What is the Baha'i faith?

[Riverwolf]

I'd never heard of it before coming to these forums. Could someone outline it's beliefs for me? Does it have a holy book?

[Adib]

Hello, welcome to the Baha'i Faith forum.

There is a wonderful overview of our religion in Rex's sticky above this post; I'd suggest giving that a read first.

Our two main holy books are the Kitab-i-Aqdas (the Book of Laws) and the Kitab-i-Iqan (the Book of Certitude). Other canon frequently noted are `Abdu'l-Baha's Some Answered Questions and Baha'u'llah's Hidden Words (Baha'u'llah was the founder of our religion and `Abdu'l-Baha was his son). Baha'u'llah's Four Valleys and Seven Valleys are also things you might want to peruse if the more mystical facets of religion tickle your fancy.

The Hidden Words is a poetic sort of book and I'd probably suggest reading that first; Some Answered Questions is a book for those who are looking for rational explanations to common tenets of religion and abstruse existential questions; and the Book of Certitude might be the most difficult out of all these, as it attempts to present our religion with respect to the Christian and Muslim dispensations (Baha'u'llah wrote it for the uncle of the Bab, the herald to the Baha'i Faith - similar to John the Baptist in Christianity) as well as elements of this religion. It's definitely something you'll want to read if you're into a metaphorical interpretation of Christian and Muslim prophecy.

You can find all of these works and much more on the online Baha'i Reference Library:

Baha'i Reference Library

I hope you find what you're looking for and I hope my explanation was sufficient. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions; we won't bite!

Regards,
Adib

[arthra]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I'd never heard of it before coming to these forums. Could someone outline it's beliefs for me? Does it have a holy book?

Hello Riverwolf and welcome to the Baha'i Forum at RF!

Baha'i Faith is to me the next step for the human race in it's developement on the planet... that is it responds to the needs of the age in uniting the human race... abolishing prejudice, recognizes the need for equality of men and women, stresses the need for a representative world government and international court of arbitration to help establish world peace.. all this and more was revealed through Baha'u'llah from around 1853 onwards...

The revealed Writings of the Faith were originally in Arabic and Farsi (Persian) and many of the important works have benn translated into English and other languages.. but this is a work in progress. The reference to the Baha'i Reference Library given above by Adib is an excellent site!

Another site is
The Bahá'ís: What is the Bahá’Ã* Faith?

- Art

[UnityNow101]

I can tell you one thing about the Bahai's that I have found while working with some awhile back..They are some of the nicest people that I have EVER met. If the character of the followers is a factor in your joining a religion, than I would suggest the Bahai faith. They seem like a family and treat all new believers and truth-seekers in the same manner. I cannot say enough good about the followers of Bahaullah that I have met..

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by UnityNow101

I can tell you one thing about the Bahai's that I have found while working with some awhile back..They are some of the nicest people that I have EVER met. If the character of the followers is a factor in your joining a religion, than I would suggest the Bahai faith. They seem like a family and treat all new believers and truth-seekers in the same manner. I cannot say enough good about the followers of Bahaullah that I have met..

I have no intention of joining a religion. But what you've said earns truckloads of respect points for followers of the Baha'i faith.

And thanks for the info, guys! Frubals to you all!!

[arthra]

Thanks Riverwolf!

If you have any questions feel free to ask...

- Art