History of the Baháʼí Faith
The historical development of the Baháʼí Faith from its nineteenth-century origins in Iran through its spread and institutional growth worldwide.
Báb: The Iranian religious leader who founded the Bábí movement in 1844 and announced the coming of a greater messenger. His movement supplied the immediate religious and historical setting for the Baháʼí Faith.
ʻAbdu’l‑Bahá: The son of Baháʼu'lláh who led the Baháʼí community from 1892 until his death in 1921. His travels, writings, and interpretation carried the faith beyond its Middle Eastern origins.
Baháʼí Covenant: The body of principles and succession provisions intended to preserve unity and authority in the Baháʼí community. Its provisions guided leadership transitions from Baháʼu'lláh through ʻAbdu’l‑Bahá and Shoghi Effendi.
Baháʼí teaching: The sharing of Baháʼí teachings through conversation, service, and organized community activity. Teaching efforts made the faith’s growth possible across cultures and continents.
Persecution of Baháʼís in Iran: State and social discrimination against Baháʼís in Iran, including restrictions on education, employment, property, and religious practice. Persecution repeatedly disrupted Iranian community life and drew international attention to the faith.
Bábí movement: A nineteenth-century Iranian religious movement founded by the Báb and marked by expectations of religious renewal. Baháʼí history began within this movement before developing into a distinct faith.
Shoghi Effendi: The Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. He translated key texts, strengthened administration, and coordinated the faith’s international expansion.
Universal House of Justice: The elected international governing body of the Baháʼí Faith, established in 1963. Its election completed a central institutional transition after the Guardianship ended.
Baháʼí pioneers: Baháʼís who settle in places where the faith has few or no established communities. Pioneering helped extend the faith beyond its original centers in Iran and the Ottoman Empire.
Baháʼí diaspora: The worldwide dispersion of Baháʼí communities beyond their places of origin, through migration and religious expansion. Diaspora communities carried Iranian origins into a faith with a worldwide presence.