Abstract
This article discusses the reality and nature of the Bahá’í Faith based on in-depth research and investigation. The structure of Baha’ism aligns well with the characteristics of an organizational institution, rather than a religion.
Among these characteristics are the organizational membership process, the economic foundations and financial flows of the Baha’is, social actions in various communities, the formation of companies and fictitious NGOs, and the transfer of information of each society in a complex capillary network.
It should be noted that these features and characteristics will be discussed and referenced through research in the writings of the Baha’i leaders and missionaries.
An important point of this article is the existing conflict between the structural and organizational characteristics of the Baha’is and the claim of global peace and human rights among the Baha’is. This issue will also be presented with documentation from the Baha’i books and the social consequences will be discussed.
The Nature of the Baha’i Faith in the Organizational Structure
An organizational structure is defined as a group that operates based on four main characteristics:
- A clearly defined objective
- Assigned roles and responsibilities
- A structured hierarchy
- Rules and coordinated governance
The Bahá’í administrative system and its followers claim that they have no clergy, priests, or religious authorities. However, the Bahá’í community is governed through a formal administrative order, at the head of which stand nine members of the Universal House of Justice. This administrative order in the Bahá’í community consists of the following institutions:
- Local Spiritual Assemblies (established in cities and villages worldwide)
- National Spiritual Assemblies (in each country)
- Continental Counselors
- The Universal House of Justice
Each of these institutions functions within a defined framework of duties, roles, and specific decision-making authority.
The Baha’is constantly tries to present itself as a religion, a ritual, and a belief. But the reality is that Baha’ism is a legal entity, not a real one. This organization simultaneously performs three functions of legislation, law enforcement, and supervision in a presidential institution called the UHJ. The Universal House of Justice is the highest governing authority of the global Bahá’í community. Its membership consists of nine men (women are not permitted to serve on the Universal House of Justice). This nine-member body is appointed every five years through what critics describe as a formal or symbolic electoral process, and it serves as the official decision-making center of the Bahá’í Faith.
The core of Baha’ism is based on the order of Shoghi Effendi, the formation of a parallel government in countries, and the attainment of the golden age government. Therefore, the organizational structure of the Baha’is is recruiting for the development of human resources in order to reach the government with non-civil mechanisms and under the cover of NGO and religion. In addition, a person’s identity as a Bahá’í is considered dependent on membership within the administrative structure rather than merely on personal belief. In other words, an individual is officially recognized as a Bahá’í only after submitting a request that is approved by the Bahá’í authorities. This is followed by a registration process, which includes a formal commitment by the individual to unquestioningly follow the decisions and authority of the Universal House of Justice.
Is the Nature of the Bahá’í Faith Organizational or Religious?
Based on the claim of the Bahá’í Faith that it is a religion, it is necessary to examine the difference between a human organization and a divine religion. The fundamental distinctions lie in their essential characteristics. A divine religion originates from God—not from collective or personal experience, not from council decisions, and not from majority vote. The main characteristics of a divine religion are as follows: Revelation-centered:
- The foundation of the religion is revealed by God, not designed by human beings.
- Truth-centered, not power-centered: Even if everyone opposes it, the truth itself does not change.
- Independent authority apart from institutions: Even if no organization exists, God’s religion remains binding upon people. For this reason, a divine religion has no need for, nor dependency upon, any organizational structure.
- A direct relationship between human beings and God: Salvation, faith, and guidance within a divine religion do not depend on membership in any institution.
Specifically in Islam, for example:
- Even if there is no government,
- Even if institutions collapse,
the Qur’an, its heavenly scripture, and divine authority (the Prophet and the Imams) remain intact. By contrast, an organization or administrative structure does not have a divine origin; it emerges from human decisions. The inherent characteristics of an organization include:
- Designed by human beings
- Goal-oriented and functional
- Membership-based
- Dependent on structure and hierarchy
- Based on collective or managerial decision-making
An important point is that if an organization collapses, the identity of that sect or group collapses with it.
