Alright, this has to be the most requested
video I’ve ever made. Let’s talk about a religion that makes all
the divisions between all religions disappear. A religion claiming everyone is right, and
that there’s no wrong worship. Let’s talk about the enigmatic Baha'i faith. The Baha'i faith is one of the youngest religions
out there. At least one of the youngest Abrahamic religions. It traces its origins to Persia or Iran today,
in the mid-eighteen hundreds. The story of the Baha’i begins with the
founder Bahá'u'lláh’s life story. He was born in eighteen seventeen in Tehran,
the current Iranian capital. His father was the Shah’s Vizier, a high
ranking advisor. When he was twenty seven, he heard from a
man who went by the name ‘the Báb’. He was the leader of a religious sect called
the Bábí movement. The Báb declared himself the Mahdi. The Mahdi is the Muslim messiah, who is supposed
to redeem the Islamic world before the Muslim armageddon. This Bábí movement sprung out across the
Persian Empire. He claimed he was preparing the world for
judgement day when a messenger from god will come. His movement also rattled feathers by doing
away with big institutions like traditional succession. Bahá'u'lláh was convinced and spread the
movement around his home province. His status got him audiences, and he became
one of the most successful proselytizers of the Bábísts. Within the movement, he advocated even more
radical changes, proposing to upend the entire Islamic legal system and start from scratch. In eighteen 48, the Bábí movement began
getting into violent clashes with the Persian government. When the Báb declared himself god’s manifestation
on earth, the Persians massacred Bábís. Two years into the violence, they executed
the Báb by firing squad. Between then and eighteen fifty three, the
Persians wiped out or displaced almost the entire Bábí community. After the Báb’s execution, his followers
returned the violence. The Persians imprisoned Bahá'u'lláh after
a retaliatory assassination attempt on the Shah. They locked him away in the Síyáh-Chál
or the black pit, a Tehran dungeon. Bahá'u'lláh claims he had a visit from “the
maiden of god”. In this vision, the maiden revealed Bahá'u'lláh
himself was God’s messenger the Báb prophesized. With pressure from the Russian ambassador,
the Persians freed Bahá'u'lláh and other Bábists unconnected with the assassination
after only four months. There was one condition though, Bahá'u'lláh
had to leave the Persian Empire forever. The Russians offered him asylum, but Bahá'u'lláh
turned it down, preferring Iraqi exile. At this time, Iraq was an Ottoman province. In April of eighteen fifty three, Bahá'u'lláh
and his family moved to Baghdad. His new city attracted the Bábists. Pilgrims escaped from Persia and flooded into
Baghdad. The movement liked him, and he became a prominent
leader rather than a proselytizer. The official successor, a man named Mírzá
Yahyá plotted against Bahá'u'lláh, attempting to discredit him. However, Mírzá Yahyá was an absent figure,
often hiding and distancing himself from the movement. Without much leadership from the official
successor of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh became the de facto administrator of the movement
and Mírzá Yahyá interpreted it as a leadership challenge. His attacks on Bahá'u'lláh drove away new
converts, and in eighteen fifty four he had enough. He chose exile again. He didn't want to be a figure tearing the
Bábist movement apart. Bahá'u'lláh made sure his family was taken
care of, and without telling anyone where he was going, or what he intended, he left
Baghdad. He went into a mountainous region straddling
modern Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria called Kurdistan. Bahá'u'lláh lived there alone for two years. He was a hermit who dressed like an Islamic
mystic, also known as a dervish. Eventually, someone recognized his handwriting
and local Sufis, Islamic mystics, came to him out of curiosity. Soon, he became a source of wisdom and advice. During this period, Bahá'u'lláh wrote several
books on spirituality, religion, and philosophy. Back in Baghdad, the Babi community was falling
apart. Mírzá Yahyá’s lapse leadership created
malaise. Some Babis looking for leadership searched
for Bahá'u'lláh. They heard legends of a mystic who lived in
the mountains who was rumoured to be their lost leader. Bahá'u'lláh’s family found and begged
him to come back. They said they needed him to lead the Bábists,
and in eighteen fifty six, he returned to Baghdad. Bahá'u'lláh tried reviving the movement
through inspiring letters. Through them, he developed a new understanding
of the Babi religion, and many soon recognized him as the Babist movement’s leader once
again. He became a prominent Baghdad figure, especially
amongst the Babi community. It caught his enemies’ attention back in
Persia, and the empire asked the Ottomans to extradite Bahá'u'lláh back to Tehran. They wanted to prevent this movement from
taking off again. The Ottomans decided to reject the request. As a security measure, they relocated Bahá'u'lláh
to the great capital Constantinople, far from the borderlands where the Persians might capture
him. In the twelve days before he left, Bahá'u'lláh
told to his friends about the Tehran dungeon, and that he was god’s messenger. He declared himself the messianic figure The
Bab talked about while he was still alive. Baha’is consider these twelve days holy,
and they celebrate them as a festival every year. His followers from this point onward were
the first real Baha'is, a sect within the Babi movement. In August of eighteen sixty three, Bahá'u'lláh
moved from Baghdad to Constantinople with his family and followers. Everywhere he stopped the locals treated him
with respect, and when he got to the imperial capital, he was treated like a dignitary. This honeymoon phase would be short lived. Within three months he’d be kicked out of
Constantinople and moved to Adrianople. Nobody is sure why this happened. Some guess the Persian ambassador pressured
the Ottoman government to get rid of him, others suspect he caused friction with authorities. This Adrianople trip wasn’t as glamorous. It seems the Ottomans treated this move more
like another exile. His prominence in Adrianople once he got set
