Ask A Baha’i: Abrahamic Religions
Do you have a question about the Baha’i faith? Submit it online or fill out the form below.
What is Baha’i faith? Do you believe in One Creator of everything? And how are you different from Abrahamic religions? Do you have a book from the divine e.g Torah, Bible or Quran?
Hello Adeel,
Thank you for your great questions.
Yes, Bahá’ís believe this faith is the latest and promised revelation of the one eternal religion of the single God, previously disclosed in such transcendent persons as Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. The purpose of the Bahá’í faith is to unify humanity as the one human family we all are, created noble to know and love God and develop virtues, of whatever racial, religious, or national identity.
Here is another I column I wrote on some basic concepts on how Bahá’í s\Scriptures describes the one Creator of the universe.
Equality of women and men, poster pamphlet image, by Justice St. Rain: https://bahairesources.com/p/women-and-men-two-wings-poster-pamphlet/
Believed to be the promised stage in God’s progressive spiritual and social education of our planet, the Bahá’í Faith shares many similarities with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam such as monotheism, stories of many of the same prophets, scriptures in common, practices of prayer, centrality of Grace, and an emphasis on being called to an ethical relationship with our one Creator and Lord. However, there are various facets that make the Bahá’í Faith unique from these other three religions. See this article for more information, especially the first section.
In addition, Bahá’í teachings on the equality of women and men are unequivocal, while in our kindred Abrahamic traditions — often due to a context of patriarchal interpretations of the core teachings — women have sometimes been allocated to limited spheres to develop and express their talents and capacities for the benefit of all of humanity. “The world of humanity has two wings—one is women and the other men,” the Bahá’í Scriptures say. “Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible.”
As for Scripture, Bahá’í faith reveres the Torah, Christian Bible, and the Qur’án as all Scriptures from God, containing a plethora of God’s beautiful teachings for the upliftment of humanity, and Bahá’ís focus on points of unity in these Scripture, even while the Qur’án and the Bahá’í writings are the only Scriptures recognized as completely and entirely authentic. Likewise, the Bahá’í Faith recognizes divine teachings in Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and indigenous religions around the globe.
Of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, considered by Bahá’ís to be the word-for-word Word of God, one may appreciate “The Hidden Words,” presented as the core teachings revealed by all the Prophets of God, “The Seven Valleys,” the journey of the sincere seeker to God, “The Book of Certitude,” presenting the unity of all religions and the challenge & proofs to recognize God’s latest Manifestation, “The Summons of the Lord of Hosts,” Bahá’u’lláh’s letters to the kings and rulers of His day, “The Most Holy Book,” giving the divine laws and ethical teachings, “Prayers and Meditations of Bahá’u’lláh,” or “Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh,” an overview of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings.
Here is a picture of a part of my Bahá’í Library:
Here is the link to a succinct introduction to Bahá’í Scriptures.
All the Bahá’í Scriptures can be found online here, while e-books can be freely downloaded here, or a physical copy bought here (Also, many public libraries have some to loan for free).
Here is another article that gives an overview of Bahá’í scripture and how they came to be.
