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The Bahá'í Faith has had challenges to its leadership, usually at the death of the head of the religion. The vast majority of Bahá'ís have followed a line of authority from Bahá'u'lláh to `Abdu'l-Bahá to Shoghi Effendi to the Custodians to the Universal House of Justice. Sects diverging from this line of leadership have failed to attract a sizeable following. In this sense, there is only one ''major'' branch of the Bahá'í Faith,〔(Major Branches of Religions Ranked by Number of Adherents ), Adherents.com〕 represented by at least 5 million adherents, whereas the groups that have broken away have either become extinct with time, or have remained very small in number, representing far less than 0.1% of all Bahá'ís.〔〔〔 Globally the Bahá'í community has maintained its unity.〔 Quote from source: "Some attempts were made during the 1950s and 1960s to bring together the disparate groups of Covenant-breakers, but these had little effect. Globally, the Bahá'í community has maintained its unity."〕 Bahá'í scriptures define a Lesser Covenant regarding succession which is intended to keep the Bahá'ís unified.〔 ()〕 Claimants challenging the widely accepted successions of leadership are shunned by the majority group as Covenant-Breakers.〔 A separate entry discusses the Bahá'í/Bábí split. ==`Abdu'l-Bahá's ministry== Bahá'u'lláh remained in the Akka-Haifa area under house arrest until his death in 1892. According to the terms of his will, his eldest son `Abdu'l-Bahá was named the centre of authority; Mírzá Muhammad `Alí, the eldest son from Bahá'u'lláh's second wife, was assigned a secondary position.〔Bahá'u'lláh, ''Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh'', (p. 221 )〕 Pursuant to his role as Centre of the Covenant, `Abdu'l-Bahá became the head of the Bahá'í community. Soon Muhammad `Ali complained that `Abdu'l-Bahá was not sharing authority and he started working against his elder brother. Most members of the families of Bahá'u'lláh's second and third wives supported Muhammad `Alí; however, there were very few outside of Haifa who followed him.〔 Muhammad `Alí's machinations with the Ottoman authorities resulted in `Abdu'l-Bahá's re-arrest and confinement in Acre. They also caused the appointment of two official commissions of inquiry, which led to further exile and incarceration of `Abdu'l-Baha to North Africa. In the aftermath of the Young Turk revolution, Ottoman prisoners were freed thus ending the danger to `Abdu'l-Baha. Meanwhile, Ibrahim George Kheiralla, a Syrian Christian, converted to the Bahá'í Faith, emigrated to the United States and founded the first American Bahá'í community. Initially, he was loyal to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Having misunderstood the true station of Bahá'u'lláh's first-born, Kheiralla taught that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was the return of Christ; when 'Abdu'l-Bahá learned that this was becoming the widespread understanding of the Bahá'ís in The United States, he took pains to correct the mistake.〔 Later on, Kheiralla switched sides in the conflict between Bahá'u'lláh's sons and supported Mirza Muhammad Ali. He formed the Society of Behaists, a religious denomination promoting Unitarian Bahaism in the U.S., which was later led by Shuaullah Behai, son of Mirza Muhammad Ali, after he emigrated to the United States in June 1904 at the behest of his father. Muhammad `Alí's supporters either called themselves Behaists 〔Shu'a'ullah, (Behai Quarterly ) (Volume 4 ) (Page 23 )〕 or "Unitarian Bahá'ís".〔Browne, (p. 82 ). The reference appears to be to the unitarian theology of one god, rather than any identification with the American Unitarian Association.〕 From 1934 to 1937, Behai published (Quarterly ) , a Unitarian Bahai magazine written in English and featuring the writings of Muhammad Ali and various other Unitarian Bahais. `Abdu'l-Bahá's response to determined opposition during his tenure was patterned on Bahá'u'lláh's〔 ()〕 example and evolved across three stages. Initially, like Bahá'u'lláh,〔 he made no public statements but communicated with his brother Muhammad `Alí and his associates directly, or through intermediaries, in seeking reconciliation. When it became clear that reconciliation was not possible, and fearing damage to the community, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to the Bahá'ís explaining the situation, identifying the individuals concerned and instructing the believers to sever all ties with those involved. Finally, he sent representatives to those areas most affected by the problem.〔 ()〕 The function of these representatives was to explain matters to the Bahá'ís and to encourage them to persevere in cutting all contact. Often these chosen individuals would have `Abdu'l-Bahá's authority to open up communications with those involved to try to persuade them to return. In Iran, such envoys were principally the four Hands of the Cause appointed by Bahá'u'lláh.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bahá'í divisions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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