The Organizational Nature of the Baha’i Faith with a Hidden Economic Structure
The security and economic structure of Baha’ism are also complementary. The Baha’is cannot obtain a formal license to operate in any country with its own economic structure. Therefore, it carries out financial movements on the basis of registering fictitious commercial companies, fictitious NGOs in countries. Because no country is willing to recognize their charter. In this way, their severe financial flows are hidden and away from taxes.
In fact, the national and local assemblies of the Bahá’ís create a series of fictitious centers and operate under the guise of trustee companies, commercial companies, or NGOs to conduct their financial and property transactions. Due to their statutes, no country is willing to officially recognize them. Therefore, they hide their statutes and start operating with the fictitious statutes of a company.
This economic system, which reveals the nature of Bahá’ísm, has a very high financial turnover. However, for political reasons, this financial turnover is not disclosed to the public. Thus, any financial and economic corruption is carried out without public demands, transparent media reports, or tax payments. Therefore, they are forced to legally register some of the organization’s immovable properties through commercial names, commercial companies, NGOs, and fictitious companies that are recognized in societies.
The Role of Baha’is in Shaping the Nature of the Baha’i Faith
Recruitment is one of the elements that proves the nature of the Baha’i Faith in its organizational structure. In the Baha’i Faith, recruitment must be approved by the administration; otherwise, the individual is not considered a Baha’i, even if they were born into a Baha’i family. The process that transforms a Baha’i-born individual into an administrative Baha’i is called “Tashjil.” At the age of 21, they must sign a document called the “Tashjil Form” to have their Baha’i faith confirmed by the local assembly and subsequently by the Baha’i administrative body, the Universal House of Justice, through a specified hierarchy.
Recruitment outside the Baha’i community, while maintaining the nature of the Baha’i Faith, is subtly carried out through human development projects. In fact, the development of human resources for the Baha’i organization is selected from vulnerable segments of society, such as addicts, divorced families, unemployed individuals, and children and adolescents. These individuals are recruited into the Baha’i administration out of necessity.
This method of recruitment demonstrates that the Baha’i Faith not only does not approach intellectual individuals but also cannot provide any strong argument for recruitment based on the nature of the Baha’i Faith and its true identity. Therefore, these Baha’i interventions in the social and cultural order of a society contradict their invitation to world peace and human rights.
Warning: The Hidden Nature of Bahá’ísm as a Threat to Governments and States
Recently, the Universal House of Justice, the global center of the Bahá’í institution, issued a directive on December 30, 2021, announcing a nine-year plan for Bahá’í social actions. The implementation of this plan aims to change the national identity of each society to a fabricated Bahá’í identity. Bahá’í propaganda is tasked with diverting public attention from the main objectives of this plan so that Bahá’í elements can carry out their duties based on conformity with the social currents of each ethnic group and nationality.
Conclusion
Any intellectual movement that claims to be a religion can be evaluated with the following question: “If the organizational structure to which it is attached were removed, would that religion still retain its meaning?” If the answer is yes, then both the claim and its proponents must be carefully examined. But if the answer is no, then it is clearly an organization operating under a religious cover. The continued expansion of the Bahá’í administrative system, beyond its media influence, can be attributed precisely to this point. Unlike the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, it did not present itself openly as a political organization. Instead, it adopted a religious identity and employed a narrative of victimhood to gain sympathy within public opinion and the media, thereby securing broader social acceptance through media influence. In contrast, a divine religion is truth-centered and connects human beings directly to God. Divine leaders seek to strengthen people’s relationship with God—not to bind them to themselves. An organization, however, continually attaches and binds individuals to its structure and administrative system. Based on this distinction, two important questions remain:
- What is the true objective of the Bahá’í administrative organization?
- Why does the Bahá’í movement operate under the cover of religion?
