The Bahá’í community of the Royal Borough was honoured to be included in the programme for Saturday’s Interfaith Gathering to mark The Week of Prayer for World Peace 2025, an event organised by the Windsor and Maidenhead Community Forum (WAMCF).
World peace is described in the Bahá’í Sacred Writings as “the supreme goal of all mankind”. And it is, Bahá’ís believe, our destiny.
In His letters to the world’s leaders of His time, Bahá’u’lláh set out a framework for collective security and urged the rulers to recognise their responsibilities in establishing peace and justice.
His Writings call us too to our responsibilities, through adopting social principles such as the equality of women and men, the independent search for truth, the abolition of all prejudice, and the vital importance of justice in every aspect of our lives.
“True peace and tranquillity”, Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “will only be realized when every soul will have become the well-wisher of all mankind.”
He calls upon us to nurture the virtues that befit human dignity such as trustworthiness, forbearance, mercy and compassion. And, crucially, to see that we are one human family, and to build together a new world founded upon our recognition of that oneness.
“Regard ye not one another as strangers”, He wrote. “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.”
The coming together of all the peoples of the world in one universal family – a world of unity in diversity – is a theme in the prayer which concluded the Bahá’í contribution:
O Lord! Illumine the eyes, gladden the hearts with abiding joy. Confer a new spirit upon all people and bestow upon them eternal life. Unlock the gates of true understanding and let the light of faith shine resplendent. Gather all people beneath the shadow of Thy bounty and cause them to unite in harmony, so that they may become as the rays of one sun, as the waves of one ocean, and as the fruit of one tree. May they drink from the same fountain. May they be refreshed by the same breeze. May they receive illumination from the same source of light. Thou art the Giver, the Merciful, the Omnipotent.
What are the root causes of poverty and how do we address them? How can we tackle the ways in which income and opportunity are so unevenly spread, within nations and between nations? How do we move towards an economic system that serves the interests of all peoples? And what possible role can religion have in creating such a new model of community life?
Baha'i Community of Maidenhead 