# Baha'i Faith: A Portrait

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Robert Stockman, Baha'i Faith: A Portrait, Grand Rapids, MI: CoNexus Press, 1995, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Baha'i Faith: A Portrait
> 
> Robert Stockman
> published in A SourceBook for Earth's Community of Religionsed. Joel Beversluis
> 
> Grand Rapids, MI: CoNexus Press, 1995
> 
> The Bahá'í Faith is an independent world religion now in the 150th year of
> its existence. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica Yearbook it is the
> second most widely spread religion in the world, with five million members
> residing in 232 countries and dependent territories, and national
> spiritual assemblies (national Bahá'í governing bodies) in 172.
> 
> The Bahá'í Faith began in Iran. Its history is intimately connected with
> the lives of its leading figures:
> 
> Ali-Muhammad, titled the Bab
> 
> Born in southern Iran in 1819, in 1844 he announced that he was the
> promised one or Mahdi expected by Muslims. He wrote scriptures in which he
> promulgated a new calendar, new religious laws and new social norms.
> Opposed by Iran's Muslim clergy and ultimately by its government,
> thousands of the Bab's followers were killed; in 1850 the Bab himself was
> put to death.
> 
> Mirza Husayn-`Ali, titled Bahá'u'lláh
> 
> Born in northern Iran in 1817, Bahá'u'lláh became a follower of the Bab in
> 1844 and was imprisoned for his beliefs. In 1853 he had a vision that he
> was the divine teacher the Bab had promised; he publicly declared himself
> as a messenger of God in 1863. He spent the rest of his life in exile and
> prison, where he wrote over 100 volumes of scripture.
> 
> `Abbas Effendi, titled `Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> Son of Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in 1844 and accompanied his
> father on his exile to Palestine. Bahá'u'lláh appointed `Abdu'l-Bahá his
> successor, the exemplar of his teachings, and the interpreter of his
> revelation. Under `Abdu'l-Bahá the Bahá'í Faith spread beyond the Middle
> East, India, and Burma to Europe, the Americas, southern Africa and
> Australasia. He died in 1921.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi Rabbani
> 
> Grandson of `Abdu'l-Bahá and his successor, Shoghi Effendi was born in
> Palestine in 1897 and received an Oxford education. As head of the Bahá'í
> Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957, Shoghi Effendi translated the
> most important of Bahá'u'lláh's scriptures into elegant English, wrote
> extensive interpretations and explanations of the Bahá'í teachings, built
> the Bahá'í organizational system and oversaw the spread of the Bahá'í
> Faith worldwide.
> 
> The Bahá'í scriptures constitute the books, essays and letters composed by
> Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi. Together they comprised
> nearly 60,000 letters, a significant portion of which are available in
> English; the content of this scriptural corpus is encyclopedic in nature.
> The Bahá'í teachings are those principles and values promulgated in the
> Bahá'í scriptures, and touch on nearly every aspect of human life.
> 
> Central Bahá'í teachings are: the "oneness of God," that there is only
> one God and that God is actively concerned about the development of
> humanity; the "oneness of religion," that God sends messengers such as
> Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, Christ, Muhammad, the Bab and
> Bahá'u'lláh to humanity to educate it in morals and in social values; and
> the "oneness of humanity," that all humans come from the same original
> stock and deserve equal opportunities and treatment.
> 
> The teachings also include: a detailed discussion of the spiritual nature
> of human beings, prayers and religious practices to foster spiritual
> growth, a strong emphasis on the importance of creating unified and loving
> families, and a prescription for solving the social ills of human society.
> 
> The Bahá'í community consists of those people who have accepted
> Bahá'u'lláh as God's messenger for this day and who are actively trying to
> live by, and promulgate, the Bahá'í teachings. The community has no clergy
> and a minimum of ritual. Independent investigation of truth, private
> prayer and collective discussion and action are the favored modes of
> religious action. Usually Bahá'í communities have no weekly worship
> service; rather, a monthly program called "feast" is held that includes
> worship, consultation on community business, and social activities.
> 
> Through a process that involves no campaigning and nominations, each local
> community elects annually by secret ballot a nine-member local spiritual
> assembly. The assembly coordinates community activities, enrolls new
> members, counsels and assists members in need, and conducts Bahá'í
> marriages and funerals. A nine-member national spiritual assembly is
> elected annually by locally elected delegates, and every five years the
> national spiritual assemblies meet together to elect the Universal House
> of Justice, the supreme international governing body of the Bahá'í Faith.
> Worldwide there are about 20,000 local spiritual assemblies; the United
> States has over 1,400 local spiritual assemblies and about 120,000
> Bahá'ís.
> 
> THE BAHA'I VIEW OF THE CHALLENGES FACING HUMANITY
> 
> The Bahá'í scriptures emphasize that the challenges facing humanity stem
> from two sources: age-old problems that could have been solved long ago
> had humanity accepted and acted on the moral and spiritual values given it
> by God's messengers; and new challenges stemming from the creation of a
> global society, which can be solved if the moral and spiritual principles
> enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh are accepted and followed. Chief among these
> principles are:
> 
> Racial unity. Racism retards the unfoldment of the boundless
> potentialities of its victims, corrupts its perpetrators and blights human
> progress. Bahá'u'lláh's call that all humans accept and internalize the
> principle of the oneness of humanity is partly directed at destroying
> racist attitudes.
