* 1863 – Bahá ' u ' lláh, the founder of the Bahá ' í Faith, declares his mission as " He whom God shall make manifest ".

‘ Abdu ’ l-Bahá (‎; 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921 ), born ‘ Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá ' u ' lláh, the founder of the Bahá ' í Faith.

In 1863 Bahá ' u ' lláh was again exiled to Constantinople.

` Abdu ' l-Bahá was born in Tehran, Iran on 23 May 1844 ( 5th of Jamadiyu ' l-Avval, 1260 AH ), the eldest son of Bahá ' u ' lláh and Navváb.

` Abdu ' l-Bahá accompanied his mother to visit Bahá ' u ' lláh who was then imprisoned in the infamous subterranean dungeon the Síyáh-Chál.

Bahá ' u ' lláh was eventually released from prison but ordered into exile, and ` Abdu ' l-Bahá then eight joined his father on the journey to Baghdad in the winter ( January to April ) of 1853.

After a year of difficulties Bahá ' u ' lláh absented himself rather than continue to face the conflict with Mirza Yahya and secretly secluded himself in the mountains of Sulaymaniyah in April 1854 a month before ` Abdu ' l-Bahá's tenth birthday.

In 1856, news of an ascetic carrying on discourses with local Súfí leaders that seemed to possibly be Bahá ' u ' lláh reached the family and friends.

Immediately, family members and friends went to search for the illusive dervish – and in March brought Bahá ' u ' lláh back to Baghdad.

In 1863 in what became known as the Garden of Ridván Bahá ' u ' lláh announced to a few that he was the manifestation of God and He whom God shall make manifest whose coming had been foretold by the Báb.

In 1863 Bahá ' u ' lláh was summoned to Constantinople ( Istanbul ), and thus his whole family including ` Abdu ' l-Bahá, then nineteen, accompanied him on his 110-day journey.

This was further solidified by Bahá ’ u ’ lláh ’ s tablet of the Branch in which he constantly exalts his son's virtues and station.

It was in Adrianople that Bahá ’ u ’ lláh referred to his son as " the Mystery of God ".

Bahá ' u ' lláh gave his son many other titles such as " the Most Mighty Branch " the " Branch of Holiness ", " the Center of the Covenant " and the apple of his eye.

` Abdu ' l-Bahá (" the Master ") was devastated when hearing the news that him and his family were to be exiled separately from Bahá ' u ' lláh.

Bahá ’ u ’ lláh and his family were – in 1868 – exiled to the penal colony of Acre, Palestine where it was expected that the family would perish.

Fátimih was brought from Persia to Acre, Israel after both Bahá ’ u ’ lláh and his wife Navváb expressed an interest in her to marry ` Abdu ’ l-Bahá.

` Abdu ' l-Bahá himself had showed little inkling to marriage until meeting Fátimih ; who was entitled Munírih by Bahá ’ u ’ lláh.

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

After Bahá ' u ' lláh died on 29 May 1892, the Will and Testament of Bahá ' u ' lláh named ` Abdu ' l-Bahá as Centre of the Covenant, successor and interpreter of Bahá ' u ' lláh's writings.

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.

He then organized the purchase of land on Mount Carmel that Bahá ' u ' lláh had instructed should be used to lay the remains of the Báb, and organized for the construction of the Shrine of the Báb.

Bernard Lewis states that the Muslim laity and Islamic authorities have always had great difficulty in accommodating post-Islamic monotheistic religions such as the Bahá ' í Faith, since the followers of such religions cannot be dismissed either as benighted heathens, like the polytheists of Asia and the animists of Africa, nor as outdated precursors, like the Jews and Christians.

Bahá ' u ' lláh's son-in-law was, thus, a long-standing enemy of ` Abdu ' l-Bahá ( who had declared him a Covenant-breaker.

That Bahá ' u ' lláh had three wives, when his religion teaches monogamy, has been the subject of criticism.

