However, other passages, including some from `Abdu'l-Bahá make clear that people would make such attempts:

...so grievous is the conduct and behavior of this false people that they are become even as an axe striking at the very root of the Blessed Tree. Should they be suffered to continue they would, in but a few days' time, exterminate the Cause of God, His Word, and themselves.
Hence, the beloved of the Lord must entirely shun them, avoid them, foil their machinations and evil whisperings, guard the Law of God and His religion, engage one and all in diffusing widely the sweet savors of God and to the best of their endeavor proclaim His Teachings. —`Abdu'l-Bahá'
After the death of Shoghi Effendi Rabbani there was no clear leader of the faith, as his Will remained unwritten, thus not appointing a succeeding Guardian. A close friend and highly respected member of the Bahá'í community Charles Mason Remey called for the Bahá'í community to recognize him as the head of the faith, going against all other Hands of the Cause that Shoghi Effendi appointed. Some Bahá'ís accepted his claim and became known as Remeyites, whilst the majority looked towards the creation of the Universal House of Justice as prescribed by Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá. Despite his written affirmations in 1957 that Shoghi Effendi had appointed no successor and could not have appointed one, Remey himself laid claim to this station in a "Proclamation" of April 1960 declaring that he was the "Second Guardian". He based this claim on the fact that he had been named president of the appointed International Bahá'í Council. When he refused to renounce his attempt to thus seize control of the Cause, the Hands of the Cause expelled him from the Faith as a violator of the Covenant. Shortly thereafter a number of believers in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere who had accepted his claim were likewise expelled from the Faith as Covenant-Breakers.

Since Remey's death in 1974 the minority group has undergone further splits. Some of these are described at minor Baha'i divisions.

Administrative order
Shrine of the Báb at the Baha'i World Center, Haifa, Israel[edit]
General
`Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament is the charter of the Bahá'í administrative order. In this document `Abdu'l-Bahá established the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, and he appointed his eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith. Again, because of the clear directions in the Will and Testament, there was no question as to the succession of leadership in the Faith.

Shoghi Effendi, who was a student at Oxford University at the time of his grandfather's passing, served as the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith until his passing in 1957. For thirty-six years he developed the Bahá'í community and its administrative structure in order to prepare it to support the election of the Universal House of Justice. Because the Bahá'í community was relatively small and undeveloped when the Guardian assumed the leadership of the Faith, it took many years to strengthen it and develop it to the point where it was capable of supporting the administrative structure envisioned by `Abdu'l-Bahá. Shoghi Effendi pursued this goal energetically and systematically.

As outlined in the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá, the roles and functions of the institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice were clearly complementary: the Guardianship's function was interpretive, while the function of the Universal House of Justice was legislative. Neither should infringe upon the role of the other. Throughout the period of the Guardianship, Shoghi Effendi exercised his interpretive function. He translated the sacred writings of the Faith; he developed global plans for the expansion of the Bahá'í community; he developed the World Center of the Bahá'í Faith in Haifa; he carried on a voluminous correspondence with communities and individuals around the world; and he built the administrative structure of the Faith, preparing the community for the election of the Universal House of Justice.

The Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá clearly anticipated that there would be a succession of Guardians, but this was not to be. `Abdu'l-Bahá had indicated that the first born of the Guardian should be his successor, but if that individual did not inherit the Guardian's spiritual qualities, then he should appoint another male descendant of Bahá'u'lláh. However, Shoghi Effendi did not have children, and through the years all of the members of his family had rebelled against the authority conferred upon him, becoming "Covenant-Breakers". Thus, it was not possible for him to appoint a successor as Guardian. It was also clear from `Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament that only the Universal House of Justice had the authority to resolve questions not explicitly dealt with by either Bahá'u'lláh or `Abdu'l-Bahá, and this issue would obviously need to be taken up by that body. And so Shoghi Effendi had laid the foundations for the election of the Universal House of Justice. This nine-member body, which governs the international Bahá'í community, was first elected in 1963. That same year, it determined that there was "no way to appoint or to legislate to make it possible to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi." Bahá'ís all over the world, loyal to the Covenant first established by Bahá'u'lláh and then carried forward by `Abdu'l-Bahá, accepted this decision made by what they believe is the divinely guided central authority of their Faith.

There is no clergy in the Bahá'í Faith. At the grassroots level, Bahá'í communities are governed by freely elected nine-member councils called Local Spiritual Assemblies. Similarly, National Spiritual Assemblies direct and coordinate the affairs of national Bahá'í communities. The Bahá'í electoral process is unique. There is no system of candidature, electioneering or campaigning, and the purpose is to elect members who best possess those spiritual qualities that enable them to serve the community. Both men and women age 21 or over are eligible to be elected to the local and national assemblies, while the Universal House of Justice is male only. The Bahá'ís use what is described as a three-stage councilor-republican system for election of the Universal House of Justice. Critics maintain that these elections favor the incumbants and are more autocratic than democratic.

Restrictions on Freedom in the Bahá'í Community
In addition to observing religious laws (see below) there are certain restrictions on personal freedom in the Bahá'í community. For example, Bahá'ís are required to provide a copy of books and articles on Bahá'í-related subjects for pre-publication review by an administrative committee; publication is allowed only after approval is given. Although material published on the internet is not subject to review, in at least one case Bahá'ís who ran Internet listservs were reprimanded because their activity led to free public debate that the Bahá'í administration saw as inappropriate. Another example is that Bahá'ís are discouraged from speaking with excommunicated members and forbidden from colluding with them. Such restrictions can be seen as limiting opportunities for open and honest discussion, and some opponents have alleged that restrictive practices of this sort are widespread.

Entry by troops and teaching the Faith
The term entry by troops in the Bahá'í writings refers to an expected period where many people will accept the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'í communities are readying resources for the day they believe entry by troops will happen. Baha'is believe that "teaching" the Faith is one of the most meritorious of deeds, but no proselytizing is allowed. Some people see no real difference between teaching and proselytizing, since the aim in both cases is to actively promote and spread the religion. According to the Universal House of Justice the difference is a matter of approach: "teaching" is not supposed to use high-pressure methods, psychological manipulation or material incentives.

Teachings and laws
Bahá'u'lláh's primary teachings are these:
There is but one supreme deity. (God) and he is unknowable to man.
Bahá'u'lláh writes on this subject:
"So perfect and comprehensive is His creation that no mind or heart, however keen or pure, can ever grasp the nature of the most insignificant of His creatures; much less fathom the mystery of Him Who is the Day Star of Truth, Who is the invisible and unknowable Essence..."
and further
"All that the sages and mystics have said or written have never exceeded, nor can they ever hope to exceed, the limitations to which man's finite mind hath been strictly subjected. To whatever heights the mind of the most exalted of men may soar, however great the depths which the detached and understanding heart can penetrate, such mind and heart can never transcend that which is the creature of their own thoughts. The meditations of the profoundest thinker, the devotions of the holiest of saints, the highest expressions of praise from either human pen or tongue, are but a reflection of that which hath been created within themselves."
There is but one humanity; all people are equal in the sight of God regardless of race, gender, nationality, etc. At the same time the Bahá'í Writings emphasize the value of cultural and individual differences: "It [the Faith] does not ignore, nor does it attempt to suppress, the diversity of ethnical origins, of climate, of history, of language and tradition, of thought and habit, that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world... Its watchword is unity in diversity..." This point is often illustrated by the image of different flowers contributing to the beauty of a garden.
All the world's great religions receive their inspiration from the same divine source.