity and devote themselves to the abolition of racial, class, and religious prejudices. Bahá'u'lláh describes each manifestation as having a twofold nature, one relating to God, the other to this material world. Bahá'ís believe manifestations reflect the light of God's Will and Purpose in this world. Bahá'í writings liken manifestations to perfect mirrors reflecting one sun—though every mirror is distinct, yet the reflection cast by each is of the same sun, varying only due to differences relating to time and position.

Bahá'u'lláh also describes the "voice" in his writings, which varies depending on the themes or topics covered, the specific backgrounds of their intended recipients, or particular questions which individuals asked of him. In many writings, Bahá'u'lláh speaks as a caring counsellor or friend sharing with another; in others, it is someone conveying what the manifestation asked him to pass on; in some, it is as if God is speaking in the first person; and in still others, it is a lowly one speaking with profound humility before God.

• The independent search for truth, unfettered by superstition or tradition.
• The oneness of the entire human race, the pivotal principle and fundamental doctrine of the Faith.
• The basic unity of all religions.
• The condemnation of all forms of prejudice, whether religious, racial, class or national.
• The harmony that must exist between religion and science.
• The equality of men and women, the two wings on which the bird of humankind is able to soar.
• The introduction of compulsory education.
• The adoption of a universal auxiliary language.
• The abolition of the extremes of wealth and poverty.
• The institution of a world tribunal for the adjudication of disputes between nations.
• The exaltation of work, performed in the spirit of service, to the rank of worship.
• The glorification of justice as the ruling principle in human society, and of religion as a bulwark for the protection of all peoples and nations.
• The establishment of a permanent and universal peace as the supreme goal of all humankind.

Bahá'í writings

The Baháʼí Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century. It teaches that all religions are essentially unified in their purpose, and that all people are one. The Baháʼí Faith has three central figures: the Báb, Baháʼu'lláh, and his son, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá.

The Baháʼí Faith's sacred literature consists of the writings and spoken words of the Báb, Baháʼu'lláh, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. These include letters, epistles, and books such as the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Kitáb-i-Íqán, Some Answered Questions, and The Dawn-Breakers.

The Baháʼí writings describe a single, omniscient, almighty God, who is the creator of all things in the universe. Baháʼís believe that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, and that human understanding of God is achieved through the recognition of divine messengers, or Manifestations of God, such as Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Baháʼu'lláh is considered to be the most recent of these Manifestations, and his teachings are seen as a continuation of the progressive revelation of God's will.

Baháʼu'lláh's teachings cover a range of social and ethical issues, as well as spiritual topics. He emphasised the importance of unity, the equality of all people, and the abolition of prejudice. He also established rules for Baháʼí community life and worship, including daily prayer, fasting, and monogamy.

Frequently asked questions