Outline of the Baháʼí Faith

Overview of and topical guide to the Baháʼí Faith

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Baháʼí Faith.

Baháʼí Faith – relatively new religion teaching the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people, established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th-century Middle East and now estimated to have a worldwide following of 5–8 million adherents, known as Baháʼís.

Beliefs and practices

Baháʼí teachings

God in the Baháʼí Faith
Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion – the Baháʼí belief that many of the world's different religions were revealed by God as part of one gradually unfolding plan
- Progressive revelation (Baháʼí) – the Baháʼí belief that God progressively reveals the truth through successive Manifestations of God
- Baháʼí Faith and Zoroastrianism
- Baháʼí Faith and Hinduism
- Baháʼí Faith and Buddhism
- Muhammad in the Baháʼí Faith
Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) – individuals whom Baháʼís believe were sent by God to establish religious teachings appropriate for their time and place, such as the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad
Baháʼí Faith on life after death
Baháʼí cosmology
Faith in the Baháʼí Faith
Baháʼí views on sin
Martyrdom in the Baháʼí Faith
Aniconism in the Baháʼí Faith – the Baháʼí prohibition on images of God or those seen as Manifestations of God
Covenant of Baháʼu'lláh
- Covenant-breaker
Baháʼí views on science

Baháʼí social principles

Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity – the Baháʼí teaching that humanity is fundamentally one and should achieve a state of unity in diversity
- Baháʼí Faith and Native Americans
- New world order (Baháʼí)
- Baháʼí perspective on international human rights
Baháʼí Faith and gender equality
Baháʼí Faith and education
Baháʼí Faith and auxiliary language – the Baháʼí teaching that the world should adopt a worldwide auxiliary language in addition to people's various languages to facilitate the unity of humanity
Socioeconomic development and the Baháʼí Faith

Baháʼí laws

Baháʼí laws – practices that are religiously binding for Baháʼís

Prayer in the Baháʼí Faith – Baháʼí teachings on prayer, including both daily obligatory prayer and devotional prayer (general prayer)
- Obligatory Baháʼí prayers
Nineteen Day Feast – a gathering of a local Baháʼí community that occurs on the first day of each month of the Baháʼí calendar
Huqúqu'lláh – the Baháʼí obligation to give to the Baháʼí funds, which support the activities of Baháʼí communities
Nineteen Day Fast – a period of fasting that Baháʼís observe from sunrise to sunset for 19 days once each year
Baháʼí marriage
Baháʼí views on homosexuality
Baháʼí pilgrimage

History

History of the Baháʼí Faith – events from 1863 to the present that had their background in two earlier movements in the nineteenth century, Shaykhism and Bábism

Shaykhism – a Shi'a Islamic religious movement founded by Shaykh Ahmad (1753–1826)
Bábism – a religion founded by the Báb in 1844 that Baháʼís see as a predecessor to the Baháʼí Faith; see Outline of Bábism
Baháʼí–Azali split – the split of the followers of Bábism into Baháʼís, who accepted Baháʼu'lláh as a figure prophesied in the teachings of Bábism, and Azalis, who followed Subh-i-Azal
Baháʼí prophecies
Attempted schisms in the Baháʼí Faith
- Orthodox Baháʼí Faith
- Leland Jensen
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's journeys to the West
World Unity Conference
Baháʼí World Congress
Baháʼí teaching plans
Baháʼí radio
Persecution of Baháʼís
Baháʼí Faith by country – estimated numbers of Baháʼís globally, by country, and by continent, with links to full articles on the Baháʼí Faith in individual countries and continents

Important figures

Central figures

The Báb – the founder of the Bábism, seen by Baháʼís as the predecessor to their religion
Baháʼu'lláh – the founder of the Baháʼí Faith
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá – the appointed successor of Baháʼu'lláh

