Baha'i Faith: The Basics
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Christopher Buck, Baha'i Faith: The Basics, bahai-library.com.
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“This excellent, beautifully organized introduction provides
an accurate and unusually rich entré into a relatively new and
still somehow frequently misunderstood religion. The author,
Christopher Buck, is a leading scholar of the Bahá’í religion. His
book is richly enhanced with quotations from official translations of the Bahá’í sacred writings, insights into the formation of
distinctive Bahá’í institutions and rare glimpses of key moments
in Bahá’í intellectual history from an introduction to the influential African American Bahá’í philosopher, Alain Locke (d. 1954)
known as ‘the father of the Harlem Renaissance’, to a discussion
of the more recent development of the Ruhi Institute process.
This introduction goes beyond existing textbooks in both scope
and detail. It will be warmly welcomed by researchers and students of the Bahá’í Faith.”
Todd Lawson, University of Toronto, Canada
BAHÁ’Í FAITH

Bahá’í Faith: The Basics provides a thorough and accessible
introduction to a fascinating, independent world religion. Examining
its historical development, current “community-building” efforts and
the social contributions of the Bahá’í Faith in the world today, this
introduction covers:

••   Beliefs: Bahá’í spiritual teachings.
••   Principles: Bahá’í social teachings.
••   History: Bahá’u’lláh and his covenant.
••   Scripture: Bahá’í sacred texts and inspired guidance.
••   Institutions: The Bahá’í Administrative Order.
••   Building community: What Bahá’ís do.
••   Social action: Bahá’í social and economic development projects.
••   Public discourse: The Bahá’í International Community.
••   Vision: Foundations for a future golden age.

With features including a glossary of terms, and references to the
Bahá’í writings throughout, this is the ideal text for students and
interested readers wanting to familiarize themselves with the Bahá’í
Faith.

Christopher Buck is an independent scholar and former professor at
Michigan State University, USA; Quincy University, USA; Millikin
University, USA; and Carleton University, Canada.
The Basics

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
MURRAY RAE

ROMAN CATHOLICISM (SECOND EDITION)
MICHAEL WALSH

THE QUR’AN (SECOND EDITION)
MASSIMO CAMPANINI

RELIGION IN AMERICA
MICHAEL PASQUIER

MORMONISM
DAVID J. HOWLETT AND JOHN-CHARLES DUFFY

RELIGION AND SCIENCE (SECOND EDITION)
PHILIP CLAYTON

THE BIBLE (SECOND EDITION)
JOHN BARTON

QUEER THEOLOGIES
CHRIS GREENOUGH

CHRISTIAN ETHICS
ROBIN GILL

BAHÁ’Í FAITH
CHRISTOPHER BUCK

QUAKERISM
MARGERY POST ABBOTT AND CARL ABBOTT

For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.
routledge.com/The-Basics/book-series/B
BAHÁ’Í FAITH
THE BASICS

Christopher Buck
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2021 Christopher Buck

The right of Christopher Buck to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book

ISBN: 978-1-138-34617-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-34616-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-02308-8 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Dedicated to my dear wife, Nahzy Abadi Buck,
and our two sons, Takur Buck and Taraz Buck.
CONTENTS

Acknowledgements                                         x

1 Introduction: What Is the Bahá’í Faith?                  1
2 Beliefs: Bahá’í Spiritual Teachings                     14
3 Principles: Bahá’í Social Teachings                     42
4 History: Bahá’u’lláh and His Covenant                   71
5 Scriptures and Authoritative Writings: Bahá’í Sacred
Texts and Inspired Guidance                            103
6 Institutions: The Bahá’í Administrative Order          145
7 Building Community: What Bahá’ís Do                     155
8 Social Action: Social and Economic Development         174
9 Public Discourse: The Bahá’í International
Community and the Individual                           188
10 Vision: Foundations for a Future Golden Age            203

