__NOTOC__ The

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

continues a tradition found in Islam of not using depictions in art of people considered a Manifestation of God. This includes both images and drama. There exist several photographs and paintings of both the

Báb The Báb (born ʻAlí-Muḥammad; ; ; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850) was an Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbai ...

and

Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (, born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was an Iranian religious leader who founded the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Iran and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Báb ...

, and these are viewed by Baháʼís on rare occasions, typically on an organized

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

Haifa, Israel Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. It is home to t ...

. The existence of images of the religion's founders is not offensive to Baháʼís. However, they are encouraged to not display them in private homes or in public, and to treat them with a special degree of reverence and respect.

Shoghi Effendi Shoghí Effendi (; ;1896 or 1897 – 4 November 1957) was Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1922 until his death in 1957. As the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, he was charged with guiding the development of the Baháʼí Faith, in ...

, the appointed head of the religion from 1921 to 1957, wrote: :"There is no objection that the believers look at the picture of Baháʼu'lláh, but they should do so with the utmost reverence, and should also not allow that it be exposed openly to the public, even in their private homes." ::(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, December 6, 1939, republished in ''Lights of Guidance'', p. 540) Shoghi Effendi has also written in the ''Directives from the Guardian'' regarding the portrait of the

: :"The portrait of the Báb should be regarded as an inestimable privilege and blessing to behold, as past generations were denied a glimpse of the Face of the Manifestation, once He had passed on."De Vries, Jelle: ''The Babi Question You Mentioned?The Origins of the Baháʼí Community of the Netherlands'', pg. 243. Peeters Publishers, 2002. ::(Shoghi Effendi, ''Directives from the Guardian'', p. 43)

See also

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Further reading