up made his rival Mirza Yahya lose all patience. He tried assassinating Bahá'u'lláh many
times, including a poisoning that disabled his hand. After the poison, Bahá'u'lláh announced
he was the figure the Bab was preparing for. In a letter to Mirza Yahya, he called his
followers the people of Baha, and he told the Babis they all must choose between him
or Mirza Yahya. This period is when Bahá'u'lláh started
writing about his beliefs and mission for the world. I’m tapping in my buddy Alex from the channel
Technicality to unwrap what the Baha'is believe. Thanks, Tristan,
The Baha'i religion Bahá'u'lláh developed moved from a Shia Islam splinter group to
a pan-Abrahamic religion. He claimed all religious figures had important
roles in unveiling god’s desires. In stark contrast to the time, Baha'is are
strong believers in the equality of all people. They follow a lot of the stuff you see in
other Abrahamic religions. There’s a singular and all-powerful god,
but religion is progressive. Throughout history, religious figures like
the Buddha, Muhammad, and Jesus all received revelations about the divine, and they all
build on each other, and Baha'is don’t rule out there’ll be more in the future. The religion as a consequence rejects concepts
like racism and nationalism and tries bringing everyone together. Fairly laid back. How did that work out? Well, Alex, he wrote about the revelation
he had, and he told the world’s rulers to set aside their differences, give up their
possessions, accept his revelation, and make the world a place of peace and harmony for
mankind. He sent that message to rulers like Emperor
Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Emperor Napoleon the third of France, Queen Victoria of Great
Britain, Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire, Naser al-Din Shah of the Persian Empire,
King Wilhelm the first of Prussia, Tsar Alexander the second of Russia, Pope Pius the ninth,
and even one targeted at the “Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics
therein.” Still vying for power, Mirza Yahya lobbied
authorities to do something about Bahá'u'lláh. Only here did the Ottomans even notice the
Babi movement was a religious one. In eighteen sixty eight, the government wrote
a royal decree condemning the Babists to imprisonment or exile to the Ottoman Empire’s far reaches. They exiled Mirza Yahya and his followers
to Cyprus, and Bahá'u'lláh and his followers to Acre, a Palestinian city. When Bahá'u'lláh and his followers arrived,
the city guards confined them to a barracks in the city citadel. The government told the Acre citizens the
Baha’i were enemies of the state and god and they ordered the citizens to avoid talking
to them. Conditions were rough, and some followers
died, including one of Bahá'u'lláh’s sons who was only twenty two. The relationship between the townspeople and
the Baha'is improved over time, and after the Ottoman Sultan died, Baha'is were permitted
to leave the city. In eighteen seventy nine, Bahá'u'lláh retired
to a mansion on Acre’s outskirts and left organizational tasks to his son `Abdu'l-Bahá. Bahá'u'lláh was getting old, and he wanted
to focus on writing. Here he published a number of works, the most
important being the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the law book. In May of eighteen eighty two, Bahá'u'lláh
contracted a fever. Over several days, it got worse, and on the
twenty ninth of May, he died. The Baha'i faith’s leadership moved to his
son, `Abdu'l-Baháand and with a few blips, the succession was a success. The Baha’i faith has grown quite a lot since
Bahá'u'lláh’s death. `Abdu'l-Bahá formed a ruling council, and
they expanded on their operation. Every April twenty first, the council sends
a message to Baha'is called the Ridvan message. It’s full of advice for the upcoming year
and sent to their between five and seven million followers around the globe. Their current plans are to grow through education
and advising the world's children. Baha'is put emphasis on the importance of
education, and incorporating children into the family unit’s decision making. Their rituals are also simple. All able-bodied Baha'is over fifteen must
perform a standard daily prayer. Other prayers and meditations are optional,
but encouraged. They also have a fast every March, and have
a nineteen percent tithe on surplus wealth for charity. On top of that, Baha'is are discouraged from
gossiping and drinking alcohol. There’s no extramarital hanky panky, and
in the great abrahamic tradition, no gay people allowed. Baha'is should avoid political life, and are
forbidden from begging. They also believe in burying the dead without
embalming and ban cremation. They have a specific ban on monks, or ascetic
lifestyles. To them, work is part of good worship. Lastly, and here’s where they stick out,
Baha'is love LOVE the UN. Bahá'u'lláh wrote about the need for a global
government, and the UN is a pretty good example of that. An organization called the Baha'i international
community consults for several UN programs including UNICEF and the World Health Organization. Though their current situation isn’t entirely
rosy. Many Baha'is today live in Islamic countries,
where most leaders consider it apostasy, especially in Iran, which executed more than two hundred
Baha'is between nineteen seventy eight and nineteen ninety eight. In parts of the middle east and sub saharan
africa, the Baha'is often have their rights restricted. For example, any Baha'i activities are illegal
in Egypt, and the government has confiscated many centres, cemeteries, and libraries. And on that cheery note, there you have it. Baha'i, the most interesting religion you’ve
never heard of. If this is your first time here, be sure to
mash that subscribe button down below. You should also go say hello to Alex at the
channel Technicality. I want to thank him for the cameo, and if
you look in the description, I made a playlist of his videos for you to check out. Last but not least I want to thank these wonderful
Patrons, especially Don and Kerry Johnson. You’re keeping this locomotive moving. If you can’t help financially like these
people, I always appreciate a share on your social media platform of choice. I’m Tristan and stay tuned for more Step
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