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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.”
BP000250
