The Bahá'í Faith is a contemporary religious movement active nowadays in over three hundred countries and dependencies throughout the world. Evolving from the Babi movement, which spread throughout Iran and Iraq in the mid-nineteenth century, the Bahá'í Faith has slowly moved beyond the pale of Shi`ite Islam and thereby established itself as an independent religion. The movement's founder, Mirza Husayn 'Ali of Nur, Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), is considered by adherents to be a messenger of God equal in station to, among others, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha and the Hindu avatars. Banished from Iran in 1853 by the order of Nasiru'd-Din Shah, he lived in exile, being sent to Baghdad, Istanbul (Constantinople), Edirne (Adrianople), and, finally, the prison city of Acre (Akka or now Akko) located in the bay near Haifa in what was then Ottoman Syria and is now Israel. After Bahá'u'lláh's death the leadership of the community passed to his eldest son, Abbas Effendi, Abdu'l-Bahá (1844-1921), who following his release from captivity in 1908 visited both Europe and North America. In 1921 Abdu'l-Bahá's grandson, Shoghi Effendi, succeeded to the head of the Faith, having been named Guardian of the movement in Abdu'l-Bahá's will. During the Guardianship (1921-1957) the Bahá'í Faith increased both in size and administrative capabilities by establishing communities in over 130 countries and developing local, national and international administrative institutions. From 1957 to 1963 the Bahá'í Faith was guided by The Hands of the Cause, a group of initially 27 individuals (22 men and 5 women) who had been personally appointed by Shoghi Effendi to help him oversee the international activities of the movement. Since 1963 the affairs of the Faith have been directed by the Universal House of Justice, a body of nine men (women are currently prohibited from serving on this body) elected every five years by national representatives, whose headquarters is located in Haifa.
(The Bahá'í Faith in India: A Developmental Stage Approach by William Garlington, published in Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Bahá'í Studies, 2, 1997-06)
https://bahai-library.com/garlington_bahai_faith_india
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