Do you believe that one day Bahai will be the biggest religion in the world?

Question

for those who havent heard of Bahai... go to www.bahai.org

Answer 1

ABSOLUTELY!!! Wow, a question about my religion, woohoo!!! Becoming a Baha'i was the absolute BESTEST thing I ever did in my LIFE!!

Yes, it is written in Baha'i scripture that there will be one world religion - Baha'i of course - and one world gov't. This will all happen within 1000 yrs.

In the early days of Christianity, no one knew what that religion was either. Even 300 yrs after Christ, there were many who had never heard of it. Now, most of the world's peoples are Christian. Had one stated that in the Church's very early history, they would have been laughed at.

The Baha'i Faith is the fulfillment of the prophecies of all the world's religions. Really!

For those not familiar with us:

The Baha'i Faith is an independent religion and the youngest religion. Just as Christianity began in a Jewish backdrop but is independent from Judaism, the Baha'i Faith began in a Muslim backdrop but is independent from Islam. It is not a branch of Islam, but rather its own religion. We have our own scripture, calendar, holy days, prayers, and Messenger of God.

Baha'is believe in:
ONE God, one almighty, all-knowing, all-seeing God. There is no trinity in the Baha'i Faith. No one else is God but God.

UNITY!!! That is the central theme of the Baha'i Faith. We believe that there is one race, the human race. Doesn't mean we deny the existence of Black, White, Asian, etc, of course not. However, all are human beings, created in God's image, created beautiful. This we call UNITY IN DIVERSITY.


ISLAM
What is Islam? There are two major meanings of Islam. It's true that in the Qur'an (and Baha'is accept the Qur'an as the holy word of God) that the only religion acceptable to God is Islam. Oh? Then why are we still Baha'is?

First meaning of Islam
Islam is the religious dispensation given to man through Muhammad (pbuh). It's changed over time, as every religion does, but this religious dispensation is called Islam. Its followers are called Muslims.


First meaning of Islam (conventional meaning):
Islam is the religious dispensation given to man through Muhammad (pbuh). Its book is the Holy Qur'an. Its house of worship is a mosque, in English, and masjid, in Arabic. They have their Prophet-Founder - Muhammad, their calendar - the hejira (and all their religious holidays in it), their holy book - the Qur'an, their sabbath - Friday, their law - Sharia law, and so on and so forth. The entirety of this religious dispensation is called Islam. Its followers are called Muslims.

Second meaning of Islam (deeper, universal meaning):
Islam is the religion of the submission to the will of God. That's it. Someone who practices Islam is a Muslim. A Muslim is a person who practices the religion of submission to the will of God. In the Qur'an, Abraham and Moses and Jesus were called Muslims. But wait a minute? Abraham and Moses and Jesus existed long before Muhammad, so how can they be Muslims? They are Muslims because they practiced and promulgated and guided people to the religion of the submission to the will of God. ALL religions of God are Islam, each in its own time and each for its own prescribed time, until the next Messenger comes along. "Islam" has a more universal definition than the first meaning, it's more than the religion brought through Muhammad. Yes it is the Muhammadan dispensation, but it's also more. It is EACH dispensation, when God appointed that for mankind. Before Jesus, the Muslims were the followers of Moses. Before Muhammad, the Muslims were the followers of Jesus. You see?

Being Baha'is, we believe in another Messenger of God - Baha'u'llah - who came after Muhammad. So, in Baha'i belief, before Baha'u'llah, the Muslims were the followers of Muhammad. We also believe that we're the modern-day Muslims, being the followers of the present-day Messenger, being Baha'u'llah, pbuh. This does not contradict what the Qur'an says, because the only religion acceptable to God is the religion that teaches submission to His will.


INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF TRUTH
I admire you for searching, really I do. We are each responsible for our own spiritual development. What others say, whether at the pulpit, in the home, on tv, in radio, etc, is of course an influence, but we're supposed to research truth for ourselves. As in Islam, the Baha'i Faith advises its followers not to merely follow in the traditions of the conventional, but to seek the truth for themselves. The Baha'i Faith has no clergy, there is no priest telling us what the scriptures say. We are responsible for reading the scriptures ourselves. We can ask questions, but ultimately, the answers are found in the scriptures prayerfully.

In many cases, people don't bother opening scriptures, they just listen to what the clergy says and they accept it without seeking further. Baha'is know that we as human beings are more responsible than that for spiritual cultivation.

All seekers are called to wipe away their minds of preconceived ideas, to become "as children" as Christ said. Sometimes the obvious is in front of us, and we're so blinded by tradition that we never see it.


UNITY OF RELIGION
We believe in unity of religion very much, that all of God's religions are ONE RELIGION Every religion teaches the same Golden Rule. You can cross-reference the Bible, Qur'an, Bhagavad Gita, Baha'i Scriptures all day long. There are so many spiritual similarities, because the spiritual teachings never change. IE: honor your parents, know and love and obey God, be kind to animals, don't lie, don't steal, always tell the truth (there's no such thing as a white lie), do unto others as you would have them do unto you, etc. What changes are the outward things... sabbath day, calendar, holidays, ritual, dress code (if any), food restrictions (if any), etc. These things are secondary, but God prescribes what humanity needs FOR THAT TIME.


