Baha'i faith, a new era for the people that want to have eternal peace

Bahá'í Faith



Seat of the Universal House of Justice, governing body of the Bahá'ís, in Haifa, IsraelBahá'í Faith
Central figures
Bahá'u'lláh
The Báb · `Abdu'l-Bahá

Key scripture
Kitáb-i-Aqdas · Kitáb-i-Íqán
The Hidden Words
The Seven Valleys

Institutions
Administrative Order
The Guardianship
Universal House of Justice
Spiritual Assemblies

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories. Note: latest figure (2008) is estimated at 7.8 million. Indigenous tribes, races, and ethnic groups numbering at 2,112.
In the Bahá'í Faith, religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people. These messengers have included Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and others, and most recently the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. In Bahá'í belief, each consecutive messenger prophesied of messengers to follow, and Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings fulfilled the end-time promises of previous scriptures. Humanity is understood to be in a process of collective evolution, and the need of the present time is for the gradual establishment of peace, justice and unity on a global scale.

Beliefs
Three core principles establish a basis for Bahá'í teachings and doctrine: the unity of God, the unity of religion, and the unity of humankind. From these postulates stems the belief that God periodically reveals his will through divine educators, whose purpose is to transform the character of humankind and develop, within those who respond, moral and spiritual qualities. Religion is thus seen as orderly, unified, and progressive from age to age.

Social principles
The following principles are frequently listed as a quick summary of the Bahá'í teachings. They are derived from transcripts of speeches given by `Abdu'l-Bahá during his tour of Europe and North America in 1912.The list is not authoritative and a variety of such lists circulate.
Unity of God
Unity of religion
Unity of humankind
Equality between men and women
Elimination of all forms of prejudice
World peace
Harmony of religion and science
Independent investigation of truth
Universal compulsory education
Universal auxiliary language
Obedience to government and non-involvement in partisan politics
Elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty
With specific regard to the pursuit of world peace, Bahá'u'lláh prescribed a world-embracing collective security arrangement as necessary for the establishment of a lasting peace.

Social practices
Laws
Main article: Bahá'í laws

Prayer in the Bahá'í Faith consists of obligatory prayer and devotional (general) prayer. Bahá'ís over the age of 15 must individually recite an obligatory prayer each day, using fixed words and form. In addition to the daily obligatory prayer, believers are directed to daily offer devotional prayer and to meditate and study sacred scripture. There is no set form for devotions and meditations, though the devotional prayers written by the central figures of the Bahá'í Faith and collected in prayer books are held in high esteem. Reading aloud of prayers from prayer books is a typical feature of Bahá'í gatherings.
Backbiting and gossip are prohibited and denounced.
Adult Bahá'ís in good health should observe a nineteen-day sunrise-to-sunset fast each year from March 2 through March 20.
Bahá'ís are forbidden to drink alcohol or to take drugs, unless prescribed by doctors.
Sexual relationships are permitted only between a husband and wife, and thus premarital and homosexual sex are forbidden. (See also Homosexuality and the Bahá'í Faith)
Gambling is forbidden.
Fanaticism is forbidden.
Adherence to ritual is condemned, with the notable exception of the obligatory prayers.
While some of the laws from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are applicable at the present time and may be enforced to a degree by the administrative institutions,Bahá'u'lláh has provided for the progressive application of other laws that are dependent upon the existence of a predominantly Bahá'í society. The laws, when not in direct conflict with the civil laws of the country of residence, are binding on every Bahá'í, and the observance of personal laws, such as prayer or fasting, is the sole responsibility of the individual.

Persecution of Bahá'ís
The persecution of Bahá'ís is the religious persecution of Bahá'ís in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Bahá'í Faith originated and the location of one of the largest Bahá'í populations in the world. The origins of persecution stem from a variety of Bahá'í teachings that challenge traditional Islamic belief, including the finality of Muhammad's prophethood, and places Bahá'ís outside the Islamic faith.Thus Bahá'ís are seen as apostates from Islam, and, according to some, must choose between repentance and death.
Bahá'ís as well as the United Nations, Amnesty International, the European Union, the United States and peer-reviewed academic literature have stated that the members of the Bahá'í community in Iran have been subjected to unwarranted arrests, false imprisonment, beatings, torture, unjustified executions, confiscation and destruction of property owned by individuals and the Bahá'í community, denial of employment, denial of government benefits, denial of civil rights and and liberties, and denial of access to higher education.

