# Introduction to the Bahá'í Tradition

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: unknown, Introduction to the Bahá'í Tradition, Cambridge University Press, 1997/2009, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> On Common Ground: World Religions in America
> Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> Index:
> 
> The Bab and Baha'u'llah                               Pages 1 – 2
> 
> Worldwide Expansion                                   Pages 3 – 5
> 
> Affirming Oneness                                     Pages 5 – 7
> 
> Feast and Fireside                                    Pages 7 – 8
> 
> Human Equality                                        Pages 8 – 9
> 
> Becoming a Bahá’í                                     Pages 10 – 11
> 
> The Bab and Baha'u'llah
> 
> The Bahá’í Faith is today a vibrant worldwide community of people from many races and
> cultures. Its beginnings were in mid-nineteenth century Iran, where most of the people
> were "Twelver" Shi'ite Muslims. Shi'ites recognize a line of leaders called Imams:
> successors within the family lineage of Muhammad who became the spiritual guides and
> authoritative leaders of the Muslim community. They expect the twelfth Imam--
> Muhammad al-Mahdi, who disappeared in the ninth century--to return to establish a rule
> of truth and justice in the last days.
> 
> One sect of Twelver Shi'ites believed that the twelfth Imam would return to earth in the
> year 1844 to establish his reign of righteousness, justice, and peace. When the head of
> this sect died in 1844, many of his followers scattered in search of the promised one. On
> May 23, 1844, a young man named Siyyid 'Ali-Muhammad of Shiraz (1819-1850)
> declared to a leading Shaykhi that he was the promised one they were seeking. He later
> took the title of the Bab, Arabic for the "Gate," implying that he was the gate to the
> twelfth Imam, although in some of his early writings he claimed to be the Imam himself.
> 
> Within a few months the Bab had gathered a small group of followers whom he sent
> across Iran to spread his teachings, which were often written commentaries on chapters of
> the Qur'an. The Babi movement grew rapidly among seminarians, merchants, and other
> urban groups. It aroused the hostility of the Shi'ite clergy and the Persian authorities, who
> had the Bab arrested and imprisoned in northwestern Iran. In prison, the Bab continued to
> receive visitors and write. Among his writings was the Bayan, the "Explanation," which
> gave new laws for his religion and prophesied the arrival of another divine messenger
> 
> Materials originally published by Columbia University Press in the CD-ROM On
> Common Ground: World Religions in America.
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> even greater than himself. Because his teachings were considered blasphemy by the
> Shi'ite clerics, the Bab was executed by firing squad on July 9, 1850. Pogroms against his
> followers, already severe, intensified, and thousands of Babis died.
> 
> An early convert to the faith of the Bab, Mirza Husayn-'Ali (1819-1892), had organized a
> conference of leading Babis to discuss the state of the Babi movement in 1848. At the
> conference he acquired the title Baha'u'llah, Arabic for "the Glory of God." In 1852,
> Baha'u'llah was thrown in prison after a group of Babis attempted to assassinate the Shah
> of Iran. There Baha'u'llah received his first experience of divine revelation. As he
> described the experience in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, "The breezes of the All-
> Glorious were wafted over Me and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been."
> 
> In 1853 Baha'u'llah was released from prison and banished from Iran. He and his family
> emigrated to Baghdad in Ottoman Iraq. There he began to write theological, ethical and
> mystical works, and was instrumental in reorganizing Iran's scattered Babis. Increasingly
> Babis regarded Baha'u'llah as the divine messenger the Bab had promised, and in April of
> 1863 he announced to a small group of followers his claim to be the promised one.
> 
> Because of his claims and his growing stature, Baha'u'llah was repeatedly banished. He
> went from Baghdad, to Istanbul, to a small city in Turkey, and ultimately, in 1868, to
> Akka, a prison city in Palestine. There he lived out the rest of his days either in prison, or
> under house arrest. Except for the years 1868-1870, however, Baha'u'llah was able to
> receive visitors and had the freedom to write.
