At the heart of the Bahá’í Faith, a foundational principle beckons individuals to embark on a personal journey of exploration and understanding — the independent investigation of reality. This primary Bahá’í principle encourages each seeker to engage in a thoughtful and discerning quest for spiritual truth. Here is a place to begin.
At a time when societies throughout the world are seeking new paths forward, countless stories of resilience and hope illuminate the way. The Bahá’í World News Service looks back at some of the stories it covered in 2024, offering a glimpse of Bahá’í efforts in fostering a more peaceful world.
An Expansive Prospect looks at four places in the world, capturing the efforts of individuals, communities, and institutions as they strive together to release the society-building power of the Bahá'í Teachings in ever-greater measures.
In an extraordinary global response, the #OurStoryIsOne campaign has, in the few weeks since its launch, attracted unprecedented levels of support with a reach of several hundred million views on traditional and social media. The momentum has been augmented by an outpouring of statements from United Nations officials, high-level dignitaries, government figures, parliamentarians, Nobel Peace Laureates, artists, prominent individuals, members of the public, and prisoners of conscience in Iran. The campaign’s theme revolves around the concept of collective destiny, giving expression to calls for unity and asking Iranians to see themselves as integral threads in the tapestry of a diverse but single, interconnected group. The powerful message of this year-long campaign is a shared aspiration for essential values and principles, in particular the realization of equality of women and men and a common vision for Iran’s prosperous future.
A simple, animated introduction to the Bahá’í Faith. This is a great place to get started learning about the latest major world religion.
Watch as Masud Olufani shares about his experience of learning about the Bahá'í Faith, and how it healed, affirmed, and empowered him at a time when racism in the United States too often dims the light and lives of Black people.
Jessica Kemejuk—actress, spiritual seeker, and new Bahá'í —grew up in Los Angeles, where she suffered from bullying and racism because of her mixed-race, half-Japanese and half-Russian ethnicity. In a journey to find someplace where she would be accepted for her whole self, she encountered and tried on many spiritual modalities, until she met a Bahá'í . Then, she says, for her the Bahá'í writings and prayers “resonated in this place that only truth does.” She witnessed the vibrancy, honesty and clarity of the Bahá'í community, and decided to become a follower of Bahá’u’lláh. Watch and listen as Jessica explains what impelled her to walk that spiritual path.
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O Lord! Unite and bind together the hearts, join in accord all the souls, and exhilarate the spirits through the signs of Thy sanctity and oneness. O Lord! Make these faces radiant through the light of Thy oneness. Strengthen the loins of Thy servants in the service of Thy kingdom.
O Lord, Thou possessor of infinite mercy! O Lord of forgiveness and pardon! Forgive our sins, pardon our shortcomings, and cause us to turn to the kingdom of Thy clemency, invoking the kingdom of might and power, humble at Thy shrine and submissive before the glory of Thine evidences.
O Lord God! Make us as waves of the sea, as flowers of the garden, united, agreed through the bounties of Thy love. O Lord! Dilate the breasts through the signs of Thy oneness, and make all mankind as stars shining from the same height of glory, as perfect fruits growing upon Thy tree of life.
Verily, Thou art the Almighty, the Self-Subsistent, the Giver, the Forgiving, the Pardoner, the Omniscient, the One Creator.
~ 'Abdu'l-Bahá
"Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified."
~ Bahá'u'lláh
In this Bahá'íBlog Studio Session, we’re in Durban, South Africa with Young Mbazo & Friends singing "Iseluleko Sami" in Zulu, which means "My First Counsel", and is based on the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
"O SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting."
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