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Pilgrims from all
over the world come to visit the Shrine of the Bab on the slopes of
Mount Carmel in Haifa northern Israel. The site planted with tall
pines and overlooking the Mediterranean is the spiritual and administrative
centre of the Baha`i faith founded by Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri later called Baha`u`llah
(`Glory of God). Born in Persia in 1817 to a family of royal
descent, he rejected a life of luxury in order to care for the poor.
Bahá'u'lláh lived in a time of Messianic expectation - Christians
awaiting the return of Christ, Muslims desirous of the fulfilment of
Islamic prophecies and seizing the moment, in 1863 he
declared that He was the One promised by God and entrusted by Him with a
revelation addressing humanity's needs. Thousands
arose in support. Others, particularly Muslim clergy and the
Persian government, reacted to suppress what they perceived as a
heretic covenant. His followers were persecuted and Bahá'u'lláh was
sent into forty years of exile, imprisonment and suffering which
climaxed with his banishment to the Turkish prison city of Acre in the Holy
Land. More than 5 million followers of Bahai`sm consider Baha`u`llah to be the most
recent in an line of illustrious `messengers of God` including Buddha, Zarathustra Jesus, Abraham,
and the Prophet Muhammed. Baha`i doctrine continues to espouse the belief that
humanity is a single race and that the day has come for its unification as a
single global society. The goal of every Baha`i is to develop and to practise
noble characteristics in preparation for this advance. Baha`ullah expressed a wish to be buried
in the Haifa area whch he loved on his death which occured in 1892. The gold-domed Bab and his shrine across the bay at Bahji
provide a perfect background to reflect on his wisdom and prophesies and for
Baha`is it is the most sacred spot on earth. The old fortified town of Acre
was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2001.
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