Founded in the mid-19th century, Baha’i is one of the youngest major world religions. It came into existence in 1863 by Baha’u’llah.
The Baha’i’s recognize Baha’u’llah as one of the “Manifestations of God”. They believe that he is the most recent of the prophets God sent as His “Manifestations” to redeem humanity.
The other Manifestations as per them are Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and Krishna among a few others.
Progressive Revelation:
They believe that there is one Supreme Power who is the primary source of all these Manifestations. This indestructible, omniscient, omnipresent and divine power is addressed by titles (like- “All-Powerful” etc.) instead of any noun.
Given that, they also believe in the unity of all world religions and that of humanity. Since they regard all religious figures as emerging from one God, they also consider that all religions are equal and preach more or less the same principles.
All the religious figures or prophets teach a part of the same world religion. Thus, the Divine message is conveyed by the Prophets and progresses from one messenger to another.
A Baha’i Temple
As can be seen, like many other religions, they believe in monotheism. God according to them is eternal, meaning that s/he has no end and no beginning.
This simplistic idea of the Baha’i’s stands in sharp contrast to many other world religions that have since ages stuck themselves in the incomprehensible web of trying to know the ‘beginning’ of their respective gods.
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Teachings Relevant To Current World:
Since the religion is quite new-found, its teachings and lessons derive from the very contemporary context.
In a world that is becoming more and more intolerant of another’s faith, Baha’i gives an important message.
They accept the validity of other religions and uphold a life of communal harmony amongst all of them. Baha’ism is open to be embraced by any person.
To them, Heaven and Hell exist as mere abstract identities. This basically means that they believe Heaven and Hell to be nothing but states of one’s own mind (much like what Milton propounded in ‘Paradise Lost’).
Heaven and Hell or the current state of mind of an individual determine his/her nearness or distance from the Almighty.
The religion also preaches and practices equality of all human beings and shuns any and every form of discrimination or prejudice.
In a generation where feminists are struggling hard to bring about equality between both genders, Baha’ism is the religion that teaches equality between both genders in its very principles. They lay special emphasis on women’s rights and education.
Besides, followers of Baha’ism are free to choose their own life partners. Nevertheless, they have to obtain consent for the marriage from the parents and near relatives. The practice establishes the pair as a distinct unit with their respective agencies.
Marriage is a simple one and comes as a refreshing contrast from the lavish weddings in various religions and the “charity” of the daughter (the practice of “kanyadaan”) in Hinduism.
On the whole, if there is one religion that I would readily embrace with open arms, it is Baha’ism, for all the relevance of its principals in the present scenario as well as its holistic view of “vasudeva kutumbakam”, or the world being one family.
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: Bahai, BBC, The Conversation
Connect With Blogger At: @Rhetoricin_rc
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Nice article, but the picture is of Abdu’l-Baha not Baha’u’llah.
I think that this is intentional. No promoter of this Baha’i would make such mistake of putting Abdul Baha photo instead of Bahaullah.
Actually , fact is that Baha Ullah looks very scary , Google image search of his name will give person nightmare
There is nothing scary looking about the founder of the Baha’i Faith. He went through a lot of suffering in his life including being beaten and imprisoned. So certainly he wasn’t going to look like someone who had a posh life without hardship. Please apologize for your disrespectful comment.
The photo is of Abbas Effendi (abdul baha) and not Mirza Hussain Ali Noori (bahaullah). This shows that its a paid article wherein the writer is not even aware how the founder of bahai faith looks.
1. In the book Kitab e Aqdas the Manifestation of god has claimed himself God, sender of prophets and revealer of divine books.
2. Oneness of humanity: “From now on nobody is to be called knowledgeable, except those who have decorated themselves with the garment of this New Affair (meaning those who have become Baha’is),” – Bahā’u’llāh, Badī`, p. 138–139.
3. Equality between man and woman: “God hath prescribed matrimony unto you. Beware that ye take not unto yourselves more wives than two,” – Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, p. 41
4. Inheritance: “We have assigned the residence and personal clothing of the deceased to the male, not female, offspring” – Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, p. 186
5. Marriage: “No marriage may be contracted without payment of a dowry, which hath been fixed for city-dwellers at nineteen mithqāls of pure gold, and for village-dwellers at the same amount in silver. Whoso wisheth to increase this sum, it is forbidden him to exceed the limit of ninety-five mithqāls. Thus hath the command been writ in majesty and power,” – Bahā’u’llāh, The Kitābi Aqdas, pp. 207–208
Strange that the writer has written this article without any bahai references. And without understanding facts.
