Islam is growing fast! But what happened to Baha’ism?

Nadeem Alam Qurayshi

July 28, 2025

About

A recent report confirms what we can see happening around the globe is that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, according to a new Pew Research Center study. Islam grew by 347 million in just 10 years. That is not insignificant. It is a huge indication that Allah’s promise in the Holy Quran is being fulfilled:

“It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to make it prevail over all other religions…” – Holy Qur’an, Surah At-Tawbah (9:33)

So, while Islam is rapidly growing around the world, it is time to ask:

Where is the Baha’i Faith? Weren’t they the ones saying they would replace Islam?

Big promises… But NO growth!

The Baha’i faith originated in the 1800s and proclaimed a new message from God, post-Islam. They referred to their leader, Baha’u’llah, as the next Messenger of God, being a believer that Islam was over.

Although there are a few Baha’is globally. The Baha’is argue that India has the largest population of Baha’i adherents in the world, which they estimate at over 1.8 million, representing around 40% of the entire world’s Baha’i population. However, in looking at the official government census, it says there are only 4572 Baha’is, and many of them are not even active believers.

All countries (yes, the focus is on ALL) account for people who have been added to the Baha’i membership lists – without their awareness and belief. Which increases their population size.

Final Prophet – No One After Muhammad ﷺ

The single greatest problem with the Baha’i faith is this: They reject the finality of Prophethood.

They believe that new messengers are possible after the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.  But the Qur’an is abundantly clear:

“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and the Last of the Prophets.” — Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-Ahzab (33:40)

This indicates that the chain of Prophethood ended with him. No Prophet can come after him – neither the Bab, nor Baha’u’llah, nor anyone. Any faith that teaches otherwise is not from Allah.

Islam Builds Mosques, Baha’is Build Empty Temples

When I think about the early Baha’i temples, I cannot help but notice that they are all in places that are now mostly devoid of Baha’is. Indeed, the Baha’is have been in places like India, Chile, Zambia, Cambodia, etc., building temples and dreaming about a religion of world-wide significance.  They can only “hope” that someday, these temples become populated by believers worshipping God.  For now, they are simply empty buildings visited as tourist attractions; there is no call to prayer, no daily worship, and no connection.

Islam builds thousands of mosques every year and daily believers fill them five times a day in prayer, the reading of Qur’an, and the remembering of Allah.

Baha’i faith substitutes Revelation with Workbooks

In lieu of reading scriptures or praying together, most Baha’i communities engage with the “Ruhi Institute”, a series of workbooks to guide their engagement.   These are not sacred books. They are man-made documents to track how many “study circles” or classes there are. Engagement feels more like a corporate training course than engagement in a spiritual path.

As Muslims, thankfully we’re not in need of man-made manuals. We have the Holy Qur’an, the Hadith and the rich tradition of Islam that guides our hearts and our lives.

No answers, just silence: Why many are leaving the Baha’i Faith!?

With a greater number of people leaving the Baha’i faith around the world, ex-Baha’is share stories of their frustration, confusion, and emptiness in social media spaces and forums.

They express their feelings of frustration from members of a religious community that is more of a bureaucracy than a faith. Others write that they were silenced for asking basic questions, or even excommunicated altogether.

One former believer recalled: “We were promised a revolution of the spirit, not a stack of paperwork.”

At the same time Islam Is Alive and Growing

Islam is not only growing in numbers – it is growing in strength. Young people are most active in the deen. More people are converting and coming to Islam, especially in the West. Mosques are full, Qur’an classes are running strong, and the Ummah is waking.

This is exactly what Allah told us would happen:

“We throw the truth against falsehood, and it destroys it, and falsehood disappears.” – Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-Anbiya (21:18)

Truth always defeats falsehood. And the truth is that Islam is the only final and complete deen sent by Allah.

Final Words for the Baha’is

The Baha’i Faith might have claimed it would replace Islam, but I’m afraid it’s the other way around. Islam is on the rise and Baha’ism is on the decline or let me say, about to become extinct looking at the number of the Baha’is turning away from their religion.

