The Historical Background

For Bahá'ís, evolutionary process is an essential feature of all the phenomena of life including the revelations of God. The series of stages through which their own Faith gradually made its appearance and established itself throughout the world is itself an expression of this principle.

The rise of the Bahá'í Faith has also been marked by a second feature that it shares in common with the formative period in the history of each of the earlier world religions. The implications of a new stage in the unfoldment of God's will are unwelcome to influential segments of existing society. The result has frequently been bitter persecution of followers of the new faith. During its first century and a half of life the Bahá'í Faith has passed through several periods of such oppression.

A Bahá'í father and his young son who were arrested and executed for their belief, 19th century Iran.

Historical Context of the Bábi and Bahá'í Faiths