# Outline of the Baháʼí Faith

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Baháʼí Faith.
Baháʼí Faith – relatively new religion teaching the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people, established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th-century Middle East and now estimated to have a worldwide following of 5–8 million adherents, known as Baháʼís.

## Beliefs and practices
### Baháʼí teachings

Baháʼí teachings
* God in the Baháʼí Faith
* Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion – the Baháʼí belief that many of the world's different religions were revealed by God as part of one gradually unfolding plan
** Progressive revelation (Baháʼí) – the Baháʼí belief that God progressively reveals the truth through successive Manifestations of God
** Baháʼí Faith and Zoroastrianism
** Baháʼí Faith and Hinduism
** Baháʼí Faith and Buddhism
** Muhammad in the Baháʼí Faith
* Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) – individuals whom Baháʼís believe were sent by God to establish religious teachings appropriate for their time and place, such as the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad
* Baháʼí Faith on life after death
* Baháʼí cosmology
* Faith in the Baháʼí Faith
* Baháʼí views on sin
* Martyrdom in the Baháʼí Faith
* Aniconism in the Baháʼí Faith – the Baháʼí prohibition on images of God or those seen as Manifestations of God
* Covenant of Baháʼu'lláh
** Covenant-breaker
* Baháʼí views on science

### Baháʼí social principles

* Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity – the Baháʼí teaching that humanity is fundamentally one and should achieve a state of unity in diversity
** Baháʼí Faith and Native Americans
** New world order (Baháʼí)
** Baháʼí perspective on international human rights
* Baháʼí Faith and gender equality
* Baháʼí Faith and education
* Baháʼí Faith and auxiliary language – the Baháʼí teaching that the world should adopt a worldwide auxiliary language in addition to people's various languages to facilitate the unity of humanity
* Socioeconomic development and the Baháʼí Faith

### Baháʼí laws

Baháʼí laws – practices that are religiously binding for Baháʼís
* Prayer in the Baháʼí Faith – Baháʼí teachings on prayer, including both daily obligatory prayer and devotional prayer (general prayer)
** Obligatory Baháʼí prayers
* Nineteen Day Feasta gathering of a local Baháʼí community that occurs on the first day of each month of the Baháʼí calendar
* Huqúqu'lláh – the Baháʼí obligation to give to the Baháʼí funds, which support the activities of Baháʼí communities
* Nineteen Day Fast – a period of fasting that Baháʼís observe from sunrise to sunset for 19 days once each year
* Baháʼí marriage
* Baháʼí views on homosexuality
* Baháʼí pilgrimage

## History

History of the Baháʼí Faith – events from 1863 to the present that had their background in two earlier movements in the nineteenth century, Shaykhism and Bábism
* Shaykhism – a Shi'a Islamic religious movement founded by Shaykh Ahmad (1753–1826)
* Bábism – a religion founded by the Báb in 1844 that Baháʼís see as a predecessor to the Baháʼí Faith; see Outline of Bábism
* Baháʼí–Azali split – the split of the followers of Bábism into Baháʼís, who accepted Baháʼu'lláh as a figure prophesied in the teachings of Bábism, and Azalis, who followed Subh-i-Azal
* Baháʼí prophecies
* Attempted schisms in the Baháʼí Faith
** Orthodox Baháʼí Faith
** Leland Jensen
* ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's journeys to the West
* World Unity Conference
* Baháʼí World Congress
* Baháʼí teaching plans
* Baháʼí radio
* Persecution of Baháʼís
** Seven Martyrs of Tehran
** 1903 Isfahan anti-Baháʼí riots
** Statements about the persecution of Baháʼís
** Baháʼí 7
** Egyptian identification card controversy
* Baháʼí Faith by country – estimated numbers of Baháʼís globally, by country, and by continent, with links to full articles on the Baháʼí Faith in individual countries and continents
** Baháʼí Faith in Africa
** Baháʼí Faith in Asia
** Baháʼí Faith in Europe
** Baháʼí Faith in North America
** Baháʼí Faith in Oceania
** Baháʼí Faith in South America

## Important figures
### Central figures

* The Báb – the founder of the Bábism, seen by Baháʼís as the predecessor to their religion
* Baháʼu'lláh – the founder of the Baháʼí Faith
* ʻAbdu'l-Bahá – the appointed successor of Baháʼu'lláh

### Other influential figures
#### Groups

* Afnán – the maternal relatives of the Báb
* Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh – nineteen eminent early followers of Baháʼu'lláh
* Baháʼu'lláh's family
* Hands of the Cause – a select group of Baháʼís, appointed for life, whose main function was to propagate and protect the Baháʼí Faith
* Knights of Baháʼu'lláh – a title given by Shoghi Effendi to Baháʼís who brought the Baháʼí Faith to new countries and territories

#### Notable individuals

* Shoghi Effendi – the appointed head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957, entitled the Guardian
* Badíʻ – the 17-year-old who delivered Baháʼu'lláh's tablet to the Shah and was subsequently killed
* Nabíl-i-Aʻzam – the author of the account of early Bábí and Baháʼí history called The Dawn-breakers
* Mishkín-Qalam – a calligrapher who lived during the lifetime of Baháʼu'lláh, and designer of the Greatest Name
* Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl – a Baháʼí scholar who travelled broadly and authored several books about the Baháʼí Faith
* Martha Root – a prominent travelling teacher of the Baháʼí Faith in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
* Rúhíyyih Khánum – the wife of Shoghi Effendi, who was appointed a Hand of the Cause

