He
was born on this day in 1817, in Tehran, the capital of Persia. (Now
it's called Iran.)
And Baha'u'llah grew up to do something big: he founded a religion!
The
Baha'i Faith is that religion, and it is the youngest of the
Abrahamic faiths, which also include Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam. Each of these religions proposes that there is only one god,
and respects the earlier shared ancestors of their faiths, Abraham
and Moses—but, unfortunately, these religions do not always get
along. I am sure you know that many leaders and believers of these
related faiths squabble and fight with one another, often with
violent, disastrous results.
The
Baha'i Faith teaches peace and tolerance of all other faiths, but
Baha'is are not always treated with peace and tolerance.
As
a young man, Baha'u'llah joined a movement that started in, and then
broke off from, Islam. This movement was called Babism, and it was
opposed and then crushed by Muslim authorities; the leader, called
the Bab, was executed. Before he died, the Bab had spoken of a
Promised One, and Baha'u'llah eventually felt that he
was that Promised One. He didn't let his friends and family know of
this realization right away, but studied and slowly became a
respected leader. In 1863, in the Garden of Ridvan, Baha'u'llah
finally told a few close companions of his revelation.
Despite
persecution, the Baha'i Faith grew. Today there are about seven
million followers, and the religion is one of the fastest-growing
religions in the world. Here
is a short movie a follower made to celebrate Baha'u'llah's birthday.
To learn more about the Baha'i Faith, check out this earlier post.
Also
on this date:
Dear Cathy, this picture is not supposed to be shown publicly like this, it is extremely holy ,and it is offensive to the Baha'is, please take it down. thank you.
ReplyDeleteI have seen the photo in a million places with the same aim as this place -- namely, education. However, I am sorry to offend and went ahead and took it down.
Delete