What Is The Baha'i Faith?

The Baha'i Faith is the youngest of the world's independent religions. Its founder, Baha'u'llah (1817-1892), is regarded by Baha'is as the latest in a line of Messengers of God that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad.

Baha’u’llah taught that there is one God who progressively reveals His will to humanity. Each of the great religions brought by the Messengers of God represents a successive stage in the spiritual development of civilization. As the most recent Messenger, Baha’u’llah has brought us teachings that address the moral and spiritual challenges of the modern world.

The central theme of Baha'u'llah's message is that humanity is a single people with a common destiny, and that the time has come for all races and religions to unite into one global society. In the words of Baha’u’llah "The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."

One of the purposes of the Baha'i Faith is to help make this unification possible. A world-wide community of over five million Baha'is, representative of most of the nations, races and cultures on earth, is working to give Baha'u'llah's teachings practical effect. It is hoped that their experience will be a source of encouragement to all who share their vision of humanity as one global family.

The Baha'i Faith is the second most widespread of the world's independent religions, and is established in 235 countries and territories throughout the world. We come from over 2,100 ethnic, racial, and tribal groups.

For more detail on Baha'u'llah and the Baha'i Faith, a good place to start is the official Baha'i web site. Alternatively, there is an excellent Web-enabled version of "An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith" by Dr. Moojan Momen which can be found at Spirit Of Glory: The Baha'i Faith.