To appreciate the purpose of the House of Worship, it is useful to know something of the religion that gave rise to it. The Bahá’í Faith is an independent world religion with adherents in virtually every country in the world. At present the Bahá’í world community numbers more than five million, and includes people from almost all nationalities, races, tribes, past religions, and classes.

The Founder of the Bahá’í Faith was named Bahá’u’lláh, meaning the “Glory of God”. The word Bahá’í simply means follower of Bahá’u’lláh. He taught that in every age God sends guidance and revelation to the world through Divine Messengers such as Moses, Buddha, Christ, and Muhammad. Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’ís believe, is the most recent in this succession of Messengers, bringing the Word of God for the present day to humanity.

Bahá’u’lláh taught that in this day humanity as a whole is beginning to enter its collective stage of maturity. The fundamental spiritual concept for the present time, He said, is the spiritual and material oneness of all humanity. This recognition of our common condition – that of noble souls created by a loving God – demands the abandonment of prejudice of every kind.

It is in this way that Bahá’ís understand the purpose in life common to us all – to know and to worship God as an individual, and to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization as a peaceful and integrated world society.

*Some images used above courtesy of the Baha'i World News Service