Expert: Frederick Glaysher - 12/31/2011

Question
Hello Mr. Frederick, I just have a few quick questions that I would like you to answer please.

What is the point of origin of the Baha'i faith?

How did the Baha'i faith spread?

Where is the Baha'i faith most influential today?

How many followers does the Baha'i faith have worldwide?

Is the Baha'i faith monotheistic or polytheistic?

Who is/are the main deity(ies)?

Who founded the Baha'i faith? When?

What do followers call their scriptures or holy book(s)?

Answer
Angel,

Thank you for your question and interest. Before I can answer all your questions, I must first clarify what we are talking about, especially the word "Bahai."

You ask about the "Baha'i faith," yet I am a member of the Reform Bahai Faith. Please note that we do not use an apostrophe in the spelling of Bahai. That was an innovation introduced with the  Shiite Islamic interpretation of Baha'u'llah's teachings under Shoghi Effendi and his fraudulent will and testament of 1921. We follow Abdul Baha's earlier twenty year example of simply Anglicizing, and hence universalizing, the word as "Bahai," an example set from the late 1890s on. It's an important distinction because the Haifan Baha'is first attempted to copyright the generic name in 1928, as they have repeatedly since, hectoring and harassing Bahais of other persuasions in the courts of the United States, seeking to deprive Bahais of other denominations their basic Constitutional rights of religious freedom. For the most recent instance of this tactic, see the US Federal Circuit Court documents at

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Public Access to Oral Argument recordings,Opinions
08-2306 : Nat'l Spiritual v. Nat'l Spiritual
02/20/2009   Oral Argument   
11/23/2010   Opinion (SYKES)
http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/fdocs/docs.fwx?caseno=08-2306&submit=showdkt&yr=08&n

So again to emphasize and repeat, I am a member of the Reform Bahai Faith. If you intend your questions for the "Baha'i Faith" you should direct them to someone of that Bahai denomination, though I notice you did that last year in February to Mr. Ron Price. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Bah-2728/2011/12/few-questions.htm

Assuming you realize you're address a member of the Reform Bahai Faith and were merely speaking loosely, in general, I shall now attempt to answer your questions.

"What is the point of origin of the Baha'i faith?"
God, that transcendent Mystery at the center of the human experience of religious traditions. Baha'u'llah taught that all Manifestations of God, prophets, if you will, have taught universal virtues and teachings, despite a unique message for their own culture, day and time.

"How did the Baha'i faith spread?"
Through the grace of God and the efforts of the followers of Baha'u'llah. "Bahai" means "follower of Baha," "the Glory," Baha'u'llah being a title, "The Glory of God."

"Where is the Baha'i faith most influential today?"
Perhaps that's a matter of opinion and how one wishes to measure or interpret influence, as well as which Bahai denomination one belongs to. The Haifan Baha'is and the several other Baha'i denominations that believe the purported 1921 will of Abdul Baha was a legitimate document are all fundamentally committed to creating a worldwide theocracy. They are essentially arguing and contending amongst themselves over who is the intended heir of that document and what they conceive as the eventual religious and secular domination of the planet. Reform Bahais and two other Bahai denominations, the Free Bahais and the Unitarian Bahais, reject the 1921 document as a forgery. Speaking for Reform Bahais, we believe Abdul Baha clearly interpreted his father's teachings as grounded in "spiritual democracy," not theocracy, and a separation of Church and State, not at all suggesting a Bahai domination of the social space or the state itself. Indeed, Abdul Baha and Baha'u'llah wrote and spoke, the latter in public record, never to allow the Bahai Cause to take over the affairs of worldly government.

"How many followers does the Baha'i faith have worldwide?"
All statistics for Baha'i membership are highly questionable. Even such usually reputable sources as the Encyclopedia of Britannica have been utterly duped. I direct you to a few websites where you can begin to understand what is actually involved in Baha'i membership data:

Estimates of the Baha'i membership by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
http://www.religioustolerance.org/bahai4.htm

False Statistics for Baha'i Membership in the USA, India, & Elsewhere (updated August 2010)
http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/FalseStats.htm

Membership statistics in India
http://groups.google.com/groups/profile?hl=en&enc_user=cAW8nhkAAACn9NCSpeIOiu2ij

Russia and India
http://bahaicensusindia.blogspot.com/

"Is the Baha'i faith monotheistic or polytheistic?"
Are you a Muslim? No offense intended but that's sort of the framework in which some Muslims might tend to think, sort of one or the other, a type of simplistic litmus test approach to other religions, though of course often used by some Christians and others too. Baha'u'llah and Abdul Baha taught there is only one God who is the Author of all the great religions and wisdom traditions.

"Who is/are the main deity(ies)?"
God. The One God of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, of the Hindu Upanishads, implicit in the Enlightenment and Nirvana of Buddhism, the Unformed Block of Taoism, all the Forms of Transcendence, past, present, and future.

"Who founded the Baha'i faith? When?"
God. His most recent Manifestation is Baha'u'llah, Mírza Ḥusayn-Ali Nurí, who died in 1892, a post-Islamic prophet or rasul of a universal world religion; Abdul Baha, his son, brought his teachings to the West just prior to World War I, traveling all over the United States and Europe, articulating them in a modern interpretation that moved even further from Judeo-Christian-Islamic monotheism and tradition to a new global, world-embracing vision of human oneness, meaning, and purpose.

"What do followers call their scriptures or holy book(s)?"
Bahais accept the basic truth of all the traditional holy books and scriptures of all the great religions. Baha'u'llah also wrote many books and prayers which are individually titled. It's important to note that he taught that all the prophets both live within their time, and hence reflect it to a degree, even while envisioning a new stage of culture and civilization beyond their immediate time. So while Baha'u'llah clearly had already begun to move beyond the traditional realms of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic framework, Abdul Baha's example widened even further the implications of Baha'u'llah's teachings to the modern world, setting a highly universal, global form that is clearly post-Islamic, as well as post-Christian, or what-have-you, opening to a new and wider loyalty and conception of the Divine Being and His Creation.

Together, humanity, Bahai and otherwise, are striving to find and understand God's Purpose for Mankind, living into it, if you will, a world of permanent pluralism, democracy, and universal human, spiritual values.

Hope all this helps to answer your questions at least a little! Best wishes for a Happy New Year in 2012! May God guide and protect us all, bestow upon us his compassionate mercy.


For further background on the court cases and other such related issues:

The Baha'i Faith & Religious Freedom of Conscience
http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship

For further discussion of all things Bahai:

Reform Bahai Faith Forum
http://reformbahai.org/forum/

Further information about the Reform Bahai Faith may be found on our website:

Reform Bahai Faith
http://www.ReformBahai.org