> 
> Over the course of his life, Baha'u'llah wrote more than 15,000 letters, essays, and books
> which stated his religion's theological doctrines, its principles of social reform, and its
> understanding of personal spiritual development. In 1874 he completed the Kitab-i-
> Aqdas, the central Bahá’í book, which delineates Bahá’í laws of prayer, fasting, and
> personal conduct and defines basic Bahá’í institutions. A series of his later essays
> outlines social reform teachings and provides a vision of a Bahá’í civilization.
> Baha'u'llah taught that divine revelation is a continuous and progressive process and that
> the missions of the messengers of God represent successive stages in the spiritual
> evolution of human society. Baha'u'llah's mission, Bahá’í s believe, is the culmination of
> the work of the Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad and the other great religious teachers
> and messengers.
> 
> Baha'u'llah died in 1892. One hundred years later, the anniversary of his passing was
> marked in New York City with a World Congress that drew 30,000 Bahá’í s from all over
> the world. The attendees were only a small fraction of the more than five million
> adherents of the Bahá’í Faith, a faith that represents almost all nationalities, ethnic
> groups, classes, professions, and religious backgrounds.
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                                 2
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> Worldwide Expansion
> 
> Virtually all of the Bab's followers accepted Baha'u'llah and became Bahá’í s by the
> 1870s. Under Baha'u'llah's leadership the Bahá’í community began to grow in size.
> Starting in the 1870s and 1880s, Iranian Jews and Zoroastrians interested in the
> "modernization of thought" joined Shi'ite Muslims in converting to the Faith. Bahá’í
> teachers traveled to Egypt, Sudan, Palestine, Turkey, and India, converting Sunni
> Muslims and a smaller number of Christians. Bahá’í refugees from Iran fled northward
> into Russia and Central Asia and established large Bahá’í communities there. One
> teacher journeyed to Burma and converted both Muslims and Buddhists. The resulting
> Bahá’í communities were only loosely organized at first, but they gradually acquired
> copies of Baha'u'llah's writings and deepened their knowledge of his teachings.
> 
> Several of Baha'u'llah's works made it clear that his eldest son, Abbas Effendi (1844-
> 1921) was to succeed him as head of the Bahá’í community. Upon his father's death,
> Abbas, who took the name of Abdu'l-Baha, was widely, though not unanimously,
> accepted as the leader of the Bahá’í s. A major focus of Abdu'l-Baha's leadership became
> the establishment of the Bahá’í Faith in Europe and North America. He also made the
> consolidation of the Bahá’í community and the strengthening of community life a
> priority. In Iran, Bahá’í schools were opened and women's activities were encouraged.
> Abdu'l-Baha further developed Bahá’í Holy Days by encouraging all Bahá’í s to observe
> the Holy Days and answering questions about their purposes. He also inaugurated the
> practice of the Bahá’í Feast.
> 
> The Bahá’í Faith was brought to the United States by immigrants from the Middle East.
> One of them, Ibrahim George Kheiralla, an Arab Christian from what is today Lebanon,
> became a Bahá’í in 1889 while living in Egypt. Three years later he traveled west to seek
> his fortune. Kheiralla arrived in New York in December of 1892 and by the spring of
> 1894 he had settled in Chicago and was giving classes on spiritual subjects. By the end of
> the year, five or six Americans had become Bahá’í s. The most prominent was Thornton
> Chase, a 47-year-old life insurance executive of New England Baptist background. While
> some Catholics and at least one Jew joined, the majority of converts were middle- and
> working-class white Protestants.
> 
> In 1898 Kheiralla took a group of American Bahá’í s to Palestine to meet Abdu'l-Baha.
> They discovered many contradictions between Kheiralla's teachings and the Bahá’í
> scriptures. In response, Abdu'l-Baha sent four Persian Bahá’í teachers to the United
> States to explain Baha'u'llah's teachings to Americans. By 1905, six or seven books of
> Bahá’í scripture had been translated into English, and Bahá’í communities in several
> cities had elected governing bodies. The Chicago Bahá’í s organized a Bahá’í publishing
> society in 1900 and started planning to build a Bahá’í temple in 1903. They purchased a
> site for the temple in 1908 and held the first national Bahá’í convention in 1909. The
> convention established the Bahá’í Temple Unity, the first national Bahá’í organization.
