Bahá'í Faith

Overview

Bahá'ís believe in "progressive revelation" through messengers of God across history: Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. In their belief, all the great religions come from one source. The core principles:

• Equality of women and men.
• Elimination of prejudice.
• Harmony of science and religion.
• Education for all.
• World peace.

The Bahá'í Faith has no clergy. Communities are run by elected councils.

Origins and History

In 1844 a young Persian, Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad, the Báb ("the Gate"), announced the coming of a new messenger of God. He was executed in 1850, and thousands of his followers were killed. In 1863 Mírzá Husayn-'Alí, Bahá'u'lláh, declared that he was the messenger the Báb had foretold. He was exiled from Persia to Baghdad, Istanbul, Edirne and finally Akko, where he died in 1892. His son 'Abdu'l-Bahá and great-grandson Shoghi Effendi led the community after him.

Development and Branches

• World centre: since 1963 the religion has been headed by the Universal House of Justice, which is elected and sits in Haifa.
• Unity: the community is united, with no significant branches. There were small splits in the past, but they are very marginal.

How It Spread and Grew

🗺️ Maps of how the five largest religions spread →

Worldwide spread: in the 20th century the religion spread to every country in the world, through believers who moved to new places ("pioneers") and shared their faith there. The largest communities today are in India, the US, Africa and South America.

Israel and Iran:

• In Israel, Bahá'ís do not teach their religion, by their own policy.
• In Iran, the religion's birthplace, Bahá'ís are the largest non-Muslim religious minority, and are severely persecuted.

Influence on the World

• Art and heritage: the Bahá'í Gardens in Haifa and Akko are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• International bodies: Bahá'ís are active in international organisations and in promoting education, the status of women and community development.
• Ideas ahead of their time: ideas such as a common world language and world government were innovative in the 19th century.

What Draws Believers (Strengths)

• A vision of the unity of humanity and world peace.
• Equality of the sexes, and harmony of science and religion.
• No clergy, and democratic community governance.
• Respect for all other religions.

Criticism and Challenges

• Homosexuality: critics point to the attitude to homosexuality, which is considered forbidden.
• Representation of women: women cannot serve on the Universal House of Justice. This is seen as contradicting the principle of equality, but Bahá'ís explain it as a divine instruction whose reason will become clear in the future.
• Authoritarian structure: there is also criticism that the authoritarian structure limits internal debate.

Human Life, War and Peace – What It Teaches

• World peace and the unity of humanity are the religion's goal: "The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
• Bahá'ís prefer to serve in the army in non-combat roles.
• They support collective security, a world order able to stop an aggressor, rather than absolute pacifism.
• Using violence to promote the religion is forbidden.
• Compared with other religions: Sanctity of Life Across Religions

Religion, Power and Violence

Nonviolence: the Bahá'í Faith forbids believers to use violence to advance the religion and forbids involvement in partisan politics. It teaches obedience to law and peace. It has no history of violence, conquest or coercion.

When believers were victims:

• 19th century: thousands of Bábís were killed in Persia, and the Báb himself was publicly executed in 1850. After the attempt on the Shah's life in 1852 came a wide massacre; some sources estimate more than 20,000 dead. In 1903 more than 100 Bahá'ís were killed in Yazd.
• 1955: a campaign of incitement led by clerics was broadcast on national radio, the army took over the National Bahá'í Centre in Tehran, and the building's dome was destroyed.
• After the Islamic Revolution (1979): according to Amnesty International at least 201 Bahá'ís were executed, most of them in the 1980s. In 1983, 16 Bahá'ís were executed in Shiraz, among them ten women. The last confirmed execution for their faith was in 1998.
• Education and property: Bahá'í students are systematically excluded from Iran's universities. In 1987 the community set up an alternative institute of higher education (BIHE), and in 1998 security forces raided more than 500 homes and offices to dismantle it. Confiscation of property continues, for example in Isfahan province in 2025. In 2024 Human Rights Watch concluded that Iran's treatment of Bahá'ís amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution.
• Yemen: since the Houthis took Sanaa (2014), Bahá'ís have been arrested, disappeared and expelled, and their property confiscated. In 2018 one of them, Hamed bin Haydara, was sentenced to death; he was later released in UN-brokered negotiations. In May 2023, 17 Bahá'ís were arrested in a raid on a gathering.

The other side: the Bahá'í Faith has no known link to conquest or war.