Baha'i Faith

Most Great Peace

a condition of permanent peace and world unity to be founded on the spiritual principles and institutions of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh and signalizing humanity's coming of age.

pioneer

a person who is among the first to explore or settle a new country or area.

Huququ'llah or Huq

a socio-economic and spiritual law of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, a charter document of the Bahá'í Faith, written by Bahá'u'lláh, states that Bahá'ís should make a 19% voluntary payment on any wealth in excess of what is necessary to live comfortably, after the remittance of any outstanding debt.

Ridvan

a twelve-day festival in the Bahá'í Faith, commemorating the commencement of Bahá'u'lláh's prophethood, means paradise, and is named for the Garden of Ridván outside Baghdad, where Bahá'u'lláh stayed for twelve days after the Ottoman Empire exiled him from the city and before commencing his journey to Constantinople

Manifestation

an event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something, especially a theory or an abstract idea.

Birth of Baha'u'llah

born in Iran in 1817

The Bab

claimed to be the figure to bring about the day of resurrection and singlehandedly abolish islamic law, he claimed to know when exactly the messianic figure was to arrive

Baha'u'llah

claimed to be the person whom God shall make manifest, was one of the initial founders of the baha'i faith

Lesser Covenant

concerns successorship of authority within the religion after the messenger dies

Baha'i

glory or splendor

fireside

have developed into a series of classes which offer the seeker a priceless education in religion and the proofs for the Bahá'í Faith, Adbul'baha would sit around the fire and talk to people about the certain beliefs and customs of the religion

Heaven and Hell

places that the soul of people can go while they are still living, as a person lives they grow closer or fall away from For and as they do they go to one place or the other

Houses of Worship

places where Baha'is can gather to pray and worship, do not have any preaching and everyone is welcome

Nineteen Day Feast

regular community gatherings, occurring on the first day of each month of the Bahá'í calendar , consists of a Devotional, Administrative, and Social part

Local Spiritual Assemblies

responsible for running the church on the local level, deals more with administrative issues and logistics of the area

Universal House of Justice

supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the Bahá'í administration

Oneness of Religion

that a fundamental unity exist in all of the worlds religions as they all come from the same God

Kitab-i Aqdas

the central book of the Baha'i faith written by Baha'u'llah

Progressive Revelation

the idea that things are consistently moving in a linear direction towards the eventual culmination, more and more things become known overtime

Abdul-Baha

the son of Baha'u'llah and helped facilitate the spread of the religion

Lesser Peace

to describe a political peace to be established by the nations of the world in order to bring about an end to war

fasting

to not eat for an extended period of time

Pilgrimmage

to travel to a distant place for religious purposes, often aid in growing closer to a religious figure

Shoghi Effendi

was the guardian and appointed head of the baha'i faith for an extended period of time, took over after the death of abdul-baha, head of the universal house of justice, said to be the one to read and interpret the writing of the three central figure

Greater Covenant

which every Manifestation of God makes with His followers, promising that in the fullness of time a new Manifestation will be sent, and taking from them the undertaking to accept Him when this occurs

Naw Ruz

Naw-Rúz is the first day of the Bahá'í calendar year and one of nine holy days for adherents of the Bahá'í Faith. It occurs on the vernal equinox, on or near March 21,The Báb, the founder of Bábism, and then Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, adopted the day as a holy day and associated it with the Most Great Name of God

National Spiritual Assemblies

The members of the National Spiritual Assemblies collectively serve as the electoral college for electing the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Bahá'í Faith, which was first formed in 1963.

Short Obligatory Prayer

The short prayer is a brief affirmation of the power of God and the servitude of the worshipper. The prayer should be said while standing in an attitude of humility before God, and it should be said between noon and sunset.