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.

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.

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.

It is usually used to describe the descent of the Spirit of God upon the messengers / prophets of God, which are known as Manifestations of God, and include among others Jesus, Muhammad and Bahá ' u ' lláh.

Bahá ' í sources describe the building of the fort as a matter of self defence.

Over the months that followed, Bahá ' í historians describe a number of miraculous events in which a small band of untrained soldiers bear the full brunt of government regiments several times their size, always coming out victorious ( see God Passes By, chapter III ; and The Dawn-Breakers, chapter XIX ).

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.

Bahá ' u ' lláh used the term revelation to describe the phenomena that occurs each time a Manifestation of God appears ; he stated that the writings of the Manifestation of God represent the infallible word of God, and because the writings remain after the earthly life of the Manifestation they are a very important part of revelation.

Entry by troops is a term that developed in the Bahá ' í Faith to describe a process of expansion when the Faith would emerge from relative obscurity, and masses of people would become Bahá ' ís.

The term study circle has become common terminology in the Bahá ' í Faith to describe a specific type of gathering for the study of the Bahá ' í teachings, with an emphasis on " promoting the well-being of humanity.

The Bahá ' í Faith has not yet endeavored to describe an ideal school curriculum, though its writings assume the usefulness of a wide variety of subjects.