References                                             217
Glossary: Key Bahá’í Terms                             229
Index                                                  241
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Advanced studies of the Bahá’í Faith must first begin with basics,
which is one reason why this book, Bahá’í Faith: The Basics, may be
of interest—not only to those readers who have little familiarity with
the Bahá’í Faith, but to those readers who already have some knowledge of the Faith as well.
First and foremost, I wish to acknowledge the Universal House of
Justice, the international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith (Bahá’í
World Centre, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel), for its kind permission
(granted on 27 March 2020) to quote rather extensively from the
Bahá’í writings and authoritative sources, which are readily available
to the interested public—and in the public interest—on the “Bahá’í
Reference Library: Authoritative Writings and Guidance” website at
bahai.org. Inclusion of a rich array of Bahá’í primary sources will put
readers in touch with the heart and soul of the Bahá’í worldview, which
is universal and unifying in its vision and mission which, in the words
of Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892, prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith), is to
“unify the world” (public letter to Napoleon III, quoted in Bahá’u’lláh,
Epistle, BRL).
Thanks also to fellow Bahá’í attorney, Anton Ware, Esq. (based
in Shanghai, China, and who speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese),
for directing me (on 26 March 2020) to Nima Masroori, Esq., general
counsel and legal affairs contact person at the Bahá’í World Centre
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS    xi

(Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel), so that my request for permission could
be readily considered and timely granted.
Special thanks to Derrick Stone (University of Virginia lecturer
in Computer Science and Director of Software Development, UVA
Health System) for his valuable work in identifying and providing
full bibliographic citations for all quotations in the book. The Bahá’í
Reference Library provides downloadable versions of authoritative
Bahá’í texts. Prof. Stone wrote a computer program to search the manuscript of this book, find matches in the Bahá’í scriptures and other
authoritative texts, and generate the corresponding references for the
bibliography.
The cover photograph is courtesy of Getty Images, which provides
this caption: “Detail of the flower-shaped dome at the Bahá’í House of
Worship in Santiago, October 13, 2016. The temple belonging to the
Bahá’í Faith, an independent religion that originated over 150 years ago
in Iran and has a temple in each continental area. The Bahá’í House of
Worship in South America opens its doors on October 19, 2016. (Photo
credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images.)” Martin Bernetti is a
photojournalist (Chief of photography for the Agence France Presse),
who lives and works in Santiago, the capital and largest city of Chile.
I also had great pleasure of working with my editors at Routledge—
Rebecca Shillabeer (Senior Editor, Routledge Religion), Amy
Doffegnies, PhD (Editorial Assistant, Routledge Religion) and Rennie
Alphonsa (Senior Project Manager at Deanta, a publishing production
company based in Dublin, Ireland)—for all their excellent work in
bringing this introductory book, Bahá’í Faith: The Basics, to each and
every one of you, my esteemed readers.

INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH?

A NEW WORLD RELIGION
The Bahá’í Faith is an independent world religion, which began in
19th-century Persia (present-day Iran) and is now established in virtually every country and territory around the world (except for North
Korea and the Vatican City State). The Bahá’í Faith therefore is a global
community. Although relatively small in numbers, the rapid “diffusion”
(or spread) is quite remarkable, given the relatively recent appearance of
the Bahá’í religion on the historical horizon. The purpose of the Bahá’í
Faith is to “unify the world.” This vision and mandate has inspired many
to join the Bahá’í religion, in which peace is made sacred, and powerful
social principles are promoted and put into practice in order to build and/
or strengthen those institutional foundations upon which world peace
and prosperity may be based. “Say: no man can attain his true station
except through his justice,” wrote Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892), prophetfounder of the Bahá’í Faith: “No power can exist except through unity.
No welfare and no well-being can be attained except through consultation” (quoted by the Universal House of Justice, April 2017, BRL).
True to its purpose, the Bahá’í religion is truly worldwide. Around
2,100 indigenous tribal, ethnic, and racial groups are represented in
the worldwide Bahá’í community, which currently has 188 national
councils that oversee Bahá’í community life in their respective
2   INTRODUCTION

