Division amongst the followers of The Bab/Bahá\'u\'lláh/Abdu\'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi

Division amongst the followers of Ali Mohammed Shirazi - The Bab

The founder of Bahá\'í Faith Mirza Ali Mohammed Shirazi known as Bab, was a disciple of SayedKazimRashti the leader of the Shaikhiya sect. When SayedKazimRashti died in 1844, Four of his discipiles claimed to be the successor of SayedKazimRashti

1. Mirza Ali Mohammed Shirazi

2. Haji Mohammed Karim Khan

3. ShafeeTabrizi

4. Mirza Tahir Haqaq-e-Ishfahani

On the 23rd of May, Mirza Ali Mohammed Shirazi announced that he was \"The Bab\" (the Gate) .The first to accept his claim of Babhood was MullaHussainBushroee whom Bab gave the title of Bab-ul-Bab (The gate of the Gate) and \"Awwalo Man Amana\" (the first to believe). Within a short timeMirza Ali Mohammed gathered 18 followers around himself. He gave them the title of \"Huruf-e-Hayy\" (The Letters of Life) and sent them to different areas of Iran for propagation while he himself went to Mecca for Hajj. In Mecca, according to one report, he claimed to be \"The Mahdi\" (The guided one).

Bayanis (Azalis) and Bahá\'ís

In his lifetimeMirza Ali Mohammed had appointed MirzaYahya, the son of MirzaBuzurg, and the stepbrother of Mirza Husain Ali as his successor. The same Mirza Husain Ali later came to be known as \"Bahá\'u\'lláh.\"

Mirza Ali Mohammed Shirazi (The Bab) had given MirzaYahya the title of \"Subhe\' Azal\" (Everlasting Dawn). He also gave his ring, his personal effects and also the authority to explain and comment on his (Mirza Ali Mohammed Bab\'s) writings.

While in exile in constantinopole where Bahá\'u\'lláh stayed for 4 years and it was from there that he announced that he was the real and true successor of Mirza Ali Mohammed Bab (And not his step brother MirzaYahyaSubh-e-Azal) and also that Allah, the Most High, had given him a more honored and lofty position than his predecessor.

Despite Mirza Ali Mohammed\'s clear announcement of the appointment of MirzaYahya as his successor, a few others also rose up with claims of successorship after his death. Amongst them was a Bahá\'í from Tabriz, Mirza Abdullah, who was thrown in the Arabian rivers by some Bahá\'ís on the orders of Mirza Husain Ali. Likewise an Indian Bahá\'í, Aga Bashir Mohammed had also forwarded his claim but he did not receive any response.

Subh-e-Azal along with most of the 18 special companions of Mirza Ali Mohammed Bab severely opposed this claim of Mirza Husain Ali and came to Constantinople to bring back Mirza Husain Ali to the right path. Thus a severe discord broke out amongst the Bahá\'ís themselves and they began to kill each other openly. Finally, MirzaYahya went into a recluse and Mirza Husain Ali became the sovereign leader of Bahá\'ís.

In view of such serious circumstances, the Ottoman government intervened and sent Subh-e-Azal along with his family to Cyprus and Mirza Husain Ali with his family to Palestine. The Bahá\'ís thus got divided into two distinct groups, the followers of Subh-e-Azal came to be known as \"Azalis\" (The Bayanis) and the followers of Mirza Husain Ali became famous as \"Bahá\'ís.\"

Division amongst the followers of Bahá\'u\'lláh

The second major division arose amongst the Followers of Bahá\'u\'lláh was after his death. Mirza Husain Ali (Bahá\'u\'lláh) expired in May 1892 leaving behind 4 sons and 3 daughters. A severe dispute of successorship erupted among the brothers. The eldest, Abbas Effendi claimed to be the rightful successor in view of the continuation of divine inspirations. However, his brothers Mirza Mohammed Ali, MirzaBadiullah and MirzaZiaullah and many other Bahá\'ís countered that the Divine inspiration ended since \"Bahá\'u\'lláh\" had himself written in \"Al Aqdas\" that anyone who claims thus (Divine inspiration) before the completion of 1,000 years of Bahá\'ísm, indeed was a liar and that this claim was false. Nevertheless Abbas Effendi was able to tide over these problems very soon. He assumed the title of \"Abdu\'l-Bahá\" and called his followers as \"Sabiteen\" (Steadfasters) and followers of his younger brother as \"Naqizeen\" (Covenant Breakers).

