The founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh (1817-1892) is considered by Bahá’ís to be the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that extends back beyond recorded history and includes Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad. Bahá’u’lláh taught that there is one God Who progressively reveals His will to humanity. Each of the great religions brought by these Messengers of God represents a successive stage in the spiritual development of civilization. Bahá’í scriptures explain that all religion, when seen through the lens of progressive revelation, is “the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past and eternal in the future.” Bahá'u'lláh, the most recent Messenger in this line, has brought teachings that address the moral and spiritual challenges of the modern world paving the way for a society with the hallmarks of racial unity, religious unity and world peace.
The overarching theme of Bahá’u’lláh’s message is the concept that humanity is one single race and that we have reached the point in time for the unification of humanity in one global society. Traditional barriers of race, creed, class and nation will dissolve in time, giving birth to a universal civilization. The peoples of the earth are being guided to accept the understanding of their oneness and to work toward the processes of unification.
For a global society to flourish, Bahá’u’lláh said that it must be based on certain fundamental principles. They include:
- The elimination of all forms of prejudice
- Full equality between the sexes
- Recognition of the essential oneness of the world’s great religions
- The elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth
- Universal education
- The harmony of science and religion; a sustainable balance between nature and technology
- The establishment of a world federal system, based on collective security and the oneness of humanity.
The worldwide community of some five million Bahá’ís has as their purpose the integration of these principles into daily life in order to encourage and make the vision of humanity as one global family a reality.
Bahá’ís believe that there is only one God, whose essence is unknowable but the knowledge of whom is communicated through the line of Prophet-Founders of major religions, thus creating a fundamental unity underlying all religion. We believe that humanity is one family and recognize that the coming of Bahá’u’lláh initiated the age for the establishment of world peace. This age of peace has been foretold in the sacred scriptures of the past. Bahá’ís anticipate that the future of humanity will be one of spiritual and social maturity where the human family will live as one in a just, global society.
Additional information about the Bahá’í Faith can be found at a variety of reliable websites. We suggest you visit the links on the top of this page to learn more.