Ask me anything about the Baha'i Faith

  • Thread starter Thread starter devinrose
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Yes: Sufism is Islamic mysticism, and the mysticisms of the Bahai Faith, Islam, Christianity and Judaism have much in common, in concepts and practices. Mystics of these traditions generally find they are fellow-spirits in the same path, using different terms and pictures to refer to the same ineffable reality.

The Bahai house of worship is called in Arabic the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, the rising-place of dhekr. Dhekr is the chanting of the names of God, often with the aid of prayer beads, analogous to the way Catholic mystics have used the rosary. So the Bahai house of worship is the place for a mystical practice. It is also the centre of the commmunity and a place for obligatory prayers (although many western Bahais are not aware of this). It is as if Baha’u’llah wanted to combine the mosque and the Sufi sama’ (recitation) ritual, to heal the rift between Islamic orthopraxy and the Sufi path.
 
devinrose said:
Unlike Catholics, we understand the resurrection to be spiritual.
Click to expand...
This misconception stems from “Some Answered Questions” which were essays written by Abdul’Baha where he postulated that Jesus’ miracles were spiritual in nature and that Jesus’ physical resurrection did not actually happen.
Twentieth century research on and testing of an ancient relic has proven that Jesus’ corpse did in fact vanish from His tomb. While that physical vanishing is not exactly the same as His bodily resurrection, it so strongly implies the same that it necessarily must be taken as proof that such happened.
Note that Baha’u’llah stated that the Christian Gospels stand correct as written and that would include the Matthew account of the Corpse being absent from a tomb that had been sealed and guarded.
Baha’u’llah designated Divine Certitude for himself and no other. But the UHJ has assigned the same certitude to Abdul’baha, and this is what happens when a conflict arises between the statements of two persons, both of whom are assigned certitude.
Shoghi Effendi has made statements indicating that he believed that Jesus’ corpse was still buried in the Jerusalem area.

I understand the purpose in Abdul’Baha’s essays, but I feel that the Baha’i Faith would now be better off without the burden of his erroneous statements. Divine Certitude should not be assigned to two contemporary persons.

Blessed is the one who acknowledges our Creator and His wonders, and who confesses that He is not to be questioned about what He does.
 
Last edited:
Baha’ullah was a Persian also if he was formerly Muslims that just tells me he was an apostate from Islam who decided to concoct an even greater view of confusion and used the Frankenstein creation of Mohammed as the model for his new religion. I respect Baha’i as human beings and they are more tolerant then actual Muslims but I cannot take the faith seriously nor respect it. As Baha’ism was based on Islam they believe in Isa Ibn Maryam who is their Messiah as the Muslims do, this is not my Messiah who is Yasue Ibn Allah.
 
Also even the Islamic concept of the Gospels and Torah is very confusing on whether they’re actually corrupt or not and it seems the Baha’i faith further confused this.
 
Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh

O KING! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing.

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/PB/pb-12.html
 
Jesus says that when the next prophet comes, it will be like a thief in the night. And that we should judge the true prophets based upon the fruits that they bear. As Baha’is we are encouraged to read the Bible and to know it well.
 
Have you read the Baha’i writings? They fit hand in hand with the Bible and fulfill the prophecies, and they were revealed in a matter of days from in prisons and written whilst Baha’u’llah was in exile. They use constant word-play and many are written in verse. How would this be accomplished if not by the hand of God?
 
Jesus Christ says that we will know the false prophets by them bearing bad fruits and the true prophet will come like a thief in the night, when people least expect it. Baha’u’llah revealed intricately worded tablets in a matter of days while in prison and exile. He also fulfills the prophecies in the Bible and in the Quran
 
Thanks Devinrose for your posts and introducing the topic on the forum. I’ve been on another forum known as “Quora” a few days and I had a few remarks to share that may be of interest. Baha’is have their own “Calendar” with New Year’s Day as “Naw-Ruz” the vernal equinox. Later this month we observe a season called “Ridvan”. It begins April 20th and there are three Holy Days on which work and school are suspended: THe first, ninth and twelfth days of Ridvan. Baha’u’llah was in exile from Persia and lived in Baghdad. Eventually it was felt that He was too close to some of the pilgrimage sites in Baghdad so the Ottoman Sultan of the time ordered that He travel to Istanbul. In beginning the journey He and His family stayed for twelve days in the Najibiyyah Garden an Island in the Tigris River. While there He revealed that He was “Him Whom God would make manifest” promised by the Bab His Predecessor. Most of those present accepted His Proclamation and later became know as Baha’is, this was April 1863. Baha’is celebrate this event and elect their governing bodies during Ridvan.
 
