Baháʼí laws

Baháʼí laws are laws and ordinances used in the Baháʼí Faith and are a fundamental part of Baháʼí practice. The laws are based on authenticated texts from Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, and also includes subsequent interpretations from ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and legislation by the Universal House of Justice. Baháʼí law is presented as a set of general principles and guidelines and individuals must apply them as they best seem fit. While some of the social laws are enforced by Baháʼí institutions, the emphasis is placed on individuals following the laws based on their conscience, understanding and reasoning, and Baháʼís are expected to follow the laws for the love of Baháʼu'lláh. The laws are seen as the method of the maintenance of order and security in the world. The Baháʼí Faith had its roots in the Bábí Religion which was started by the Báb in the mid-19th century in Persia. Originally Bábís adhered to the Islamic laws, but this changed when the Báb wrote a Bábí code of law in the Bayán. However, the Báb's laws were not widely practiced by the Bábís, and instead many Bábís became antinomian; they also marked their new religious identity by deliberately not abiding by Islamic practice." Baháʼu'lláh, in both his initial role as Bábí leader, and then as the founder of his own religious system, condemned the antinomian tendencies of the community. At the request of his followers, he eventually wrote a book of laws, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, which he completed while he was in Acre, Palestine. The main source of Baháʼí law is the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, but it is supplemented by some supplementary texts written by Baháʼu'lláh, as well as further interpretations by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi, heads of the religion after Baháʼu'lláh's death, as well as legislation by the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baháʼís. The writings of Baháʼu'lláh, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi are considered fundamental and unchangeable, while the application of some of them depends on decisions by the Universal House of Justice.