Baha'i the Way Trivia Quiz

Answer: Iran

In 1844, Siyyid Ali Muḥammad Shirazi took on the name of 'the Bab' (meaning 'the Gate') and established Babism in Persia which broke away from Islam and attempted to create a new religious system. Babism is regarded as the precursor to the Baha'i Faith which was established in the 1850s.

Answer: Both of them

The Bab is one of the three main figures of the Baha'i Faith and Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith was his follower. Apart from being the reincarnation of prophet Elijah and John the Baptist, the Bab is also considered as the Saoshyant (Messiah) of the Zoroastrian faith.

Answer: False

The Baha'is are a monotheistic group who believe that there is only one God who is the creator of all the earth. The core message of the faith is unity and the followers believe in the unity of all the world religions regarding them to all stem from the same source - the one God.

The faith also shuns a monastic lifestyle. Followers are expected to continue to live a regular life and doing productive work is regarded as a form of worship.

Answer: Haifa, Israel

The roots of this institution can be traced to the teachings of the Baha'u'llah in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Holy Book of the faith. After the death of the Baha'u'llah, the leadership of the religion passed on to his son Abdu'l-Baha who later appointed his grandson Shoghi Effendi as the first Guardian of the faith and mandated that an elected council be established when the faith had sufficient followers.

When Effendi died childless in 1957, the Universal House of Justice was established in 1963.

Answer: False

The nine members of the Universal House of Justice are elected every five years. In keeping with the tenets laid down by the Baha'u'llah and later confirmed by his son Abdu'l-Baha, membership to the Universal House of Justice is restricted to the male followers of the faith. Abdu'l-Baha stated that the reason behind this condition would be made known to the believers in due course. Obedience to the institution was declared to be obligatory and the Universal House of Justice has largely limited its duties to providing overall guidance to members of the faith.

Answer: Five pointed star

The Bab first used the haykal as a religious symbol. The five pointed star was regarded as a representation of the human body with a head, two hands and two feet. Other symbols of the faith include a nine pointed star as the Arabic word Baha adds up to the numerical value of nine, the ringstone symbol and calligraphy of the Greatest Name, Baha which means 'glory'.

Answer: L. Ron Hubbard

Though the Baha'i faith began as an offshoot of the Islamic religion, various prophets from the Abrahamic religions as well as central figures from eastern religions are considered as divine messengers. These include Jesus, Muhammad, the Hindu god, Krishna and the Buddha apart from the Bab and the Baha'u'llah.

L. Ron Hubbard was the founder of the Church of Scientology and is not included in this list.

Answer: Nineteen

The Baha'i calendar is also called the badi calendar where badi means unique. It consists of 19 months with 19 days each. The remaining four days in a regular year and five days in a leap year are intercalary days known as Ayyam-i-Ha. The months are named after different attributes of God.

Answer: Baha'u'llah's announcement of prophethood

The festival is celebrated over a period of twelve days from April 20 to May 2. Known as the 'Most Great Festival', Ridvan means paradise and refers to the garden outside Baghdad where Baha'u'llah spent time at the beginning of his exile. Of the twelve days, the first, ninth and twelfth are regarded as the holiest.

They commemorate the arrival of Baha'u'llah at the garden of Ridvan, the arrival of his family and the day they all left from there on their journey to Constantinople.

Answer: Lotus

Popularly known as the Lotus Temple, this Baha'i House of Worship was completed in 1986. The Baha'i Houses of Worship are open to people of all faiths. However, no rituals can be conducted within their premises nor can any religious sermons of any faith be delivered there.