Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) in the context of "Báb"

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⭐ Core Definition: Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)

The Manifestation of God (Persian: مظهر ظهور, romanizedmaẓhar ẓohūr) is a concept in the Baháʼí Faith that refers to what are commonly called prophets. The Manifestations of God are appearances of the Divine Spirit or Holy Spirit in a series of personages, and as such, they perfectly reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization through the agency of that same Spirit.

In the Baha'i Faith, it is believed that the Manifestations of God are the only channel for humanity to know about God because contact with the Spirit is what transforms the heart and mind, creating a living relationship between the soul and God. They act as perfect mirrors reflecting the attributes of God into the physical world. Baháʼí teachings hold that the motive force in all human development is due to the coming of the Manifestations of God. The Manifestations of God are directly linked with the Baháʼí concepts of progressive revelation and unity of religion.

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👉 Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) in the context of Báb

The Báb (born ʻAlí-Muḥammad; /ˈæli mˈhæməd/; Persian: علی‌محمد; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850) was an Iranian religious leader who founded Bábism, and is also one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. The Báb gradually and progressively revealed his claim in his extensive writings to be a Manifestation of God, of a status as great as Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, receiving revelations as profound as the Torah, Gospel, and Quran. This new revelation, he claimed, would release the creative energies and capacities necessary for the establishment of global unity and peace.

He referred to himself by the traditional Muslim title "Báb" (meaning the gate) although it was apparent from the context that he intended by this term a spiritual claim very different from any which had previously been associated with it. He proclaimed that the central purpose of his mission was to prepare for the coming of a spiritual luminary greater than himself — the promised one of the world's great religions; he referred to this promised deliverer as "he whom God will make manifest". The Báb was the "gateway" to this messianic figure, whose message would be carried throughout the world.

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Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) in the context of Moses

In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the Exodus from Egypt. He is considered the most important prophet in Judaism and Samaritanism, and one of the most important prophets in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and other Abrahamic religions. According to the Abrahamic scriptures, God dictated the Mosaic Law to Moses, which he wrote down and which formed part of the Torah.

According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was born in a period when his people, the Israelites, who were an enslaved minority, were increasing in population; consequently, the Egyptian Pharaoh was worried that they might ally themselves with Egypt's enemies. When Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites, Moses' Hebrew mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him in the bulrushes along the Nile river. The Pharaoh's daughter discovered the infant there and adopted him as a foundling. Thus, he grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slave-master who was beating a Hebrew, Moses fled across the Red Sea to Midian, where he encountered the Angel of the Lord, speaking to him from within a burning bush on Mount Horeb.

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Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) in the context of Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion

Unity of religion is a core teaching of the Baháʼí Faith which states that there is a fundamental unity in many of the world's religions. The principle states that the teachings of the major religions are part of a single plan directed from the same God. It is one of the core teachings of the Baháʼí Faith, alongside the unity of God, and the unity of humanity.

The Baháʼí teachings state that there is but one religion which is progressively revealed by God, through prophets/messengers, as humanity matures and its capacity to understand also grows. The outward differences in the religions, the Baháʼí writings state, are due to the exigencies of the time and place the religion was revealed.

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Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) in the context of Sidrat al-Muntaha

The Sidrat al-Muntaha (Arabic: سِدْرَة ٱلْمُنْتَهَىٰ, romanizedSidrat al-Muntahā, lit.'Sidr Tree of the Farthest Boundary') in Islamic tradition is a large Cedrus or lote tree (Ziziphus spina-christi) that marks the utmost boundary in the seventh heaven, where the knowledge of the angels ends. During the Isra' and Mi'raj, when Muhammad entered Heaven alive, Muhammad is said to have travelled with the Archangel Gabriel to the tree where Gabriel stopped. Beyond the tree, God instructed Muhammad about the salah (daily prayers).

The Lote Tree of the Furthest Boundary is also used to refer to the Manifestation of God several times in Bahá’í literature.

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Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) in the context of Progressive revelation (Baháʼí)

Progressive revelation is a core teaching in the Baháʼí Faith that suggests that religious truth is revealed by God progressively and cyclically over time through a series of divine Messengers, and that the teachings are tailored to suit the needs of the time and place of their appearance. Thus, the Baháʼí teachings recognize the divine origin of several world religions as different stages in the history of one religion, while believing that the revelation of Baháʼu'lláh is the most recent (though not the last—that there will never be a last), and therefore the most relevant to modern society.

This teaching is an interaction of simpler teachings and their implications. The basic concept relates closely to Baháʼí views on God's essential unity, and the nature of prophets, termed Manifestations of God. It also ties into Baháʼí views of the purpose and nature of religion, laws, belief, culture and history. Hence revelation is seen as both progressive and continuous, and therefore never ceases.

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Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) in the context of Muhammad in the Baháʼí Faith

Baháʼís venerate Muhammad as one of a number of prophets or "Manifestations of God", but consider his teachings (as with the teachings of Jesus and Moses) to have been superseded by those of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith.

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Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith) in the context of Ridván

Riḍván (Arabic: رضوان, romanizedRiḍwān, lit.'Paradise'; Bahá'í orthography: Rezván, Persian pronunciation: [ɾezvɒːn]) is a twelve-day festival in the Bahá'í Faith commemorating Bahá'u'lláh's declaration that he was a Manifestation of God. In the Bahá'í calendar, it begins at sunset on the 13th of Jalál, which translates to the 20th or 21 April, depending on the date of the March equinox (exactly one month on the Gregorian calendar after the equinox). In 2025, it begins in the evening of 20 April. On the first, ninth and twelfth days of Ridván, work and school should be suspended.

Riḍwān is named for the Garden of Ridván, Baghdad, where Bahá'u'lláh stayed for twelve days after the Ottoman Empire exiled him from the city before he journeyed to Constantinople.

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