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 recognized religions."