The Covenant in the Bahá’í Faith is the spiritual contract
binding God and humanity. The Bahá’í Faith recognizes two
covenants: first, the greater covenant, between God, represented
by the Manifestation of God, on the one hand, and humanity on
the other, in which God promises to continue to send guidance to
humankind, while humanity, on its part, promises to obey and
follow these teachings when they come. Part of this greater
covenant is the obligation which each Manifestation of God
places upon his followers to accept the next Manifestation.
Second, the lesser covenant, which obliges individual Bahá’ís to
accept the leadership of Bahá’u’lláh's appointed successors and
the administrative institutions of the Faith. Firmness in the
covenant is one of the chief Bahá’í religious virtues and
includes not just acceptance of the legitimacy of the Bahá’í
institution but much more general attitudes of loyalty and
whole-hearted commitment to the Bahá’í Faith and Bahá’í
community. Challenging the authority of the center