Category: Webinars
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Ted Brownstein, “Muhammad – Peacemaker,” Sept. 20, 2026, 2 p.m. Eastern
To register for the webinar In Western discourse, the life and character of Muhammad are often shaped by widespread misconceptions that cast Him in a negative light. Among the most consequential of these are claims that He propagated Islam through violence, particularly by means of military conquest and coerced conversion. The Bahá’í Writings have…
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Ted Brownstein, “Muhammad as Peacemaker and Military Commander”
The deeds and character of Muhammad are little known in the West outside of misconceptions that portray Him in a negative light. Perhaps the most damaging misconceptions are related to the use of violence to spread Islam by military conquest and forced conversion. The Bahá’í Writings have much to say about Prophet Muhammad as a…
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Robert Atkinson, “The Baha’i Revelation as a Comprehensive Unitive Vision for Planetary Flourishing,” Nov. 8, 2 p.m. Eastern
REGISTER TO ATTEND Throughout the course of humanity’s spiritual evolution, there occur leaps of consciousness that both confirm essential verities (the esoteric, mystic, or Changeless aspects of religion) and expand our understanding of relationships (the exoteric, social, or changing aspects of religion). According to religious scholars Andrew Harvey and Stephen Prothero, each sacred tradition has…
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Aaron Ferguson, “On the Divine Ipseity (Huwíyyah) in the Bahá’í Writings: Annotated Compilation on the Mystical and Metaphysical Foundations of the ‘Unknowable Essence,’” Nov. 1, 2 p.m. Eastern
REGISTER TO WATCH “Huwíyyah” (Divine Ipseity) is a central concept of Bahá’í theology, critical to its doctrine of the Unknowability of God. Derived from the Arabic pronoun Huwa (“He”), it functions as a technical theological term indicative of God as the absolutely Hidden, Unknowable Essence, beyond all conception and qualification. The Bahá’í Writings feature a…
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Michael V. Day, The Triumph of the Terraces, July 12, 2 p.m. Eastern
Watch the Video Recording Listen to the Audio (Podcast) Read the Transcript The construction project to build the Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab faced many challenges to its success before its eventual triumph. Some of the challenges: Some of the factors that overcame the challenges. The presentation will outline the research, interviewing, and…
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M. Nabil Fares, “Sacred Norms Across Dispensations: From Extinction to Extension and Distinction,” May 17
Watch the Recording Listen to the Audio (Podcast) View the Slides Read the Transcript From a Bahá’í academic perspective, the emergence of the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths represents a progressive change and renewal of Islamic law and doctrine based on the principle of progressive revelation. Traditional Islamic law, both Sunni and Shia, outlined a detailed…
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Ney Grant, “20th Century Thought and the Last ‘First Philosophy’ Phenomenology/Philosophical Hermeneutics,” Feb. 8, 15, and March 15
See below how to register for each presentation or watch/listen to the recordings The Baha’i Faith has a uniquely future-oriented theology, inspired not only by humanity’s pre-modern heritage but also by conviction in its imminent global integration. Baha’i scholars, therefore, have taken as much interest in modern and contemporary thought as in classical philosophy. For…
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Vafa Bayat, “What We Are, We Teach: Ella Bailey,” April 19, 2026, 2 p.m. Eastern Time
Watch the Video Recording Listen to the Audio (podcast) View the PowerPoint Slides This webinar presents new biographical research on Ella May Bailey (1864-1953), the California schoolteacher whom Shoghi Effendi elevated to the rank of martyrs after her pioneering death in Tripoli. Drawing on previously unexamined primary sources, including family stories, census records, school records,…
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William Collins, “Waiting Ends—the Future Is Now: Millennialism and Prophecy in Spiritual Evolution,” Jan. 18, 2026, 2 p.m. Eastern time
Watch the Video Listen to the Audio (Podcast) Read the Transcript William Collins, the author of Millennialism, Millerites, and Prophecy in Bahá’í Discourse (Routledge, 2025), discusses an underlying theme of his book: the traps of (1) perpetual waiting or expectation; (2) the belief that people can understand the fulfillment of any prophecy in detail before its fulfillment;…
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Janice Ndegwa, The Africa Plan 1950-3: A Vital Precursor to the Ten Year Crusade, Jan. 25, 2 p.m. Eastern
Watch the Video Listen to the Audio (Podcast) Read the Transcript This paper seeks to situate the Guardian’s “Africa Plan” as the first joint international teaching plan implemented by a group of National Spiritual Assemblies (NSAs). This systematic effort was guided by Shoghi Effendi from the Baha’i World Centre, coordinated by the NSA of the…