The writing of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and Bahá ' í teachings on gender equality and monogamy post-date Bahá ' u ' lláh's marriages and are understood to be evolutionary in nature, slowly leading Bahá ' ís away from what had been a deeply rooted cultural practice.

The Bahá ' í scripture Kitáb-i-Íqán endorses the Islamic belief that Noah had a large number of companions, either 40 or 72, besides his family on the Ark, and that he taught for 950 ( symbolic ) years before the flood.

Following the unexpected death of the Bahá ' í Faith's first Guardian Shoghi Effendi in 1957, the 27 living Hands of the Cause, having the responsibility to acknowledge any appointment of a successor, gathered and decided that he had died " without having appointed his successor ," and that the Universal House of Justice would decide on the situation after its first election.

" Later that year, Remey asked the NSAUHG to dissolve, as well as the International Bahá ' í Council that he had appointed with Joel Marangella as president, residing in France.

As Guardian he was appointed as head of the religion, someone whom the Bahá ' ís had to look to for guidance.

` Abdu ' l-Bahá's Will and Testament is considered one of the three charters of the Bahá ' í administrative order, and in it ` Abdu ' l-Bahá laid down the authority of the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice, the elected governing body of the Bahá ' í Faith that had been written about by Bahá ' u ' lláh, and had not yet been established:

From the time of appointment until his death, the Bahá ' í Faith grew from 100, 000 to 400, 000 members, and the countries in which Bahá ' ís had representation went from 35 to 250.

As Guardian and head of the religion, while Shoghi Effendi was initially traumatized, he had a clear vision of how he believed the religion should progress, and he communicated his vision to the Bahá ' ís of the world through his numerous letters and his meetings with pilgrims who would come to Palestine.

Though in no way espousing his beliefs, Bahá ' ís know Gobineau as the person who obtained the only complete manuscript of the early history of the Bábí religious movement of Persia, written by Hajji Mirzâ Jân of Kashan, who was put to death by the Persian authorities in c. 1852.

Concerning Munib Shahid, Shoghi Effendi's cousin through ` Abdu ' l-Bahá's daughter Ruha, Shoghi Effendi sent the following cable to the Bahá ' í world in November 1944:

Concerning his own brother Husayn, Shoghi Effendi sent the following cable to the Bahá ' í world in April 1945:

In Bahá ' í belief, a single God has sent all the historic founders of the world religions in a process of progressive revelation.

Furthermore, a confidential letter sent on October 29, 2005 by the Chairman of the Command Headquarters of the Armed Forced in Iran states that the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei has instructed the Command Headquarters to identify people who adhere to the Bahá ' í Faith and to monitor their activities and gather any and all information about the members of the Bahá ' í Faith.

In Bahá ' í belief, the Manifestations have always been sent by God, and always will, as part of the single progressive religion from God bringing more teachings through time to help humanity progress.

because it believes in a prophet ( Bahá ' u ' lláh ) more recent than Muhammad, in contradiction of Islamic teachings, where it is held that Muhammad is the last and final messenger sent to mankind.

Finally the feuding between the two groups lead the Ottoman government to further exile the two groups in 1868 ; Bahá ' u ' lláh and the Baha ' is were sent to Acre, Palestine and Subh-i Azal and his family, along with some followers were sent to Famagusta in Cyprus.

Bahá ' u ' lláh taught that Manifestations have always been sent by God, and always will, as part of the single progressive religion from God bringing more teachings through time to help humanity progress.

Mishkín-Qalam was sent by Bahá ' u ' lláh to Constantinople ( Istanbul ), where he began attracting people through his art and vigorously teaching the Bahá ' í Faith.

In 1979 Dale also sent a letter, enclosing a copy of the " BELmonda Letero ", to all National Spritiual Assemblies in order to make the existence of BEL better known to seek the cooperation of the national Bahá ' í communities.