regions. Bahá’í scriptures and prayers have been translated into over
800 languages. In September 2018, for instance, a collection of Bahá’í
prayers, translated into the Maori language with the assistance of Dr.
Tom Roa, professor of Maori and Indigenous Studies at the University
of Waikato, was published in New Zealand.
To illustrate the recent growth of the Bahá’í Faith, the following
concrete examples may be given. There are now ten Bahá’í Houses of
Worship around the world, located in: (1) Wilmette, Illinois, United
States (opened in 1953); (2) Kampala, Uganda (1961); (3) Sydney,
Australia (1961); (4) Frankfurt, Germany (1964); (5) Panama City,
Panama (1972); (6) Apia, Samoa (1984); (7) New Delhi, India (1986);
(8) Santiago, Chile (2016); (9) Battambang, Cambodia (2017); and
(10) Norte del Cauca, Colombia (2018). Plans are underway to build
national Houses of Worship in: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
(design unveiled on 21 March 2018); and in Kinshaha, Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC, design announced on 2 July 2020). Local
Houses of Worship are also being constructed in: Tanna, Vanuatu
(design revealed on 18 June 2017); Matunda Soy, Kenya (design disclosed on 15 April 2018); and Bihar Sharif, India (designed publicized
on 29 April 2020).
Given its impressive geographic spread as the world’s most widely
diffused religion in the world today (second only to Christianity), the
Bahá’í Faith is increasingly attracting interest. Christianity, of course,
remains the world’s largest religion, with approximately 2.3 billion followers (as of 2015), while the Bahá’í Faith numbers only around seven
million adherents. This notable difference in size is directly related
to the relative age of each faith. Christianity is over 2,000 years old,
whereas the Bahá’í Faith, as of 20 March 2020, is 177 years old, considering that Bahá’í history began in 1844.

PURPOSE OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
A young, independent world religion—co-founded by the Báb in
1844 and by Bahá’u’lláh in 1863—the Bahá’í Faith claims to have the
blueprint to usher in a future golden age of world civilization. Time
will tell. Bahá’ís are confident that, over time, the Bahá’í religion will
fulfill its purpose, and will contribute greatly to the peace and prosperity of the world. The how and why will be explained further in this
book.
INTRODUCTION   3

Like other world religions, the Bahá’í Faith teaches how to live a
better life—morally, ethically, and spiritually. The distinctive feature
of the Bahá’í religion is its emphasis on promoting unity, from family relations to international relations. With this in mind, it’s easy to
see how the Bahá’í Faith also teaches how to live a better life socially
and globally. The teachings of the Bahá’í religion originate with
Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892) who was born in Persia (present-day Iran)
and who, as a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire, was exiled to Acre
(Akka), Palestine (present-day Israel) which is how the Bahá’í World
Centre was established on the slopes of Mt. Carmel in Haifa, Israel.
The Bahá’í Shrines and Gardens are now a place of pilgrimage for
Bahá’ís around the world and was declared a “World Heritage Site” by
the United Nations in 2008 (UNESCO 2019). This book will serve as
an introduction to the “basics” of the Bahá’í Faith.

THE “ONENESS OF GOD”
“Unity” is the watchword of the Bahá’í religion. In a nutshell, its teachings revolve around the “oneness of God,” the “oneness of humankind,” and the “oneness of religions.”
Briefly, the first of these three onenesses is the belief in one God.
Thus, the Bahá’í Faith, along with Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and
other religions, is a “monotheistic” religion. God is regarded as an
“unknowable essence,” beyond the reach and ken of human understanding. In such case, God is the supreme “mystery”—yet with the
greatest number of clues throughout the universe. Creation being God’s
handiwork, Bahá’ís believe, there is nothing in creation that does not
reflect some quality or attribute of its maker. Even so, God remains
beyond comprehension. After all, the finite cannot comprehend the
infinite. In short, God can be apprehended, but not comprehended.
In other words, while some things may be known about God, God,
who knows all things, cannot be known directly or fully. This may
seem paradoxical, especially considering the Bahá’í noonday prayer,
which states, in part: “I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee” (Bahá’u’lláh, Prayers and
Meditations, BRL). That is to say, to know and to love God is possible
to the extent that God has revealed something of the divine nature and
purpose through the prophets and messengers that God has sent in the
course of human history.
4   INTRODUCTION

