An Short Introduction to
 

THE BAHA'I FAITH

The Baha'i Faith is a worldwide religion based on the

teachings of Baha'u'llah (1817-1892). He stated that the

time had come for the people of the world to put aside

their differences and to unite on the basis of the

teachings that he had brought.

In the brief course of its 150-year history, the Baha'i

Faith has transformed itself from an obscure Middle

Eastern sect into a fast-growing religion that has

established itself in every country of the world and is

rapidly emerging out of obscurity to take its place

alongside older more established world religions.

The religion has grown and developed greatly in terms

of its numerical strength, geographical spread, and

community organisation. The largest Baha'i

communities are now in South Asia, Africa, Latin

America, and (relative to the size of the population) in

some of the islands of the Pacific. In these parts of the

world, some villages and areas are more or less

completely Baha'i. Here the Baha'is have initiated

educational, agricultural and community development

projects. The latest available official Baha'i statistics

(1994) state that there are between 5 and 6 million

Baha'is in the world; that Baha'is live in over 110,000

localities; that there are over 17,000 places where there

are organized Baha'i communities.