The fundamental principle enunciated by Baha'u'llah ... is that religious
truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous
and progressive process, that all the great religions of the world are
divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony,
that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings
are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that
they differ only in the nonessential aspects of their doctrines, and that
their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of
human society....
...His mission is to proclaim that the ages of the infancy and of the
childhood of the human race are past, that the convulsions associated with
the present stage of its adolescence are slowly and painfully preparing it
to attain the stage of manhood, and are heralding the approach of that Age
of Ages when swords will be beaten into plowshares, when the Kingdom
promised by Jesus Christ will have been established, and the peace of the
planet definitely and permanently ensured. Nor does Baha'u'llah claim
finality for His own Revelation, but rather stipulates that a fuller
measure of the truth He has been commissioned by the Almighty to vouchsafe
to humanity, at so critical a juncture in its fortunes, must needs be
disclosed at future stages in the constant and limitless evolution of
mankind.
The Baha'i Faith upholds the unity of God, recognizes the unity of His
Prophets, and inculcates the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the
entire human race. It proclaims the necessity and the inevitability of the
unification of mankind, asserts that it is gradually approaching, and
claims that nothing short of the transmuting spirit of God, working
through His chosen Mouthpiece in this day, can ultimately succeed in
bringing it about. It, moreover, enjoins upon its followers the primary
duty of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all manner of prejudice
and superstition, declares the purpose of religion to be the promotion of
amity and concord, proclaims its essential harmony with science, and
recognizes it as the foremost agency for the pacification and the orderly
progress of human society....
Mirza Husayn-'Ali, surnamed Baha'u'llah (the Glory of God), a native of
Mazindaran, Whose advent the Bab [Herald and Forerunner of Baha'u'llah]
had foretold, ... was imprisoned in Tihran, was banished, in 1852, from
His native land to Ba_gh_dad, and thence to Constantinople and Adrianople,
and finally to the prison city of Akka, where He remained incarcerated for
no less than twenty-four years, and in whose neighborhood He passed away
in 1892. In the course of His banishment, and particularly in Adrianople
and Akka, He formulated the laws and ordinances of His Dispensation,
expounded, in over a hundred volumes, the principles of His Faith,
proclaimed His Message to the kings and rulers of both the East and the
West, both Christian and Muslim, addressed the Pope, the Caliph of Islam,
the Chief Magistrates of the Republics of the American continent, the
entire Christian sacerdotal order, the leaders of _Sh_i'ih and Sunni
Islam, and the high priests of the Zoroastrian religion. In these writings
He proclaimed His Revelation, summoned those whom He addressed to heed His
call and espouse His Faith, warned them of the consequences of their
refusal, and denounced, in some cases, their arrogance and tyranny....
The Faith which this order serves, safeguards and promotes is ...
essentially supernatural, supranational, entirely non-political,
non-partisan, and diametrically opposed to any policy or school of thought
that seeks to exalt any particular race, class or nation. It is free from
any form of ecclesiasticism, has neither priesthood nor rituals, and is
supported exclusively by voluntary contributions made by its avowed
adherents. Though loyal to their respective governments, though imbued
with the love of their own country, and anxious to promote at all times,
its best interests, the followers of the Baha'i Faith, nevertheless,
viewing mankind as one entity, and profoundly attached to its vital
interests, will not hesitate to subordinate every particular interest, be
it personal, regional or national, to the over-riding interests of the
generality of mankind, knowing full well that in a world of interdependent
peoples and nations the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the
advantage of the whole, and that no lasting result can be achieved by any
of the component parts if the general interests of the entity itself are
neglected....
--Shoghi Effendi