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Since the Badasht Conference of 1848, Islamic religious law has been considered by Baha'is as no longer valid. The Baha'i Faith, according to its own interpretation, does not aim to be a reform or an restoration of Islam, but rather claims its origin in a new act of God, in a new outpouring of the divine spirit and in a new divine covenant. The foundation of belief and of law is the new divine word revealed by Baha'u'llah. This is why the Baha'i is not a Muslim. For the law of the 'Qur'an' and the unalterable creed of orthodox Islam, such as the finality of Muhammad's revelation, have no validity for him. The Baha'i Faith has sprung from Islam in the same way as Christianity did from Judaism: Islam is the mother-religion of the Baha'i Faith. The old covenant established by Muhammad is replaced by the new divine covenant revealed by Baha'u'llah. Therefore the 'Qur'an' is to the Baha'i what the Old Testament is to the Christians: a document of the past history of the salvation of man which also points towards the future to the "appointed hour", the "great Announcement", which the Muslims are still expecting and which, for the Baha'i, has already made its appearance.
(114:1)
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