> Construction of the temple was the focus of much of the American Bahá’í community's
> efforts for the next fifty years.
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                           3
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> Abdu'l-Baha visited North America for nine months in 1912, traveling from coast to
> coast to explain the Bahá’í Faith to the growing number of converts. From 1912 to 1921,
> the Bahá’í Faith spread to more American towns and cities, although growth was slowed
> by the First World War and by continuing uncertainty about basic Bahá’í teachings. The
> Tablets of the Divine Plan, a collection of fourteen letters (called tablets in Bahá’í
> terminology) by Abdu'l-Baha, called upon North American Bahá’í s to spread the Faith to
> the entire world. His Will and Testament elaborated his plan for a Bahá’í world
> organization, as well as recognizing his eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as his successor.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi was a student at Oxford and not quite twenty-five years old when Abdu'l-
> Baha died in 1921. Shoghi Effendi hurried back to Palestine and was shocked to learn he
> had been appointed "Guardian of the Cause of God," the head of the Bahá’í Faith.
> Taking the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha, which describes a Bahá’í administrative
> organization, as his mandate, Shoghi Effendi devoted his next fifteen years to
> establishing local spiritual assemblies, locally elected Bahá’í governing bodies,
> everywhere nine or more Bahá’í s lived, and national spiritual assemblies in every
> country or region with at least three local spiritual assemblies. He also translated a
> number of Baha'u'llah's works into English and wrote essays defining and clarifying
> many basic Bahá’í teachings. Shoghi Effendi answered many questions asked by the
> Americans, producing a clearer understanding of theological and social issues.
> 
> Better organization, clarity of understanding, and greater access to the scriptures
> produced genuine growth within the American Bahá’í community. By 1925 the
> organization to build the Bahá’í temple had evolved into the National Spiritual Assembly
> of the Bahá’í s of the United States and Canada. By the following year, forty local
> spiritual assemblies had been elected in the United States. The number of North
> American Bahá’í s grew from 1,500 in 1926, to 2,800 in 1936, 5,000 in 1944, and 10,000
> in 1963.
> 
> While Shoghi Effendi worked to give the Bahá’í Faith organization and focus, the rise of
> Fascism and Stalinism threatened many Bahá’í communities. Shoghi Effendi began a
> series of plans for the systematic worldwide dissemination of the Faith. The first Seven
> Year Plan (1937-44) was given to the Americans and Canadians, since British Bahá’í s
> were few and weakened by the onset of war, and the Iranian Bahá’í s were victims of
> unrelenting persecution. This plan called for at least one local spiritual assembly to be
> created in every state of the United States and every province of Canada; the opening of
> every country in Latin America to the Bahá’í Faith (through settlement of at least one
> Bahá’í or conversion of at least one resident); and completion of the exterior of the
> Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. The plan was completed successfully in
> 1944. The second Seven Year Plan (1946-53) involved electing a single National
> Spiritual Assembly for Canada, another one for all of South America, a third for all of
> Central America, establishing the Bahá’í Faith in ten western European nations, and
> completion of the Bahá’í House of Worship's interior. The third plan, the Ten Year
> Crusade (1953-1963), involved all Bahá’í s worldwide in the establishment of Bahá’í
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                            4
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> communities in Africa, parts of Asia, rural areas of Latin America, and throughout the
> Pacific.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi died suddenly in 1957, halfway through the Ten Year Crusade. Before his
> death, he had appointed twenty-seven Bahá’í s as "Hands of the Cause of God," a
> position of respect and trust but not authority. The various National Spiritual Assemblies
> agreed that the Hands should serve as custodians of the Faith until the Universal House of
> Justice, a body described in the writings of Baha'u'llah, Abdu'l-Baha, and Shoghi Effendi,
> could be elected. The House of Justice, which was elected after the conclusion of the Ten
> Year Crusade in 1963, has continued Shoghi Effendi's practice of drawing up
> international plans. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a dramatic increase in
> membership in the United States, Canada, Australia, and western Europe. Together these
> nations now have perhaps 200,000 Bahá’í s, ten times their numbers in 1963.
