The Baha'i Faith, which originated in Iran in 1844, is the youngest of the world's independent religious systems. It claims to be not only a progressive continuation, but also the fulfilment, of all past religions.

In 1844, a young Iranian merchant known to history as the Bab (18191850) claimed he was the herald or forerunner of the messianic figure promised at the time of the end by past religions, whose mission would be to usher in an era of universal peace, brotherhood and justice.

His movement attracted great interest and spread rapidly, arousing the opposition of the Shia Islamic establishment in Iran.

In 1850, Bab was executed and thousands of his followers, known as Baha' is, were put to death - events which, at the time, were widely reported in Europe.

In 1863, one of the Bab's followers publicly announced that he was the figure foretold by the Bab and by the scriptures of previous religions. He assumed the name Baha'u'llah, the Arabic for the biblical title Glory of God.

Baha'u'llah (1817-1892) is the founder of the Baha'i Faith. He suffered imprisonment, torture and exile for his claims.

In 1868, he was banished by the Sultan of Turkey to Palestine, to the then penal colony of Akka, now in present-day Israel.

His imprisonment was mitigated to house arrest some years later and he passed away in 1892 near Akka, where he is buried. For this reason the world spiritual and administrative centre of the Baha'i Faith is located in the Akka-Haifa area of the Holy Land.

Since 1963, the Baha'i Faith has been (and will continue to be) headed by an elected international governing body, the Universal House of Justice, based on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel.

Over the past 150 years, the Baha'i Faith has grown into a worldwide religion with five to six million followers. The first Irish Baha'i was a Church of Ireland clergyman, George Townsend (1876-1957), who accepted the faith in 1917.

Today, there are about 1,000 Baha' is on the island, of whom two-thirds are in the Republic and one-third in the North.

The Baha'i Faith has its roots in the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and, more specifically, Islam. It bears the same relationship to Islam as Christianity does to Judaism.

Baha'is reaffirm the existence of an eternal, transcendent, all-powerful God Who is unknowable to Man who is but His creation. A central doctrine of the Baha'i Faith is that of progressive revelation.

From time immemorial, God has revealed His will continuously and progressively to humankind by sending down founders of religions, such as Buddha, Zoroaster, Moses, Christ, Muhammad, and, in this day, Baha'u'll ah.

These Messengers or "Manifestations" of God are like mirrors reflecting the Godhead but are not God Himself. They are the true moral educators and civilisers of mankind and their missions represent successive stages in the evolution of human society.

Unfortunately, the followers of the various faiths have viewed their religion as final and the only true one. The Jews failed to accept Christ at the time, Christians have regarded Christ as the literal Son of God and the final revelation of God to man, while Muslims regard Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets.

The Baha'i Faith rejects these claims of finality, and Baha'u'llah

clearly states that God will continue to manifest Himself periodically in the future as in the past.

The spiritual and moral teachings of the Baha'i Faith have much in common with other faiths, but are geared towards this stage in human history.

There is greater emphasis on justice as the primary spiritual virtue; on the essential equality of men and women and of the various nations, races and classes; and on an outwardlooking, world-embracing vision, working to bring about world unity.

The Baha'i teachings state that true religion should be in harmony with reason and true science. As humanity is coming of age, the individual is responsible for his own spiritual development and there are no full-time clergy as such.

The purpose of one's life is twofold. On a personal level, it is to "know and worship" God; that is, to recognise the will of God as revealed through his Manifestation and to live a good life based thereon. On a collective and social level, it is "to carry forward an ever-advancing civilisation".

The soul, which is the life-giver of the body and the source of man's intellectual and moral faculties, comes into being and is individualised at conception. Man has free will and responsibility for the conduct of his life. On the death of the physical body, the soul, including consciousness and memory, passes on to higher metaphysical and spiritual realms and continues forever to evolve to higher levels of awareness. But the soul takes to the next life only the good qualities acquired in this life. Hence its condition after death depends on the kind of life led on this earth.

The intervention of God in human affairs 150 years ago, through the coming of Baha'u'llah, has released forces which have changed the course of history. We have now come to the stage where unity and co-operation on a global scale are essential for our survival and to enable us meet the problems and challenges facing us.

The mission of Baha'u'llah is to bring about this unity of mankind in a world commonwealth inspired by spiritual and moral values. From a Christian perspective, Baha'u'llah claims to be the return of Christ in the glory of the Father and his mission is to establish the Christ-promised Kingdom of God on earth.

This will be as a historical process of evolution of human society on this planet over the coming centuries, in which we are summoned by Baha'u'llah to participate.

Baha'is believe the emergence of a higher level of human civilisation on earth is divinely ordained. Mankind's response to Baha'ullah's coming may delay or speed up the process, may make it more or less painful and bewildering, and may even affect the quality of the world spiritual civilisation which will eventually emerge.

But it will not prevent it. In this lies the challenge of the Baha'i Faith for humanity.

Eamonn Moane has been a Baha'i for many years and lived and worked for 10 years in Haifa at the Baha'i World Centre before returning to Dublin five years ago.