Sikh Religious Symbols

Sikhism was founded in the 15th Century with followers mainly in India and Pakistan. The principal belief of Sikhism is faith in waheguru – represented using the sacred symbol of ik ōaṅkār, the Universal God.

The special Sikh religous symbol is made up of three images: The Khanda, which is a double edged sword. This represents the belief in one God. The Chakkar, like the Kara it is a circle representing God without beginning or end and reminding Sikhs to remain within the rule of God. Two crossed kirpans representing spiritual authority and political power.

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas is a central book of the Bahá'í Faith written by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion. The work was written in Arabic under the Arabic title al-Kitābu'l-Aqdas (Arabic: الكتاب الاقدس‎), but it is commonly referred to by its Persian title, Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Persian: كتاب اقدس), which was given to the work by Bahá'u'lláh himself. It is sometimes also referred to as The Aqdas, "the Most Holy Book", "the Book of Laws" and occasionally the Book of Aqdas.

The Kitáb-i-Íqán

The Kitáb-i-Íqán (Arabic: كتاب الإيقان‎ Persian: كتاب ايقان "The Book of Certitude") is one of many books held sacred by followers of the Bahá'í Faith; it is their primary theological work. One Bahá'í scholar states that it can be regarded as the "most influential Koran commentary in Persian outside the Muslim world," because of its international audience. It is sometimes referred to as the Book of Iqan or simply The Iqan.

Umar ibn al-Khattab

Umar ibn al-Khattab ( c. 586–590 – 644) c. 2 Nov. (Dhu al-Hijjah 26, 23 Hijri[2]), was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later became the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death.

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings. Adherents of the Christian faith are known as Christians.

Christianity teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, God having become human and the saviour of humanity. Because of this, Christians commonly refer to Jesus as Christ or Messiah

Abu Bakr

Abu Bakr (Abdullah ibn Abi Quhafa c. 573 CE unknown exact date 634/13 AH) was a senior companion (Sahabah) and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death. As Caliph, Abu Bakr succeeded to the political and administrative functions previously exercised by the Prophet, since the religious function and authority of prophethood ended with Muhammad's death according to Islam. He was called Al-Siddiq (The Truthful) and was known by that title among later generations of Muslims.

The Quran

The Quran literally meaning "a recitation", also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God and the Final Testament, following the Old and New Testaments. It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language. The Quran is divided into 114 suras of unequal length which are classified either as Meccan or Medinan depending upon their place and time of revelation.

Muslim

A Muslim , also sometimes spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Qur'an, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "one who submits to God".

Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable. Muslims also believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed at many times and places before, including through the prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Muslims maintain that previous messages and revelations have been partially changed or corrupted over time, but consider the Qur'an to be both unaltered and the final revelation from God—Final Testament.

Sharīʿah

Sharīʿah is the code of conduct or religious law of Islam. Most Muslims believe Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Qur'an, and the example set by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of Sharia to questions not directly addressed in the primary sources by including secondary sources. These secondary sources usually include the consensus of the religious scholars embodied in ijma, and analogy from the Qur'an and Sunnah through qiyas. Shia jurists prefer to apply reasoning ('aql) rather than analogy in order to address difficult questions.

Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam; the second largest branch is Shia Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة‎, "people of the tradition [of Muḥammad] and the community") or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah (Arabic: أهل السنة‎) for short; in English, they are known as Sunnis or Sunnites.

Muḥammad

Abu al-Qasim Muḥammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn Abd Manaf ibn Qusai ibn Kilab , or simply Muhammad (also spelled Muhammed, Mohammad or Mohammed) (ca. 1 May 570 – 8 June 632) (Monday, 12th Rabi' al-Awwal, Year 11 A.H.), was the founder of the religion of Islam, and is considered by Muslims to be a messenger and prophet of God, the last law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets, and, by most Muslims, the last prophet of God as taught by the Quran. Muslims thus consider him the restorer of an uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets.He was also active as a social reformer, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader, humanitarian, philanthropist, and, according to Muslim belief, an agent of divine action.

Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib

Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (13th Rajab, 24 BH–21st Ramaḍān, 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam. Sunni Muslims consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shi'a Muslims regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of which are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shi'a branches.

Islam

Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎ al-’islām, pronounced [ʔɪsˈlæːm] is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله‎, Allah), and by the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah and composed of Hadith) of Muhammad, considered by them to be the last prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim.

Shia Islam

Shia Islam (Arabic: شيعة‎, Shīʿah) is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī (شيعة علي), meaning "followers of Ali", "faction of Ali", or "party of Ali"

Bahá'u'lláh

Bahá'u'lláh (Arabic: بهاء الله‎, "Glory of God"; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892), born Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí (Persian: میرزا حسینعلی نوری), was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and other major religions.

Bahá'u'lláh taught that humanity is one single race and that the age has come for its unification in a global society. His claim to divine revelation resulted in persecution and imprisonment by the Persian and Ottoman authorities, and his eventual 24-year confinement in the prison city of `Akka, Palestine (present day Israel), where he died. He authored many religious works, most notably the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Kitáb-i-Íqán.

The Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories

Bahái Religious Symbols

Bahái Symbols
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded in Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind.
There is no one official religious symbol representing the Bahá'í Faith, but the Nine-Pointed Star Bahai Symbol is commonly used

The simple nine-pointed star is generally used by Bahá'ís as a symbol of their Faith. The number "nine" is significant for Bahá'ís for several reasons.

The number nine has significance in the Bahá'í Revelation. Nine years after the announcement of the Báb in Shiraz, Bahá'u'lláh received the intimation of His mission in the dungeon in Teheran. Nine, as the highest single-digit number, symbolizes completeness. Since the Bahá'í Faith claims to be the fulfillment of the expectations of all prior religions, this symbol, as used for example in nine-sided Bahá'í temples, reflects that sense of fulfillment and completeness.The Arabic alphabet can be used to represent numbers, attaching a numerical value to words. The numerical value of Bahá is 9.

Bahá'í symbols are symbols that have been used, or are used, to express identification with the Bahá'í Faith. While the five-pointed star is the symbol of the religion, being used to represent the human body and Messengers of God, more common symbols include the nine-pointed star, the Greatest Name, and the Ringstone symbol, representing perfection, and the Messengers of God.