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Encyclopedia of Religion entry forBahaismA religion of Persian origin, a development of Babism (q.v.). At the end of the year 1852 many of the Babis were exiled to Bagdad by the Persian and Ottoman governments. One of the exiles was Baha`u‘llah, an early disciple of the Bab. His real name was Mirza Husain `Ali Nuri, and he belonged to a powerful and noble family. He was born on the 12th of November, 1817. When he was nearly thirty he determined to consecrate all his energies to the cause of Babism. He did not meet the Bab, but he corresponded with him regularly. At Bagdad he became leader and organizer of the exiles. In the course of this work he became convinced that he was the Supreme Manifestation heralded by the Bab, but he kept the conviction a secret from all but his most intimate friends. The party that gathered round Baha`u‘llah grew to such an extent that in course of time it came to be considered dangerous. The leader was summoned to Constantinople. Before he left his movement underwent a new development. He declared himself to be the Supreme Manifestation of God prophesied by the Bab. His followers were to be hence-forth not Babis but Bahais. And he made the startling pronouncement that foreign peoples, infidels, were no longer to be considered unclean. " The times were distant since Moses, Jesus or Muhammad had brought them special laws. God would speak again, and this time, through His Supreme Manifestation, he would lead reconciled men toward progress, and regenerate them by love. Disdainful of the comforts of this world, they ought only to strive to develop their spirituality. Thus, the work begun by the Bab would find in him its accomplishment and its end in the renovation and unification of all religions! " (H. Dreyfus). Baha‘u‘llah was four months in Constantinople. He was then sent to Adrianople (1864). Here he addressed letters to the rulers in Europe and America urging them to assist him in introducing universal fraternity and peace. In 1868 the Sultan banished him to ‘Akka, whither he was accompanied by his faithful disciples. They were at first imprisoned in the fortress and were treated rather harshly. After a time, however, they were released, and new-corners joined their colony, Buddhists, Parsees, Musulmans, and others. " One has not often, I think," writes H. Dreyfus, " had the opportunity of observing an economic and social phenomenon such as this little community composed as it was of individuals belonging to the most diverse and equally fanatical religions, having up to this time lived in the most different surroundings, accustomed to conceptions of existence often contradictory; and who had now come to carry into action the principles of detachment and of human fraternity, around the Prophet him-self, which until then they had been powerless to realize in their native land. Their conduct was so perfect, their morality so high, their harmony so complete, that, although they have been there for forty years, no judge has had yet to intervene for them in any legal disputes." From 1869 to 1892 the leader dictated to some of his disciples a number of treatises. These included " The Most Holy Book " and " The Book of the Testament." When Baha‘u‘llah died at the end of May, 1892, his son ‘Abdu‘I-Baba (b. May, 1844), who had been a tower of strength to his father, assumed the leadership. His opinions and advice have been sought on all hands by the Bahais. "Thus he is effectively the centre of this great movement, which having started from the Persian mountains, to-day re-unites people from all corners of the earth in one unique aim that of the progress of humanity." Baha’u’llah exhorted the ministers of State to make some one language universal, and to institute tribunals of arbitration. He insists, " that all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened." The Bahais are required to live a spiritual life, but not a life of austerity and solitude. ‘Abdu‘l-Baba says: " We were made to be happy and not sad; for joy, not for sorrow. Happiness is life; sadness is death; spiritual happiness is eternal life. It is a light that the night does not extinguish; it is an honor that shame does not follow, an existence which is not resolved Into annihilation! For happiness the worlds and contingent beings have been created." See H. Dreyfus, The Universal Religion: Bahaism, 1909. citations: Encyc. of Rel., Canney
article created 2006-04-12 , last updated 2006-04-12 |
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