Dear Baha’is – if your religion was truly from God, wouldn’t it be growing like Islam is today? Islam remains strong because it is the truth. 

Islam guides heart, unites nations, and gives us direct access to our Creator. 

Islam really doesn’t need “marketing”. It just needs the Qur’an and the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ.If you are still seeking the truth, it is time to come back to the final and complete religion of Allah.

REALITY OF BAHAI FAITH

 

Mohammed Yusuf embraced Islam after leaving the deceptive Baha'i cult.

 

Salaamu 'Alaykum (Peace be upon you).

I am a white American Muslim male. I see myself as a "revert" to Islam in that, according to Muslim belief, all people are born in a state of Islam in as much as we are born in a natural state of submission to Allah. That is what "Islam" means, after all.

Islam for me is natural in a way that Baha'ism never was--and never can be. No one is born a Baha'i, and to this the Baha'i writings bear witness.

Though I was thus born a Muslim I was raised a Baha'i. All the same it was not until I was about fourteen that I became seriously interested in Baha'ism and began reading Baha'i writings. I come from a "mixed" family. My mother, you see, is Catholic and Baha'ism never played a very important role in my life until my father, a Baha'i, began taking me to Baha'i prayer-meetings and Baha'i Sunday school. By the time I was eighteen I was heavily involved in Baha'i activities, so much so that I was asked to serve as a camp counselor at Green Acre, a Baha'i summer camp in Maine. People judged that I was a devoted Baha'i and that I had much to share with other Baha'i youth.

Some things anyone reading this should know about Baha'ism. It teaches that all the religions are one. Yes, even cults like Hinduism, with its plethora of deities and its notorious obsession with sex; or Buddhism which holds that Allah doesn't even exist! Krishna and the Buddha, say Baha'is, were prophets whose teachings are just as valid as those of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (peace be upon them). When still a Baha'i I realized I could not rationalize any of this. Hindus themselves admit that they follow no prophet, and this so-called Krishna character is nothing more than one of the thousands of gods they worship. In fact, Hindu scripture recounts Krishna's numerous sexual exploits, and how he used to steal milk. Not exactly what I call prophetic behavior! If Baha'is admits him into their ring of prophet hood, then what's to stop them from saying that other pagan deities like Zeus, Osiris, and Thor are also prophets?

In my opinion, anyone who says that all the religions are one is hopelessly confused, because they have no idea themselves what is right and wrong. It's like when I show my mom two shirts, "Which one looks better, the red one or the one with the yellow and blue stripes?"  I'd ask her. "Oh, I don't know, they both look fine to me!" she'd reply. As I've said, my mother is not a Baha'i but this attitude sums up Baha'is perfectly: they simply do not KNOW which religion is the right way and, as a result of their ignorance, they assume that all religions are "okay".

Furthermore, they believe that such holy texts as the Bible and the Torah exist today in their original, unaltered form. Where'd that idea come from? You pick up a Catholic Bible, a Protestant Bible, and--if you can read it--an Ethiopian Orthodox Bible and you can see for yourself that there are whole sections which are missing in some versions while, in other versions, other sections are added. Furthermore, the Bible has been re-written in colloquial English and Ebonics; and recently some feminist has gone out and printed an edition of the Bible in which she has replaced "He"--referring to Allah--with "She". So, contrary to what the Baha'is believes, the Bible has indeed been altered, and continues to be altered as I write these words.

When I was a Baha'i, I simply put these matters out of my head. It's not like any other Baha'is knew the answers anyway. Of course, with no clergy or religious scholars to guide the way, that's not surprising.

As I began studying Islam in college, though, I was able to read the Qur'an for the first time, and was deeply moved--and very impressed--by its uncompromising monotheism. You read the Qur'an--especially in its original Arabic text--and you KNOW it's the word of Allah. And as Allah Himself tells us, it has never been changed--nor can it be changed. By contrast, the holiest book for the Baha'is, the "Kitab-i-Aqdas" is nothing but an enumeration of laws. No one recites it and there's no beauty or poetry in its words. Furthermore, Baha'is always speak of their texts as being written by the self-styled Baha'i "prophet" Baha’u’llah or his son 'Abdal-Baha'. Even they admit that what they read is not created by Allah!

