Many of his writings, prayers and letters are extant, and his discourses with the Western Bahá ' ís emphasize the growth of the faith by the late 1890s.

It was here that his position became more prominent amongst the Bahá ’ ís.

At this point ` Abdu ' l-Bahá was known by the Bahá ' ís as " the Master ", and by non-Bahá ' ís as ` Abbás Effendi (" Effendi " signifies " Sir ").

The title of " Mystery of God " symbolises, according to Bahá ' ís, that ` Abdu ' l-Bahá is not a manifestation of God but how a " person of ` Abdu ' l-Bahá the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized ".

It was, according to Bahá ' ís, through his intercession that the idea was reverted and the family were allowed to be exiled together.

The Bahá ’ ís were imprisoned under horrendous conditions in a cluster of cells covered in excrement and dirt.

It was through his interaction with the people of Acre that, according to the Bahá ' ís, they recognized the innocence of the Bahá ' ís, and thus the conditions of imprisonment were eased.

The people of Acre started to respect the Bahá ' ís and in particular, ` Abdu ' l-Bahá.

As a young man speculation was rife amongst the Bahá ’ ís to whom ` Abdu ' l-Bahá would marry.

Bahá ' u ' lláh wished that the Bahá ' ís follow the example of ` Abdu ' l-Bahá and gradually move away from polygamy.

He began correspondence with Bahá ' ís in Iran, initially in secret, casting doubts in others ' minds about ` Abdu ' l-Bahá.

While most Bahá ' ís followed ` Abdu ' l-Bahá, a handful followed Muhammad ` Alí including such leaders as Mirza Javad and Ibrahim Khayru ' llah, the famous Bahá ' í missionary to America.

By the end of 1898, Western pilgrims started coming to Akka on pilgrimage to visit ` Abdu ' l-Bahá ; this group of pilgrims, including Phoebe Hearst, was the first time that Bahá ' ís raised up in the West had met ` Abdu ' l-Bahá.

The first group arrived in 1898 and throughout late 1898 to early 1899 Western Bahá ’ ís sporadically visited ` Abdu ' l-Bahá.

During the next decade ` Abdu ' l-Bahá would be in constant communication with Bahá ' ís around the world, helping them to teach the religion ; the group included May Ellis Bolles in Paris, Englishman Thomas Breakwell, American Herbert Hopper, French Hippolyte Dreyfus, Susan Moody, Lua Getsinger, and American Laura Clifford Barney.

Seat of the Universal House of Justice, governing body of the Bahá ' ís, in Haifa, Israel

There are an estimated five to six million Bahá ' ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.

Bahá ' ís do not expect a new manifestation of God to appear within 1000 years of Bahá ' u ' lláh's revelation.

In Bahá ' í belief, this process of progressive revelation will not end ; however, it is believed to be cyclical.

Upon the request of Shoghi Effendi, he also provided designs for a Bahá ' í House of Worship in Tehran, for Haifa, and the Shrine of ` Abdu ' l-Bahá, however only the Haifa temple was approved before the death of Shoghi Effendi, and none have so far been built.

His leadership style was however, quite different than that of ` Abdu ' l-Bahá, in that he signed his letters to the Bahá ' ís as " your true brother ", and he did not refer to his own personal role, but instead to the institution of the guardianship.

The teaching, however, does not equal unity with uniformity, but instead the Bahá ' í writings advocate for the principle of unity in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued.

The situation of the Bahá ' ís improved under the Pahlavi shahs when the government actively sought to secularize public life however there were still organizations actively persecuting the Bahá ' ís in addition to there being curses children would learn decrying the Báb, a central figure of the religion, and Bahá ' ís.

The death is significant as Bahá ' ís believe that Bahá ' u ' lláh offered him the chance of being cured, however he chose to use his life as a sacrifice so that the close imprisonment of the Bahá ' ís would end.

Early followers of the Báb were known as Bábís, however in the 1860s a split occurred after which the vast majority of Bábís followed Mirza Husayn ` Ali, known as Bahá ' u ' lláh, and became known as Bahá ' ís, while the minority who followed Subh-i-Azal came to be called Azalis .< ref >" But the upshot of the whole matter is, that out of every hundred Bábís probably not more than three or four are Ezelís < nowiki ></ nowiki >, all the rest accepting Behá ' u ' lláh < nowiki ></ nowiki > as the final and most perfect manifestation of the Truth.