Other influential figures

Groups

Afnán – the maternal relatives of the Báb
Apostles of Baháʼu'lláh – nineteen eminent early followers of Baháʼu'lláh
Baháʼu'lláh's family
Hands of the Cause – a select group of Baháʼís, appointed for life, whose main function was to propagate and protect the Baháʼí Faith
Knights of Baháʼu'lláh – a title given by Shoghi Effendi to Baháʼís who brought the Baháʼí Faith to new countries and territories

Notable individuals

Shoghi Effendi – the appointed head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957, entitled the Guardian
Badíʻ – the 17-year-old who delivered Baháʼu'lláh's tablet to the Shah and was subsequently killed
Nabíl-i-Aʻzam – the author of the account of early Bábí and Baháʼí history called The Dawn-breakers
Mishkín-Qalam – a calligrapher who lived during the lifetime of Baháʼu'lláh, and designer of the Greatest Name
Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl – a Baháʼí scholar who travelled broadly and authored several books about the Baháʼí Faith
Martha Root – a prominent travelling teacher of the Baháʼí Faith in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Rúhíyyih Khánum – the wife of Shoghi Effendi, who was appointed a Hand of the Cause

Texts and scriptures

Baháʼí literature

By the Báb

Persian Bayán – one of the principal scriptural writings of the Báb, the founder of Bábism, which is also revered in the Baháʼí Faith
Arabic Bayán – one of the principal scriptural writings of the Báb, the founder of Bábism, which is also revered in the Baháʼí Faith
Selections from the Writings of the Báb – a book of excerpts from notable works of the Báb, compiled by the Universal House of Justice, the highest authority in the Baháʼí Faith

By Baháʼu'lláh

List of writings of Baháʼu'lláh

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf – the last major work of Baháʼu'lláh, written soon before his death in 1892
Four Valleys – a mystical treatise written in Persian
Gems of Divine Mysteries – a long epistle in Arabic
Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʼu'lláh – a compilation of Baháʼu'lláh's writings selected by Shoghi Effendi
Kitáb-i-Aqdas – a central book of the Baháʼí Faith which lays out the Baháʼí laws
Kitáb-i-Íqán – the primary theological work of the Baháʼí Faith
Hidden Words – a collection of short poetic utterances, 71 in Arabic and 82 in Persian
The Seven Valleys – a mystical treatise written in Persian
Summons of the Lord of Hosts – a collection of Baháʼu'lláh's writings that were written to the kings and rulers of the world
Tabernacle of Unity – a collection of several of Baháʼu'lláh's writings first published in July 2006
Tablets of Baháʼu'lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas – a collection of Baháʼu'lláh's writings from later in his life that have been published together since 1978

By ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

Paris Talks – a book transcribed from talks given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá while in Paris
The Secret of Divine Civilization – a book written in 1875 by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, addressed to the rulers and the people of Persia
Some Answered Questions – contains questions posed by Laura Clifford Barney (between 1904 and 1906) and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's answers
Tablets of the Divine Plan – 14 letters (tablets) written between September 1916 and March 1917 by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to Baháʼís in the United States and Canada
Tablet to Dr. Forel – a letter of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, written in reply to questions asked by Auguste-Henri Forel, a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist and psychiatrist
Tablet to The Hague – a letter which ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote to the Central Organisation for Durable Peace in The Hague, The Netherlands on 17 December 1919
Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá – A seminal document, written in three stages by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

By Shoghi Effendi

The Advent of Divine Justice – a letter to the Baháʼís of the United States and Canada, dated December 25, 1938
God Passes By – an account of the first century of Baháʼí history (beginning with the declaration of the Báb in 1844)
Promised Day is Come – a book-length letter written for Baháʼís in the Western world, dated 1941

By the Universal House of Justice

The Promise of World Peace

Organizations

Baháʼí administration

International Baháʼí Council – the precursor to the Universal House of Justice that existed from 1951–1963
Universal House of Justice – the supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith, first elected in 1963
Spiritual Assemblies – a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith
Institution of the Counsellors
- International Teaching Centre
Baháʼí International Community