Bahá'í Faith

in Haifa, Israel, the council that leads the Bahá'ís]]
The '''Bahá'í Faith''' is an Abrahamic religion started in the 1800s by  Bahá'u'lláh who was born in Tehran, Iran. Followers of this religion call themselves '''Bahá'ís'''. The name Bahá'u'lláh means "The Glory of God" in Arabic. "Glory" is a word that means "importance", "power", and "beauty". Bahá'ís believe Bahá'u'lláh is a representation of God, or speaks for God, and he shows people God's importance, beauty, and brightness.
 
Bahá'ís are Abrahamic monotheists, which means that they believe in one God. This started a religion, followers of this religion were called Bábís. Many people became Bábís in the country of Iran, which was called Persia at the time, and this made the government of Persia and the Muslim priests angry. They arrested and killed the Bab and his followers. Even though this happened, people still followed this religion. When the Báb was killed, some Bábís got very angry and tried to kill the king of Persia, even though Bahá'u'lláh told them not to kill him. When the Babis were caught, the government put many Bábís in jail, including Bahá'u'lláh. While in jail at Tehran, Bahá'u'lláh said he saw an angel that he called the "maid of heaven". The angel told him that he had to teach a message from God to the people of the world. The angel said that God would rescue and protect him so that he could teach this message. Eventually, he was released from jail and the government of Persia made him move to Baghdad, which was then controlled by the king of the Ottoman Empire.

### Bahá'u'lláh's announcement 
While Baha'u'llah was in Baghdad, he had many problems, but he also made many friends. The government of Persia was unhappy that he seemed to be doing well in Baghdad, and so they asked the Ottoman Empire to move him further away from Persia. `Abdu'l-Bahá also wrote a lot of letters and gave talks, and eventually visited Paris, London, Montreal, New York City, San Francisco and other cities in the west. This helped the Bahá'í Faith to spread in Europe and North America. He died in 1921. He left a will, where he told the Bahá'ís to follow his grandson, Shoghi Effendi.

Shoghi Effendi was born in 1900 and was only a young man when his grandfather died and he became the leader of the Bahá'ís. He helped make the different agencies and councils that run the Bahá'í Faith today, and organized the religion in many ways. He also wrote many books and letters to explain the teachings of his grandfather and great-grandfather. He lived until 1957 and died in England.

After Shoghi Effendi died, the Bahá'ís did not have leaders for six years, because Shoghi Effendi had not left a will. Shoghi Effendi did have helpers, who did not think they were allowed to lead the Bahá'ís, so they helped the Bahá'í Community follow the last plan that Shoghi Effendi left them, and at the end of that plan, in 1963, they organized an election to form the Universal House of Justice, which Bahá'u'lláh wrote about. The Universal House of Justice has led the Bahá'ís ever since.

## Holy books 
Bahá'u'lláh wrote many books and letters, and `Abdu'l-Bahá (whose name means "Servant of Glory") also wrote many books and letters which Bahá'ís see as special. Finally, Bahá'u'lláh's great-grandson Shoghi Effendi wrote lots of books and letters which Bahá'ís use to better understand the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá. The most important of these books is the Aqdas.

Bahá'ís also believe that the Bible, the Qur'an, the Gita and other books from other religions are special.

## Beliefs 
Some important Bahá'í beliefs are:
* Bahá'u'lláh came to make all humans become one family
* There is only One God, but he has many names
* All the great religions have the same source (God)
* God treats all humans as equal
* God treats men and women as equal
* Prejudices (unkind beliefs about people without knowing them first) should be fixed
* Nations should learn to get along and co-operate with each other
* Science and religion do not have to disagree, because they are looking at the same world from two different sides.
* People should try to learn the truth for themselves
* Everyone should get an education (go to school or learn another way)
* The world should have one extra language that everyone understands

## Community 
### People 
There are eight or nine million Bahá'ís in the world, of all peoples and languages. The Bahá'í Faith looks different in different countries, because there are few rituals, so Bahá'ís can include their own culture in the way they celebrate Bahá'í events, say prayers, etc.

Bahá'ís meet every nineteen (19) days in a meeting called a "Feast".

### Institutions 
Bahá'ís are organized in a worldwide community. They do not have priests. Everyone is responsible for their own prayers. Bahá'ís are also responsible for reading their holy books for themselves and for learning about their religion. Baha'is elect leaders for their community, to help organize their activities, and to deal with problems between members, and to decide things that are not obvious from the scriptures. These are called Spiritual Assemblies, but will one day be called Houses of Justice. 

There is one House of Justice, which Bahá'ís call the Universal House of Justice, which leads the whole worldwide Bahá'í community. Bahá'ís elect this House of Justice every five years, but only once each year for National and Local Spiritual Assemblies.

## References 
## Other websites 
### Communities 
* The Bahá’í Faith. The Web Site of the Bahá’í International Community.
* National Bahá’í Communities

### Bahá'u'lláh 
* The Life of Bahá'u'lláh. A photographic narrative of the life of Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith.
* Bahá’u’lláh. Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and a history of His life, His teachings, His station.

### News 
* Bahá'í World News Service

### Sources 
* Bahá'í Reference Library
* Bahá'í Media Bank