Baha’is laying foundation for a better life on Earth

          
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          By ANNEITE DROLEI
          Sun staff writer
          Linda Brown has found it. So has Mary
          Allen. And the two Clearwater women say
          they feel a responsibility to help others
          find it, too.
          “It” is the Baha'i faith, which Mrs.
          Allen calls “the most exciting thing that's
          ever happened to the world:”
          Baha'is consider their religion, based
          on the writings of their prophet Baha-u-
          flab (the name means “glory of God”), to
          be the one true faith. Baha-u-ilah, they
          say, is the messiah that Jews, Christians
          and others have been awaiting.
          “We believe the Baha'i faith is the ful-
          fillment of all the faiths,” said Mrs.
          Brown, who serves with Mrs. Allen on the
          Baha'i spiritual assembly in Clearwater.
          “We don't call for the abolition of any
          other faith.
          “The Bahai's say those other religions
          are valid teachings from God. But we
          • think as people study the teachings of
          Baha-u-llah, they will see he is the one•
          promised by other religions.”
          • The Baha'i faith, which grew out of
          • 19th-century Islam, is intimately linked
          with the Babi religion, founded in 1844 by
          a Persian merchant named Mirza All-Mu-
          hammad, who became known as the Bab
          • orthe.”gate.”.
          Within 19 years, the Bab said, God
          would send another prophet made in the
          image of Buddha, Mohammed and Christ.
          • The promised one, the Bab said, would
          usher in an age of peace, for all mankind.
          The Bab's teachings spread throughout
          Persia, provoking strong opposition by
          the Moslem clergy and the government.
          Consequently, the Bab was arrested and,
          after several years of imprisonment, was
          executed.
          His death was followed by large-scale
          persecutions of his followers that cost
          more than 20,000 people their lives.
          Thirteen years after the Bab's assassi-
          nation,, one of his ‘disciples, Mirza. Hu-
          sayn-Ali, proclaimed that he was the mes-
          senger of God whose coming, had been
          foretold by the Bab.
          Husayn-Ali, who was born in 1817, as-
          sumed the title of Baha-u-ilah: The major-
          ity of the Bab's followers acknowledged
          Baha-u-llah's claim and became known as
          Baha'is. , -
          After Baha-O-llah revealed himself in
          Baghdad, where he went after being
          exiled from his native Persia in 1852,
          Turkish officals transferred him from
          prison to prison in an attempt to destroy
          ‘his .influence. In 1868, Baha-u-llah was
          sent to the Turkish penal colony at Akka
          (Acre) near present-day Haifa, Israel.
          Instead of discrediting him, the move
          served to expand Baha-u-llah's authority
          because, to his followers, the transfer to
          Akka confirmed the ancient prophecy
          that “the Lord of Hosts would be man-
          ifested in the Holy Land,” according to a,
          Baha'i publication.
          During his years of incarceration,
          Baha-u-llah formulated the laws and prin-
          ciples of his faith and proclaimed his
          message to kings and rulers of both East
          and West, Christian and Moslem. Before
          he died in 1892, Baha-u-llah saw his reli-
          gion spread beyond Persia and the Otto-
          man Empire to Turkistan, India, Burma,
          Egypt and the Sudan.
          After Baha-u-ilah's death, his eldest
          son, Abbas Effendi (known as Abdu'l-
          Baha or “servant of Baha”), became the
          leader of the Baha'i community and the
          interpreter of .Baha-u-ilah's teachings.
          During Abdu'l-Baha's ministry, the
          faith was spread to North Africa, the Far
          East, Australia and,, the United States.
          When Abdu'l-Baha died in 1921, his eldest
          grandson, Shoghi Effendi, succeeded him
          as “Guardian of the Cause.”
          Since Effendi's death in 1957, the Baha'i
          International House of Justice has been
          responsible for making judgments on any
          matters of the faith not covered by Baha-
          u-llah's writings, Mrs. Allen'said.
