A landmark, scholarly introduction and guide to the Baha'i faith's holy book, Ghaemmaghami and Vafai's impressively researched work contextualizes the sacred text within the corpus of its founder's writings and those of his successors, explains and clarifies its language, elucidates and expands on each of its topics, and provides an overarching view of its contents. An indispensable resource for a deeper understanding of the Kitab-i-Aqdas and its place in the Baha'i religion.

Ali Banuazizi, Professor of Political Science, Boston College, USA

This book is a valuable contribution to the fields of Bahá'í and religious studies. It gives a thorough and accessible overview of the history, contents and style of the Kitáb-i Aqdas, situating it within Bahá'í theology. This is all the more important because, despite being the central text of the Bahá'í faith, the Kitáb-i Aqdas has been woefully under-researched so far.

Johanna Pink, Professor of Islamic Studies and the History of Islam, University of Freiburg, Germany

By exploring the history and contents of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Omid Ghaemmaghami and Shahin Vafai have expanded our knowledge of the laws and teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. Such a work, perfectly grounded in textual and intellectual history, is a major step in 19th century Near Eastern studies. With impressive skill it makes clear the complex formation of belief and law in a new-born religious community.

Roberto Tottoli, Professor, Università di Napoli L'Orientale, Italy

This is the most comprehensive academic study to date of the Kitab-i Aqdas, the core legal and doctrinal book of Baha'i scripture. The authors have succeeded in elucidating the intricacies of the original, tracing its relationship to earlier religious texts, and examining its place in the religious history of nineteenth-century Iran and beyond.

Dominic P Brookshaw, Professor of Persian Literature and Iranian Culture, University of Oxford, UK

The … silence about the developments of the Bahá'í Faith … is gladly dissipating. The publication of this study of the central text of the faith is a welcome step in filling that lacuna.

Abbas Milani, Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies, Research Fellow/Hoover Institution, Stanford University, USA

Exploring the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, written by two meticulous and erudite scholars, provides a comprehensive, in-depth, and engaging analysis of the text. It presents the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in terms of Bahá'u'lláh's mystical theology. On the one hand, laws become expressions of a theology of dialectical and progressive revelation. On the other hand, the main purpose of these laws, which is the unification of humankind, is seen as the objective realization of the theology of unity-establishing the kingdom of God on earth. Exploring the Kitab-i-Aqdas is a creative work of scholarship that is highly academic and yet genuinely accessible to all readers. It is a must-read for all students of society and religion.

Nader Saiedi, retired Professor of Sociology (Carleton College) and Adjunct Professor of Bahá'í Studies (UCLA), USA