I read with curosity on the internet that Bahai is an offset of the shia islamic movement, I wonder if this right..enlighten please


revpo

Hello revpo! And welcome!

The short answer is "yes" ...this is true.

Here is the long answer:

Actually the way it goes historically is something like this:

There was a Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim that led a sect called the Shaykhi sect of Shiah Islam...The Shaykhis expected the immanent appearance of the Mahdi or Twelfth Imam around the year sixty A.H. or 1260 AH or 1844 CE. Siyyid Ali Muhammad declared that He was the Bab and fulfilled the prophecies of the Mahdi in 1844...this caused a great stir among the Shiah religious establishment and the Bab was imprisoned... His followers then arose to defend their new faith and an era of persecution began in which some twenty thousand Babis (followers of the Bab) were martyred...and the Bab Himslef was executed in Tabriz in 1850.

In 1863 Baha'u'llah declared Himself to be the One Whom God would make manifest which was prophesied by the Bab. He declared Himslef in a garden isle on the Tigris just outside Bagdad... He had been summoned to Constaninople- Istanbul by the Sultan and eventually He was sent to Adrianople - Edirne...for a few years . Around 1868 or so, Baha'u'llah was exiled to the prison fortress of Akka and the Baha'is have been there ever since going on pilgrimage to the Holy Land ...actually Mount Carmel where the remains of His Holiness the Bab were interred and to Bahji where Baha'u'llah ascended in 1891.

So that's basically what occurred... Feel free to ask more questions!

- Art

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

Yes interesting answer.
I do believe the Baha'i is more liberal than Islam, prayer wise 1 instead of 5, cleansing before the prayer and the upheld esteem of the female species.
Now the meeting of such on Sundays or fireside chats would be nice in small communities not only the large cities<distance>.

Now why do they allow only one woman in the council in Israel not a number of elected females on the governing board??, Islamic tradition, woman second???

REVPO

Hello my friend!

We Baha'is do not see ourselves as liberal or conservative or have political partisanship. We're strictly non-partisan and cannot affiliate with any party.

Actually in the Baha'i obligatory prayers there is a choice one can make between saying one prayer once a day...another prayer can be said once every twenty four hours and a third prayer can be said three times a day!

The Baha'i communities gather every nineteen days which can fall on any day of the week.. Some Baha'i Centers can have programs on Sundays and this is more for people who tend to be off Sundays but there is no law about Sundays...

I'm unsure what your last question refers to... Women are very much involved in our Faith and have been from it's inception. Our main and central administrative body is called the Universal House of Justice which consists of nine persons is elected every five years by international convention since 1963... Women do not serve on this body but serve in all other administrative and appointive roles...at the same time there's is no indication within our Faith that women are subservient or secondary to men. The Constitution of the House of Justice of Justice was established by Baha'u'llah and so Baha'is follow it ... other than that we are told the reason will be made more clear in the future.

If you have any more questiosn do ask away!

- Art

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

I do not think he means liberal in terms of politics, he means it in the sense that as Baha'u'llah preached a message for this day, we follow laws that are more applicable, and do not seem rooted in old outdated traditions. While Baha'is do use the word progressive sometimes to describe the Faith we follow, I do want to make a distinction. We are not liberal/progressive in the sense that we believe religious law needs to change with the times to be applicable and vital. We believe in complete obedience to religious law given by the founder of the religion. However, we believe that God is a bit brighter than followers of other religions seem to think, and He realizes that we need to have updated rules everyone in a while to make them easier to follow and more effective.

Now when it comes to Shi'ih Islam, just be careful not to think "offshoot" implies derivative of. We are independent, and there are many ideas in our faith that may seem familiar to a Hindu or Buddhism, but not a Muslim, a unique mix of ideas we have. Also I want to clarify this idea that Baha'is believe Shi'ihs are the "real Muslims". Muhammad forbade sectarianism, and who are we to say who is a Muslim and who is not? Baha'u'llah does however say that the Imams were the valid leaders of the Ummah (Muslim Community) after the death of the Apostle. (A name for Muhammad) Does this necessarily imply that the Shi'ih sect is any better than the Sunnis? No. In fact both blatantly disobeyed the prophet.

Actually, sunday is not our sabbath, but is just used since many Baha'is are free that day. Friday is our day of rest/worship, but this is not yet applied as few Baha'is can follow it in a practical world. (And having to give up your job to take friday off when most jobs wont allow it, that would not be helpfull.)

Women make up 60% of all Baha'i elected insitutions. However, on the Universal House of Justice they are not allowed. I will point out that the Greatest Holy Leaf (Baha'u'llah's Daughter) Actually served as interim Gaurdian for some time. So we are the only religion ever led by a woman.

Thanks for your post Gerald and welcomw to the Forum...!

- Art

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

Hi, Revpo!

The question about the Baha'i Faith being an offshoot of Islam doesn't really have an yes or no answer as Gerald indicated. I guess you could say it's an "offshoot" in the same way that Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism or Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism. Baha'u'llah was a Muslim, Christ was Jew, Buddha was a Hindu. Each Messenger drew on the teachings of a previous Messenger to teach His followers. Yet each Faith is independent and considers the teachings of its Messenger as scripture.

Regarding women in the House of Justice: We're told that one day the reason for that will be clear as the light of day. (And the next divine Messenger might change it.) I'm content with that, personally, because all the other questions I've had have been adequately answered (and boy did I have a lot of them!)

Besides, to my mind, it evens things out. Women have been granted the miraculous bounty of bearing children (I have three, myself) and men, alas, cannot do this. This means women have a role in the world that no man, no matter how accomplished he is or how spiritual, can hold. So, it doesn't bother me that there's this one role that -- at the moment -- women can't hold.

Women can serve the Faith in any other capacity -- on other international, national and local bodies, for example -- and they are encouraged to participate in all facets of global governance, academia, sciences and arts etc. In fact, Baha'i scripture tells us that the world will not know real peace until women assume an equal role to men on the world stage.

Kaath

__________________
Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
www.mysticfig.com

"Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul." -- Abdu'l-Bahá