Put differently, how is it that Bahá’ís—or anyone, for that matter—
can believe in, love, and worship a God who cannot truly be known,
fathomed, or otherwise understood? The answer is that God sends
prophets, messengers, spiritual teachers (known by different names
and terms of reference) to reveal the will of God and divine teachings for the betterment of humankind. These teachers are typically
the founders of the world’s religions. They appear throughout history
and serve to enlighten humanity in their part of the world. Bahá’ís
take a bird’s-eye view of the world’s religious history and call this process “Progressive Revelation.” So, not only do spiritual teachers bring
timeless—and timely—moral, spiritual, and social truths, their teachings are also typically fuller and more complete than the ones brought
before. Bahá’ís believe that the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh represent the
will of God for this day and age.

THE ONENESS OF HUMANKIND
The second “oneness” is the idea that humanity is an extended family, to use one metaphor. As Bahá’u’lláh has famously said: “The
tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as
strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch”
(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, BRL). Like family, all human beings are
related and interrelated. This is understood to be scientifically true,
as well as spiritually true. The goal of the Bahá’í religion is to make
this socially true as well. Bahá’í social teachings all support this
overarching goal of promoting the “consciousness of the oneness of
humankind” and of taking practical steps to eliminate prejudices of
all kinds—whether racial, religious, ethnic, national, gender-based,
class-based, etc.—which pose the major barriers to a united world.
As previously mentioned, Bahá’ís believe that the will of God for
this day and age is that the world should become unified. Humanity,
given its spiritual and social evolution, has reached the threshold of
its long-awaited “maturity.” So, now is the right time for the world to
come together. World unity, therefore, is not simply a utopian dream,
but a practical necessity, on which the world’s future survival, as
well as peace and prosperity, ultimately depends. As Bahá’u’lláh has
stated: “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established” (Bahá’u’lláh,
Gleanings, BRL).
INTRODUCTION    5

THE ONENESS OF RELIGION
The third oneness concerns the essential harmony of the world’s
religions. This teaching does not overlook the many differences that
separate religions today. Sectarianism, religious prejudice, religious
persecution, interreligious violence, and even interreligious wars
(especially those involving terrorism) remain a seemingly intractable global problem. One approach to solving this problem is to look
at similarities among religions, rather than focusing on differences.
Differences can also be regarded in a positive light. The Bahá’í Faith
and values “unity in diversity” and only criticizes differences if they
are the cause of social conflict and injustice.

BAHÁ’Í SOCIAL PRINCIPLES
Social principles may be thought of as the collective morals and ethics of
the world. Principles embody values and operate as mandates for social
action. The Bahá’í Faith has a number of social principles, a few of which
will be described here. Justice, for instance, is highly valued in Bahá’í
teachings. Social principles, if they attract widespread consensus and
are put into general practice, have the power to transform society, each
in their own way. The Bahá’í teachings show a keen awareness of the
power of such principles. Social principles can be secular or religious.
The Bahá’í religion, renders each secular social principle—that forms
part and parcel of the overall Bahá’í social agenda—as sacred. This is a
process that the present writer has referred to as “sacralizing the secular.”
Among the many Bahá’í social principles, the most well known are
world peace and prosperity, the equality of women and men, the harmony of science and religion, spiritual solutions to economic problems (in which economic values should be based on human values),
universal education, the adoption of an auxiliary world language, and
so forth. The present writer has, in fact, identified over 50 Bahá’í principles of unity (Buck 2015b). This is simply to illustrate how deep and
pervasive the Bahá’í teachings on unity actually are.