Response from the United Nations
The United Nations responded to the Iranian government's accusations by stating that there has been no evidence of Iran's claims and that the Bahá'í community in Iran professes its allegiance to the state. The United Nations pointed to the Bahá'í teaching of obedience to the government of one's country and stated that any involvement in any subversive acts against the government would be antithetical to precepts of the Bahá'í religion. The United Nations also stated that if the Iranian government did acknowledge that the Bahá'í Faith is a religion, it would be an admission that freedom of religion does not apply to all in Iran and that it is not abiding by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenants on Human Rights to which it is a signatory

more info : http://www.scribd.com/doc/3338885/2008-0516-Annas-Presentation-with-notes

The Great Plot

For years the Shah (king) of Iran wanted to change things inside Iran. Of course he did lots of mistakes and many things happened and turned all his attempts against him in the end. One of these attempts was that he wanted to have a calendar for Iran that will dates back to king Cyrus’s (the Great) birth, and not Muhammad’s fled . By that time the uneducated people of Iran couldn’t understand the magic of their history and their 10 times better rulers and traditions than all the Islamic ones combined and they didn’t like that reform, it’s funny because now the people themselves want it.
So the Mullahs in Iran want to take power because if some of the many reforms of the Shah was successful they could lose some of their followers and as a result, money and power they had.
So they prepare a plot with the help of Saddam Hussein to overthrow the Shah. Saddam would attack against Iran and take the territories he called as Arabic (the Iranian territories in the Persian Gulf and the Iranian Kurdistan as well) and the rest of Iran would be ruled by the Mullah regime.
One other political target of overthrowing the Shah was to stop the alliance of Iran and Israel, an alliance that exists since the time of Cyrus and still continues in the heart of the people of both countries.
Also the western countries didn’t want to see a strong and indecent Iran because after the 1973 Israeli-Arab war the oil of Iran became valuable and the economy of Iran became strong, making Iran capable of becoming a leading power in world matters(something the western countries but also the Islamic ones didn’t want to see).
The conflicts started in 22 September 1980 and the victory in the beginning was Saddam’s because he had weapons from the western forces (US and UK mostly) and his pan-Arabic propaganda worked well, the Shah had some victories as well but again the Mullahs with their lies were able to have the public opinion with themselves and over throw the Shah of Iran.
When they took the power of Iran they continued the war with Iraq, but Saddam took back some forces, in order for the people of Iran to think that with the regime they had they can win.
Indeed the people of Iran fought like lions against every Iraqi attack and in the end they won.
But the prise was too heavy and the young generations pay it now, they won a war but they lost their freedom and their country to the worse regime in the world called Islamic regime.

Of course the Shah did real bad things to the people of Iran as well but the Islamic regime did and continue doing even worse not only to the people, but also to the history of Iran and Iran herself

The DNA of the Freedom Fighters

Monarchy,the Iranian way of living,something that the Iranians themselves like,part of their glory,part of their history.
It is said that Darius I (the Great) faced two other men that had claims on the Persian throne,both of them were representing two different political systems. One was representing republic and the other was representing oligarchy, of course Darius represented monarchy.
They faced each other infront of the Persians in the Persian capital and Darius(alongside with Monarchy ) won and so monarchy became the symbol of Persia for another 2500 years.

Some say that when a country has monarchy as her political system,that country is a country of slaves that will fight for nothing. That is a mistaken vista of them. Iran (the land of the Aryans) always had trouble with lots of people and conquerors like the Greek king Alexander,his successors as well,the romans,the arabs (that also brought islam) ,the mongols and in some rate the British and the Russians.
To all of them the people of Iran answered with rebellions,if even they had kings and queens,they were just the symbols of a great nationa that bow down to no one.Some great rebels of Iran were Babak Khorramdin who faced the arab muslims in order to restore both Persia and the real religion (zoroastrianism) and the Parthian kingdom as well,that faced the successor empire of the Seleucids.

Even now,the islamized Iran fights against the arabs that want the land of Iran(most recent example the Iraq-Iran war) and against the Islamic regime as well,which is nothing more than a regime of foreigners with a foreign religion as the state religion.
Future will tell if they can stand the test of time against the Aryan passion for freedom and the Aryan Flame that lights the path of many nations that want their own freedom against tyranny (like Israel did in 1948 and like Greece did in 1821).

The Parsi community : 100% Persian/Iranian blood and civillization

What is more pure than the Fire?
Of course its the connection of the Parsi people and the Persian DNA and civillization.

