Abstract
Different religions and different religious beliefs generate principles that manifest themselves in different ways, at different times, in different places. In theory, one should be able to trace a faith’s principles and activities in any number of real-lived circumstances, across a variety of places, in order to determine how the faith’s principles are enacted. Many scholars have described how Christian, Jewish, and Muslim principles have been applied in a variety of societies, in many places throughout the world. The Bahá’í Faith—a monotheistic faith that began less than 200 years ago—has a rich history of faith and principle applied and lived, in diverse conditions in the world, including religious and secular realms. This chapter examines the activities and foundation of the Bahá’í Faith in the world, its iterations, underlying principles, and connecting concepts.
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Notes
- 1.
Unity is the most distinctive and important attribute of the Bahá’í Faith. Bahá’u’lláh established specifics laws and provisions that he referred to as his Covenant which guarantee the unity of the Bahá’í Faith as a single, indivisible religion. Since the founding of the Bahá’í Faith, attacks from both within and outside have attempted to create schisms, but such attempts to divide the religion have not succeeded due to the Covenantal arrangements established by Bahá’u’lláh. See William S. Hatcher and J. Douglas Martin, The Bahá’í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion (Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust) 1998; see Chapter 4 and pp. 215–217.
- 2.
Manifestations of God such as Krishna, Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and most recently the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.
- 3.
Two examples of intergovernmental world organizations established in the twentieth century have attempted to promote global peace. In 1920, at the end of WWI, the League of Nations was founded as a worldwide intergovernmental body with the goal of maintaining peace in the world. The League of Nations was weakened and eventually failed because of the lack of unity among nation-members. The catastrophe of WWII led to the formation of the second intergovernmental organization, the United Nations, whose aim was to maintain security and peace among the nations. The Bahá’í writings consider the role of such international organizations as paramount in establishing and maintaining global peace.
- 4.
The House of Justice came into existence in April 1963. “The institution is elected through secret ballot and plurality vote in a three-stage election by adult Bahá’ís throughout the world” (see Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book, in reference section, page 4).
- 5.
See in References, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (2015, p. 7).
- 6.
For further information about the history of the persecution of the followers of the Bahá’í Faith in Iran, see LandInfo’s report on Iran: The situation of the Bahá’í community; Bahá’í International Community. Violence with Impunity: Acts of aggression against Iran’s Bahá’í Community. New York: Bahá’í International Community, 2013; Bahá’í International Community. The Bahá’í Question Revisited: Persecution and Resilience in Iran. New York: Bahá’í International Community, 2016.
- 7.
See Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (2006, December). A faith denied: The persecution of the Baha’is of Iran. New Haven: IHRDC. Landinfo’s report on Iran: The situation of the Bahá’í community.
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Mahmoudi, H. (2021). The Bahá’í Faith: Interface Between the Secular and Religious. In: Raudino, S., Ashraf Barton, U. (eds) Abraham and the Secular. Interreligious Studies in Theory and Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73053-6_5
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