I had taken this course in Islamic thought because I had this fascination with the Middle East, and I very much wanted to travel there. Nevertheless, I was under no illusion that, for Baha'is, this posed problems. Much though Baha'is might create the impression of respecting Islam, I was always taught to fear Muslims. A Muslim, I was told, was a fanatical bigot who would slit my throat for my Baha'i beliefs. What no Baha'is ever told me, however, was that Israel, which ALL Baha'is support, and is guilty of some of the worst crimes against humanity since Hitler, most of them directed against Muslims. The Baha'i world center is in Haifa, Israel and Ruhiyyah Khanum--a prominent leader of the Baha'i community--once said that the fate of Baha'ism and Israel are forever intertwined. And at Baha'i Sunday school we were made to sing songs about Baha'i delusions, among them this one song called "Queen of Carmel", a reference to the holy site on Mount Carmel in Haifa. The refrain goes "Cry out O Zion, cry out to your Lord!" That should be enough to convince anyone that the Baha'is are Zionists to the core, and that they share in the blame for all the misery which Israelis have created for Palestinians.

It wasn't hard for me to lose interest in Baha'ism once this realization started to kick in. For me, reverting to Islam wasn't difficult because the Baha'is have taken many of their laws from Islam. Alcohol and gambling are banned in Baha'ism, for example, so it wasn't like I had to give up much by becoming a Muslim. I figured that anything good in Baha'ism was already found in Islam, so you can easily imagine my excitement when, in February of 1999, I went to the mosque near the college where I study and took the shahadah, testifying that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger. And His LAST Messenger, too, I might add. Allah tells us in the Qur'an that in this day he has perfected Islam and made it as a religion for all humanity. What room is there left for Baha'ism in Allah's great plan? And as we read in the Qur'an Allah is the best of planners. Just think of the arrogance it must take for Baha'is to think that they can change what Allah has already perfected? Similarly Allah tells us in the Qur'an that Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him and his family) was the "Seal of the Prophets". The Bible and the Torah speak of Muhammad's coming, and in fact the Song of Solomon (in the Old Testament) reports actually preserves the name "Muhammad" in the original Hebrew in a reference to the coming of the Arab Messenger. Not all the Bible has been altered, of course! But nowhere in the Qur'an do I hear mention of any Baha’u’llah.

I occasionally hear Muslims complain about the problems Christians and Jews create for the worldwide Islamic community. In response to this I would say that, though Christian Serbs and Russians have killed, raped, and tortured Muslims in Europe, and though Jewish Israelis have done the same to Palestinians--Muslim AND Christian--in the Holy Land, I feel strongly that the Baha'is pose a threat to Muslims--indeed ALL people--which is far greater than any Jews or Christians ever could. Baha'is combine the evangelical zeal of Christian missionaries with the uncompromising Zionism of ultra-orthodox Jews. They roam around the word, "Kitab-i-Aqdas" in hand, intent on spreading their false doctrines. Underprivileged people in the developing world are their favorite target, though they can strike anywhere at any unsuspecting person. If anything, I would advise Christians and Jews--and anyone else for that matter--to join Muslims in the fight to defeat the satanic forces of Baha'ism. In the end, we will all benefit.

Muhammad Yusuf 'Abd al-Latif

(Formerly George Hatke)

NINE OR NINETEEN MEMBERS ON UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE? – A DEBATE IN THE BAHAI FAITH

 

NINE OR NINETEEN MEMBERS ON UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE? – A DEBATE IN THE BAHAI FAITH

 

When someone joins a religion, it will always be riddled with uncertainty for him or her rather than filled with faith. Even if one was born into the faith or grew up among the most devoted of friends and relatives, this is true. A religion journey is usually distinguished by great joy, astonishment, and exquisite camaraderie, as well as a great deal of doubt, difficulty, and grief.

