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.

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.

In Bahá ' í belief, each consecutive messenger prophesied of messengers to follow, and Bahá ' u ' lláh's life and teachings fulfilled the end-time promises of previous scriptures.

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

In Bahá ' í belief, creation has neither a beginning nor an end.

In Bahá ' í belief, human time is marked by a series of progressive revelations in which successive messengers or prophets come from God.

In Bahá ' í belief, the coming of Bahá ' u ' lláh, the founder of the Bahá ' í Faith, signals the fulfilment of previous eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity and other major religions.

His claim resulted in the largest schism in the history of the Bahá ' í Faith, with a few groups still holding the belief that Remey was the successor of Shoghi Effendi.

In Bahá ' í belief, only Noah's followers were spiritually alive, preserved in the ark of his teachings, as others were spiritually dead.

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.

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.

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

Shoghi Effendi's reason was due to his belief in the weakness of the existing Bahá ' í institutions — there were a very limited number of national spiritual assemblies and local spiritual assemblies.

In Bahá ' í belief, only Noah's followers were spiritually alive, preserved in the " ark " of his teachings, as others were spiritually dead.

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

Bahá ' u ' lláh claimed that, while being imprisoned in the Siyah-Chal in Iran, he underwent a series of mystical experiences including having a vision of the Maid of Heaven who told him of his divine mission, and the promise of divine assistance ; In Bahá ' í belief, the Maid of Heaven is a representation of the divine.

The Bahá ' í Faith believes that there is one God who sends divine messengers to guide humanity throughout time, which is called Progressive revelation ( Bahá ' í )— and is different from the Christian belief of Progressive revelation ( Christian ).

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.

Bahá ' ís recognise Queen Marie of Romania as the first member of royalty to have declared her belief in Bahá ' u ' lláh, the founder of the Bahá ' í Faith.

The general functions of the Universal Houses of Justice, as stated by Bahá ' u ' lláh include to promulgate the cause of God, to preserve the law, to administer social affairs, to educate the people's souls, to guarantee the education of children, to make the world prosperous, and to care of the elderly and the ill who are in poverty.

The Bahá ' í Faith sees marriage as a foundation of the structure of society, and considers it both a physical and spiritual bond that endures into the afterlife.

` Abdu ' l-Bahá advised all Bahá ' ís to shun anyone opposing the Covenant: "... one of the greatest and most fundamental principles of the Cause of God is to shun and avoid entirely the Covenant-breakers, for they will utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past.

There was an absence of a valid descendant of Bahá ' u ' lláh who could qualify under the terms of ` Abdu ' l-Bahá's will.

In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas it is stated that all Bahá ' ís must write a will.

The other Bahá ’ í laws of inheritance in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas apply only in case of intestacy, that is, when the individual dies without leaving a will.

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.

Bahá ' ís believe that God expresses this will at all times and in many ways, including through a series of divine messengers referred to as " Manifestations of God " or " divine educators ".

Instead, the Bahá ' í concept of the Manifestation of God emphasizes simultaneously the humanity of that intermediary and the divinity in the way they show forth the will, knowledge and attributes of God ; thus they have both human and divine stations.

Bahá ' í's refer to the concept of Progressive revelation, which means that God's will is revealed to mankind progressively as mankind matures and is better able to comprehend the purpose of God in creating humanity.

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

Bahá ' u ' lláh's own will mentions Mírzá Muhammad ` Alí as following ` Abdu ' l Bahá in leadership, but he was excommunicated as a covenant-breaker and shunned by Bahá ' ís.

Instead, Bahá ' ís believe in the concept of progressive revelation, which states that God's will is progressively revealed through different teachers at different times, and that there will never be a final revelation.

Bahá ' u ' lláh claimed that the scriptures of the world's religions foretell a coming messianic figure that will bring a golden age of humanity, the kingdom of God on earth.

In modern monotheist religious traditions with a large following, such as Christianity, Judaism and Bahá ' í, God is addressed as the father, in part because of his active interest in human affairs, in the way that a father would take an interest in his children who are dependent on him and as a father, he will respond to humanity, his children, acting in their best interests.