> 
> In the United States this growth was largely the result of the attraction of thousands of
> college students and other youth. Many of these youths went to rural areas to teach the
> Bahá’í Faith door-to-door, resulting in thousands of minorities joining the Bahá’í Faith.
> The African-American portion of the American Bahá’í community expanded greatly,
> from about ten percent to perhaps thirty percent of the membership, and the Bahá’í Faith
> was firmly established on over fifty American Indian reservations. By 1974 the number
> of Bahá’í s in the United States had grown to sixty thousand, six times the number ten
> years earlier.
> 
> Although the growth rate subsequently fell, the American Bahá’í community has
> continued to increase. By 1996 the membership was approximately 125,000. Immigration
> augmented conversion. From 1975 to 1980 as many as 10,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian,
> and Laotian Bahá’í s left Southeast Asia to settle in the United States. In the late 1970s
> and the 1980s they were joined by 10,000-12,000 Iranian Bahá’í s, who fled persecution
> after Islamic government took power in Iran.
> 
> Expansion of the American Bahá’í community in the last twenty years has allowed
> increased resources to be channeled in several new directions. The Bahá’í community
> has been able to sustain a much greater commitment to the abolition of racism, the
> development of society, and the establishment of world peace. One result has been
> greater media attention. The larger membership also produced an expanded book market
> which stimulated writers and scholars, so that Bahá’í literature developed greatly in
> scope and depth. Cultural expressions of the Bahá’í Faith such as operas and "Bahá’í
> gospel" music have become much more sophisticated. Now more than a century old, the
> American Bahá’í community is an indigenous American religion, with fifth and sixth-
> generation members.
> 
> Affirming Oneness
> 
> During his 1912 visit to the United States, Abdu'l-Baha met an old man early one
> morning on a deserted New Hampshire street. The man was ragged and dirty. His filthy
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                            5
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> trousers barely covered his legs. After speaking with the man, apparently trying to cheer
> him up, Abdu'l-Baha stepped behind a porch, fumbled under his robe, stooped and his
> trousers fell to the ground. "May God go with you," Abdu'l-Baha said, giving the trousers
> to the old man. Then Abdu'l-Baha proceeded as though nothing unusual had happened.
> 
> The story captures Abdu'l-Baha's emphasis on deeds and moral action rather than esoteric
> doctrines. It also captures the belief in human equality which underlies the Bahá’í
> principle of the oneness of mankind. This was a theme Abdu'l-Baha sounded repeatedly
> as he traveled across America explaining Baha'u'llah's teachings.
> 
> Bahá’í s believe that humanity is one family created by God. The central principles of the
> Bahá’í faith are the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of mankind.
> The purposes of life, Bahá’í s believe, are to know and worship God and to contribute to
> the advancement of civilization. The teachings of the Bahá’í Faith offer solutions to
> problems which have been barriers to the achievement of this unity and to the
> establishment of peace in the world. Because of their respect for all faiths, Bahá’í s have
> been leaders in interfaith dialogue and understanding.
> 
> As Abdu'l-Baha explained Baha'u'llah's principles to Americans, in 1912, he touched
> upon many themes. He stressed the importance of independent investigation of the truth;
> the essential harmony of science and religion; the common foundation of all religions; the
> equality of men and women; and the need to eliminate prejudice of all kinds and to
> recognize the oneness of mankind. In order to further these goals he emphasized the
> value of universal compulsory education; the need for spiritual solutions to economic
> problems; the benefits of a universal auxiliary language; and the imperative to build a
> world government which could uphold universal peace.
> 
> Today, the more than 176 National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’í Faith and the
> 20,000 local assemblies continue to uphold these principles in their devotional services,
> study classes, discussions, social events and in their observance of Bahá’í holy days.
> These religious and community activities are planned and conducted without clergy,
> according to the Bahá’í calendar.
> 
> The Bahá’í calendar, originating with the Bab's ministry in 1844 CE, is a solar calendar
> divided into nineteen months of nineteen days each. The year begins on the vernal
> equinox, March 21. The Bahá’í year includes nine holy days, most of which
> commemorate events in the lives of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, on which Bahá’í s should
> suspend work. Holy days, like all Bahá’í days, start at sunset and end the following
> sunset. They are generally celebrated by a worship program followed by refreshments.