: Let them proclaim that in whatever country they reside, and however advanced their institutions, or profound their desire to enforce the laws, and apply the principles, enunciated by Bahá ’ u ’ lláh, they will, unhesitatingly, subordinate the operation of such laws and the application of such principles to the requirements and legal enactments of their respective governments.

One of his greatest legacies to the development of the Bahá ' í administrative system, however, was his will and testament, wherein he describes several new institutions.

It is, however, not used to describe Covenant-Breakers as this term refers to a special category of offense within Bahá ' í theology which results in expulsion and is quite rare.

Unlike general prayers in the Bahá ' í Faith, there are specific regulations concerning the obligatory prayers ; however, obligatory prayer is a personal spiritual obligation and thus no Bahá ' í administrative sanction can be obtained if a Bahá ' í fails to say his prayer daily.

The work, however, establishes the core teaching of the Bahá ' í Faith and is seen as being of more general applicability.

The Bahá ' í belief in the oneness of the Manifestations of God does not mean, however, that the same individual soul is born again at different times and in different physical bodies.

There is, however, no definite list of who is or isn't a minor prophet in the Bahá ' í understanding.

Bahá ' u ' lláh stated that at times, God chooses ordinary people to act as prophets and thus inspires them to play certain roles in human affairs ; these people however remain ordinary people whose powers of inspiration have been further developed by God.

The New History Society attracted fewer than a dozen Bahá ' ís, however its membership swelled to several thousand for a time.

In Bahá ' í thought, the validity of the various Manifestations of God, prophets in the Bahá ' í writings that include Jesus, Muhammad, Gautama Buddha and Bahá ' u ' lláh among others, is reasoned through the power of the word of God, the revelation of divine verses, the characteristics of the prophets, the fulfillment of prophecy, and the teachings brought by the prophet ; miracles, however, are not regarded as proof of divinity.

: Bahá ' ís assert that gender equality is an incontrovertible reality of the human condition.

While the Bahá ' í teachings assert the full spiritual and social equality of women to men, there are some aspects of gender distinctiveness or gender differentiation in certain areas of life.

While the Bahá ' í teachings assert the full spiritual and social equality of women to men, the notion of equality does not imply sameness and there are some aspects of gender distinctiveness or gender differentiation in certain areas of life.

In Bahá ' í belief, souls in the afterlife will continue to retain their individuality and consciousness and will be able to recognize and communicate spiritually with other souls whom they have made deep profound friendships with, such as their spouses.

The Bahá ' í writings also state there are distinctions between souls in the afterlife, and that souls will recognize the worth of their own deeds and understand the consequences of their actions.

The Bahá ' í teachings state that the attributes which are applied to God are used to translate Godliness into human terms and also to help individuals concentrate on their own attributes in worshipping God to develop their potentialities on their spiritual path.

Bahá ' í notions of progressive religious revelation result in their accepting the validity of most of the world's religions, whose founders and central figures are seen as Manifestations of God.

Consequently, Bahá ' ís were unable to obtain government identification documents ( such as national identification cards, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage or divorce certificates, or passports ) necessary to exercise their rights in their country unless they lied about their religion, which conflicts with Bahá ' í religious principle.

These are sometimes " disenrolled " and are considered to have never actually been Bahá ' ís, given their fundamental diversion from this core Bahá ' í doctrine.

Furthermore some laws and teachings are, according to Bahá ' í teaching, not meant to be applied at the present time and their application depends on decisions by the Universal House of Justice.

Some laws and teachings of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are, according to Bahá ' í teaching, not meant to be applied at the present time ; their application depends on decisions by the Universal House of Justice.

The two are similar in many respects, with Mary Magdalene often being viewed as a Christian antecedent of the latter, while Tahirih in her own right could be described as the spiritual return of the Magdalene ; especially given their common, shared attributes of " knowledge, steadfastness, courage, virtue and will power ", in addition to their importance within the religious movements of Christianity and the Bahá ' í Faith as female leaders.

It is from and through the Guardianship that infallibility is vested and that the Hands of the Faith receive their orders ... I now command the Hands of the Faith to stop all of their preparations for 1963, and furthermore I command all believers both as individual Bahá ' ís and as assemblies of Bahá ' ís to immediately cease cooperating with and giving support to this fallacious program for 1963.