Bahá'í Faith and the unity of humanity
Encyclopedia
The Bahá'í Faith and the unity of humanity is one of the central teachings of the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

. The Bahá'í teachings
Bahá'í teachings
The Bahá'í teachings represent a considerable number of theological, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by successive leaders including `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, `Abdu'l-Bahá's...

 state that since all humans have been created in the image of God, God does not make any distinction between people regardless of race or colour. Thus, because all humans have been created equal, they all require equal opportunities and treatment. Thus the Bahá'í view promotes the unity of humanity, and that people's vision should be world-embracing and that people should love the whole world rather than just their nation. The teaching, however, does not equal unity with uniformity, but instead the Bahá'í writings advocate for the principle of unity in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued.

Oneness

The Bahá'í teaching of the unity of humanity (also known as the oneness of humanity) stems from the teaching that all humans have been created equal in the image of God, and that God does not make any distinction between people. The teaching emphasizes the unity of humanity transcending all divisions of race, nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...

, gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...

, caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...

, and social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...

, while celebrating its diversity. The Bahá'í writings states that since the human race is one unified organic unit, all people have the same basic capacities, and that the physical differences, such as skin colour, are superficial and do not make one ethnic group superior to another.

In the Bahá'í view, humanity has always constituted one group, but that ignorance, prejudice and power-seeking have prevented the recognition of the oneness of humanity. The historical differences that have existed between different ethnic groups is attributable to differences in education and cultural opportunities over a long-term, as well as to racial prejudice and oppression.

Unity in diversity

In the Bahá'í view, unity does not equal uniformity, but instead the Bahá'í writings advocate for the principle of unity in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued. `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...

, the son of the founder of the religion, compared the human race to a flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

 garden where the garden was made more beautiful by its diversities of colour and form.
The Bahá'í writings note that unity will not be arrived at through the suppression of difference, but instead when each respects the intrinsic value of other individuals and cultures. In this view, it is not the diversity that causes conflict, but rather people's intolerance and prejudice towards diversity.

Elimination of prejudice

One of the main principles of the Bahá'í Faith that comes about from the unity of humanity is the elimination of all forms of prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...

, and it entails non-discrimination against individuals on such things like race, religion
Bahá'í Faith and the unity of religion
The Unity of Religion is a core teaching in the Bahá'í Faith that states that there is a fundamental unity of 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...

, gender
Bahá'í Faith and gender equality
One of the fundamental teachings of the Bahá'í Faith is that men and women are equal, and that the equality of the sexes is a spiritual and moral standard that is essential for the unification of the planet and the unfoldment of peace. The Bahá'í teachings note the importance of implementing the...

 or class. `Abdu'l-Bahá states that while the challenge is large, social prejudices including religious, political, and patriotic lead to war, and thus the elimination of prejudice was essential for human well-being. In that regard, the Bahá'í teachings state that the elimination of all forms of prejudice is a fundamental requirement to achieve world unity and peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...

.

Political unity

An essential mission in Bahá'u'lláh's
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...

, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, teachings was to bring about a consciousness in the people's of the world regarding the oneness of humankind. However, Bahá'u'lláh stated that along with the increase in individual and collective consciousness
Collective consciousness
Collective consciousness was a term coined by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim to refer to the shared beliefs and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society...

 of the oneness of humanity, new social structures are also needed for the oneness of humanity to be achieved. He wrote:
The Bahá'í teachings thus state that it is not sufficient that humanity acknowledge its oneness and still live in a disunited world that is contains prejudice, and conflict. In Bahá'í belief, humanity has gone through a process of progressive revelation through various different messengers of God, including Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

, Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

, Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

, Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

 and others, where humanity has grown collectively. In this belief, society has been steadily organizing itself with higher levels of unity through the various messengers of God; going from the unity of the family, the tribe, the city-state and the nation. The Bahá'í writings state that the next stage of the collective growth is that of world unity and the organization of society as a planetary civilization. Shoghi Effendi
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...

, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith wrote:
Thus in the Bahá'í view, unity must be expressed by building a universal and unified social system that is based on spiritual principles. In this view, the fundamental purpose of society is spiritual and is to create a society that is favourable to the healthy development of all its peoples.

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