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"I like being a Bahá´í child" For and About Children For Kids! "O Thou kind Lord! These lovely children are the handiwork of the fingers of Thy might and the wondrous signs of Thy greatness." 'Abdul-Bahá SOURCE |
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Children are highly valued in the Bahá´í writings, where it is stressed that all children should have equal and at least basic education in the arts and sciences. |
 | All children are welcome to participate in any Bahá´í activities and in some communities such as ours, they participate actively in community discussions. |
| Technically, children are not counted as Bahá´ís because you must be 15 years or over to declare oneself a Bahá´í. At the same time it is stressed that children should be taught to respect all religions and are a valuable part of the Bahá´í community. |
| For Kids! Games! What is Bahá´í about? |
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Some Games |
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Click on the highlighted word below to play a matching pairs game, where you learn more about various religions. When you click, a new window opens and to close it, just click on the X on the top right corner. |
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Religious Symbols
Match the correct symbol with the name of the religion. |
 Illustration for this prayer by Jacqueline Wassen | Bahá'u'lláh wrote that 'work is worship', but of course, saying prayers and meditating is also important and can be fun too! It is up to each person how they pray. Here is a prayer that is popular with many Bahá´í children: O God
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Many early Bahá´ís came from a Muslim background where it is usual to wash before prayer. Bahá'u'lláh made a few prayers where you should wash your face and hands first, as part of the prayer, and doing special movements such as kneeling or standing. Bahá´ís don't have a prayer leader to show them how to do this, they each say the prayers for themselves, in their own way. The Bahá´ís say that all children should be taught to read, so they can study the Holy books of all religions for themselves. |  Drawing by Tama, 2000 (7 years). |
 An all fruit-bearing tree, drawing by Tama, 2000 (7 years). | Bahá'u'lláh, whom Bahá´ís believe is a messenger sent by God, wrote many books and letters in Persian and Arabic - too many to print all in one Holy Book. Bahá´ís also read and respected the Holy books of other religions, such as the Quran and the Bible. |
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One of the most popular books written by Bahá'u'lláh is a small booklet of wise sayings called The Hidden Words. Here are a few of the sayings: O Son of Spirit! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure kindly and radiant heart that thine my be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting. (Hidden Word, Arabic, nr. 1) |  Drawing by Toroa, 2000 (9 years). |
| 12 year old, Tama's understanding of this quotation: tttt O Friends! Abandon not the everlasting beauty for a beauty that must die, and set not your affections on this mortal world of dust. (Persian Hidden Word, number 14) 13 year old, Toroa's understanding of this quotation: Don't abandon god's beauty and worship a beautiful woman. |
 The Ugandan Bahá´í Temple. Photo: Asaph Rwiza |
A Bahá´í temple is not just for Bahá´ís. These temples are built so that people from all backgrounds have a place to pray or meditate. If the Bahá´ís can build a special new building as a temple, they like to make it round with nine doors, so it faces out to all countries and cultures. At the moment there are only 7 specially built temples, in Germany (Europe), Uganda (Africa), Near Chicago (North America), Panama (Central America), New Dehli (India), Near Sydney (Australia), and Samoa (the Pacific). A new one is to be built in Chili (South America) soon. |
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Where the Bahá´ís do not have a special temple building, they use homes or rented halls, or they make a Bahá´í centre in an existing building.
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Bahá'u'lláh's son, `Abdu'l-Bahá, once said that the real temple is in your heart, because that is where we remember God. The Bahá´í international centre is in Israel because Bahá'u'lláh died here. The Shrine of the Báb is on Mount Carmel (Haifa) and is surrounded by gardens, fountains and other buildings. Bahá'u'lláh is buried in the house he died in and that building is also surrounded by gardens. Baha'is try to visit these places at least once in | 
Looking up to the ceiling of the Bahá´í Temple in Wilmette (Chicago), U.S.A. Photo: Brian Averill, The Netherlands.
The Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, Israel.
Photo: Francisco González Pérez. |
| their lifetime. This called going on pilgrimage.
Bahá'ís believe that although human beings exist on earth in physical bodies, our reality is our thought. If we look with our minds, each person is really an invisible, rational, and everlasting soul. The soul is like the sunlight, and the body is like the world: "The soul of man should be likened unto this sun, and all things on earth should be regarded as his body. So long as no external impediment interveneth between them, the body will, in its entirety, continue to reflect the light of the soul, and to be sustained by its power…" (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, pp. 153-55) 
Bahá'ís say that our life in this world is like the baby in its mother's womb, and life after death is like being born in a new world. When a baby is in the womb, it develops arms and legs, and while we live in this world, we develop virtues. If a baby's arms and legs have not developed, it is handicapped when it is born, and if we come to the world after death without having learnt honesty and kindness we will be sorry. Bahá'ís do not believe that we are reborn into this world (reincarnation), so we do not believe that someone who is born with a physical handicap has done something wrong. Although Bahá'ís believe in a life after death, the focus of our actions and thought is on our interactions in the world around us. |
There are no known photographs of Táhirih. This is painting of how Táhirih could have looked. It is titled Táhirih composing poetry and was painted by Pooria Sabetazm. | A Story about one of the first Bahá´ís Táhirih was born in 1814 in Iran. In those days women usually did not learn to read much, but her father, a learned man, taught her not only to read and write, but how to study the Koran and other books. Later she continued to study and read and began to make her own interpretations as well as writing poetry. She was married at the age of 14 and gave birth to two sons but left her husband after a few years, partly because he tried to stop her from giving talks. She continued to study and give talks on religious subjects. If men were present, she sat behind a curtain so they could not see her, as was the custom in those days. |
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She was very interested in new things and sought out new writings. One night in 1844 she dreamed of some new writings. When a cousin showed her this same writing the next day, saying the writer claimed to be a new prophet of God, she immediately wrote a letter to this man, saying she believed in his words. He was the Báb, and he wrote back giving her the title of a "Letter of the Living", his title for his first 18 disciples.
She began giving speeches about the Báb's writings, as well as arguing with Mullas. In 1845 she removed her veil at some meetings, saying that in this new religion, women were equal, which shocked some of the men. They complained to the Báb, saying that she was immoral. His response was to encourage her and he gave her the name Táhirih, which means "The Pure", as a way of showing that she was not doing anything bad. Soon she was treated as a leader and had a large following. She wrote articles and some poetry that made her nationally famous as a poet. The mullas and government had had her arrested or deported several times. In 1852 she was put under house arrest and then murdered in Tehran. It is said that she knew this would happen and had put on her wedding dress in preparation to meet her Lord. For many Bahá´ís today she is a role model for the equality of women and men in the Bahá´í Teachings. |
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