> All holy day observances are open to non-Bahá’í s.
> 
> Near the end of each year, during the Bahá’í month of 'Ala or "Loftiness," which begins
> at sunset March 1 and ends at sunset, March 20, Bahá’í s observe a period of fasting. The
> Bahá’í fast involves abstaining from food, drink, and tobacco from sunrise to sunset each
> day. Exempted from fasting are those under the age of fifteen or over age seventy;
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                               6
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> women who are pregnant, nursing or menstruating; travelers; the ill; and those
> performing heavy physical labor. Bahá’í s often gather at restaurants or in each others'
> homes to pray and eat before dawn, or to pray and break their fast in the evening. The
> purpose of the fast is to remember one's dependency on God and to learn detachment
> from material things.
> 
> Bahá’í s also affirm the oneness of God, religion and humankind in prayer. Baha'u'llah
> revealed three obligatory prayers. Bahá’í s are under a spiritual obligation to choose one
> of these prayers and perform it each day. The Long Obligatory Prayer can be said any
> time within a twenty-four hour period and is repeated only once. The Middle Obligatory
> Prayer must be repeated three times in a day, once between dawn and noon, once
> between noon and sunset, and once between sunset and midnight. The Short Obligatory
> Prayer is said once a day, between noon and sunset. These Obligatory Prayers are always
> performed in private.
> 
> Individuals often asked the Bab, Baha'u'llah, and Abdu'l-Baha for prayers for special
> circumstances, such as grieving for a lost one; restoration of health; the spiritual growth
> of their children; or preparation for marriage. Hundreds of these prayers have been
> published in Bahá’í prayer books. They are among the first Bahá’í scriptures translated.
> Repeating them is an important part of a Bahá’í 's daily worship; and the recitation of
> these prayers is central in most Bahá’í worship services. Bahá’í s also pray to God in
> their own words, but not in community or public worship services.
> 
> Feast and Fireside
> 
> The Bahá’í Faith has no weekly worship services, but it does have a regular community
> gathering known as a Nineteen Day Feast. Generally held on the first evening of each
> Bahá’í month, or once every nineteen days, the feast has three portions: worship,
> business and socializing.
> 
> Bahá’í worship, at a feast and at other times, is distinguished by two characteristics.
> First, since the Bahá’í Faith has no clergy, worship can be planned and led by anyone,
> female or male, young or old. Usually a local Bahá’í community rotates responsibility
> for planning its worship among its members, or delegates the responsibility to a
> committee. Second, rituals, rites and ceremonies are forbidden, and so the worship
> portion of a feast tends to be very simple.
> 
> Central to worship is the use of scripture, either carefully and clearly read, sung, or in the
> case of scriptures in Persian and Arabic, chanted. Chanting of Bahá’í prayers in English,
> while not widespread, is developing. While the Bible, the Qur'an, and scriptures of other
> religions are occasionally used in Bahá’í worship--especially when the non-Bahá’í
> public is invited--generally the writings, and especially the prayers, of Baha'u'llah, the
> Bab, and Abdu'l-Baha are used. The entire congregation does not recite a scriptural
> passage in unison. Generally one person reads, chants or sings while the others listen.
> Such worship is best described as a meditation on and celebration of the Word of God.
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                                7
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> The other important element of Bahá’í worship is music. This may include instrumental
> music (except in Bahá’í Houses of Worship, where instruments are forbidden), listening
> to recorded music, or singing together. Bahá’í music in the sense of a particular musical
> genre does not exist; rather, music expressing Bahá’í themes has been written in many
> genres and styles. Music that is written to be performed in a worship context usually
> incorporates passages from the Bahá’í scriptures. The first American Bahá’í hymnbook
> was published in 1903 and contained mostly modifications of standard Protestant hymns,
> but by 1904 hymns on Bahá’í themes were being written.
> 
> With the rise of radio, records, talking pictures, and other forms of popular culture,
> Bahá’í songs came to be written in a wider variety of genres. Guitars became a
> particularly important instrument for Bahá’í music, because most Bahá’í music was
> performed in homes or rented facilities where portable instruments were most convenient.
