Talk:Baháʼí symbols

Took out: "This view of giving Manifestations of God a specific, clear station, separate from both God and man is thought to be different from traditional religions, which commonly place their prophet in either the category of God, or man."

Actually, Shi'i Islam has a tradition of differentiating between the realm of God, the realm of humans (created from clay) and Prophets and Imams (created from light). The Baha'i concept of Manifestation has a precurser in Ibn 'Arabi's concept of insan al-kamil: the Perfect Man.

Sufisticated 04:50, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

Official Symbol?
This is most interesting. In all documentation I have seen from Baha'i publications or from the Universal House of Justice, everything seems to use the nine-pointed star. If the five-pointed star is the official symbol of the Faith, then why is it we use the nine-pointed star commonly to describe the symbol of the Faith? More so, why has no one bothered to correct the situation, especially if Shoghi Effendi made it quite clear what the official symbol was? 66.176.37.51 (talk) 19:22, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

One Official Symbol?
It is not possible to say the the 5 pointed star is 'the' only official symbol of the Baha'i Faith. Do not forget that Abdu'l-Baha designed the Ring Stone symbol and that his work is considered equally authoritative if not more authoritative than Shoghi Effendi. Someone needs to fix that, but I don't like when work gets reverted so I'm not gonna do it until we agree on something. Nmentha 00:35, 15 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The article is quoting Shoghi Effendi on the subject. Are you suggesting he was wrong? Cuñado  [[image:Bahaitemplatestar.png|20px]] -  Talk  01:40, 15 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The "ringstone symbol" is a calligraphic redering of 'Abdul'Bahá's. It's one of many and no more "official" than any other rendering of Bahá. Mishkín Qalam's calligraphy of the Greatest Name we are all used to seeing is itself only one particular rendering. Cuñado's right. How does it get more authoritative than Shoghi Effendi?? MARussellPESE 03:15, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Todo for Greatest Name
Copied from Greatest Name

This should be out where everybody can see it Zazaban 14:52, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Todo's are placed on the talk pages. -- Jeff3000 15:02, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Origin of the 5 pointed star
Under Haykal (temple), it says that the 5-pointed star was introduced and established by the Báb... I don't believe that this information is correct. I think that it dates are far back to Ancient Egypt, if not earlier and in other areas as well. Kind regards, Mel


 * I don't think the sentence is implying that the Bab was the first person to use a five pointed star. Cuñado  [[image:Bahaitemplatestar.png|20px]] -  Talk  02:03, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Haykal pictures.
One of the picture has to go, we don't need two. Which one should we keep? Zazaban 02:21, 28 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't think one has to go, but if you want to remove one, I would keep the one on the right. Cuñado  [[image:Bahaitemplatestar.png|20px]] -  Talk  03:15, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I agree with Cunado19; don't feel it needs to go, but keep the right one if one has to go. -- Jeff3000 03:30, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, but it's weird if we have two. that's kinda overdoing it. Zazaban 14:51, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Eight-pointed star?
Is there any significance to the eight-pointed star? For example in this picture of the Hanging Gardens of Haifa there are many eight-pointed stars visible rather than nine-pointed ones. --Atethnekos (talk) 23:00, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Shoghi Effendi used eight-pointed stars in his designs of the gardens surrounding the Shrines of both the Bab and Baha'u'llah as they are dramatically easier to lay out. Cheers, MARussellPESE (talk) 23:49, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

You be right, in fact when Shoghi Effendi was asked why he didn't use nine pointed stars in the gardens, he joked by saying, "Have you ever tried to make a nine pointed star?" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.117.202.139 (talk) 14:15, 28 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Precisely. The eight-pointed star is used simply for ease and symmetry. However, for Baha'i temples, nine sides are used specifically in the design. Peter Deer (talk) 15:54, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Word "Heykal"
Not so sure it was a loan directly from Hebrew into Arabic, and the word certainly didn't originate in Hebrew; it goes back to the Sumerian e-gal, and was circulating in a variety of middle-eastern languages in the 1st millennium B.C. and the early A.D. centuries... AnonMoos (talk) 13:45, 19 September 2010 (UTC)
 * just need a citation.... Smkolins (talk) 13:50, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

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Trinity doctrine is not part of Bahá’í theology
The Ringstone Symbol section of this article uses the word "trinity" to describe how the ringstone symbol represents three domains: the Divine / God; the Manifestation; and the human / the world. This is a poor choice of words. The Trinity - the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, formalized in the centuries after Christ's death - means something very different from what is represented in the ringstone symbol. ('Abdu'l-Bahá clarified the Bahá’í position: the division of God, as presented in the doctrine of the Trinity, goes against a basic characteristic of God, Who is sanctified above singleness, let alone any division into pluralities of identity (https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/some-answered-questions/some-answered-questions.xhtml?aaa5e151#918768437).)

It would be better to choose a word other than "trinity" to communicate the trio of domains represented in the ringstone symbol. Using "trinity" brings in a whole bunch of doctrine that is unrelated to the ringstone symbol, and confuses the understanding of what the ringstone symbol represents. Life Adventure (talk) 02:32, 7 May 2024 (UTC)