EQUALITY OF WOMEN AND MEN
The equality of women and men, for instance, is a major Bahá’í social
principle. It is said that the Bahá’í Faith may well be the first world
6   INTRODUCTION

religion to have proclaimed the full social and spiritual equality of
women and men from the very inception of that religion. Of course,
today, most other religions also espouse gender equality. This is a
good thing. Bahá’ís do not claim “ownership” of this, or any other,
major social principle. Considering that around half of the world’s
population is comprised of women—a vast reservoir of social capital
and potential that remains largely untapped and underdeveloped—this
social principle is of huge importance, and should receive far more
attention than it currently does.

HARMONY OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION
The harmony of science and religion—another major social principle
as well—is also of enormous importance. Another way of looking at
this principle is to consider science as the major source of empirical
knowledge of the physical universe, and religion as a major source
of knowledge of the spiritual dimension of the universe. (Any worldview that denies the spiritual dimension of reality may be referred to
as philosophical materialism.) Without science, religion can become
superstitious. Without religion, science can become unethical, even
destructive. When the two major spheres of human knowledge and
social influence—science and religion—exist in perfect harmony with
one another, an ideal situation results, whereby spiritual and scientific
knowledge work together in perfect concert to promote a better life
for all.

SYSTEMATIC GROWTH AND
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
For the Bahá’í Faith to serve a beneficial influence on societies worldwide, it first has to grow. The greater its growth, the greater its potential influence. To that end, since 1996, Bahá’í institutions have adopted
a systematic approach to further expanding the growth of the Bahá’í
community—what geographers call “expansion diffusion,” or what
sociologists have referred to as “generating and applying spiritual capital” (although these academic terms of art never occur in Bahá’í discourse). In other words, Bahá’ís around the world have embarked on a
coherent plan of individual and social transformation. Today, Bahá’ís
worldwide are engaged in the systematic process of “community
INTRODUCTION    7

building,” which is all about establishing a new civilization and diffusing Bahá’í principles throughout society and with the cooperation of
others. This is achieved through offering children’s classes for moral
education, by organizing “junior youth spiritual empowerment programs,” by hosting devotional meetings for prayer and worship, and
by offering study circles for community consolidation and skill-building to equip Bahá’ís and friends to better serve their local communities. “Service” to humanity is seen as spirituality in action, where the
Bahá’í religion, along with other religions, is put to good use for the
betterment of the world. Such emphasis on service is the primary way
in which Bahá’ís “practice what they preach,” as it were. This systematic Bahá’í plan will be explained in some detail later in the book.

BAHÁ’Í ADMINISTRATION
That said, there are no “preachers” in the Bahá’í religion, which has
no clergy. Instead, the Bahá’í Faith is organized and run by elected
councils. Bahá’í elections, in fact, are rather unique since nominating candidates and campaigning are not allowed. Voting is conducted
prayerfully by secret ballot, in which the members of Bahá’í councils
are elected by “plurality” vote, meaning that the nine individuals who
receive the top number of votes are elected to a given Bahá’í council.
There are local, regional, national, and international Bahá’í councils.
These are called “Spiritual Assemblies,” except for Regional Bahá’í
Councils, and the international Bahá’í council known as the Universal
House of Justice, first elected in 1963, and based in Haifa, Israel.

ORIGINS OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
The Bahá’í World Centre is based in Israel—a “Holy Land” for several religions. Historically, the Bahá’í Faith has its origins in Islam, in
19th-century Persia, just as Christianity has its origins in Judaism, in
the Holy Land. As will be discussed in some detail in the chapter on
Bahá’í history, the Bahá’í religion evolved and developed into the independent world religion that it is today. While there are many Islamic
terms and concepts to be found in the Bahá’í scriptures, Bahá’ís do
not regard themselves as Muslims. (By the same token, Muslims do
not regard Bahá’ís as Muslims, either.) That said, Bahá’ís do their
best to promote respect for Islam and all Muslims. Unfortunately, this
8   INTRODUCTION

respect is not always reciprocated, as in the case of present-day Islamic
Republic of Iran, which continues to persecute Bahá’ís. This problematic situation will be discussed in more detail later in this book.