Okay, so it's acknowledged that doubts are a natural component of religious beliefs, and when people have concerns, they strive to work through them, investigate them, and emerge stronger and more confident in their views. Perhaps there are good answers to your doubts, and as a result, your faith will be stronger and more solid. On the other hand, if you don't get any positive replies, you'll be forced to choose between sticking with a religion you know isn't logical and abandoning it in favour of ideas that are.

Now, imagine there are contradictions and incompatibilities in what one perceives to be true, only to discover later that it was all untrue and based on selfish gain? There is a laundry list of such items forced down Bahais' throats that are not supported by the Bahai Scriptures and are not founded on Bahaullah and Abdul Baha's teachings. Today, I'd want to look at one of the items on that list and compare it to the teachings of the Bahai faith's founders.

Among the many incompatibilities and inconsistencies in the Bahai Faith's beliefs, practices, and governance, such as the continuation of Guardianship, the authenticity of Abdul Baha's Will and Testament, the validity of the current Universal House of Justice, and the non-election of women to the UHJ, to which the current Administration has provided no satisfactory answer, a new controversy is arising that will strike the foundations of the UHJ, and it is the number of members. For these integers that are diagonally opposite each other, we discover various references. Some sources claim 19, while others say between 9 and 19, and some state things that aren't specifically referenced in the Holy Scriptures.

The Bahai faith is unable to make decisions on a number of contentious problems, one of which being where nine should be used and where nineteen should be applied. There is a clear reference from Abdul Baha stating that the UHJ will have 19 members.

1- We can see that Abdul Baha clearly said that the UHJ will have 19 members.

The King and Rulers of the world will find their true authority under the ruling of House of Justice. The Laws of God will be vested in nineteen men who will compose the House of Justice and render decisions…. The House of Justice will decide between kings and kings. All judgment will be from the standpoint of God’s law

(Ten days in the light of Acca by Julite M. Grundy, Printed in Chicago December 1907. Published by Bahai Publishing Society Chicago, ILLIONIS, U.S.A. WORDS OF ABDUL BAHA)

2-The Present universal House of justice is advocating for membership between 9 and 19.

 The number of members of the Universal House of Justice is not explicitly fixed at nine,^[a} and in a Tablet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated that the Universal House of Justice may function with up to nineteen members at its discretion^.(b)

According to Ali Nakhjawani, Abdul Baha claimed that the number "might be 19," and that he justifies this by stating, "We had a meeting of UHJ with members of ITC, and the members were 18 and manageable."

A member of the Universal House of Justice incorrectly attributes this to Abdul Baha. 'Ninteen' is plainly referenced in the previous passage.

(a) 1998 letter by / on behalf of Universal House of Justice

(b) 'Ali Nakhjavani, Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of his Pen, Casa Editrice Baha'i, 2006, p 251

 

3- The number of members is not specifically specified in Holy Text, according to Shoghi Effendi's secretary. This is also incorrect.

"The membership of the Universal House of Justice is confined to men. Fixing the number of the members, the procedures for election and the term of membership will be known later, as these are not explicitly revealed in the Holy Text." (27 May 1940)

(Women on the Universal House of Justice: by / on behalf of Universal House of Justice, 1988-05-31, date of original: 1998)

4- Another study argues that the UHJ should be made up of 19 people. The Local Spiritual Assembly was most likely formerly known as the Local House of Justice, and the House of Justice had 19 members in 1905.

“There are three meetings held in Bombay, on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings at six o clock. The Tuesday meeting is reserved for house of justice composed on 19 members”

(A year with the Bahais of India and Burma by Sydney Sprague second edition pa 15 The Priory Press High Street, Hampstead, London, N.W.)

Whatever the cause, the change from nineteen to nine was not a divine decree; rather, it was the kind of deception for which the Bahai faith is notorious. The Bahai Administration is now attempting to justify its nine members. This, along with several other flaws in the Bahai Faith, will cause Bahais to doubt the faith's authenticity. Without a doubt, the Bahai Faith is a man-made religion that evolves through time. Downsizing became necessary because the Bahai Administration believed that supervising and controlling 9 members would be simpler.

