Baha' Ullah

(born Nov. 12, 1817, Tehran, Iran—died May 29, 1872, Acre, Palestine) Iranian religious leader, founder of the Baha'i faith. A Shi'ite Muslim who allied himself with the Bab, he joined his half brother Mirza Yahya (known as Sobh-e Azal) in leading the Babi movement after the Bab's execution. Sunnite Muslims exiled him to Baghdad, Kurdistan, and finally Constantinople, where in 1867 he declared himself the imam-mahdi foretold by the Bab and sent by God. This pronouncement split Babism into two factions, with a small group (the Azali) adhering to its original beliefs and a larger group following him into what became the Baha'i faith. The Ottoman government banished him to Acre where, as Baha' Ullah, he developed Baha'i into a teaching that advocated the unity of all religions and universal human brotherhood.