In the past, scholars sometimes
referred to the Bahá'í Faith as a "sect" of
Islam--owing to the fact that its Prophet and early followers
emerged from an Islamic society.
Today, religious
specialists recognize that such a reference would be
equivalent to calling Christianity a "sect" of
Judaism, or referring to Buddhism as a
"denomination" of Hinduism.
Although Christ
was indeed Jewish and Buddha was born a Hindu, Their religious
messages were not merely re-interpretations of the parent
religions--but went far beyond them.
In the same way,
Bahá'u'lláh laid entirely new spiritual foundations. His
writings are independent scripture, and His work transcends
that of a religious reformer. As historian Arnold Toynbee
noted in 1959:
"Bahaism
[sic] is an independent religion on a par with Islam,
Christianity, and the other recognized world religions.
Bahaism is not a sect of some other religion; it is a separate
religion, and it has the same status as the other recognized
religions."
