The Baha'i Faith in Africa

The Baha'i Faith in Africa
Author: Anthony Lee
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2011-10-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004226001

In 1952, there were probably fewer than 200 Baha'is in all of Africa. Today the Baha'i community claims one million followers on the continent. Yet, the Baha'i presence in Africa has been all but ignored in academic studies up to now. This is the first monograph that addresses the establishment of this New Religious Movement in Africa. Discovering an African presence at the genesis of the religon in Iran, this study seeks to explain why the movement found an appeal in colonial Africa during the 1950s and early 1960. It also explores how the Baha'i faith was influenced and Africanized by its new converts. Finally, the book seeks to make sense of the diverse and contradictory American, Iranian, British, and African elements that established a new religion in Africa.

What is the Baha'i faith?.

What is the Baha'i faith?.
Author: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of South and West Africa
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 1978
Genre:
ISBN: 9780908420049

The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings

The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings
Author: William McElwee Miller
Publisher: William Carey Library
Total Pages: 472
Release: 1974
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780878081370

Its History and Teaching This book is a breath of fresh air. There are millions of adherents to the Bahai Faith. Mr. Miller provides insight and primary sources giving the reader information about the history of the Baha'i Faith. Where the official and authorized Baha'i histories are sanitized and revised. Mr. Miller, who lived for years in Iran and fluent in Parsi, provides access to the westerner into events occurring during the early years of this world religion. The reader learns about the initial prophetic voices of the Bab and Baha'u'llah and the followers that founded the Bahai Faith after their deaths. The author explains the transformational shifts and unbelievable history of the Baha'is. Why did the early writings appear to be create a "society" or "philosophy" and later suddenly the community was touted as a "world religion"? Why are there are 7 Baha'i sects? Each exodus occurring when internal power struggles resulted in a few achieving greater control. Why do Baha'is work so hard to control their memberships contActs and reading material? Why do Baha'is shun those who leave, considering anyone not fully supportive of the Baha'i religion "spiritual poison?" After reading this book it should be clear to the reader. Due to the historical accuracy of the book's fActs and the author's position as a Protestant Missionary to an Islamic country, not all readers will be satisfied. Some will be offended those most likely the adherents who don't want the truth to come to light. Some will be offended because the author was a Protestant Missionary. Nevertheless, any serious student of world religions will be grateful to have his contributions on record to the history of the Baha'is.

The Bahá’í Faith and African American History

The Bahá’í Faith and African American History
Author: Loni Bramson
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498570038

This book examines the intersection of African American history with that of the Bahá’í Faith in the United States. Since the turn of the twentieth century, Bahá’ís in America have actively worked to establish interracial harmony within its own ranks and to contribute to social justice in the wider community, becoming in the process one of the country’s most diverse religious bodies. Spanning from the start of the twentieth century to the early twenty-first, the essays in this volume examine aspects of the phenomenon of this religion confronting America’s original sin of racism and the significant roles African Americans came to play in the development of the Bahá’í Faith’s culture, identity, administrative structures, and aspirations.

The Baha'i Faith

The Baha'i Faith
Author: William S. Hatcher
Publisher: Baha'i Publishing Trust
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2002
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781931847063

Explore the history, teachings, structure and community life of the world-wide Baha'i community-what may well be the most diverse organized body of people on earth-through this revised and updated comprehensive introduction (2002). Named by the Encyclopedia Britannica as a book that has made "significant contributions to the knowledge and understanding" of religious thought, The Baha'i Faith covers the most recent developments in a faith that, in just over 150 years, has grown to become the second most wide-spread of the independent world religions.

The Baha'i Faith in America

The Baha'i Faith in America
Author: William Garlington
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2005-08-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0313027439

The Baha'i Faith in America sets out to accomplish two main goals. The first is to introduce to the American reading public a religion whose name may be commonly mentioned or heard, yet in terms of its unique history, world-view, beliefs, and laws, is virtually unknown. Such categories provide the essential material for Part I. The second objective, which is the uniting thread of Part II, is to trace the historical development of the American Baha'i community from its earliest beginnings at the end of the nineteenth century up until the present day. The chapters in this section not only peruse the major events and introduce the leading personalities associated with American Baha'i history, they also trace significant themes, motifs, and issues that have characterized the community over the decades. Examples include early Baha'i connections with both American millenialism and metaphysical esotericism, to more recent associations with the Civil Rights Movement and the 1960s youth counterculture. In addition, the book's final chapters take a close look at some of the more controversial issues that have characterized American Baha'i community life over the past few decades. Here issues ranging in content from disagreements over differing styles of propogation to the freedom of expression allowed to Baha'i scholars are examined. In the process, the work reveals a dynamic and highly idealistic faith that is attempting to offer a model of religious community that is compatible with the continuing process of globalization.