Baha'i

From its origins in the Middle East in the 1850s and 1860s, the Baha'i Faith has become transformed into a small-scale world religion with perhaps 5 million followers worldwide, drawn from almost every cultural and religious background and found in virtually every country. The Baha'i prophet-founder, Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892), clearly saw his mission and message in global terms. Claiming to be the latest in the succession of divine messengers who had inspired the world's religions, he presented himself as the world redeemer for the present age who had come to bring God's message to the peoples of all the world and of all religions, providing them with the social and religious teachings for an approaching era of world peace and unity. Subsequent elaboration of these themes was provided by Bahá'u'lláh's eldest son and successor as leader, ‘Abdu’ l-Bahá (1844–1921).

For the Baha'i leaders, the modern world faced a dual crisis. Their own immediate world of the Middle East was mired in religious prejudice and ignorance and urgently needed enlightenment and modernization—‘Abdu’ l-Bahá, in particular, urged the leaders of his native Iran to embrace a more democratic form of government and promote education and justice. At the same time, the much-vaunted West was eroded by the poison of materialism and threatened by international hatreds that would surely lead to war and widespread destruction. What was needed, he said, was a dual reformation: first, a spiritual renewal at the individual and collective level which would reinvigorate moral life, bring people closer to God, and free them from superstition and the blind following of fanatical religious leaders, and, second, a far-reaching social transformation that would create the institutions and commitment to promote international harmony and cooperation; develop education and science; end the injustices of class and gender inequality; abolish racism; and create accountable and corruption-free political institutions. The problems that confronted humanity [Page 108]were so severe that, unless action was rapidly taken, the world's people were surely destined to experience severe and potentially catastrophic problems. Many of the Baha'i teachings relate to these global concerns and to the concept of a new age of justice and peace. Thus, Baha'i beliefs include the following: The whole of humanity is but a single family; unity should be promoted by the choosing and promotion of a single world auxiliary language; global regulation of those matters of human conduct that are of international concern (trade, environment, natural resources, conflict, crime, drugs and the like) is necessary; there must eventually be some form of world court and superstate coexisting with national governments; the extremes of wealth and poverty must be ended; and there must be fundamental gender equality. Other Baha'i teachings address the basic elements of moral and spiritual life: daily prayer and the bringing of oneself to account before God; fasting; concern for the poor; freedom from prejudice toward others; striving to live a better life, characterized by such virtues as truthfulness, trustworthiness, and chastity. Others again are theological: that God is beyond human understanding and, hence, that a lot of religious disputation results from the misguided belief that one's own limited view is the only right one; that the founders of the major religions are all “manifestations” of one God, directed to lead humanity forward toward a better world; and that it is essential for religion to be in harmony with science. There are also teachings concerning the organization of the Baha'i community itself, particularly the establishment of locally and nationally elected administrative councils (“spiritual assemblies”); the importance of resolving all issues through a process of open and honest consultation; and the role of loyalty to the central authority of the Baha'i Faith (since 1963, the Universal House of Justice) as a means of uniting a very diverse global Baha'i community.

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