BAHÁ’Í CONSULTATION
Without clergy, Bahá’ís administer their affairs through consultation,
which is a tool for enlightened decision-making and for problemsolving. Bahá’ís have developed the art of consultation in some new
and interesting ways. For instance, when offering an idea, an individual does so as a contribution to the general discussion and is not
(or should not be) attached either to the idea or to the outcome. In
this sense, there is no “ownership” of suggestions or recommendations. In addition to local, regional, national, and international
Bahá’í councils, consultation also takes part in the “Nineteen-Day
Feast.” Typically, a Bahá’í Feast consists of devotional, consultative,
and social portions. During the consultative session, Bahá’ís discuss
their community affairs and, if so inspired, offer their individual
suggestions and collective recommendations for the consideration of
their Local Spiritual Assembly. Their local Bahá’í council may then,
in turn, consult on these ideas and, if so, may convey its decisions to
the Bahá’í community at the next Feast. Bahá’í councils, in general,
are not only concerned with the administrative affairs of the Bahá’í
communities which they oversee and serve, but have a mandate to
contribute to the commonweal and general welfare of the greater
communities in which they operate.

THE BAHÁ’Í CALENDAR
Most religions have their own sacred calendars. The Bahá’í Faith is no
exception. Its calendar is rather unique, in fact. It consists of 19 months
of 19 days each, with several days rounding out the calendar year.
Each weekday, each day of the month, each month, each year, and any
cycle of years is given a special name, each representing an attribute
or quality of God, that can also be expressed as a human virtue. The
names of the 19 Bahá’í months, in Arabic and English, are as follows:
(1) Bahá (Splendor); (2) Jalál (Glory); (3) Jamál (Beauty); (4) ‘Aẓamat
(Grandeur); (5) Nur (Light); (6) Raḥmat (Mercy); (7) Kalimát (Words);
INTRODUCTION   9

(8) Kamál (Perfection); (9) Asmá’ (Names); (10) Izzat (Might); (11)
Mashíyyat (Will); (12) Ilm (Knowledge); (13) Qudrat (Power); (14)
Qawl (Speech); (15) Masá’il (Questions); (16) Sharaf (Honor); (17)
Sulṭán (Sovereignty); (18) Mulk (Dominion); (19) Alá (Loftiness).
The precise name for the Bahá’í calendar is the Badí‘ (“Unique” or
“Wondrous”) calendar. It originated with the Báb (“the Gate”), who
founded the Bábí religion, which soon evolved into the Bahá’í Faith,
established by Bahá’u’lláh in 1863. Adopting and modifying the Badí‘
Calendar for use by the Bahá’í community, Bahá’u’lláh invested time
itself with spiritual significance. He transformed time by the naming of
weekdays, days of the month, months, years, and cycles of years after
spiritual perfections that can be translated into goodly virtues, such
as Jamál (Beauty), ‘Ilm (Knowledge), Sharaf (Honor), and ‘Aẓamat
(Grandeur), which are names of four of the 19 Bahá’í months.
These dynamic “names of God” each highlight a distinctive quality of sterling character and human nobility, in a process of transformation that could be called “theophoric metamorphosis” (Buck and
Melton, “Bahá’í Calendar and Rhythms of Worship,” 2011). Literally,
the term “theophoric,” as its Greek root indicates, means “Godbearing.” Here, the names of God may be conceived as qualities or,
better still, as powers of God that individuals can potentially develop.
In the Báb’s Kitáb al-Asmá’ (Book of [Divine] Names), which exceeds
3,000 pages and is said to be “the largest revealed book in sacred history” (Saiedi 2008, 36), the Báb treats human beings as reflections of
divine names and attributes. To the extent that a person is a “bearer” of
one of the “names” (i.e. qualities or powers) of God, that individual is
empowered to express that quality in human action. Through the progressive spiritualization of all persons, the Báb wished to transform all
of reality into “mirrors” reflecting the perfections represented by these
divine names. Of course, the mere fact that the name of a given Bahá’í
month suggests a spiritual quality that can be acquired as a human
virtue does not, alone, accomplish that result. No burst of insight will
emanate from the simple recitation of, say, “Grandeur.” Meditating on
a virtue and then manifesting it is part and parcel of Bahá’í self-transformation. Each of these godly qualities can be expressed as goodly
virtues in our thoughts and actions. This is just one example of how
the Bahá’í religion cultivates good character, civic virtues, community
service, and unity in all walks of life.
10   INTRODUCTION

