Zoroastrianism is recognized in the Baháʼí Faith as one of nine known religions and its scriptures are regarded as predicting the coming of

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 ...

Zoroaster Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...

is included in the succession of Manifestations of God. The authenticity of the

Zend Avesta Zend or Zand () is a Zoroastrian term for Middle Persian or Pahlavi versions and commentaries of Avestan texts. These translations were produced in the late Sasanian period. ''Zand'' glosses and commentaries exist in several languages, including ...

(Zoroastrian scriptures) is seen as uncertain.

Ancestry of Baháʼu'lláh

Baháʼís believe that Baháʼu'lláh, born as Mírzá Ḥusayn-ʻAlí Núrí, is a descendant of Zoroaster and the last Zoroastrian king

Yazdegerd III Yazdegerd III (also Romanized as ''Yazdgerd'', ''Yazdgird'') was the last Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar (son of Khosrow II), Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne a ...

(d. 651). His father was Mírzá Buzurg, a nobleman from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

province of Mázindarán (formerly called Tabaristán).

Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl Mírzá Muḥammad (), or Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl-i-Gulpáygání (1844–1914), was the foremost Baháʼí Faith, Baháʼí scholar who helped spread the Baháʼí Faith in Baháʼí Faith in Egypt, Egypt, Baháʼí Faith in Turkmenistan, Turkmen ...

wrote a treatise regarding Baháʼu'lláh's ancestry.

Prophecies

Zoroastrian prophecies foretell the coming of the world saver

Saoshyant Saoshyant ( ) is an Avestan-language term that literally means "one who brings benefit", and which is used in several different ways in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition. In particular, the expression is the proper name of ''the'' Saoshyant, an ...

or 'Sháh Bahrám. Baháʼís regard these prophecies as having been fulfilled in the person of Baháʼu'lláh. The prophecy from the Jamasp Nama ''"It is said that the sun will stand in the midst of the sky in the time of Oshedar Bami ushedarfor 10 days and in the time of Oshedar Mah ushedar Mahfor 20 days and in the time of Soshyosh aoshyantfor 30 days"'' is interpreted as referring to

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, 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 respectively.

Baháʼí teachings on Zoroaster

In Baha'u'llah's writings, Zoroaster is referred to as "Him Who is the Spirit of purity". Baha'u'llah moreover goes on to write "...the fire-temples of the world stand as eloquent testimony to this truth. In their time they summoned, with burning zeal, all the inhabitants of the earth o him" Zoroaster was an Iranian magus who lived in Central Asia around the first millennium BC. Baha'is believe that Zoroaster, inspired by God, rebelled against the pagan Aryan priesthood to preach a universal monotheism alongside an ethical dualism. Other key principles of Zoroaster's teachings included the search for truth, selfless love of others, respect for nature, and moral courage. Baha'is believe that the original Zoroastrian religion was essentially monotheist, with the "evil principle" of

Angra Mainyu Angra Mainyu (; ) is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, th ...

representing an impersonal, natural force. Baha'is believe the theological dualism present in the Zoroastrian faith during the Sasanian Era was a later development. As evidence of this, Baha'is point out that the earliest Gathas - thought to be composed by Zoroaster himself - do not make mention of an evil force independent of God, an attitude only found in the more recent writings of the Avesta.

Scriptural sources

The volume ''

Tabernacle of Unity The ''Tabernacle of Unity'' is a small book, first published in July 2006, containing Baháʼu'lláh's Tablet, from the early ʻAkká period, to Mánikc͟hí Ṣáḥib, a prominent Zoroastrian, and a companion Tablet addressed to Mírzá Abu ...

'' is a collection of letters, containing Baháʼu'lláh's Tablet written in pure

to Mánikc͟hí Ṣáḥib, a prominent Zoroastrian, and a companion Tablet addressed to Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl, the secretary to Mánikc͟hí Ṣáḥib at that time. These, together with three shorter inspirational Tablets, offer a glimpse of Baháʼu'lláh's relationship with the followers of

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

. In the tablet to Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl Baháʼu'lláh answered questions about

and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

by Mánikc͟hí Ṣáḥib. The subjects include comparative religion, and constitute, while much remains implicit, a dialogue of Baháʼu'lláh with Zoroastrianism and the other religions discussed, giving an understanding of what Baha'u'llah meant with the unity of the world religions.

Calendar

The

Baháʼí calendar The Baháʼí calendar used in the Baháʼí Faith is a solar calendar consisting of nineteen months and four or five intercalary days, with new year at the moment of Northern spring equinox. Each month is named after a virtue (''e.g.'', Perfect ...

contains several elements of the

Zoroastrian calendar Adherents of Zoroastrianism use three distinct versions of traditional calendars for Zoroastrian festivals, liturgical purposes. Those all derive from Middle Ages, medieval Iranian calendars and ultimately are based on the Babylonian calendar a ...

. The months and the days of the month in the Zoroastrian calendar are dedicated to, and named after, a divinity or divine concept. In the Baháʼí calendar the names of the months, days and years are referring to divine attributes as well. Naw-Rúz is the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in

Iranian calendar The Iranian calendars or Iranian chronologies (, ) are a succession of calendars created and used for over two millennia in Iran, also known as Persia. One of the longest chronological records in human history, the Iranian calendar has been modi ...

, was originally a Zoroastrian festival, and the holiest of them all. It is believed to have been invented by Jamshid, the Great king. The Báb and later Baháʼu'lláh adopted the day as a holy day in the Baháʼí calendar and associated it with the '' Most Great Name'' of God.

Early conversions

In the end of the 19th century the Zoroastrian community was largely concentrated in

Yazd Yazd (; ) is a city in the Central District of Yazd County, Yazd province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. At the 2016 census, its population was 529,673. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is rec ...

and

Kirman Kerman is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. Kerman or Kirman may also refer to: Places * Kirman (Sasanian province), province of the Sasanian Empire *Kerman province, province of Iran ** Kerman County * Kerman, California People * ...

in the south of

Persia 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, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, where they are known as

Parsis The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

, the majority of Zoroastrians lived in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. Since the 1880s a significant number of Zoroastrians from Yazd converted to the Baháʼí Faith. This was also the case in Bombay, where they contributed a lot in the growth of the Indian Baháʼí community. The first Zoroastrian Baháʼí is believed to be Kay-Khusraw-i-Khudádád from Yazd.

References

External links

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: , ;, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás (, ), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 un ...

and

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 ...

Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster and Related Subjects
compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. *

.
Majmuʼa-yi alvah bi iftikhar-i yaran-i Parsi
' (Collection of Tablets in Honour of Zoroastrian Baha'is) (Germany: Baha'i Verlag, 1999)
Article about the Zoroastrian Savior
by Christopher Buck {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahai Faith And Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism and other religions