Also pronounced the "Baha Allah " (meaning Glory of God), this name was adopted by Mirza Hoseyn Ali Nuri. He was born on the 12th of November 1817 in Tehran, Iran and founded the Bahai faith.

Mirza Hoseyn was a Shia Muslim who allied with Mirza Ali Mohammad of Shiraz who proclaimed himself as the Bab (Gateway) and was the head of the Babi - a Muslim sect believing in the access to final truth.

The Persian government executed the Bab in 1870 for treason and thereafter Baha Ullah took over the reigns of the community by joining Mirza Yahya (also called Sobh-e-Azal), spiritual heir of the Bab. Mirza Yahya was Baha Ullah's half brother.

Mirza Hoseyn was exiled to Baghdad and consequently to Kurdistan and Constantinople by orthodox Sunni Muslims. There, in 1867, he declared himself to be the imam-mahdi (rightly guided leader); a divine spirit foretold by the Bab. Mirza Hoseyn was further exiled to Acre by the Ottoman Empire after his declaration led to a widespread factional violence.

At Acre, Palestine (now Akka, Israel) he founded the Bahai faith which talked of the unity of all religions and the unity of mankind. He eschewed all religious practices and rites and devoted himself towards the elimination of all racial, class and religious prejudices. His shrine at Akka is a centre of pilgrimage for believers in the Bahai faith.