AVOIDANCE OF PARTISAN POLITICS
In this way, Bahá’ís do their part to contribute to society, free of all
partisan politics, which Bahá’ís regard as divisive. Since the purpose
of the Bahá’í Faith is to promote unity, participation in partisan politics will be contrary to that purpose. That said, Bahá’ís have a healthy
patriotism for the countries in which they respectively live, superseded
by a wider loyalty as “world citizens.” Bahá’ís are concerned with the
“body politic,” as it were—in other words, with the world at large. The
Bahá’í worldview is universal in scope, all-inclusive in its outlook,
cosmopolitan in its outreach, and egalitarian in practice.

VISION OF THE FUTURE
Not only do Bahá’ís have a clear purpose and mission to promote unity
far and wide, but they have a vision of a future golden age as well. This
inspires confidence in the process of promoting unity, with the assurance that “peace is inevitable.” That peace is inevitable does not mean
that there is a fixed time for it since the conditions for world peace have
to be ripe. So, the preconditions for peace can vary, depending on time
and circumstance. Peace is a process. It is gradual and, ideally, progressive. The Bahá’í Faith envisions the advent of the “Lesser Peace”
(i.e. a political peace, with progressively closer-knit harmony among
races, religions, and nations) followed by the “Most Great Peace” (a
world commonwealth leading to a golden age of world civilization).
This grand vision is not merely visionary, but is a mission, with
clear objectives and concrete steps for its realization. In that sense,
the Bahá’í religion is an authentic peace movement in which utopia
becomes utilitarian. World peace requires world effort. To mobilize
the social forces and to optimize the social conditions needed to bring
about world peace requires a comprehensive vision and plan, which
the Bahá’í Faith offers. In this sense, the Bahá’í concept of “salvation”
is both individual and social.
The Bahá’í Faith, from its inception, has precociously anticipated
the emergence of a global society. The Bahá’í Faith positively contributes a set of corresponding universal values on which such world unity
may solidly be based. Thus, the Bahá’í Faith presents a remarkable
case study of a global community in the making, i.e. actively engaging in the process of its own enlightened, self-directed development.
INTRODUCTION   11

As such, the Bahá’í religion offers a social model that demonstrates that
world unity—in which races, religions, and nations prospectively can be
united in a common global civilization—can be successfully achieved.
Until fairly recently, the Bahá’í Faith has been little known. But it
is emerging from its former obscurity, as readers of this book, Bahá’í
Faith: The Basics, may well appreciate. Suffice it to say that, if Bahá’ís
succeed in promoting peace and prosperity by way of fostering the
unity of races, religions, and nations worldwide, then the world will be
a better place—and the Bahá’í Faith will be better known and appreciated as well.

