"We Love All Religions"

According to the 19-month calendar followed by the worldwide religion known as Bahai, the first day of this week was the 13th of Jalal, in the year 120. It was a red-letter day in the lives of Bahai's 2,000,000 followers. In Haifa, Israel, 504 leaders of the sect gathered to elect by secret ballot nine of their members who will form a Universal House of Justice. After the results are announced to the first world congress of Bahai in London next week, the House will have infallible powers to legislate for the faithful.

The House has plenty of sacred scripture to guide its decisions. Each of Bahai's chief prophets, the 19th century Islamic heretics known as Bab and Baha'u'llah, wrote his own five-foot shelf of divine revelations. In addition, Bahai (Persian for "follower of Baha'u'llah") broad-mindedly welcomes the wisdom of all the great religious teachers, from Moses to Christ to Mohammed to Buddha. "We love all religions," says Canadian-born Ruhiyyih Rabbani, widow of Baha'u'llah's great-grandson.

Progressive Revelation. The basic tenet of Bahai is progressive revelation: just as God once spoke to the world through Jesus and Mohammed, so he revealed himself to modern man through Bab and Baha'u'llah, whose teachings surpass those of older prophets. Bahai believers, who have no ministry, read impartially from the Koran, the Bible and the Bhagavad-Gita at their simple worship services. "Bahai expounds the truth," explains Mrs. Rabbani, "and no religion has a monopoly on the truth."

Bahai began in 1844 when a young Persian merchant boldly announced that he was the Bab (Gate), the divinely inspired spokesman long awaited by Shiite Moslems.*Bab was arrested and shot by the Persian government in 1850, largely because his fanatical followers were plotting to overthrow the Shah and replace him with a theocracy. Bab left the leadership of his sect to a 19-year-old follower whose authority was eventually usurped by his elder halfbrother. The brother took the name Baha'u'llah (Glory of God), excommunicated or had murdered the minority of Babis who opposed him, poured out his direct revelations from God in long open letters to such world figures as the Pope and Queen Victoria. They did not answer. Baha'u'llah's teachings changed considerably over the years, and at first many of them had a distinctly Islamic cast: all male believers must undertake a dawn-to-dusk fast each year similar to the Moslem Ramadan, could marry no more than two wives. Baha'u'llah's leadership was handed on to his son, and then his great-grandson, Oxford-educated Shoghi Effendi, the late husband of Mrs. Rabbani (she later remarried). Since then, the faith has been guided by 22 leaders known as Hands of the Cause, who will be superseded by the Universal House of Justice. In most Moslem countries, Bahai is still regarded as a dangerous heresy--perhaps because oldtime Persian followers of Bab advocated their divine right to assassinate enemies. Last December three Bahai followers in Morocco were condemned to death for proselytizing among Moslems. While visiting New York early this month, King Hassan II agreed to consider pardons if the sentences are appealed.

"Spiritual Vitality." Outside of Islam, Bahai seems to be prospering mightily, and in the U.S. includes such believers as Crooner Vic Damone and Painter Mark Tobey. Bahai's Western success owes much to its current emphasis on peace and brotherhood (Bahai literature glosses over its violent past). Bahais are active, zealous convert seekers: since 1953, the number of worship centers has risen from 2,000 to 13,000, and there are now Bahai adherents in 259 countries. The U.S. has one of Bahai's five "mother temples," an Arabian Nights building in Wilmette, 111., and there are believers in 1,600 American communities.

Bahai followers firmly believe that they have man's religion of the future, and regard the signs of new life in older churches, such as the ecumenical movement in Christianity, as "courageous but pretty hopeless." These ancient faiths, argues Mrs. Rabbani, "do not have the spiritual vitality that Bahai has." Of course, she admits, "if the ecumenical movement succeeds, we are in for it."

*The Shiites believe that Mohammed's spiritual authority was bequeathed to a line of twelve Imams, the last of whom disappeared during the roth century. Shiites believe that he is still alive and that until he returns there will always be on earth one of his followers who is in direct communication with him.

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