The newest of world religions,the Bahai faith was born in Iran.It was heralded in 1844 by Sayyid Ali Muhammad(called the Bab) who was killed in 1850 by the Muslim clergy for announcing the coming of the Promised One.A Persian nobleman,Bahaullah who espoused the cause of the Bab was tortured and banished from Iran.In 1863,while in Baghdad,he announced that he was the Promised One prophesied in many religions, and at Acre he revealed his Book of Laws,as also thousands of verses on the teachings of his faith.
Abdul-Baha,the son of Bahaullah,spread the faith to the west and his grandson,
Shoghi Effendi Rabbani,to all parts of the world.Today there are Bahais living in 214 countries.There is no clergy but where there are 9 or more Bahais,a local Spiritual Assembly is elected.in 1872,a Persian,Jamal Effendi,was sent to India by Bahaullah. Today there are more than 1.2 million Bahais in India and 400 Spiritual
Assemblies.The Bahai House of Worship at Delhi (one of the seven in the world) is built in the shape of a lotus,the flower sacred to all Indian religions.
The Bahai Faith believes that universal peace and a new worl oder can be brought in by the one-ness of all the religions and that each person must seek truth for himself.Men and women,the rich and the poor are equal and education must reach all.Work is worship and service the main prayer of all the mankind are some its main tenets.