MISCONCEPTIONS OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
Those who know of the Bahá’í Faith may have a limited or even incorrect understanding of it. For instance, a common misconception is that
the Bahá’í religion is somehow “eclectic” or “syncretic”—that is, a
mix of religious teachings adapted from other religions. This is far
from the truth, considering that the Bahá’í scriptures are revealed,
in large part, by its founder, Bahá’u’lláh, who was quite prolific and
wrote a large volume of works that Bahá’ís consider to be sacred texts.
Taken together, these texts are estimated to comprise the equivalent of
some one hundred books. In addition to Bahá’u’lláh’s writings, there
are the writings of two other central figures of the Bahá’í Faith: the
Báb (1819–1850) who foretold the coming of Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá (1844–1921), who was Bahá’u’lláh’s eldest son and designated
successor, interpreter, and exemplar of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. In
addition to these, the writings of Shoghi Effendi (1897–1957), although
not considered sacred scripture, are regarded as authoritative. Also
authoritative are the letters issued by the Universal House of Justice
(1963–present). So, there is no need for anything to be borrowed, as it
were, from other religious traditions.

PURPOSE OF BAHÁ’Í FAITH: THE BASICS
This book, Bahá’í Faith: The Basics, is a primer—a relatively brief
introduction. Advanced studies on the Bahá’í Faith must also begin
with basics. Routledge’s The Basics series therefore offers an ideal
introduction to the study of world religions, including study of
the Bahá’í Faith itself. The Bahá’í religion is relatively new on the
12   INTRODUCTION

historical horizon and has only recently begun to emerge from its former obscurity. In the pages that follow, information is presented in an
informal, yet systematic and fairly comprehensive way, that can be
easily understood by just about any informed reader who is interested
in learning more about the Bahá’í Faith, even if only out of mere curiosity. This book can be read from start to finish, or the chapters may be
read in any order desired, as the chapters themselves are more or less
self-contained units within this book.
Learning about world religions prepares one for an increasingly globalized world, in which “spiritual literacy” can prove meaningful and
possibly useful as well. Bahá’í Faith: The Basics offers essential information to assist readers in understanding and appreciating the ways in
which the Bahá’í community fits into the larger picture of present and
future social development. The information that this book provides
on Bahá’í Faith is a contribution to “spiritual literacy,” as educators
say. Learning about world religions is a useful, and perhaps necessary,
part of understanding what our increasingly globalized world is all
about. Not only are Bahá’í social principles global in scope, they may
even play an auxiliary role in the globalization process itself. As a
former professor of world religions, the present writer’s objective is to
further promote “spiritual literacy” by way of providing some fundamental information about the Bahá’í religion, ideally in an interesting
and engaging way.
The present book will include brief selections from representative
Bahá’í scriptures throughout (primarily presented in text boxes) so
that readers can read and experience the rich quality of these sacred
texts. Bahá’u’lláh’s writings alone comprise an estimated equivalent of
one hundred volumes. One rather unique feature of the present book is
that one chapter—Chapter Five: “Bahá’í Scripture and Authoritative
Writings: Bahá’í Sacred Texts and Inspired Guidance”—is devoted to
Bahá’í scriptures, in which selections are offered to give the reader a
first-hand sense of how “the sacred” inspires, motivates, and guides
Bahá’ís in their individual and collective lives. In certain parts of this
book, the structure closely follows information that is presented on
official Bahá’í websites today, in order to better ensure that Bahá’í
Faith: The Basics offers an accurate and contemporary portrayal of
this emerging world religion. Doing so ensures that information presented in this book is consistent with how the Bahá’í Faith is publicly
represented on official Bahá’í websites.
INTRODUCTION   13

Since this chapter is introductory and therefore brief, each of the
foregoing Bahá’í precepts and practices will be explained more fully
throughout the rest of this book.

SUMMARY
•• The purpose of the Bahá’í Faith is to “unify the world.”
•• The Bahá’í Faith was co-founded by the Báb (1819–1850) in
1844 and by Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892) in 1863.
•• The Bahá’í Faith is the second-most widely diffused religion in the
world today.
•• Since 1996, Bahá’ís around the world have embarked on a systematic plan of individual and social transformation.
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-- Baha'i Faith: The Basics (Used by permission of the curator)