## Texts and scriptures

* Baháʼí literature

### By the Báb

* Persian Bayán – one of the principal scriptural writings of the Báb, the founder of Bábism, which is also revered in the Baháʼí Faith
* Arabic Bayán – one of the principal scriptural writings of the Báb, the founder of Bábism, which is also revered in the Baháʼí Faith
* Selections from the Writings of the Báb – a book of excerpts from notable works of the Báb, compiled by the Universal House of Justice, the highest authority in the Baháʼí Faith

### By Baháʼu'lláh

List of writings of Baháʼu'lláh
* Epistle to the Son of the Wolf – the last major work of Baháʼu'lláh, written soon before his death in 1892
* Four Valleys – a mystical treatise written in Persian
* Gems of Divine Mysteries – a long epistle in Arabic
* Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʼu'lláh – a compilation of Baháʼu'lláh's writings selected by Shoghi Effendi
* Kitáb-i-Aqdas – a central book of the Baháʼí Faith which lays out the Baháʼí laws
* Kitáb-i-Íqán – the primary theological work of the Baháʼí Faith
* Hidden Words – a collection of short poetic utterances, 71 in Arabic and 82 in Persian
* The Seven Valleys – a mystical treatise written in Persian
* Summons of the Lord of Hosts – a collection of Baháʼu'lláh's writings that were written to the kings and rulers of the world
* Tabernacle of Unity – a collection of several of Baháʼu'lláh's writings first published in July 2006
* Tablets of Baháʼu'lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas – a collection of Baháʼu'lláh's writings from later in his life that have been published together since 1978

### By ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

* Paris Talks – a book transcribed from talks given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá while in Paris
* The Secret of Divine Civilization – a book written in 1875 by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, addressed to the rulers and the people of Persia
* Some Answered Questions – contains questions posed by Laura Clifford Barney (between 1904 and 1906) and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's answers
* Tablets of the Divine Plan – 14 letters (tablets) written between September 1916 and March 1917 by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to Baháʼís in the United States and Canada
* Tablet to Dr. Forel – a letter of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, written in reply to questions asked by Auguste-Henri Forel, a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist and psychiatrist
* Tablet to The Hague – a letter which ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote to the Central Organisation for Durable Peace in The Hague, The Netherlands on 17 December 1919
* Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá – A seminal document, written in three stages by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

### By Shoghi Effendi

* The Advent of Divine Justice – a letter to the Baháʼís of the United States and Canada, dated December 25, 1938
* God Passes By – an account of the first century of Baháʼí history (beginning with the declaration of the Báb in 1844)
* Promised Day is Come – a book-length letter written for Baháʼís in the Western world, dated 1941

### By the Universal House of Justice

* The Promise of World Peace

## Organizations
### Baháʼí administration

Baháʼí administration
* International Baháʼí Council – the precursor to the Universal House of Justice that existed from 1951–1963
* Universal House of Justice – the supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith, first elected in 1963
* Spiritual Assemblies – a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith
* Institution of the Counsellors
** International Teaching Centre
* Baháʼí International Community

### Other Baháʼí organizations

* Baháʼí Esperanto League
* Baháʼí school
** Baháʼí Institute for Higher Education
** Banani International Secondary School
** Townshend International School
** School of the Nations (Macau)
** New Era High School
** Barli Development Institute for Rural Women
* FUNDAEC
* Ruhi Institute

## Places

* Síyáh-Chál
* Garden of Ridván, Baghdad
* Báb's house
* Baháʼí World Centre
** Baháʼí World Centre buildings
*** Shrine of the Báb
*** Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh
**** Qiblih – the point towards which Baháʼís face during their daily obligatory prayers
*** Shrine of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá
** Terraces (Baháʼí)
* Baháʼí House of Worship – a place of worship of the Baháʼí Faith, also known as a Baháʼí temple
** List of Baháʼí Houses of Worship
*** Lotus Temple
*** Baháʼí House of Worship (Wilmette, Illinois)
*** Sydney Baháʼí Temple
*** Santiago Bahá'í Temple
* Haziratu'l-Quds – a Baháʼí administrative centre often used for Baháʼí gatherings, also known as a Baháʼí centre

## Calendar

Baháʼí calendar
* List of observances set by the Baháʼí calendar
** Baháʼí Holy Days
*** Baháʼí Naw-Rúz
*** Ridván
*** Twin Holy Birthdays
**** Birth of Baháʼu'lláh
*** Day of the Covenant (Baháʼí)
** Ayyám-i-Há

## Other topics

* Alláh-u-Abhá
* Baháʼí Faith in fiction
* Baháʼí orthography
* Baháʼí studies
** Baháʼí review
** Baháʼí Studies Review
* Baháʼí symbols
* Criticism of the Baháʼí Faith
** Political objections to the Baháʼí Faith
* World Religion Day