What is Baha'i Faith?

Question

I've never heard about it. What is it and what does it believe?

Answer 1

I'm baha'i from Egypt,alex:

Our religion's like any other religion

1 god we've our own book & our own place were we pray 4 god but we r a lil' dif. I think we r the only religion that belives that Muhamed & islam r from god

Founded a century and a half ago, the Bahá’í Faith is today among the fastest-growing of the world’s religions. With more than five million followers, who reside in virtually every nation on earth, it is the second-most widespread faith, surpassing every religion but Christianity in its geographic reach. Bahá’ís reside in more than 100,000 localities around the world, an expansion that reflects their dedication to the ideal of world citizenship.
The Bahá’í Faith’s global scope is mirrored in the composition of its membership. Representing a cross section of humanity, Bahá’ís come from virtually every nation, ethnic group, culture, profession, and social or economic class. More than 2,100 different ethnic and tribal groups are represented.

Since it also forms a single community, free of schism or factions, the Bahá’í Faith comprises what is very likely the most diverse and widespread organized body of people on earth.
The Faith’s Founder was Bahá’u’lláh, a Persian nobleman from Tehran who, in the mid-nineteenth century, left a life of princely comfort and security and, in the face of intense persecution and deprivation, brought to humanity a stirring new message of peace and unity.

Bahá’u’lláh claimed to be nothing less than a new and independent Messenger from God. His life, work, and influence parallel that of Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, and Muhammad. Bahá’ís view Bahá’u’lláh as the most recent in this succession of divine Messengers.

The essential message of Bahá’u’lláh is that of unity. He taught that there is only one God, that there is only one human race, and that all the world’s religions represent stages in the revelation of God’s will and purpose for humanity. In this day, Bahá’u’lláh said, humanity has collectively come of age. As foretold in all of the world’s scriptures, the time has arrived for the uniting of all peoples into a peaceful and integrated global society. “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens,” He wrote.

The youngest of the world’s independent religions, the Faith founded by Bahá’u’lláh stands out from other religions in a number of ways. It has a unique system of global administration, with freely elected governing councils in nearly 10,000 localities.

It takes a distinctive approach to contemporary social problems. The Faith’s scriptures and the multifarious activities of its membership address virtually every important trend in the world today, from new thinking about cultural diversity and environmental conservation to the decentralization of decision making; from a renewed commitment to family life and moral values to the call for social and economic justice in a world that is rapidly becoming a global neighborhood.

The Faith’s most distinctive accomplishment by far, however, is its unity. Unlike every other religion — not to mention most social and political movements — the Bahá’í community has successfully resisted the perennial impulse to divide into sects and subgroups. It has maintained its unity despite a history as turbulent as that of any religion of antiquity.

In the years since Bahá’u’lláh lived, the process of global unification for which He called has become well-advanced. Through historical processes, the traditional barriers of race, class, creed, and nation have steadily broken down. The forces at work, Bahá’u’lláh predicted, will eventually give birth to a universal civilization. The principal challenge facing the peoples of the earth is to accept the fact of their oneness and assist in the creation of this new world.

For a global society to flourish, Bahá’u’lláh said, it must be based on certain fundamental principles. They include the elimination of all forms of prejudice; full equality between the sexes; recognition of the essential oneness of the world’s great religions; the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth; universal education; the harmony of science and religion; a sustainable balance between nature and technology; and the establishment of a world federal system, based on collective security and the oneness of humanity.

Bahá’ís around the world express their commitment to these principles chiefly through individual and community transformation, including the large number of small-scale, grassroots-based social and economic development projects that Bahá’í communities have launched in recent years.

In building a unified network of local, national, and international governing councils, Bahá’u’lláh’s followers have created a far-flung and diverse worldwide community — marked by a distinctive pattern of life and activity — which offers an encouraging model of cooperation, harmony, and social action. In a world so divided in its loyalties, this is in itself a singular achievement.

Answer 2

Im a Baha'i, The Baha'i faith is a new world and independent religion, We believe in all the Prophets and ours too: Baha'u'llah and the Bab, We also believe Unity in Diversity and peace between all the religions and science. Click on this site for more information:
http://www.bahai.org/faq/facts/bahai_faith

Answer 3

The Bahá'í Faith is a religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th century Persia. Bahá'ís number around 6 million in more than 200 countries around the world.

According to Bahá'í teachings, religious history is seen as an evolving educational process for mankind, through God's messengers, which are termed Manifestations of God. Bahá'u'lláh is seen as the most recent, pivotal, but not final of these individuals. He claimed to be the expected redeemer and teacher prophesied in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions, and that his mission was to establish a firm basis for unity throughout the world, and inaugurate an age of peace and justice, which Bahá'ís expect will inevitably arise.

Answer 4

According to unanimously agreed verdict of prominent Muslim clerics, the Bahai faith is a heretic sect formed by a self-proclaimed prophet called Bahaullah. It is a deviation from mainstream Islam and thus, condemned as heresy.

One of its main teachings is that all the Jewish and Muslim prophets including the Hindu gods and other pagan gods are God's messengers with the same prophetic message. This contradicts accepted history and unmistakably a heresy in Islam, Christianity and also Judaism.

God knows best.