          Today, there are approximately 3.5 mil-
          lion Baha'is in 165 countries, including
          some 100,000 in ‘the United States and
          about 150 in Pinellas County.
          Administrative control of the Baha'i
          faith is centered in local and national
          spiritual assemblies. In Pinellas County,
          there are five such local governing bod-
          ies—Clearwater, Large, Gulfport, St. Pe-
          tersburg and unincorporated Pinellas.
          Both local and national assemblies are
          composed of nine members elected for.
          one-year terms. Members of the national
          assemblies in turn elect to five-year
          terms members of the Universal, House of
          ‘Justice in Haifa.
          The Baha'i community has neither
          priests nor rituals. The heart of the com-
          munity's spiritual life, according to a Ba-
          ha'i publication, is the 19-day spiritual
          feast that is held on the first day of every
          God has progressively revealed the mean-
          ing of life. Baha-u-ilah, Baha'is say, is the
          latest but not the last prophet.
          Baha-u-ilah—whom Baha'is consider to
          be both human and divine—left behind in
          his writings a “valid message” from God
          and the blueprint for a world society
          based on God's , teachings, ‘Mrs. Brown
          said.
          Baha'is believe that after a time of
          tribulation on Earth, a “great peace” will
          come, bringing with it a global govern-
          ment and the establishment of the Baha'i
          religion as the world faith.
          “This is a preliminary time,” Mrs.
          Brown said. “Humanity's not ready to
          accept that great peace. Look at the fab-
          ric of society. It's pretty torn. That fabric
          won't support a world society in the shape
          — ————.—--. ‘ . . - , .DU* -— . . ‘
          2C . . . ‘ Clearwater Sun . Saturday, July 30, 1983
          Baha'is laying foundation for a better life on Earth
          Baha'i month. (The Baha'i calendar has
          19 months consisting of days that start at
          sunset instead of midnight.)
          In addition to the feast, Baha'is observe
          holy days and hold firesides—informal
          informational sessions for prospective
          members.
          For such interested persons, Mrs..
          Brown said, “there's a freedom to investi-
          gate the faith with no coercion from the'
          Baha'is. People, aren't pressured to join.
          We're forbidden to proselytize.”
          Merely being born into a Baha'i family
          doesn't automatically make' someone a
          Baha'i, said Farah Rouhani, a member of
          Clearwater's Baha'i community. At 15,
          she said, such persons must make a “con-
          scious decision” to become a Baha'i after
          investigating the faith to ensure its truth.
          Those who decide to become Baha'is
          have the freedom to decide how much of its in. ,
          their energies they wish to contribute to Until it can, Mrs.. Allen said, she and
          the religion, Mrs. Brown said. other Baha'is will busily continue to lay
          When persons of other faiths, say Chris- the foundation for a better life on Earth.
          tianity or Buddhism, join the Baha'is, In addition to their belief in the “essen-
          they don't give up their belief in Christ or tial unity' of mankind,” Baha'isadvocate
          Buddha, she said. Rather, “they feel independent investigation; essential bar-
          they've followed that prophet's teachings mony of science and religion; recognition
          to the utmost and that he has returned,” of the divine foundation ‘of all religions;
          Mrs. Brown said. ‘ ‘ universal compulsory eduction; equality
          Baha'is believe in progressive reve- of men and women; spiritual solution of
          lation—the idea that religion is the evolu- economic problems; need for a universal
          tion of one faith that shows different faces auxiliary language; elimination of preju-
          to different ages. Thus, they say, Krishna dice; and a universal peace based upon a
          (Hinduism), Moses (Judaism), Zoroaster world federation of nations.
          (Zoroastrianism), Buddha (Buddhism), “We're very happy people,” Mrs. Allen
          Jesus (Christianity), Mohanuned (Is-. said. “We love to be together. There's a
          lam), the Bab and Baha-u-llah were suc- lot of laughter. It's this unity that seems
          cessive “manifestations” through whom to attract people.”
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