An easy-to-read view of the Bahá'í Faith from a Muslim perspective, based on Islamic prophecies and Sunni traditions. The Bahá'í Faith has its roots in Islam yet many Muslims do not have accurate information about this fast-growing religion. Here Dr Moojan Momen, widely published author in the field of world religions, rectifies this. As well as the Qur'án, Dr Momen uses the authoritative Sunni collections of Traditions and draws on Islamic prophecies to explain the Bahá'í Faith from a Muslim perspective. He describes: The Bahá'í view of the Prophet Muhammad and of Islam The spiritual and ethical teachings of the Bahá'í Faith in comparison to Islam The claim of Bahá'u'lláh Bahá'í spirituality Bahá'í law, social teachings and community life and provides a brief history of the Bahá'í Faith. Easy to read and full of useful information, this book will also be useful to Bahá'ís who want to see how their religion relates to Islam.

Muhammad ‘Abduh (1849-1905) was one of the key thinkers and reformers of modern Islam who has influenced both liberal and fundamentalist Muslims today. ‘Abdul-Baha (1844-1921) was the son of Baha’ullah (1817-1892), the founder of the Baha’i Faith; a new religion which began as a messianic movement in Shii Islam, before it departed from Islam. Oliver Scharbrodt offers an innovative and radically new perspective on the lives of these two major religious reformers in 19th century Middle East by placing both figures into unfamiliar terrain. While one would classify ‘Abdul-Baha, leader of a messianic movement which claims to depart from Islam, as an exponent of heresy in Islam, ‘Abduh is perceived as an orthodox Sunni reformer. This book, however, argues against the assumption that both represent two extremely opposite expressions of Islamic religiosity. It shows that both were influenced by similar intellectual and religious traditions of Islam and that both participated in the same discussions on the reform of Islam in the 19th century. Islam and the Baha'i Faith provides new insights into the Islamic background of the Baha’i Faith and into ‘Abduh’s own association with so-called heretical movements in Islam.

The nineteenth century was a time of significant global socioeconomic change, and Persian Jews, like other Iranians, were deeply affected by its challenges. For minority faith groups living in nineteenth-century Iran, religious conversion to Islam - both voluntary and involuntary - was the primary means of social integration and assimilation. However, why was it that some Persian Jews, who had for centuries resisted the relative security of Islam, instead embraced the Baha'i Faith - which was subject to harsher persecution that Judaism? Baha'ism emerged from the messianic Babi movement in the mid-nineteenth century and attracted large numbers of mostly Muslim converts, and its ecumenical message appealed to many Iranian Jews. Many converts adopted fluid, multiple religious identities, revealing an alternative to the widely accepted notion of religious experience as an oppressive, rigidly dogmatic and consistently divisive social force. Mehrdad Amanat explores the conversion experiences of Jewish families during this time. Many converted sporadically to Islam, although not always voluntarily. The most notorious case of forced mass-conversion in modern times occurred in Mashhad in 1839 when, in response to an organized attack, the entire Jewish community converted to Shi'i Islam. A contrast is offered by a Tehran Jewish family of court physicians who nominally converted to Islam and yet continued to openly observe Jewish rituals while also remaining intellectually sympathetic to Baha'ism. Many petty merchants and pedlars, in a position to benefit from Iran's expanding market, migrated from ancient communities to thriving trade centres which proved fertile grounds for the spread of new ideas and, often, conversion to Christianity or Baha'ism. This is an important scholarly contribution which also provides a fascinating insight into the personal experiences of Jewish families living in nineteenth-century Iran.

This book explores the development of Islam and the Baha'i faith in the nineteenth century via the examination of two key reformers.

What in the world happened in 1844? Followers of William Miller and the Millerite movement expected the Advent, the Second Coming of Jesus, in 1844. When the Advent did not happen as expected, the Great Disappointment ensued. Miller was wrong. But was he? Did the spirit of Christ return in 1844 in the Middle East? The dawn of God’s Prophets of today’s major religions had all arisen in the East. After the Great Disappointment, the Millerite movement splintered into many Adventist sects, and the history of the three remaining today––the Advent Christian Church, the Church of God (Seventh-day), and the Seventh-day Adventist Church––is given. In the East, the year 1844 saw the emergence of the Báb, the Herald of Bahá’u’lláh, and the Bábí movement, and then the emergence of Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet of the Baha'i Faith. These events are likewise presented. Miller followed biblical guidance as best he could, and he may well have been part of God’s plan in the nineteenth century. Miller and other Adventist Bible scholars did accurately pinpoint the year 1844, but events unfolded a world away in Persia and they had no inkling of them. Today the world suffers increasingly from the divisive forces of strife and intolerance, armed with strident ideologies and weapons that could kill countless millions of people. What is the destiny of our global civilization? Has divine light once again risen from the East for our day? Explore the prophecies of Daniel and follow the events in nineteenth century East and West to an amazing conclusion that will affect everyone.