> In the 1960s and 1970s several classical pieces were written on Bahá’í themes to be
> performed by orchestras. More recently country music and jazz have emerged as genres
> for Bahá’í music. Starting in the 1980s Bahá’í youth workshops created music and skits
> illustrating Bahá’í themes using rap and hip-hop. Traditional African-American music
> has been an important genre for Bahá’í music since the 1960s; in 1992 the debut of a
> gospel choir at the Bahá’í World Congress made Bahá’í gospel music very popular in
> the United States. Always, the role of music is to uplift and inspire those gathered to
> worship.
> 
> The business portion of the feast is open only to Bahá’í s. At this time the business of the
> Bahá’í community is discussed and necessary action taken. The feast concludes with a
> social portion, where all attending eat, drink, and socialize.
> 
> Probably the most common type of Bahá’í meeting is the fireside. The "classic" fireside
> described by Shoghi Effendi involves a Bahá’í inviting someone to his or her home to
> discuss the faith in an atmosphere of service and friendship. The fireside generally has
> two elements: hospitality and discussion of the Bahá’í Faith with those seeking to learn
> about it. All Bahá’í s are encouraged to host such gatherings regularly. Sometimes Bahá’í
> communities sponsor large formal "firesides" in a home or a Bahá’í Center. These events
> begin with a speaker (who need not be a Bahá’í ) describing an aspect of the Bahá’í
> Faith. This presentation is followed by questions, discussion, and refreshments. Because
> the Bahá’í Faith stresses personal investigation of the truth, questions and discussion are
> important parts of a fireside gathering. Formal firesides are nearly always open to the
> public.
> 
> Human Equality
> 
> Racism is the American Bahá’í community's most vital and challenging issue, one to
> which it has devoted considerable energy nearly since its founding. The Bahá’í scriptures
> stress the oneness of humanity, the principle that all humans are spiritually equal and
> must be treated equally. They clearly and specifically reject racism. When Abdu'l-Baha
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                              8
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> visited the United States in 1912 he made this rejection clear in several ways. He refused
> to use hotels that excluded blacks, and he spoke about equality to the fourth national
> conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
> (NAACP). Abdu'l-Baha invited Louis Gregory, a prominent African-American Bahá’í ,
> to a reception for the cream of Washington society, where he seated Mr. Gregory on his
> right. Later he encouraged Mr. Gregory to marry a white Bahá’í , stating that their union
> would symbolize love between the white and black races. The marriage of Louis and
> Louisa Gregory was the first of many interracial marriages within the Bahá’í Faith,
> which encourages interracial marriage. Louis Gregory was also the first African
> American to serve on a local Bahá’í governing body (the Washington, D.C., spiritual
> assembly, to which he was elected in 1911) and the national Bahá’í governing body (to
> which he was elected in 1912). Abdu'l-Baha also made it clear that separate local
> communities for white and black Bahá’í s could not be established. He required local
> American Bahá’í communities to be racially integrated. Thus began a long commitment
> to racial integration and equality in the American Bahá’í community.
> 
> One result of this commitment is the high level of ethnic diversity within the community:
> perhaps twenty-five to thirty percent of American Bahá’í s are African-American.
> Another ten percent are Persians. Southeast Asian immigrants, Native Americans, and
> Hispanics together make up almost another ten percent of the community. Bahá’í s have
> become very active in efforts around the country to foster racial understanding and amity.
> Currently one of the nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly is Native
> American, and two, one of whom is the Secretary-General, are African-American.
> 
> Promoting equality of the sexes is also a principle stressed in Bahá’í scriptures. While
> today the American Bahá’í community is fifty percent female and fifty percent male,
> when it was founded, two thirds to three quarters of Bahá’í s were female, as was true of
> many new religions in the late nineteenth century. Many of the most active speakers and
> traveling Bahá’í teachers of the early twentieth century were women. The founders of
> the Bahá’í communities of Germany, France, South Africa, South America, Hawaii,
> Japan, and Korea were all American Bahá’í women. Another American Bahá’í woman,
> Martha Root, traveled the world for twenty-four years teaching the Bahá’í Faith to
> others. Root was instrumental in getting Bahá’í scriptures translated into dozens of
> languages. The first national Bahá’í governing body for North America had three women
> among its nine members. Today, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’í s of the
> United States has four women on it. The National Spiritual Assembly of Canada has five
> women among its nine members.
