The Bahá’í Faith is a world religion. Since its birth over a century and a half ago, it has taken root in more countries than any other religion except Christianity. Its more than five million followers are found in some 100,000 localities around the world and represent nearly ,100 ethnic, racial, and tribal groups. Its literature has been translated into over 800 languages. Its local institutions have been established in more than 10,000 communities. And its social and economic development projects operate in more than 100 countries. The worldwide Bahá’í community may well be the most diverse, organized body of people on the planet.
That people of nearly every ethnic, racial, and religious background have been attracted to the Bahá’í teachings confirms the vision of unity taught by the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh (pronounced “Ba-Ha-O-La”). In the nineteenth century, Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed that he was the bearer of a new revelation from God and the one promised by the religions of the past. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists who have embraced the truth of the Bahá’í Faith have been attracted by its unifying principles.
These principles include: there is only one God; all of humanity are children of God; and God has provided spiritual education for humanity through one process — the succession of the world’s great religions. People of faith and those of no faith, the mystically-oriented and the practically-minded have been attracted to this belief system, which is spiritual at its core, yet scientific in its methods. They have appreciated the way it addresses their personal spirituality as well as the promotion of a just and peaceful society.
The growth of the Bahá’í Faith is remarkable not only because of the diversity of humanity that has responded to its message but also because it has spread despite continuous and severe persecution since its birth in Persia in 1844. The Faith’s forerunner was publicly executed; its founder was subjected to 40 years of exile and imprisonment; its chief promoter was deprived of freedom for nearly half a century; and more than 20,000 of its early followers — men, women, and children — were put to death for their beliefs. In spite of such opposition, and at times because of it, the Bahá’í Faith has steadily spread to nearly every country in the world.
Vafai, Shahin.
That people of nearly every ethnic, racial, and religious background have been attracted to the Bahá’í teachings confirms the vision of unity taught by the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh (pronounced “Ba-Ha-O-La”). In the nineteenth century, Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed that he was the bearer of a new revelation from God and the one promised by the religions of the past. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists who have embraced the truth of the Bahá’í Faith have been attracted by its unifying principles.
These principles include: there is only one God; all of humanity are children of God; and God has provided spiritual education for humanity through one process — the succession of the world’s great religions. People of faith and those of no faith, the mystically-oriented and the practically-minded have been attracted to this belief system, which is spiritual at its core, yet scientific in its methods. They have appreciated the way it addresses their personal spirituality as well as the promotion of a just and peaceful society.
The growth of the Bahá’í Faith is remarkable not only because of the diversity of humanity that has responded to its message but also because it has spread despite continuous and severe persecution since its birth in Persia in 1844. The Faith’s forerunner was publicly executed; its founder was subjected to 40 years of exile and imprisonment; its chief promoter was deprived of freedom for nearly half a century; and more than 20,000 of its early followers — men, women, and children — were put to death for their beliefs. In spite of such opposition, and at times because of it, the Bahá’í Faith has steadily spread to nearly every country in the world.
Vafai, Shahin.
