The Bahá'í Faith, at a glance

In Persia, Shaykh Aḥmad-i-Aḥsá'í and Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí spent decades preparing their students for an imminent divine Advent; it was Siyyid Káẓim's disciples who found the Báb in 1844. In the United States, the Millerite movement — tens of thousands strong — expected the return of Christ in 1843–44 from the prophecies of Daniel.

“In Europe and America groups like the Templers and the Millerites believed they had found in the Christian scriptures evidence supporting their conviction that history had ended and the return of Jesus Christ was at hand. A markedly similar ferment developed in the Middle East…”

The Declaration of the Báb: the evening of 22 May 1844 in Shiraz (23 May by Bahá'í reckoning, as the day begins at sunset). The Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh: late April 1863, in the garden outside Baghdad later named Riḍván — “Paradise” — on the eve of His exile to Constantinople.

Bahá'ís understand their Faith as concluding the “Prophetic Cycle” — Adam to Muhammad, every religion promising a coming age of peace — and opening the “Cycle of Fulfillment.”

“From this thou canst imagine the magnitude of the Bahá'í cycle — a cycle that must extend over a period of at least five hundred thousand years.”

The Bahá'í dispensation itself is to last at least one thousand years: “Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God, ere the expiration of a full thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying imposter.” Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas ¶37

The Báb declared that “eighteen souls must, in the beginning, spontaneously and of their own accord, accept Me.” These first eighteen — who each found Him independently — became the Letters of the Living; with the Báb Himself they formed the first Váḥid, a unit of nineteen. A generation later, Shoghi Effendi designated nineteen Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh. (Compare the Twelve at the time of Christ.)

Bahá'ís hold the Báb to be an independent Manifestation of God in His own right — the term the Writings use for the founders of the world's great religious systems — a station far beyond that of herald alone.

“That the Báb… is fully entitled to rank as one of the self-sufficient Manifestations of God… and exercises all the rights and prerogatives of independent Prophethood, is yet another fundamental verity which the Message of Bahá'u'lláh insistently proclaims.”

Bahá'u'lláh appointed His son 'Abdu'l-Bahá as Centre of His Covenant in His own written will, the Kitáb-i-'Ahd: “It is incumbent upon the Aghṣán, the Afnán and My Kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch.” 'Abdu'l-Bahá in turn appointed His grandson Shoghi Effendi as Guardian in His Will and Testament: “He is the expounder of the words of God.”

Attempts at division occurred — the Will and Testament itself recounts them — but none survived at scale. The institutional phrasing: the Covenant “has preserved the integrity of His Faith, maintained its unity and stimulated its world-wide expansion.”

Revelation came in Persian and Arabic; but its authorized interpretation was fixed, for the first time in religious history, largely in English — through Shoghi Effendi's translations and expositions. The Universal House of Justice, the Faith's elected world body, legislates on matters the Texts leave open, while interpretation is reserved to the appointed Interpreters; the House may not re-interpret them. 'Abdu'l-Bahá: “I am the Interpreter of the Word of God; such is my interpretation.”

Bahá'u'lláh Himself ordained the institutions of an elected world order — local, national, and international Houses of Justice, chosen without campaigning or clergy — a governance architecture built for a unified planet and established in scripture from the outset. It accepts and unites the religions that came before it.

“To every discerning and illumined heart it is evident that God, the unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute…”

God stands beyond direct human knowing; instead, “These sanctified Mirrors, these Daysprings of ancient glory” — Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ, Muhammad, the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh — perfectly reflect His attributes to humanity. “They only differ in the intensity of their revelation, and the comparative potency of their light.” This is progressive revelation: one unfolding curriculum, each lesson tailored to its age, none final.

“The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”

Unity in diversity is the watchword — oneness that preserves the strengths of peoples and cultures. All prejudice must go: “All prejudices, whether of religion, race, politics or nation, must be renounced, for these prejudices have caused the world's sickness.” 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks

“We may think of science as one wing and religion as the other; a bird needs two wings for flight, one alone would be useless.”

And its startling corollary, from the same lips: “If religion becomes a cause of dislike, hatred and division, it were better to be without it, and to withdraw from such a religion would be a truly religious act.”

“I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee.”

“All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.”

The soul itself outlasts the machinery it rides in: “Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is independent of, all infirmities of body or mind.” Gleanings LXXX