> 
> Despite the prominence of women in Bahá’í organizations, sexism remains a concern
> within the American Bahá’í community. This concern is highlighted by the fact that
> three-quarters of all local spiritual assembly secretaries are female, while two-thirds of
> the chairs and sixty percent of the treasurers are male. The National Spiritual Assembly is
> currently writing a statement on sexual equality in order to give the issue a higher profile
> and priority.
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                             9
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> Becoming a Bahá’í
> 
> There is no ritual analogous to Christian baptism for becoming a Bahá’í . The first step is
> to declare one's faith by announcing to a Bahá’í that one believes in Baha'u'llah and
> wishes to be a Bahá’í . The second step, enrollment, involves meeting with one or more
> persons appointed by a local or national spiritual assembly, who ascertain whether the
> declarant understands the basic teachings of the Bahá’í Faith and really wants to be a
> member. In the United States (though not in all other countries), the declarant signs a
> card that states, "In signing this card, I declare my belief in Baha'u'llah, the Promised One
> of God. I also recognize the Bab, His Forerunner, and Abdu'l-Baha, the Center of His
> Covenant. I request enrollment in the Bahá’í Community with the understanding that
> Baha'u'llah has established sacred principles, laws, and institutions which I must obey."
> Once the card is signed and the person's desire to be a Bahá’í is verified, the spiritual
> assembly adds the person to its membership rolls. It is not unusual for the new member to
> receive a Bahá’í prayer book or other work of Bahá’í scripture as a gift, and for his or
> her enrollment to be informally celebrated.
> 
> All religious communities seek to raise up the next generation to become active members
> of the tradition. The Bahá’í Faith is no exception. Bahá’í s teach their children from
> infancy to memorize Bahá’í prayers. Once a child is about three years old, he or she can
> attend children's classes. Children's classes seek to teach children virtues, such as
> freedom from prejudice, open-mindedness, love, honesty, compassion, and patience.
> They may stress working in groups. They usually include learning Bahá’í prayers,
> principles, and history. There are also special programs for older youth. In many cities
> Bahá’í Youth Workshops have been established where youth perform dances and skits
> that highlight Bahá’í principles, especially chastity and freedom from racial and gender
> prejudice. These workshops often perform skits and dances publicly.
> 
> When a Bahá’í child reaches the age of fifteen, it is expected that he or she will begin to
> perform the obligatory prayers and fast, although such observances, especially partial
> observance of the fast, can voluntarily begin at an earlier age. Bahá’í children are
> automatically considered Bahá’í s unless, at some point, they express a desire not to be.
> Often parents will give their children a party at age fifteen to mark their transition to full
> membership in the Bahá’í community.
> 
> It is considered a spiritual obligation of every Bahá’í to share the Bahá’í teachings with
> others. But this sharing must be done lovingly and according to the Bahá’í principle of
> independent investigation of truth. Each person must be encouraged to study the Faith
> without coercion and make a free, personal choice. The most common way to study the
> Bahá’í Faith is the fireside, where one hears a presentation on some aspect of the Bahá’í
> Faith and then discusses it. Bahá’í s are encouraged to hold a fireside once in every
> Bahá’í month, or every nineteen days.
> 
> In many parts of the world Bahá’í s inaugurate mass teaching projects, which may bring
> thousands of people into the Bahá’í community in a short time. In places where knocking
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                               10
> On Common Ground: Introduction to the Bahá’í Tradition
> 
> on doors to talk about religion is culturally acceptable--generally not in American
> middle-class suburbs--Bahá’í s may go door-to-door. Increasingly, Bahá’í s have begun
> to use radio, television, newspaper advertising, mass mailings, and billboards to proclaim
> their teachings to the public.
> 
> © Copyright 2009, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University                           11
>
> — *Introduction to the Bahá'í Tradition (Used by permission of the curator)*