Bahaism

In the story ‘The Blind men and the elephant’ Lillian Quigley retells an ancient fable of 6 blind men who travel to the palace of Rajah and run across an elephant. The first man touches the elephants’ side and forms the opinion that an elephant must be like a wall. The second man touches the trunk and considers the elephant comparable to a snake. The third man touches the tusk and compares the beast to a spear. The fourth man touches the elephants’ leg and believes elephants must be like trees. The fifth man touches the ear and thinks the elephant is similar to a fan. Finally, the sixth man touches the tail and let’s the other men know that elephants are like a rope. Argument ensued. Then the Lord of the palace walked out onto his terrorists and observed the folly of these men. He urged them to work together to determine the true nature of the elephant.

A HISTORY OF BAHA’ISM (Their Account)
1. Muhammad’s death in 632 A.D. created divisions within Islam
2. One division was the Shiite sect (about 10% of Islam today)
3. Within the Shiites there was a group known as the Twelvers. The twelvers were awaiting the return of the 12th Iman (One with spiritual authority) who had mysteriously disappeared
4. Siyyid Kazim led one such group awaiting this return and prior to his death in 1843 he told his followers to search for this returned Iman
5. Mula Huseyn was one of these followers and journeyed to Persia in his search
6. Huseyn was impressed by a meeting with Ali Muhammad and believed him to be the prophesied Iman. Muhammad came to be known as ‘The Bab’ which menas the gate. He acquired a small group of followers. Muslims considered the Bab and his followers heretics. They were persecuted and the Bab was jailed. The Bab was considered a manifestation of God. The Bab was also considered the forerunner of the next, even greater manifestation: Baha’u’llah.
7. After the death of the Bab, Huseyn Ali was recognized as the next manifestation. He came to be known as Baha’u’llah and his followers as Baha’is. Like the Bab, he was persecuted and jailed. During his imprisonment he wrote what today is considered Bahai Scripture. He also sent letters to numerous world leaders calling them to unite.
8. After the death of Baha’u’llah his writings were commentated by Abdul-Baha. Abdul-Baha was the new leader of the growing religion, but he was not considered a manifestation.
9. The last sole leader of the Bahai faith was Shongdi-Offendi
10. Today the religion is led by the 9 member Universal House of Justice with headquarters in Israel.

5 ERRORS IN BAHAI HISTORY
1. Bahai’s teach as part of their history that the Bab appointed Baha’u’llah as his successor and believed him to be the next manifestation. In reality, the Bab appointed another man his successor.
2. Bahai’s teach as part of their history that the Bab believed Baha’u’llah was the next manifestation but it is well documented that he believed the next manifestation would appear in about 1500 years, not 19.
3. Bahai’s teach a seamless transition between the Bab and Baha’u’llah. Here’s what really happened: After the Bab’s death, the man he appointed to lead the group was not a charismatic leader. Huseyn Ali recognized this, but couldn’t really do anything about it because the Bab had clearly picked another man as his successor in leadership. So Huseyn Ali did the only other thing he could do to gain authority, he declared himself the next manifestation. Many of the followers rejected this claim.
4. Huseyn Ali (Baha’u’llah) was a charismatic leader. Support for him grew. He had a couple of his detractors murdered and persecuted some others who would not support his claims. Eventually, his followers were an overwhelming majority.
5. Baha’u’llah wouldn’t allow many visitors in the later years of his imprisonment because he was afraid it would destroy their faith in him. Their was a saying at the time in Iran, ‘He who goes to Akka (the prison) loses his faith.’

CURRENT STATISTICS
1. There are about 6 million Bahai’s worldwide
2. India has the largest number with about 1.7 million
3. Bahai’s are established in 187 countries (2nd to only Christianity)

BAHA’I BELIEFS
1. ONENESS- Baha’is believe in the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of mankind. “The Earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”
2. MANIFESTATIONS- Bahai’s believe that founders of the major religions in the world were all manifestation of the one true God. This includes Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Buddha, the Bab, Baha’u’llah and others. It is said that “These ... have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light.”
3. NATURE OF GOD- Baha’is believe much like Muslims in regards to their view of God. God is one. God is unknowable. Incarnation is an impossibility. “The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being [God] hath ever been, and will continue to be, closed in the face of men.”
4. SALVATION- Baha’is do not believe mankind has a sinful nature. They are saved through proper belief and good works. They believe in God’s unconditional forgiveness. “From the law man discovers what he owes God and only in striving to fulfill law does he come into the right relationship with God.”
5. AFTERLIFE- Baha’is don’t say much about the end-times or afterlife. They believe that heaven and hell are more likely states of mind than they are actual places, “These are not places. Heaven is knowing about God and doing what He wants. Hell is not knowing about God or not doing what He wants.”

Back to the story of the Elephant, Baha’is believe that all the major religions of the world are worshipping one God. In a sense, they have all touched different parts of the elephant. From their perspective, the Bahai faith is like the Lord of the palace, helping the blind men (other religions) to understand their common ground.

The elephant illustration is true in the sense that we are blind. But we are ALL blind. There is no man who has the advantage of sight and resides on the terrace looking down on the rest of us blind men. That is why God became flesh. God knew we were hopelessly lost in our sin so He revealed Himself to us. In reality, God is the Lord of the palace. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

The Bahai faith is a beautiful religion. But religion falls short of God. Proverbs tells us that “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Baha’is believe Jesus was a great prophet/manifestation…but they fail to recognize Him as their God and Savior. Jesus is the only ‘Bab’ (door) to heaven.