The Declaration of the Báb and the Meaning of Religion

The Bahá’í Faith teaches the oneness of God, the oneness of humanity and the oneness of religion. It presents creative, inspired principles and a plan for the establishment of justice, peace and prosperity for the entire planet mirroring this teaching of oneness and interconnectedness. The Báb, acknowledged by Bahá’ís as a divine messenger of the same rank as the founders of the religions of the world such as Moses, Jesus, Muḥammad and Bahá’u’lláh, is also seen as the harbinger of a new cycle of humanity to be characterized by such global unity. Aspects of the Báb's life and teachings - his revelation - will be presented during which a striking similarity with the life and teachings of Jesus will be highlighted. Prof. Todd Lawson, Ph.D., has been a member of the Bahá’í community since 1968. His discovery of the Bahá’í faith awakened a deep interest in Islám, the Prophet Muḥammed, the Qur’án and Islamic thought and culture in general. In 1987 he was awarded a doctorate in Islamic Studies by McGill University for his research on the writings of the Báb, specifically the Báb’s Arabic Qur’án commentaries, just one of the many genres of the Báb’s remarkable luminous oeuvre. Todd taught Islamic thought at the University of Toronto for 30 years and has published numerous books and articles on aspects of the Báb’s vision, the Qur’án, Islamic mystical thought and Shí’ism. Many of these can be downloaded at the link toddlawson.ca Todd lives in Montreal with his wife Barbara.