You said:
nilofer wrote:my mother asked some mullah at my place and wat they said is that bahais are misguided.
He wouldn't have been a mullah had he said otherwise.
nilofer wrote:according to wat he said, after prophet muhammed and before the day of the judgement there will be no more prophets or messengers who will be sent down to earth. however, there will be the return of jesus christ. this will happen when the ressurection day nears and he will live for forty years n will marry n have children. but in between this ie, after prophet muhammed n the coming of jesus christ, there will come many false messengers claiming they r messengers sent by god. they will try to induce people to believe in them.they will remain untill jesus christ appears n then he will chase them away. it is upto us to remain firm in our belief n to believe that there will b no other messengers or prophets..
Well, I am happy despite what your mullah says that you are still skeptical.
Looking back on history, don't we see that God sends His Prophets when a decadent society needs a new direction, one in which humanity with its old religion and ancient teachings cannot correct?
When a great many adherents of a religion cannot correct but rather contribute to the worlds problems? When many of its followers kill not only those from other faiths, but also turn on themselves, killing their own women and children and destroying their religious heritage and monuments? Aren't these signs of an end of times? Aren't these indications that religion needs a new direction lest mankind destroy itself?
In the time of Muhammad, and afterwards up to a certain point, His Faith shined among the many other major world religions such as Christianity and Judaism, and the Muslims, through the spiritual energy that the nascent faith revitalized them with, were placed at the forefront of the arts and sciences. This was indeed proof that Muhammad was from God and the Message He brought was intended to replace the teachings of old.
As with past religious scriptures, the Koran talks about a Day of Judgment as a future day where evil will be triumphed over by the godly, where spectacular, miraculous events will occur. And it isn't just the Koran that talks about the end of times in such terms. So does the Torah, the New Testament, etc.
It didn't happen for the Jews or Christians the way most of their followers wanted it to happen. Most interpreted their scriptures in such a way that would keep their leaders and themselves in power. When religion gets old, power and prestige are valued over religiousness. The leaders assign interpretations to their holy Texts that go contrary to their true meaning, and in doing so they keep their followers in a large part blind. "Verily, they who believe not and pervert from the way of God, have indeed erred with error wide of truth" (4:167). And it is always that people within a Faith pervert the words of their own Texts. These are the gainsayers that the Koran warns of.
So the Day of Resurrection, according to the Baha'i Faith, has already come to pass. Though not obvious to many Muslims, most of the major prophesies have been fulfilled symbolically, which we have been discussing...
nilofer wrote:now i only want to know wat response shd i give to tht mullah..i personally dont believe in mullahs but there r no other person who knows the exact truth as bahai religion is not heard of at my place ( south india) why did he say such a thing.. is there any element of truth in wat he said?.. richard.. bahai warrior.. abbas...need ur help my friends...!!!!
Nilofer, again, the last place you will get accurate information from about the Baha'i Faith is from a mullah or other Muslim clergyman. This site provides a good overview of the Baha'i Faith and its principles, "The Baha'is of India," (what better site for you to check out:) http://www.bahaindia.org/. [url]bahai.us[/url] is also recommended.
Again, your mullah said such a thing because first of all he likely didn't go out and seek the facts for himself, and secondly, he has a certain degree of prestige being a mullah, as so many clergymen of other faiths in power.
Nilofer: The teachings from the Koran are for people that lived long ago. You are a women, so do you believe that you are inferior to men? Technically, to be a "good" Muslim, you have to believe that women are inferior to men because that is what the Koran says for example in the surah "An-Sina," or "Women":
"Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God hath gifted the one above the other, and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for them" (4:34).
And in the Muslim world as a whole, women are dominated over by the men, and it is not rare even in this day and age (even in a place like Turkey!) for a women to be killed by her brothers or the other men in her family for some minor offense, hence "honor killings." There was a story I just saw about these Muslims where the father was dying, and the daughter spoke out and said she wanted some of the inheritance, and the brothers wanted to kill her because of it. The father merely suggested the brothers to spare her life, but they killed her anyway. It isn't just for offenses such as fornication or adulty that women in the Muslim world are killed for, it is also for much minor offenses such as when she tries to have some say in a matter.
The Baha'i Faith asserts that the old teachings are keeping people back from advancing. As you will see in the link that I gave you, "The Bahá'ís work for the removal of prejudices based on caste, creed, religion, sex, colour, race and language." The Baha'i teachings state that in this Day, all people are equal, and to see oneself superior to another human being is wrong and sinful.
The page (http://www.bahaindia.org/intro/cardinal.html) also states that
"An independent investigation is essential to arrive at truth. True religion conforms to reason. The Bahá'ís are free from superstitions, outdated ceremonies, rituals and dogmas."
(By the way, on the link that I gave you is a page titled "The Bahá'í Office for the Advancement of Women" http://www.bahaindia.org/offices/womenintro.html that you may be interested in.)
So it is good to see that you have taken this initiative (investigating), to start trying to find the answers for yourself. If you are interested, you can contact the Baha'is in your area. At Baha'i gatherings there sometimes are seekers as well, and if you become more interested you are encouraged to meet with the Baha'is in your area and get more accurate information there, see what they are like, etc.
BTW, the most number of Baha'is in the world are in India (maybe its because of the beautiful temple over there
).
Take care, and I hope that I said at least something useful...
Warrior
