Is Bahai a real faith? (ritual, beliefs, followers, mission)

[time_spender]

I dont believe Bahai is a faith!...its just my opinion!
I beleive its made up.I dont get it.How does baha ullah say that his a prophet while he has told ppl that his Mahdi(as) "baab" before.its a little bit confusing for me.
Am i right or i have mixed bahai by another faith?!
Sorry 4 the mistakes
and cheers!

[arthra]

Originally Posted by time_spender

I dont believe Bahai is a faith!...its just my opinion!
I beleive its made up.I dont get it.How does baha ullah say that his a prophet while he has told ppl that his Mahdi(as) "baab" before.its a little bit confusing for me.
Am i right or i have mixed bahai by another faith?!
Sorry 4 the mistakes
and cheers!

How would you define a "faith"?

What you could do is study the history of Baha'i Faith for yourself and arive at your own conclusions..

In Persia after the Bab declared His mission in 1844
the Babis were massacred ...estimates are as high as twenty thousand believers. The Bab was executred in 1850 in Tabriz but He promised there would follow Him "Him Whom God would make manifest".

I would say Baha'i Faith began as a revelation experienced by Baha'u'llah as He lay in galling chains in the darkness of the Siyyah Chal prison in Teheran awaiting execution.

After release His family was exiled to Bagdad and He was retreat for some years... Later He was exiled to Istanbul...but on the way revealed His station on an island in the Tigris River to His followers that He was "Him Whom God would make manifest" prophesied y the Bab, this was in 1863.

So through persecution, imprisonment and exile Baha'u'llah was eventually sent to Akka in what is today Israel...

In spite of persecutions from the most powerful Sultan of the OIttoman Empire and the Shah of Persia, Baha'u'llah survived.

Attempts (such as poisonings, assasinations) were made to kill Him many times failed and His followers imprisoned in Iran today, the Faith survived...

All this takes a lot of Faith!

- Art

[Tannenisis]

Try google and do some research on it. My grandfather is a Bahai. It is a real religion.

My two cents,
Tannenisis

[Seyorni]

It has a charismatic divine founder. It has a body of holy works written by the founder. It has miracles. It has ritual. It has formal doctrine and dogma. It has churches and a body of the faithful.

How is it not a religion?

What does Islam have, time_spender, that Baha'i does not?

[Buttons*]

Originally Posted by Seyorni

What does Islam have, time_spender, that Baha'i does not?

Allah? Muhammad?
i know you asked him and not me... but i had to say it... sorry

[Mike182]

Originally Posted by time_spender

I dont believe Bahai is a faith!...its just my opinion!
I beleive its made up.I dont get it.

are you saying you don't believe its a faith because you think its made up, or because you don't understand it?

How does baha ullah say that his a prophet while he has told ppl that his Mahdi(as) "baab" before.its a little bit confusing for me.
Am i right or i have mixed bahai by another faith?!

i do not know, because i know very little about the Bahai faith

Sorry 4 the mistakes
and cheers!

which mistake would that be, mistaking anothers beliefs for a work of fantasy, or the mistake of not understanding?

as far as i am concerned, bahai is a faith, jsut like christianity, judaism, hinduism, islam, paganism, sikhis, and every other faith out there

[YmirGF]

Agreed Mike182.

From what little I know about the Bahai faith, it does have all the hallmarks of a religion.
I do find a lot of interest in Bahai, but a lot leaves me a bit confused. Still, a valid religion, for sure. Certainly every bit as valid as Islam or Christianity, et al.

[maggie2]

Is Islam a real religion? Of course. So why wouldn't Baha'i be a real faith? It's just as much a religion as any other.

[Seyorni]

Originally Posted by Buttons*

Allah? Muhammad?
i know you asked him and not me... but i had to say it... sorry

Allah? Muhammad? ------ Baha'u'llah?, the Bab?

Baha'i believes in Allah just as strongly as Islam.

If you dismiss anything that doesn't assert that there is One God and that Muhammad is His prophet, You are making a case that there are no other religions in the world but Islam.

Is this your contention?

[Popeyesays]

Originally Posted by time_spender

I dont believe Bahai is a faith!...its just my opinion!
I beleive its made up.I dont get it.How does baha ullah say that his a prophet while he has told ppl that his Mahdi(as) "baab" before.its a little bit confusing for me.
Am i right or i have mixed bahai by another faith?!
Sorry 4 the mistakes
and cheers!

The Bab was Siyyid Ali Muhammed al Shirazi, born 1819 in Shiraz. Baha`u'llah was Mirza Husayn Ali al Nuri, born 1817.

Most of the writings of the Bab dealt with the immediate appearance of He Whom God Will Make Manifest. Mirza Husayn Ali al Nuri was one of the Bab's illustrious followers until 1863 when He announced that He was, indeed, He WHom God Would Make Manifest. The followers of the Bab with a tiny fraction left behind became Baha`i's between 1863 and 1890.

I would suggest that you check out www.bahai.org first, then you can cruise the anti-Bahai web sites if you must and refer your questions here or study for yourself at www.bahai.org .

Another good place to check out is right here in the Abrahamic Discussion folder, under Baha`i Faith, <What prophets do Baha`is recognize> for a fairly long discussion between "The Truth" and myself and others about the claims of Baha`u'llah and the Bab and Their relationship to Shi'ih Islam.

Remember Muhammed recognizes that Abraham, Moses and Jesus were Apostles of God and their followers are worshippers of Allah, I can show Qur'an quotations and Hadith to confirm that. The Bab and Baha`u'llah recognize that all those were Apostles of God as was Muhammed (pbuh). If the relationship of the Bab to Baha`u'llah confuses you remember that John (Yahya) the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus. THe Bab is the forerunner of Baha`u'llah, except He was also the bearer of a revelation revealed in His own book.

Regards,
Scott