The Baha'i Faith dawned on 22 May 1844 when Mirza 'Ali-Muhammad of Shiraz, known as the Báb, the Gate, arose to fulfil His twofold mission, infusing the land with wonderful spiritual attractions and heralding to the world One Who was immensely greater than Himself, Who would inaugurate a fresh and unprecedented era in the spiritual history of mankind. The Bab's untold sufferings and imprisonments, the heroism and sacrifices of His disciples, the circumstances of His tragic martyrdom and the afflictions experienced by His community, are vividly detailed in every book exploring the Faith.
The One foretold by the Bab, Bahá'u'lláh, the Splendour of God, arose in 1863 whilst an exile in Baghdad, attracting all around by His spiritual presence, transforming people to great spiritual heights, admonishing the kings and powers of the world, laying down the divine principles of a new civilization. Bitterly opposed and stripped of all property and rights, reliant solely upon God, exiled to Iraq, Constantinople, Adrianople, and incarcerated in the penal colony of 'Akká, Baha'u'llah suffered untold sufferings, yet conquered every challenge and adversity that rose up against Him, passing eventually from this world in 1892.
The authorized Interpreter and personal Example of Baha'i teachings, was Bahá'u'lláh's most remarkable eldest son 'Abdu'l-Bahá (Servant of Bahá). Baha'u'llah appointed Abdu'l-Baha as the Centre to whom all should turn for instruction and guidance. Ever since a child, 'Abdu'l-Bahá shared all the sorrows and sufferings of Baha'u'llah. He remained a prisoner until 1908, when the regime in Turkey became overthrown and religious and political prisoners liberated. Whilst continuing to make Palestine his home, Abdu'l-Baha undertook extensive tours of Egypt, Europe and America, as well as visiting London, Edinburgh and Bristol in the United Kingdom, ceaselessly explaining and exemplifying the principles of the Baha'i Faith, inspiring and directing the activities of friends and followers throughout the world, transforming the lives, hearts and minds of all levels of society, interacting freely and wholly at home with both the prominent and the down-trodden. He passed away in 1921 in Haifa, Palestine.
Abdu'l-Baha appointed his grandson Shoghi Effendi to succeed him as Guardian of the Faith, who raised up and established the framework of the Baha'i Faith. Shoghi Effendi passed away in 1957, and in 1963 the Universal House of Justice was established as the central guiding institution of the Faith.
Today the Baha'i Faith is numbered around six million adherents, and is the second-most geographically widespread religion in the world after Christianity.
The Baha'i Faith began to take firm root in Edinburgh itself from 1948, and has since that time grown considerably in number.
