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.

* 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.

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.

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.

The Bahá ' í writings describe a single, personal, inaccessible, omniscient, omnipresent, imperishable, and almighty God who is the creator of all things in the universe.

While it is the core text on laws of the religion, it is not the exclusive source of laws in the religion, nor of Bahá ' u ' lláh's own writings, and complimentarily the reader is told explicitly to not view the text as a " mere code of laws ".

There are many references to Mary Magdalene in the sacred writings of the Bahá ' í Faith, where she enjoys an exalted status as a heroine of faith and the " archetypal woman of all cycles ".

The Bahá ' í writings also expand upon the scarce references to her life in the canonical Gospels, with a wide array of extra-canonical stories about her and sayings which are not recorded in any other extant historical sources.

According to Bahá ' í writings, there will not be another messenger for many hundreds of years.

In his lifetime, Shoghi Effendi translated into English many of the writings of the Báb, Bahá ' u ' lláh and ` Abdu ' l-Bahá, including the Hidden Words in 1929, the Kitáb-i-Íqán in 1931, Gleanings in 1935 and Epistle to the Son of the Wolf in 1941.

His significance is not just that of a translator, but he was also the designated and authoritative interpreter of the Bahá ' í writings.

His translations therefore are a guideline for all future translations of the Bahá ' í writings.

The vast majority of his writings were in the style of letters with Bahá ' ís from all parts of the globe.

He also was concerned with matters dealing with Bahá ' í belief and practice — as Guardian he was empowered to interpret the writings of Bahá ' u ' lláh and ` Abdu ' l-Bahá, and these were authoritative and binding, as specified in ` Abdu ' l-Bahá's will.

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 institution was defined in the writings of Bahá ' u ' lláh and ` Abdu ' l-Bahá, Bahá ' u ' lláh's successor, and was officially established in 1963 as the culmination of the Ten Year Crusade, an international Bahá ' í teaching plan.

The institution has also collected and published extracts from the writings of the Báb, Bahá ' u ' lláh and ` Abdu ' l-Bahá.

The institution's responsibilities are also expanded on and referred to in several other of Bahá ' u ' lláh's writings including in his Tablets of Bahá ' u ' lláh.

In those writings Bahá ' u ' lláh writes that the Universal House of Justice would assume authority over the religion, and would consider matters that had not been covered by himself ; he stated that the members of the institution would be assured of divine inspiration, and have the regard for all peoples and safe-guard their honour.

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.

There are also some Protestants, Bahá ' ís and Muslims.

There are also places of worship in George Town for Jehovah's Witnesses, and followers of Bahá ' í Faith.

The Chicago Metropolitan Area also includes adherents of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and the Bahá ' í, among others.

Hobart also has smaller communities of Hindus, Muslims and Bahá ' í, with a Bahá ' í Centre of Learning, located within the city.

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas also discusses the establishment of Bahá ' í administrative institutions, Bahá ' í religious practices, laws of personal status, criminal law, ethical exhortations, social principles, miscellaneous laws and abrogations, and prophecies.

Shoghi Effendi also stated that certain other laws, such as criminal laws, that are dependent upon the existence of a predominantly Bahá ' í society would only be applicable in a possible future Bahá ' í society.

He also stated that if the laws were in conflict with the civil law of the country where a Bahá ' í lives the laws could not be practiced.

See also Bahá ' í laws for laws in practice in Bahá ' í communities.

Bahá ' u ' állah states that the maximum number of wives is two, but also states that having only one wife would add more tranquility to both partners.

There is also a small presence of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Bahá ' í Faith.

The Bahá ' í calendar, established in the middle of the 19th century, is also based on cycles of 19 years.

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.

Getsinger also disclosed to Bolles the purpose of the journey: a pilgrimage to visit the then head of the Bahá ’ í Faith: ` Abdu ' l-Bahá.

Starting in the late 1940s, after the independence of Israel, he also started to develop the Bahá ' í World Centre in Haifa, including the construction of the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb and the building of the International Archives as well as beautifying the gardens at Bahji, where the Shrine of Bahá ' u ' lláh is located ; these plans continued through the 1950s.

In the 1950s he also continued building the Bahá ' í administration, establishing in 1951 the International Bahá ' í Council to act as a precursor to the Universal House of Justice, as well as appointing 32 living Hands of the Cause — Bahá ' ís who achieved a distinguished rank in service to the religion and whose main function was to propagate and protect the religion.