"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth." "The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
-- Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'í Shrine,
Haifa, Israel
The Bahá'ís of Mount Vernon welcome you to this site. We encourage you to investigate the Bahá'í Faith. You will find books at your local public library. You may purchase books, music, and videotapes from the Bahá'í Distribution Service. We hope you will take the time to watch a Bahá'í television program or listen to a radio broadcast. There is much information on the World Wide Web, and the best place to begin is by clicking on the logo at the top of this page. The Bahá'ís are a worldwide spiritual family of people from all racial, religious, national, economic and educational backgrounds. Bahá'ís in Mount Vernon, in the Washington DC metropolitan area, and around the world, look forward to offering hospitality and friendship at Bahá'í meetings, schools, devotional services, and in daily life.
Bahá'ís in the United States and Mount Vernon
Governance of the Bahá'í Community
Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran
Bahá'í House
of Worship, Wilmette, IL
At the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago, a Protestant missionary to the Middle East made the first mention of the Bahá'í Faith from a public podium in America, . The first Americans to become adherents of the Bahá'í Faith learned of it in 1894 through a series of lessons offered in several metropolitan centers. The Bahá'í presence in the United States is therefore over a century long. The community gradually spread across the country. There have been Bahá'ís in Fairfax County VA for over half a century. Bahá'ís have had an organized community in the Mount Vernon area since 1977. The Bahá'í Community of Mount Vernon is a member of Ventures in Community and the Mount Vernon Community Coalition. Along with all other Bahá'ís in the world, the Mount Vernon Bahá'ís work for racial harmony, peaceful resolution of conflicts, appreciation of the oneness and wholeness of the human race, and the social and spiritual betterment of the residents of Mount Vernon.
The Bahá'ís of Mount Vernon, Virginia are an organic part of the six-million-member Bahá'í religion. The Bahá'í Faith began in Iran in 1844, and is the most recent of Asia's great religious traditions. Bahá'ís are followers of Bahá'u'lláh - "the Glory of God" - the universal Messenger of God for this cycle of humanity's spiritual history.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year, the Bahá'í Faith is considered the second most geographically widespread religion in the world after Christianity. It counts among its members people from over 2100 tribal, national and ethnic groups. Its largest communities are in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Bahá'í community in the United States, while statistically small has been one of the most important. American Bahá'ís have carried the Bahá'í Faith to innumerable countries where it was previously unknown, and seek to make the United States the country that "will lead all nations spiritually."
Bahá'u'lláh, the Messenger of God for this era in human history, was imprisoned and exiled for forty years, from Tehran to Baghdad, to Constantinople and Edirne in Turkey, and finally to Akka in Ottoman Palestine (present-day Israel). He taught that:
1. God, the Creator, reveals His attributes through a series of Divine Messengers or "Manifestations" such as Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and Bahá'u'lláh.
2. These Manifestations of God guide humanity toward spiritual and social advancement somewhat as a child is guided through school by different teachers.
3. The fundamental aims and purposes of the religions of the world are one; their differences are due to the requirements of the times and places in which they appear.
4. The soul of man is immortal. The goal of individuals is to develop spiritual attributes that will permit the soul to progress on its spiritual journey.
5. The social goal of humanity in this age is world unification, international federation, and the establishment of permanent and lasting peace. The Bahá'í scriptures outline the institutions and operating principles of a world commonwealth.
6. The social principles on which this unification depend include:
6.1. Necessity of living lives of moral rectitude;
6.2. Elimination of all forms of prejudice;
6.3. Equal rights, opportunities, and privileges for both sexes;
6.4. Compulsory education;
6.5. Elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty;
6.6. Balance and harmony of religion and science;
6.7. Development of an international language and script, universal currency, weights and measures, etc.;
6.8. Sustainable development, balancing technology and environment;
6.9. Safeguarding of the freedom and initiative of the individual.
Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh,
Acre, Israel
Bahá'u'lláh was born in Iran in 1817, and revealed His mission in the middle of the nineteenth century. Bahá'u'lláh fulfills the promise in all religions that a great world Savior would appear at the end of the prophetic cycle:
"He... was none other than the One Whom posterity will acclaim, and Whom innumerable followers already recognize, as the Judge, the Lawgiver and Redeemer of all mankind, as the Organizer of the entire planet, as the Unifier of the children of men, as the Inaugurator of the long-awaited millennium, as the Originator of a new 'Universal Cycle,' as the Establisher of the Most Great Peace, as the Fountain of the Most Great Justice, as the Proclaimer of the coming of age of the entire human race, as the Creator of a new World Order, and as the Inspirer and Founder of a world civilization.
