A Brief History of the Bahá'í Faith

Fifth Epoch of the Formative Age: 2001 - Present

• 16 Jan, 2001 The Universal House of Justice announces that, as the Bahá'í Faith has reached a point in its development: the widespread training institutes and the near completion of the construction projects on Mount Carmel, the Bahá'í  Faith now enters the fifth epoch of the Formative Age.


• January 16, 200: The Universal House of Justice announces to the Baha'i world the beginning of the Fifth Epoch of the Formative Age accompanied by the dedication of the seat of the International Teaching Center.


• January 18, 2001: The announcement is made that 9 Baha'is have been placed under arrest in Egypt.


• April 21, 2001: Within the Ridván Message for BE 158 (2001), the Universal House of Justice announces the launch of the Five Year Plan that includes an ever progressive expansion of the Faith throughout the world, and expansion of facilities at the Baha'i World Center, including the organization of the Center for the Study of the Sacred Text, and improvements to accommodate greater numbers of pilgrims. Then it calls for the "raising up of National Houses of Worship" and the erection of the Mother Temple of South America in Santiago, Chile.


• May 22-23, 2001 Grand Opening of the Baha'i Terraces on Mount Carmel was celebrated with a symphony orchestra, a 70-voice choir. 3,500 Baha'is and guest from 180 countries attended in person along with 650 dignitaries from Israel and international embassies and another 100 representatives of the news media. The service was watched by millions around the world via satellite and Internet webcast. The Universal House of Justice, in a statement read during the ceremony, offered the project, the celebration surrounding it, the golden-domed shrine of the Báb, as a source of hope against the "turmoil and crises of our time." The ceremony featured two orchestral works composed especially for the occasion. Toward the end of the second composition, and just as dusk was falling, the lights on the 19 newly constructed terraces, which extend nearly a kilometer up the slop of the mountain' north face, were gradually turned on, illuminating the mountainside in a dramatic climax. The 19 garden terraces have been described as the new eighth wonder of the world.


• May 23, 2001: The Grand Opening ceremonies of the Terraces, concluded with the friends in attendance ascending the lower 9 terraces to the Shrine of the Báb. Baha'is in attendance came from some 180 nations to celebrate the inauguration of the terraces. The climb, made up a stately stone stairway that runs through the heart of a series of recently completed garden terraces, was an act of deep spiritual significance to the participants. The inauguration services, reading of Holy Tablets, and ascending of the Terraces was watched by millions around the world via satellite and Internet webcast The Terraces were completed over the past ten years and the cost was met by volentary donations from the five-million member, worldwide Baha'i community.

Aerial view of the complex of Bahá'í administrative buildings adjacent to the Terraces.Going clockwise: The Bahá'i International Teaching Center, the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, The Center for the Study of the Holy Text and the International Bahá'i Archives Building. In the center-foreground is the Monument Gardens. Two of the upper nine terraces of the Shrine of the Báb are shown on the far upper right. Collectively, the  Arc complex forms a feature so grand that it can  be seen by the unaided eye from outer space. Photo is courtesy of the Bahá'í Public Information Office, Haifa, Israel.

Aerial view of the terraces extending below and above the Shrine of the Báb. From the base to the top of Mount Carmel, the terraces cover a distance of about one kilometer. At the top left are the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the Centre for the Study of the Texts, and the International Archives Building.

A Brief History of the Bahá'í Faith
The Heroic Age: The first epoch: the Báb  The second epoch: Bahá'u'lláh  The third epoch: 'Abdu'l-Bahá
The Formative Age:  The first epoch: 1921 to 1947  The second epoch: 1947 to 1963  The third epoch: 1963 to 1986  The fourth epoch: 1986 to 2001 The fifth epoch: 2001 to present