Over the past few weeks, I have been reading about the Bahá’í Faith. I find it to be a very compelling religion due to the core messages of the Faith and the principals taught by its leaders. I look forward to learning much more about it. The following is a brief summation of everything I have learned thus far:
Introduction & Brief History
For those that don’t already know, the Bahá’í Faith is considered to be the newest major world religion. It began in the middle of the 19th century in the middle east, mainly Iran. Bahá’ís follow the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, a Manifestation of God who had been foretold by the Báb. The Báb was a spiritual revolutionary who laid the groundwork for the Bahá’í Faith (for a Christian similarity think John the Baptist). The Báb began a movement for which he was eventually martyred, but not before he became a widely followed authority.
In the wake left by the Báb’s death, the Bábí movement was seeking the foretold leader. The Báb appointed Mírzá Yahyá as the leader of the movement shortly before his death. Bahá’u’lláh, who had been a prominent member of the Bábí community was banished to Bagdad because of his work. While there he spread his messages to the increasing number of people who came. Many saw Bahá’u’lláh as the true leader of the movement because of the clear insight and wisdom that he possessed. After being forced into another exile, this time to Constantinople the descent into his eventual imprisonment had begun. Bahá’u’lláh became the official head of the faith during his imprisonment in Palestine, where he died.
Progressive Revelation
Bahá’u’lláh explained a new concept, progressive revelation. Progressive revelation is at the core of the Bahá’í Faith. The idea suggests that God has revealed Himself to humanity multiple times throughout history. However, because civilizations naturally evolve differently and with different laws, customs, etc. God’s messages had to be tailored to fit the needs of the specific group in their own time. Otherwise, they may not be receptive to the message. What we, humanity, had fundamentally misunderstood is that these messages from God are all connected. These messages, fractured and disconnected throughout time, have been pitted against each other, each building up massive institutions to compete for the homage of the planet.
At the center of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings is a sense of unity and acceptance not matched by any other religious institution. Bahá’u’lláh pointed out that when you look at the actual writings and teachings from the “Manifestations of God” themselves (i.e. Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, Zoroaster, etc. ) the messages are virtually identical, with core themes, such as the golden rule, flowing through each. Therefore, religion should not be competing for control, but working together to worship the creator, God, who they all recognized.
Core Beliefs
Besides what has been stated above there are some other incredible aspects of the Bahá’í Faith. Because of the unifying aspects of the Faith, world peace through unity is a core theme. Most religions want to dominate through conversion or coercion, but Bahá’í’s aims to unite the world through a message of unity.
Unlike many other religious sects, there aren’t any dietary restrictions for Bahá’í’s. Because the Bahá’í Faith recognizes that in their time the foods that were restricted had been so because of unsafe food standards, those restrictions shouldn’t apply to us today. However, things like alcohol and habit-forming drugs shouldn’t be used except for medicinal purposes.
The Bahá’í faith places a huge emphasis on education and the sciences. They maintain that God and science must work in conjunction with one another and science will always provide deeper insight into the way God works. Much like their view of religion, the Faith says that science and religion have been positioned to be at odds with each other when they shouldn’t be.
Lineage
Abdu’l-Bahá (The Master)
Bahá’u’lláh was very clear that he didn’t want the Faith to split following his death. Before he died in 1892, he appointed his son as his successor. Abdu’l-Bahá, his son, lead the faith until 1921. As the interpreter of his father’s works, Abdu’l-Bahá was a successful leader who did great things for the Faith. His last will and testament served as the founding document, an essential road-map, for the bahá’í administrative order. He was also instrumental in spreading the Faith westward to Europe and North America. He also restated and reaffirmed the Bahá’í principals of gender equality, income equality, the unity of religion, the oneness of humanity and the unity of God.
Shoghi Effendi (The Guardian)
In 1921, following the death of his grandfather, Shoghi Effendi took over the religion. Apprehensive at first, he grew into the position and did wonders for the Bahá’í institution. Shoghi Effendi was instrumental in building the religious infrastructure that would carry the Faith past the next few decades. Though his religious role was limited to commentary on the writings of his three major successors (they don’t include Mírzá Yahyá), he was seen as the “Guardian” of the Faith. According to the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and Abdu’l-Bahá, there could have been more “Guardians” in the future, but the stipulations were that they be male descendants of Bahá’u’lláh. However, between Shoghi Effendi and his grandfather, all living possibilities had been labeled as covenant breakers and he died not having named a successor. This was the first time that the Faith had not simply been administrated by an individual, but a whole governing body. The Universal House of Justice was the only governing body left to adjudicate issues of the Faith.
Universal House of Justice
The universal house of justice is considered to be an infallible court system that can legislate decisions and dictate the forward movement of the Faith. Envisioned by Bahá’u’lláh, penned by Abdu’l-Bahá and carried out by ShoghiEffendi this governing body was many years in the making. The Universal House of Justice is located in Haifa, Israel.
More
For more information about bahá’í check out any of the following links:
