The
Bahá'í Faith in Cumbria
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About the Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá’í Faith is the most recent of the world's independent religions. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica Yearbook, it is also the second most widespread religion after Christianity and has had a presence in Cumbria since the 1950s.
The Bahá’í Faith was founded by Bahá’u’lláh, an Iranian nobleman, in the 19th century. Bahá’ís believe Him to be the latest in a series of divine Teachers sent by God for the spiritual and material advancement of mankind, including: Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad and the Báb.
The Bahá’í community, made up of over 5 million people from virtually every racial, religious, ethnic and cultural background on the planet, is an example of how the peoples of the world, in all their diversity, can live and work together in harmony.
Rather than having any system of clergy, Bahá’í administration consists of elected councils at local, national and international levels.
The central theme of Bahá’u’lláh's Teachings is unity: there is only one God, all the religions are one, and there is only one human race with a single destiny. According to Bahá’u’lláh:
“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”
Bahá’u’lláh's teachings include:
The independent search after truth, unfettered by superstition or tradition.
The oneness of the entire human race.
The basic unity of all religions.
The condemnation of all forms of prejudice, whether religious, racial, class or national.
The harmony which must exist between religion and science.
The equality of men and women.
The introduction of compulsory education.
The adoption of a universal auxiliary language.
The abolition of the extremes of wealth and poverty.
The institution of a world tribunal for the adjudication of disputes between nations.
The exaltation of work, performed in the spirit of service, to the rank of worship.
The glorification of justice as the ruling principle in human society.
Religion as a bulwark for the protection of all peoples and nations.
The establishment of a permanent and universal peace as the supreme goal of all mankind.