I have a dear late sibling and several nieces who are/were of the bha’i faith. Suffice it to say I have had a lot of encounters and a lot of issues with the baha’i faith, although I’ve found the majority of its members to be kind people bearing good intentions.

Perhaps I might begin by asking if you could confirm 2 things which have been told to me repeatedly by baha’i members. For now, I would call it piggy-backing on the words of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ :
  1. Our Lord Jesus, speaking of his second coming said [Matt 24:27] “as lightning flashes from east to west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man,”
    Baha’i members have told me that Bahá’u’lláh claims that Jesus was speaking not of his second coming, but of the baha’i religion ; the purported substantiation being that the baha’i religion began in the east and spread to the west. Could you please confirm this ?
  2. Our Lord Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit [John 15:26]“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.”
Baha’i members have told me that Bahá’u’lláh claims that he himself is this spirit of truth. Could you please confirm this.
 
Last edited:
It could be he plagiarized from the Bible as the Muslims did centuries before him.
 
Masihi said:
It could be he plagiarized from the Bible as the Muslims did centuries before him.
Click to expand...
It’s more like a little bit of truth, mixed in with a lot of gibberish.

Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh

POPE PIUS IX

O POPE! Rend the veils asunder. He Who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the Almighty, the Unrestrained… He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time. Beware that thou dispute not with Him even as the Pharisees disputed with Him (Jesus) without a clear token or proof. On His right hand flow the living waters of grace, and on His left the choice Wine of justice, whilst before Him march the angels of Paradise, bearing the banners of His signs. Beware lest any name debar thee from God, the Creator of earth and heaven. Leave thou the world behind thee, and turn towards thy Lord, through Whom the whole earth hath been illumined… Dwellest thou in palaces whilst He Who is the King of Revelation liveth in the most desolate of abodes? Leave them unto such as desire them, and set thy face with joy and delight towards the Kingdom… Arise in the name of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, amidst the peoples of the earth, and seize thou the Cup of Life with the hands of confidence, and first drink thou therefrom, and proffer it then to such as turn towards it amongst the peoples of all faiths…

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/PB/pb-26.html
 
Mohammed advocated for marrying children and killing people who do not believe in Islam. If his “essence” is the same as Jesus’, why did Jesus uphold laws condemning what Mohammed condoned?
 
NeedImprovement said:
Our Lord Jesus, speaking of his second coming said [Matt 24:27] “as lightning flashes from east to west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man,”

Baha’i members have told me that Bahá’u’lláh claims that Jesus was speaking not of his second coming, but of the baha’i religion ; the purported substantiation being that the baha’i religion began in the east and spread to the west. Could you please confirm this ?

Our Lord Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit [John 15:26]“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.”
Click to expand...
Thank you “need improvement” … God bless you and your family!

The return of Jesus or “second” coming is believed to be a promise of the Sun rising again the next morning:

When asked if it would be always necessary for prophets to come from time to time – “would not the world in the course of events through progress reach to a full realization of God?” – 'Abdu’l-Bahá replied: “Mankind needs a universal motive power to quicken it. The inspired messenger who is directly assisted by the power of God brings about universal results. Bahá’u’lláh rose as a light in Persia and now that light is going out to the whole world.”

“Is this what is meant by the Second Coming of Christ?” “Christ is an Expression of the Divine Reality, the Single Essence and Heavenly Entity, which hath no beginning or ending. It has appearance, arising, and manifestation and setting in each one of the Cycles.”
Code: 
(Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 88)
Baha’u’llah in my view does testify of Jesus…

These are the melodies, sung by Jesus,… He said unto them: “Immediately after the oppression[1] of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the earth shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet.”[1] Rendered into the Persian tongue,[2] the purport of these words is as follows: When the oppression and afflictions that are to befall mankind will have come to pass, then shall the sun be withheld from shining, the moon from giving light, the stars of heaven shall fall upon the earth, and the pillars of the earth shall quake. At that time, the signs of the Son of man shall appear in heaven, that is, the promised Beauty and Substance of life shall, when these signs have appeared, step forth out of the realm of the invisible into the visible world. And He saith: at that time, all the peoples and kindreds that dwell on earth shall bewail and lament, and they shall see that divine Beauty coming from heaven, riding upon the clouds with power, grandeur, and magnificence, sending His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. Similarly, in the three other Gospels, according to Luke, Mark, and John, the same statements 26 are recorded.
~ Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 21
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top