The Baha\u2019i faith is one of the world\u2019s youngest religions and as of 2004 claims a following of 17,530 in South Carolina, one of the largest concentrations of Baha\u2019is in the United States. The religion was founded by M\u00edrz\u00e1 Husayn\u2019 \u2018Al\u00ed (1817\u20131892), who later became known as \u201cBah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h\u201d (\u201cThe Glory of God.\u201d). \u201cBaha\u2019i\u201d is derived from \u201cbaha\u201d (\u201cglory and splendor\u201d) and is the designation of the adherents to the faith.<\/p>\n
The religion grew out of the Babi faith, founded in 1844 by Siyyid \u2018Al\u00ed Muhammad, the \u201cBab\u201d (\u201cGate\u201d). Leadership of the Baha\u2019i community passed from Bah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h to his eldest son, \u2018Abdu\u2019l-Baha, and finally to Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, Bah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h\u2019s eldest grandson. Shoghi Effendi translated his great-grandfather\u2019s writings into English, which aided in the global growth of the religion. Some of the religion\u2019s principles are the oneness of humankind, the common foundation of all religions, religion and science as integral parts of truth, the equality of men and women, and the elimination of prejudice of all kinds.<\/p>\n
Bah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h\u2019s teachings were brought to South Carolina by the son of a slave, Louis G. Gregory (1874\u20131951), a native of Charleston and a 1902 graduate of Howard University Law School. Becoming a confirmed believer in the Baha\u2019i faith in 1909, he made his first teaching trip to Charleston and seven other southern cities the following year. Gregory grew to international prominence in the Baha\u2019i faith; thus the eponym of the Louis G. Gregory Baha\u2019i Institute and radio station WLGI in Hemingway.<\/p>\n
Hatcher, William S., and J. Douglas Martin. The Baha\u2019i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion. <\/em>New ed. Wilmette, Ill.: Baha\u2019i Publishing Trust, 2002.<\/p>\n Morrison, Gayle. To Move the World: Louis G. Gregory and the Advancement of Racial Unity in America. <\/em>Wilmette, Ill.: Baha\u2019i Publishing Trust, 1982.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Baha\u2019i faith is one of the world\u2019s youngest religions and as of 2004 claims a following of 17,530 in South Carolina, one of the largest concentrations of Baha\u2019is in the United States. The religion was founded by M\u00edrz\u00e1 Husayn\u2019 \u2018Al\u00ed (1817\u20131892), who later became known as \u201cBah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h\u201d (\u201cThe Glory of God.\u201d). \u201cBaha\u2019i\u201d is derived […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":-1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","class_list":["post-6293","entry","type-entry","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ecms-a-z","ecms-b","ecms-charleston-county","ecms-encyclopedia","ecms-lowcountry","ecms-religion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n