The followers of Mirza Mohammed Ali call themselves as \"Unitarian Bahá\'ís\".

Division amongst the followers of Abdu\'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi

One of the biggest controversies in Bahá\'í history was rapidly fading out of the memory of the mainstream Bahá\'í community. But thanks to the internet and its vast repository of free-flowing information and the court case done by the Haifa-based Bahá\'í Faith on two of its denomination, the Haifa-based Bahá\'í Faith will never be able to cover up what happened in 1957, despite their best efforts to ignore it and minimize its importance. In that year, The Bahá\'í Faith lost what was supposed to be its unending chain of infallible spiritual authority when the first Guardian of the faith died without clearly designating any successor.

Bahá\'u\'lláh had appointed his son Abdul-Baha to succeed him as leader of the religion and inspired interpreter of Bahá\'í scriptures and teachings. Abdul-Baha continued this successorship by establishing a position called the Guardian of the Cause of God, to which he appointed his grandson Shoghi Effendi Rabbani in his will and commanded him to appoint his own successor during his lifetime. Shoghi Effendi developed complex theories of a \"world order of Bahá\'u\'lláh\" and appointed two main institutions of Bahá\'í leadership, the International Bahá\'í Council and the Hands of the Cause.

When Shoghi Effendi suddenly died, childless and without leaving any known will, a power struggle ensued. The Hands of the Cause, led by Shoghi Effendis widow RuhiyyihKhanum, asserted a claim to be some form of temporary collective Guardianship. The Council President, Charles Mason Remey, claimed to be the second Guardian using arguments from the first Guardians writings on Bahá\'í religious administration to support his case. The Hands used other arguments from Bahá\'í sacred texts to repudiate him, and they ended up convincing a majority of Bahá\'ís in the world to follow their own claim of authority rather than Remeys.

In 1963 they established their Universal House of Justice (UHJ) as the international ruling body at the \"Bahá\'í World Center\" in Haifa, despite questions about whether this institution could be legitimately constituted without a Guardian as the head member.

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá\'ís of France, Pakistan, India and a couple of more countries followed the claim of Mason Remey to be the second Guardian. All its members were summarily excommunicated by UHJ. In Reaction Mason Remy ex communicated all the Hands of Cause calling the Wife of Shoghi Effendi as ARCH COVENANT BREAKER

A lot of Bahá\'ís simply left the faith in disappointment, realizing that a major leadership dispute ruins the credibility of a religion that prides itself on unity and seeks to rule the world. Among those Bahá\'ís who remained committed to their faith, a schism developed, and the minority of Bahá\'ís who followed Remey and rejected the \"Haifan\" UHJ persist to this day. They have had limited success attracting new converts, though the advent of the internet has helped their efforts somewhat in recent years. They are commonly known as Guardianists, emphasizing their belief in the continuation of the living Guardianship as an essential part of Baha’i Faith. \" Most of them currently follow Joel Bray Marangella, who claims to be the third Guardian. Some others follow Guardian-claimant Jacques Soghomonian instead.

The HaifanBahá\'í Faith stigmatizes the GuardianistBahá\'ís as \"Covenant-breakers\" and demands that all members of their organization should shun them, Then there is a pain of shunning if they refuse to shun. HaifanBahá\'ís can be severely punished just for reading Guardianist literature. Both the Haifans and the Guardianists believe that membership in their group is the only way to be a true Bahá\'í; both assert that their leaders are infallible, despite the lack of solid evidence from Bahá\'í scripture to support their claim; and both teach that one day the whole world should be governed by a Bahá\'í theocracy led by their particular organization, even though their own religion is not unified under one authority.

www.sectsofbahais.com