Parsi refers to a member of a Zoroastrian community in India. The religion of a Parsi is Zoroastrianism and his or her DNA is pure persian. The Parsi people (which name means Persian) were people that escaped Iran after the Islamic conquest of Persia and saved the Persian religion and civillization and the Persian bloodline as well. A child is considered as Parsi only if both of parents are Parsi. That is a gift and a problem as well because by that way they keep their DNA clean but they quickly lose population (for every parsi birth we have five deaths).
The Parsi people are extremely smart and successful but also real rich. In India they were merchants,the most successful ones until our days. In their diaspora(Britain,USA mostly) these people formed communities similar to the ones in India.
Again the became real successful and rich even there. Some Parsi examples are Freddie Mercury(artist and part of the legendary band Queen) and Zubin Mehta(an Indian-born conductor of Western classical music).
These people by their own will accepted to pay the price so they can keep the persian civillization alive (like we said before,they have a small birth rate ),they want to save what they can from the old Persian civillization and (in the right time) give that civillization to the Iranians as well and revive the Persian civillization,religion and glory
Today 110,000 Parsi live in the whole world but there is always hope that in the future their iranian relatives will try to find and reclaim the real religion of Persia(like we said,its already happening but the regime in Iran doesn't allow the people either to convert or to just learn about the roots of the Iranians and their civillization)

Zoroastrianism is alive and strong in Iran till our days and it wll become stronger in the future

Iranians,even those who are practicing Muslims hold a great veneration of their ancient religion,Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism is the world's oldest monotheistic religion an it takes name after the teachings of the prophet,Zarathushtra. He revealed that there was only one God,Ahura Mazda and that life in the physical world was a battle between good and evil. Zoroastrianism flourished in Persia,now called Iran,for more than 3,000 years,greatly influencing Judaism(some say that Judaism is the same religion like Zoroastriansim but in another place),Christianity and in a great part Islam as well. Concepts such as heaven and hell,God(Ormazd) and the evil adversary Ahriman,the coming of the Saviour or Saoshyant(Messiah in Hebrew) born of a virgin (like Jesus's story) the end-time purge of the world by Fire followed by the resurrection of the dead (Ristakhiz),the making fresh of the world (Frashogard) and the final battle between good and evil leading to the final defeat of the evil. These beliefs filtered down to Judaism during the regin of King Khushru (Cyrus the great) of Iran and then on to Christrianity. Zoroastrianism was decimated by the Arab invasion of Persia in 651. After Iran's incorporation into the islamic empire, the majority of its population was gradually converted from Zoroastrianism to Islam(by force and by taxes because they were non-believers)a process that was probably complete by the tenth century. During the Qajar era (1781-1925),there was considereble prejudice against Zoroastrians. In the mid-noneteenth century,several thousands Zoroastrians emigrated from Iran to British-ruled India to improve their economic and social status.Today about 200,000 zoroastrians live in India where they are known as Parsi. Iran's Islamic leaders ave tried for centuries to sweep away all trace of Zoroastrianism from the country,but it has managed to survive to this day not only in India where many Zoroastrians have fled but also in Iran where about 30,000 people still practice it,with 6,000 in the city of Yazd.
Today more and more Iranians especially the younger generations and the intellectual classes desire to redscover the faith of their forefathers,and are practicing their old religion Zoroastrianism,however this is done in secret. Islam bans its adherents from converting, and Muslims in Iran who renounces his or her faith can face a death sntence. Caught between a religion taht will not allow them out and one that will not let them in, many Iranians practice Zoroastrianism in secret. People are tired of the mullahs. If Iranians were allowed to convert,millions would convert to Zoroastrianism because most of the iranians believe that Islam is religion taht does not belong to them but to the Arabs who imposed it on them.
There are also evidence taht people in Tajikistan,Uzbekistan and in some Kuridish regions are rediscovering their Zoroastrian and Persian roots. A secularized version of Nowruz (the traditional Zoroastrian New year, in increasingly being celebrated across the region).
These tremors of change excite many Zoroastrians,who despite their demographers troubling estimates,think that their religion is poised to witness a renaissance. But such change also makes many uncomfortable. Zoroastrian religious leaders do not have the ability to deal with any political backlash from Iran's radical Islamists or Indian' Hindu nationalits, who also oppose religious conversions.
Its easy to understand that these two big in number religions (Islam and Hinduism) are afraid of the idea that Zoroastrianism can revive in many of their regions and most of their leaders care about money and influence,something that they will lose if Zoroastrianism is again a dominating religion in this region