Attempted schisms in the Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith was formed in the late 19th-century Middle East by Baháʼu'lláh, and teaches that an official line of succession of leadership is part of a divine covenant that assures unity and prevents schism. There are no major schisms in the Baháʼí Faith, and attempts to form alternative leadership have either become extinct with time or have remained in extremely small numbers that are shunned by the majority. The largest extant sect is related to Mason Remey's claim to leadership in 1960, which has continued with two or three groups numbering at most 200 collectively, mostly in the United States.

About a dozen efforts have been made to form sects in the history of the Baháʼí Faith. The first major challenge to leadership came after Baháʼu'lláh died in 1892, with ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's half-brother Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí opposing him. Later, Shoghi Effendi faced opposition from his family, as well as some individual Baháʼís. When Shoghi Effendi passed in 1957, there was no clear successor, and the Hands of the Cause led a transition to the Universal House of Justice, elected in 1963. This transition was opposed by Mason Remey, who claimed to be the successor of Shoghi Effendi in 1960, but was excommunicated by Hands of the Cause because his claim had no basis in authoritative Baháʼí writings. Other, more modern attempts at schism have come from opposition to the Universal House of Justice and attempts to reform or change doctrine.

Those that have been excommunicated have consistently protested against the majority group and, in some cases, claimed that the excommunicated represent the true Baháʼí Faith and the majority are Covenant-breakers. Some Baháʼís have claimed that there have been no divisions in the Baháʼí Faith, or that none will survive or become a threat to the main body of Baháʼís. From 2000-2020, twenty individuals were expelled by the Baháʼí Administration for Covenant-breaking.