Baha'i Beliefs about Prophets

March 17, 2015 · updated February 15, 2022

What do Baha'i believe about prophets?

Bah'ai believe that God is so beyond the limits of human understand that he is ultimately unknowable.

To overcome this obstacle, God has made his nature and will known to humanity through means of a series of Messengers or Manifestations.

Each of these Messengers – which include Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad – has founded a great religion. These Manifestations of God each revealed the attributes and will of God that was appropriate to the time.

In this way, God has gradually revealed more of himself and his desire for humanity over thousands of years. This idea - known as Progressive Revelation - is central to Bahá'í doctrine.

The most recent Manifestation of God was Bahá'u'lláh, whose message of unity and social justice ushered in a new age of divine revelation. The previous prophets are no less valid or respected, but Bahá'u'lláh's revelation supercedes them in that it is the most recent and most relevant for our time.

All the Messengers or Manifestations of God are highly exalted in the Bahá'í Faith, as they provide the most complete knowledge of God available to humanity.