Bahá'í
From ReligionReference
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind.[1] There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.[2][3] In the Bahá'í Faith, religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, who each established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people. These messengers have included Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and others, and most recently Bahá'u'lláh. In Bahá'í belief, each messenger taught of those to follow, and Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings fulfill the end-time promises of previous scriptures. Humanity is understood to be in a process of collective evolution, and the need of the present time is for the gradual establishment of peace, justice and unity on a global scale.[4]
| Bahá'í faith | ||
|---|---|---|
| Belief in God | One Personal God | |
| A single, personal, inaccessible, omniscient, omnipresent, imperishable, and almighty God who is the creator of all things in the universe. | ||
| Founding date | 1863 | |
| On May 23 1844 Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad of Shiraz, Iran proclaimed that he was "the Báb" ("the Gate"), after a Shi`a religious concept. In 1863, Bahá'u'lláh first announces his claim to divine revelation. | ||
| Founding place | Persia, Iran | |
| Part of (larger religion group) | Abrahamic religions | |
| Religions split from Bahá'í | ||
| Founders | Báb, Bahá'u'lláh | |
| Main texts | Kitáb-i-Aqdas | |
| The works of Báb and Bahá'u'lláh are considered divinely inspired, since they received revelation directly from God. | ||
| Worldwide adherence | 7900000 | |
| Main location | India, Iran, USA | |
| Attributes of God | ||
| Afterlife | Conflicting views, Immortal soul, Heaven, Rejoin ancestors | |
| At death, the soul is separated from the body and begins a journey towards God. Heaven is seen as a state of nearness to God; hell is a state of remoteness from God. The journey of the soul is a natural consequence of individual efforts, or the lack thereof, to develop spiritually. Beyond this, the exact nature of the afterlife remains a mystery eve according to Bahá'u'lláh: "The nature of the soul after death can never be described," | ||
| Has clergy | No | |
| There is no clergy in Bahá'í. There are elected members in nine-person Spiritual Assemblies, which run the affairs of the religion. There are also appointed individuals working at various levels, including locally and internationally, which perform the function of propagating the teachings and protecting the community. | ||
| Religious pluralism | Yes-actively | |
| One of the core teachings is the "Unity of Religion" states that there is but one religion which is progressively revealed by God, through prophets/messengers, to mankind as humanity matures and its capacity to understand also grows. Bahá'u'lláh, claimed to be the most recent, but not the last, in a series of divine educators which include Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, and others. The outward differences in the religions, the Bahá'í writings state, are due to the exigencies of the time and place the religion was revealed.
It is not clear, however how the unity of religion will reconcile differences with non-Abrahamic religions. | ||
| Proselytism | ||
| In 1953, Shoghi Effendi launched the Ten Year World Crusade which included extremely ambitious goals for the expansion of Bahá'í communities and institutions, the translation of Bahá'í texts into several new languages, and the sending of Bahá'í pioneers into previously unreached nations. | ||
| Conversions | Easy | |
| Apostasy | Tolerated | |
| Some Bahá'í apostates tend to become publicly critical of the Bahá'í faith. | ||
| Religions not tolerated by Bahá'í | ||
| Separation of religion and state | ||
| Day of prayer | Sunday | |
| Monasticism | Not allowed | |
| Monasticism is forbidden, and Bahá'ís attempt to ground their spirituality in ordinary daily life. Performing useful work, for example, is not only required but considered a form of worship. | ||
| Alcohol | Not allowed | |
| Unless prescribed by doctors. | ||
| Contraception | ||
| Divorce | Tolerated | |
| If the couple reach the point where they feel that they can no longer live together, they must announce their intention to divorce and then live apart for one year. During this year all efforts will be made to help the couple to be reconciled. But, if all attempts fail, at the end of the year the marriage will be ended. | ||
| Homosexuality | Not allowed | |
| Polygamy | Not allowed | |
| Origin of universe | Created by God | |
| Evolution vs creation | Creationism | |
| "Creation by formation" | ||
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