|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