The teachings of the Bahá ' í Faith state that the nature of the afterlife is beyond the nature of those living, just as an unborn fetus cannot understand the nature of the world outside of the womb.

The Bahá ' í writings state that the soul is immortal and after death it will continue to progress until it attains God's presence.

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.

* Feast of Kamál ( Perfection ); First day of the eighth month of the Bahá ' í calendar.

( Bahá ' í Faith )

* The ninth day of Ridván ( Bahá ' í Faith )

* Feast of Jamál (" Beauty "), the first day of the third month of the Bahá ' í calendar.

( Bahá ' í Faith )

* Ridván begins at sunset ( Bahá ' í Faith )

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

* 1960 – Founding of the Orthodox Bahá ' í Faith in Washington, D. C.

* 1963 – The Universal House of Justice of the Bahá ' í Faith is elected for the first time.

( Bahá ' í Faith )

‘ 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 1892, ` Abdu ' l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá ' í Faith.

During his youth he was " shaped " by his father and was regarded as an outstanding member of the Bahá ’ í exile community.

With his father's death in 1892, and his appointment as head of the Bahá ’ í faith, there was much opposition against him, including virtually all his family members.

Notwithstanding this, practically all of the worldwide Bahá ’ í community accepted his leadership.

His journeys to the West, and his " Tablets of the Divine Plan " spread the Bahá ' í message beyond its middle-eastern roots, and his Will and Testament laid the foundation for the current " Bahá ' í administrative order.

At the age of 24, ` Abdu ' l-Bahá was clearly chief-steward to his father and an outstanding member of the Bahá ’ í community.

Over time, he gradually took over responsibility for the relationships between the small Bahá ' i exile community and the outside world.

All Bahá ' í community properties, including Bahá ' í centers, libraries, and cemeteries, have been confiscated by the government and fatwas have been issued charging Bahá ' ís with apostasy.

Since it would be impossible for the Bahá ' í Faith to unite the world if it were itself disunited, the role of the covenant as the guarantor of the unity of the Bahá ' í community becomes inextricably linked with the goal of world unity: " It is evident that the axis of oneness of the world of humanity is the power of the Covenant and nothing else.

Around 1900 an English translation was made by Baha ' i Anton Haddad, which circulated among the early American Bahá ' í community in a typewritten form.

The result was that Remey was unanimously expelled from the Bahá ' í community by the Hands of the Cause.

After the death of ` Abdu ' l-Bahá in 1921, the leadership of the Bahá ' í community entered a new phase, evolving from that of a single individual to an administrative order with executive and legislative branches, the head of each being the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.

During the 1920s, he first started to systematize and extend the Bahá ' í administration throughout the world where there existed Bahá ' í communities ; because the Bahá ' í community was relatively small and undeveloped when he assumed the leadership of the religion, he strengthened and developed it over many years to the point where it was capable of supporting the administrative structure envisioned by ` Abdu ' l-Bahá.

Therefore the marriage came as a great surprise to the world-wide Bahá ' í community when the mother of Shoghi Effendi cabled the Bahá ' ís:

Its nine members are elected every five years from the male membership in good standing of the world community by an electoral college consisting of all the members of each Bahá ' í National Spiritual Assembly throughout the world.

` Abdu ' l-Bahá first used the term " Universal House of Justice " to distinguish the supreme body from those local ' Houses of Justice ' to be established in each community, and the secondary ' Houses of Justice ' ( current Bahá ' í national spiritual assemblies ).

The Universal House of Justice today guides the growth and development of the global Bahá ' í community.

* Defending and protecting the global Bahá ' í community from repression and persecution

* Encouraging the growth and maturation of the Bahá ' í community and administration

: Document primarily intended for a Bahá ' í audience, in which it identifies as a major challenge for the Bahá ' í community the inculcation of the principle of the oneness of religion and the overcoming of religious prejudices

" Systematic targeting of the leadership of the Bahá ' í community by killing or disappearing was focused on the Bahá ' í National Spiritual Assembly ( NSA ) and Local Spiritual Assemblies ( LSAs ).

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

He is commonly referred to in Bahá ' í texts as " The Master ", and received the title of KBE after his personal storage of grain was used to relieve famine in Palestine following World War I, but never used the title.

` 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.

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.

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

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

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 ").

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

` 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.

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

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.

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.

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