Religions and how Baha'is understand their prophecies

We all know that many religions have prophecies that they believe have been fulfilled or are yet to be. I’ll only be talking about three religions’ main or most popularised prophecies as there are lots. but as I talk about them, I feel like you get to see a lot of similarities in beliefs and stories witch just shows how all religion is connected in some way.

Buddhism and the Baha'i Faith

The prophecy that the Buddhists believe in is that in the future a golden age will come and Buddha would return by the name of Maitrea. They believe that when Maitrea comes he will bring peace and prosperity again just as Budda did.

However Baha'is believe that in some way Buddha has already returned , not by the name Maritrea but as Baha'u'llah. Baha'is believe that the golden age has already begun and that we are living in it now. Whereas the Buddists are still awaiting and praying for the day to come when their lord returns.

Hinduism and the Baha'i Faith

Much like the Buddhists the Hindus are awaiting a golden age also known as Sat or Krta Yuga. They await Kalki meaning Glory of Bhagwan also known as the 10th avatar.

Baha'is believe that the time of Krta Yuga has already come and Kalki also. We believe that Kalki is Baha'u'llah and that rather than being a reincarnation of Krishna he is simply another messenger from God who carries a similar message only for this age.

Zoroastrianism and the Baha'i Faith

The Zoroastrian prophesy is a bit more cryptic. The story was that the sun stopped after being ordered to by Zoroaster. it stopped for 10 days then was told to continue because other rejoins were in the dark. Later it was told to stop again and stayed still for 20 days and the third time it was still for 30.

They believed’ the meaning of the event was that the sun had stopped on his command to show he was the one in whom everyone should believe in. it was a miracle to prove to nonbelievers that he was the chosen one.

Baha'is believe that in the story it is the spiritual sun they are talking about. If it does not set the day is then lengthened and therefore the day of god is longer. Each time the sun was stopped represents a time. The first time the sun stopped was to represent the dispensation of Muhammadan and Each day is as one century which means that the dispensation of Muhammadan lasted one-thousand years. The second represented the dispensation of the Bab and the third the dispensation of Baha'u'llah.

Prophecies give hope and belief to many religions. as shown through Hinduism, and Buddhism we can learn that they all have similarities. In exploring the Zoroastrian prophecy we could more clearly see that some are also taken very literally. Learning about other religions’ prophesies can give us a better understanding of other religions’ beliefs and where their practices come from understanding from others’ points of view.

By Zahra Adely