"To Israel He was neither more nor less than the incarnation of the 'Everlasting Father,' the 'Lord of Hosts' come down 'with ten thousands of saints'; to Christendom Christ returned 'in the glory of the Father,' to Shi'ah Islam the return of the Imam Husayn; to Sunni Islam the descent of the 'Spirit of God' (Jesus Christ); to the Zoroastrians the promised Shah-Bahram; to the Hindus the reincarnation of Krishna; to the Buddhists the fifth Buddha.
"...He was formally designated Baha'u'llah,... signifying at once the glory, the light and the splendor of God, and was styled the 'Lord of Lords,' the 'Most Great Name,' the 'Ancient Beauty,' the 'Pen of the Most High,' the 'Hidden Name,' the 'Preserved Treasure,' 'He Whom God will make manifest,' the 'Most Great Light,' the 'All-Highest Horizon,' the 'Most Great Ocean,' the 'Supreme Heaven,' the 'Pre-Existent Root,' the 'Self-Subsistent,' the 'Day-Star of the Universe,' the 'Great Announcement,' the 'Speaker on Sinai,' the 'Sifter of Men,' the 'Wronged One of the World,' the 'Desire of the Nations,' the 'Lord of the Covenant,' the 'Tree beyond which there is no passing'....
-- (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1974), pages 93-94)
Seat of the Universal
House of Justice, Haifa, Israel
The worldwide Bahá'í community has no clergy. It is governed by a series of elected consultative bodies. At the local level is the local Spiritual Assembly, a nine-member body elected every year by each local Bahá'í jurisdiction. Elections are carried out in a prayerful atmosphere, with neither nominations nor campaigning. All adult Bahá'ís are electors, and all adult Bahá'ís are candidates. The nine who receive the highest number of votes are elected to the Spiritual Assembly. There is a national institution known as the National Spiritual Assembly, of which there are currently 175, elected each year by freely-elected delegates. All adult Bahá'ís in the country are candidates for election to the National Spiritual Assembly. At the international level is the nine-member council called the Universal House of Justice. It is elected every five years by the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies, and has its seat in Haifa, Israel, the permanent spiritual and administrative center of the Bahá'í religion.
Since the religion began in 1844, thousands of its adherents have been imprisoned, exiled, tortured, and killed for their faith. There have been periodic pogroms against the Bahá'í community. With the rise of the Islamic Republican government in 1979, Bahá'ís have been singled out for denial of protection under the Iranian constitution. Iranian Authorities clearly state that all the charges against imprisoned Bahá'ís will be dropped if they will only recant their faith and become Muslims, thus revealing that the charges are based solely upon religious prejudice and bigotry. Since 1979, some 200 Bahá'ís have been executed. For further information, read the personal narrative written by Olya Roohizadegan, entitled Olya's Story (Oxford, U.K.: Oneworld, 1992).
There are a large number of Bahá'í sites on the World Wide Web. Following are a few of that may be of interest:
"The Bahá'í World", an official site being prepared by the Bahá'í Office of Public Information. The logo at the beginning of this page links to "The Bahá'í World" page.
"The Bahá'ís", an introductory magazine, with illustrations, that gives a comprehensive outline of the faith's teachings.
"Bahá'í Faith Index", which provides many links to Bahá'í information on the internet.
"The Bahá'í Writings", a large collection of browsable texts of Bahá'í sacred scriptures.
"Prophecy Fulfilled", how Bahá'u'lláh's revelation fulfills prophecies of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and other religions.
Bahá'ís of Metropolitan Washington DC:
Bahá'í Faith of Northern Virginia
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Mount Vernon
Bahá'ís are engaged in a media campaign, with programs and public service announcements broadcast on BET, Odyssey Channel, and other cable networks. Details will be included here as they are made available.
"Payam-i-Doost"
WUST 1120 AM
Falls Church, VA
Sundays, 9:30 -10:30 a.m.
O Son of Man! Neglect not My commandments if thou lovest My beauty, and forget not My counsels if thou wouldst attain My good pleasure.
Bahá'í House of Worship, New Delhi, India
Page maintained by: William P. Collins