PVCC Puma Press: April 2006

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	AP Photo
	The Baha'i house of worship in Wilmette, Illinois is nine-sided. To Baha'is, the number nine symbolizes Completeness.
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Jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie was one. San Diego Padres star shortstop Khalil Greene is another. So are both members of the soft rock music duo Seals and Croft.

Baha’is might be unfamiliar to many Americans, but members of all the world’s major religions would recognize many of their own spiritual morals and values in the Baha'i faith.

Baha’ism emerged from a messianic movement known as Babism in nineteenth century Shi’ite Persia (modern day Iran). It crystallized around the figure of Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri (1817-1892), a Persian nobleman who became better known to contemporaries and posterity as Baha’u’llah (“the glory of God”). Baha’u’llah, who was exiled and imprisoned for much of his adult life for his religious convictions, proclaimed that he had experienced a divine revelation that he was a new messenger of God. Baha’u’llah’s revelation is not viewed by Baha’is as a break with mankind’s other religious traditions, but rather a continuation of them.

Baha’is recognize religious figures such as Krishna, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad as prophets of the same God, appropriate to the specific culture and era to which they were sent. Likewise, they see Baha’u’llah as a prophet for the modern era. To Baha’is, Baha’u’llah is the future messenger of God whose appearance on earth is anticipated in many of the world’s religious scriptures. They believe the single figure of Baha’u’llah fulfills that expectation in all of those faiths.

Baha’u’llah’s revelation “can bring all religions together,” says Sun City resident Ken Jeffers, chairman of the Baha’i Intercommunity Media Committee. “All religions have a promise that a holy spirit will return. With Baha’u’llah, it all happened in one event.”

Baha’is believe that their faith disassembles artificial barriers that separate mankind and lead to disharmony and violence. An emphasis on unity is fundamental to Baha’i teachings. In particular, three elements of that unity—what Jeffers refers to as “the three onenesses”—characterize Baha'i thought.

Baha’is believe in the “oneness of religion.” While different religions have ascribed different names to God and have approached the almighty in different manners, all men pray to the same God, they say.

“Most of the religions think they’re separate—they’ve never understood that they’re all part of one coherent plan” says Jeffers, who has spoken about the Baha’i faith in religious studies classes at PVCC the past two years. Uniting artificially separated religions, something Baha'is believe their faith achieves, is important because “it’s the basis for eliminating all of the hostility, separation, war, killing and everything else that’s been done in the name of religion.”

Believing in the “oneness of mankind,” Baha’is seek to reverse more than just religious barriers that separate humans from one another. Divisions based on race, class, gender, economics or nationality are anathema to Baha'is. Baha’i teachings assert the equality of all men and women amongst each other and in the eyes of God. It is incumbent upon Baha’is to combat racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. The eradication of prejudice is a fundamental corollary to the Baha’i goal of establishing universal peace and justice on earth.

Baha’is are monotheists who believe in the “oneness of God.” God is an unknowable essence but possesses attributes that human beings can know and apply to their own lives. Baha’u’llah taught that the development and practice of divine qualities such as mercy, justice, truthfulness, love, purity, trustworthiness and chastity prepares the human soul for the afterlife.

In preparation for life beyond the temporal realm, Baha’is engage in a number of religious practices here on earth, such as celebrating religious holidays, fasting and abstaining from alcohol. Baha’ism is not a rigidly structured religion, but it does require daily prayer and meditation of its adherents. Baha’i worship is informal, as there are no clergy, sacraments or ritual. In fact, there are only seven Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, or Baha’i houses of worship, worldwide. The only one in the western hemisphere is located in Wilmette, Illinois.

Baha’i worship does not stray from the egalitarian principles that pervade the religion. Any member of the Baha’i community can lead prayers, though it should be done with the support of locally elected spiritual assemblies. Communal gatherings for worship can be held in community centers or the homes of individuals. They are open to practitioners of all faiths, and prayers from other religions can be incorporated into Baha’i worship. Most commonly, prayers taken from the large corpus of Baha’i authoritative texts are read aloud.

While prayer is an important element of Baha’i life, by far the most important practice Baha’is can engage in is service to others. Baha’ism stresses deeds over words, and no deed is considered more valuable than giving of one’s self in the service of fellow man. Such service can take a myriad of forms, so long as the end result is to benefit mankind.

“Service is the focus of Baha'i life,” says Jeffers.

Recent examples of local Baha’i service include setting up a food bank, volunteering at a homeless school and assisting relocated victims of Hurricane Katrina. Baha’i civic activity will expand as the number of Baha’is continues to grow. Jeffers estimates that there are 1,200-1,300 Baha’is in the Valley. Worldwide, it is believed that there are between 5 and 7 million Baha’is.

The Baha’i faith has grown rapidly in the century and a half since Baha’u’llah disclosed his revelation to a few close confidants and relatives. It has done so despite a history of enduring persecution, including the continuing severe repression of Baha’is in Baha’u’llah’s homeland of Iran. Baha’ism’s acceptance and absorption of all of mankind’s major religions, as well as its emphasis on the equality of all human beings, has enabled it to attract converts from all backgrounds and in all corners of the globe.

Baha’is today “probably constitute the most diverse group of human beings that you can find on the planet,” says Jeffers.

If they continue to expand at the rate they have since the time of Baha’u’llah, Baha’is may one day be not only one of the planet’s most diverse groups, but one of its largest as well.