Answer 5

http://www.bahai.us/
Here is the official Website,

I love the Bahai Faith, we believe in All of the religions and the equality of the sexes and the races,

But the best way to find out about the faith is to talk to some Bahai's

you can check for your local Bahai's through 1-800-22 UNITE
or the internet site, and many locaalities list their phone numbers on the internet, so you could just go to yahoo , type in Bahai and your town and state and it should pop up.

let me know if you have trouble or need more help

Meg
http://www.bahai.us/
[e-mail]

Answer 6

Basic beliefs: One God (God=an unknowable essence we strive to understand and communicate with); all religion comes from God; Humanity is one family. The Baha'i Faith encourages independent search for the truth--a good place to start: www.bahai.org

You can listen to and read all of the negative and positive comments--as there are many--or you can investigate for yourself to satisfy your own heart.

Answer 7

Its a philosophy that was supposed to be based on an ancient Persian cult but was formed around mid 1800s. The talk about peace & love a lot like the hippies from the '60s so it really took off around them.
Like most cults it has a base of good points like unity for all mankind but then it goes off on its on tangent with a darker side. You can find them in San Francisco and college campus's they claim a large membership.
wiki has some info on it.

Answer 8

it is full with misunderstood!the man WHO create this Baha'i actually you can her crazy!why?he said he is the god for Islam,Christ,Buddha,Hindu and Jews!also many thing that you totaly want to kill her!why?many people of their faith have bean broken because of this man!

my answer:if you meet her!it's a ghost!why?someone hwo from secret organazation have bean order to kill her!

Answer 9

Perhaps the best thing for you to do is to do learn about it, first hand, from their own website; rather than gather bits and pieces from here and there.

Please visit http://www.bahai.org/

You can make up your own conclusions from the plethora of information there.

Ma sala'amah

Answer 10

According to WIKIPEDIA ENCYCLOPEDIA, Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that (generally) involve a faith in a spiritual nature and a study of inherited ancestral traditions, knowledge and wisdom related to understanding human life. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to faith as well as to the larger shared systems of belief.

THE BAHAI FAITH

The Bahá'í Faith is a religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th century Persia. Bahá'ís number around 6 million in more than 200 countries around the world.

According to Bahá'í teachings, religious history is seen as an evolving educational process for mankind, through God's messengers, which are termed Manifestations of God. Bahá'u'lláh is seen as the most recent, pivotal, but not final of these individuals. He claimed to be the expected redeemer and teacher prophesied in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions, and that his mission was to establish a firm basis for unity throughout the world, and inaugurate an age of peace and justice, which Bahá'ís expect will inevitably arise.

"Bahá'í" (Ba-haa-ee or /baˈhaːʔiː/) can be an adjective referring to the Bahá'í Faith, or the term for a follower of Bahá'u'lláh (Bahá'í is not a noun meaning the religion as a whole). The term comes from the Arabic word Bahá’ (بهاء), meaning "glory" or "splendor".

Three core principles of Bahá'í teachings are often referred to simply as: the unity of God, the unity of religion, and the unity of mankind. Many Bahá'í beliefs and practices are rooted in these priorities; but taken alone these would be an over-simplification of Bahá'í teachings.

Bahá'ís believe in a single, imperishable God, the creator of all things, including all the creatures and forces in the universe. The existence of God is thought to be eternal, without a beginning or end, and is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty." Though inaccessible directly, God is nevertheless seen as conscious of his creation, with a will and purpose. Bahá'ís believe that God expresses this will in many ways, including through a series of divine messengers referred to as Manifestations of God or sometimes divine educators. In expressing God's intent, these manifestations are seen to establish religion in the world.

Bahá'í teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, or to create a complete and accurate image. In the Bahá'í religion God is often referred to by titles (e.g. the All-Powerful, or the All-Loving), and there is a substantial emphasis on monotheism, rejecting such doctrines as the Trinity.

Bahá'í notions of progressive religious revelation result in their accepting the validity of most of the worlds' religions, whose founders and central figures are seen as Manifestations of God. These include, but are not limited to Jesus, Muhammad, Moses, and Buddha. Bahá'ís also believe that other religious figures, such as Adam, Noah, and Húd historically existed and were prophets of God. Religious history is interpreted as a series of dispensations, where each manifestation brings a somewhat broader and more advanced revelation, suited for the time and place in which it was expressed. Specific religious social teachings (e.g. the direction of prayer, or dietary restrictions) may be revoked by a subsequent manifestation so that a more appropriate requirement for the time and place may be established. Conversely, certain general principles (e.g. neighbourliness, or charity) are seen to be universal and consistent. Bahá'ís do not believe that this process of progressive revelation will end. They do, however, believe that it is cyclical. Bahá'ís do not expect a new manifestation of god to appear prior to 1000 years after Bahá'u'lláh's revelation.

Bahá'í beliefs are sometimes described as syncretic combinations of earlier religions' beliefs. Bahá'ís, however, assert that their religion is a distinct tradition with its own scriptures, teachings, laws, and history. Its cultural and religious debt to the Shi'a Islamic matrix in which it was founded is seen as analogous to the Jewish socio-religious context in which Christianity was established. Bahá'ís describe their faith as an independent world religion, differing from the other traditions only in its relative newness and in the appropriateness of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings to the modern context. Bahá'u'lláh is believed to fulfill the messianic expectations of these precursor faiths.