The Faith recognises the unity of God and His Prophets, upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society. It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth, exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship, recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.

Born about the middle of the 19th Century in darkest Persia, assailed from its infancy by the forces of religious fanaticism, the Baha’i Faith has, notwithstanding the martyrdom of its Forerunner, the repeated banishments of its Founder, the almost life-long imprisonment of its chief Promoter and the cruel death of no less than 20,000 of its devoted followers, succeeded in diffusing quietly and steadily its spirit throughout both the East and West. It has since its inception in 1844 established itself in every country of the world, and has obtained from the ecclesiastical and civil authorities in various lands written affirmations that recognise its independent religious status.

The Forerunner of the Faith was Mirza ‘Ali-Muhammad of Shiraz, known as the Bab (the Gate) Who proclaimed on May 23rd 1844, His twofold mission as an independent Manifestation of God and the Herald of “One greater than Himself”, who would inaugurate a new and unprecedented era in the religious history of mankind. As He was considered a threat to the prevailing order and religious control of the time, the Bab was arrested, interrogated and severely whipped and tortured before being sentenced to death. At the age of only 31 He was publicly martyred by firing squad at Tabriz, Persia in 1850.

The Founder of the Faith Bahá'u'lláh( in English: the Glory of God), declared His Holy Mission as the Manifestation of God for this age on 21st April 1863 while in exile in Baghdad. He subsequently formulated the principles of that new and divine civilisation which by His advent He claimed to have inaugurated. He too was bitterly opposed, was stripped of His property and rights, was exiled to Iraq, to Constantinople and Adrianople, and was eventually incarcerated in the penal colony of Akka. Even though locked in a cell, Baha’u’llah wrote to all the kings and rulers and the churches and the religious leaders to proclaim His Mission and Message from God. He also revealed and wrote many tablets and over a hundred books for the guidance of all mankind. After 40 years of imprisonment, He passed away in 1892 in His seventy-fifth year, still a prisoner. His remains are laid to rest in the Shrine at Bahji, north of Akka which is now the Holiest Spot on earth and a place of pilgrimage to the Baha’is of the world..