We are the followers and believers of Shree Ram and you’ll can not deceive us. I will take this up in lotus temple.
Finding converts is a Profession of bahais.
Dear Author, First of all this image is of Abdul Baha and not Bahaullah. Actual image of Bahaullah is very scary and you can see in this link
https://medium.com/@bahaism/what-do-bayanis-think-of-bahau-llah-41656796df8d
As regards to Hindus, Baha’is are infamous for spewing venom on Hinduism. They have made fun of Hindu Gods and Yoga. You can read more at https://hindubahais.wordpress.com
Insulting Yoga
https://hindubahais.wordpress.com/2019/01/07/bahais-need-not-follow-yoga-and-hindu-mysticism/
Hindu Conversion
https://hindubahais.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/gradually-and-tactfully-convert-the-people-bahai-guardian-shoghi-effendi/
Insulting Hindu Gods
https://hindubahais.wordpress.com/2017/08/02/bahai-leaders-considers-hinduism-low-because-they-worship-stone-clay-and-mineral-compares-them-to-vegetable-and-animal/
Yogi Adityanath looks more handsome and spiritual in front of mirza hussain ali noori (bahaullah). If i show his photo to children they will get scared. Even a fool will not accept him as god.
He is the man who said:
Aqdas, page 43, “There is no God but I the Honoured , the Wise”
Aqdas, page 144 “Accept whatever is commanded by Baha (himself) the Lord of Eternity”
Aise bhagwan ko manne se acha hai nasthik mar jana.
Kaha Bhagwan Ram aur kaha ye bahaullah.
***Jai Shree Ram***
Good day.
Before anyone here starts putting allegations about the article being paid, or the writer intentionally putting the wrong picture, here are a few points for everyone.
1. The article is not paid. Why this was written is because the author went to the lotus temple and heard what the guides there had to say about the Bahai faith. The author loved how people there just prayed to whatever God they wished to, in silence. The article is written out of pure adoration for the beliefs which were conveyed to the author by the guides at the Lotus temple.
2. About the picture, it was an honest, a mistakenly placed wrong picture. Apologies to the readers about it. Will not repeat again. Has been fixed.
3. This article is purely out of good intentions to appreciate certain ways of a religion and doesn’t mean to compare any two. Every religion has it’s own beliefs and it’s own set of followers. I am a proud Hindu. But I also respect every other religion. Anyone who speaks low of any religion should first learn basic humanity.
4. If you wish to compare two religions, please go ahead, but ED Times is not a platform to do it. We write for young people to read the good, and not to spread hate.
5. References were not mentioned because this is a small personal opinion related to a certain experience of the author, not a detailed analysis of the faith and it’s beliefs. Kindly refrain from thinking too much.
There is a God, or there isn’t, I do not know. I will have my own faiths, and everyone has the right to have their own. Let us respect everyone and let us be humans before followers of a religion.
Long Live Humanity :)
This puff piece about baha’i is nothing short of propoganda. I, like many from Delhi have been to the lotus temple and there are no guides to discuss anything.
The headline is prescribing baha’i to all Hindus to adopt and I don’t think that there can be a better attempt at soft propoganda than this.
Also I find it funny how based on one visit to the lotus temple and after having short discussion with guide you are prescribing this Baha’i for all Hindus.
I think you are insulting the intelligence of all of the Hindus
Hindus are welcome to join the Baha’i Faith because it is the religion of today. You are welcome anytime sir.
Out of respect for the Messengers of God, or Avatars, Baha’is do not use images of them. Please, out of respect for Baha’u’llah, do not display His image in this manner.
Thank you for sharing this. You definitely made some excellent points about the Baha’i Faith. You are mor than welcome to join it. Peace!
Well now, the ravenous wolves came out to criticize the article and its author. She did a nice job on it but the enemies of truth don’t see it that way. They prefer to remain closed-minded and bigoted. Free your mind from your narrow religious point of view!
Well now, the ravenous wolves came out to criticize the article and its author. She did a nice job on it but the enemies of truth don’t see it that way. They prefer to remain closed-minded and bigoted. Free your mind from your narrow religious point of view!