What is a Bahá´í?

"It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."

Bahá'u'lláh, Tablet to Maqsud in Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, page 167.

"Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since we have created you from the same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is my counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory."

Bahá'u'lláh,
The Hidden Words, Arabic 68.

We should not just tolerate difference, but value diversity as better than sameness.

"Consider the flowers of a garden. Though differing in kind, color, form, and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm, and addeth unto their beauty. How unpleasing to the eye if all the flowers and plants, the leaves and blossoms, the fruits, the branches and the trees of that garden were all of the same shape and color!"

`Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan, page 103.

Bahá´ís also believe that religions come from one source. Figures such as Buddha, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, and others, are variously known as manifestations of God, messengers or prophets, and they speak of the divine in different terms and with various names. But for Bahá´ís it is all "the ancient Faith of God," in whatever form.

"From the days of Adam until today, the religions of God have been made manifest, one following the other, and each one of them fulfilled its due function, revived mankind, and provided education and enlightenment. They freed the people from the darkness of the world of nature and ushered them into the brightness of the Kingdom. As each succeeding Faith and Law became revealed it remained for some centuries a richly fruitful tree and to it was committed the happiness of humankind."

`Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá, page 51.

Bahá´ís refer to this belief as progressive revelation, the belief that not only are all the various messengers of God from the same source but that each successive messenger builds on the revelations of earlier messengers or prophets.

"From a fundamental standpoint, the foundation of all religions is one, and all are built on Truth. That is why there is no difference among the Founders of religions and Divine religions as regards the spiritual side of Their message and the spiritual laws which They teach.
But the accessories of religion; that is to say, the laws that deal with transactions and small matters this branch of religion the outer laws being dependent upon the exigencies of time and place, must be changed or readjusted in every age."

`Abdu'l-Bahá, Star of the West magazine, Vol 19, p.113.

Bahá´ís do not believe that ours is the only true path. Religious truth is seen as relative, and the religions as aspects of one Faith.

Religion is a tool, a way towards God or a way of becoming more spiritual or developing our full potentional as both spiritual and physical beings.

"Religion should unite all hearts and cause wars and disputes to vanish from the face of the earth, give birth to spirituality, and bring life and light to each heart. If religion becomes a cause of dislike, hatred and division, it were better to be without it, and to withdraw from such a religion would be a truly religious act. For it is clear that the purpose of a remedy is to cure; but if the remedy should only aggravate the complaint it had better be left alone. Any religion which is not a cause of love and unity is no religion..."

`Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks p.130.

Bahá´ís approach religion as a tool for both individual and social progress. There are Bahá´í Teachings on many aspects of life. For example the Bahá´í approach on world peace is that this requires more than banning weapons, or making treaties. We need to see ourselves as members of one human family, as one world.

"It is their duty to convene an all-inclusive assembly, which either they themselves or their ministers will attend, and to enforce whatever measures are required to establish unity and concord amongst men. They must put away the weapons of war, and turn to the instruments of universal reconstruction. Should one king rise up against another, all the other kings must arise to deter him."

Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf pages 30-31.

Many Bahá´ís around the globe are working in various ways towards this. Some are active in interreligious organizations or in reducing poverty (such as instigating water pumps for all castes in Indian villages, or providing free education for all children in that area, or radio stations in native minority languages on health and culture), or in teaching a method of group discussion and decision-making known as consultation.

Others such as BEL (the Bahá´í Esperanto League) promote the Bahá´í principle of an auxilliary international language.
Then others, such as the EBBF (European Bahá´í Business Forum) teach various courses in the 'less' developed European countries.

The approaches are as diverse as humanity, but the unifying Bahá´í characteristic is our belief that everyone is equal, that all cultures are of equal value, and that prejudice is diminished by education and awareness of each other.

Sometimes the principles of the Bahá´í Faith are presented as a list such as the one below.

But being a Bahá´í also means being part of a world-wide community where work and worship, the inner and the outer, go together.