“Religion, as we are all aware, reaches to the roots of motivation. When it has been faithful to the spirit and example of the transcendent Figures who gave the world its great belief systems, it has awakened in whole populations capacities to love, to forgive, to create, to dare greatly, to overcome prejudice, to sacrifice for the common good and to discipline the impulses of animal instinct. Unquestionably, the seminal force in the civilizing of human nature has been the influence of the succession of these Manifestations of the Divine that extends back to the dawn of recorded history."
The Origin of the Bahá'í Faith
From its inception, the history of the Bahá’í Faith was closely connected with that of the Arab world. In 1260 Hijra year, 1844 AD, the coast of Musqat was blessed with the footsteps of a Youth Who was the Herald of the Bahá’í religion. His name was Siyyíd Ali Muhammad from Shiraz, He was known as The Báb. On His way to the Hajj pilgrimage to the Holy city of Makkah, the Báb passed through the waters and shores of the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea and the Red Sea both to and from.
The origin of the Bahá'í Faith can be traced to two divine messengers: The Báb and Bahá’u’llah. The unity that characterizes the Bahá'í Faith today stems from clear, written guidance provided by Bahá'u'lláh to ensure the unity of the Bahá'í community and protect it from division after His death. This chain of succession, referred to as the Covenant, passed from Bahá'u'lláh to His eldest son, ʿAbdu'l-Bahá, then to ʿAbdu'l-Bahá’s grandson, Shoghi Effendi, and after him to the Universal House of Justice, as ordained by Bahá'u'lláh in His Most Holy Book.
