ABSTRACT

The World of the Bahá’í Faith is an outstanding guide to the Bahá’í Faith and its culture in all its geographical and historical diversity. Written by a distinguished team of international contributors, this volume explores the origin of this religion and contains substantial thematic articles on the living experience of the global Bahá’í community. The volume is organised into six distinct sections:

  • Leadership and Authoritative Texts
  • Theology
  • Humanity
  • Society
  • The Contemporary Bahá’í Community
  • History and Spread of the Bahá’í Community

These sections cover such themes as the afterlife, artistic expression, Bahá’í institutions, devotional life, diversity, economics, education, the environment and sustainability, family life, gender, human nature, interfaith relations, international governance, law, marriage, peace, persecution, philosophy, race, science and religion, scripture, spirituality, and work. The development of the Bahá’í Faith is outlined in ten regional articles.

This volume provides an authoritative and accessible source of information on all topics important to the Bahá’í Faith. The World of the Bahá’í Faith will be essential reading to students and scholars studying world religions and comparative religion. It will also be of interest to those in related fields such as sociology, political science, anthropology, and ethics.

chapter |4 pages

Introduction

part 1|151 pages

Leadership and authoritative texts

chapter 1|10 pages

Overview

The Central Figures, the institutions of the Bahá'í Faith, and the Covenant

chapter 2|12 pages

The Life of the Báb

chapter 4|11 pages

Bahá'u'lláh

chapter 5|21 pages

The Writings of Bahá'u'lláh

chapter 6|16 pages

‘Abdu'l-Bahá ‘Abbás 1

chapter 8|12 pages

Shoghi Effendi Rabbani

chapter 11|11 pages

The Universal House of Justice

part 2|60 pages

Theology

chapter 13|16 pages

Theology and Philosophy

chapter 15|13 pages

Progressive Revelation

chapter 16|10 pages

Interfaith Relations

part 3|72 pages

Humanity

chapter 18|11 pages

Oneness and Unity

chapter 20|7 pages

Unity in Diversity

African Americans and the Bahá'í Faith

chapter 21|11 pages

The Equality of the Sexes

chapter 22|11 pages

Mysticism

chapter 23|13 pages

Progress of the Soul

Life after death

part 4|118 pages

Society

chapter 25|14 pages

Artistic Expression

chapter 26|14 pages

Economics

The prosperity of the world and the development of nations

chapter 28|13 pages

Environment and Sustainability

chapter 29|11 pages

Governance

chapter 30|11 pages

Law

chapter 31|13 pages

Marriage and Family Life

chapter 32|10 pages

Peace

chapter 33|13 pages

Work and Business

part 5|91 pages

The contemporary Bahá'í community

part 6|138 pages

History and spread of the Bahá'í community

chapter 42|19 pages

The Arab World

chapter 43|14 pages

Europe

chapter 44|11 pages

Iran

chapter 46|12 pages

North America

chapter 47|10 pages

Northeast Asia

chapter 48|12 pages

Oceania

chapter 49|11 pages

South Asia

chapter 50|8 pages

Southeast Asia