#Allah’u’Abha

[majianguo]

September 17, 2022, on this day I came to the realization that I am not a Christian, I am a Baha’i.  I may have some elements of Christianity in my faith, but at the core of who I am, I am a Baha’i.  There is no other faith that I believe more in than the Baha’i faith. After 14 years since I declared (I sent in the declaration card on September 5th, 2008) I now realize that one cannot be a Christian as well as a Baha’i.  The reason being, Christianity was founded on the principle of the coming apocalypse; after reading and studying the Bible intensely I have come to find that preparing oneself for the end of days was the central teaching of Jesus (according to the Bible).  The Baha’i writings give humanity a reason to continue living because there is a promise for another day, there will not be an apocalypse, rather there will be peace on this earth as well as peace in the heavenly Kingdom.  God will not destroy man nor destroy earth.  Allah’u’Abha 

[freezing-kaiju]

happy ridvan/ridwan/rizvan btw. i know i don’t blog enough about baha’i stuff but like. if any of yall else in the baha’i community follow me, allah’u’abha.

[tamlins-stories-and-poems]

hi! i apologize if this is a weird ask. i've began looking into the Baha'i Faith, and a lot of what I've read so far resonates with me. However, I'm bisexual and nonbinary- if I decided to become a Baha'i, would these things interfere with that? I'm very interested in learning more but I'm afraid of growing attached to a religion that I won't actually be able to join and participate in.

Allah’u’abha Friend! I would like to preface this by saying that I am in no way an official source, and that all of our Writings should be read and meditated on for individual understanding.

There is a blanket ban on Bahá’ís having same sex relations, unfortunately, as marriages are assumed to be partnerships to have and raise children with a life long friend and “helpmate,” and Chastity (not having sex outside of marriage) is one of the religious laws. I cannot promise that your local Bahá’í community will be free of biphobia, homophobia, or NBphobia.

However. Tolerance and acceptance and love for one another is supposed to our Big Thing, and quoting memorized passages from the Writings in a non confrontational manner is a really good way to get most Bahá’ís to realize when they’ve not been living up to the teachings we’ve been given. I don’t think there’s any rule stopping you from becoming Bahá’í if you cannot adhere to the rules in the Book of Certitude, but your Local Spiritual Assembly might, if you are in an active same sex relationship, to take a step away from legislative matters like voting in Bahá’í elections. I’m not sure. I assume it’s the same process as someone being known to indulge in semi-frequent drinking?

A Bahá’í friend of mine who I met through mutual fandom friends on tumblr (I also met their cat, but that’s another story) did end up... I’m not sure if they left the Bahá’í faith or just happen to be taking a step back to figure out how their identities interplay. As an Ace (probably Aro too) myself, I can’t truly imagine how either of you might feel where sexuality and codes of conduct clash. As another NB, I can say that souls are stated to have no gender, and our binary differences only exist on this physical plane, not in the spiritual one.

And your fear is entirely understandable, with so many people using religion as a weapon and defense of their queerphobia. If you can’t join the Bahá’í community in person for whatever reason, and I pray that that does not become the case, you deserve to be allowed to join community building efforts and holy day celebrations and feasts and everything, just remember that “to be a Bahá’í simply means to love the whole earth.”

I hope this helped at least a little, and if you want to talk to me more in depth I’m much better at answering specific questions, especially when I’m not deciding to do this at midnight so I don’t forget. I could also give you a link to Bahá’í.fyi, which has both a webpage and a discord server, and several queer server members, many of whom are much better at words than I am.

Have a wonderful day, friend! I hope to hear from you soon!

[black-satin-ribbon]

Ayyam-i-Ha!

Happy Ayyam-i-Ha friends! May your days outside of time be absolutely filled with joy, love, laughter, friends, family, generosity, and fun! Hope everyone is feeling ready for the fast! A time to focus on spiritual growth and to build habits that will deter us from giving into our lower nature. A time to not only give up food for the day but for the next 19 days to kick start us into not giving into anger, physical pleasure, jealousy, laziness, or general incoherence in our lives. A time to reflect, a time to pray, a time to practice remembering God, a time to remember why we fast, a time to tell our non-Baha’i friends and family why we do what we do.  Ayyam-i-Ha and the fast are great teaching tools may I just add, when I first met James several years ago, he was fasting, I thought he was a Catholic doing lent. Well, he wasn’t, and thus began my journey to recognising Baha’u’llah as the most recent manifestation of God. 

Allah’u’abha friends, welcome to a fresh new year. Such an exciting one at that! This year is Baha’u’llahs 200th birthday! Have a chat with your LSA about what your community has planned to celebrate, if nothing perhaps start planning something! Make it a community event and invite everyone! What an amazing age we get to live in, what a blessing indeed :) 

[coredesignixandnekonee]

I've been going to a Christian church recently just as company for my friend and although I don't agree with everything said/believed it's made me think about my connection with religion a lot more and I've recently begun exploring the Baha'i faith in particular as something that speaks to me. Do you have any recommendations or advice for how a complete total novice could start to learn and understand the Baha'i faith and start putting it into practice in daily life?

Well, loving others as whole heartedly as possible, being as truthful as you can be, and memorizing the quotes you find most applicable to your life should be a good start!

If you can find a ruhi circle, or an intensive that is nearby you, that could also work!

It’s also recommended to read prayers and the holy writings (from as many godly religions as possible/you want) daily! I haven’t been managing to keep up on this, although I really should, especially now that I’m not going to be bothering Core with it during the day, lol.

And feel free to message me either here or @tamlins-stories-and-poems, I don’t get to the inbox enough and Core doesn’t always tell me if I have an ask.

-NN

[bahaimartin]

#Bahai #bahaullah #bahaifaith #bahaiquotes #bahaiwritings #bahaitemple #bahaigarden #bahaifast #bahaimartin #bahaiprayers #bahailife #bahaiprayer #fast #Allah’u’Abha 💓 (en Lovers Beach Cabo San Lucas Mexico)

[thrakaboom]

I CAN"T FUCKING PRONOUNCE IT ANY MORE WHY IS ARABIC SO HARD TO PRONOUNCE FOR WHITE AS FUCK AMERICANS LIKE ME