Bahá'í

The Baha'i faith does make a real effort to encompass all the major world religions. Ba'hais believe that every major world religion was a stage in human development. So while they are the religion designed for this stage in history, they treat previous religions as incomplete, rather than fundamentally invalid. Their practices are designed to compromise between Muslim and Christian cultures--for example, Baha'is must pray every day, but there are two forms of this prayer--one similar to the Muslim daily prayer, the other to the Christian Liturgy of the Hours. Another example of compromise is that a Baha'i marriage requires the consent of the married parties and of their parents--this seems radical to a Western European urbanite and an Iranian peasant, but for different reasons.

One little-known fact about the Baha'is is that they actively plan for a future in which the Baha'i faith is a major (if not the major) world religion. For example, I was exposed to the faith through a Baha'i conference center in Davison, MI. The people there talked quite seriously about a future in which this modest center would be one of the world's great educational institutions, on a par with Harvard or Cambridge.

There are a lot of appealing elements to the Baha'i faith. It is governed through representative democracy, with elections at local, regional, and global levels. Their temples are very elaborate and full of symbolism, which is why there are only a few scattered around the world: the only one in the United States is in Wilmette, IL and is worth visiting.

Although I decided that I wasn't being called to join the Baha'i Faith, it's the most credible new religion I've seen.

This word is from the Arabic language (also adopted into the Persian) and refers to a follower of Bahá'u'lláh or to the elements of the Baha'i Faith, the religion he founded. In modern usage, replaces obsolete terms such as "Bahaist."

The formally proper transliteration is Bahá'í. Although the accent marks are often left out in any medium that cannot reproduce them, or is less formal (such as electronic mail), the apostrophe between the second a and the i is still included if at all possible. This may seem unnecessary, but it points back to the proper pronunciation.

English speakers usually say the word with two syllables, slightly mispronouncing the vowel sound in the first syllable, and placing a strong emphasis on the second: "Buh-HIGH." Baha'i communities in many parts of the world first learned the word from English speakers, and use a similar pronunciation until they come into contact with people who know how to pronounce it correctly.

Native speakers of Persian or Arabic usually pronounce it with three syllables, using a slightly shorter a sound in the first syllable, (closer to the a in "back" than the a in "bar"), and placing emphasis on the second and third syllables: "Ba-HAH-EE."

The suffix i is approximately equivalent to prefacing a word with the English word "of." The word Bahá is usually translated as "glory" in this context, although it can also be translated as "splendor" in some contexts. Hence, the term Baha'i could be translated as "(follower) of the Glory" when rendered in a literal sense, or "(follower) of the Light," in a more figurative sense.

However, in most Baha'i usage, the word "Bahá" refers to the person of Baha'u'llah, so the most common meaning of the word "Baha'i" is simply "a follower of Baha'u'llah."

The Bahá'í Faith is indeed an organized religion. They not only elect their representatives (see ximenez's w/u), but also have a lot of structure, although they don't have priests of any kind. Local Communities in every town (or even every district of a larger City) have meetings at least every 19 days, called 19-days-fiest.

Since nine is the holy number of the Bahá'ís, this is also the number of people needed to form a spiritual assembly, which takes up the organizational duties of the local community, and elects people to take duties (such as secretary or treasurer). They further also meet with other spiritual assemblys from their province and nominate delegates for the election of the national spiritual assembly, which also constists of 9 people.

There also are national Conventions called "Summer-School" or "Winter-School" that are held more or less seasonal, featuring lecturers and communal prayers as well as musical performances and lots of fun stuff. They usually take place in a nice hotel, and there even are children-groups where the little ones are taught about Bahá'u'lláh and Shoghi Effendi.

A normal meeting of followers of Bahá'u'lláh usually begins with prayers, than there is some discussion, until finally everyone goes to raid the buffet. Free Food is usually the best way to attract new followers to any religion.

In spite of their liberal appearance, Bahá'u'lláh set strict laws for correct behaviour a Bahá'í should follow, or he may even be expelled. Some of them are different to what our liberal society is used to:

• The Bahá'í Faith forbids premarital sex
• No alcohol, because alcohol is evil evil evil *
• Gambling is evil too
• Nitpicking about someone behind his back is just plain bad
• Hash and other drugs are bad (but he says nothing about smoking, though)

All together they're a simple man's religion with exact laws and traditions but a fairly liberal point of view.

* "It is inadmissible that man, who hath been endowed with reason, should consume that which stealeth it"
- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 62

Baha'i

Key Ideas:

• Baha'i Faith
• Babi
• Manifestation of God
• Alláh-u-Abhá
• Bahá'í International Community

Key People

• The Báb: The Herald of the Baha'i Faith
• Bahá'u'lláh: The teacher and guide for the modern world
• Abdu'l-Bahá: Bahá'u'lláh's son and exemplar of the Baha'i Faith
• Shoghi Effendi: Grandson of Abdu'l-Bahá, translator of much of the Baha'i scriptures and Guardian of the Faith

Baha'i Sacred Texts on e2

• Kitab-I-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book): The Baha'i book of laws
• The Seven Valleys: An epic poem describing the progress of the soul towards enlightenment and God
• Fire Tablet: A prayer that Bahá'ís turn to for solace in times of great sorrow or difficulty
• Tablet to the Christians (Lawh-I-Aqdas/Most Holy Tablet):An Epistle by Baha'u'llah to the Christians.
• Prayer for America: A prayer by `Abdu'l-Bahá during his visit to the United States

Important (non sacred) Text

• The Prosperity Of Humankind: A key statement released in 1995 at the United Nations World Summit on Social Development (full text)

Obligatory Prayers
Each day a Baha'i must say at least one of the Obligatory Prayers


• Long Obligatory Prayer: To be said once in 24 hours
• Medium Obligatory Prayer: To be said in the morning, afternoon and evening
• Short Obligatory Prayer: To be said in the afternoon

General Information

• Bahá'í Calendar:A solar calendar based around rememberance of attributes of God
• Bahá'í hanging gardens

Ba*hai" (ba*hi"), n.; pl. Bahais (-hiz).

A member of the sect of the Babis consisting of the adherents of Baha (Mirza Husain Ali, entitled "Baha 'u 'llah," or, "the Splendor of God"), the elder half brother of Mirza Yahya of Nur, who succeeded the Bab as the head of the Babists. Baha in 1863 declared himself the supreme prophet of the sect, and became its recognized head. There are upwards of 20,000 Bahais in the United States.

© Webster 1913.