 

What is the importance of the UHJ in the Baha’i faith?

As per the teachings Bahaullah and Abdul Baha, the UHJ plays a very important role especially because it enacts laws “that are not expressly recorded in the Book,” according to the Baha’i writings, legislating on issues not covered in the original writings of Baha’u’llah and Abdul Baha:

Those matters of major importance which constitute the foundation of the Law of God are explicitly recorded in the Text, but subsidiary laws are left to the House of Justice. The wisdom of this is that the times never remain the same, for change is a necessary quality and an essential attribute of this world, and of time and place. – Abdul Baha, cited in Wellsprings of Guidance, pp. 84-86.

Abdul Baha also promised that the Universal House of Justice is “the source of all good and freed from all error.” Will and Testament of Abdul Baha, p. 19.

To summarize, the UHJ is a group of people who are responsible for looking after the whole Bahai community and for putting the teachings into practice as well as developing laws from Bahaullah's teachings. They are, in a sense, acting as a Guardian who has assumed control of the faith today. Imagine a team that has a big role to play in the Bahai world, but its basis is built on lies?! Also, if a 19-member team can become infallible when they work together, can we be confident that reducing the number to 9 will have the same outcome? Is it really possible to consider them infallible? Is it possible to trust their acts and statements at face value? Perhaps this is why, from the inception of this complete system of existing form of UHJ, the team has strayed so far from the faith. All of their choices have been discovered to have faults and weaknesses.

 

The big question!

Now comes the big question that every Bahai should consider: Do we still believe in a system despite its numerous flaws? If one is unable to discover solutions to his or her problems and questions, it may be time to change one's path. It doesn't have to be atheism or a different theological perspective; it only has to be one that is based on truth and is rational and clear. You should not be ashamed of seeking to discover your own path in a way that makes sense to you; you are not required to follow the same faith as your family just because you have done so previously.

A CRY FROM THE HEART

DEAR BAHA’I FRIEND 

After all, thinking is our freedom to investigate the truth and follow it. If one is truly liberal then his approaches will not suffocate the human mind to certain ideals only. The Universal House of Justice.When Naomi Long MP, the Member of Parliament for Belfast East, spoke of “shocking treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran”, I failed to understand that why these elected Member of Parliament have closed their eyes and ears to the treatment given to the Bahá’ís by the Bahá’í Administrative bodies in their own backyard. The Bahá’ís  of world have experienced abandonment, shunning, excommunication, fear and everything one can imagine at the hands of certain individuals serving on Baha’I Apex Body the Universal House of Justice , which we are supposed to believe is Infallible. Baseless court cases are imposed on them to make them surrender to the Will of the Bahá’í Institutions.

Can UHJ and his Haifan organization answer?

         The Haifan Baha’is always preaches tolerance and peace then why do they not extend the same tolerance and peace to their own while demanding it from other religious leaders? is this not hypocrisy?

         Why excommunicate Academician and University professor like Prof FirouzAnarki the former member of NSA of Thailand just because he believed that to become a good teacher for Children classes one need not do Ruhi book 3.

         Why excommunicate Mr. Jamshed Fozdar who so sincerely worked for Haifan Baha’is as a counselor for a number of years. His only fault was his assertions that the content of the books of the Ruhi Institute are unjustified, and that the only valid way to teach the Cause to the peoples of the world is through the use of the scriptures of their respective religions

         Why send Counselors to threaten professors of history and Middle East studies of 'making statements contrary to the covenant' in the Spring of 1996 and bully them out of the religion?

         Why the crackdown on the talis...@indiana.edu list and its participants? Why bully individuals to retract statements of fact, but when they do under duress, they are Sanctioned?

         Why bully the editors of dialogue magazine to close it down and accuse them of negative campaigning and lying for an article entitled *A Modest Proposal* which had gone through the process of pre-publication review by the NSA itself and then accuse these editors of being covenant breakers for following the NSA's own rules and guidelines on the floor of National Convention in 1988?

