The Bahá’í Faith
The international website of the Bahá’ís of the world
Friends gather in a home to explore the relationship between personal growth and service to humanity · United Kingdom
Feature archive-
About the Bahá’í Faith
Bahá’í teachings and belief, Founders and the continuity of guidance, history, and efforts in social action.
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Selected Writings
Library of selected Writings, compilations, and other reference works from the Bahá’í Faith.
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Worldwide Community
Web sites and contact information for Bahá’í communities around the world.
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Baha'i World News
News and feature articles from around the globe.
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Bahá’í Media Bank
Photographs available for downloading.
“Let your vision be world embracing…” — Bahá’u’lláh
Throughout history, God has revealed Himself to humanity through a series of divine Messengers, whose teachings guide and educate us and provide the basis for the advancement of human society. These Messengers have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Their religions come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God.
Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, brought new spiritual and social teachings for our time. His essential message is of unity. He taught the oneness of God, the oneness of the human family, and the oneness of religion.
Bahá'u'lláh said, “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” and that, as foretold in all the sacred scriptures of the past, now is the time for humanity to live in unity.
Founded more than a century and a half ago, the Bahá'í Faith has spread around the globe. Members of the Bahá'í Faith live in more than 100,000 localities and come from nearly every nation, ethnic group, culture, profession, and social or economic background.
Bahá'ís believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the nature and purpose of life and of the future of society. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh. •
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The Life of Bahá’u’lláh
A photographic narrative of the life of Bahá'u'lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, and events associated with the birth of a new revelation from God.
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The Promise of World Peace
At this critical time, when problems confronting nations have been fused into one common concern for the whole world, Bahá’ís say world peace is not only possible but inevitable.
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Human rights and freedom of belief in Iran
International pressure has so far helped to protect the Bahá'í community in Iran from wholesale eradication.
Bahá'ís Believe
- All humanity is one family.
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The Bahá’í teachings emphasize that all of us, as creations of one God, are part of one human family.
Bahá’u’lláh said, “The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.”
People of nearly every background, in every nation, have become Bahá’ís.
The rhythms and routines of Bahá’í communities » - Women and men are equal.
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Full equality and a firm sense of partnership between women and men are essential to human progress and the transformation of society. “Women and men have been and will always be equal in the sight of God," said Bahá'u'lláh.
The worldwide Bahá'í community has been at the forefront of the movement to advance the rights of women for more than a century.
Advancing the status of women » - All prejudice—racial, religious, national, or economic—is destructive and must be overcome.
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Bahá’u’lláh gave special attention to the problem of prejudice. At the heart of His message is a call for mutual understanding and fellowship among nations, cultures, and peoples.
There is, Bahá'u'lláh insists, only one human race. Prejudice—whether based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or social background—must be overcome if humanity is to create a peaceful and just global society.
Abandoning prejudice » - We must investigate truth for ourselves, without preconceptions.
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One of the main sources of conflict in the world today is the fact that many people blindly and uncritically follow various traditions, movements, and opinions.
Bahá’u’lláh emphasizes the fundamental obligation of human beings to acquire knowledge with their "own eyes and not through the eyes of others."
The Independent Investigation of Truth » - Science and religion are in harmony.
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The Bahá'í teachings stress the fundamental harmony of science and religion. Bahá'ís consider that it is the same unique God who is both the Author of revelation and the Creator of the reality which science investigates.
If indeed there is only one truth (reality), it is not possible for something to be scientifically false and religiously true; contradictions are attributed to human fallibility and arrogance.
The unity of religion and science » - Our economic problems are linked to spiritual problems.
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The Bahá'í teachings envision that economic justice and prosperity will come about only when the essential connection between the spiritual and practical aspects of life is recognized.
A satisfactory solution to the world's present economic crisis lies in a profound change of heart and mind which only religion can produce.
Abolishing the extremes of poverty and wealth » - The family and its unity are very important.
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Bahá'u'lláh came to bring unity to the world, and a fundamental unity is that of the family.
Bahá’ís understand that the family is the basic unit of society and unless this all-important building block is healthy and unified, society itself cannot be healthy and unified.
Bahá’í writings say, “If love and agreement are manifest in a single family, that family will advance, become illumined and spiritual.”
The family in a world community » - There is one God.
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The Bahá'í belief in one God means that the universe and all creatures and forces within it have been created by a single supernatural Being.
Such designations as God, Allah, Yahweh, and Brahma all refer to the One Divine Being, Whose nature is unknowable and inaccessible to humankind. We learn about God through His Messengers, who teach and guide humanity.
The Bahá’í concept of God » - All major religions come from God.
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When Bahá'ís say that the various religions are one, they do not mean that all the creeds and organizations are the same. Rather, they believe God has revealed Himself through a succession of Divine Messengers, Whose purpose is to guide and educate mankind.
They are expressions of a single unfolding Divine purpose, "the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future."
The oneness of religion » - World peace is the crying need of our time.
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Whether peace is to be reached only after unimaginable horrors precipitated by humanity's stubborn clinging to old patterns of behaviour, or is to be embraced now by an act of consultative will, is the choice before all who inhabit the earth.
The Bahá'í community believes that humanity can confront this supreme trial with confidence in its ultimate outcome.
The Promise of World Peace »
Questions often asked of Bahá’ís
About the individual
About community life
The Prosperity of Humankind
A statement questioning the underlying assumptions about the nature of true global prosperity.
Message to the World’s Religious Leaders
With each passing day, danger grows from the rising fires of religious prejudice.
The Bahá’í World Centre
Through the force of historical circumstances, the two holiest places in the Bahá'í world and its international administrative center were fixed in the Acre/Haifa region of what is now Israel.
The Bahá’í Community in Action
“If the learned and worldly-wise men of this age were to allow mankind to inhale the fragrance of fellowship and love, every understanding heart would apprehend the meaning of true liberty, and discover the secret of undisturbed peace and absolute composure.”