Bahá'í Faith

The Baha'i Faith is an Abrahamic religion started in the 1800s by an Iranian person called Baha'u'llah who was born in Tehran, Iran. Followers of this religion call themselves Baha'is. The name Baha'u'llah is Arabic for "The Glory of God". "Glory" is a word that means "importance", "power", and "beauty". Baha'is believe Baha'u'llah is a representation of God, or speaks for God, and he shows people God's importance, beauty, and brightness.
Baha'is are monotheists, which means that they believe in one God. They believe Baha'u'llah carried a message from God. Baha'u'llah said he was not the only person to carry a message from God, and he was not the last to carry a message from God. He taught that the people who started the other major religions also represented and carried messages from God, such as Jesus, Moses, Krishna, Abraham, Muhammad, the Buddha and others. He called these people "Manifestations of God." They believe the messages from the Manifestations of God get more and more difficult to understand. They say the ones that came earlier on had a more simple message than the ones that came later. Because God is greater than the whole universe, Baha'u'llah said that human beings cannot completely know God. He said that God wants people to know as much about him as they can. Baha'u'llah wrote God sends special people to manifest (show) himself to ordinary humans. Without the Manifestations of God we could not know God. Baha'is believe the God they pray to is the same God Abraham spoke to, Jesus talked about, and Krishna said in Gita. Since Baha'u'llah was born in a Muslim family, Baha'is are sometimes mistaken as Muslims. Baha'u'llah is considered the prophet/manifestation of the present day. Baha'is say that he is not the last prophet/manifestation of God. They think there will not be another prophet for 1,000 years after Baha'u'llah's death.
History
Early days
The Baha'i Faith began on 1844 when a man called the Bab said he had a message from God. He said that it was his job to make sure that people were ready for the most important message from God who would be sent soon. This started a religion, followers of this religion were called Babis. Many people became Babis 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.
Before Baha'u'llah said he had a message from God, he was a member of the religion that was started by the Bab. He became very famous among the Babis. When the Bab was killed, some Babis got very angry and tried to kill the king of Persia, even though Baha'u'llah told them not to kill him. When the Babis were caught, the government put many Babis in jail, including Baha'u'llah. While in jail at Tehran, Baha'u'llah 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.
Baha'u'llah'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. When he was about to leave, in 1863, he held a festival for 12 days on a small island in the Tigris river, which he called Ridvan, which means paradise. There he told some of his closest friends and family that he was the promised one of all of the major religions, and that eventually the whole world would know his message.
Eventually the Ottoman Empire sent him to many different cities, including Constantinople, Adrianople, Alexandria, and eventually Akka. He was in different jails this whole time, and the city of Akka had a big wall around it, and it was one big jail. While he was in Baghdad, and after, he wrote many books and letters to answer questions that his friends and followers asked him. At one point he was poisoned, so that he could not write anymore because his hands shook so badly. After that, he had someone write down what he said. When he was even older, his oldest son, 'Abdu'l-Baha arranged to have him move into a house near Mount Carmel, and he stayed there until he finally died in 1892.
After Baha'u'llah
After he died, people followed 'Abdu'l-Baha. Baha'u'llah had written that 'Abdu'l-Baha had special powers, and that God would make sure that if 'Abdu'l-Baha explained anything that Baha'u'llah said, then the Baha'is should believe that explanation. 'Abdu'l-Baha 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 Baha'i Faith to spread in Europe and North America. He died in 1921. He left a will, where he told the Baha'is 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 Baha'is. He helped make the different agencies and councils that run the Baha'i 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 Baha'is 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 Baha'is, so they helped the Baha'i 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 Baha'u'llah wrote about. The Universal House of Justice has led the Baha'is ever since.
Holy books
Baha'u'llah wrote many books and letters, and 'Abdu'l-Baha (whose name means "Servant of Glory") also wrote many books and letters which Baha'is see as special. Finally, Baha'u'llah's great-grandson Shoghi Effendi wrote lots of books and letters which Baha'is use to better understand the writings of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha. The most important of these books is the Aqdas.
Baha'is also believe that the Bible, the Qur'an, the Gita and other books from other religions are special.
Beliefs
Some important Baha'i beliefs are:
Baha'u'llah 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 Baha'is in the world, of all peoples and languages. The Baha'i Faith looks different in different countries, because there are few rituals, so Baha'is can include their own culture in the way they celebrate Baha'i events, say prayers, etc.
Baha'is meet every nineteen (19) days in a meeting called a "Feast". There does not have to be food, but there usually is. These meetings start with prayers and usually someone reads aloud some holy writings. Sometimes there is music and song, sometimes plays, sometimes just quiet time or meditation. After this time, which Baha'is call the "devotional" time in a feast, they have a community discussion. All sorts of topics can be discussed here that are important to the members. Baha'is say that this is a "consultative" time, where Baha'is can consult with each other. After this, there is a social time, where people can share food, drink (not alcohol), and sometimes here there is also music, or plays, or presentations, or other entertainment. This time is just so that the Baha'is in that city can get to know each other and become better friends.
Temples and Baha'i Centers
Baha'is often do not have one place they get together, except in large cities. In smaller places they usually get together in each other's houses. Some larger cities have "Baha'i Centers" which can be used for community meetings, classes, or for meetings of committees and other councils. (see Institutions below)
In a very few cities in the world, there are Baha'i temples. These temples are on each continent.
Institutions
Baha'is are organized in a worldwide community. They do not have priests. Everyone is responsible for their own prayers. Baha'is 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 Baha'is call the Universal House of Justice, which leads the whole worldwide Baha'i community. Baha'is elect this House of Justice every five years, but only once each year for National and Local Spiritual Assemblies.
References
Other websites
Communities
The Baha'i Faith. The Web Site of the Baha'i International Community.
National Baha'i Communities
Baha'u'llah
The Life of Baha'u'llah. A photographic narrative of the life of Baha'u'llah, Founder of the Baha'i Faith.
Baha'u'llah. Writings of Baha'u'llah and a history of His life, His teachings, His station.
News
Baha'i World News Service
Sources
Baha'i Reference Library
Baha'i Media Bank
Babism