{"id":32196,"date":"2016-10-31T03:25:14","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T10:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/?page_id=32196"},"modified":"2025-12-18T02:35:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T10:35:05","slug":"abdul-baha","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/abdul-baha\/","title":{"rendered":"Abdu\u2019l-Baha"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><i>Abdu\u2019l-Baha, n., 1844-1921, the eldest son of <a href=\"\/bahaullah\">Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a>, prophet and founder of the <a href=\"\/bahai-faith\">Baha\u2019i Faith<\/a>, and its leader after the passing of his father in 1892.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Born Abbas Effendi in May of 1844, Abdu\u2019l-Baha was the eldest son and the designated successor of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha\u2019i Faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From boyhood, Abdu\u2019l-Baha shared his father\u2019s banishment, exile and imprisonment, and often served as his father\u2019s deputy in his dealings with governmental officials, the growing Baha\u2019i community and the public.<br \/>After Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s passing in 1892, Abdu\u2019l-Baha became his father\u2019s successor and the authorized interpreter of his writings. At that point he chose the name Abdu\u2019l-Baha, which means \u201cServant of the Glory.\u201d A unique figure in the history of religion, Baha\u2019is do not consider Abdu\u2019l-Baha a prophet or a messenger of God, but instead regard and revere him as the perfect exemplar of the Baha\u2019i teachings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Renowned throughout the world for his lifelong advocacy of world peace, racial harmony, gender equality and social justice, Abdu\u2019l-Baha spent forty years of his life (1868-1908) as a prisoner for his belief in Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s teachings. Freed from prison as a result of the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire, he travelled the world in the early part of the 20th Century, taking the Baha\u2019i message of global unity to Europe, Africa and North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He authored hundreds of books, treatises and tablets, including <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bahai.org\/library\/authoritative-texts\/abdul-baha\/secret-divine-civilization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Secret of Divine Civilization,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bahai.org\/library\/authoritative-texts\/abdul-baha\/travelers-narrative\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Traveler\u2019s Narrative<\/a><\/i> and <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bahai.org\/library\/authoritative-texts\/abdul-baha\/memorials-faithful\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Memorials of the Faithful<\/a><\/i>; and collections of his talks and public addresses are published in books such as <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bahai.org\/library\/authoritative-texts\/abdul-baha\/selections-writings-abdul-baha\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Selected Writings of Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a><\/i>, <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bahai.org\/library\/authoritative-texts\/abdul-baha\/promulgation-universal-peace\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Promulgation of Universal Peace<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bahai.org\/library\/authoritative-texts\/abdul-baha\/paris-talks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paris Talks<\/a>, Abdu\u2019l-Baha in London<\/i> and <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bahai.org\/library\/authoritative-texts\/abdul-baha\/some-answered-questions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Some Answered Questions<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"625\" src=\"https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2020\/09\/abdul-baha-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-62083\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2020\/09\/abdul-baha-2.jpg 900w, https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2020\/09\/abdul-baha-2-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2020\/09\/abdul-baha-2-768x533.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Abdu\u2019l-Baha\u2019s life, even in prison, focused primarily on humanitarian concerns. His humility; his love for all people; his abiding care and concern for the poor, the ill and the homeless, and his constant charitable efforts for those of every faith characterized his dedication to the ideal of service to others. The British government knighted him in 1920 for feeding the hungry and averting famine in Palestine during World War I. When he passed away in 1921, ten thousand people attended his funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Abdu\u2019l-Baha established the democratically-elected institutions of the Baha\u2019i administrative order; emphasized the Baha\u2019i principles of the independent investigation of truth, progressive revelation and the agreement of science and religion; and exemplified, throughout his remarkable life, the virtues of wisdom, kindness and love for all humanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abdu\u2019l-Baha, n., 1844-1921, the eldest son of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, prophet and founder of the Baha\u2019i Faith, and its leader after the passing of his father in 1892. Born Abbas Effendi in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62082,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/articles-page-template.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32196"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88676,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32196\/revisions\/88676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}