Short question for admins concerning the Baha'i Faith

[Seeker_of_truth]

Forgive my typoes. Also if this thread is in the wrong category please move it to the correct place.

Why is the Baha'i Faith not in the category "Abrahamic Religions"?
In the Baha'i Holy writting's Baha'u'llah specifically says that the Faith is part of the "Abrahamic Cycle".
It is common knowledge amoung Baha'is that the roots of the Faith are Abrahamic just like Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

-Seeker_of_truth

 

[bruceg]

Why is the Baha'i Faith not in the category "Abrahamic Religions"?

Basically it's a historical thing. The category name has shifted many many times and is intended to refer to the three religions clustered in that section. None of the names has ever been 100% perfect, but "Abrahamic" has stuck the longest so far.

 

[Quahom1]

Forgive my typoes. Also if this thread is in the wrong category please move it to the correct place.

Why is the Baha'i Faith not in the category "Abrahamic Religions"?
In the Baha'i Holy writting's Baha'u'llah specifically says that the Faith is part of the "Abrahamic Cycle".
It is common knowledge amoung Baha'is that the roots of the Faith are Abrahamic just like Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

-Seeker_of_truth

The Baha'i Faith began in Iran in the 19th century, with Mirza' Ali Muhammad. The basic tennant of Baha'i is the oneness of the the world of humanity; the foundation of all religions as one; religion is the cause of unity, must be in accord with science and reason; the pursuit of independent investigations of truth; equality between men and women; abolition of all forms of predjudice; universal peace; universal education; universal language; spiritual solution to economic problems and an international tribunal.

However, Baha'i is a unique faith, that does not have its roots predominantly in any part of the Abrahamic faith. Though Islam is considered the origin, Baha'i is decidedly western/eastern mixing of thoughts; it does not try to conflict with basics of Christian Gospel, but Baha'u'llah ultimately is the final word.

That is not historically "Abrahamic".

v/r

Joshua

 

[sara[h]ng]

Just to put my two cents in, I agree with seeker on this one. I always wondered why Baha'i was not considered to be Abrahamic, at least here. Is it in other places?

I just assumed that it was placed in the Modern Religions section because it is, relatively speaking, a modern religion. That and if you ask Joe Schmoe on the street, assuming he's not totally ignorant, what the Abrahamic religions are, odds are good he's not going to say Baha'i - unless he is Baha'i himself...

But then again, it still is definitely in the thread of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam...

Sorry for all that. A real Baha'i who's been around here for awhile could make better arguments, I'm sure.

 

[jnewsflash]

should be considered as having Abrahamic connections

//////// ...

"Bahá'u'lláh was a Descendant of Abraham Through Both Katurah and Sarah -- Jesse, Son of Sarah, was the Father of David and the Ancestor of Bahá'u'lláh"

(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 473)

"Regarding your question concerning the descent of Bahá'u'lláh from Abraham: The Master has stated that Bahá'u'lláh is a descendant of Abraham through a son of his, other than Isaac and Ishmael, from his wife Katurah..."

(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 473)

/////////////////// ........ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\


there is also a pretty good video out on youtube that mentions this
YouTube - Baha'i Teachings

it is a 9 min 11 sec video
therefore it might take a while to download
(do not attempt with dial up ... need broad band)
anway
in the video at the 4 min 9 sec mark it begins some information on
Abrahamic connection

////////// ............ \\\\\\\\\\\

With the revelation of the Qur'án, the theme of the succession of the Messengers of God becomes central: "We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma?il, Isaac, Jacob ... and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord...."44

(Commissioned by The Universal House of Justice, One Common Faith)

////////////////// ... \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

therefore
with all due respect

I too lend support for the Baha'i Faith to be placed in the category of "Abrahamic Religions"?

a person of oneness,
Dean Hedges

 

[iBrian]

Indeed, the decision was made a while back to place Baha'i om the modern category because it is a relatively modern religion.

The reason the "big three" - Juadaism, Christianity, and Islam - are placed together, is that there's a lot of cross-over between the discussions, theologically, politically, and historically.

Generally I see a lot of discussion among themselves about their connections, but don't see much chatter among Jews, Christians, or Muslims about their connections to the Baha'i faith.

I guess similar for Rastarfari - it's Abrahamic in origin, but again tends not to get much coverage from the "big three".

The Baha'i faith has roots in these faiths, but it also has roots claiming fulfillment of Buddhist ideaologies as well - I'm not sure on the details, but I should presume there are connections with Hinduism as well? So, simply put, the Baha'i faith very much stands out by itself, connecting to the other religions.

The way the categories are set up is simply for ease of reference - think of it as like a form of library classification - but because of the various cross-overs, some religions will always seem to connect to multiple areas in a way the board structure here would have difficulty coping with.

For example, Sikhism is arguably Abrahamic in its connection to Islam, but because of the tie-in with Hinduism it's in the Eastern Thought section.

Additionally, the Hare Krishna movement is ostensibly an Eastern movement - but because of it's relatively modern foundation, again it seems to make sense to have it in the Modern Religions section.

So if it helps make the issue clearer - the Modern Religions section covers religions relatively recently founded, who although may have ideological connections to other faiths, tend to be self-referenced, rather than a significant part of discussions among the original faiths.

It's not a perfect way of setting up information, but I figure someone turning to the Abrahamic area is specifically looking for information on Judaism, Christianity, or Islam, while the Modern Religions section clearer shows some of the newer religion movements over the past 100-150 years.

Hope that helps.

 

[arthra]

It is interesting we are discussing Baha'i Faith and how it should be classified on this forum and I have mixed feelings and some degree of sadness about this but whatever decisions were made and the reasons for them I am not completely certain, I have resigned myself to accept them for the purposes of maintaining some equinimity on this forum...

Classifications vary depending on the forum and the purposes behind them...so you will find different classifications.

There seemed to be some questions raised though that I would like to respond to:


Brian wrote:

The Baha'i faith has roots in these faiths, but it also has roots claiming fulfillment of Buddhist ideaologies as well - I'm not sure on the details, but I should presume there are connections with Hinduism as well? So, simply put, the Baha'i faith very much stands out by itself, connecting to the other religions.

My response:

While there are a few references made to fulfillment of prophecies in Buddhism and Hinduism I am unaware that they really relate to any "Buddhist ideologies" nor are there any "connections with Hinduism" per se that I am aware of.

Joshua wrote:

Baha'i is a unique faith, that does not have its roots predominantly in any part of the Abrahamic faith. Though Islam is considered the origin, Baha'i is decidedly western/eastern mixing of thoughts;

My reply:

I'm unsure how the Baha'i Faith "is decidedly western/eastern mixing of thoughts"? The charge of syncretism is sometimes made here but for us the revelation of Baha'u'llah is part of the one religion of God that has been revealed down through the ages at various times and places.

Our Writings quote from both the Qur'an and the Bible and accept them as sacred revealed scriptures. While we believe the scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism should be respected they are not considered as an authentic record of revelation as the Bible, the Qur'an and the Baha'i Writings.

The closest historical parallel I am aware of to the emergence of the Baha'i Faith from Islam is the emergence of Christianity from Judaism.

- Art

 

[iBrian]

Art, what I meant is that the Baha'i Faith sees connection with other religions and belief systems outside of just the key Abrahamic ones - so at some point, it's always going to feel left out from somewhere.