> 
> Emancipation of women. The denial of equality to women perpetrates
> an injustice against one half of the world's population and promotes in
> men harmful attitudes and habits that are carried from the family to the
> workplace, to political life, and ultimately to international relations.
> Even though he lived in the 19th-century Middle East, Bahá'u'lláh called
> for the equality of women and enunciated their full rights to education
> and work.
> 
> Economic justice. The inordinate disparity between rich and poor
> is a source of acute suffering and keeps the world in a state of
> instability, virtually on the brink of war. Few societies have dealt
> effectively with this issue. The Bahá'í scriptures offer a fresh approach,
> including such features as a new perspective concerning money, profits,
> work and the poor; an understanding of the purpose of economic growth and
> the relationships between management and labor; and certain economic
> principles, such as profit sharing.
> 
> Patriotism within a global perspective. The Bahá'í scriptures
> state that citizens should be proud of their countries and of their
> national identities, but such pride should be subsumed within a wider
> loyalty to all of humanity and to global society.
> 
> Universal education. Historically, ignorance has been the
> principal reason for the decline and fall of peoples and the perpetuation
> of prejudice. The Bahá'í scriptures state that every human being has a
> fundamental right to an education, including the right to learn to read
> and write.
> 
> A universal auxiliary language. A major barrier to communication
> is the lack of a common language. Bahá'u'lláh urged humanity to choose one
> auxiliary tongue that would be taught in all schools in addition to the
> local native language, so that humans could understand each other anywhere
> they go on the planet.
> 
> The environment and development. The unrestrained exploitation of
> natural resources is a symptom of an overall sickness of the human spirit.
> Any solutions to the related crises of environmental destruction and
> economic development must be rooted in an approach that fosters spiritual
> balance and harmony within the individual, between individuals, and with
> the environment as a whole. Material development must serve not only the
> body, but the mind and spirit as well.
> 
> A world federal system. The Bahá'í scriptures emphatically state
> that for the first time in its history, humanity can and must create an
> international federation capable of coordinating the resources of, and
> solving the problems facing, the entire planet. A high priority needs to
> be given to the just resolution of regional and international conflicts;
> responding to urgent humanitarian crises brought on by war, famine or
> natural disasters; forging a unified approach to environmental
> degradation; and establishing the conditions where the free movement of
> goods, services and peoples across the globe becomes possible.
> 
> Religious dialogue. Religious strife has caused numerous wars, has
> been a major blight to progress, and is increasingly abhorrent to the
> people of all faiths and of no faith. The Bahá'í view that all religions
> come from God and thus constitute valid paths to the divine is a
> cornerstone of Bahá'í interfaith dialogue. Bahá'u'lláh calls on Bahá'ís to
> consort with the followers of all religions in love and harmony. Because
> Bahá'ís share with other religionists many common values and concerns,
> they frequently work with local interfaith organizations.
> 
> THE BAHA'I RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGES FACING HUMANITY
> 
> Bahá'ís have responded to the challenges facing humanity in two ways:
> internally, by creating a Bahá'í community that reflects the principles
> listed above and that can serve as a model for others; and externally, to
> help heal the damage that inequality, injustice and ignorance have done to
> society.
> 
> The international Bahá'í community contains within it 2,100 ethnic groups
> speaking over 800 languages. In some nations minority groups make up a
> substantial fraction of the Bahá'í population; in the United States, for
> example, perhaps a third of the membership is African American, and
> Southeast Asians, Iranians, Hispanics and Native Americans make up another
> 20 percent. Racial integration of local Bahá'í communities has been the
> standard practice of the American Bahá'í community since about 1905. Women
> have played a major, if not central, role in the administration of local
> American Bahá'í communities, and of the national community, since 1910.
> American Bahá'ís have been involved in education, especially in the
> fostering of Bahá'í educational programs overseas, since 1909.
> 
> Worldwide, numerous Bahá'ís have become prominent in efforts to promote
> racial amity and equality, strengthen peace groups, extend the reach and
> effectiveness of educational systems, encourage ecological awareness and
> stewardship, develop new approaches to social and economic development,
> and promote the new field of conflict resolution. The Bahá'í Faith runs
> seven radio stations in less developed areas of the world that have
> pioneered new techniques for educating rural populations and fostering
> economic and cultural development. The Faith also conducts about 700
> schools, primarily in the third world, as well as about 200 other literacy
> programs. Bahá'í communities sponsor 500 development projects, such as
> tree-planting, agricultural improvement, vocational training and rural
> health-care. The Bahá'í international community is particularly active at
> the United Nations and works closely with many international development
> agencies. Many national and local Bahá'í communities have been active in
> promoting interreligious understanding and cooperation.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views13906 views since posted 1997; last edit 2012;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../stockman_bahai_portrait;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> — *Baha'i Faith: A Portrait (Used by permission of the curator)*