The Bab ("The Gate") 1819-1850: 

• in 1844 declared himself to be the 12th Imam of Shi’ite expectations and proclaimed the coming of a new message and a new messenger (equivalent of John the Baptist). 

• He and his followers (called "Babis") were rejected and persecuted as blasphemers by Muslims since Muhammad was believed to be the last of the messengers to be sent to humanity by God. 

• The Bab was martyred in 1850 but his followers continued belief in his teachings about a coming messenger and they continued to be persecuted, imprisoned and ultimately (in 1863) exiled from Persia.

Baha’u’llah ("The Glory of God") 1817-1892: 

• a follower of The Bab who, in a mystical encounter with an angelic being (1852), came to recognize himself as the one prophesied by The Bab. 

• In 1863, during their exodus from Persia, he declared this to the rest of the Babis. They now became his followers and known thereafter as Baha’is. 

• However, they remained a persecuted group and Baha’u’llah was ultimately put under house arrest for the remainder of his life by the Turkish government in Acre (now in Israel). Acre is now a site of pilgrimage for Baha’is.

Abdu’l-Baha ("Servant of Baha") (1844-1921): 

• Baha’u’llah’s son carried on his father’s work after Baha’u’llah’s death. He did much to spread the faith worldwide. He traveled to Europe and North America.

• Although it grew out of Shi’ite Islam, it was never accepted by Islam as a legitimate Muslim sect and neither does it see itself as such (although some Muslims think of it as a heretical sect of Islam). 

• The Baha’i faith became a new, universal religion now with over 5 million followers in over 200 countries from all races and nationalities.

Shoghi Effendi (1897-1957): 

• appointed by his grandfather, Abdu’l Baha, to be "Guardian of the Faith"

• restructured the faith into local organizations with a central world leadership elected from among the followers rather than led by a single descendent of the founder.

Current organization and leadership: democratic and hierarchical:

• The Universal House of Justice: formed in 1963, is now the ruling body of the Baha’i faith located in Haifa, Israel. It’s nine members are elected every five years by the various National Spiritual Assemblies from among all the world’s Baha’is.

• National Spiritual Assemblies: the ruling bodies within each nation having sufficient number (nine?) of Local Baha’i Communities. Delegates elected by each Community gather to elect members to the NSA from among all Baha’is in each nation.

• Local Baha’i Communities: wherever there are at least nine adult Baha’is within a local geographic area, this smallest unit of organization can be formed. Like a parish of the Catholic church, Baha’is living in a certain area are automatically members of the Local Baha’i Community. Local leadership is by an elected body of nine members who constitute the "Local Spiritual Assembly".