The Bahá'í Faith:

The Bahá’í Faith is a religion which is followed by several million people in the world, from all countries and all backgrounds.

• All of these people believe in the unity of humanity – that all people matter, and that the world should be run as one country for the benefit of everyone.

• They believe that it is the differences between us which make life interesting, and that we should cherish these differences.

• They believe that there is only one God, though people may call Him by different names. God is something we can never really understand: we can only learn about Him through His creation and His Messengers.

• Bahá’ís believe that there has only ever been one religion – the religion of God. God sent His Messengers to different places at different times so that everyone in the world could hear about Him.

• Bahá’ís follow Bahá’u’lláh, the latest in a long line of Messengers sent by God to show us how we should live our lives. The name Bahá’u’lláh means “Glory of God”. Bahá’u’lláh suffered all of His life to tell us how to build a better life here on earth and in the world to come. His soul passed to the next world in 1892.

• Bahá’ís believe that Moses, Christ, Muhammad, Krishna and Buddha were all Messengers from God.

• These Messengers all said basically the same thing – that we should love God and love one another, that we should be honest, truthful, kind, trustworthy, humble. It was only their social teachings which were different: this is because they were meant for a particular time and place. Now that we are part of a world society, new laws are necessary.

• All of these Messengers promised a time when a great Messenger would come to bring peace to the whole world. Bahá’ís believe that Bahá’u’lláh was that Messenger and that the time for peace is now.

World Unity

Bahá’ís do everything they can to bring about world peace and world unity. This naturally begins with caring and co-operation between individuals. Wherever Bahá’ís live, they try to bring people together, strengthen the sense of community and improve the life of everyone in the area. This often starts with work with young people, and includes small or large social projects.

Bahá’ís also work in support of Bahá’u’lláh’s call for all the governments of the world to meet in an international peace conference.

It is only when we have peace and co-operation at a world level that many of the urgent problems can be solved. We need to take a spiritual and unselfish attitude to this earth, for we need to live in harmony with our environment and with each other.

Daily Life

Bahá’ís believe that our purpose in this life is to learn, to develop, so that when we move on to the next world we will be closer to God, closer to perfection. We can learn from everything that happens to us, and rise above all difficulties.

Each day a Bahá’í should turn to God in prayer. Each morning and evening he or she should read some of the Bahá’í scriptures, think about them, try to really understand them and put them into practice.

There are many books of Bahá’í scripture but here are just a few examples from the Writings:

“Turn all your thoughts toward bringing joy to hearts.”

 “Breathe not the sins of others whilst thou art thyself a sinner.”

 “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”

 “Think ye at all times of rendering some service to every member of the human race.”

Community Life

The regular meeting of each local Bahá’í community is called a “Feast”. This includes prayers, discussion and sharing food together.

In each local area Bahá’ís elect an assembly of nine people who look after the welfare of the community. Each country has a national assembly and there is also a world body.

Each community has regular devotional meetings where everyone is welcome to share and enjoy the prayers, readings and music. In a growing number of places in the world there are Bahá’í Houses of Worship which are open to everyone, whatever their religion.

Bahá’ís offer fun classes for local children which focus on moral and spiritual development. Here they learn how to be happy and helpful to others.

Junior youth (pre-teens and young teenagers) have their own courses and activities, particularly suited to their age group, where they learn to think positively about themselves and about their contribution to the world.

For adults and older teenagers there are study circles where they explore how to lead a spiritual life, learn how to run children’s classes and junior youth groups, and discuss Bahá’í beliefs. Many people who are not Bahá’ís enjoy these courses, where everyone’s opinion is valued.

Bahá’ís also have open meetings for those who would like to learn more about the Bahá’í Faith.

The Future

• Bahá’ís believe that eventually there will be a world government which will make sure that all countries are treated fairly and that the resources of the planet are used sensibly.

• There will be a world currency and a fair economic and trade system which will ensure that there will no longer be vast differences between rich and poor countries, or rich and poor people.

• Every child in the world will be able to go to school and develop his or her potential.

• Everyone will learn a world language so that we can all understand one another better.

• Women will be treated equally with men and will use their influence to help bring about peace in the world.

When it comes down to it, it is the people of the world who have to change the world. And we can only start with ourselves.

You are very welcome to join the Bahá’í community in making the world a better place for us all.

The text of all these leaflets remains the copyright of Warwick Bahá'í Bookshop. The Bookshop is happy for people to download individual copies for their own purposes. Printed copies can be purchased from the Warwick Bookshop. Individuals or communities wishing to translate or print these leaflets in other countries please contact the Bookshop for permission.