PROGRESSIVE REVELATION
God has never abandoned us, He has always sent a Messenger to humanity to be the link between us and Him. There are countless Messengers that have come to us throughout time, some of which are: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Zarathustra, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Muhammad, The Bab, and now Baha'u'llah (pbut), the Messenger of this day. Each Messenger has brought a new religious dispensation. With each Messenger, mankind received God's word (scripture), a calendar, new holidays, new "rules" (like not eating pork for Jews and Muslims, for example), etc. The Messenger is the Great Physician, prescribing what humanity needs at that time. Baha'is call them Manifestations of God. These Manifestations are not God, but they are the link between God and man. We need Manifestations, because people cannot encounter God alone. We cannot fathom God, He is unknowable, He is too great for us to fully comprehend, so He sends us His Messengers so that we may KNOW HIM AND WORSHIP HIM, which is our life's purpose.


UNIVERSAL AUXILIARY LANGUAGE
We believe that throughout the world, there will become one universal language, either in existence or one that will become developed, that everyone all over the globe will learn. We can speak our own languages, but if let's say you travel to another country, you will be able to communicate with everyone.


UNIVERSAL EDUCATION
This is SO KEY to our Faith! We believe that everyone should become educated, and if in the case of a lack of resources that parents are forced to choose between their girl children and boy children to have educated, they choose the girls. Why? Because girls will become mothers, and mothers are the first teachers. They be educated.

The Baha'i Faith has organized countless learning centers around the globe. In many assemblies, there are educational centers in many countries. The Phillippines, Kenya, El Salvador, Mexico, countless others.


EQUALITY OF WOMEN AND MEN
In the Baha'i Faith, women and men are equal in the eyes of God. We believe in the emancipation of women, and in their full rights as human beings. Inequality retards not only the advancement of women, but of civilization itself. We are not required to obey husbands, women are respected and cherished. The only restriction is that women cannot be in combat, or have any occupation that requires the taking of life (like an executioner, as an extreme example). Women are life-giving creatures, so it's like choosing between two evils... if we have to choose someone to take a life (let's say in war), better men than women to do that. The station of woman is SO LOFTY because they are life-giving creatures, that taking a life is way beneath them. Not saying that men are life-taking creatures, but it's the better of the two.

Women and men are like two wings of a dove. There are not two right wings, nor two left wings. There are one right and one left wing. They are different, but equal. They must both be equally strong for the bird to fly.


PRAYER AND MEDITATION
We are required to recite the scriptures in the morning and in the evening. We also say one Obligatory Prayer each day. There are three to pick from, each with its own time frame, and each has equal weight.

As Muslims have their pilgrimage to Mecca that they call hajj, the Baha'is have a pilgrimage to Haifa, Israel. We register, and when our turn comes, we go to the tombs of The Bab and Baha'u'llah, and I believe we also go to the Universal House of Justice. I'm not too clear on what is done during the pilgrimage, so don't take this as gospel truth. I've not been a Baha'i all my life, so I haven't yet read about what specifically goes on. I don't worry about it, I'll find out at the appropriate time.


BIBLICAL PROPHECY
The Baha'i Faith fulfills Biblical prophecy TIME AND TIME AGAIN!!! For more on that, read "I Shall Come Again" by Hushidar Motlagh, and "Thief In The Night" by William Sears. I've also provided a link to see prophecy fulfilled.

As scripture, we accept the Baha'i Holy Writings, the Bible, and the Qur'an as holy word of God.


YOU SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS
Good trees bear good fruits. Unhealthy trees bear unhealthy fruits, if any. The Baha'i Faith is involved in many many humanitarian efforts, and is also closely linked to the United Nations. Did you know that back in the day, before the UN, there was the Good Deal originated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt? This was the precursor to the UN. Eleanor Roosevelt was a Baha'i, but FDR wasn't. The only reason he wasn't was because he would have had to give up his place in office, as Baha'is are forbidden from participating in partisan politics. Otherwise, he would have joined. Yes, the Baha'i Faith is deeply concerned with issues as world poverty, the environment, medicine, human rights, civil rights, rights of women, etc.

Tidbit: We have no dietary restrictions, so pork is fine to eat. We are, however, forbidden from ingesting any and all intoxicants, unless it is prescribed by a physician. This means we do not drink alcohol. Smoking is not banned, but highly discouraged.

There's SO MUCH MORE to the Baha'i Faith, but I can't possibly write it all down here. The absolute BEST place to look is the official Baha'i Faith website. That is the first link below. Another excellent place to look is Planet Baha'i, which is the second link.

If anyone has questions at all, please email me. I will reply with swiftness. I am so happy that you are in R&S today, because it means that God is important to you enough to do some searching. With God's guidance, inshaallah, you will find the place where He wants you to be.

Answer 2

Bahai is the name of a creed, a philosophy, a doctrine.

But the principles of Bahai are baisically the same (in essence, as a way to find God) as all other divinely inspired religion/doctrine/philosphies.

So if you are just looking for the Truth, you will find it in the essence of all religions.

Answer 3

I think so,
look , only after 150 years there are millions of Bahai's all over the world....
but the aim of Bahai faith is not to make everyone Bahai.
Bahai faith is all abut unity not uniform

Answer 4

No,
I haven't even heard of Bahai untill now.

Answer 5

Whats Bahai religion, give us a brief discription here.

Answer 6

What the hell is Bahai?

Answer 7

I doubt it. Many have never heard of it and just like all other religions, it is man-made and means nothing unless its developers can get the masses to belive their idea of truth.

Answer 8

I'm guessing not since I've never heard of it.

Answer 9

I don't think so. You don't see them out on the street trying to get new recruits.

Answer 10

Possibly, no one can be certain about what will happen in the future.

Answer 11

anything is possible

dosent make it easyer that their main temple is in a Jewish state