         Why threaten people believing in freedom of conscience and freedom to express one's opinion?

         Why expel Michael McKenney for merely believing that women should serve on the UHJ?

         Why expel Alison Marshall for believing that the UHJ is not infallible?

         Why sanction those Iranian Baha'is for leaving Iran via Mehrabad airport because they were required to fill out a form stating their religion?

         Why spy on individuals and violate their fundamental right to privacy a year after they had formally left the religion?

         Why write libelous and slanderous letters about people and then denounce them as enemies in their national publications?

         Why attempt to have people shunned and split up their families because they believe differently from the official line? And so on and so forth, ad nauseum!

Given the current UHJ's own track record with its own dissidents, it is the last one who can preach about peace and tolerance towards others! They ought to start with themselves first before telling others what to do?

 We should remain Baha’I but not under the criminal cluthes of UHJ.

Please join the Free Baha’is Group:

http://singaporebahais.blogspot.com/

http://thai-bahais.blogspot.com

DEAR BAHA’I FRIEND 

After all, thinking is our freedom to investigate the truth and follow it. If one is truly liberal then his approaches will not suffocate the human mind to certain ideals only. The Universal House of Justice.When Naomi Long MP, the Member of Parliament for Belfast East, spoke of “shocking treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran”, I failed to understand that why these elected Member of Parliament have closed their eyes and ears to the treatment given to the Bahá’ís by the Bahá’í Administrative bodies in their own backyard. The Bahá’ís  of world have experienced abandonment, shunning, excommunication, fear and everything one can imagine at the hands of certain individuals serving on Baha’I Apex Body the Universal House of Justice , which we are supposed to believe is Infallible. Baseless court cases are imposed on them to make them surrender to the Will of the Bahá’í Institutions.

Can UHJ and his Haifan organization answer?

         The Haifan Baha’is always preaches tolerance and peace then why do they not extend the same tolerance and peace to their own while demanding it from other religious leaders? is this not hypocrisy?

         Why excommunicate Academician and University professor like Prof FirouzAnarki the former member of NSA of Thailand just because he believed that to become a good teacher for Children classes one need not do Ruhi book 3.

         Why excommunicate Mr. Jamshed Fozdar who so sincerely worked for Haifan Baha’is as a counselor for a number of years. His only fault was his assertions that the content of the books of the Ruhi Institute are unjustified, and that the only valid way to teach the Cause to the peoples of the world is through the use of the scriptures of their respective religions

         Why send Counselors to threaten professors of history and Middle East studies of 'making statements contrary to the covenant' in the Spring of 1996 and bully them out of the religion?

         Why the crackdown on the talis...@indiana.edu list and its participants? Why bully individuals to retract statements of fact, but when they do under duress, they are Sanctioned?

         Why bully the editors of dialogue magazine to close it down and accuse them of negative campaigning and lying for an article entitled *A Modest Proposal* which had gone through the process of pre-publication review by the NSA itself and then accuse these editors of being covenant breakers for following the NSA's own rules and guidelines on the floor of National Convention in 1988?

         Why threaten people believing in freedom of conscience and freedom to express one's opinion?

         Why expel Michael McKenney for merely believing that women should serve on the UHJ?

         Why expel Alison Marshall for believing that the UHJ is not infallible?

         Why sanction those Iranian Baha'is for leaving Iran via Mehrabad airport because they were required to fill out a form stating their religion?

         Why spy on individuals and violate their fundamental right to privacy a year after they had formally left the religion?

         Why write libelous and slanderous letters about people and then denounce them as enemies in their national publications?

         Why attempt to have people shunned and split up their families because they believe differently from the official line? And so on and so forth, ad nauseum!

Given the current UHJ's own track record with its own dissidents, it is the last one who can preach about peace and tolerance towards others! They ought to start with themselves first before telling others what to do?

 We should remain Baha’I but not under the criminal cluthes of UHJ.

Please join the Free Baha’is Group:

http://singaporebahais.blogspot.com/

http://thai-bahais.blogspot.com